Today we’d like to introduce you to Karly Johnson.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I first picked up a camera when I was 12 years old. I loved creating and making things, but I also loved sports—so those two parts of me were always competing. As a young artist, I didn’t believe in myself very much, so I chose a more “practical” path and pursued legal and women’s studies in college, hoping to become a lawyer. I’ve always cared about people’s stories, so that eventually came into the way I photograph people.
Near the end of college, I worked at a prestigious firm in Mpls for a few months and started feeling a growing sense that I was meant to do something creative. I spent my lunch breaks scrolling through art projects on Pinterest, watching crossfit documentaries, doodling—anything but the work in front of me. I didn’t want to admit to myself that I could chase another career, because admitting it would make it real.
Eventually, I quit the firm and began volunteering as a photographer at fitness competitions in the CrossFit world. I brought my camera to my gym, documented anything and everything, and started sharing my work on social media. A few months after making that career shift, the world shut down due to COVID. I decided to use that crazy season of life to photograph small business owners from 6+ feet away, sharing their stories online to help keep the Minneapolis small business community alive in my own little way.
Through the power of social media, I leaned even harder into my dream of working in sports. Creating alongside athletes had always been the goal, and that focus led me to apply for a photographer and social media lead role at PRVN Fitness—a company founded by the Fittest Woman on Earth and her husband. At the time, it was my absolute dream job. I moved to Nashville and spent the next year and a half living, thinking, and creating entirely for that brand.
Toward the end of 2022, I felt ready to do more, so I went full-time freelance. Since then, I’ve worked with athletes, brands, and artists—and that’s still where I am today. It’s been such a wild journey, and sometimes it feels like I’ve lived ten lives—but in the best way!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not at all. And while I wouldn’t want to relive the struggles all over again, I am grateful for them. I think the hardest struggle I’ve consistently faced is learning how to trust myself.
Of course, there have been difficult shooting days—moments where I felt like I should be further along, or times when imposter syndrome was at an all time high—but the deeper challenge has always been having enough trust in myself to see something before it happens.
Before every major life shift, I was very consumed by fear and what ifs. I don’t think my parents wanted me to take the creative route—it felt riskier, less certain. And each time I left something familiar, like law, PRVN, or other paths—to continue pursuing what truly mattered to me, I struggled more than people realized. I care a lot about making other people happy, and choosing myself often felt like I was disappointing someone else.
The biggest struggle, then, has been learning to prioritize what I want—to stop apologizing for it, to trust it, and to go after it wholeheartedly. And while that path can feel incredibly fulfilling, it also can also feel lonely at times.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I chose the name Karly Kreative during a season of my life when I knew I needed to be creating—I just didn’t know what that would look like yet. Creating has always felt so essential to me – not in a chore-like way, but in the same way breathing or eating is essential.
As a kid, I spent a lot of time in nature, making things with my hands, and as an adult I dreamed of building a life that allowed me to do something similar.
I chose that name because I don’t really think of myself as just a photographer. I’m very multi-passionate, drawn to many different forms of creating that intersect and shape who I am. I believe creating is a spiritual process—everything in my life forms me and my experience, and in turn shapes how I see and capture the world.
While I’m most known for my photography, my work leans toward a documentary style—telling honest stories of athletes and people within life’s moments. That might look like an Olympia weekend or an NBA game, but it can also be as simple as making eggs in the kitchen.
Over the past few years, I’ve made a conscious effort to be more present in my own life. The more I do that, the more the simple, everyday moments stand out as special + meaningful. My favorite parts of the creative process have less to do with the final image and more to do with what’s honest—getting to know people on a deeper level, creating with them, and documenting what feels true.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I’d say it’s the combination of authenticity and vulnerability—and honestly, I don’t think you can have one without the other.
For a large part of my life, I lived to please other people, even though I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing. In college, I followed what my friends were doing without stopping to ask myself what I actually wanted. I chose my majors because I believed that career path would make both my parents and myself proud.
But art was always different. Creating was the one place where I showed up naturally as myself. When I chose the creative path, it forced me into deeper levels of authenticity and vulnerability—I had to be honest with myself, admit uncomfortable things, and sit with them. Without that honesty, I couldn’t create in a way that felt real.
Those decisions led me to Nashville, to PRVN, and to working with athletes—but they also pushed me to start sharing more of my emotions and thoughts on social media. The more I opened up, the more I realized how many others were experiencing the creative process (and life) in the same way.
Learning that I didn’t have to hide as an artist became a huge deal for me. I think so many artists struggle to create work that truly feels like them because they’re focused on whether others will like it. That’s a trap I lived in for years. When I finally allowed myself to be more authentic—and, by default, more vulnerable—everything about my creative path began to change. It’s not all amazing and fun though – when you decide to be more authentic and vulnerable there will always be people who don’t like it – and it hurts from time to time. I just knew staying hidden was worse than enduring any sort of hate for being myself
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.karlykreative.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karlykreative/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@karlykreative
