029: Digging Deeper for Inspiration with Alisha Cohen

We're all so fortunate to be able to do work that is fun and creative every day. No matter who you are, how old you are or what stage of life you're in - following your passions and what's meaningful to you is always an option. Sometimes this means making big moves. Today I am joined by Alisha Cohen, a photographer, stylist and creative director who had a dream of leaving her corporate job to pursue something more creative. We discuss how she came to start her own creative agency and how she's used platforms like Instagram to grow her business. She shares how she finds inspiration, the importance of setting boundaries as a creative and how she overcomes fears when starting a new endeavor. 

What's in this episode:

• Alisha's creative journey and wanting to transition out of the advertising agency
• Making the leap to start her business
• Why Alisha decided to do an Instagram meet up 
• How Alisha uses her Instagram as a portfolio
• A typical day in Alisha's life and what she's working on
• Her experience of moving to LA
• Setting boundaries for yourself as a creative
• Alisha's creative process and how she finds inspiration from clients
• Her advice for breaking into what you want to do
• Alisha's favorite part of her business
• Amy and Alisha's trip to Bermuda
• Overcoming fears when starting a new endeavor
• Moving into corporate training and teaching brands about creating consistent content
• How Alisha crafts a life that she loves 
• Her experience of hiring her first employee and how she works with her team
• Collaborating with brands for her wedding day

 

From Alisha:

I'm a photographer, stylist, creative director, and entrepreneur, but my story starts with an iPhone and a dream. I had no real photography training at all, and I got serious about Instagram as an experiment. I thought that If I could work to build a brand, agencies would hire me to do the same for the clients. The plan worked, and as a recent college grad, I was working as a social media manager and creative strategist for global brands in the advertising industry.

But I ended up hating it. I wanted the chance to be more creative and to develop my own point of view. I turned to Instagram once again and it quickly became my creative outlet. I shared the colors and things around me that brought me joy and people started to notice. Brands asked me if I could take photos for their Instagram accounts, so I bought a camera, learned how to use it through an online course, and went to work.

I hustled every night and weekend, creating content and building a client base. I would take conference calls on my 9-5 lunch break and meet potential clients at coffee shops near my office. When I had to start turning away clients because of my 9-5, I knew it was time to make a change. So at the age of 23, I left the advertising industry to focus on LISH creative full-time.

In the 3+ years since starting my agency, a lot has changed. I went from styling photos by myself in my parent's spare bedroom in Pittsburgh, to moving into a Los Angeles Studio and hiring a team to help.

Personally, I got married, and my husband Graham finished medical school. He matched into an orthopedic surgery residency program, yay! So for the next 5 years, we'll be living in the midwest and working to make our new house feel like a home.

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Life with LISH

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