Sophie Traynor-It’s not just what you know it’s who you know

Freelance photographer Sophie Traynor forwarded information surrounding the highs and lows of a freelance in the photographic industry and the importance of creating relationships with other creatives and maintaining this network of people to gain clients and commissions.

Sophie received her first job in the industry working for ‘Goregous Couture’ in 2014, which got her foot In the door within the fashion industry, the work she created wasn’t paid, however she emphasised that it was important to create this network of people in order to receive more comissions in the future.

Traynor became a full-time freelance in 2016, although she only had a few jobs, she highlighted how significant being kind to people along her journey had taken her, as maintaining these relationships was very beneficial as Traynor received many jobs through word of mouth and being recommended for commissions by friends and people she had worked with on other jobs.

Traynor also discussed how her freelance business was affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused her to have a breakdown due to a lack of creative motivation, however Traynor bounced back from this set back, and decided to move cities for a fresh start to help fuel her creativity once again, which allowed Sophie to launch her own studio in Liverpool.

The key points made throughout this talk was the importance of networking as this is how Traynor received many of her commissions due to being helpful and well mannered. Also Traynor expressed how stressful the freelance industry can be at times, and there will always be highs and lows, however if you can adapt to these issues, good things will come from it.