Rock star creators reveal the secrets to career longevity at Adobe MAX

Creative industries have always moved fast, driving healthy levels of competition and innovation in fields from graphic design to video editing. But the pace of change today is truly breathtaking, especially with technologies like generative AI transforming the way people create, work, and interact.

In this fast-moving environment, creators who want to make their mark are wondering what skills they need to succeed in the year ahead, much less build a successful long-term career. That’s why we invited nine rock star creators to take the stage at Adobe MAX 2024 and break down which skills artists must focus on today to secure their creative future.

Over three days, these unique talents revealed how they cracked the code to career longevity, and shared tips with MAX attendees on how they can do the same for themselves. Photographer Lavonne Hall, creative trainer Melissa Piccone and videographer Joshua Timothy invited the audience to consider the importance of staying curious, being open to change and honing in on what makes them unique.

Lavonne Hall – photographer, educator, and Adobe Community Expert

For New York-based photographer Lavonne Hall, the secret to staying relevant in an increasingly digital world is to leave the house and find inspiration in connections with real people. Her advice for the Adobe MAX audience was to say yes to everything (within reason) and deal with the consequences afterward.

Hall certainly practices what she preaches. She spends so much time meeting fellow creators and attending industry events that she’s earned the hashtag #LavonneisEverywhere. That includes PhotoshopWorld, where Hall first connected with Adobe, began experimenting with new creative software and photography styles, and laid the foundations for her current role as a leading Adobe Community Expert.

Hall has reinvented herself countless times since her early days photographing underground bands in New York, and attributes much of her success to the connections she’s made along the way. In addition to relentlessly pursuing new experiences, she encouraged the MAX audience to support their fellow creators and bring each other up to succeed collectively. Once again, she leads by example, regularly inviting other artists to join her at industry events that might benefit them.

Melissa Piccone – creative trainer and Adobe Certified Instructor

From her first job as a ballroom dance teacher, to her days running a web design business, to her present role as an Adobe Certified Instructor, Melissa Piccone has never stopped acquiring new skills and building her reputation as a source of career insight and technical knowledge. Her session was a call-to-action for the MAX crowd that included four keys to ensuring long-term career flexibility and success.

The first key, she reminded us, is to stay curious no matter how proficient one becomes in their craft. In the same vein, Piccone urged the audience to adapt to shifting industry trends, even if change can feel uncomfortable.

Drawing on her experience as an educator, she also stressed the importance of continuous education and skill development to ensure career longevity. Her own clients range from young graduates to senior members of the workforce who want to master powerful technologies like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Dreamweaver. As for Piccone herself, she recently began experimenting with AI to update her online courses and discovered she could do the job in half the time.

Piccone closed with the final secret to career longevity: networking. This year marked Piccone’s 10^th Adobe MAX, and she still treats every event, lab, and session as an opportunity to meet new people, make new connections, and grow her reputation.

Joshua Timothy – videographer and digital media expert

Joshua Timothy didn’t pick up a camera until he was 26 years old. In fact, he started out as a communications specialist and worked in the field for two years before deciding to pursue a career in video production. The switch paid off. On top of creating gorgeous and unique content for his clients, Timothy has become a resource for people who want to film, edit, and create better videos.

He shared three pieces of wisdom with the MAX audience based on his own career transformation. His first tip? Find something you’re already good at, something you’re interested in, or something that makes you different, and go for it. In Timothy’s case, that meant following his instinct to become a certified drone pilot, which ultimately helped him land a job making all the promotional and educational content for the City of South Jordan, Utah, located just south of Salt Lake City.

Timothy’s second piece of advice to the MAX crowd was to build up and teach those around them. When we all grow together, he argued, we make the creative industry a better environment. Timothy’s final tip was to embrace new technologies, especially innovations like generative AI that allow creators to enhance their ideation and workflows, and experiment with new artforms that lie outside their expertise.

Through donations, scholarships, product access, and partnerships, Adobe committed more than $100M this year to empower learners of all backgrounds to succeed in today’s workforce and unleash creativity for all. This year at MAX, we launched the Adobe Digital Academy, a global initiative that aims to help 30 million learners develop crucial skills in AI literacy, content creation, and digital marketing by 2030. Click here to learn more.