Inspiring Conversations with Dila Djokaj, Rena Salcedo and Jennifer Lemus of The LA Creative

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dila Djokaj, Rena Salcedo and Jennifer Lemus. Them and their team share their story with us below:

About halfway through 2020, Dila had stumbled across a specific studio on Peerspace while looking into photo studio options for a friend. She sent the link to a text group she had going with Rena and Jen, and Rena replied that she had shot a music video at the very same space. Dila mentioned how cool it would be to open a photo space and this became the catalyst for the LA Creative. The idea took flight. As the owner of a spray tanning business (L.A. Sun Spray Tan), Dila’s clients would definitely be interested in a place to take pictures of their bronzed selves. For Rena, who is an independent singer/songwriter and solo artist (Rena Hart), she knew the value of a space where other artists could bring their creative visions to life. Jen, a veteran and fitness guru, had always wanted to start a business and this idea intrigued her. Within a few months, we found a space, designed and built the rooms, and opened The LA Creative for business.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Finding the perfect space took some time. We toured dozens of buildings in DTLA. Remember this was 2020 and a lot of small businesses had closed – so there were a lot of available spaces to check out. Ultimately we wanted something where we could have multiple rooms to offer a variety of photo opps, ample parking, and an easy location to access. We ended up going with a unit in the first building we looked at.

Creating the rooms was challenging, especially because we were doing this with no outside money or loans and needed to keep a tight budget. When it came to designing, we wanted to create each room differently but also have symmetry/coherence between the rooms so that guests could move furniture between each space. We built almost all of it out ourselves and used contractors for things like electrical work, attaching heavy items to the walls, etc. This was truly a DIY project.

Another challenge was figuring out how to set things up to accommodate a steady flow of clients. Ultimately we were able to figure out how to clean between shoots and make things remote so we didn’t have to physically make multiple trips to the studio when we didn’t need to.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
We had so much support while building out the studio rooms. A lot of our furniture was donated or sold to us at a low cost by friends. Some friends helped with our DIY installation projects such as the LED veneers. Other fellow Peerspace studio owners offered advice, which was pretty cool and much appreciated. We also had a lot of support from models and artists who helped promote the space.

Pricing:

• Starting at $69/hr

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://thelacreative.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelacreative/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelacreative213/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_LA_Creative

Image Credits:
Bernardo Mellado