You are not your gear.
Don’t let your gear become your identity.
Look — I like nice gear. Probably more than most.
But I hate when creatives use their gear as a major selling point for their art or work.
If you want to get paid as a creative, your gear is a tool. It exists to solve problems and add value. That’s it.
The person paying you doesn’t give a fuck about anything else.
This applies to any creative discipline, but I’ll give you an example.
I hire cinematographers, and there was this weird period a few years back where shooters thought owning a RED camera (a high-end cinema camera) entitled them to get work on that fact alone.
“Hey, I’ve got a RED Dragon.”
So? What can you do with it?
Look — I’d rather hire a dude shooting on a potato who can communicate and deliver a result, than some muppet who just happens to own a nice camera.
And yes — nice gear is nice.
I did this myself when I was a musician. I used to buy the nicest gear — the nicest guitars.
BUT —
I know plenty of people who could make a beat-up $500 no-name guitar sound infinitely better than me playing a $5,000 Gibson Custom.
It’s not your gear — it’s what you do with it.
Now look — if you’re a professional creative, you should have professional gear.
(Quick side note: I was getting tattooed yesterday, and the artist next to mine was setting up a tattoo gun that was a $120 rip-off piece of shit from Temu. The real one costs about $3.5k.)
And I told my artist, “Don’t ever fucking tattoo me with a $120 gun.”
So no — I’m not saying use shit gear.
BUT here’s the trap:
Don’t make it everything.
In fact, it’s often best to just keep your mouth shut about it.
Also — don’t let not having the best gear stop you from creating either.
Another example:
I once had a photographer working for me. Talented guy.
He bought one of the first Canon R6 cameras when it came out.
Well — the fucker never shut up about it. It was all he talked about.
And sure, being excited is cool. But picture this:
A client hires him to shoot a portrait. He takes the shot, then starts saying things like:
“Wow, the screen is so clear.”
“Look at how crisp this is.”
“Look at the detail.”
“The action is so smooth.”
“The autofocus… blah blah blah.”
You think the client gave two shits?
No.
He should’ve been speaking in the language of outcomes:
“You look amazing in this photo.”
“Look how confident you come across.”
“Your wife’s going to love this one.”
“This is going to look great on your website.”
“Your Tinder profile’s about to light up.”
Solutions-focused. Outcome-oriented.
You’re here, as a creative, to be a conduit — turning ideas into reality.
Getting paid as a creative means creating things that solve problems.
Did Rembrandt ever credit his career to the brand of paintbrush he used?
Did Hemingway praise the model of pencil he wrote with?
Did Michelangelo endorse a brand of chisel… or a model of nunchucks he used?
Fuck no.
Use your tools — don’t be a tool.
You are the art.
You are the creative.
Don’t let what you have become who you are.
Until next time, keep creating.
