Meet Noah Juuhl | Founder and Creative Director, Produced by Santo

We had the good fortune of connecting with Noah Juuhl and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Noah, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It’s funny my thought process really was never about starting my own business, it wasn’t something that I ever thought I’d be interested in. To be honest, my life just kind of lead up to it, one step at a time. I started out in black and white documentary photography and over time found myself in the commercial and editorial scene and out of necessity my LLC was born. From that point on it’s been about using what I do to tell stories, keeping the storyteller alive in everything I do; stories of grit, stories of passion, stories of character, and stories of craft. But it’s not really about the business for me, I pride myself more so in the stories that I help tell than the money I make. From all of that, you get “Produced by Santo.”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
You know the artist/creative path isn’t easy. It’s not easy because it’s not structured. There’s some guidelines you can follow of course, but as opposed to more traditional careers such as doctor, lawyer, engineer, where there is a set road map to success, being a photographer is much different. But you meet people along that way that help out and over time the path becomes a little bit clearer. But it’s a journey, and that’s where I’m, at right now, just enjoying the journey. I’m excited for 2025 and some new projects that I’m taking on, and excited to tell more stories. That’s all it is at the end of the day, just telling stories, which is so important to me. And for me, those little details that are the hidden building blocks to the story. Those are what I really love and I feel that cornerstone is where my art lives.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My area? Well I just recently moved but I would take them to Detroit for sure. Basan and Wright & Co. are two of my favorite restaurants that are a must, but for the true Detroit experience I’d take them to Grandy’s. It don’t get much better than Grandy’s. And then while we’re in Detroit we gotta stop by for coffee, Alba, James Oliver, and of course Dessert Oasis are my go-tos. After that, and if the weather’s nice, I’d take them out for a motorcycle ride. There’s few things better than a motorcycle ride in Michigan, whether it’s off road or on road, I love it all.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters. They took a shot on me and let me take photos for them before anybody really. I didn’t have much to show for myself in terms of portfolio, was freshly out of college, but they took a chance on me and let me take photos, and to be honest that’s how I got to where I am right now. I owe such a special shoutout to them.

Website: https://www.prodbysanto.com

Instagram: @producedbysanto

Image Credits
Noah Juuhl, Produced by Santo