For the second article of the Just Getting Started Series, I talked with
Andy Conner: Photographer, Website Designer, Philosopher, budding Mycologist, and more.
Andy and I met freshman year of college, when we connected on our shared interest of skimboarding. We quickly became good friends and lived together sophomore year.
Andy is a deep, intelligent thinker and has a way of challenging and opening your perspective. We spent a lot of time in deep conversation in college and I always appreciate the opportunity to talk to him.
In college, he picked up a GoPro camera and started taking pictures of the tubes (inside) of waves. That passion slowly evolved and he began to upgrade his equipment and the scope of his photography. He now takes photos of some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the country:
But, his interests and career pursuits don't stop there.
He has a knack for pursuing his passion and figuring out how they can make money for him. He has a great perspective on his career(s) and life, and I can't wait for you all to read his interview below. Enjoy!
1. You grew up in the foothills of Western NC. How do you think that environment influenced you from an early age?
It’s incredibly spread out here. I lived (and still live) almost a mile down a winding gravel road overlooking the local mountains with a large creek running straight through my property. I don’t think there ever was a time where I was inside for more than 3 or 4 hours. I was, and still am, constantly outside. We have around 20 acres of untouched woods and are situated next to a horse riding trail system that spans over 30 miles. My love for nature started here and allowed me to explore until my legs fell off. It showed me the importance of being able to be alone in nature - something a lot of people are unfamiliar with. It’s a beautiful feeling and one that can teach you many lessons in how you conduct your life.
2. What was your criteria when you were picking a college to attend? What ultimately took you to UNCW?
I was really into running when I graduated high school, as you and I have discussed many times. It was a bug that bit me for several years of my life and something I still treasure today. I was looking for a school that had a track program that I could compete with realistically. Location was also somewhat important as well. I had narrowed it down to the University of Montana - Bozeman, High Point University and UNC-Wilmington - all of them had wonderful track programs that I felt weren’t too far out of my reach and offered something enticing for me academically. Montana and High Point were the first to go because of the amount of tuition involved, so I “settled” on UNCW. I say “settled” in quotations because I think it was a perfect choice and it just happened to be what the universe wanted me to do anyhow. I can’t think of a better place that I could have gone to study. In fact, within a few months of being there I completely forgot about running full time for the school. I wanted to actually experience college and meet as many people as I could - and I did!
3. If I remember correctly, you started out in the business school. We had some great times in that ECON class. At some point, you decided to pursue a major in Philosophy. I think that major, to a lot of people, is followed by the question "what are you going to do with that?" Why did you choose to pursue philosophy? And did that type of question about career prospects bother you?
Ultimately, that question did take up a lot of my mental space for quite some time. During my final years of schooling, I was very passionate about philosophy and the aspect of questioning everything, in a sense. I had been through a lot in a very short amount of time, losing a close friend in an unfortunate accident and getting dumped by a girlfriend who I had grown very attached to at the time. It shook me up very much. I started to question everything around me and realized that studying business was not something that I authentically could relate to on a deeper level. I wanted to do something that I knew was true to myself - regardless of what someone else said.
Originally, I was wanting to be a professor at a university. Teaching had always been intriguing to me, but I knew it was going to take several more years of schooling in order to make that a reality, and even then the prospects were slim. It didn’t bother me though. I wanted to head west and explore places that I had been dreaming about for years. I knew that it would work out in the end, but I just wasn’t quite sure how.
I was fortunate enough to teach myself how to make websites by building my own eCommerce platform to sell my photography prints on during college. I knew that could at least make me some money later on down the line and sure enough, I landed a great job with a wonderful design agency soon after arriving in Oregon. It was enough to keep me afloat while I explored the surrounding area of the Pacific Northwest with camera in tow.
4. What did you learn in your philosophy major that you’ve applied most frequently in your early career?
There’s a wonderful two-sidedness to philosophy that I think a lot of people overlook. Particularly later on in my studies, it taught me to look at all sides of a situation, regardless of what you may believe in to be right at first. Ultimately, it allowed me to realize that in order to really thrive in life, one has to be open to everything. I cherish that saying and try to live my life as free as possible.
It also taught me to be very observant of things. There’s nothing like taking a step back and looking at the broader picture every once in a while (PUN INTENDED HAHAHA). It’s a beautiful feeling when you can feel small. I try to force my mind into that space every day if I can. It really dials in how you should be living and you seem to not waste as much time worrying about things that don’t matter when you think that way.
5. What would a current Andy Conner say to a 2016 Andy Conner just graduating school?
"You are exactly where you need to be. Don’t get attached to things so easily and learn to live more presently. 99% of the things that you worry about never happen anyhow, so why are you wasting your time on them?”
6. Talk to us about your career path so far from graduation to now.
After graduating, I gave away most of my things and road tripped across the country to Oregon with my best friend on a whim. We were dreamers and obsessed with taking photographs and we knew that life out west was something we deserved to experience, even if only for a short while.
As mentioned previously, my first real-world gig out of college was at a design agency on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon shortly after arrival. It was a wonderful foot-in-the-door experience that allowed me to connect and meet so many incredible and intelligent people. I stayed there for 3 years or so and learned enough tricks of the trade to start designing my own websites and eCommerce platforms under my own name. I gained enough customer service experience dealing with larger clients and felt confident enough to take on my own.
Meanwhile, my photography business never stopped. The hobby-turned-part-time job allowed me to travel to the most incredible locations on this continent all while being able to have the freedom of working from home in-between. I have curated a very precise portfolio of my favorite images ever captured and offer a wide variety of fine art prints for homes, businesses and office spaces. It has taken years of finessing to get the right printing companies and methods of selling to the consumer but I am still learning something new every day and that is all that counts. I have hopes of one day offering private photo tours into the backcountry of some these remote lands that I capture so that others can enjoy, learn and capture the beautiful places that I congregate to. I want others to enjoy my work as much as I do and selling art is the perfect way to do that.
I recently teamed up with Dylan Gilbert, President and Founder of Public Lands United Cleanup, to help with the marketing and web design of this amazing nonprofit organization. Dylan travels around the United States cleaning up trash from public land areas, recycling and properly disposing of other peoples litter left behind. So far, as of this writing, he has traveled over 70,000 miles and cleaned up over 18,000 pounds of trash. It is a humongous issue in the outdoors and one that I felt was absolutely necessary to correct. I reached out to him in the early months of 2020 to see how I could help and shortly thereafter became the Chief Marketing Officer of the 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization PLUC (Public Lands United Cleanup). We have incredible plans for the future of this company and are excited to be embarking on this never-ending journey of cleaning up the Earth one trash bag at a time. The fun is just starting!
Additionally, while staying close to home during the pandemic, I have taken to collecting wild mushrooms that grow around my property. I became infatuated with the incredible diversity of edible species that surrounded me and decided to pursue some side income as a wild mushroom forager for local restaurants and chefs in Western North Carolina and beyond. I’m in the midst of receiving my official certificate from an FDA licensed partner after taking an intensive short-term course on Mycology and preparation of wild mushrooms for culinary use. The certificate will grant me access to pretty much the entire East Coast of the United States (and soon the midwest) to sell dried or fresh wild mushrooms. I’ve created an eCommerce gateway for doing so that is still in the works and am extremely excited about the opportunity. It’s called Chatraka (Sanskrit for mushroom). Coming soon!
Finally, I am also training part-time with my dad who is a licensed general contractor of 45 years. He is a true craftsman of beautiful custom homes and I felt as though his lifetime wealth of incredible knowledge was too good to pass up. I have been shadowing him on several projects and helping him with renovations, remodels and additions to houses in the area. He needed the extra help and I felt that if I could eventually learn to build my own house, that would be pretty cool too right? It puts a little extra cash in my pocket and allows me to have yet another opportunity to have some diversity in my life. Plus it is something I have always wanted to do and what’s the fun of ignoring that craving?
As you can see, I have several “careers” (if you can put it that way). I have many passions in this life and to narrow them down to just one is such a dreadful task - I question if it is even necessary? I see that the more avenues in life that you take, the more opportunities that you will have in life and the more stability you have when things get rough in one field.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having just one career at all. Some people absolutely flourish this way. I was immediately turned off by the idea of this and decided that having many wonderful “mini-careers” was right up my alley. My schedule is incredibly flexible, I work when I want (which is usually often) but I enjoy the hell out of it. To me, that’s all that matters. Why should I dread each day? If I am, I question whether or not I have the energy to change my circumstances. More often than not, the answer is yes.
7. Of most people I know, your post-college journey has been the most unique. You pursue your passions and remain connected with the things that bring you joy. How do you view your relationship with your career? What does success look like to you?
In my opinion, one’s career is a symbiotic relationship with their own life. My career is essentially the most prominent aspect of my living - it is essentially what I am gong to be putting the most amount of my precious time to and where I can make the most impact to others. With that being said, I feel as though the career(s) that I choose must directly correlate with my ability to leave the world better than I found it. How can I make a living but also help others whilst (while?) doing so? Is it the best that I could possibly do? That is the question that I heavily consider every day when doing the things that I love (and making money while doing so). To me, that is the most selfless way of living and one that is extremely important in our ever-so egotistical society.
Success to me has nothing to do about power, position or money. I feel as though those traits are extremely limiting to an individual and if I fall prey to them I am simply following others and not doing justice to my own passions. Money obviously has to be made, and at a steadfast rate, or else I will fall behind financially - that is a given. However, a majority of people these days are so focused on making more money than they will actually ever need, I feel as though they lose sight of the importance of their passions and careers. They are so focused on the ending that they forgot to read and enjoy the actual story!
To me, success is simple: doing what I absolutely love to do and doing it as careful and compassionate as possible. If I have a million dollars and a house on the beach but I am absolutely miserable working all the time, what good does that do? To me, it’s about having a carefully curated profession(s) that you obsess about and that you would be doing if money were no object at all. It sounds absolutely insane, but the drive to make money will come naturally and blissfully if I'm doing something I absolutely adore.
As I'm sure you can tell, Andy has a refreshing perspective on what a career means to him. He is willing to challenge the status quo and ask himself how he WANTS to spend his time, rather than accepting a path culture throws in front of him. While some folks value the stability of a traditional one-career path, Andy views his career differently in that it's a representation of how he wants to live his life.
I think there are some significant lessons to take from Andy here:
- Your major in college does not have to be the "safe" choice. Feel comfortable being honest with yourself in what you're interested in. After all, only 27% of people are working in jobs related to their undergrad major.
- In life, you have to stay open to things. It's hard to identify opportunities when you're close minded. Andy has carried that lesson from his Philosophy major into his career, and it shows. I've found that to be true in my own career, as well. Keep your eyes and mind open and continue opening doors until something clicks.
- Don't feel the need to prescribe to the traditional one-career path. It is for some people, but if there is something you are deeply passionate about, pursue it. It's easy to get scared out of it when the costs of living become apparent and culture is pressuring you in one direction. But a one-field career is not the only way to make money. And as Andy says "the drive to make money will come naturally and blissfully if I'm doing something I absolutely adore."
There is a lot more to take from Andy's words, but I'll let you do that for yourself. After all, we view everything through our own lenses, so don't limit your understanding of his messages to my three takeaways above.
Thanks again to Andy for his time. If you want to add some remarkable art to your home, please make sure to check out his website:
Andy Conner Photography.
If you'd like to describe to receive a monthly email with the Just Getting Started Articles I publish, please subscribe below.