We recently connected with Phillip Cunningham and have shared our conversation below.

Phillip , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?

One of the fundamental beliefs I have focused my business around is that moments matter, people matter, you matter. At any given moment your entire life can change, and when it does the only thing that matters are the people standing next to you. Life is full of joyous and sad times, and we need to take time to appreciate the people in our lives that bring us joy. Celebrate your accomplishments and milestones. The goal of my company to capture that joyous moment for you to enjoy again later and share it with others.

My two prior jobs were as a Medical Lab Tech in the U.S. Air Force, and as a Nurse for the Veterans Administration. While I was active duty in was deployed to Afghanistan. On my third day in country our base came under attack by mortars. Most of the mortars were shot down by anti-air defense systems, but sadly not all. A mortar struck a bus stop full of soldiers. The call came over the radio and everyone scrambled to the trauma bay. Our lead physician raised his hand and a deafing roar of chatter became a heavy silence as he began briefing the team. That day was the first time I saw someone younger than me die. When you’re young you feel invincible. You are not. One moment will be you last, so make sure you cherish every one up till that point. That day I witnessed 50+ people move and work with speed and precision, all with tears rolling down their faces for every service member we lost. We saved most that day, but not all. What lesson did I learn from a prior job you ask? This moment matters, The people around you matter. Never forget just how much you matter. Take time create those memories.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Phillip Cunningham. I am a husband, father to an amazing special needs child, and owner of Photobooth Hotshots. After working as a lab Tech in the military, and as a nurse in the Veterans Administration I wanted a change of pace. My wife started working with a party management group and would bring me to the parties to help. I decided I wanted to do something in the party/event industry and came across Photo Booth International and Josh Pather. Before I knew it I was in the photo booth business.

We offer a customizable photo booth experience to fit the needs of our clients. We serve the Washington D.C./Maryland/Virginia area. We focus on creating and capturing moments. We want our clients and your guest to walk away not only a photo, but a happy memory of your event. One of my favorite events was for a Breast Cancer survivor. She got to ring her bell. Ringing the bell declared to the world that she had taken her last chemotherapy treatment. That party had the most hugs, smiles, and happy tears I have ever seen. It was a powerful moment in her life and she wanted to celebrate it with her friends and family. I realized that I was a big part of that day when randomly a man stopped me months later in the street. He had not only been at that party, but still had the photo I took saved on his phone and often looks at it to remind him of that happy time. That level of service is what I want to bring to every event and every client I have in the future.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone. Was the first book recommended to me by my mentor Josh Pather. It by far is the most relatable book I’ve read on business. The premise of the book is that any goal is achievable with the right amount of effort and action. To reach those goals you will have to put out ten times the effort that you think is required. He explains that most small business owners do not correctly estimate the effort needed to bring an idea or product to the market. I repeatedly refer to this book when I feel frustrated with something in my business. It reminds me that the only way to move my business to a new level is increased activity.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

If it has an “on” switch it can fail on you, and it will probably fail at the worst time. In the beginning of my business I would routinely post about my new business. One of my former travel nurse friends was getting married and asked me to bring my photobooth. Everything was set to go, I reach the venue and I have computer problems. I spent hours trying desperately to fix my booth. I eventually had to call a friend and ask them to bring their photo booth. I ended up refunding half of my payment to the clients. More than money, I was devastated because I thought disappointed my friend on her wedding day. After that event I replaced the computer.

The next event with the new computer started great. Two hours into my event, again im having computer problems. People were actually upset with me because they wanted to take pictures and they could not. Right before I gave up and called it a night, I figured out a work-around to the problem. About once an hour I had to restart and reset my computer to a previous save point. I was so frustrated I wanted to punt my computer over a field goal. After these two events I decided I needed to have a backup to anything that was essential to an event.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://photoboothhotshots.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photoboothhotshots
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088443682836