For this month’s Featured Entrepreneur of we are featuring Hope Glassel. Hope is a sophomore in marketing. Follow along in the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center’s interview with Hope to learn more about her. Check out Hope’s website here.
MJ: What is your driving passion?
Hope: Photography! My passion for photography is really driven by wanting to capture the beauty I see, and the way I see other artists capture the world.
MJ: What has your entrepreneurial journey looked like thus far? How did you get to where you are now?
Hope: Well, I started taking photos when I was 12 and started doing it for money as soon as I figured out I could, which was at 15. I started by taking senior portraits and by the time I was 17 I was taking on 40 clients a summer. I started making money faster than I ever imagined, and I realized I could be my own boss, and I just decided to run with it however I could. I started doing more creative work in my free time and posting it. I realized I really loved fashion work, and it started picking up traction on Instagram. Between commercial work and creative work, I was really exhausted and honestly felt overwhelmed a lot. I still do. I joke a lot that I haven’t clocked out of work since I was 15. But I’m crazy in love with it, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Pretty soon I was getting features in small magazines and seeing my work on feature pages and publications I’d idolized for years. Then Adidas Originals contacted me and I got to shoot on 2 campaigns, and I’ve just been trying to put as much of my time into it as I possibly can since and keep growing! I racked up around 110k on tiktok with photography content over quarantine, and now I’m working on doing more big brand partnerships.
MJ: Where do you hope to see yourself/your startup in a year? Five years?
Hope: In a year I hope to be shooting campaigns and brand deals with apparel companies like Urban Outfitters, Macy’s, Reebok, etc. In five years I’d like to be in New York or LA doing more of the same but bigger, better, and in higher production roles like creative directing and managing fashion marketing projects. I’d like to remain freelance, but I also wouldn’t mind a full time photography or creative direction role with a label.
MJ: If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Hope: Stop lowering your price for people, and stop trying to justify your worth. Take control of the narrative, be confident in your ability, and don’t work with people who don’t believe your time is worth what you know it is. And have a contract! When you’re young, people will try to take advantage of you. It’s so important to know your worth and protect yourself.
MJ: Is there anything else you would like to share or for people to know?
Hope: I get a lot of DM’s from people who ask me how to get started or how to start gaining traction or avoid making x or y mistake. If I can offer anything, it’s that you just have to do it. Stop waiting to get started, stop being afraid of messing up, if you love something just run with it. When you’re passionate about something and confident in your ability, people can sense that and they’ll want to work with you! Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Every time you mess up, you know what to do different next time. That’s just how you grow!
Hope Glassel is an artist and entrepreneur that has inspired everyone at the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center with her energy and professional work. Click here to learn more about Hope’s work, and help support her business, or follow her on Instagram at @hmgphoto.