Daniel Jester

About Daniel Jester

I’m a studio and creative operations leader turned content strategist and educator. My career has been built around helping creative teams tell better stories and building the systems and processes that make it possible to tell them well.After starting out as a product photographer in a small studio, I moved on to larger organizations where I led creative teams, launched new studios, and managed production for high-volume environments delivering impactful visuals. Along the way, I’ve prioritized training and mentoring early-career creatives—helping them build both confidence and craft. That path eventually led me to the world of creative tech, where I pivoted into brand and content marketing—focusing on education, storytelling, and strategy for platforms serving creative professionals.At Creative Force, I served as Chief Evangelist, leading a multimedia content strategy anchored by a podcast and expanded into blogs, newsletters, live events, and instructional media. I hosted the podcast, appeared on camera for video content, and led live sessions and webinars, helping to build trust and visibility while making complex production workflows and SaaS features easier to understand and adopt. The role was deeply collaborative, working across product marketing, engineering, and customer success to align messaging and drive engagement across channels.Over the past few years, I’ve also partnered with companies in the creative tech and content production space—offering consulting support across both studio operations and brand marketing. This has included everything from workflow design and production systems to messaging development, content strategy, and educational storytelling aimed at creative professionals. In the generative AI space, I’ve also supported projects for companies innovating for photography professionals, contributing behind the scenes to how these tools are developed and made more useful for commercial and enterprise creative applications.I’m currently exploring new roles and opportunities where I can bring together my experience in storytelling, creative operations, and content strategy to support teams working at the intersection of creativity and technology. I’m especially interested in companies building tools or platforms that help creative professionals work smarter, tell better stories, or navigate the evolving role of AI in their process.

Experience

1. Adjunct Associate Professor

   Artcenter College Of Design

   Sep 2023 — Present · Pasadena, CA, US

   Taught advanced photography courses focused on product and commercial studio practices, emphasizing industry-standard workflows and creative problem-solving* Developed curriculum that bridges foundational technique with modern studio operations, including lighting, styling, production planning, and digital asset management* Encouraged students to take a thoughtful, critical approach to how commercial photography functions in the world—regularly analyzing great imagery and deconstructing what makes it work* Integrated real-world client scenarios, case studies, and production constraints into coursework to prepare students for professional studio environments* Employed diverse instructional methods—from demos and critiques to flipped classroom models and hands-on projects—to support a variety of learning styles* Mentored emerging photographers on both craft and career readiness, offering guidance on portfolio development, industry expectations, and studio dynamics* Collaborated with department leadership to evolve curriculum in response to emerging trends in creative technology, automation, and the evolving visual content landscape

Skills

• Management
• Merchandising
• Social Media Marketing
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Digital Photography
• Customer Service
• Microsoft Excel
• Ecommerce
• Image Editing
• Studio Lighting
• Fashion
• Creative Strategy
• Forecasting
• Catalogs
• Product Catalog
• Commercial Photography
• Photoshop
• Strategic Planning
• Retail
• Adobe Photoshop
• Ms Excel Pivot Tables
• Photography
• Lightroom
• Art Direction
• Image Manipulation
• Analytics
• Capture One
• Portrait Photography
• Creative Direction