Somewhere along the line, many of us started believing that simply participating in the industry meant the industry owed us something in return. We launch a business and expect customers. We become a model and expect followers. We start a podcast and expect listeners. We host an event and expect people to buy tickets. We publish a magazine and expect everyone to read it.

Every year, I watch talented people with incredible ideas work tirelessly to build something meaningful for this community. They spend months securing venues, finding sponsors, booking talent, promoting their events, and hoping people will show up.

There’s a conversation happening across the fashion and entertainment industry right now about AI, and honestly, some of y’all are only telling half of the story. The part that benefits you the most.

Some of you are incredibly talented. You have the product. You have the vision. You even have the audience. But where things start to fall apart is in how you show up, especially when it comes to customer interaction. Let’s talk about it.

There’s a phrase that continues to circulate in this industry like it still holds weight: “This will be great exposure.” At this point, most of us already know what that really means. It usually means there’s no budget.

Photographers, like anyone else in a creative field, have to learn somewhere. Nobody starts out perfect. But there’s an ongoing issue happening where some photographers are still learning and using paying clients as their practice.

Somewhere along the way, the modeling conversation got muddy.

Posting cute photos became “modeling.” Walking in a local show became “professional.” Getting booked once became a “career.” And while there’s nothing wrong with any of that, problems start when we claim that all of it is the same thing. It’s not.