How an Influencer Built His Business, One Dog at a Time

Summary

Podcast Summary: How an Influencer Built His Business, One Dog at a Time

The Journal. – July 19, 2026
Hosts: Ryan Knudsen & Jessica Mendoza
Guest: Elias Friedman (“The Doggist”)

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Overview

In this episode, The Journal dives into the story of Elias Friedman, known widely as "The Doggist," who forged a career photographing dogs and sharing their stories on social media. Through a candid conversation in a New York City park, Elias recounts how he turned a childhood passion for dogs and photography into a thriving influencer business, the shifting social media landscape, revenue strategies, the realities behind the scenes, and ongoing challenges in the creator economy.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origin Story and Inspiration

• Childhood Roots: Elias grew up with a dark room and two Labrador retrievers; his father was an amateur photographer.
  • “I feel like I fulfilled a childhood dream… everyone's like, what if I could walk around every day and meet people's dogs? That's something you would write in kindergarten with crayons.” (Elias, 01:43)
• Transition to Full-Time:
  • After a layoff in 2013, Elias saw a gap—no one was photographing dogs the way Humans of New York did for people.
  • "I just said, no one's doing this for dogs." (Elias, 05:18)
• Instagram Gold Rush:
  • Early adoption of Instagram allowed for rapid growth—1 million followers within a year.
  • "It was like a gold rush era of Instagram… able to scale quickly." (Elias, 06:50)

2. Building the Brand and Craft

• Dog Photography Techniques:
  • Uses treats, props, and engaging sounds to capture dogs’ attention.
  • "You have to pay them. Yeah, yeah." (Elias, 01:05)
• Differentiating from Human Portraiture:
  • “Dogs don’t have an ego…you’re just seeing a pure expression.” (Elias, 05:44)
• Reluctant Entrepreneur:
  • Parents, both physicians, were initially skeptical, but validation (like a book deal) helped—"That was like, okay, this could have bigger opportunity to be a business." (Elias, 08:13)

3. Adapting to a Changing Social Media Environment

• Algorithm Shifts:
  • "When I started, every post I made, every person in my audience saw them, whereas now some people see them.” (Elias, 09:15)
• Increased Competition:
  • Harder for new influencers to break out; more focus now on video content and personal branding.
• Being on Camera:
  • “There was a moment, an inflection point, where I had to come out from behind the curtain… Who is Elias?” (Elias, 10:09)
• Constant Evolution:
  • "People’s attention spans have shrunken…now it's all about the hook." (Elias, 11:22)
  • "You have to just lean into it and adapt and change it up." (Elias, 11:46)

4. The Business Side of Influencing

• Revenue Streams:
  • Brand partnerships are the most lucrative, rather than books, apparel, podcasts, or YouTube.
  • "Partnering with a brand…generally is I found to be the most lucrative." (Elias, 14:05)
• Comfortable, Not Excessive:
  • Lives well in NYC, but not in a place to retire early.
  • “I live comfortably in a very expensive city…with one dog...not enough to retire now if you wanted to.” (Elias, 14:21)
• Support Team:
  • Works with a management team, literary agents, assistants, and social media managers; no full-time staff.
  • “I couldn’t do it without them because it is a lot of work. Even though it’s amazing work, it’s a lot of work.” (Elias, 15:20)
• Work-Life Balance:
  • "I work seven days a week, all day...it’s a privilege to get to do what I get to do. But it requires constant maintenance.” (Elias, 15:46)

5. Personal Costs and Mental Health

• Never-Ending Job:
  • Constant content creation and audience engagement are required.
• Mental Health Toll:
  • Statistics note higher anxiety, depression, and burnout among digital creators.
  • "It can be a lot of pressure, but that pressure is a privilege. And you learn to have fun with it…" (Elias, 16:26)
• Dealing with Rejection:
  • About 1 in 10 people say no when asked to photograph their dog.
  • “It doesn’t feel good to be rejected, but it also is humbling in a good way because...it keeps me humble.” (Elias, 17:01)

6. Creative Work vs. Business Operations

• Balance:
  • Spends roughly one-third to half of his time on creative work, with the remainder on business aspects.
  • "That's my favorite part of it…creating my artwork…then a lot of it is figuring out the business side." (Elias, 17:45)

7. Legacy and Motivation

• What Would His Younger Self Think?:
  • “My childhood self would be really happy and impressed…grateful that you did something that took some chutzpah.” (Elias, 18:33)
• Message to Dog Lovers:
  • “Thank you for loving your dogs. My goal is to deepen people’s appreciation for their dogs because dogs make our lives better and so we should make their lives better.” (Elias, 19:16)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Childhood Dreams Becoming Career:

  • "I feel like I fulfilled a childhood dream...I'm getting to live my inner childhood every day." (Elias, 01:43)

• On Authenticity of Dogs:

  • “Dogs don’t have that thing that we have. They're not burdened by an ego…you're just seeing a pure expression.” (Elias, 05:44)

• On Early Instagram Days:

  • "I was walking around wearing knee pads under my pants...with my pockets filled with dog treats...hanging out with dogs, getting their pictures and getting their stories." (Elias, 07:19)

• On the Grind:

  • “I work seven days a week, all day...it's a privilege to get to do what I get to do. But it requires constant maintenance.” (Elias, 15:46)

• On Dealing With Rejection:

  • "It doesn't feel good to be rejected, but it also is humbling in a good way...it keeps me humble." (Elias, 17:01)

• On Life’s Meaning:

  • “When you’re around a dog, everything else goes away. They bring you into this present moment and we need more of that nowadays.” (Elias, 19:16)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:31: Introduction to Elias Friedman as The Doggist
• 04:32: Origin story and inspiration for The Doggist
• 06:15: Early days and growth on Instagram
• 09:05: Reflecting on timing and the challenges of today’s algorithms
• 10:09: Transition to being on-camera and developing a public persona
• 11:22: Adapting to new short-form, video-first social media trends
• 13:02: Creator economy overview and income statistics
• 14:05: Revenue breakdown; brand partnerships are most lucrative
• 15:20: Behind-the-scenes operations and support team
• 15:46: Work hours, privilege, and the grind
• 16:21: Mental health challenges among creators
• 17:01: Handling rejection and maintaining humility
• 17:45: Splitting time between creative vs. business work
• 18:33: Reflections on childhood dreams and risk
• 19:16: Elias’s mission to foster appreciation for dogs

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Tone & Style

The episode is light-hearted, sincere, and friendly—balancing Elias’s passion for his work with honest insights into the labor, skill, and vulnerability required to thrive in the modern influencer economy. The conversation is peppered with humor, affection (for dogs especially), and candid admissions about financial realities, hustle culture, and personal fulfillment.

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For more stories like this, catch upcoming episodes of The Journal’s “Work Mode” series.

Transcript

[Ryan Knudsen]

A few weeks ago, I met up with Elias Friedman in a park in Manhattan. I brought my dog Picasso along with me. Elias set us up on a bench

[Elias Friedman]

to take our portrait anywhere in the shade. It could even be up on the bench here.

[Interviewer]

Sure.

[Elias Friedman]

That's easy.

[Interviewer]

All right, Picasso, you want to go back up here?

[Ryan Knudsen]

Elias is better known as the Doggist.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah. Good boy.

[Ryan Knudsen]

For over a decade, he's made a career out of taking beautiful pictures of dogs, mostly around New York, and posting them on social media. On Instagram, Elias has seven and a half million followers. Watching him work is kind of funny. He holds a squeaky ball above the camera lens. He squeals, howls, and grunts to get Picasso's attention. These are some of the techniques Elias has honed over more than a decade of doing this.

[Interviewer]

So those are some good moves there. You're moving your arm around.

[Elias Friedman]

Yeah. You kind of have to keep their attention one way or another. So fast movements. You have to entertain them a little bit up here, and you have to pay them. Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Knudsen]

For his work, Elias has Picasso eating out of his hand, literally. There's a bag of doggy treats on his waist, which he doles out as a reward for sitting still. Picasso is nailing poses I've never seen him do before. Taking photos of dogs isn't the only thing Elias does in running the Doggest, but it's definitely the best thing. He walks around New York City with a camera in his hand, getting to meet hundreds of the city's furry residents.

[Elias Friedman]

I feel like I fulfilled a childhood dream. Like, I'm getting to live my inner childhood every day. Like, everyone's like, what if I could walk around every day and meet people's dogs? That's something you would write in kindergarten with crayons.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Elias Friedman]

And a lot of people, that's not what they end up doing. And for me, it is what ended up happening.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Elias is an influencer, a job that didn't exist two decades ago, but it is now one of the most desired jobs out there, especially for young people. According to one poll from 2023, more than half of gen zers said they want to be a social media influencer. It's a job that sounds appealing. Influencers can seemingly do what they love, post about it online, and make a living. But is it really that easy? How does it actually work? From the Journal, this is Work Mode, a special series airing on Sundays where we take a look at how work is changing. I'm Ryan Knudsen. Let's get to Work.

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[Ryan Knudsen]

I met up with Elias Friedman, AKA the Doggist, in Madison Square park in downtown Manhattan. It was morning, jazz bands were playing and people were out walking their dogs. I wanted to talk to Elias because he's one of the OG influencers and he's been really successful also.

[Interviewer]

I love dogs and my first question is, what do you think of my dog Picasso? Yeah, Picasso down here.

[Elias Friedman]

Five out of five or no, ten out of five.

[Interviewer]

There we go. That's what we're looking for.

[Elias Friedman]

He's a perfect pup.

[Interviewer]

He's a really good boy and, well,

[Elias Friedman]

with a name like that, he's got a lot to live up to.

[Interviewer]

Alright, so this is kind of like a job profile interview. So I want to kind of get into the details of how you've built this really successful media business off the back of these dogs. So can you just tell us the story of how this idea for the Doggist got started?

[Elias Friedman]

Yes, well, I think you have to include my origin story. When I was a kid growing up with a dark room in the house and two Labrador retrievers. My dad was a hobbyist photographer. So I sort of was inspired by my dad to do photography to do portrait work and dogs were the first subject and I was kind of shy, so dogs were easy to get to sit if you had a treat.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Dog photography didn't become Elias's full time job until he got laid off in 2013 from a brand strategy agency. At the time, Instagram was in its infancy. It had only been out for a few years, and being an influencer was a new kind of job. Elias was inspired by accounts like Humans of New York and the Sartorialist, which featured portraits of New York's human residents.

[Elias Friedman]

And I just said, no one's doing this for dogs.

[Interviewer]

So you actually set out to do this as a job that was kind of your intention?

[Elias Friedman]

I thought it could be. I first saw it as something really fun and would bring the world some joy. And it'll be a little bit of a joke, right? It's like dogs don't want their pictures taken, but I make it seem like they do.

[Interviewer]

Dogs don't want their picture taken. Are they hard to photograph?

[Elias Friedman]

Well, some dogs are hard to photograph, especially puppies. But dogs don't. They don't have an ego. They don't have a sense of what cameras are or that they could be depicted. They don't have a sense. They don't have that thing that we have. They're not burdened by an ego. So whenever you take a picture of a dog, you're just seeing a pure expression, whereas when you take a picture of a person, you're seeing some contortion of reality.

[Interviewer]

Right. How did it go in the early days? Like, at what point? Walk me through what it was like as you were starting to build this out from zero followers in the beginning.

[Elias Friedman]

I think from the first day, October 23, 2013, I knew it would be something. Honestly, it got traction very quickly. Turns out people like dogs, and I was taking the best pictures of them, and I think I'm still pretty good at that. And so I launched it, and then within a month, it got picked up by various outlets, and people were calling to represent me and getting a book deal.

[Interviewer]

Wow. Within a few months.

[Elias Friedman]

Yeah, like, within a year, it hit a million followers, which is a lot.

[Interviewer]

Yes, that's in quite a few.

[Elias Friedman]

And I would say it was like, sort of like a gold rush era of Instagram of being able to scale quickly. But it didn't surprise me that people love dogs.

[Interviewer]

What did that actually look like? Like, every time you'd open your phone, there'd be thousands of new followers.

[Elias Friedman]

Yeah, it was me on the couch in Williamsburg. Refreshing, watching new followers come in, people liking my pictures. And, like, this is something. Like, I'm not surprised that people love dogs, but, like, this is gonna be a thing.

[Interviewer]

How did that feel?

[Elias Friedman]

It felt awesome. And it was something I love to do. Right. It was adventurous. It still is, obviously. But, like, I was walking around wearing knee pads under my pants with my pockets filled with dog treats, and I was walking around the best city in the world, New York, and hanging out with dogs, getting their pictures and getting their stories, and everyone started to catch onto it, and they were, like, thrilled to be featured. But my parents were still very dubious of the path I was on because they're both physicians. It's more of a predictable path, A lot more schooling. Yeah, I just wasn't really cut out for that. But I think when I got my first book deal, where it was like, a chunk of change and validation that this was more than just a silly Instagram account that was like, okay, this is like, this could have bigger opportunity to be a business.

[Ryan Knudsen]

As his following grew, Elias started to make some real money. He partnered with Dog Brands to feature their products in his posts. He also got that book deal which featured a thousand of his dog photos.

[Interviewer]

So it took you one year to get to a million followers. How long did it take before he was actually, like, paying your rent and the bills?

[Elias Friedman]

I think around then, you know, I. I'm still kind of the only person that does what I do. And so I've always had some form of brand partnership going on and, you know, it's very volatile, it scales and so, you know, it's not like I'm, you know, raking it in, so to say, but it was enough to support me and to get by and make it work.

[Interviewer]

How much of your success do you credit to just being early in the very beginning of when Instagram is really taking off like you were there?

[Elias Friedman]

I will say, I would say that my timing was good in that if I tried to start it now, it would be much harder to grow a larger audience.

[Interviewer]

Why do you think that is?

[Elias Friedman]

I think the algorithms are less. It's harder to scale. The algorithms don't show your work as predictably, whereas back when I started every post I made, every person in my audience saw them, whereas now some people see them. So it's just harder to get views, I guess.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Social media has changed a lot since Elias started The Doggist in 2013. As Elias said, the algorithm has a bigger influence now over what you see in your feed. And on top of that, there are so many more influencers competing for your attention, which makes breaking out and making a living through social media harder. Platforms are also much more focused on video these days, and it's more important for influencers to be on camera themselves. For Elias, that meant featuring something that is not a dog in his feed himself.

[Elias Friedman]

And so there was a moment, an inflection point, where I had to come out from behind the curtain, so to say. And it wasn't just me as a photographer, but me as a person. And who am I? Who is Elias? Like, I am saying hi to you right now.

[Interviewer]

When was that moment? Do you remember that? And what did that feel like?

[Elias Friedman]

I think that was about seven or eight years ago. It was a bit scary because change is hard. And I didn't know that wasn't the plan initially. Right. It was like, I want to be a really good photographer. And I was. I grew up as a shy kid. I still am in many ways, very shy. And so there was like A question mark. Like, now you're. You're looking at me. Do you like me or is it just my dog pictures?

[Interviewer]

Did you feel like you had to refine the way you presented yourself as you went through that process?

[Elias Friedman]

Yeah, I think, you know, there's something, there's a skill, there's a knack to hosting or being a personality and being entertaining. And so with anything, it just takes some practice, and you have your own unique way of doing it. And, I don't know, some people think I'm funny, some people like the way I interact with dogs, and that's all that matters.

[Interviewer]

What kind of a challenge is the algorithm presenting now? Like, what is the thing that you're noticing that you're having to pivot toward or change?

[Elias Friedman]

I think it can be challenging with all the new tools that come out every week, it seems like. And working with a shorter time frame now, people's attention spans have shrunken to something like a second, two seconds. So now it's all about the hook.

[Interviewer]

People won't just watch your video. You got to make sure that you

[Elias Friedman]

keep them in, you got to get them in. And it's almost like you gotta show them the end before you start so that they, like. Like I said, the people's attention spans have become nothing. And so you have to just retool the way that you show your work. And it can't just be. Instead of being frustrated about it, you have to just lean into it and adapt and change it up.

[Ryan Knudsen]

After the break, we talk about the money and whether there are any downsides to being an influencer.

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[Ryan Knudsen]

Globally, roughly 50 million people make money as social media influencers, according to a report from Goldman Sachs. In 2023, the whole influencer economy is now worth more than $250 billion, and the bank says that number is expected to grow. That money can come from brand deals, affiliated marketing commissions, or from fan funding sites like Patreon. But it's often not enough to make a living. 48% of creator earners made $15,000 or less, and only 13% made more than $100,000. That's according to a marketing agency survey from 2023. That means influencers often have to diversify and look for new ways to make money. Elias has also had to diversify. For instance, last year he launched a YouTube show where he finds dogs to photograph with the help of celebrity guests.

[Interviewer]

The Doggiest has grown into just obviously more than an Instagram account. You've got books, apparel, podcasts, YouTube show, which is the most lucrative of these different channels.

[Elias Friedman]

I would say partnering with a brand who are a big company and they want to invest in their marketing, like that generally is I found to be the most lucrative.

[Interviewer]

How much money have you made doing this as a profession?

[Elias Friedman]

I don't know, it's hard to say. I've been doing it for 14 years, so I don't know. You have to ask my accountant. Yeah, listen, I'll say this. I live comfortably in a very expensive city, Manhattan, in Chelsea, in one bedroom with one dog. And my wife and I get to have a nice lifestyle and a nice Japanese car, a Subaru.

[Interviewer]

But not enough to retire now if you wanted to. No, you gotta keep working.

[Elias Friedman]

No, I mean, in a way, I feel like I've been retired in some way. Like, I really thoroughly enjoy what I do. My goal when I set out as an entrepreneur, I wasn't like, I'm gonna make so much money. I was like, I found the thing that will make the world a better place. And I know that I will be able to support myself because brands who do make millions of dollars, billions of dollars, whatever, they will want to support me in that mission.

[Interviewer]

How many employees do you have? What does your business sort of look

[Ryan Knudsen]

like in terms of scale?

[Elias Friedman]

I have basically a team of people that support me. No one who's full time, but I have a management team. I have literary agents, I have assistants, I have social media managers. And so it fluctuates a little bit, but that's the current setup. And I couldn't do it without them because it is a lot of work. Even though it's amazing work, it's a lot of work.

[Interviewer]

How many hours a week are you working?

[Elias Friedman]

I mean, I work seven days a week, all day. That's the joy. I wouldn't say it's a trade off.

[Interviewer]

It's.

[Elias Friedman]

It's a privilege to get to do what I get to do. But it requires constant maintenance.

[Ryan Knudsen]

And just to say, being an influencer can be a real grind. You have to be posting constantly. And for some, the pressure of putting their lives in front of tens of thousands of people and the judgment that can come with that can really take a toll on their mental health. There was a Harvard study from late last year that found higher rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout among digital creators compared to the general population.

[Interviewer]

In terms of, like, the job itself, like, is there crit of pressure to be a content creator?

[Elias Friedman]

Essentially, yes, it can be a lot of pressure, but that pressure is a privilege. And you learn to have fun with it and get better at it and enjoy it. And it's worth it because you sort of discover new parts of yourself and new ways to, like I said, make the world a better place.

[Interviewer]

How often do people say no when you asked to photograph their dog?

[Elias Friedman]

I would say people say no one out of 10 times. But you don't get to see that because they said no.

[Interviewer]

Did you have to learn how to deal with rejection better because of that?

[Elias Friedman]

Yes, it doesn't feel good to be rejected, but it also is humbling in a good way because, like I said, it keeps me humble. I would say that I get recognized all the time now. People say, oh, I love your work. And you know what people say? Which is not to sound narcissistic, but people say, I love you. And I know that they don't mean that they love me. I know they mean that I love

[Interviewer]

what you're doing, but it's got to feel pretty good. Of course.

[Elias Friedman]

What a lovely thing to say. And that's inspiration for me to keep doing what I do and that I'm making a difference in the world.

[Interviewer]

What percentage of your time are you spending doing the actual creative work versus everything else that goes on behind the scenes?

[Elias Friedman]

That's a good question. I would say a third of the time I'm doing creative work. Sometimes half. Half the time. But that's my favorite part of it, you know, as you would imagine, is walking around like we are today. This is literally a walk in the park and creating my artwork and then going back and uploading it and editing pictures and creating little narratives. Like, that's pretty fun. And then a lot of it is figuring out the business side of things, like how to support continuing to do that.

[Interviewer]

So you said that when you were a kid, you know, nine, ten, or whatever, taking photos of dogs, and you're like, oh, no, this is not a job. What do you think that your childhood self would think of what you've done with your career?

[Elias Friedman]

I think my childhood self would be really happy and impressed and grateful that you did something that took some chutzpah, like, some leap of faith, because a lot of people will, you know, I was sort of lucky to have been let go for my job because if I hadn't, then I probably would have stayed in that path. You know, you always take the path of least resistance. And so I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to try something back in 2013 and I had a good feeling about it. I figured it out luckily, like pretty quickly that this would be a thing and I could support myself.

[Interviewer]

Great. Anything else you want to add?

[Elias Friedman]

Thank you for loving your dogs. My goal is to deepen people's appreciation for their dogs because dogs make our lives better and so we should make their lives better. When you're around a dog, everything else goes away. They bring you into this present moment and we need more of that nowadays.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Work Mode is a series from the Journal, a co production of Spotify and the Wall Street Journal. This episode was produced by Enrique Perez de la Rosa and edited by Kathryn Brewer and Laura Morris. I'm Ryan Knudsen. Special thanks to Picasso for being a good boy during this interview. If you want to see a picture of him, you can check out my Instagram Ryan Knudson, where you'll also find a fun video of me and Elias playing the World cup of Dogs. We'll be back next Sunday with our next episode in the series. Until then, have an amazing week. I hope it's not too rough on you.

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