Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mitch Lazorko. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mitch, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Making a career change can always be risky. For most of my life I have had more than one job at a time. I enjoyed the security in having several sources of income. In 2020, I found myself with three different jobs. Yoga instructor. Professional musician. Part time photographer. Over time I found having to juggle the logistics of all three were challenging, and I was really interested in making photography my full time focus. With that came the fear of failure. There is a lot of risk in putting all your time and effort into one business. But I came to a point where if I wanted my photography business to grow, I would have to leave my other pursuits behind and go all in. Being a business owner can be scary. There are so many things that can go wrong, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know. In the years that followed, I had to put in a lot of late night hours. Networking meetups, test shoots, workflow adjustments. Today my wife and I run our business and we are happy and comfortable. We do have to work hard, some days are more challenging than others, but I am so glad I took the risk to try this as a career. Life is too short to put off pursuing your dreams.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Mitch Lazorko, and I’m the owner of Lazorko Photography. I’m a Director of Photography that specializes in corporate interviews as well as personal and commercial branding, both photo and video. The story begins with cats! My wife, Jen, and I foster kittens, and at a certain point I wanted to take better pictures so these cute little baby kittens would have a better chance at getting adopted. At the time, I was working as Yoga instructor. I enjoyed taking photos so much that I started doing portraits for my other Yoga instructor friends. When Covid arrived, I had several Yoga studio owners reach out, asking me to help film some classes so they could provide them online. It was an incredible learning experience, and I loved diving into the video side of things. Fast forward to today, now Jen and I own our own business providing video and photo services. Jen has come on as co-owner and handles our administrative workload and photo editing. A lot of what we do is corporate interview video and corporate headshots, and I love getting to be a part of sharing a person’s story.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Throughout my journey as a photographer and videographer, a moment that highlights my resilience would be when I first began receiving constructive criticism on my work. Initially, I found it challenging to accept feedback, feeling disheartened and insecure about my skills. However, I recognized that this feedback was an invaluable tool for growth. I learned to embrace it, using the critiques to refine my techniques and enhance the overall experience for my clients. By transforming criticism into action, I not only improved my craft but also built stronger relationships with my clients, ensuring they felt heard and valued. This experience not only strengthened my artistic capabilities but also cultivated a mindset of continuous improvement and adaptability that I carry with me to this day.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Referrals are everything. We work really hard to give our clients an excellent experience from start to finish. When we receive an inquiry from a potential client, if they have been referred from a previous client then we know our work will speak for itself. And more than that, we do our best to be a resource for the community. While our offerings are more focused on corporate video and headshots, if people reach out looking for a wedding photographer etc. then we’re happy to put them in touch with someone in our professional network that may be a good fit.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lazorkophotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lazorkophotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lazorkophotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchlazorko
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lazorkophotography

Image Credits

Mitch Lazorko