Community Highlights: Meet Joseph Shaw of Shaw Creative

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Shaw.

Hi Joseph, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
In 2016, I moved to Orange County from Kansas City, Missouri. I am originally from Edmond, Oklahoma but was living in Kansas City with my wife as she finished midwifery school. I told my wife Sara that I wanted to start doing photos and video and that I wanted to buy a camera. At that time, we were incredibly poor, haha like we were eating rice, beans and quesadillas almost every night. Now don’t get me wrong, I love quesadillas, but I prefer to have a bit more on the weekly menu. Sara told me I could get a camera if I found a way to buy it without us getting into debt. At that time, I am working for a nonprofit organization and was not making enough to buy the camera, so I had to get creative. I started selling used headphones that I got from Best Buy (you can buy used stuff from them, I won’t go into those details) and sold them on eBay. For six months, I worked at night posting headphones up for auction. I finally got enough money to get my first camera the Panasonic Gh4. I was able to get this camera without getting into any debt. I started taking photos and videoing my friends everyday and found that the best way to learn was to shoot daily and post something on Instagram. It kept me accountable to grow and I had a lot of fun in the process.

In 2017, we moved to Huntington Beach, California. At that point in my career, I had only captured a few weddings and had never worked for any large name brands or artists. Little did I know that over the next three years, I would be working for some of the industry leaders in fashion and music.

When I first moved to Huntington Beach, I didn’t know anyone in the music or fashion industry, I actually didn’t even know a single filmmaker or photographer. I decided I would reach out to different creatives on Instagram who were based in LA and just ask them if they would be willing to link up for coffee and let me pick their brain. I was doing everything I could to get connected and grow in my skill sets. I probably sent 30 DM’s on Instagram honestly not thinking anyone would respond. I remember getting a few responses, but there was this one guy named Lucas Taggart who responded and genuinely seemed excited to link up. We met up in Venice and got coffee. Talked about life and how we got to California. We become good friends and are still close to this day.

Over the next 12 months, I started slowly working with brands. I remember sitting in my apartment in Huntington Beach, no AC, just sweating my life away thinking there has to be a way to land work with brands. So I got onto Instagram and started gathering emails. If you go to a brand’s Instagram account, you can almost always find an email. I spent an entire day doing this and at the end of the day, I had somewhere between 300-500 brand emails. I sent emails to all of the brands and told them that if they sent me some product, I would take at least ten photos for them for free. I didn’t think this would actually work, but over the course of a week, I got around 30 brands to agree to this. My neighbors probably thought I had some wild shopping issue bc everyday multiple boxes were showing up at my door. Cell phone cases, different clothing brands, skincare, sessional oils, watch brands, shoe companies, you name it I had it. Haha. Our apartment was filling up with brand content and I remember sitting there equally excited and terrified. I had NO idea what I was doing. At that point, I had never even taken a photo for a brand. SO I got to work. I got my friends to model for me in exchange for the product, I took the photos I captured and built out a portfolio. I gave the brands the photos I promised and if they liked my work, I offered to do another shoot, but this time for pay. Realistically, my content was not good and most brands didn’t even respond back! Haha. BUT there was one brand that believed in me and kept me busy, they are called MVMT. They are a watch brand based in Los Angeles, California.

Fast forward to August 2018, my wife and I decided it was best to move up to LA county and get more plugged into the creative scene. I had been driving back and forth from Huntington to LA county none stop and we knew it was time to move. Over the course of 12 months, I had met multiple people through my friend Lucas and he started inviting me onto some of his projects. I was doing all sorts of jobs, from BTS photo, driving talent RV’s, Production assistant picking up coffee or camera gear for projects, basically, any project I was invited to be a part of I said YES to, even if I wasn’t getting paid. I found that the more projects I could be a part of, the more I learned and the more people I met.

From August 2018 through now, I have had the pleasure of working with Justin Bieber (Thanks to my friend Rory Kramer), Movado, American Airlines, Liquid IV, Cuts Clothing, Hyatt, Ozzy Osborn, Post Malone, The Chainsmokers, Gallo Wines, Monster Energy, Kourtney Kardashian and the list goes on. I have directed two national TV commercials and have gotten to travel around the world working for brands that I love and believe in. I could sit here and tell you that all of these opportunities came my way due to my hard work, but the reality is, that would only be half true. The real success story has come from serving others, showing up, staying consistent and building authentic friendships. If I named everyone who has helped me thus far, it would fill up this entire page, but all I can say is, when you start to care more about your relationships more than your paychecks, something just clicks. In a city where it feels like sometimes you are completely alone and you have to do everything by yourself, I have found that true friendships can be found and through that, real dreams can come true.

I am starting out my 5th year living in California more excited and expectant for the future than ever before. Finding community and friendship has been the foundational component to every bit of my success and for that, I am thankful and wouldn’t have it any other way.

I have launched my own media agency called Shaw Creative. We provide high-performing digital advertisements for brands and artists.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When starting a new career, you have a season of extreme imbalance, you are working 20 hours a day for months on end, that was my life from 2018-start of 2020. You have to manage every detail of your work. Landing clients, pitching creative concepts, directing, producing, filming, editing, invoicing (praying you are doing your taxes correct, haha). There is so much to handle. Keeping mentally and physically healthy is sometimes a challenge. Luckily I have an amazing wife who has supported my life crazy and who I am honored to call my business partner as well. She stepped away from full-time midwifery and now handles all of the administrative work for our agency. She is the best!

Staying driven has been challenging at times. Creative burnout is real, and finding ways out of burnout is challenging. Thankfully I have found that setting boundaries around work that enable you to get a good night’s rest, time in the morning to exercise and having a clean diet makes all the difference. Sometimes that looks like getting up before the sun and getting in that workout. You have to really decide you want to succeed and not give up. I am just getting started and I have so much to learn.

As you know, we’re big fans of Shaw Creative LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
My name is Joseph Shaw and I am the founder and president of Shaw Creative LLC. Shaw Creative is a mass volume media agency based in LA. We are experts in providing high-performing digital advertisements for brands and artists. We specialize in taking a brand’s vision from point A (a simple concept) to point B (Launching ad campaigns that generate mass profit).

One thing that sets us apart from other agencies I believe is taking the time to get to know our clients. We never want to create something that doesn’t represent our clients well. It is important to know the brand’s story and from that create content that represents them authentically and in a way that appeals to a mass audience.

Creating content is just a bonus, the real joy is in the building of relationships and helping them WIN!

If a brand is looking for specialized ads for social media or even a commercial for television, we pride ourselves in putting in the necessary work to bring brand’s ideas to life!

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
When covid first hit, like the most of the world, my work stopped. I went from working 80 hour weeks to a dead halt. I was left wondering if my work would ever come back.

I decided I would contact all of my past clients and offer them new fresh edits, and I decided to start learning a new skill set (graphic design).

I learned that when our world changes, it is up to us to pivot and adapt. I had about four weeks of no work, but after contacting clients and learning graphic design, I was back working none stop providing quality content for my brands. I knew that a lot of brands were suffering so I offered my services at a discount, I think by doing that, brands saw that I really cared about seeing them survive,

It’s important to know how to pivot, change your ways of business and to remain kind in the process.

Contact Info:

• Email: hi@josephJshaw.com
• Website: JosephJShaw.com
• Instagram: @Josephjshaw