We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nathan Guynn Jr. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nathan below.
Alright, Nathan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?
Well for starters, I think it’s very wild how important social media has become for running a business nowadays. It’s almost like another job lol. With that being said, I do run all of my socials myself! This wasn’t always the case. When I first started photography I actually had a social media manager run the majority of my account, due in part to the fact that I was not very social media experienced when I first built my business. However, as time passed I started to post to my socials myself because I wanted to feel more connected with my audience. With thousands of likes and views across all of my socials, I’d say I made a good decision in deciding to run everything myself. People like personality, and I have plenty of personality to give!
One big piece of advice that I can give to other business owners who are thinking of running their social media themselves is to be yourself! Don’t EVER try and be someone else. Pure heartedness and pure intentions always win in the end. By putting on a facade you are only robbing yourself of an authentic following.
Finally, please take care of your mental. Before starting this business, I spent almost a year off of all social media. I did this because I felt as though my mental health was very off track while I was on it with no purpose. When you decide to start your business, you may feel overwhelmed. It’s okay to take a step back sometimes when things start getting too hectic.
Nathan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hi everyone :). My name is Nate and I am a 20 year old university student based in Iowa. I run a photography and videography business known as In Nate’s Image! I have been shooting pictures and videos for about a year now all around the United States. I love shooting and I love sharing my passion with other people!
I got into photography through my mother who absolutely LOVES taking pictures. For as long as I can remember; everywhere we go, she wants to take a picture. Family events, vacations, sports events, you name it. She’s always had a knack for capturing important moments in our lives. During my brother’s basketball season last year, I thought to myself “I love sports and I love pictures, what if I try to combine them?”. Thanks to my mom’s camera, that’s exactly what I did. A year later, and I’ve shot thousands of pictures and videos for hundreds of people. From baby showers to sports events, I’ve had the opportunity to share art with amazing people.
I provide all sorts of camera work: Photoshoots for cars, seniors, events and more, to videography work such as music videos and sports mixtapes. I’m an avid learner, and there is still so much I’d like to do in regards to photography and media work. I think that’s what separates me from other creatives in my field; I’m always trying something new. I know to be a pro in something you have to put in the hours. So many people drift away from doing the things they really want to do because they are afraid to start. Starting is the hardest part, learning is where it gets fun.
I am beyond proud of how far I’ve came in the past year. I started really slow due to the fact that I never ran a business before. I never thought of myself to be the entrepreneurial type of person, so all of this was very new scenery for me. I want my potential clients/followers/fans to know that everything I do within this, whether it’d be a simple photoshoot or a video shoot, I will always give my full effort. The passion I have for photography grows every single day all thanks to you all’s support.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I was born and raised in Hampton, Virginia, over 1000 miles away from Iowa. My entire way of living revolved around a pretty decent sized city. I was always surrounded by people of color, family, and friends I knew for over 10 years. My people, I was surrounded by people who made me comfortable. When I decided to move to Iowa with my mom and brother I knew that it would be a pivot. However, I genuinely had no idea what I was getting into.
I don’t regret moving to Iowa, as I don’t think I would’ve ever started my photography business in such a saturated market like Hampton, Virginia. There are a lot of things that I had to get used to when we came out here though. For starters, it’s super condensed. I’m in a small town called Storm Lake. I went from a population of over 100,000 to 10,000. Everything’s just… smaller. There isn’t as much stores, restaurants, or anything of that nature. There are no malls within a 50 mile radius, and the majority of the places in town close at 11 PM. This was a huge culture change to me, but what really shocked me were the actual people.
Small town Iowa people are a very different kind of people than big city Virginia people. As I stated earlier, I was surrounded by people like me. Skin color, culture, even the way they speak were like me. One of the first things I noticed when I moved to Iowa was the lack of African American people. This isn’t just a small town Iowa thing either, as the majority of places I’ve been to in Iowa do not have a lot of black people. For a long time, I felt out of place because of this. I felt like these people didn’t know me, that I was being judged due to how different I was, and that I would never fit in with these people. I not only looked different than these people, but I also acted different. I felt like wherever I went I would get weird stares before I ever opened my mouth. The majority of my conversations for the first year or so here felt forced. I felt isolated, even while I was living on a college campus and playing a sport. I felt unwanted in the majority of spaces I was in, and there would be times where I would break down due to how out of place I felt.
This isolation, which I do still experience at times till this day, has taught me how important it is to feel secure within myself. Years after moving here, I am able to graduate college early, start a business, and find new passions and interests I would’ve never found if I was comfortable in Virginia.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
A lot don’t know this, but I suffered heavily with mental health issues during the initial phases of my business. I went through multiple periods of depression and severe anxiety. These were challenges I’d been suffering with for years, but they felt like they were at a breaking point when I was still getting used to Iowa. Multiple deaths within the same year threw my mental all over the place as well. If it weren’t for God, I wouldn’t be in this position whatsoever. I had to learn how to pull myself out of that dark place and grow. I had to learn to do that for myself, for the people who would want me to be here still.
My journey with depression really showed that I can beat anything that comes my way now. I’ve matured and grown so much since.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://innatesimage.mypixieset.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/innatesimage/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathan.guynn.33
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-guynn-jr-19ab542b1
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/in-nates-image-storm-lake
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@innatesimage?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Image Credits
Nathan Guynn Jr (In Nate’s Image) – Photographer