Meet Katie Dobies | Make It Until You Make It

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

Hi Katie, what role has risk played in your life or career?
There is much more to be gained by taking risks than playing it safe. In fact, the biggest risk is to be ourselves in a world of conformity.

My mantra is ‘make it until you make it’. Failure is not in my vocabulary. Even if a venture does not seemingly pay off, it leads us to the next one with new knowledge and practical experience. If you’re doing it, you’re doing it! That is success in my book.

Strategy, sacrifice and determination are key ingredients I consider with each risk. Do I have the determination and energy to follow through? What sacrifices will this require and am I willing to make them? What is my strategy to make my vision come to life?

A pivotal risk in my career was going from Corporate Cubicle to Aviation. In 2011 I sold my house in upstate New York, most of my belongings, and accepted a 60% pay cut, and living out of a hotel room crash pad with six other Delta flight attendants in Detroit in order to travel the world as a flight attendant. My closest family and friends were not supportive. That was the most difficult price to pay. I was on my own with my dreams. The risk paid off. I built up seniority, pay, and friendships. Most of all, my career felt more purposeful. During the following six years of travel, my love of photography was reignited as I explored new cities. I vowed to myself that if I ever got furloughed from the airlines my next career would be Professional Photographer. Strategically, I began my artist’s journey in that moment on an early morning flight and spent many hours beginning to work on that goal. When the time did come in 2017, I intrepidly stepped into my next risk, building my own photography business.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My professional photography career began with creating quality stock photos for Istock. In a few years, my portfolio grew to over 10,000 travel and lifestyle images and my works graced books, magazines, websites, album art and beyond. I became known as ‘Stock Photo Queen’. In 2021 I would launch an all new stock photography website called Stockphotoqueen.com, also earning me an unofficial master’s education in brand and website building.

During the two painstaking years it took to organize my photos into cohesive categories and learn how to build the Stock Photo Queen website, my work caught the attention of Saratoga Living Magazine in upstate New York, under the direction of Richard Perez-Feria. Photojournalism turned out to be a perfect match for my story-telling photography. I earned the title Senior Photographer at Saratoga Living, regularly shooting for the column ‘Saratogian of the Month’, Saratoga Race Track, celebrities, featured businesses and more.

After all that hard work and eye strain from screens and shooting, I gave myself a one year sabbatical in beautiful Downeast Maine, where I renovated a home, curated a fine art collection on Fine Art America, and got focused on what I saw next for my photography career. I knew it would be somewhere warm and that it would involve art and community. In July 2022, I took a leap of faith and sold or gave away most of what I own (again) and drove 3000 miles to the desert southwest, landing in Tucson, Arizona in a vintage Streamline trailer on four acres. It’s as if it was waiting for me.

My vision of art and community for Katie Dobies Photography is quickly coming to life at a courtyard studio and gallery space in East Hive, an artist community in East Tucson nestled in the former Old Adobe Office Park at 326 S Wilmot Rd behind Park Place Mall. The fine art gallery is shared with local painter, Joshua Woodhall, We collaborated to call it ‘aRtBeAt’, where are and community meet and anticipate an October 2022 grand opening. Also this fall I look forward to offering select works at the St. Philips Plaza Market, a destination market for creatives in Tucson.

My advice to anyone who has a dream is to not compare yourself with others. As Theodore Roosevelt said, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’. Focus on your ‘why’ instead. I get excited about what I see through the lens and feel passionate about showing people themselves and the beauty of the world. I believe in the healing power of art and photography.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
It’s amazing what one can learn about the virtue of patience from the saguaro cacti during morning walks or evening walks in Saguaro National Monument. Saguaros need a very particular environment to grow and the only place in the world is the Sonoran desert. It takes 50 years for a saguaro to get its first arm. That arm will store much needed water to help it through the rest of its 100-200 year life.

Tucson is an art haven. It boasts creativity everywhere in the form of large murals, art galleries, markets and more! St. Philips Plaza Market is a must do on the weekends. It is Tucson’s longest standing and most iconic outdoor market. Stroll and shop in a beautiful setting with fountains, shade from sycamore trees, and plenty of culinary delights.

Mt. Lemmon is the best summer place to visit because it is 20 degrees cooler at 9171 ft. Drive up Mt. Lemmon to Windy Point Vista for sunset or go for a hike in one of the seven different ecosystems that Mt. Lemmon boasts including Sonoran Desert, Semi-Desert Grasslands, Oak Woodland and Chaparral, Pine-Oak Woodland, Ponderosa Pine Forest, and Mixed Conifer Forest.

If you can’t make it to Mt. Lemmon, the other best way to stay cool is in an air conditioned art museum, historic church, or one of the many restaurants or cultural activities that earns Tucson the title ‘City of Gastronomy’.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I often contemplate in gratitude the key players who inspired and encouraged me to pursue professional photography before I felt confident to call myself an actual photographer. I knew my photos were beautiful, had depth, and were well composed, but I didn’t even own a professional camera. I was shooting on my cell phone and a compact camera. Then came passenger Todd Lincoln Richards, author and musician, from L.A. He was doing it, but not in L.A at the time. He was in Nashville for a year taking a risk to play in front of as many audiences as he could after making his first music album. Todd saw something special in my photography that made him want to encourage me on my creative path. First, he challenged me to start calling myself a photographer! So I did. Next he gave me opportunities to collaborate with him and his now wife, Phoebe, also a musician and creative from L.A. We collaborated on creative projects like ‘Our Daily Lyric’ and book cover photography for Todd’s book, ‘Top’. The rest is history, and we are still friends. I even photographed Todd and Phoebe’s wedding in Pennsylvania!

Website: https://katiedobiesphotography.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katie_dobies_photography/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stock-photo-queen

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stockphotoqueen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katiedobiesphotography/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/katie-dobies-photography-tucson-2

Other: https://www.stockphotoqueen.com/ http://katiedobiesfineart.com/ https://www.katiedobies.com/ https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/KatieDobies email: katiedobiesphotography@gmail.com Studio Address: 326 S Wilmot Rd, Suite C110, Tucson, AZ 85711