Have you ever questioned whether your path to credibility is taking too long? Or whether a branding reset is worth your time? Ollie Watkins’ journey is one of patience, self-awareness and branding done with intention. From cringe posts to Premier League sidelines, every lesson and break became a turning point.
Ollie Watkins is a 22-year-old freelance photographer from Bedfordshire, who now shoots Premier League football games. From Chelsea, to Leicester City and even the Emirates FA Cup matches, Ollie has seen it all. Whilst he is living his dream, it took nothing less than 2,155 days to get there, self-taught and all. During this time Ollie navigated through different genres and subjects of photography, from cityscape to jewellery shots. His journey reveals how deliberate and emotionally intelligent branding is synonymous with a professional, credible artist.
“After school I worked in a warehouse for two years, and every penny went into starting my business. It seemed like there was no real career yet, I was just making sure I had the foundations.
“I was shooting all the time after work, mainly as it was my passion. But because of getting out there and shooting so often, my work was getting better and I was learning new things all the time.”
We all know that being young, branding yourself or keeping professional aren’t necessarily priorities. Even though Ollie had a sense of this proactive mentality, he would define his older work as cringe, one post changed everything for him.
“During my later teenage years people started seeing value in my work so I thought I’d start marketing myself on Instagram.
“I made a video and it blew up, I got a lot of followers for it. It was a really cringy trend that didn’t capture what I wanted to put out so I eventually deleted it,” Ollie said.
Feeling retrospective embarrassment over something we posted whether it was a drunk Insta post or a TikTok dance from years ago is unfortunately a feeling many are familiar with. Ollie took this toe curling video as a branding life lesson, and probably deleted it a bit quicker than we all did.
“From that video I didn’t post for ages because it taught me very quickly about the kind of content I wanted to put out and how I wanted to present myself to possible clients.”
“I had a break from social media, and in this time I was still watching tutorials, getting inspiration and shooting everyday, but I was also gaming as it’s a hobby of mine. I met a couple of footballers through gaming and asked if I could come and shoot one of his games.
“He kept saying ‘no, no’ , so I followed his teammates and got in touch. Jordan Brown from Leyton Orient reached out and this is when my career really started.”
Ollie has quickly learnt that deletion and rejection can lead to realignment: “Taking breaks when I wasn’t producing the right branding for myself is one of the best things I did.
“I could’ve started premier league shoots months before but it’s good that I didn’t, because my break allowed me to not only brand myself and find the right clients for me, but it also meant my work was six months better.”
Ollie spoke to us about how there is no ‘correct’ way to brand yourself online: “It’s not education, it’s genuinely just doing what I did, practise and network with others in the industry.
“I’ve been paid to do courses for people, have them assist me on shoots and take them through setting themselves up. To be honest it feels like a waste in some sense, because in the creative industry it doesn’t make sense to me to educate, trial and error, making mistakes is what really shapes you and contributes massively to your journey.”
Along with visual promotion, Ollie said that most of his clients now trust him for his network that he has built strong relationships with over the years. He believes this has a role in his credibility.
“Although taking breaks helped me spend time on better branding, it also allowed me to focus on rapport between myself and my clients and handling myself professionally.
“When people look at my profile now, they can see how many mutuals I have with them and it makes them instantly feel that I am a credible photographer and have trust in what I do.”
Accepting mistakes can be difficult, especially when you know the passion behind what you do. As a result of acceptance, it becomes easier to be open with yourself and your clients.
“Everything on my journey has come at a natural time, as I’ve recognised mistakes and given myself the opportunity to grow from them.
“In this time, learning about creating client conversations and pushing myself to be more professional through social media by rebranding myself to seem more clean cut and respectable.”
Ollie’s story is proof that building a creative brand for yourself isn’t about getting it right the first time round, growth often starts with a little embarrassment and a lot of persistence.