We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kayla Dewees a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kayla , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I discovered my purpose through the incredible people around me. I’ve had the privilege of meeting individuals with beautiful spirits and inspiring stories, and their experiences have deeply shaped my work. Much of what I do is driven by the inspiration I find in others. We share this world with so many unique voices, I believe it’s essential to listen, learn, and share the power of storytelling to connect, inspire, and uplift.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
As a child, it began with writing—I loved creating stories and sharing them with my family, often bringing them to life through play, acting out scenes with my dolls, action figures, and stuffed animals. As I grew, so did my passion for storytelling, evolving into theatre and a deep love for acting. I began performing at the age of nine and have continued honing that craft ever since.
But storytelling didn’t stop there for me. At 16, I bought my first camera—a 35mm film camera—and instantly fell in love with candid photography. I took it everywhere, capturing raw, unfiltered moments of life, drawn to the beauty of the human experience through imagery. This passion only deepened when I pursued a degree in acting at university, where I discovered a love for visual storytelling beyond performance. I found myself just as captivated by what happened behind the camera as I was in front of it. This realization led me to add a film minor, opening the door to a new world of creative possibilities.
It was in this environment that I met a group of inspiring women who encouraged me to explore different modes of storytelling. Together, we collaborated on short films, and before long, I was inspired to create something even more meaningful with them—a documentary highlighting women’s stories and history, titled “Women Created Equal.” What began as a short documentary quickly evolved into something much larger than Allorie Alexander, one of the projects cinematographers and executive producers, and I ever imagined. The stories we dove into were so powerful, so deeply moving, that we knew they couldn’t be shortened. And so, the project grew into a feature-length documentary—one that has been a true labor of love.
For the past five years, I have been directing this documentary as a passion project, pouring my heart into bringing these voices to life. It has been a journey of dedication, collaboration, and profound gratitude. I couldn’t have done it without the incredible crew and cast, every single person who has contributed to this project has brought the story’s vision to life, and I am beyond grateful for them. Now, as we approach the final stages, I am filled with excitement and anticipation. These stories deserve to be seen, heard, and honored—and I can’t wait to share them with the world.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back, the most impactful knowledge I’ve gained has come from the people around me—their wisdom, encouragement, and the lessons they’ve shared. One piece of advice that has stuck with me is: Keep creating, even when you feel it’s not your best work. That’s how I’ve grown and refined my craft, and discovered my own unique style.
Another lesson, though it may sound cliché, has been invaluable: Fail—again and again. Every failure brings you one step closer to success. My best friend and I last year said “Let’s make a pact to fail 100 times this year, then it’ll get us even closer to where we’d like to be.” Learning to embrace failure rather than fear it has helped guide my journey.
More recently, I came across a piece of advice that deeply resonated with me: It’s better to start before something is perfect than to wait for perfection and never do it at all. I’m a perfectionist, I struggle with OCD, which often intensifies during my creative process. While it often helps me fine-tune my vision, it can also hold me back—making me hesitant to pursue ideas unless I can complete them exactly as imagined. But I’ve learned that some of my best work has come from unexpected moments, happy accidents, or ideas that evolved in ways I never planned.
I’ve also been incredibly fortunate to have supportive parents who always encouraged me to pursue a career in what makes me happy. They taught me that success isn’t about choosing the safest path, but the one that fulfills you. And while the road of an artist is anything but easy, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
Over the past year, I’ve pushed myself to grow in an area I was once too intimidated to pursue—cinematography. As a photographer, the camera has always felt like an extension of me, but cinematography introduced an entirely new level of complexity. The technical aspects—building out cinema rigs, mastering lighting, and crafting dynamic compositions for movement—felt overwhelming. I hesitated to even try it because I wasn’t an expert, and the fear of making mistakes held me back.
However, last year while developing B-Roll concepts for the documentary, it became clear that having a cinematographer readily available would be invaluable—especially when others weren’t available. Instead of waiting until I felt ready, I decided to push myself to at least try it. I saved up, bought a cinema camera, and committed myself to learning, which I will continue to do. It all came back to those pieces of advice that have stuck with me: Fail until you get it right. Don’t wait for perfection—just start.
Looking back, I’m glad I said f*ck it, I’ll just give it a go, because every year I didn’t take that step was another year I could have spent growing in that very skill. I can confidently say that taking that first step was a gateway into another skillset that I love pursuing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kayladewees.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayladewees?igsh=dzRwNGs0c3M4ajQ5&utm_source=qr
Image Credits
All photography and art direction by me.
Image 1:
Model – Olivia Dyck
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Image 2:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Models – Ashley Baker, Fartune Hilowle, Srimathy Mohan, Sylvia Romero, Elizabeth Chung, Melissa Kalani, Mel Nguyen, Ethereal Michael, and Stephanie Lorenzano
Gaff: Josh Belveal
Assist: Jasmin Meza
Production Assistant: Jennifer dewees
Image 3:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Model and Hair – Haley Reed
MUA: Rachel Eblin
Image 4:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Model – Kayla Dewees
Photo Assistant and Hair: Jennifer Dewees
Production Design: Kayla Dewees, Angela Harris, and Jennifer Dewees
Image 5:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Models and MUAs – Brielle Bishop and Rachel Eblin
Image 6:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Model – Ausette Anderies
Image 7:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Model – Fartune Hilowle
Hair – Madison Skirdla
Makeup – Rachel Eblin
Photo Assist: Marcell Oparaji
Image 8:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Model and Co-stylist: Kailee Morgue
Image 9:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Model: Allorie Alexander
Image 10:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Model: Mo Harris
Hair: Jennifer Dewees
Image 11:
Photographer: Kayla Dewees
Model and Stylist: Selah Cervantes
Image 12:
Photographer, Stylist, and Art Direction: Kayla Dewees
Model – Fartune Hilowle
Hair – Madison Skirdla
Makeup – Rachel Eblin
Photo Assist: Marcell Oparaji
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
