We recently connected with Antonio Pantoja and have shared our conversation below.
Antonio, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
My dad passed away back in 2009. He was my best friend and biggest inspiration. An immigrant from Peru who came here when he was 19 years old. He had a thick Spanish accent. I had 2 seconds of video of him before he passed away. I watched it all the time. My daughter was 1 when we lost him and when she was growing up, she always asked me to tell her stories about my dad and I’d say, “baby, I think I told you all of them!”.
I thought that it would be so awesome if I had a video of him sitting down and talking to the camera about how he came here from Peru and other random stories and she could just select a chapter on a DVD and it would be my dad sitting in front of the camera telling her stories. That way she could know him the way that I knew him. But unfortunately, I couldn’t give that to her. So I wanted to give that to other people. And that’s what I started doing. And that’s when I realized that video makes me immortal. You live on forever once your story is capture. Your story lives on forever.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a filmmaker and photographer. But I feel that I am a lot more than that. Yes, I still stories through those mediums with a camera. But when a company hires me, I give them all of me and all of my experience which usually leads to problem solving and helping to boost their brand.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I didn’t grow up like most teenagers. I didn’t make it to school past the 8th grade. I came from a broken home with a drug addict mother and lived in a car by the time I was 15. I didn’t get to attend high school. My life was headed nowhere and not at all like I had planned. It was when I met my then-wife and expected my first child (Mia, now 17) that my life changed completely forever. I enlisted in the Army. I got a job at a call center that many years prior, I used to paint as a laborer. I had to borrow the clothes for my job interview and when I looked at my reflection walking into the building, it was the first time I had dressed nice in my entire life. I thought to myself, “if they gave me the chance, I would clean the trash out of this building. I will work harder than every single person in here if I have the opportunity”.
I have to give a lot of credit to my (now) ex-wife. She really pushed me. And so, they did give me the chance. And I did what I said. I worked nights, weekends, holidays, and every time that I could sneak into the building to work when I wasn’t supposed to.
I remember in my first day of training, we got released to see the award ceremony take place. The boss there, a Caucasian man named Lee Kiper was handing out awards. Every person who received an award would go up and shake the boss’s hand and accept the award. I was in shock. It was the first time I had ever seen a minority treated in this way. I couldn’t believe it. I got to see people from all different cultures walk up and shake the boss’s hand and accept their award. As a Hispanic laborer my entire life, it was something I had never seen before.
Lee Kiper ended up becoming my mentor, my best friend, and the person I have (still to this day) learned the most from. And the biggest lesson? Treat everyone with kindness no matter what. And if you are ever looking down on someone, it should only be to help them up.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I think you have to offer something to your audience. And I don’t mean just sharing your work. That’s just not enough. Lee Kiper’s advice has ran true through every facet of my life. And you can apply it here. BE OF SERVICE. My career really began to blossom when I began helping other people. I offered free photography workshops. I didn’t know if one person would show up or 20. But, to my surprise, 300 people showed up. I offered free headshots to starving artists, a pay it forward campaign where I was willing to shoot whatever someone wanted me to, if they received the most votes in a contest I put out. All that I asked was that they pay it forward and keep the cycle going. I speak (for free) at schools and events to share my story.
You can always be of service.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.antoniopantoja.com
- Instagram: antoniopantoja
- Facebook: antonio.pantoja1
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniopantoja1
- Twitter: antoniopantoja
