Seems as though I’ve entered the world of podcasting. This is something that I’m very excited about, but will also require a large learning curve on my end. I’m not a great public speaker, so the format and concept of a podcast is quite foreign to me. Nevertheless, I plan to have a lot of fun with it. Why am I doing this? Because I enjoy learning about people’s stories, how they got to where they are, and using that information to help other people learn. Specifically though, I’m very interested in people who have taken a different path. People who have real ideas about what they want to create and do so without asking permission. Hence “Screw the Gatekeeper”. For a long time I was frustrated with the notion of only being able to do certain things as a photographer if I was hired by a client to shoot that specific thing. That frustration continued for years and years, until I realized my thinking was all wrong. Why should I wait to be hired to shoot something for someone else, only to make them a lot of money and build their brand? So much of my time (this goes for all photographers) was spent hounding people, brands, magazines, and agencies to get hired. 9.9 times out of 10 nothing came from any of that effort. Which I understand, it’s a numbers game, and there are a ton of photographers out there hounding the same people for the same jobs. But what if I took all that time and energy and put it into my own thing? I get the draw of wanting to shoot celebrities and famous athletes and having your photos on billboards. But why not create something for yourself that is uniquely your own? Something that shows your own ideas, that will attract people with the same interests as you, which will in turn attract clients of the same interests? The world is filled with enough generic bullshit. There are already far too many images of the Grand Canyon and Times Square. Create something different. That statement for me goes for everything. Every profession. I really enjoy seeing and meeting people who are doing things their own way, so that’s who I will be talking with on my podcast. Could be other photographers, craftsmen, chefs, brewers, artists, barbers from my book, whatever. People who are creating something unique.

Up first is Ricky from Irving Barber Company. On Instagram @irvingbarbercompany

I enjoyed talking with Ricky and hearing about his headspace throughout the process of growing their business to where it is now. Like most things, it wasn’t easy and that’s important to hear. Most people just see a successful business and think it was always that way. Which can be discouraging to anyone trying to start their own thing. If they hear someone working through all the ups and downs though, it can be inspiring.

Click here to check out my barbershop book.