Atelier Doré

This past summer we traveled up state to shoot this editorial with the creative minds behind the creative studio, Either And, Jenna Saraco and Nicole Steriovski. Watching them work as friends and co-founders was so inspiring we decided to ask them a bit about it for Friendship Month. And of course snap a few photos because we love their style… as we’re sure you can see why…

How did you guys meet?

We have a mutual friend and ended being neighbors when we first moved to Brooklyn. We quickly realized we had a shared interest in visuals, culture and our grandmothers. We ended up spending quite a bit of time together sharing ideas and eventually cultivating collaborative creative projects.

How did you decide that you wanted to work together?

Jenna had a previous background in photography and I had a natural inclination toward direction. We really enjoyed collaborating on visual projects together and realized the need for content (imagery & video) for established and emerging fashion brands was growing at a fast pace. We decided to work together in creating an agency that could offer creative direction, photography and motion as well as catering to specific production needs of clients of different sizes.

Do you have different strengths and weaknesses? Where do they overlap and where are they different?

We see the same thing often in an opposite way. I think this can be a strength when we are on the same page but a weakness if there is a misunderstanding. When we meet in the middle we are the strongest as a team. I often see the bigger picture when it comes to a project and Jenna is usually more detail oriented. Although we have been working together for so long that we have both been able to see projects in a more holistic way by learning and growing from each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

What have you learned from working together?

We’ve learned so much. Most of all about collaboration, partnership, how to trust one another and ourselves. Growing and evolving as a creative in a partnership like ours is unique and super special. We’ve had to rely a lot on each other over the years, and share our knowledge and experiences, both work and personal with one another to get to where we are now. It’s an on-going process, and one we’re always working on and learning from still.

What’s the hardest thing about working with a friend?

Learning to separate the friendship from work has been a challenge. Friendship is like any other relationship and needs nurturing, care and time. When things get hectic in the day to day of running a business it’s easy to lose sight of each other needs and boundaries to accomplish the task at hand. It’s been helpful to practice mindfulness, kindness and check in with each other as much as possible to make sure we are moving forward on a path that is mutually beneficial and creates a safe, positive environment for us both.

What is your favorite thing about having a partner?

Always having a great, trustworthy second opinion to bounce ideas off of, whether it’s creative concepts, client questions or what shoes to buy.