Miya Tsudome is a 32-year-old outdoor photographer and climber who turned a summer job in Yosemite into a whole new life. (miyatsudome.com)
She grew up in New York’s Hudson Valley, studied English, and had $30,000 in student loans when she decided to skip the New York City career path and head west. A one-way ticket to San Francisco led her to a service job in Yosemite Valley, where she earned $124 her first week—and got hooked on the lifestyle.
Miya spent five years living and working in Yosemite, climbing, guiding, and building a life around the outdoors. She eventually picked up a camera, sold her first photos to Patagonia, and landed an internship that helped launch a career in adventure photography.
Now based in Bishop, California, Miya splits her time between freelance photo and video work—often for outdoor brands and environmental nonprofits—and climbing as much as possible. Her low overhead and years of dirtbag training let her work every other day and climb the rest. She’s not chasing huge paychecks, but she is saving money and doing work that feels meaningful.
We talk about the tension between freedom and financial insecurity, how her Japanese dad’s example shaped her sense of possibility, and how she still lives with the classic freelancer dread: “What if the phone stops ringing?”
Full transcript: dirtbagrich.com/miya
Recorded in December 2024.
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript. Typos and mistakes exist!
Blake Boles 00:00
Miya Tsudome, welcome to Dirtbag Rich.
Miya Tsudome 00:04
Thank you. Happy to be here.
Blake Boles 00:06
You got an English degree, you got $30,000 in student loans, and you thought you would go to New York City like all your friends were doing, but instead you took a chance and you moved out west to California. Why did you do that?
Miya Tsudome 00:22
That’s a great question. It’s so funny to think about the mindset of me back then versus me now because those are two very different people.But I guess I just knew that I wanted to see more of the world before I kind of stepped into the role that I felt was expected of me or that I expected for myself at the time. And I’d always been a traveler. I traveled a lot growing up and through college, but I had never been to the West Coast of my own country. And I was always enamored by the idea of kind of touring around California, maybe like spending some time working at some farms or just like seeing what the West Coast was like before I like dipped back into New York City career path life. And it kind of happened randomly. I remember just in the general conversation of what are you doing post grad, one of my friends mentioned she applied for a job at Yellowstone National Park. And I was like, Oh, that’s so cool. I never thought about working in a national park before. I never even knew that was something you could do. And I actually already had a one way ticket to visit a friend in Berkeley. So I had a one way ticket to San Francisco June 15th, 2014. And I was like, I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m going to take this one way ticket, go to California and why not apply for a job at Yosemite National Park? That’s kind of close to San Francisco. And it was one of those decisions that changes your life forever and definitely changed mine.
Blake Boles 02:05
And was it really that easy? Just your friend was working at a national park, so why don’t you try to do it also and see the West Coast was, I feel like there’s a lot of people who feel the sense of financial pressure and duty and obligation and don’t feel the freedom to just go explore, especially when they have debt.Like what made you feel like you were allowed to do this?
Miya Tsudome 02:28
Yeah, that’s a good question. Um, yeah, I mean, I knew that my debt was going to be an issue just like in my life, but I guess I didn’t feel so much pressure just like take care of it right away. I was like, like, this is a burden. I accept this burden.But like, am I going to let it affect like every one of my decisions going forward right now? Like, no, because I want to also live my life and enjoy my life. And I’ve always kind of like, I feel like I’ve just kind of been the kind of type of person to take big chances on things and be okay with like the uncertainty of that or the risk in that. And I was just like, yeah, why not? Like, I expected maybe to just be there for the summer, you know, not for like the rest of my life. But I didn’t know I was just like, let’s go find out. And yeah, that’s what I did.
Blake Boles 03:30
You grew up in New York City, or suburb of New York City, where specifically?
Miya Tsudome 03:34
Yeah, I grew up in the Hudson Valley in this small town called Hastings on Hudson. I was born in the city and then we moved when I was like three and it’s about 30 minutes north of Manhattan. Like you can see the city and hop on the train and go right into the city, so very city adjacent.
Blake Boles 03:51
And where did you travel as a child and during your college years?
Miya Tsudome 03:57
Yeah, so my dad was from Japan. We traveled to Japan several times as I grew up. My dad was always like a big, he loved to travel, so we tried to go on family vacations to like various places. But yeah, I was really interested in languages and culture throughout high school and college.I studied French and Japanese, so I ended up actually living in France and living in Japan for a year in college. And it was just definitely like, that was like something I just wanted to do and went and did it sort of thing.
Blake Boles 04:38
Did you spend much time in a wilderness context before you ended up working in Yosemite Valley?
Miya Tsudome 04:44
No. And that’s what I feel like is interesting about my story. And it still surprises me today.Why did I become this person? There was nothing in my life that pointed me in this direction beforehand because I didn’t grow up in any wilderness context. I remember going camping maybe twice and being like, oh, this is whatever. It’s kind of cool novelty thing, but it wasn’t it didn’t capture me. And then I was always athletic growing up. I played soccer and spent time outdoors in that sense. And I loved moving my body in that way. But yeah, I didn’t even start rock climbing until my senior year of college. Like second semester senior year got taken out to a climbing gym and thought it was cool, but I was like, oh, I’m too old to get good at this. There’s so much technique and coordination. It’s fun, but a lot of people have stories about like, oh, it captured me right away. And it didn’t capture me right away until I moved to Yosemite and was like, oh, wow, this is rock climbing. So.
Blake Boles 05:51
Yeah, tell me about your time in Yosemite Valley and how you were captured by it.
Miya Tsudome 05:56
Yeah, so I knew rock climbing existed there, but I didn’t know it was the mecca of rock climbing in the United States. And it’s referred to as the center of the universe for the climbing world, because it’s just where everything was born, where it all happened. And I knew, oh, yeah, there’s that formation called Half Dome, I think, in El Cap, or El Capitan. But I didn’t really know very much about it.I remember taking the bus in and just being like, oh my God, what? This is what it looks like? I barely did any research before. It’s just funny to me. But yeah, I remember my first job there was a cashier at the Village Grill, which is a glorified McDonald’s right in the village. And my first paycheck, like post-grad was like $124 for the week. And I was like, oh my God, what am I doing? How am I going to live like this? But I just was so amazed by this lifestyle that people were living and this sport called rock climbing that people started teaching me. And I was just like, oh my God, this is totally worth it. I’m definitely sticking this out for this experience. And that summer turned into five years of my life.
Blake Boles 07:24
So a lot of people might go and just see this as a service job with some pretty surroundings. I mean, how did this turn into something bigger for you?Who did you meet? What kind of experiences did you have? What was the magic that you experienced?
Miya Tsudome 07:39
Yeah. The magic was definitely in the community.And just like, I don’t know, the alternative lifestyle of being like, okay, we live in a national park. That’s crazy. It’s weird. But like, we’re allowed to live inside of it, not outside of it. There’s a lot of national parks. We live outside and come in, but we live inside of it. We pay so little in rent and get to work these jobs and go exploring and climbing whenever we want outside of that. Just the place itself is a magical place. Yosemite Valley, if you’ve ever been there, the valley itself has just this power to it because you’re just inside these tall, enormous, iconic walls. And you’re like, whoa, if I just learn a little bit more, try a little harder, I can climb those walls. And there’s definitely a power there. But also just being surrounded by people who also feel the same way. I think the community really shapes the way that you feel about the way that you live your life and that it’s acceptable.
Blake Boles 08:49
And who was in the community and what kind of lifestyle values were they espousing? And how is this different from the New York lifestyle values?
Miya Tsudome 08:58
Yeah, totally. Definitely very different from New York lifestyle values.I mean, I just always assumed that I would like, I said before move to the city, get a job, like live a pretty normal life. And then moving to Yosemite just like introduced me to like the rock climbing community, the dirt bags, the seasonal workers, the people who like shape their lives around the pursuit of this sport. And like I say sport very lightly, because most of us think of it more as a lifestyle. It’s not just something you do, but it’s something that you are or like you base your life around in some way. So it just feels more than just an activity. But yeah, the people that I met just showed me that, yeah, you could build your life around something like that. And it was just it was so fun to have all these a different picture about what life could look like.
Blake Boles 09:59
So your first job there was straight up service industry in a restaurant, were you able to work there full-time year round? Did you get other jobs? How did you stick it out?
Miya Tsudome 10:13
Yeah, I worked in the service industry for a long time. I mean, I’ve worked in restaurants since I was 15. So it was pretty normal to me to do that.I ended up working in the Awani Hotel, which is like the nice hotel there, like busing tables, cocktail waitressing at the bar, working at the lodge in Tuolumne. And eventually, I started guiding rock climbing, guiding for the Yosemite Mountaineering School. That was kind of like a little bit more of a step forward towards a career in my mind.But yeah, mostly just serving tables and sometimes taking time off, sometimes like working in the summer, and then taking the winters off. And then going back was definitely like a typical schedule.
Blake Boles 11:06
What would you do in the winters?
Miya Tsudome 11:08
I would climb, I would travel, I would live out of my car, go where my friends were going.
Blake Boles 11:17
You are a dirtbag.
Miya Tsudome 11:18
That was a dirtbag.
Blake Boles 11:20
Were you capable of saving money or were you just breaking even during this time?
Miya Tsudome 11:25
Um, I was definitely more breaking even. I didn’t make that much money and therefore didn’t save that much money.I would mostly spend it on trips and just cost of living, like gas, food, yeah, traveling. And, um, but it was always, it was always like, oh, but I, I’ll just go, you know, back to the job and like back to serving tables and making money again. It was, you know, an easy thing to fall back on.
Blake Boles 11:56
Were you paying your student loans down also?
Miya Tsudome 11:59
Yeah, slowly, like the bare minimum chipping away.
Blake Boles 12:04
So, when did you get your first break as a photographer?
Miya Tsudome 12:11
Um, so it wasn’t until, uh, I think 2019, but I guess to preface it, I’ve always, um, I’ve always like had a camera on me. It’s always been like something that I’ve really enjoyed since high school, just taking photos, but for some reason, never really thought about it as a career path.Um, I guess growing up, I didn’t really have many examples of that. And it wasn’t really until later where I was like, Oh, other people like do this and like make money doing this. And I always took photos in Yosemite. And, um, there was a couple of photos I took that I ended up selling to Patagonia and I remember just getting that paycheck from selling those photos and being like, this is my aha moment. You know, like, whoa, like I can make money doing this. Um, and I’m going to, I’m going to start trying.
Blake Boles 13:10
How did you even get connected to Patagonia? How did they discover you? Or how did you reach out to them?
Miya Tsudome 13:16
Yeah, well, I definitely did not get discovered. I wish everybody wishes they could get discovered.But I got really lucky because I had a connection to someone who shot a lot of photos for them or shoots a lot of photos for them, actually. Shout out to Drew Smith, because he was the one who connected me to the photo editor at Patagonia. And Patagonia is pretty like democratic in the sense that they accept photo submissions from anybody. You don’t have to be someone to get a photo published, which is a really cool way to enter into that world. It makes it a little less intimidating. So I had a few photos. He gave me the contact. I submitted them. And yeah, they bought them. And I was like, Whoa, this is really cool. Thank you. Yeah, thanks, Drew.
Blake Boles 14:14
So describe your transition from working in the service industry and not making that much money into becoming a professional photographer.
Miya Tsudome 14:26
Yeah, so I guess I would say that I became a climbing guide and I thought that I would do that for a while. It was like considered a better job in the valley, better pay, like, well-respected, more of a career path. And then COVID happened. And in 2020, the park had like very limited services to the public and guiding was not one of them. And so I didn’t go back that year.And it was kind of like the perfect push out the door for me anyways, because it’s very easy to get stuck in the seasonal life of Yosemite, just keep going back to the same job year after year. Because it’s fun, but also because yeah, cost of living is low, you make good money and you kind of get used to that. But it was a push out of the door that I needed to be like, okay, I need to pivot. COVID is also like an interesting time to like think about pivoting in like a very uncertain world. But like, I definitely didn’t do anything for 2020. It wasn’t until 2021, actually, that I like was able to move forward in my career. But I was thinking about it like all of 2020. But I applied for an internship at a production run by Corey Rich, who’s like a pretty well known, like old school climbing photographer, like super successful, like, like his career trajectory is one that I like had admired from afar. And most people have what we’ll like and know Corey Rich. If you say the name Corey Rich, like, Oh, yeah, the climbing photographer from like, back in the day, like all climbing magazine, other publications, he was heavily featured in. And so like, this internship would be a dream. But I just was like, I’m just going to like, throw my name in the hat and like, see what happens. And a week later, they call me, and I have an interview. And they say, yeah, we would love to have you as our new intern. Can you move here within a week? And I was like, like, I was like, totally shocked that I had gotten the position and also like, oh, wow, I’m gonna have to like, change my life up really quickly. And then I moved from Bishop to South Lake Tahoe and started working as an intern at the production company. And that’s definitely where I learned a lot more and like, push my career forward in a way that I didn’t anticipate before, just like learning so much about the world of production, which I think is like, a really important aspect of what I do.
Blake Boles 17:16
Hmm. Were you in South Lake Tahoe in summer 2021?
Miya Tsudome 17:21
I was.
Blake Boles 17:22
And while we overlapped there.
Miya Tsudome 17:23
No way!
Blake Boles 17:24
Yeah. South Lake Tahoe is one of my circle back places for a long time.
Miya Tsudome 17:29
Oh my gosh, that’s so funny.
Blake Boles 17:32
Okay, so you got the Patagonia break, you got the internship at the production company, and how quickly did this turn into something that could support you full-time without any other side hustling, without any other seasonal gigs that you could really say like, I am a photographer, full stop.
Miya Tsudome 17:53
Hmm, yeah, that’s a good question. I mean, I think those two things are actually a little bit different. Like, I think that after my internship, I took a couple months for me to start getting the ball rolling for myself as a freelancer. And, but that next year ended up being a pretty sustainable year for me financially.But I wasn’t like a photographer, full stop, I did like a lot of jobs where I was, and I still do these jobs sometimes where I’m like a assisting on shoots. So being more of like an assistant role, whether that’s like a PA or like an assistant camera position, or like other things in production that aren’t me holding the camera. So yeah, it’s like the goal was always be like, I’m a photographer, full stop, right? Like, I’m always the one behind the camera. And like, that’s what I was striving for. But that, that like, had didn’t happen like the first year, but I still was able to like, like, scrap up a bunch of different jobs where I was in that world. And like, maybe I was shooting half the time. And half the time, I was like doing assistant roles. But like, I didn’t have to do, I didn’t have to go work at a restaurant, you know, like, everything, all my jobs were in the world that I wanted to be in. So that happened, like, fairly quickly, I would say. I’m lucky enough to be able to say that.
Blake Boles 19:30
Were you able to start saving money at that point?
Miya Tsudome 19:33
I was able to start saving money at that point, yep. My overhead was still really low.And I was used to living in this way where my overhead could be low. When I was living in Tahoe, I bought this old 13-foot vintage trailer, like this small little trailer. And I moved back to Bishop and parked it in my friend’s driveway and just paid a nominal amount of rent to live in his driveway in my trailer. And so my cost of living was low. Yeah, not much overhead other than rent and expenses that went to my job. So yeah, I was definitely able to start saving money at that point.
Blake Boles 20:24
So you had many years of training under your belt as a dirtbag, and then when you started to earn much more money, you were, you did not increase your spending at the same time because you were like so good at, at being the dirtbag climber. And that allowed you to take steps towards becoming dirtbag rich.
Miya Tsudome 20:42
Yes.
Blake Boles 20:44
How was your climbing developing at the same time?
Miya Tsudome 20:48
Yeah, so climbing has always been like a huge part of my life. And I would say like, equal to my career, I would say my career and my climbing are like the most important things that I center my life around. But while I was like in the developing stages of my career, I definitely had like, and I do feel this a lot of the times I have to prioritize my work, like I should prioritize my work when I need to. But I also choose kind of to do the work that I do and the capacity that I do it so that I have as much time as I can to also pursue climbing. So there have definitely been times where I’m like, Oh, work is like, you know, taking the forefront. And I’m okay with that.Or I had to learn to be okay with that. And then there are other times where I’m like, well, now, like I can just go climbing and like pour as much of my energy into that as I want to as well. And that’s like equally as important to me.
Blake Boles 21:52
So have you been able to become the climber that you want to become? I’m not even sure how to ask that question correctly. Are you satisfied with your life in this thing, which is more than a sport?
Miya Tsudome 22:05
I am definitely satisfied with my life as it’s turned out so far as the balance goes. Like I said, I do have to make sacrifices sometimes for the sake of work, which is obviously just a part of living. And also, I love what I do. So I feel so grateful that I’m like, oh, I have to go to this job.Like I’m excited to go do this job. But I definitely like, yeah, that’s a good question because I definitely thought about it more this year. I’m like, oh, like I put a lot of time into climbing, but am I in the climber that I want to be? Like not quite. So I’m definitely dedicating more of this year specifically to like reaching more of my potential in that sense. And I’ll be curious what that looks like and like what sacrifices I’ll have to make for that. But it still like means so much to me and I’m like, oh, I don’t want to just like have a good balance of like I go climbing and I go to work and I’m happy with that. Like I also like have goals that I want to achieve in my climbing and in my work. But yeah, I want to put as much energy as I can into climbing this year for sure.
Blake Boles 23:20
Do you work full-time and what does full-time even mean to you?
Miya Tsudome 23:25
Yeah, it’s a really good question full-time is like a hard thing to define for me because Yeah, work is just erratic like sometimes I’ll be you know out on a shoot for a Week at a time but like like every pretty much every hour of the day is like working and then sleeping and then working again and then I’ll have stretches of time off but During my time off. There’s always something to do whether it’s admin work taxes emails Website looking for jobs There is a lot of other things that go into like maintaining your own business, of course But I feel like I At least when I’m not on a shoot.I feel like I pretty much spend like Every other day working and every other day just climbing like on my climbing days. I don’t work I just go outside and enjoy my time. Yeah
Blake Boles 24:25
That is a good ratio, and especially if when you’re out there climbing, you don’t have to be checking your phone or thinking about work or having that occupy real estate in the back of your brain.
Miya Tsudome 24:38
Yeah, definitely. And sometimes I don’t have the choice. Like, there have been definitely been times where I’m like, on the side of LCAP, like taking a work phone call, or like, you know, yeah, out with the boulders, like answering an email for sure. But like, most of the time, it’s just like, you know, it’ll take up like, you know, at most a half hour of my day.And the rest of the day, I’m just like, enjoying my free time. And that’s definitely the way that I like, I like to live my life.
Blake Boles 25:04
So, if you average it out, it sounds like you’re working more than half time, but less than full time, it’s hard to put a number on this, right? But you don’t feel like you’re constantly stressed and obsessed with work.
Miya Tsudome 25:19
No. And I definitely feel like I could, like there’s definitely a world in which sometimes I feel like I should be, you know, hustling more, working more. Um, but I don’t want to, like, I think that my like sanity is better intact.If I give myself the time off that I, I like that I feel like I need my happiness.
Blake Boles 25:45
That’s your New York City alter ego speaking there. Yeah.
Miya Tsudome 25:49
Exactly.
Blake Boles 25:52
So, tell me a bit about your background and specifically about your dad’s influence on your life and your decision to become self-employed.
Miya Tsudome 26:01
Yeah, totally. Yeah, I feel like, I feel like it’s something I’m like coming to terms with more now. It’s funny, you know, the ways in which you become the person you are, are sometimes not like, so clear to you until later. And yeah, I thought about a lot more recently about how my dad’s influence has led me to where I am today.And just like his example of the way that he lived his life. He was an immigrant from Okinawa, Japan, who came over to the United States with a dream, and not really like the resources to execute that dream, meaning that like he was broke, and barely spoke English, and like moved to the States and into New York City as a hairstylist. And he was like classically trained in Japan as a hairstylist, but knew that he wanted to move to a city, a foreign city far away and like open his own hair salon and follow that dream. And he that’s what he did, which is incredible. Like I still wish I like knew more about the details of all the like minute details of his life because he died when I was 14. But yeah, he successfully opened up two salons, one like and then near the neighborhood that I lived in and one in Manhattan and him and my mom met, got married, had kids. And yeah, he just was like, had this entrepreneurial spirit always. And that’s what I was raised around. And I think that just like kind of seeped into my understanding of like what was possible without me really even realizing it until later.
Blake Boles 27:57
How do you think that seeped in there? Was there any like active instruction, active, you know, Hey, you should work for yourself or was it more leading by example?
Miya Tsudome 28:08
I definitely think leading by example, because when I think about if he were alive throughout the life choices I’ve made in my adult years, he wouldn’t have been psyched on my path because I think he would have wanted me to lead a more traditional life in the sense of getting a career that he approved of. It’s just like one of those classic parental things where they want success and security for their kids.And I think that’s, he expected a lot of me always as a kid growing up. And I think he would have been like, what are you doing? Why are you working in National Park and not making any money and wasting away your years? I don’t think he would have been especially excited about that. But when I think about where I am today, I think that he would be like, oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense for you. And I can see why you did that. And maybe he would have been honored and inspired by the fact that a lot of it was because of him and the way that he had lived his life that I ended up in, the way that I live my life has been based on.
Blake Boles 29:32
What about your mom? What role did she play in your life?
Miya Tsudome 29:36
Yeah, my mom has played an important role in my life too, because of, I think she was kind of, not the opposite of my father and her expectations, but like more relaxed in her expectations than my father. And that allowed me to kind of like, nurture my needs to explore and kind of do what I ended up doing without like so much pressure from her.Like she didn’t pressure me. She kind of always, I think trusted me to figure, figure it out, figure out what I was gonna end up doing. And like having, feeling that trust from her was like so, so nice to be like, okay, if she trusts me, like I can trust me, like I can take my time. I can figure this out. And so I’m really grateful to her for that.
Blake Boles 30:29
So circling back to the realities of your life, um, at this point, you, you’re paying rent, you’re living in one place. You’re, you’re not quite the dirt bag anymore.I’m curious if you can just tell me kind of the range of, of earnings that you’ve experienced as a photographer and how much of this you’re capable of saving.
Miya Tsudome 30:53
Yeah. Um, so I feel really lucky that like, kind of out the gate, I was like I said before, I was doing a lot of different types of jobs, assisting, taking photos, doing video work on different productions and stuff. I was able to get like consistent enough work where I like my first year in my career, I probably made the most money I had ever made in my life up until that point, which was probably, I don’t know, 50 to $60,000 that year. And I was like, wow, like, okay, like this is working, like I can do this.And I feel the same way every year, every year where I’m like, okay, is this is next year gonna be that good? Or is like, is like, what’s next year gonna look like? I make more money and less money. And every year I’ve made more money, which I’ve been so grateful for. But every year, I’m like, this feeling of dread, like, oh my god, like, am I still gonna make that much money? And yeah, so I’ve been able to increase my income every year, which has been great, but I still have a lot of like insecurity, a feeling of insecurity around that being freelance.
Blake Boles 32:14
Let’s dwell on that insecurity and that dread, because I know this, this is a big thing for you because you’ve created this life that gives you the flexibility to climb every other day, but you also seem to live with this fear that you’ll never get another gig, but you continue saying yes to this, this deal year after year. So how do you strike a balance between security and freedom as a freelancer?
Miya Tsudome 32:40
Yeah. Um, I think because like freedom means so much more to me than just comfort and security that I’m willing to accept that as a feeling that is in my life. It’s funny. I think like it goes kind of along with climbing. It’s just like so much of climbing is like uncomfortable. And like, I feel like I feel like I really lean into those feelings of like discomfort in my life because I know those are places of growth. And I like, I don’t want to always feel like so comfortable. I’m like, if something is too comfortable, like what’s wrong? Like discomfort is just like a part of life. And I’m willing to accept that at an exchange for what I receive, which is more time, freedom to do what I want to be my own boss, to like constantly be excited about work because I’m not always working every single day.Um, and yeah, like the trade-offs are definitely worth it to me in that sense. But like, I’m still trying to like not, I don’t know, succumb to like the negative thoughts all the time, but it’s hard. Um, I think, and I think like a lot of people I talk to who do the same work as me feel the same way we kind of are always like, are we going to become obsolete? Is there’s, is there’s always someone to replace you so easily? Like, is AI going to take our jobs? Like there’s just no real like concrete answer besides just like trying to make it work year after year and not, not knowing what’s going to come next. But like, I don’t know, having some sort of trust that it will keep working out somehow.
Blake Boles 34:22
I want to play with this a bit more, do you really think this is a freelancer like gig worker type thing? Do you have friends who have more normal jobs with salaries who don’t experience this stress or this worry?
Miya Tsudome 34:38
Yeah, I definitely think so. I mean, I’m sure we are all susceptible to our own worries, whether, you know, whatever job you have, I’m sure, I mean, everybody’s worried about a lot of things.As far as, you know, the future of their work goes, but I feel like freelance in particular. Yeah, just because we don’t have, well, many of us don’t have contracts or, you know, we get a new client, but will they become a repeat client? We don’t know. Like, there’s just so much more uncertainty when it comes to finding your own work, keeping your own work and being hired for the work that you do that. Yeah, it’s just kind of par for the course for the freelancer more so than the full-time worker.
Blake Boles 35:30
Do you have any role models in this realm, not just freelancers, but maybe anyone who lives similarly to you in your early mid-20s was a bit more of a dirtbag. And then they got some sort of higher pain opportunity, um, and they don’t experience the stress.Is there anyone who you look up to in this professional or career development sense?
Miya Tsudome 35:56
Yeah, I mean, there’s people that I looked at look up to, but it’s funny because I finally meet them or talk to them. And I realized that we all feel the same way.And that’s kind of like, comforting to me, but also worrying to me, because I’m like, Oh, if the people that I’ve looked up to feel the same way that I do about the uncertainty of our careers and the industry, the outdoor industry, and like being, being a sustainable industry to be in, like, maybe that’s not a great sign. But there’s definitely, I mean, the heavy hitters who have made it really work for themselves and have like grown into, I don’t know, the figures of the outdoor industry or just like the outdoor world in general and get, I feel like you have to get hired in like a bigger capacity, like commercially to really have the work be sustainable long term.
Blake Boles 37:00
Do you feel like the photography you do is meaningful, it’s purposeful, it’s helping the world? Maybe you can talk just a bit about the type of photography you do.
Miya Tsudome 37:10
Yeah, totally. So the type of photography I do is heavily based in the outdoors adventure world. A lot of it is rock climbing related. I really enjoy like lifestyle photography as well, like always in the outdoor world, just the spaces that I inhabit or what I’m inspired by. But a lot of the time, you know, that leads to commercial work commercial like brand work where you’re like selling photos of a lifestyle or a sport to sell a product.And I’ve always known that like, oh, I don’t want to just have my art, like my life’s work to be to like sell a backpack, you know, like, that doesn’t really speak to me in my soul and like what I want to be like, working on my whole life. So I think about that often. But I also feel like I’ve been able to balance that with the freedom to do personal projects that I care about. And I’ve also really entered into like the environmental nonprofit world more recently with some new clients doing a lot of video work. And that makes me feel like I’m contributing a little bit more, helping to like spread a message, some education and yeah, kind of also getting to learn about topics that I’m interested in. And that feels, yeah, pretty fulfilling.
Blake Boles 38:40
Can you give me a specific example from recent years where you’ve been out there getting paid to photograph something and you stop and you think, Oh my gosh, I’m getting paid to do this. This is incredible.
Miya Tsudome 38:55
Yeah, I feel like I have a lot of moments like that and I feel really lucky to feel that way because sometimes I’m just like in environments where I’m like, wow, I mean, something that comes to mind recently where I was just somewhere just that I just that I was just like my job was open and it was just an experience that was really special. I’ll stop talking about how I feel about it and I’ll tell you about the experience.I guess I was I spent a lot of time in Yosemite this past November and I had several jobs shooting on El Capitan, which is like the major climbing formation there that is very tall big wall. And since I had a couple jobs back to back, I decided to, because I was going to hike to the top and rappel down and shoot different climbing ascends. I decided to sleep on top instead of hiking back down the valley and then hiking back up. And I knew there was a storm coming, so I brought a tent, but I didn’t know it was supposed to storm so much. And I like, in the middle of the day, it’s like dumping snow around me like inches and inches of snow. And I’m huddled up in my tent being like, oh my God, this is pretty intense. But then the storm stopped and I open up my tent and come outside and just experience one of the most beautiful sunsets of my entire life. And I’m just above this gorgeous valley with clouds suspended through granite spires and everything was just glowing pink. And there’s this beautiful tree at the top of El Cap called the Tree of Life we refer to it as. And it’s just covered in snow and looks like this Japanese woodblock print. And it’s just really a novel experience to be on top of El Cap alone while it’s covered in snow. It’s not an experience a lot of people will ever see. And I was just like, wow, this is incredible that I get to be here and see this. And then tomorrow I’m going to repel down, shoot some video. And that’s my job. And I just get to be here in a place like this. And yeah, I feel that often I get to see so many sunsets and sunrises. And I feel like that’s a really special part, a really random special part of my job because I spend so much time outside searching for good light. And those times of day always just feel special. Yeah.
Blake Boles 41:39
You don’t see that very often listed in compensation packages for jobs or benefits, incredible sunsets and sunrises amidst nature.
Miya Tsudome 41:52
Yeah, definitely.
Blake Boles 41:55
Well, let’s look at the other side of the coin and tell me how this life doesn’t feel like it’s working or doesn’t feel sustainable. And maybe outside of your base level of freelancer insecurity, what do you worry about for the future when you look farther down the line?
Miya Tsudome 42:15
Yeah. Okay. Well, I guess I just feel like I live with a constant voice in the back of my head. Saying, what if this is your last job? What if the phone just stops ringing? What if AI makes your job obsolete? I feel like sometimes I only have soft skills, not hard skills that I can rely on or fall back on if I needed to switch careers. And that’s something that really worries me.
Blake Boles 42:44
Um, hard skills, like building a house or like programming computers.
Miya Tsudome 42:48
Yeah, like, um, you know, like, I have a liberal arts degree, like, I didn’t go to like, a school for like, engineering, for example, or a program engineer, software engineer, or something just like, really, you know, a good job that you can like, go out into the world and make money doing like, that the world needs right now. Somehow, you know, and even like, within my career, there, you know, there are more hard skills that I feel like I can work a camera that’s kind of a hard skill, but kind of a soft skill, because I guess it’s a little more creative and less technical, and I feel like technical jobs or more, like, people are hiring more for technical jobs or specific technical jobs.Like, everybody wants to be a photographer, everybody wants to be a videographer, you know, so there’s a lot of competition in that world, and to make yourself stand out in that way is kind of tricky. And so yeah, I worry about the long term, I worry about whether or not I’ll be able to still make it long term, and like, what I would have to fall back on if I didn’t.
Blake Boles 44:15
Mm-hmm.
Miya Tsudome 44:16
Yeah.
Blake Boles 44:17
Hey, I’m right there with you. And I want to ask about the sustainability of being a member of the climbing world, too. I have a number of friends who are climbers and they tell me how it can be a very insular world. Many climbers do all their socializing, all their recreating, all their dating, everything within one tiny little bubble.And I wonder, since you’ve chosen to live in Bishop, which is its own climbing mecca, not very far from Yosemite, are you part of this climbing bubble and does that feel sustainable to you?
Miya Tsudome 44:56
Yeah, that’s a good question. I’m definitely part of a climbing bubble. And yeah, Bishop, California is probably home to like 7,000 residents, very small. It’s kind of like as big as my hometown I grew up in. And most of the people I talk to are climbers. And most of my, well, pretty much all of my friends are climbers. And yeah, that world does feel a little small sometimes.And like, I often think about like, the experiences I might be missing out on by not living in a more like culturally diverse place, like a bigger city. But I also feel like climbing has given me so much and like opened my eyes to so much and allowed me to do so much that it just feels like it’s made my world more expansive, instead of smaller, I guess. Like, I just feel like I have so much freedom to travel everywhere and everywhere I go. I don’t know, especially if I’m like, going to somewhere where another climbing destination, it’s just like, I can always find friends or commonalities in all those places. And that feels really cool to be able to have a lifestyle that I can travel across the world and meet a climber and make a friend. And that feels really inspiring to me. But I also don’t want to close I think that I myself am lucky because I get to travel so much for work and for play. And just like my work in general, I meet so many people and get to go on so many different jobs and just have new experiences that keep my outlook feeling like a little more fresh than if I just lived in Bishop year round. I think that would be harder for me if I just lived in Bishop year round.
Blake Boles 47:09
Hmm. Do you have any upcoming climbing projects or work gigs or just personal travels that you’re looking forward to, you know, ways that you’re going to use your precious free time and flexibility?
Miya Tsudome 47:25
Yeah. Um, I do have an example of something I’m really excited about that feels like I’ve worked towards, um, and it’s like coming to fruition, which is that I am going on a personal climbing trip, but I also am going, getting paid to take photos for it. Um, which is really exciting because yeah, so much of the time I feel like I spend maybe like documenting other people’s notable ascents or achievements. And while I love doing that, I’m always like having this like FOMO. I’m like, Oh man, like that looks really cool. Like I want to do something cool. I don’t want to just like document someone else doing something cool, you know? And I think like a lot of, um, maybe not a lot, but there are definitely a fair amount of people in my industry who have foregone, you know, climbing for their job. And like, maybe they take a lot of photos or shoot a lot of video, other people climbing, but don’t really do it themselves as much anymore, you know? And I don’t want to be one of those people.I want to do it just as much. Um, so I’m going on a trip to New Zealand, um, and I’m going to try to free climb this big wall down there. It’s like New Zealand’s first big wall. Um, it’s only seen a few ascents. It was put up in 2020. So quite recently. And, uh, the route that me and my, a couple of friends are attempting hasn’t seen a second ascent yet. So it just, it’s kind of like this bigger goal. I haven’t done any big wall free climbing before, which is like something that I’ve always wanted to do and watched other people do. And now this is kind of my opportunity to try something like that for myself.And I also get paid to take photos. So that’s kind of like, if you had told me 10 years ago that I was doing that, I was, I would be like, are you kidding? Like you’re living the dream. Like, are you kidding? Like you’re so lucky. And so I have to remind myself of that sometimes like, wow, you’re doing it. You’re doing what you always want to do. And like, maybe you’re not making as much, uh, money doing it as you want to yet or any or something like that. But like, don’t fixate on that fixate on the experience and how lucky you are.
Blake Boles 49:50
I think that’s a great place to wrap things up. If anyone wants to find you online or see your photography, where should they go?
Miya Tsudome 49:58
Yeah, I guess you can do what most people do and follow me on Instagram, which is just my name, miyatsudome, or find me on my website, which is just my name com.Yeah, but I’m always happy to talk to people about my life and I love it when people reach out and ask me about what I do because it’s just kind of fun to talk about and share and show that it’s possible.
Blake Boles 50:27
Miya Tsudome, thanks so much for coming on Dirtbag Rich.
Miya Tsudome 50:31
Thank you so much for having me, Blake. I really appreciate it.