Title: The Untraditional Route to Success
Host intro: In this day and age, many people believe the only way to success is going to college. But that is not necessarily the case. Two 22 year old, freelance creatives, decided to take her dreams into her own hands. Daisy Fagundes has the story.
*Vacation Manor song Playing*
I am with Ali Fitzgerald in her bedroom in Bushwick, a Brooklyn neighborhood known for being home to many young artists and creative types. Ali’s love for music shines through her extensive record collection. Her pink record player sits right by her bed with a massive Vanilla candle. Every night Ali throws a record on and lights her candle, giving her room a very calm aesthetic. Music has always been a driving force in her life, and it is the reason she got into concert photography.
ACT (Ali): I went to a concert for one of my favorite musicians and I met his photographer, who was a super cool guy, and I was like wow this guy’s got a really cool gig going for him.
TRACK: When Ali discovered her love for photography, she immediately asked her mother for her camera. This led directly to her first photography job.
ACT (Ali): I was able to shoot the day after my mom gave me the camera. There was a small independent band called Vacation Manor and they were playing a free show at a local bowling alley in my hometown.
TRACK: The stars definitely aligned in Ali’s favor. This shoot was the first of very many shoes that she would shoot in her career.
ACT (Ali): Freelance itself, in the meaning of the term is kind of you are doing your own thing and creating your own schedule and essentially working for yourself. So, being a freelance photographer kind of means that you’re not tied down to any particular job or any particular artist you kind of just do what you want when you want to do it. If that is just a hobby that is the same freelance if you were making a whole career out of it. It is just kind of on your own.
TRACK: Freelance is becoming more and more popular, especially in the United States. Over 57 million Americans do freelance work and in 2019 freelance workers contributed over 1 billion dollars to the US economy. When in need only 25% of freelance workers said they can find work within a day. Therefore, freelance work may instill a fear of sometimes not being able to pay your bills.
ACT (Ali): For some, it does. For me personally, I am still working on growing myself and growing my brand, and I am working several minimum wage jobs to pay my bills now while I try to create a life for myself where I can freelance full time.
TRACK: COVID has greatly impacted artists and their source of income. A lot of artists have had to think on their feet and figure out new ways to use their trade to make money.
ACT (Ali): Everybody is really focused on social distancing obviously and doing distant shoots, you cannot really get the same amount of intimacy with your clients that we like to have. For me personally, definitely not being able to go to concerts has kind of really made me flip what I do upside down and approach my whole photography career from a completely different angle.
TRACK: Ali is one of many people trying to make the most of the pandemic. My boyfriend Dylan has been using this time to explore his career options and has decided to take a creative path doing some wood working.
*insert saw sound*
ACT (Dylan): When I was in high school, me and my friend built a foot pedal lathe in my shed. We would make candle sticks and rolling pins for our moms and people in the neighborhood and thats what really got me into wood working.
TRACK: The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an eight percent employment growth for carpenters between 2018 and 2028.
ACT (Dylan): I decided that taking a career path in something more hands on and something I’m more passionate about was the right path for me.
TRACK: Society breads children to believe they must go to college to make it in life. Dylan was no exception. He was put on a fast track to college and a desk job.
ACT (Dylan): When I was learning things like how to build a foundation of a house and restore old houses and things that I think are interesting. I know can do those things on my own property or somebody else’s and I am able to make money off the skills that I have.
TRACK: The pandemic has had us all feeling very uneasy and unmotivated. Today we were lucky enough to speak to two creatives that kept their mind on the right track to their goals.
ACT (Dylan): My main goal is to have my own business where I will use the skills I learned in a creative way.
ACT (Ali): Long term, my goal would be to get booked to go on a tour.
OUTRO: A big thank you to Ali and Dylan for partaking in this interview. Let this serve as a message to all that there is not only one path to success.