Akins “Ash” Powder Creative Operations
Resume

Philadelphia metro area. Open to contract and fractional engagements. Willing to work remotely.

Creative OperationsManager.

I shoot the work.
I run the operation.

I’m a creative operations manager and a working photographer. A brief comes in and I turn it into a plan: the schedule, the crew, the budget, the delivery date. Then I run it. Nearly a decade behind the camera and years inside an accounting firm’s operations taught me the same lesson: the work only lands when someone is watching the people, the time, and the money.

Selected work Let’s talk
Akins “Ash” Powder, creative operations manager
Akins “Ash” Powder · Independent creative · Since 2017
Live eventsCreative productionContent strategy

01 / Selected work

Selected work.

Editorial and commissioned work: research, production, photography, writing. Everything below is something I planned, ran, and delivered.

Keke Palmer speaking with Dr. Chanda Reynolds at Wilmington Public Library
Book talk · Wilmington Public Library Production + editorial

01 / Production + editorial

Keke Palmer

A sold-out book talk at Wilmington Public Library. I planned the coverage, hired the videographer, ran the Sunday-night review, and shipped the feature for Monday at 10 a.m.

Role

Producer, photographer & writer

Crew

One videographer

Delivery

Sunday review · Monday, 10 a.m. release

Behind the work

Plan

I worked with the library’s Marketing Director on access, built the call sheet and shot list, and did the reading: Palmer’s career, the book, the angles worth pursuing. Hired one videographer to cover the talk. Unpaid press assignment; treated like a paid one.

Deliver

Shot the talk, edited overnight, wrote the feature. Ran the Sunday-night review with the library’s team and held the Monday 10 a.m. publication window.

Result

Hundreds of shares. The library used the coverage to bring preorder customers back in to collect their books. The photos did a second job after publication.

Read the feature
A performance at Delaware Music Network’s Open Mic Jam Session
Monthly coverage · Wilmington Public Library Campaign leadership

02 / Campaign lead

Delaware Music Network

Eighteen months, one local music scene. I ran DMN’s media campaign with three video contractors, one designer, and a monthly coverage cycle, and photographed the Open Mic Jam Sessions myself.

Role

Campaign lead, photographer & writer

Team

3 video contractors · 1 designer

Result

100K+ monthly Instagram profile views during the campaign

Behind the work

The work

I owned the campaign end to end: set the production schedule, briefed each contractor, tracked every delivery. One shot live performance video, two handled interviews, one built the graphic layouts. And on the first Wednesday of every month, I packed my gear and photographed the Jam Session at Wilmington Public Library. Every featured artist got professional images at no cost.

The reach

More than 100,000 Instagram profile views a month, for eighteen months straight. The photographs traveled: social posts, flyers, press kits, even investor decks that helped fund bigger projects.

The story

I turned the eighteen months into an essay on artist development, local visibility, and the relationships that keep a music scene alive.

Read the feature
Seth Witcher performing at Wide Awake Festival
Festival coverage · Baltimore Feature + social

03 / Festival coverage

Wide Awake

One festival, 48 hours. I researched the lineup, built the coverage plan, and delivered the feature, the image collection, and twelve collaborative posts before the weekend was over.

Role

Photographer & writer

Crew

Solo assignment

Delivery

Festival feature, image collection, 12 collaborative social posts

Behind the work

Plan

Phil Lee invited me to cover it for Glass & Gain. I researched the artists on my day, picked the sets to follow, and built the shot list around the festival schedule.

Deliver

Shot it solo on a tight festival schedule, edited overnight, wrote the feature over the weekend. Timed the gallery and the article to ship together.

Result

Roughly a dozen collaborative posts, tens of thousands of views for the festival, and a reason to watch the next one.

Read the feature
Performers and audience at Departed S4E1 in Philadelphia
Live music · The AVE Live Overnight delivery

04 / Live music

Departed S4E1

A live music series in Philadelphia. I secured access, researched the lineup, planned the shoot, and delivered the gallery and article by 8 a.m. the next morning.

Role

Producer, photographer & writer

Crew

Solo assignment

Result

Artist profile photos & repeat booking

Behind the work

Plan

Asked Katerina Sky for access, researched the series and the lineup, built shot lists and artist profiles for the night.

Deliver

Shot through the night, edited overnight, delivered the full gallery and article to the artists by 8 a.m. Held the approval window so the post went live around 10.

Result

Tens of thousands of views on the collaborative posts. Katerina Sky, Ben Arsenal, and Sky Society made the photos their profile pictures. Katerina booked me again. The simplest metric there is.

Read the feature

Featured review / July 2025

Zeeky El.
The Codices.

An album review built the slow way: an unpublished interview, performance photography, and a live session of “Fly Propaganda.” A close read of the ideas underneath the music.

Read the review

Commercial work / Monthly event coverage

Speedy Records.

Monthly event production for Speedy Records. I photograph each event, deliver edited galleries within 48 hours, run the content calendar, and produce the campaign materials. I wrote and designed the sponsorship decks that secured the CC’s Rooftop booking for Miami Music Week, and the press release behind the ticket sales.

View CC’s Rooftop coverage

Work samples

Work samples.

Speedy Records sponsor offers

The sponsorship copy, package structure, and deck design I built for prospective partners.

View PDF

Artist press sheets

EPKs for Speedy Records artists, plus a separate press sheet for DJ Niknax.

View PDF

Trolley Night Raw proposal

The full proposal for Atlas Restaurant Group: event concept, audience capture, media delivery, pricing.

View PDF

02 / Professional experience

Experience.

Intuit QuickBooks Level 1 Certified ProAdvisor badge

QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Level 1
Certified

Google AI Professional Certificate
Completed

Google Project Management Professional
In progress

Corvia Accounting Partners

Formerly Office Service Solutions · New Castle, DE

2020 to 2025 · Returned 2026 to present

I ran operations for an eight-person firm: workflows, budgets, financial controls, vendors, contractors, reporting. I also ran our RFPs, drafting client proposals for new business. Years inside an accounting firm’s operations taught me how a small business actually works: the money, the people, and the systems holding both together.

I ran the financial operations for creative companies at Corvia: Cahall Media, a Georgia firm run by DP Kyle Cahall; Ashlee Emerson Photography; Aztec Printing & Design; Viamark Advertising’s Delaware branch; David Heitur (Dream Art); and filmmaker Thor Freudenthal. Same work each time: transactions categorized, accounts reconciled, books clean. Thor’s receipts came from several countries. I tracked them, converted the currency, and built his QuickBooks reports.

Returned / July 2026 to present

  1. Administrative Coordinator

    I run the firm’s internal systems and workflows. Recently led a four-week HubSpot-to-Zoho migration: data prep, field mapping, imports, team training.

October 2025 to July 2026

  1. Career break

    Family caregiving.

First tenure / December 2020 to October 2025

  1. Staff Accounting Manager

    October 2024 to October 2025

    Managed as many as 5 bookkeepers: workloads, time cards, billable goals, a weekly team meeting. I owned the team’s operating cadence.

  2. Client Account Manager

    December 2023 to October 2024

    Owned client relationships end to end: led the meetings, ran onboarding, walked owners through business formation.

  3. Bookkeeper

    December 2020 to December 2023

    Kept client books and built the monthly reporting. Learned to turn raw records into numbers an owner can actually read.

Glass & Gain Magazine

Independent music publication

2024 to present

Started as the BTS newsletter in 2024; rebranded as Glass & Gain in 2026. I run the whole editorial operation: coverage planning, contributors, the content calendar, final delivery, coordinating photographers, videographers, and writers, and shipping features and reviews on deadline.

Editorial production

  1. Publisher & Creative Producer

    I plan the coverage, research the artists, build the shot lists, hire and brief the contractors, agree the fees, and set the deadlines.

    Then I run the content calendar, shoot the events, edit the galleries, and write the features.

    I coordinate publication with the venues, organizers, and artists.

Live Nation Entertainment

The Queen · Wilmington, Delaware

2017 to 2019

Guest services and event operations at The Queen, Live Nation’s 1,100+ capacity room. I worked the floor for touring crews, Breaking Benjamin, Biz Markie, DJ Jazzy Jeff among them, as the interface between backstage and the ops managers covering the venue. When a crew needed something, I got it to the person who could handle it and confirmed it was done.

Guest Services & Event Operations

  1. Guest Services & Event Operations

    Coordinated with security and production teams on guest flow, setup, strike, and turnover. Helped keep the venue ready for performers and audiences on show nights.

  2. Backstage Interface

    My earliest exposure to stakeholder management. Listen, relay, follow through: the crew’s need reaches the right ops manager, and nothing falls between backstage and the floor.

Leadership & board service

Board leadership.

2024 to present

Delaware Music Network

Board Treasurer · 501(c)(3)

I helped set up DMN’s financial operations and guided the move to tax-exempt status. I own the budget, the reporting, and the compliance.

Finance & compliance

Set up the banking, keep the books for program funds, manage invoicing, oversee compliance, and own the reporting cadence to the board.

Media & artist development

Led the eighteen-month media campaign from planning through delivery: three video contractors, one designer, the production schedule, the content calendar, the delivery cadence. More than 100,000 Instagram profile views a month, for eighteen months.

January 2026 to present

Delaware Music Initiative

Board Treasurer · 501(c)(3)

I support DMI with branded proposals and bookkeeping review, and bring operations and financial-management experience to board decisions.

Proposals

Branded proposals that present the organization clearly to partners and funders.

Bookkeeping review

Bookkeeping review, with accounting experience behind it in board discussions.

Formation: September 2024 · Departed late 2025

BNI Wilmington Empowerment Exchange

Founder & Board Treasurer

I led six months of formation work, launched the chapter in March 2025, built its financial base, and served as Treasurer until late 2025.

Chapter operations

Opened the bank account, set and collected dues, kept spending within members’ means, and set the chapter’s operating cadence.

Reporting & recruitment

Financial and recruitment reports that tracked progress and guided weekly decisions.

Capabilities

Capabilities.

01

Creative operations

I run concurrent creative work from intake to delivery: scope, priorities, schedules, ownership, deadlines. Someone has to hold all of it; that’s the job.

02

Studio & creative production

Planning shoots, briefing crews, coordinating contractors, managing post, delivering finished assets on the deadline.

03

People, vendors & stakeholders

Hiring and briefing contractors, setting scope and fees, keeping clients, creatives, vendors, and internal teams aligned until delivery.

04

Budget & business operations

Owning budgets, invoices, expenses, and reporting: financial controls on creative work that don’t slow the production down.

05

Workflow, systems & automation

Building repeatable workflows and SOPs. Finding bottlenecks and fixing them. I led a full CRM migration: field mapping, imports, team training.

06

Photography & post-production

Concerts, festivals, headshots, editorial. Shot and edited in Lightroom, delivered as finished galleries on deadline.

03 / Clients & collaborators

Clients & collaborators.

Organizations and artists I’ve worked with.

Indigo Studios

House photography

Wilmington Public Library

House photography / Editorial coverage

Wide Awake Global

House photography

Delaware Reggae Coalition

House photography

Speedy Records

House photography

Delaware Health Care Facilities Association

Campaign photography

Delaware Community Foundation

Campaign photography

DJ Niknax

Event content / Long-term client

Artists & touring work

Artist galleries and tour content.

Events, venues & editorial

Event and editorial galleries.

04 / In their words

In their words.

There’s never a question if he will be there early, let alone on time. He fully understands the expectations you provide to him, and he will outdo those expectations with the quality of his work.
Slim DizzleProduction Manager & Host · SDP Open Mic
This was more than a blog, it really felt like Ash understood who we were. He not only captured incredible photos of our festival, he shared genuine thoughts that were powerful and clear.
Philip LeeChief organizer · Wide Awake Festival
He is very hands-on and attentive when we’re establishing the goals of different shoots beforehand, as well as at the shoots themselves.
DJ NiknaxLong-term client

Let’s work.

I’m available for contract and fractional engagements: creative operations, studio operations, photo production, live events.

[email protected]
Résumé LinkedIn Glass & Gain