Meet Tiffany Chen | Founder & Brand Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tiffany Chen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiffany, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Initially, I knew I wanted to pursue product photography and that I wanted to worked with brands that had a similar ethos – values on sustainability and using natural non-toxic materials. However, that was still not niche enough to really stand out in the increasingly competitive field of product photography. I decided to focus on the skincare, beauty, and wellness industries not just because their products tended to align with my own values, but also because their encouragement of self care practices and focus on wellbeing was a message I felt I could convey well, based on personal experiences. I also chose to narrow in on small businesses and startups, approaching with my services from less of a sales-motivated perspective and more of an empathetic-based approach. As a fellow small business owner, I understood that they often needed to fill in various roles, content creation often being one of them. I wanted to create services that would be able to help them out since I know how daunting and how much pressure there is to have to constantly create high-quality content for social media and other sales channels. I like to think of Tiff Tiff Studio as a creative support system for small businesses.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
My career started off in the fashion industry. Prior to starting Tiff Tiff Studio, I spent nearly ten years as a fashion designer. After a few years in, I was beyond burnt out – physically, mentally, and emotionally and knew this was not a sustainable path for me. Curious to learn new hobbies, I took a workshop to learn the basics of how to operate a digital camera using manual settings, and my photography career snowballed from there.

Within a week of the workshop, I booked my first shoot ever – for a fashion influencer. One client introduced me to another client, who would introduce me to several others. Pretty soon, I was doing upwards of 2-5 shoots a week, all while maintaining my full time job in fashion.

Fast forward two years, and I finally got the courage to leave my day job to pursue other areas of design and photography. My first attempt at starting a studio and working for myself absolutely crashed and burned – I was back in fashion just nine months later, with all my savings depleted. I worked tirelessly for another few years until I turned 30 and the pandemic occurred. It was a combination of these life events that got me (and many others) thinking differently about what I wanted out of my life. I had delved back into a perpetual state of burnout but I was even more scared this time to quit and work for myself based on what I perceived as a total failure from my last attempt.

Ultimately, I knew having my own freedom and flexibility were my priorities so it still felt worth it to give it another try. The best lesson I’ve learned is that sometimes it does take a few tries to get to where you want to be, and therefore success is not binary. Just because I had to walk away the first time does not mean it was a failure.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
A bit hard to say…because I just moved back to LA less than 6 months ago after being away for 15 years.

Mexican food is a must-try in LA. I don’t have any specific recommendations other than to aim for hole-in-the-wall places or street stands that often have the best offerings. Bonus points for being located in a strip mall.

There are also quite a few nice museums focusing on modern and contemporary art – many of them are also free of charge! Hammer Museum, The Broad, and LACMA are a few that are on my list.

I’m honestly not much of a beach person, but I do have to say that catching a sunset with your toes in the sand and the sounds of the rising tide echoing around you does wonders for your mental health.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout is to all of the other fellow female founded small businesses out there. These were the businesses that first took a chance on me and became my first clients. Without them, Tiff Tiff Studio would not be here today.

Website: tifftiffstudio.com

Instagram: @tifftiff_studio

Youtube: @tifftiffstudio