Hidden Gems: Meet Sydney Gregory of Creating.Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sydney Gregory.

Hi Sydney, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It is a standard in the creative industry to hear “Make time for creative projects after work.” I hear it from designers, creative directors, freelancers, commercial videographers, and production designers etc. After landing my first 9-5 in 2021 as a graphic designer, I was itching to find something creative to fill 5-9. So, as live shows made a comeback after COVID, I saw an opportunity: fuel my creativity by capturing those moments and help musicians share their stories. Thanks to social media, I found connecting with bands has never been easier. On July 1, 2022, I posted a few photos of Wallows (that I had taken on my iPhone!) and started reaching out to bands who were playing Cincinnati. Eventually, I got a yes from a band from Columbus, OH known as Ratmotel for their show on July 8th at Northside Tavern. No press pass, no connections, just me and my camera. I knew from that first show, in classic Gen Z fashion, I wanted to see if I could make this side quest my entire life.

Since then, I’ve impacted the careers of 30+ independent musicians around the Midwest through photography, videography, and social media campaigns.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The funniest part is that, as a graphic design student, I had to take a photography class to graduate. I constantly got feedback that my photos were underexposed. Like, repeatedly. So naturally, I decided, “Hey, let’s go into concert photography, where the lighting is… let’s just say not forgiving.” But honestly, figuring it out on the fly became part of the fun.

Beyond that, social anxiety has been a real thing for me. I’ve only really started to understand it myself in the past year, so navigating how to put myself out there creatively while networking has been a huge journey. My advice is to find people who share your vision. Even if neither of you knows how you’re going to get there, you both see that light at the end of the tunnel. For me, that’s been people like Deej Ragusa and Zayne Isom (who both have been featured on VoyageOhio before!) and Nolan Monigold of Monigold Studios, who does so much to build up the Cincinnati music community.

As you know, we’re big fans of Creating.Studio. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
When I started photographing and meeting local bands, I heard, over and over, that they weren’t looking to just promote but wanted a community. I realized I could take the marketing, design, and collaboration skills and apply them to help artists start building their communities.

As I found other creatives with the same vision, Creating.Studio began to take shape. We support indie artists with album, touring, and merch promotion. With 5 years of professional experience in marketing strategies and creative media, we excel in copywriting, social media marketing, community management, email marketing, graphic design, videography, and photography. Derived from the idea that growth stems from creation, our work builds worlds fans can live in and feel at home with.

That’s what sets us apart: we center everything on that artist-fan relationship. We dig the inside jokes, the shared emotions, the aesthetic language, and then translate that into campaigns, merch, and visuals that mean something. When fans feel like they’re discovering their own story in an artist’s work, that’s when true engagement happens, and fans feel like they’re part of something bigger.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
During those end-of-the-school-year days when our teachers let us spend hours outside, my friends and I would pretend we could airbend the strong valley winds in Kentucky. For a moment, I believed we were in Avatar: The Last Airbender. I noticed smiles on the faces of the kids around us as they leaned into the wind like it was the best feeling ever on a warm day. It made me think about how our small actions can create joy for others.

Pricing:

• Show Coverage (1 ready-made social media post + 1 Recap Reel + 30 edited photos + 2 performance videos): $250
• Promo Shoot (Creative Direction + 30 edited images): $300
• Content Planner (8 Posts Social Medita Calendar + Strategy): $250
• Marketing Basic (Content Planner + EPK or Email Campaign + Meta Ads): $350/mo
• Marketing Plus (Marketing Basic + Both EPK and Email Campaign + Community Managment): $550/mo

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.creating-studio.com/?utm_source=VoyageOhio&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=link
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creating.sydney/
• Other: sydney@creating-studio.com