Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Holcomb.
Hi Morgan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
It started when I was very little and decided that I wanted to be an actress. I could imagine no other way to experience all there was to life, in as many different ways as possible, in the relative safety of a performance.
Many years later, I would discover that the same curiosity that attracted me to acting was the same exploration of life that made both marketing and photography seemingly simple. I would capture life, in its many forms and performances, and show it how mesmerizing I thought it was.
I received a Business Administration degree from Chapman University and found that my childhood drama classes made presentations easy. Creating ideal audiences for market analysis became a character study. The two halves never broke apart; business was fascinating, and art or expression (whatever you want to call it, story, maybe) was essential. I needed both.
While directing marketing and PR for a theatre, I found that my business background was greatly needed to provide the company with prospective and the practicality to grow. When I write for a FinTech company, the human and creative touches engage their clients. I have always sat in the middle of two worlds, and as an adult, I’ve found that middle ground is a market need that requires attention in any sector, and I’ve made my career combining the two.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While the road has certainly been privileged, with life-long access to the arts and a great education, it hasn’t been smooth emotionally. Everyone around me seemed to know exactly what they wanted to do and be – the one thing they would spend their time pursuing. Well, I wanted to do and be almost everything; I found all fields interesting and interconnected and could not, for the life of me, seem to pick just one. My peers just thought I wasn’t “driven” enough.
During school, this made finding my niche very difficult; I was not kowtowing to the Shark Tank dreams of the business school but needed too much security to wander the halls of the film or theatre departments. I felt like something was missing, or maybe some part of me was missing from every group I attached myself to. I couldn’t jump in with both feet because what if I needed them to run away to something else later?
During my first couple of corporate jobs in technical positions, I did fine, but I was listless. I would always take side work designing graphics or the company business cards. There had to be more, even just a little more.
It wasn’t until I had a corporate position in a creative organization, or vice versa that I learned that I didn’t have to choose one thing. I could become the bridge wherever I was. Finally, I could be all of me, and have a real career doing it – could even start my own business too.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I was always too scared to use the term creative. I felt like that belonged to people braver than myself. Eventually, though, the label kind of stuck to me. I added creativity to my environment as a necessity. I wrote an e-book with side characters and aesthetic pages, but the book was about personal branding, with industry-tested tips and a glossary of corporate keywords. I read all of the traditional marketing and branding books, I learned from them, but I wanted to make something that everyone could learn from, something, well… more creative… and thereby more accessible.
And that became my MO. The photographer for the financial company, the writer for the UX designer, the market researcher for the creative non-profit. Being the outsider on purpose, to tell a cohesive story. To show the big picture in high resolution.
I’m most proud of this ability to treat both the corporate and creative industries as twins. I see no difference; it’s just another story to tell. It has made me more patient with professionals, more excited to realize their vision in chrome or technicolor. This connective creativity has also, accidentally, made me a sometimes teacher and I think I’m, strangely, most proud of that. That I can create a better understanding in a way I would have wished for and make learning more engaging regardless of topic. That I can be that middle ground, I never saw growing up.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
You don’t have to be just one thing, but you do need to know how to convincingly tell your own story. In this odd timeline of AI and uncertainty, it’s probably better to be able to pivot careers without losing yourself. Find a kernal of exploration in whatever you do, and you’ll never be bored or lost. It’s not a destination, I think, your career is a map, and some of those X’s hold treasure and some just a pile of sand, but isn’t it worth it, to be come an adventurer?
Maybe during a season of your life, all you’ll want is security and that’s okay, seek it out, you don’t stop being a creator because you need peace to create. One day, you may have the energy to jump and go for it. Imagine the life you want, not the career. What do you want to be doing at 10 am on a Friday? Find that answer, and the right career will find you.
And always ask for help!
Pricing:
- Headshots in studio: $125
- Student Headshots in studio: $75
- E-Book $24 (on Etsy)
- Editorial Photography $125/hr
- Business/Marketing Consulting $80/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: www.morganholcombportfolio.com
- Instagram: @morganholcombvo
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1649108187/how-to-illuminate-and-market-your-motif?click_key=d3c9690e40867ed7e9b6e6e6f19ef5a135edb42d%3A1649108187&click_sum=418fe07a&ref=shop_home_active_1&fbclid=IwAR2Bajn_WdOxuZlKDXEjv0g0ioqc8hsvXKJj0-ynM8oigt4xW5iN5owolMU
