Today we’d like to introduce you to Evelyn Del Cid-salazar
Hi Evelyn, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been a creative my entire life. My first writing was passion in the 2nd grade and I realized I loved writing my own stories. As I grew up I wanted to bring my stories to life and discovered the beauty of filmmaking through home videos. As a kid, I would document my life with the family camcorder, starting with the ones you had to put a full VHS in. I’d make short films with my siblings, document our everyday lives and eventually that lead me into documenting my own life at home and at school too. Slowly upgrading to smaller camcorders and then eventually my iPod touch. I was vlogging before it was really a thing.
I fell in love with storytelling through visuals; photo and video.
I started my photography business Taken with Evelyn as a side hustle mid 2016, 2 years after graduating high school. Although, back then it was just called EXPHOTXGRAPHY
I was 19, working a full time job building airplane parts for F-35 military jets and going to school full time and felt like I wasn’t being creative anywhere in my life so that’s the reason I started it, even though I had no free time really. But still, I’d make it work. I was self taught and practiced a lot on my friends and family. But really quickly started booking photo shoots and clients of all kinds.
I started growing a name for myself within my community, especially home based around rose park where I grew up and was happy to do any shoot I got hired for & I wasn’t charging much at all, so it really was a little side thing for extra cash. Everything changed though in the beginning of 2019…
As silly as it sounds, I had a dream one February night about a concert I had gone to. I loved concerts, I started going to them by myself at 15 and fell in love and honestly, that’s where majority of my money went to- was concert tickets. And we all how expensive they can be.
So I had this dream and I vividly remember springing up in bed, wide awake and saying out loud: “why am I not shooting concerts?!”
I thought – how am I able to combine two things that I love? Was that even a thing? I had ZERO knowledge about concert photography or if it was a genre that even existed. And to my surprise, it does and is a huge industry. I didn’t even know where to start but I’m persistent. So that morning I started searching up local bands in SLC on instagram. I found 8 of them and sent them all the same message about being an established photographer who wants to branch out into concerts and wants to grow that side of my portfolio and offering them a free photo shoot. I was so nervous but excited.
3 bands messaged me back. The Sardines, now known as Kipper Snack, Hoppy and ProVeracity. They gave me a chance, invited me in and to this day I’m still friends with them all and I was so thankful they helped me build a portfolio because what came after I started shooting them was so much growth… and FAST.
in June of 2019 I landed my first “big gig” for concert photography and it was to capture Aly & AJ. my inner Disney kid was freaking out. I was so excited. Then I had been approved to capture YouTube sensations Rhett and Link on their Good Mythical Morning tour. and I started working with a local publication in my free time called Utah Concert Review where I’d go shoot shows and write articles one change for a photo pass. Suddenly I was shooting a ton of big names, across all the venues in SLC and was growing a small community on my insta of people who loved my work.
I switched my name from exphotxgraphy to Taken by Evelyn and was on a high of how creative I was getting to be, going to concerts for free now and getting to photograph my favorite artists. However, at this time I was still working my full time job building jets, still going to school FT & had moved to Lehi for a year— and all the concerts where in SLC. plus I didn’t have a license or car. So it was HARD. honestly I don’t know how I did it. I loved it so much I just made it work. I wasn’t sleeping really and was photographing around 2-3 shows a week. Concert photography is not easy. I don’t think people realize how challenging it can be. You have no control of your subject, no control of the dark lighting, and only have the first 3 songs to capture your shots. It’s so fun though.
2019 was incredible for my creative growth and in 2020 I was still shooting multiple shows a week, until March hit… and Covid happened. Suddenly I wasn’t photographing anything.
I just worked my full time job and really missed concerts. I couldn’t believe they went away. The world was in a weird place in 2020! I honestly wondered if I’d ever shoot a concert again or how long it would take. My high had been taken away and without it I was starting to struggle creatively again. I needed something to do, even in lockdown. So I turned to what everyone else did; TikTok.
TikTok was fun and entertaining to pass the time and helped the world feel a little connected through COVID. I couldn’t believe talk forever about how TikTok was so influential and important during lockdown but that’s another thing. TikTok was filled with silly videos and funny trends and skits and then one day I landed on small business TikTok.
I started seeing all these accounts that were small businesses of people selling art, stickers, bookmarks, pins and was intrigued with seeing the behind the scenes of these little shops. TikTok shop wasn’t a thing yet so all these people were using TikTok to get sales on their Etsy page. These videos struck something inside of me and I found myself wanting to make packaging videos and business content… so I decided to start a small business. In August I went out and bought a cricut machine, a printer, a whole bunch of office and shipping supplies and decided I wanted to make and sell stickers. I had no idea what I was doing but again, I’m always willing to learn and research. I made a separate TikTok for my business page and named it Astrologeve. Like astrology, but a play on my name evelyn.
I wanted my stuff to be focused on zodiac signs and astrology. I started documenting the process of starting a small business there. Sharing videos of when I got my printer in the mail, when I went to go pick out my cricut, some of my first designs, etc. and I was growing a small following on their pretty fast of people interested in the journey.
After a month of set up, I finally launched my first products on Etsy in October. I got my first order and made a packaging video for it that did pretty well and gained a little bit of traction. People could tell I was excited and loved seeing it. Then I got my first international order which made me even MORE excited and I filmed that packaging video and that video changed everything. It blew up, it went viral and suddenly my account was growing like crazy. It was the first time I realized this TikTok virality people had talked about. I kept making packaging videos, behind the scene videos and was consistent and the content was generating sales like crazy! I was suddenly packaging multiple orders a night and having to restock frequently. It was my foil prints that were the real stars. My first month in business I made $3,000 from Etsy. I couldn’t believe it. The second month I made another $3,000 and was mind blown. I kept my shop up for around 6 months and while it was successful, I was one person and it became overwhelming I even hired my mom to help a few hours during the week. I was making everything in house and I still was working FT and school and couldn’t keep up. So I stepped away from it and closed shop. I do in person markets now when I want to and really enjoy it. Maybe one day I’ll open shop online again but it’s a lot.
I grew that TikTok to 13.5K followers and was really proud of it. It made me a little sad to step away but I knew it was what was best. It was now mid 2021 and my airplane part job I was creeping up on being there for 7 years. I enjoyed a lot about it, mainly the people, but at the end of the day I was stuck in a warehouse. I wasn’t able to use my creative skills or have a creative outlet. Concerts had slowly started coming back in the summer and I started shooting shows here and there.
My work was starting to drain me & become a bit of a toxic environment for my mental health. I felt really low and depressed and was starting to have anxiety going to work. I was even crying some days about it because it was a lot with multiple work drama starting to unfurl. By the end of 2021 I finally had enough and started looking at new jobs. It was scary especially after being somewhere for so long.
2022 was truly a magical year for me. A year of change. Concerts were back and I started capturing them again, and now was even getting paid to do that by various publications. I remember heading to a show after a 12 hour work day, that was always the case, and capturing a concert at the depot downtown. While the opener ended their set and the stage change was happening I was sitting on the floor of the depot on LinkedIn browsing for jobs. I saw one had been posted 10 minutes ago for a social media/content creator position at an event production company. It sounded great and I thought to myself I fit everything it was asking for. I also realized I had a pretty strong portfolio now when it came to content creation. From creative portraits to branding to concerts, which count as events, I was excited. I also realized I had evidence of growing a social media account with my small business one.
I applied and a week later I got the job.
I cried when I heard the news and was so excited to start this new chapter. I said goodbye to the place I called work for 7 years and it was bittersweet.
I went on and now worked in the events industry. Here I was able to harness my creative skills even more because I was capturing photo and video for all kinds of events. I sharpened my editing skills and dived even more into social media and now social media marketing. During this time, I also was focused on building my own social media platforms. I was doing a pretty good job because I also was now able to travel international for free, through partnerships and content deals with a travel company. I would go on international trips and create content for other people to see, to make them want to book their own trip.
I love traveling, and I’ve now been to 18 countries, and the majority of those have been free trips because of my content creation. Work was fun and I enjoyed all the creative aspects of it, it was still very corporate though, but I didn’t mind that much. I was happier than I had been at my last job. I was growing the companies social accounts, I was growing my own accounts, my photo and video account, and my personal account. I started photographing and capturing video for music festivals in the state, which was a really big deal because it was like a giant concert. I was being paid for all of my creative work now which made me really happy. 2022 was a great year.
In 2023 my creative endeavors aside from my full-time job were doing even better as well. I travel to seven countries in 2023 for a content creation, I was now shooting multiple music festivals, and my own presence online was growing. I really realize that I really had an understanding and was very tech savvy when it came to social media. And when it came to contact creation in general, but social media is its own beast.
Even though I was having a lot of success in 2023, towards the end of the year, I was dealing with a lot of personal issues that sent me into a deep depression. I was having a really hard time wanting to do anything. I was dealing with grief, loss, family issues, mental struggles, betrayal, and so much more. I wanted 2024 to be a turnaround year. I wanted things to be as good as 2022 was. I started the year off hopeful, but it quickly declined even faster. I wasn’t in a great place. Mentally, I wasn’t feeling as creative at work because of creative limitations, being a creative in a corporate industry is a hard thing on its own. And in May 2024, my three-year-old golden retriever passed away suddenly, his heart just stopped as he was playing ball in the backyard and I wasn’t here. I was on a work trip in another state, and had to hear all the trauma that was going on over a phone call while it was happening, lifetime, And while I was stuck by myself in a hotel room. It was one of the most traumatic things that I experienced, and I don’t say that lightly, because I’ve actually experienced a lot of traumatic things, I’ve experienced a lot of death, when it comes to friends and family. But this just hit different and I wasn’t there. I immediately caught the next flight home the next morning, left my work trip early because I wanted to say goodbye to my dog body that sent me into a further depression and then two months later I was laid off it was out of nowhere, I didn’t expect it, and it was three days before I was about to leave to South America for a pre-planned trip. I think the biggest reason that it hurt was because I actually cared about my job and the people there. I cried a lot, but I documented this online because I’m transparent about my life, and a lot of people let me know that I cried because I cared. And that it will be a blessing in disguise.
I went to South America for a content trip and just let my thoughts go and let myself be free while I was there. It was rough to navigate, but at the same time I was glad that if I was gonna cry, I was doing it in Brazil and not just at home in my room. I mainly cried about my dog Kylo. To this day it’s still hard and it’s only been a few months. While I was having a great time in South America, I started to really think about the idea that I was traveling the world because I knew how to make content, and because I knew how to work social media. It’s really wild when you think about it.
I also started to think about the idea of getting another job and honestly the thought about it made me sick. I thought about all the times I was loyal to the companies that I worked for, for years, dedicated my time whenever needed, and how the corporate world is a little daunting for creatives. That’s when the idea really started to stir. I had just finished paragliding in Rio and was crying at how beautiful it was and when I landed, I was thinking about how I wanna be in control of my time in my life and do more stuff like this.
I decided that after my trip, it would be the perfect time to take a chance on myself to start my own business, another one. I wanted to start my own social media agency and offer services like social media management, content, creation, content, strategy, one on one coaching, and more. I would be able to mix my knowledge from running a freelance photo video business, and my knowledge of social media and help other creative and small businesses grow.
So that’s why Social with Evelyn was born. I always hear success stories and how people always seem to be at their bottom or at their lowest when they decided to take a chance on themselves and so that’s what I’m doing now. All the skills that I’ve acquired as a creative throughout this journey the the last decade, I wanted to apply it to my business. This year, 2024. I’ve also grown my personal account on TikTok quite a bit and started making money off social media as well. I really do believe that I have an understanding and knowledge worth teaching to others. I made my Instagram page in August and then I had my first full month in business in September. And I was very surprised and grateful how well September did. I’m very thankful for all the support that I have from people in my life and from people online who just wanna see me grow. I made over 3K in the month of September for my business alone and I truly believe that’s just gonna go up from here. I made a new TikTok for my social page, and I grew 500 followers in one week. And it’s still growing. I also now run media teams For music festivals in the state and just last week booked my first out of state festival, not only to shoot, but also run the Media team as well, which helps me give back to other creatives in my community, helps me give job opportunities to my friends, who I know Deserve these opportunities. The beginning of 2024 has been hard, this year has been hard, but slowly, things are starting to look up. I’m really excited for the future and how ill grow is an individual.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I put it all in that last slide haha
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in storytelling through visuals. I’m known for my use of colors and creating dream like memories on film. I’m known for capturing my life in creative ways and showcasing that across all my socials. I’m really proud of how authentic my socials are and how truly they are to me. I’m very transparent on them And I’m very transparent with people.
Pricing:
- For my social business I have prices that start as low as $50 and packages that goes as high as 1800, I offer a variety of services that can help you along your way in your social media journey! Or even if you just want content creation for yourself as a creative or business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Instagram.com/takenbyevelyn
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/socialwithevelyn
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@exelynnn?si=8Qt9TFUzawD0pWSB
