Connect
To Top
Local Stories

Community Highlights: Meet Ronnie Frey of Doorways of Chicago

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ronnie Frey.

Hi Ronnie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up on a farm in Indiana a few hours from Chicago, so my family was always in the city when I was growing up. It was always like a second home to me. As a creative kid, I always felt like a fish out of water for most of my childhood. The minute I graduated from high school, I left the farm and headed to Chicago. I realized later that spending many days alone on a tractor in those vast fields only served to fuel the dreamer in me.

I would sing at the top of my lungs and I learned all the words to Michael Jackson’s songs in the fields while listening to Chicago’s famous WLS station! I would daydream about all kinds of creative ideas and fantasize about what I wanted to be when I grew up. All that daydreaming led to a career in interior design which naturally included the study of architecture as well as doorways.

Many years later, In 2017, I joined Instagram and started exploring. Due to my career as an interior designer and from being constantly surrounded by buildings and historic architecture, I naturally noticed doors and doorways and they held a special place in my soul. There are so many beautiful doorway designs in cities like Chicago and around the entire world. Additionally, the many different philosophical meanings that doorways represent fascinate me because I am a deep thinker.

Doorways can be thought of as portals into other realms like meditation, for instance. Around the same time as starting my Instagram account, I was reading and studying the writings of Eckhart Tolle. He often refers to and talks about portals into the Now (or the present moment). His teachings quickly became the bible for me and have been like pathways and guideposts showing me the way to live and experience life ever since.

Getting back to Instagram, as I was perusing I discovered an account called @doorwaysofparis and was officially hooked! After following that account and other doorway accounts for a while as well as having acquired a large body of photos of Chicago doorways while exploring on my lunch breaks, I decided to launch my own account and named it @doorwaysofchicago.

Initially, I posted only Chicago doorways but then my love of architecture took over and I decided to show the homes and buildings these gorgeous doors belonged to. I also wanted to share many other passions of mine so vintage planes, trains, automobiles, and boats also started showing up in my feed (they have doors too!). And when I travel I share the same content from places throughout America and around the world.

While the feed has evolved over time, I work at staying true to the name and in nearly every photo there is a door. I’ve made some really great friends via this account – almost too many to count – and that, to me is the very best part! And even though I knew I had something good going, I was astonished at how fast my account and following grew. I’ve been so honored to have had my photos reposted by hundreds of accounts all across Instagram and it blows me away that I am being recognized by several local publications as one of Chicago’s top photographers.

In February of 2021, my sister asked me to drive my elderly parent’s vehicle from Florida back to Michigan. I jumped at the chance because knew I could make a road trip out of it and that’s exactly what I did. Savannah had been on my bucket list anyway so I made my way there and decided to stay for four days/three nights to explore and capture some great photography.

It was so much more amazing and enchanting than I could ever have imagined! The history behind the city, the squares, and the stories I read about many of the buildings and homes I photographed were incredible! It was still at the height of the pandemic so I was unfortunately not able to go on any inside tours. So I explored outdoors, walking about 10-15 miles per day while there. When my time was drawing to a close it became painfully evident that it would be very hard to leave this magical place!

Since then and during the entire pandemic, having gotten laid off from my day job in April of 2020, I worked at growing this Instagram account. I worked at it every day as if it were my job. It paid off and now I have created a brand and a business from it. I have a wonderful new website, doorwaysofchicago.com, and am selling photo prints, greeting cards and also conducting architectural walking tours in Chicago, all which you can access from my site. I just got booked for my second real photography gig, working as a content creator for a Chicago online entertainment company called Choose Chicago. They operate a large Instagram account and website where travelers and residents go to find things to do and see, events, travel planning, etc. in Chicago.

For the last nine months, I have collaborated with a national media company, Engaged Media/Lifestyle, LLC. They gave me my first paid assignment and now I work as a contributing photographer and writer for them. I currently have full features in two of their publications. One is “Cottages & Bungalows Magazine” (Oct/Nov 2021) and the other is “Holiday Decor” (Fall 2021). Both of these print publications are currently on newsstands and on magazine shelves at Barnes and Noble bookstores and other newsstands across America.

It is also exciting to be in the very preliminary stages of involvement with a start-up phone app called “eAtlas”, which allows you to take self-guided walking tours that I (and other tour guides) have designed wherever you want and whenever you have the time. This app is currently available for all iPhone and Google phone users. with several tours, in the Chicagoland area. I have designed three tours for the app and am working on many more. Within a short amount of time, this app will have tours available around the globe. I will be able to travel the world and design more tours so users of the app can experience various cities, historic neighborhoods, and other places through my eye.

This has been like a dream come true for me and it proves that if you follow your passions and let your bright light shine, anything can happen! I’m excited about the future and am manifesting these things right into my life. The cool thing is, this is just the beginning and I feel like the world is my oyster! Cheers to that!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a ton of hard work, learning about social media algorithms, hashtags, new platform features, and how to organically grow an Instagram account. At the same time, it does not feel like work per se because I love it so much and I feel very fortunate to be able to spend time doing what I love! The biggest obstacle for me was myself.

I’ve had to learn to get out of my own way, fully believe in myself and not doubt my instincts. Almost instantaneously, when I decided not to care what anyone thought anymore, quit listening to my inner saboteur, and put my head down to do what I do best, the magic started happening.

We’ve been impressed with Doorways Of Chicago, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I would say I am known for my keen eye, often showing an angle of a building or a detail of a structure that most people have never seen or have glossed over. I’m known as a storyteller and my audience loves to read the history behind each post. I’m also a nut for symmetry so that is reflected in a lot of my work, but I also experiment with asymmetry as well. I think out of the box and that is evident in my photographs.

The search for doors and other content to capture is like therapy for me, transporting me into a state of peacefulness and meditation and getting me out of my own head. Photography allows me to paint a picture, tell a story, strike a chord, and deliver a message. It can conjure up emotions, stir memories, and even act as inspiration.

Brand-wise, besides the photography, I am most proud of the architectural walking tours I have designed and am really excited about expanding that portion of my business. The biggest compliment about my current tour is people are calling it a time travel experience. It shows visitors as well as residents a part of our city they have never heard about, have often not seen and also don’t know much of the fascinating history behind these notable properties.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
You matter! Don’t ever stop – keep working at it even when it seems like nothing is happening. The saying, “by the time you start seeing results nearly 90% of the work has been done” is pretty damn close to the truth.

What I wish I had known starting out was how important it is to believe in yourself and to go for it. I often would not post something or say something I really wanted to if it was a bit off-brand or if I felt I was giving my opinion about something or I was wondering what people would think of what I said. What I have learned is that you can never please everyone and the haters will come no matter what! But now I don’t care. And I post whatever I want and say whatever I want because I have great things to say and great messages to give, all tied to the photography.

This started out as a hobby for ME and not for anyone else so I learned it is super important for me to stay true to myself and no one else. I also work at answering every single direct message I receive, reply to pertinent comments and I work at spreading love and light to everyone. If I can make even one person’s day with a photo or a message then I feel I have accomplished my goal! Most of the time the message I give is more needed by myself than anyone else.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: VoyageSavannah is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Local Stories