Lessons Learned.

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated anyone on what I have been doing, so this is going to be a bit of a lengthy one. 

Preface

For the people that don’t know, I moved to the LA area last May. I was there living with a company called In The Lab, created by Devin Williams. Being out there, I was able to help build the brand in terms of the creative side and the clothing sides of the business. One of my goals growing up was to live in LA for a little bit. As a kid, I didn’t know how or what I would be doing in LA, but clearly I went to LA for one of the reasons so many people do: photography. It was great down there. There’s definitely a lot going on and a lot of incredible people. The weather was always super nice, I lived five minutes away from a ton of good food, and I was just able to kick it with the homies, create and work throughout the day and play video games at night. It was the first time in a very long time where I was able to have some time to chill out and not take things as seriously. When I moved down with them, I was only about three months removed from dropping out of school to pursue my real goals. In LA, I was able to figure out what I really wanted to do. To be honest though, that wasn’t really the goal. I was focused on building the brand. I just had so much time by myself in my room to think about what I was doing, where I was, and where I wanted to be. I definitely got to shoot a lot of cool things and cool people in LA. From the top high school hoopers to Nick Young to James Harden. From Famous Dex to Rick Ross. From Filayyyy to Liza Koshy. I met people in different fields on all levels. I mean, LA is the place to be after all right?

Lesson 1: Trust your Gut. 

I was in a position that I know that so many people would have loved to be in. For that and for In The Lab, I am forever grateful. Over the last two years, I had the blessing to be able to connect with Dev, who’s now basically another big brother to me, and help contribute to his goals. When I first met Devin, that’s really what the goal was. His videos have helped thousands on thousands of people and I wanted to be able to help him out in any way that I could. I mean, the first time that I hit him up, I remember sending a long ass text message saying what an inspiration he was to me and so many other people and that I would love to start helping him out for free. Well, that simple intro ended up with me living with him and being able to see new places in the world while trying to build the brand. 

Anytime your gut tells you something, listen.

As great as the situation was, my gut told me otherwise. This is nothing towards LA or In The Lab or anything like that. Everything about In The Lab and LA is amazing. All I know is that my gut told me to move back. I had only been in LA for 9 months when I decided to move back to the Bay Area. It seemed like the right thing to do and only because my gut told me to do so. As soon as I finally listened, I made the move back to the Bay in January. What for? I didn’t know at the time. I lowkey still don’t know. That’s the thing about life though. Sometime’s you just kind of have to listen to what the universe is telling you and roll with the punches.

Lesson 2: Trust the Process // Stay True to the Grind.

Moving back, I had no idea what I was going to do. Being with In The Lab for the majority of my creative career, I was basically back to the drawing board. Of course, I wasn’t putting all of my eggs in one basket the whole time I’ve been a creative, but still. Two years is a long time. 

As much as I didn’t want to, I had to get a job. A consistently paying job to help me pay off all of the debt that I ran up while being away for nine months. Luckily, I was able to go back to my old job in a different role, so I started that as soon as I could. Other than that, CJ and I took some time away to go to Hawaii. Being that I was so broke lol, she surprised me with a trip to Hawaii for my birthday. I don’t know how I ever got so lucky. During that week and a half, I was able to reenergize for the year ahead and from the long year that had just passed. (Side note: ALWAYS take some time to unwind and reenergize. As much as we say stuff like “Sleep is for the weak” and “The grind never stops,” that isn’t sustainable if you’re playing the long game. Plus, you deserve the breaks. Take them.) Other than that, in January I spent a lot of time just refining my skills and shooting a lot. I started working on learning more about videography, educating myself more on any other technical aspects about what I do, and reading books. I had a few gigs here and there, but definitely nothing crazy until the end of the month when I got my first gig with Finishline. That was probably my first big move of the year, so thank you to all of the incredible people at Finishline. 

One person that I shot with a lot in January was Packie Turner from Unlimited Potential Basketball. You guys may have heard of him. He has trained a good amount of hoopers from/in the Bay. Brandon Ashley, Frankie Ferrari, James Akinjo, Stephen Curry, etc. I have been in contact with Packie for awhile, but had never gotten the chance to meet him. Since I moved back, I reached out and offered to get him some photos. Packie is a super cool dude. Eventually our conversations led to talking about goals. At the time, one of my goals was to shoot an NBA game. That was one of my goals for awhile by this point. We basically told each other that we’ll do what we can to help each other out in getting to each other’s goals. Hopefully one of these days, we’ll be able to make a bigger impact on the Bay, but that’s for another time.

Trust the Process and Stay True to your grind. You never know when opportunity will arise, but you always need to be ready for it. If you stay ready, you don’t ever have to get ready.

Lesson 3: Take Risks // Make the Jump.

“Orlando is a go.”

- Packie 

It was February 17 and the Orlando Magic were playing the Chicago Bulls on February 22. Just like I said, Packie and I had talked about our goals and he came through. He had gotten me a media pass for the Magic x Bulls game in Orlando. The only issue now was, how was I going to get to Orlando? I had literally just gotten my job back and was trying to stack up. I was already owed a few thousand on my credit cards. Luckily though, I wasn’t scheduled for the day of the game. That was the little stroke of luck I needed.

“Fuck it?”

I was lying in bed with CJ when I first got the text from Packie. My first reaction, of course, was hyped. I was beyond excited. The only thing that could have potentially held me back was the cost of the flight. I was willing to sleep at the airport if I couldn’t afford somewhere to stay. I literally asked CJ one time “this isn’t stupid, right?” Well, a few minutes later, I threw the thousand dollar flight onto my credit card and called it a day. I was heading over to Orlando in a few days with no plan other than to execute. 

On the 21st, I had to go to work until 6 and my flight was at 8. I got that done and went to the airport. I tried to get as much sleep as I could, but I was technically landing in Orlando at 3 AM my time and 6 AM Orlando time with nowhere to go. I slept on the plane for a solid three hours and headed straight to downtown Orlando. I grabbed some food and waited to meet up with Packie when everyone woke up. The reason I was even able to get a media pass is because of Aaron Gordon. He was nice enough to be willing to help me out with the pass. After that, he was even more kind by allowing me to crash on his couch later that day before the game. Basically from there, we went to a workout and then to the game. It was only fitting that shooting my first NBA game was for someone who I grew up watching in high school and was from the Bay. Although AG isn’t even much older than me, he always seemed larger than life to a lot of us because of what a spectacle he was to watch. Being able to shoot for him was a dope experience for me. Immediately after the game, we headed back to AG’s and I started to get to work on the edits. I would be flying out in a few hours so I hit some edits, knocked out for a couple hours, and headed straight back to the airport. When I landed, I went home to eat and get ready and headed straight back to my job at 11 AM. 

It was a grind. These are the moments I live for though. These are those moments where you can say “fuck sleep.” This was an opportunity that I could not pass up. Sometimes, regardless of the circumstances, you need to just go for it. This definitely plays a role in trusting your gut. Sometimes your gut will tell you to do something that seems crazy, but here’s to the crazy ones. Take the risk, make the leap. You never know what doors may open. If no doors open, just keep on knocking. 

Lesson 4: Embrace Volatility

One of my favorite things about what I do is the unpredictable nature of it. I feel like one of the reasons that I dropped out of school is because it became too easy and predictable. To a certain extent, the predictability of school is good. Everything needs some sort of structure. In school’s case, every teacher had a syllabus and everything student had a schedule. For me though, what became predictable was school itself. School for me was like a big game. I’m not saying school is easy, but once you figure the game out, it definitely gets easier. 

Growing up, I played a TON of video games. Shoot, if I knew back then what I know right now about video games, I would have kept at it and tried to go pro. One thing that I did take away from video games, though, is figuring things out. Once you figure out your strategies for a game, it becomes easier. Not easy, but easier. That’s exactly how school was for me. Each class was its own game with a “campaign” to beat. The way the school system has presented itself to me was basically to do your best to achieve the highest letter mark and you’ll move on to the next level. Same thing with video games. Get to the end of the mission with the most success that you can and you’ll be able to advance. School became like that for me. However, each level was kind of the same. Figure out what your teacher’s tendencies are, how they present their tests and materials, and move forward. You can only do that for so long without getting bored. To me, it was like playing the same game over and over again. I definitely won’t say I’m the smartest kid or have ever been the smartest kid in the classroom, but I know I can say I worked harder than anyone in any classroom I’ve ever been in. It was my persistence that got me to the next levels. 

Being in the “real world,” I’ve definitely noticed that things are less predictable, especially for the field that I’m in. If I had any other job, I would know exactly when the money is coming in, when I would have to work, what I would have to do, etc. I would know all of the logistics behind it. That’s exactly what I don’t want. Honestly, I’m sure it’s super nice to have money and structure and things like that, but at this point in my career, I want all the volatility. I love how I’m always on my toes, searching for what’s next. I don’t ever want to be complacent with where I’m at or what I do. The counter to that, though, is finding a balance. The way I look at it is, “I’m happy and grateful with where I’m at, but I always know that I can be better and do more.” That balance is important, but just be true to yourself in knowing what you want and what you already have. Always count your blessings. 

Since I’ve moved back to the Bay, things have gone great. I didn’t know what I was even going to do when I moved back, but I went with the flow of things and took on whatever life threw at me. In the first three months of the year, I’ve been incredibly blessed with opportunities to work with companies such as Overtime, Adidas, McDonald’s All American, Modern Notoriety, Finishline, Reebok, and New Balance. I was able to shoot my first Warriors game, which was a goal of mine for the longest time and especially this year since this is their last year at Oracle Arena in Oakland. I’ve shot dope people such as Alana Beard, Brandon Ashley, Isaiah Taylor, Festus Ezeli, Stephen Curry, Quinn Cook, Migos, Lil Durk, Trae Young, and a few others. However, none of this was even planned when I moved back. All of these lessons go hand-in-hand in some ways. Stay ready, trust your gut, take risks, and embrace life’s volatility. You’re capable of more than you think.

As for right now, I have no idea what I have next. The last few months, I’ve been taking a lot of care of my physical and mental health. Those are definitely key factors for longevity in anything that you do. Just like you train your body, you also need to train your mind if you want to perform at high levels. I’m still working on it, but if anyone has questions, feel free to reach out. Other than that, it’s back to the drawing board and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’ll be showing up to as many events as I can, fine tuning my skills, and knocking on all the doors. Thank you to everyone who even made it this deep into the blog, I know It was a lot. But you’re a real one if you’re reading this.

To everyone mentioned in this blog, thank you. For everyone not mentioned in this blog, thank you as well. You all mean the world to me.

To Live and Prosper.

- JSquared