Meet Joan Fisher | Photographer | Creative

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joan Fisher and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joan, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I encourage everyone to take risks – friends, family, and peers. Want to quit your 9-5 to start your own thing? Do it. Want to move to a city where you don’t know a single person? Do it. Want to completely switch careers and not tell a single soul? Do it.

No risk = no reward, we’re all familiar with this. My approach is probably a bit more impulsive than most, but I tend to take the risk and deal with consequences later, if any. Without taking risks, I wouldn’t have the career I do. I picked up a camera on a whim while in cosmetology school after dropping out of a state university. A lot of my choices at 18 or 19 were different than my my peers who were continuing through a four year college plan. I spent months convincing my parents that I absolutely *needed* to start art school across the country the same year my friends were graduating college and starting their full time careers. I spent less than a year after I graduated in a retail job before I went full time freelance and never looked back. Each risk has always ended in a reward – a learned skill, a learned lesson of what to do (or what not to do), or opened the door to a new opportunity or experience I would’ve never had if I didn’t say yes.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Admittedly, it’s hard to look at my own work and tell you what makes it stand out. My style has evolved and changed a lot in the years I’ve been working – and each step in that process makes me cringe, but also really love the process. Currently, I’m pretty stoked on where my body of work is. Ask me next week and I might have a different answer!

I think I’ve gotten to where I am, wherever that might be, by connecting and working with different people. Most of my client work is with local businesses, entrepreneurs, and other creatives. It’s a huge honor for a small business to put their trust in me to execute their vision for their brand – as well as creatives like makeup artists, stylists, and other photographers allowing me to photograph them.

I’m not sure if easy is how I would describe growing my art into a business, but it was definitely unplanned when I started. I was in a super lost part of my life with no direction, and picking up a camera was an outlet and somewhere for me to focus my energy. My business grew as my love for it did, and has continued to ebb and flow throughout the years. There have definitely been times I haven’t been able to give it my all and my work, my creativity, and my business has suffered because of it. On the flip side, burn out has given me a lot of time to reflect on goals, what’s working vs. what’s not, and has pushed me in new directions I might not have considered if I hadn’t hit it.

The biggest lessons learned are the daily ones. That being stressed over a job where you work for yourself, make your own hours and decisions, and put time into what’s fully yours is a different kind of stress and hustle than working for someone else. The lessons you learn about time management, work/life balance, charging your worth, quality over quantity… are un-matched. I have encouraged multiple friends to quit their jobs and start freelancing or their own business in different industries. None have looked back, and they are absolutely killing it. You hustle, plan, and work differently when you’re doing it for you.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Local and art scene is awesome in STL. Free art museums, live music, and galleries throughout different neighborhoods in the city. Even the graffiti and mural’s are awesome to see driving around.

Places like the City Foundry, The Grove, and Grand Center Arts District. Between shopping, good eats, theatre, music, etc.. you’d cover all bases. STL has a free zoo in one of the biggest parks in the country, a giant indoor/outdoor playground for kids and adults with a bus hanging off the roof (City Museum), sports teams, botanical gardens, breweries, and an aquarium, shockingly.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I love this question. Entrepreneurship can seem really individual from the outside looking in, but there’s always a team of people behind it no matter which way you look at it.

My parents, for sure. My dad passed along his love for a camera and travel from a really young age. He ran his DSLR up to me for my first ‘shoot’ in cosmetology school, taught me how to use it and let me run wild, no questions asked. My mom is my biggest fan, even if she doesn’t completely understand my vision or idea. They save every magazine, newspaper, online article, etc… that has a photo I took in it, most of the time seeing it before I even knew it existed. They moved me back and forth countless times to the art school I loved and encouraged me through every sleepless night. My dad taught me that I could accomplish any goal and reach any dream – and that comes with a lot of hard work, that he continuously reminds me of!

Peers, friends, strangers on the internet. I wouldn’t be where I am without the support of social media. Friends, industry or not, are constantly pushing & encouraging me, as well as keeping me humble when it comes to ideas that don’t quite come to fruition. I’m a strong believer in constant growth, and feedback from anyone is an opportunity to learn, improve, and prep for the next step.

x

Instagram: @joan_fisher