So if you did have to choose something that you did like to do in
your free time, what actually do you like to do in your free time? Even if it's
just an hour a week?
I love to learn, as crazy as that sounds. You know, going back to
high school, hearing this...You know I look at my entire life as almost like
an oxymoron. Going through high school I was horrible at English, you know, nouns, you
know, prepositions, adverbs and none of that makes any sense to me. Now I own a
magazine. It's just really weird, that whole that whole process, so I just... I truly do
love learning. Photography is that thing I love. I love learning about lighting. I
love learning about posing and I think that is probably what has helped me be
successful in every aspect of my life and it's just a genuine curiosity. I just think
in general, a great life lesson is to be open-minded and be curious about the
world and the people around you and when you do that amazing things start happening.
Absolutely. I once read a quote in a book, I think it was in
the book 'The Compound Effect' where it said that your ability to relax is
directly related to how powerful and how effective you are in your business. What
do you think about that?
Yeah, I think that's a true statement but again it comes down
to that definition of how do you relax, right?
That's very true.
Everybody relaxes different ways. Some people relax and they go shopping.
Going forward, what are some of the things that
you want to be successful at this year?
Yeah, so for this year, it's really interesting. We've built our... put
our mark, if you will, on the industry with 'Behind the Shutter', Shutter magazine,
ShutterFest, I write a photography conference, 2000 photographers, hands on learning
versus death by PowerPoint, I call it. You know, so what does success look like For me this year?
Well, as we sit here in 2016, I'm trying to expand outside the world of
photography. I love photography but I realize I've got all the skillset, whether
it's photography, video production, advertising. I mean this is what we do,
graphic design and I realize every small business in the world needs that set of
skills, and they're not being serviced if they're in that small media market. And you know I'm
talking about like real estate agents, insurance agents, doctors, lawyers, you know,
they know they're good at what they do. They're good at their
legal profession, but they're horrible marketers. So what I've done is we've
created a company called Creative Sync and we're going after that part of the
market. The most fascinating thing for me about Creative Sync is we didn't creat it
for professional photographers at all but now professional photographers are
so curious about Creative Sync because they're going 'Wait a minute, what is this? How are
you doing it? How can I do it?' And so, yet again, by, you know, doing something for us,
we've managed to go after, or yet come up with another topic that professional
photographers want to learn about so it's fun. It's an adventure.
That's awesome I'm going to end with just one
last question. Probably about five years ago I saw a video where you were talking about
your dad and one of the things that your dad said to you at some point was promise me
you would do well, is that right?
Yes .
Do you think you've done well?
I think I've done well. Every day it's another
battle to continue to do well. I think that statement, you know, from my dad
really gave me perspective. A lot of people don't know about my background. I mean, as a kid
I was constantly getting into trouble. There was not a single fistfight that I...
you know, I would just get into a fight with anyone about anything, and you know,
my dad and that statement in that moment of my life just give me perspective and, you
know, all of us I think have those people in our lives that have just left their mark
and so every day, and this is probably how I'm wired at this point, every day I want to
make sure that I'm making him proud, my mother proud, my family proud and my name.
I want to make the most of my name so when I'm done and I die and it's all said and
done, how will I be remembered. And it's just a weird thing to think about when you're
in your thirties and forties, you know, because I'm not looking at the world as doom and
gloom. I'm not like 'Hey, I'm going to get hit by train tomorrow'. That's not my mindset, but I think it's given
me just something to think about every single day. I want to work hard and I want to go
out and enjoy life and soak it up for all it has to offer.
I think that's a good thing to, you know, to go after.
Perfect. I love it. Thank you so much
for taking the time to chat with us and I hope you guys enjoy it there.
Make sure you hit that subscribe button
and I will see you next time here on Breathe Your Passion on AdoramaTV.