We recently connected with Nicholas Hicks and have shared our conversation below.

Nicholas, appreciate you joining us today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

One of the best aspects of being in my industry is that I am not limited to one type of client. Everyday, is a new opportunity to experience and learn something new. Awhile, ago I took on a new client that wanted a photographer to capture photo and video moments of their band performing at different events and venues. One of these events was a festival that my client was one of the headline performances at. That whole day we was booked out and even with all the careful planning things kept happening from getting a parking ticket to having our performance pushed back due to unforeseen circumstances. I learned a lot from that weekend but the most important thing was to be prepared for the unexpected especially when you don’t have a boss or manager to lean back on. Try to get to appointments early and always double check to make sure everything is in order.

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?

I am Nicholas Hicks. In 2016 I started my company called Maylink LLC which I named after my Great Grandmother. I always had an interest in marketing and art and when I moved to Atlanta, Ga I saw there was a need for someone with my background in business and marketing to help folks bring their visions and dreams to life. Currently I offer Multimedia services such as Photography, Video Production and Web Hosting/ Web Design. I graduated Florida A&M University with a BA in Business Administration combined with my background in Commercial Arts classes I took in High School and Middle School lead me to this path. My first clients were artist, musicians and folks in the fashion industry. In Atlanta some of these mix together for my clients. Also, at the time I got into Fashion Design for myself and decided to learn photography to save on marketing cost for myself. The problems I solve for my clients is to help them achieve their business and personal goals for their businesses and endeavors. Most times that means capturing the essence of who they are and translating that into a marketable product. This can range from simple images and video for social media to fully functional websites that represents my clients. I am really proud of how I gain lifelong clients that trust my work and build bonds with them so they understand their success is also my success. Wither it is fashion model or business owner I put in my full experience and expertise so that we can produce the best results for my clients. Another thing that my clients have stated that sets me apart is they love how I make them laugh and feel motivated about themselves. Me personally I feel too that my creativity really helps to bring new, fresh and innovative ideas to the table.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

One of the first books I was exposed to in college was Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant. Reading this book and having one of my best professors LaTanya White, Ph.D., M.B.A. guide and explain the concept to me really help sink in the mindset to set myself apart from the competition. It is one thing to open up another xyz business but what is going to make a customer or client go to your business instead of someone else’s? This fact is especially important when you are just starting out and you basically have no “business” history. For me personally I knew my strength wasn’t my education but the connections I made with my clients.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

As it pertains to photography thanks to the wonderful nature of the internet you now can learn about anything you want in just a few moments through our computers and cell phones. When I was learning about photography one of the things that a lot of these new social media influencers love to advise to novice photographers is to shoot at your lowest f stop on your lens and or to buy a fixed lens like a 50mm lens. This lead to me in my early career missing a lot of shoots because my depth of field was too shallow and the focus points of my pictures were not on the subject. That combined with a cheap DSLR camera lead to a lot of mistakes. What I had to teach myself was to learn what worked best for me and what would work best in my situation. There is a time and place to use f1.8 on a lens but it is not every single time you take a picture. The images that matter are the ones you are able to capture and use.

Contact Info:

• Website: MrMaylink.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr.maylink/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MrMaylink/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/maylinkllc
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaylinkMr
• Other: TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@mrmaylink