I went full-time freelance just over a year ago and nearly half of that time has been in relative quarantine. What a weird time to be working for myself! 

I have stayed positive and continued to put my offerings out there and not only has work come my way - I recently landed on somewhat of a dream opportunity - working with a professional production team and a majestic bunch of Seattle QTBIPOC artists to create a digital experience in the era of COVID-19.

Working with Washington Ensemble Theatre, Raja Feather Kelly, Dani Tirrell, and ten ingenious performance artists on this project has stretched my creativity and inspired me to set a new creative direction and intention for my freelance work. It's also inspired me to take on a new title - Video Artist.

I’m proud to announce that this project, Vote Art Vote, is premiering today through November 3rd, which you can view on your own time online at the link below. I am so honored and proud to have been a part of it and so excited for the public to see it ✨

"Vote Art Vote is a collection of newly conceived performances from Seattle artists. Directed by Raja Feather Kelly and co-curated by Dani Tirrell, each artist will create an unabashed piece of new work defending their artistic expression and urging audiences to remember the power a single voice (and vote) can hold. The pieces are a queer instigation of the often forgotten, often underserved, and most important part of our city—the art in the heart of Seattle."

“Just look at our videographer go. Amy L. Piñon is a magic maker. She is an emerging voice in the field of visual storytelling and has been deeply embedded in the arts and cultural scene her entire life. We can’t wait for you to see what she’s captured. Artists exist on both sides of the camera.” #WETVoteArtVote

Source: @theensemble

Hey ya’ll, sorry I’ve been dormant for a long time. 

As we navigate multiple public health crises - racism (yes, it’s a public health crisis), COVID-19, and the countless tragedies and compounded hardships of 2020 so far, it’s difficult to know how to move forward with a sense of purpose. 

We cannot ignore the ongoing inequities in our country, in our world - and at the same time it’s also important to recognize the recent achievements of organizing efforts. To name a few: The Dakota Access Pipeline has been shutdown, Minneapolis pledged to dismantle its police department, and the Black Lives Matter Movement is changing public opinion and mobilizing more people toward equitable policy changes than ever. 

As I’m reflecting on my own way forward, I took some time to revisit my Values & Purpose Statement for my freelance work.

I realized that I don’t think I’ve ever shared this Statement publicly, aside from with clients, and I need to make it transparent for personal accountability. Plus I’m just really happy to share it!

Looking at this statement with each new client tells them what I stand for, and reminds me of my commitment to anti-oppression in every single aspect of my process. 

Even if your place is not on the frontlines, we all have a role to play in fighting injustice, and one facet of that is to get clear about what you stand for. I hope this inspires others to examine your own uncompromising values and how these values inform what you support and what you don’t.

MY VALUES & PURPOSE STATEMENT

I am a filmmaker, photographer, audio engineer, and vocalist.

I come with a unique perspective to media production as a mixed-race womxn with years of experience working in and alongside youth arts nonprofits. As a visual storyteller, I have a responsibility to disrupt white saviorism in depictions of youth of color and uplift authentic representation of everyone’s stories by partnering with them in the storytelling process. 

I do this to bring people joy and authentic representations of themselves and to engage organizations in a powerful storytelling process that shows the impact of their programs.

I work with individuals, with a focus on uplifting womxn, BIPOC, and multiply marginalized identities, as well as organizations with a lived commitment to anti-racism and restorative transformation. 

I acknowledge that I live and work on the unceded and traditional territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, specifically the Duwamish Tribe. This acknowledgement is a personal commitment to continue to educate myself and to honor the history of Indigenous Peoples, and serves as a first step in honoring the land I occupy.

Hey there! I know it’s been a while. And I have so many updates, but I wanted to take a moment to address our current public health situation. I’ve been witnessing the economic impacts of the COVID-19 containment efforts on many organizations and individuals, especially nonprofits and freelancers who work primarily in events and productions. Thankfully I have still been able to finish shoots and even help a nonprofit who had to cancel their event with a last-minute video to release in lieu of their event. 

I’ve seen many stories of freelancers having all their work canceled and needing to adapt their services or take on different jobs to make money in order to survive. I am finding that I will likely need to make some adaptations as well, as many events and programs are being canceled indefinitely which means no events or programs to film or photograph, which equals no paycheck, or an extremely uncertain one. 

Please be sure to check in on your friends, family, neighbors, any self-employed folks that you know and support small local businesses that may be especially feeling the economic impact of canceled gatherings, lower foot traffic, and increased self-isolation.

Be attentive to the Public Health Authority’s recommendations to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and be responsible if you are in a decision-making authority for a large event. But event cancellations and social distancing do not mean you have to stay isolated. Check in with your people through our many modes of communication, including in-person. 

And because you’re here on my newsletter/blog, please support me by referring any organizations you know who may need video support to boost their visibility in lieu of a cancelled event, or anyone wanting to do a personal photo shoot as the weather gets nicer! 

Lastly, I made a new business Instagram! Please support by following me there for the updates and a look into all the great projects I’ve been working on lately. 

Stay healthy and safe, but also calm.

Please hit “reply” to respond to this letter, tell me how you’re navigating COVID-19, how it’s affected you or your business, or any other thoughts to share. I’d love to hear from you. And I will be sharing more updates soon!

📣 I just launched a new business IG!

It’s almost the end of the (calendar and fi$cal) year, and I’ve been reflecting on what the heck happened so I can adjust and re-align for the one ahead.

I don’t have a fancy annual report (but you know it’s in the cards for next year), so here’s a list of accomplishments in numbers.

Photo by Christina Nguyen

In 2019, I did:

14 photo shoots total (events and portraits)

5 photo shoots since officially starting my business in September

3 event/live performance video shoots

2 creative concept video shoots

2 video production contracts signed to start 2020 strong

8 original live music performances (including the once-in-a-lifetime Seattle Rock Lottery!)

Of course, the best things aren’t measured in numbers, but in experiences and actions. I left my Board Presidency at The Vera Project in February and ascended the nonprofit complex completely by leaving Arts Corps and re-emerging as a full-fledged freelancer. I completed an incredible healing and somatics-based Make/Shift freelance course with Devon de Leña, which taught me how to thrive as a freelancer and connected me to some powerful peers. And I could fill pages and pages about all the beautiful art exhibitions, performances, and films I witnessed this year. 

At this time last year, I wasn’t thinking about going freelance - and in fact I didn’t even think it was ever something I could reasonably do. I’m eternally grateful for every ounce of support I’ve received from family and friends - even if not everyone exactly understands what I’m doing! Your unconditional faith in me, your continued encouragement, and your referrals have made this possible - literally, your referrals MAKE my business possible - so I can’t thank you enough.

I’ve never really been one to make resolutions for the new year, and due to my perfectionistic nature, these types of lists can get out of hand and overly-stressful. I want to do cool fun new things but I often prevent myself from moving forward because of fear of the unknown, not feeling justified to spend a little money on myself, or just being too tired and discouraged. When I start to feel discomfort, I tend to walk away instead of facing it, and then opportunities come and go, and may not come back again. So instead of making resolutions I will make an intention to guide my decisions from this moment forward:

I will trust my intuition, and I will lean into my discomfort. 

I’m looking forward to seeing how this will manifest in my personal and professional endeavors in 2020. And I WILL be reporting back on this intention in future blogs and with friends to hold myself accountable. 

So tell me, what intention will you set to guide your 2020 vision (pun intended) for yourself? Drop me a line and let me know if you want an accountability buddy ;)

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First of all - I just turned 28! 🥳✨

It’s been three months since I left my nonprofit job and started pursuing my life as a full-time freelancer! This has been a very exciting move but I want to get real with you for a minute. I feel like I’m still recovering from the effects of nonprofit life, and a regular work life in general.

I have never been a morning person - and I mean NOT AT ALL. If I don’t have to be somewhere, I won’t usually start my day until about noon. And although my schedule has always been flexible - when working a desk job as well as now -  I realized that I harbor a lot of shame around not being able to conform to the traditional capitalistic “9-to-5” schedule of productivity.  

Even at a day job, it’s always been hard for me to “turn off” my working mind and to “leave work at work.” But that’s a whole other blog post.

Becoming aware of my thought and behavior patterns around “productivity” or “working” time (or lack thereof) is helping me embrace my internalized guilt. I’ve come to accept that I’m often more externally motivated rather than internally motivated, which means that I’m more likely to be accountable to someone else’s expectation rather than my own (!) Being my own boss (in work and in life), I’m dealing with this by setting clear deadlines for a project that a client can hold me accountable to, or making plans in advance to go workout with a friend, rather than tell myself I’ll do it if I feel like it. 

Source: The Cosmic Feminist

Additionally, setting boundaries such as only checking and responding to work emails during set hours, and turning off distracting media after a certain time are things I’m still working on, but that I know are integral to my wellbeing as a freelancer. 

And then let’s talk about the constant feeling of being an “imposter” - that I’m not actually that great at what I do, despite past achievements, and that other people are more qualified than me, so why should I try? 

I’ve noticed that the people around me experiencing the most success at what they do aren’t worried about the illusion of perfection - they are just DOING, CREATING, and PUTTING THEMSELVES OUT THERE, actively.  And by doing this, they show others (and themselves) that they are beyond capable of everything they set out to do. Not imposters at all.

At the end of the day, I know that I cannot fail. I know that I’ve absolutely made the right decision to be my own boss and to never look back at a life that had me constantly stressed, burnt-out, and hung-up on others’ needs over my own. 

Being a freelancer means I’m able to develop the schedule, methods, and means of productivity that work best for ME, in order to live my passions in the best way possible.

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