Chie Endo

About

The long version, as short as I could make it.

Photographer, creative director, co-founder of a creative studio, and someone who has strong opinions about overhead lighting.

Chie leaning against tall black-framed windows downtown in a denim halter, long denim skirt and cowboy boots

How I got here

  1. Corporate

    A supply chain degree from Texas A&M, a stable corporate job, and a quiet feeling that this wasn't it.

  2. At 23

    Quit. Moved to Ubud, Bali to "find my purpose." Told everyone it was a plan. It was mostly a feeling.

  3. Photography

    Built a freelance photography business from scratch during COVID, one client and one very long edit at a time.

  4. Eani

    Co-founded Eani Creative in Austin, a women-led studio making content and campaigns for beauty, wellness and fashion brands.

  5. Now 31

    Making content of my own, coaching women who want to show up online, and slowly building a life I can run from anywhere.

What I've learned from both sides of the lens

After years of directing people on camera, I can tell you the hard part is almost never the lighting or the editing. It's the fear of being seen. My team jokes that we're social media therapists. We're not really joking.

I'm not writing this from the finish line. I still overthink my own posts. I'm just a few steps ahead, and I'd rather walk you through it than pretend it's easy.

If I can do it, so can you.

Chie standing on a ladder in a field, shooting a photo while her Eani Creative team works below Chie on a red scooter on a road through Bali rice fields Chie laughing behind a video camera on set with her team Chie in a white wedding dress in a green field with her white dog Chie in a red jumpsuit taking a selfie on a white scooter Chie reading in a hammock at a jungle villa in Bali Chie with a coconut outside a white bamboo hut in the Bali jungle Flat lay of blue scrubs and accessories, art directed by Chie for a client Chie laughing in the grass while her dog licks her face Motion-blur fashion portrait in orange flares, shot by Chie Chie sitting on the thatched roof of a triangle bamboo hut in Bali Chie in a white feathered dress at dusk Chie sitting by a jungle river below a bamboo hut in Bali Editorial lingerie portrait shot by Chie for a client Chie under an outdoor jungle shower at a villa in Bali

Off camera

  • Vintage collector. My closet is an archive and I will tell you where everything is from.
  • I sew. Sometimes successfully.
  • Taking heels dance classes, badly but enthusiastically.
  • Married, one dog, and a camera roll that's mostly both.

Still here? Let's talk.

Work with me Follow @chie_endo