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

**Ryan Knutson** (0:09)
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 to take our portrait.

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (0:20)
Anywhere in the shade, it could even be up on the bench here.

**Ryan Knutson** (0:24)
Sure.

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (0:25)
That's easy.

**Ryan Knutson** (0:26)
All right, Picasso, you want to go back up here? Elias is better known as the doggest. Oh yeah, good boy. 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 7.5 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. So those are some good moves there. You're moving your arm around.

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (1:05)
Yeah, you kind of have to keep their attention one way or another. So fast movements.
You have to entertain them a little bit.

**Ryan Knutson** (1:14)
Up here.

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (1:16)
And you have to pay him for his work.

**Ryan Knutson** (1:19)
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 Weiss Friedman** (1:43)
I feel like I fulfill the 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.

**Ryan Knutson** (1:57)
Yeah.

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (1:58)
And a lot of people, that's not what they end up doing. And for me, it is what ended up happening.

**Ryan Knutson** (2:06)
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 Knutson. Let's get to work.

**SPEAKER_1** (3:01)
This episode is presented by Accenture. When you're advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at accenture.com/spotify.

**Ryan Knutson** (3:41)
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, I love dogs.
And my first question is, what do you think of my dog?

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (4:03)
Picasso?

**Ryan Knutson** (4:03)
Yeah, Picasso down here.

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (4:06)
Five out of five, or no, 10 out of five.

**Ryan Knutson** (4:09)
There we go, that's what we're looking for.

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (4:11)
Perfect pup.

**Ryan Knutson** (4:12)
He's a really good boy.

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (4:13)
And well, with a name like that, he's got a lot to live up to.

**Ryan Knutson** (4:17)
All right. 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 dog has got started?

**Elias Weiss Friedman** (4:32)
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.