Episode 299: Creative Risk, Reinvention & Finding Joy in the Pivot | Taylor O’Sullivan | Founder of Culterra
Photographer and filmmaker Taylor O’Sullivan joins Kara to talk about the pivots, risks, and lessons that come with a creative career. After burnout and a major professional reset, Taylor stepped away from a demanding commercial film job and slowly rebuilt a life that honors joy, artistry, and freedom. They talk about traveling solo, being open to reinvention, navigating creative insecurity, and the value of taking your time. If you’ve ever questioned your path or wondered how to restart on your own terms, this episode offers clarity, honesty, and inspiration.
This episode explores creative entrepreneurship, personal reinvention, and leading with curiosity.
“Your network is everything. All of my businesses have been word of mouth and I want to help others do what lights them up, too.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
(00:00:00) – Meet Taylor O’Sullivan
(00:03:01) – Burnout, Quitting, and the First Pivot
(00:10:25) – Traveling Alone & Learning to Slow Down
(00:18:40) – Rebuilding Her Creative Life from Scratch
(00:27:15) – From Control to Curiosity: Creative Growth
(00:34:00) – Letting Go of the Timeline
(00:41:45) – What’s Next for Taylor O’Sullivan
One of the reasons that we were down in southern Italy is that I have wanted to get a very specific shot of a beach in Puglia for three years. We've actually been back to this exact beach and finally the weather was correct. The light was correct. And so I was able to capture a shot that I've really been fantasizing about for almost four years.
That's Taylor O'Sullivan. I'm Kara Duffy and this is the Powerful Ladies Podcast. Well, we've already started chatting, so let's go back and kind of tell everyone your name, where you are in the world, and what you're up to.
My name is Taylor O'Sullivan. I'm in Laguna Beach, California, and I'm up to making art. I just got back, actually, from a month long shoot in Europe. I'm shooting a new collection, and we were in Italy, Albania, Greece shooting nature scenes and some really specific shots that I've wanted to achieve, actually. It's funny because some of my photography happens very organically. It's very in the moment. The opportunity presents itself. I take the shot. It's just like this effortless experience. And then other times, it's totally the opposite of that. So, one of the reasons that we were down in Southern Italy is that I have wanted to get a very specific shot of a beach in Puglia for three years. And we've actually been back to this exact beach. This is the third. year in a row. And finally the weather was correct. The light was correct. And so I was able to capture a shot that I've really been fantasizing about for almost four years. So it was a great trip.
Congratulations. Thank you. There's like, there is, there's that pressure when you have this visualization and you are like, I will fight tooth and nail to make this happen because I know it can.
Yes. You can picture it in your mind's eye, but sometimes it's just not possible to execute it in that moment. And, you know, whether, and there's just all kinds of external situations that affect it. So.
Oh, yes. Well, I love that when we met, we met at the Kennedy Contemporary Center when we did a happy hour with Victoria there. And I was surprised, but not surprised that you and I have such so much overlapping background that there's almost no way we haven't been in meetings or on location and just not known that we were both there at the same time.
I completely agree.
So, because we both have space past lives in action sports, I moved to California to work for DC, which quickly became working for Quicksilver Roxy, like the whole board writers kind of group. And you were doing shoots for them. Is that correct? Yes. Thanks.
Yeah, I used to work on one of my first jobs in L. A. when I was in my early 20s was for a TV show on MTV called Nitro Circus. It was all action sports. It was so much fun. I'm, I know I look like a put together woman, but I'm secretly a tomboy inside. And so I actually loved working on Nitro Circus. It was a great crew. It was a lot of fun. We worked hard, but we had a lot of fun.
No. And I love that environment. So my background in streetwear and then action sports, I think I was drawn to it, but, and also loved it so much because we were always challenged to say yes to the crazy idea and the crazier it was, the more we were like, Ooh, okay.
That just made it, you know, a bigger level of bigger extremes. Like that became attractive to the marketing team, the product teams, and That's how I am now programmed, and it's hard to remember how much of that was like who I am on my own versus how much it just became ingrained in me, because every business I've ever had has been, that sounds awesome, or ridiculous, and then, or it's been, that sounds dumb, like we have to fix that.
So those are the two places that I kind of go back and forth between, but that environment fed it so much. And when you're working with people like Travis or Rob Dyrdek or any of the other guys in this space who are always like, well, why not? That sounds fun. If it's fun, we should do it. And then there's always the logistic people who you can see the color in their face strain a little bit.
Like how in the fuck are we going to get that done? How are we going to get the lawyers to say yes? How are we going to get insurance to say yes?
It's next level. So how did you make the jump from working on the production side and doing shoots with them to moving into your own art photography business?
Yeah, so it's been a long journey. I've worked in film and photography for almost 15 years. And so I started out More on the film side. I went to film school and immediately after graduating from college, I got a wild job opportunity where I moved to Thailand to be the photographer and videographer for a travel company.
And so I basically lived on six week tours of Thailand. It was a Canadian company. Wow. And I think I was 20 or 21 years old and you know, living in Southeast Asia for A year and just absolutely fell in love with documentary style photography and videography. And I'm really energized by working with what I have available to me.
So there's sort of, there's many different types of film and photography and studio lighting and studio. And I really thrive in an environment where I've got natural light. These are the things in front of me. These are the things that I can control, which are very few of those factors. And how can I make something beautiful in that scenario?
And so a year straight of taking photos and videos of people essentially on vacation, having the best time of their life in Thailand was a really great exercise. And then after that experience, I Moved around the world for a couple of years. I lived on and off in Europe for several years, and then did the more traditional film route did the kind of Hollywood movies and TV shows and had a lot of fun with that too.
So I had a really exciting career in film. And how I started to get more into photography was that normally when I would go into the field or on location for a shoot, whether it was a TV show or documentary, I would always bring a camera, usually a 35 millimeter film camera just for fun, kind of for me.
It was, it always felt like film was my work and that's where I was very focused and sort of what I specialized in. And then photography was like what I would do for me if I had an off day or maybe I'd wake up an hour early and go walk around by myself and do street photography of locals. And I always did that just for my own enjoyment.
And so over the course of about a decade, I traveled to a 60 countries. I made some made some serious moves and got to see so many amazing parts of the world. And in some cases with really rare access, right? If we were like I worked on a documentary in Egypt for several years, and we had insane access to sites that people normally wouldn't.
be able to go to. And so I would always, you know, be first and foremost focused on working on the film and the client but then also grabbing a couple of stills. And so I sort of amassed this quiet collection over the course of a decade that I never really shared with anybody. I always you know, I just had it for me.
And the first time that I ever printed my work was actually a long time ago. It was in 2008. I was working on my first documentary. In cameroon africa, it was a documentary for pbs way back in the day. I was 18 years old And I remember shooting. This is a digital camera shooting and then producing like a coffee table book When apple computers used to allow you to buy coffee table books, I don't remember Remember that through iphoto And I remember getting that book and seeing all of my photography printed For the first time and it was intoxicating.
It was so real and tangible and I really loved that feeling and it actually took me like 15 years to act to take that feeling and then turn it into. another business of mine. And so that's where I'm at today. I work as a fine art photographer and a commercial photographer. So I still do shoot commercially for clients and things like that.
But what I'm really energized by right now is fine art photography. And that's, that's where the collection came from.
Well, and you just had such a big week of having two press moments, which is, you know, unheard of for the, like, it's what a year. It's been five months. Five months. Okay. We started June 1st. Okay, so five months since you've launched this new part of your business, officially to the world, even if it was percolating. And you already have two media mentions and, and profiles in very important magazines for Are you doing the PR yourself? Is it, are you using your network? Are you working with an agency?
Yeah, I hired right when I started Culterra, I knew that I wanted to launch in a really big way. I think that first impressions are everything. And so I hired an agency, a PR agency, that I absolutely love. They're dear friends. And so they helped for the first couple months. And it's just been a huge Great way to meet my target audience to be interior designers and homeowners.
And there's just so much, I guess you could say there's so much to go around in Southern California that it feels like there's so much abundance here. And I'm so grateful that these publications have, you know, enjoyed the story and are interested in profiling me and Colpera.
I don't think that Orange County is getting enough credit for the level of entrepreneurship that is here. Like you hear a lot about Boston is such a great place to start a business or Detroit and you're like, what? But I, and I'm also so pigeonholed and biased in a sense that this is my whole world. So I'm mostly talking to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Like it's, it's the magnet that I have created, but even just randomly stumbling upon people, like there's so much small business happening here.
And. Most of the attention goes to the huge corporations that are also based here. And I think it's a missed opportunity to realize what a great environment it is for small business owners, because there's everyone here likes to support and help and uplift each other. It's actually quite easy to create great things with people you like here.
I couldn't agree more. What, like, what has your experience been as pivoting into this business space?
You know, I think because I've always worked freelance or had my own business, whether it was film and now photography I've always been an entrepreneur. So I think that I've always been really open and have always thought my community for support, and it has always delivered.
And especially since launching Culterra in Laguna Beach, where I live, I think specifically for art, the community of Laguna Beach is just So supportive, so enthusiastic. And you're right. There's so many entrepreneurs here. I feel like the environment is that I know all of my neighbors. I know my community and we will support one another.
And coming from the film industry where it's a little bit more cutthroat, it's a little bit more, the energy is What can you do for me? I think that for me being based in Laguna is such a great foundation because it's, this is where I come to relax. Like this is where my nervous system resets is in Laguna.
It's so peaceful here, but also the community is so strong. And I, I totally agree with you that there's so many wonderful and powerful entrepreneurs here that Maybe people don't know about. So thank you for helping illuminate them.
My pleasure. But I just selfishly, like my people are creative entrepreneurs.
And having worked in the spaces I did, I was always like the ambassador or translator between the boardroom and the designer. And I'm a design school dropout, which I'm actually quite proud of because I went after I did my MBA, and I was like, I don't think I need to know all this to do what I want. I actually was confident to leave design school when I realized designers in fashion were not in charge, like the product managers and strategists were, and I'm like, oh, well, I want to be in charge, so we'll just stop.
I can draw on my own time. And, but it's, In that role of like being able to keep illuminate people in their zone of genius for entrepreneurs It's just as important as in the corporate environments because it's so easy for the soul of something to disappear or to build a business where You have built your own prison, and I just want to protect people from that.
Like I, we could easily have a dinner party and have a table full of people who, if we all work together, everyone's business would be able to elevate. And I don't think we realize we can tap into that enough. Or I think we might, but I think many people starting businesses don't realize that their network is going to be what makes or breaks.
I think the network is everything. It's all, you know, all of my business has always been word of mouth. It's about the people that you know. And I know that I want to support when I see, I think my favorite thing is, Seeing people do what lights them up. That is like my favorite thing. And so when I get to see that in other people, I'm like, whatever I can do to help, let me know.
How can I connect you with this person? What do you think about this? Have you ever considered that? And I think the point that you bring up about having maybe a dinner party. with people from all walks of life, different industries. That's something that I've realized in the last couple of years, moving more into fine art and out of traditional film is that I want to know people that, and I am part of several women's groups that are not related to the arts at all because I just want to connect with people in general.
And I think sometimes we have blind spots when we can be too Niche in what we focus on, we can't see from an outside perspective, maybe somebody's perception in a completely different industry might see something and say, you know, a girlfriend might say, well, let me consider this. What we do it like this in my, in my field, I never even considered something like that.
So I have specifically been seeking us. That's how we met. If I have been inserting myself into networks that are traditionally not my own, just because I love meeting people. And I feel like there's so much that we can learn from one another.
Well, and that brings me back to documentaries. Like I love documentaries.
I have been sponsoring Mountain Film Festival for a couple of years. We're going to be setting, we're setting up a email list where people can go on my website and say, yes, I want to be on the team that goes in 2025 because my goal is to keep bringing more and more people with us every year. But there's something so beautiful about whether it's short form or long form documentary that I love humans and I love human stories and their quirks and their, the underdogness and the victories.
And of course there's plenty of documentaries that you watch and you go, Oh shit, like we are ruining everything. Right? But then there's also the ones that make you feel really proud of like, okay, no, we are making progress. We do take care of each other. What is it about documentaries that. You love and like how does it light you up?
I think i'm a lot like you in that. I really love connecting with people And at the end of the day story is what connects all of us and so I think documentary for me has always been a vehicle to sharing important stories and perspective And I think as filmmakers we have the responsibility to do so in a really unbiased way And to tell both sides of the stories.
And when I work as a producer, I think that's for a director. That's always my number one prerogative. It's like, how can we paint the full story here and share somebody's perspective and then let people form their own opinion about something. And I think that's what documentary does so well, because a lot of what we consume these days in the era of Tik TOK and reels and things that are short little bites I think what documentary does so well is it allows us to delve deeper into the story.
Because even if the documentary is 15 minutes long, or 43 minutes long, or an hour and a half long, you know, at Mountain Film, it allows us to just go a little bit deeper. So I think social media is a great way to connect with people. Almost like social media is like a teaser trailer. Okay, so I can see a little bit about what that person's about.
I like what they're about, but I want to know more. I want to know, like, the meat and the potatoes, and I want the data, and I want the heart. Like, that's what I go to documentary for and it's just such a, it's just such a great way to connect with people and I think on a personal level too, it's been such an exciting way to experience life because even though I made documentaries for almost 15 years, every story is so drastically different.
And as a filmmaker, you have a responsibility to essentially become a mini expert at whatever story you're telling. And so for me, the work has never felt stale. Because I'm always learning and I'm always growing, challenging my own beliefs, and it's just such a cool way to experience the world through, through the vehicle of filmmaking and photography.
Mm hmm. It's made me realize how, how much of being a producer, a product creator, a business coach, like there's very, there's these red threads of having to listen. So you can package it and like go to market with it where everyone else can get it in moments instead of having to do all that research that you and I probably had to do.
And it's, it's like such a, I don't know, there's something, it's, there's something so aligned with my values of that process of, because you, you know, How can you not get attached to these, this story? How can you not get attached to the business and like the possibilities that are there and the hopes, the dreams, like, there's such a, again, that humanity element that you're like, no, I want to make, let me help you make this bigger.
Absolutely.
Did you grow up in Laguna?
I grew up between Los Angeles and Orange County. I kind of spent my time. So I grew up in Southern California and it's just, it's such a good home base. I will say I spent the better part of a decade moving all over the world. Like I said, Europe, Asia spent a lot of time in South America and I tried to find somewhere better.
The only place that has even remotely rivaled it is Italy, which is a place that I hold so near and dear to my heart. And I'm actually in the process of getting my Italian citizenship right now so that hopefully down the line I can spend part of my years in Italy. But Southern California is a really, really great place to call home.
You and I are, have so many parallels because Italy is also on my list. That's where I'm trying to buy a home. So Okay, same. Yes. We need to talk. We do. We do. But it's no, it's the same thing. Like I've lived in Europe, I've, I've been, I've been to 48 countries so far, but I've I've moved so much and I keep, I, but there is part of me just like the not traveling we were talking about earlier where I'm like, it's so easy and comfortable to live in Orange County that sometimes I'm like, Ooh, are we, are we, have we fallen into the too comfortable trap do like, there's no, but there is like a mental resets that I think allows me to go somewhere else.
And my whole life, because we moved growing up as well, my whole life has been like, where is that home base supposed to be? Where is that place where we can actually anchor things? Cause otherwise it's like my dog, my books, my art. Where do you want me to go?
So I appreciate that I can be in many places, but there's also this dream of having some anchor points.
And so for me, it's like here, maybe New York, Boston, Italy. Like how can I get these anchor points set? Cause there's that beautiful quote from Abraham, oh no Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his son when he was going off to Paris and leaving home for the first time. And he, I'm paraphrasing it, but he essentially said, I'm so happy that you're going abroad.
because going abroad is the best thing you can ever do. And I'm also so sorry for you because your universe will never be as concise as it is right now.
It's so true.
So what is like a favorite restaurant, a favorite person that is abroad that you wish you could have in your backyard?
Oh, that's such a hard question because I love to eat.
I am Italian, so I live to eat. There's just one or two restaurants in Rome, Italy, which I just think is the best city in the whole world. I'm actually not a huge city person. The older I get, the more that I really feel drawn to nature and having the tree to human ratio be much higher. But for some reason, Rome is just an absolutely timeless, I can't even put into words how much I love that city eating in Rome is where I feel like my soul goes to rest.
And there's one restaurant in the neighborhood that I used to live in that I pretty much go back to every year called Il Matriciano. And they just have very simple, you know, the big four Roman pasta dishes. a tiramisu that they do with the espresso. It's like, Oh my God, I'm like, honestly, can't even talk about it without getting emotional.
But yeah, there's just something about Italy. And, and, and if you live in Italy and, or if you want to live in Italy and you love Italy as well, you know, this sentiment that. When I'm in California, because I love what I do, I'm like, go, go, go. I work a lot. I, it feels like play to me. So I love what I do.
And so therefore I work a lot, but when I go to Italy, I really just wind down. Like, all of time just slows down, and for the first couple days, maybe I feel a little bit annoyed that it takes them 20 minutes to bring the bill, or that lunch takes three and a half hours, you know, where I'm supposed to be, but then by like, week two, I'm like, this is the real me, like, three hour lunch, like, this is what life's about, you know, the sweetness of doing nothing.
So, I think it's really Yeah. Italy is the place where I go when I need to re center and sort of unwind. It's also a place that I love to create, too. Like I said, that shot that I just was able to achieve in Southern Italy, it's a place that I feel really inspired from. It's like beauty around every corner.
It's almost impossible to take a bad picture.
Yeah, I would say that's definitely at the top of the list for me. Rome is where I'm looking to buy a place. So, yeah. Okay, we got an offline after this. We do. We need to consider maybe going in on a house together. And I have some other people who are into that too.
My client who you were, we invited you to the art show, everything from the, that he painted was Rome. We called the art show Dolce Fortunato. Yes. You know, because. Yes. I think you would probably share this personality trait with him and I of, we like the sweetness of doing it all. Like, what do you, doing nothing.
Like, we can, even though we're doing nothing, we're still doing like 50 things. Cause while we're relaxing, we're like, Ooh, in that business and that picture. Yes, always creating. But like, I built this business so it could be done anywhere. And. I have a good friend who's ninth generation Roman. I, the last time I was there for a week, I stayed in his like tiny apartment.
He's not in Prati. He's the one like just South to it, like behind the Vatican. I forget the name of that one. I know exactly. Yeah. I used to live in Prati.
So that, yeah, that whole neighborhood, it's the best neighborhood. It's quiet. It's peaceful, great food. Just the physical architecture there. I mean, I feel like we're going to have to add a whole separate podcast.
We're going to have to have a Roman podcast after this one.
We will, we will. But I, my day was amazing there because I would be up and out of the house by eight. I would wander around. Take my time, enjoy the city, go to a museum, do something. I would get back to the apartment for lunch. I would, if I chose to eat at home, if not out, but I would start doing coaching calls at one, I would finish at seven and then we would jump on the scooter and go get dinner.
And I was like, this is the best schedule I have ever had in my entire life. And I'll talk to my coach about like, how do I recreate that here? And I, I think that there's components of it that of course can be incorporated here, but in general, like I can't, you can't recreate. that here. It's just it's a completely different environment.
It's a completely different mentality.
The people, the pace, everything. Yeah. You can, you can bring bits of it home. I tried to do that too, but yeah, the sparkle kind of wears off a couple of weeks when you reintegrate into your, you know, quote unquote, normal life, whatever that means.
And I think too, when you're speaking a different language, you're also, you're using a part of your brain that Doesn't work at somewhere else.
Like to me, there are locations in the world where like a different part of my heart opens up a different part of my brain opens up. And so it is geographically required for the whole experience to happen.
I agree.
Were you living, did you live only in Italy, or did you live in other parts of Europe too?
I lived, I studied in Italy, so I studied Italian cinema there for a year, and then I also lived on and off in Dublin for several years, and used Dublin as a home base to see the rest of Europe, and mostly, honestly, did a lot of backpacking in my 20s, so. You, you know now I have clients that are in the luxury, luxury hotels and luxury airlines and things like that.
And it's so funny to see the juxtaposition of me like backpacking and staying in hostels and, you know, cooking pasta in my early twenties to, you know, now having clients that are some of the best resorts in the world. And, you know, I'll say like, I enjoy it all the same. I do enjoy, you know, being older and some of the finer things in life, but like I had just as good of a time doing things, you know, really cheaply and really simply.
And I'm, I'm so grateful that I got to have that experience in my twenties where, you know, I could just sort of, you know, Backpack for months on end with no real plan and just meet people along the way. Like life is just different now. My life is so much more full and doesn't really have the room for that.
So I'm grateful that I sort of got to experience both aspects of, of travel.
Yeah have you been back to Rome since the Six Senses resort opened?
I have. I've been back a couple times, but I have not shelled out because those rooms were minimum 2k a night. And I was like, damn, it is hard to justify. We usually stay in an Airbnb in Prati. It's like 150 euros a night, huge apartment, great natural light, on top of my favorite restaurant. So I'm still waiting for some excuse to spend 2, 000 a night in that state. Have you been?
Well, no, but I have, I was there just before it opens and I, I don't know if she's, I have to check if she's still there, but I had breakfast with the woman who is the like head of concierge for them. And so she's like, when you're back, we need to give you at least a spa treatment day. And I was like, yes, thank you.
You absolutely do.
And I'm like, they're, they're such a great account for you to work for. It's like where my brain jumped to as well.
That's a really good point. And I'd have even actually considered that.
I should reach out to them.
And then you mentioned the Italian cinema, The Great Beauty. Was that, have you seen that movie?
Yeah. Yeah. Saw all of the, all the Fellinis, Roberto Rossellini, you know, all the greats. And then I've also seen a lot of really not great Italian films. I remember my roommate and I would watch them at night.
She would always fall asleep to the really dull ones. And then we'd be on the train in the morning and she'd be like, what happened? And I'd be like, okay, so this guy came in, he married his daughter. They had an affair. The Pope found out, you know, it's like always the same story. Yes. But the Italian novella, exactly.
So such a blessing to be able to study Italian cinema in Rome. And just there's just a feeling about Italian cinema that I don't think it gets enough. Recognition, even, you know, obviously their past is revered, but even some of their newer stuff, it's just so good that I don't think it gets enough appreciation on the world stage.
There's a, a magical, I don't know, this isn't even the right word. There's a, but I'm going to just use it because that's what I have right now. There's a magical kind of sprinkle mystery that kind of goes into the best ones where they don't always, it occurs to me that they don't always tell. In a lot of American movies and shows, they assume the audience is dumb to the point where, like, everything is told to you.
Very literally. Very literal. In the dialogue, yeah. Yes. We can't skip a scene and be like, oh, how did we get here? No inferring anything, yes. No, and there's so much inferring, I think, in Italian work. Like figuring it out and like, they're much more about showing the emotion than explaining the literal experience.
The plot. Yes. Yeah. It makes me think of, of like Mexican authors and like Love in the Time of Cholera, like the illusionary mystery component that you have to kind of buy into to understand the bigger picture. Yeah. It's good.
Yeah. It's so funny. Yeah. My Italian teacher, when we would dissect the films, he, he would almost allude to that.
Like when the questions we would ask, well, why did, why did Maria, you know, he was actually exactly what you're saying, right? He was like, that's not what it's about. Like, it's not about the plot. And I feel like it took a couple months of courses to like unprogram that way of like American thinking and storytelling and sort of the suspension of disbelief being okay.
Yeah. Yes.
Yes. It's fun. So, you know, this is a good transition, I think, into all things powerful. And so when you hear the words powerful and ladies, and how would you define them and do their definitions change when those words are put next to each other?
You know, I have just always perceived women as very powerful. Even at a young age, I come from really powerful women in my family. My grandma is a total badass. She raised, was a single mother for several years, put herself back into school and then Climbed the ranks of the L. A. Times in the sixties when essentially no women were in positions of leadership and opened up the London branch and traveled all over the world for the L.
A. Times. And so growing up, I always had her as an emblem. Of what it meant to be a woman that was extremely capable self sufficient self reliant and really powerful. And so I think I have a lot of really good role models of entrepreneurs and women in my family that I think growing up, I always felt like I could do anything that I wanted to.
I feel like there, there was a lot of support emotionally in that way to say like, Hey, whatever you want to do. And I remember. When I was 17 or 18 saying that I wanted to go to film school and thinking, Oh my gosh, I wonder how this is going to go over, you know, I'm sure parents want every kid to go to business school and have a clear path and, you know, arts can be so volatile and uncertain and they were super supportive of it.
And so. I think in general, I have such a reverence for women. I, when you, it's interesting that you said to dissect the words and separate them. I, I'm almost having a difficult time doing that because inherently I believe that women are so powerful and not just women in arts. Like women are superheroes.
The way that we grow life, manage families, manage businesses. Like I think it's just, I think that women are incredible. I don't even know if I could give you a definition of those two words dissected. It almost doesn't compute for me.
Well, it's so interesting how some guests have been triggered by one of those two words.
Triggered by power or triggered by the word ladies. And it's been fascinating for me to sit on this side and to see the ones like yourself are like, no, of course they go together. And then other people are like, can we take that word off? And I'm like, wow, it's, it's such an interesting psychology experiment. Yeah.
Great question.
How have powerful women shaped your career and the moves that you've been making along the way?
You know, I think growing up working in film and television and Hollywood, there aren't that many women on set. And we have talked about this a little bit before. And it always felt like I was playing in the boys world, especially working in action sports and starting starting off in that.
And, you know, being a PA on set where you're just like, you're, you're the first person there, the last one to leave, you know, I saw, you Not that many women in positions of power. And so I felt like whenever there were women that I really respected or wanted to emulate, like I would tell them I've always been very unabashed about asking for what I want or telling people like what it is that I'm seeking.
And so I would just go up to when I would see either a producer or especially like a female director. I'd be like, let me take you to dinner. Like I want to know all about how you got here and what you do. And so I think that because there are less women working in film or working in the arts in general in positions of leadership, and I think that's changing.
I'm very excited to say that I think that that's changing slowly. But I feel like women have always been so generous to me with sharing their story, sharing how they got to where they are. And now subsequently when I have women come to me that are like, Hey, I just graduated. I want to do X, Y, and Z. I see what you do.
I have no idea how to get there. And that's kind of the funny thing about working in the arts or working in the creative field, is there really is no linear path. And so everyone's story looks drastically different. And, you know, a lot of people will come to me and say, should, should I go to film school?
Do I need to go to film school to do what you do? And I think the answer is no, I had an unbelievable education and the relationships that I was able to make through that. Those are all the people that hire me. All the people that I hire, right? They're just friends at the end of the day. We hire people that we like because we're going to be working with them.
And so I always tell people, no, you, you know, do, do your craft, understand your craft and be excellent at it, but you don't necessarily have to have a four year education to do that. And so I feel like a lot of women were very generous with me when I was coming up. And I, I always make a point of paying that forward because it just, it brings me joy to see not just other women, but other young people succeed like men, men and women alike.
When you were sharing about how we have to like over hiring friends, because we're not only going to spend so much time with them, we might be trapped in a foreign country with them, we might be on a boat with them, like, this is going to be very intimate very soon.
And so you're hiring a family, you're creating a little mini family unit, if you're on set for a month, you're like, Oh, I want to spend a month with on an island. Yes, really.
I was walking my dog in, in my neighborhood here in Costa Mesa the other day, and I saw the Quicksilver van go by Uhhuh. like the, the one that like the team uses.
Yeah.
I almost stopped the guy, I didn't recognize who was driving it, and I was like, I've slept in that Van , like I'm just a random girl walking down the street. And I'm like, no, I have spent a lot of time in that van. Only for, he doesn't know that I've slept in this van. He doesn't know , he doesn't know. And we did borrow it for like the Ragnar race one time, but Uhhuh, it's. You, it becomes an all or nothing experience and, you know, grids, we have unique paths. You and I in particular versus other business owners, but it's, it, I think everyone should be thinking about it in the sense of who are you going to let into your VIP circle, who are you comfortable to be honest and vulnerable and cry in front of, if you need to, because whether it's business or life, it's all interwoven and it's all us that keeps showing up and we can't do it alone.
So. Who do you trust to be, you know, your, you know, little militia that's going to make everything happen that we need to?
Yeah, absolutely. And it's been so interesting starting this second business because I've hired several women on, on a mostly like on a retainer basis where we're working together day in and day out.
And it's so cool and different. Then what I'm used to, which is usually, you know, you hire someone or you get hired for a project, which could be a week long, it could be a year long, right? Depending on how long the shoot is. But, you know, founding Culterra and then bringing on team members to help with back into the business, social media management, all of that.
Has been so amazing because this is a forever thing. Like these are, these are women that I'll be working with for the next several years. And so it's been really special to transition and with, with this new business have like full time, long standing relationships with people that I really trust and respect.
We also ask everyone on the podcast, where you put yourself on the powerful lady scale. So if zero is average everyday human, and 10 is the most powerful lady you can imagine, where would you rank yourself today and on an average day?
You know, I'm a little jet lag today, so I would probably say today I'm clocking in maybe lower than normal at like a six or seven, but on a day to day, I would say I'm like an eight, nine.
I love what I do. I am so energized by it. And yeah, I do feel powerful in that.
Love it. We've also been asking everybody, what do you want? Whether it is significant, insignificant, big, small, frivolous, or not. What's on your wishlist, to do list, to manifest list, and how can this community help you make it happen?
That's a good question. You know, something that I have been Manifesting and that I would love to do in the next six months. Is right now a lot of my clients are interior designers for residential and I really want to transition additionally into commercial and hospitality. So I would love to see Culterra art in a boutique hotel or even a major hotel.
And right now I don't have any relationships with interior designers that are at the fledgling stage, whether it's for hospitality or maybe like a big corporate project. So that's something that I am definitely seeking. So if you know anyone out there, that's something really specific that I'm seeking right
when you are not traveling the world and you're not doing photography, what does your life look like? What are you doing when you're home in Laguna?
So I tend to something that I'm always working on is learning how to swing the pendulum a little bit less. So historically, I'm a pendulum swinger, which means when I'm out in the world, I am like hitting the ground running.
I'm working, you know, from sunup till sundown. If I'm in the field for a shoot, you know how that goes sort of all encompassing. And then when, and then traditionally when I come home, I kind of crash. come into post production, hermit, you know, put the hood over, do my editing from quietly from my office. And so that's historically how I work.
But with Culterra, I'm trying to be a little bit more fluid about all of it. So I'll go into the field. Like I said, I just got back from Shooting in Europe for a month where I was very, very focused on just the creation process. And then now when I come home, I focus very heavily on like the post production and then more nurturing the business.
So you know, the, the two sides of me look very different. One is. very exciting and glamorous and people are like you're always traveling and then but when i'm not traveling you bet i'm in my office with sweats on editing you know writing emails writing newsletters to clients and things like that so it's definitely not all glamorous like people think that maybe it is but it is a lot of fun honestly both aspects of it are so much fun to me
Do you find yourself having left the action sports world and even just on set world? Are you have, are you a recovering like all black every day addict?
No, I've actually never been, I have never been an all black person. I am a very colorful dresser. I love really loud. Vibrant vintage prints. I love white really frilly stuff. Like I, whenever I was on set in all black, I always felt like a little bit like a wilted sunflower.
I was like, this isn't me lack of self expression. But yeah, I would say I am a very colorful dresser and I was, you know, and I still do work on set. So, so one aspect of my business is fine art photography, but I still do work as a commercial photographer and filmmaker from time to time for the right clients and the right stories.
So I do still don the all black from time to time, but my spirit is vintage, vibrant colors.
Well, for everybody who wants to support you, buy from you, collaborate with you, where are all the places that they can find, follow and support you?
Yes, so if you want to follow along with Culterra, you can visit our website. It's Culterra. art. We ship anywhere in the United States. If you want to come see us in person, if you're local, we currently have an exhibit in Laguna Beach at Pure Design House, and that'll be on through the end of December. And then we will hopefully be featured in other galleries in Orange County and Los Angeles in 2025. And if you want to follow Culterra on social media, it's at C U L T E R R A underscore. And my personal page in more in the film world is at Taylor O'Sullivan, which is my first and last name.
Well, thank you so much for being a guest to this podcast.
And I'm just so glad we connected. Talked so much at the happy hour to the point where like, oh, we have to network with other people And so i'm glad that we were introduced. I cannot wait to see how we can support and collaborate as we go forward, but just thank you for what you're doing and Thank you for reminding me that there are other people around here who want to nerd out about rome and europe and traveling and Who wants to be in that Dulce Fartuto's face of Yes, I love that.
I might have to adopt that. It's such a good phrase. Well, thank you so much for having me. This has truly been such a joy.
All the links to connect with Taylor and Cultura are in our show notes at thepowerfulladies. com Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening and share it with a friend. Join us on Instagram at powerful ladies. And if you're looking to connect directly with me, visit Kara Duffy. com. I'll be back next week with a brand new episode.
Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Instagram: @culterra_ @taylorosullivan
YouTube: @CULTERRA_ART
Website: www.culterra.art
Email: taylor@culterra.art
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
