We recently connected with Sonny Mauricio and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sonny, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

I consider myself lucky because I discovered my passion very early on. I knew what I wanted to do, what peaked my interests, and what truly made me happy in 7th grade. I took it upon myself to do whatever I could to learn more about graphic design, photography, and video. Not for the money but for the love of creating. I spent thousands of hours on YouTube and Google, going out and shooting and learning by failing and questioning what I can do better next time. I never took one graphic design, photography, or video class throughout my time in the education system until I went to college. Throughout high school I was the editor in chief for the yearbook in which that opportunity only came about because of my prior time teaching myself how to use Adobe programs. My high school was very supportive in me spending more time on yearbook and supported my creative journey and if it wasn’t for that I may have gave it up at one point or another. I believe that there are many kids who know what they want to do or want to try but believe they are supposed to do something their parents or the system wants them to do. If there was a system in place to encourage specialty programs/classes for those who know what they want to do early on that it would help many kids to keep following their dreams and they can master their craft early on which in turn leads to a more fulfilling life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up in a small town in Alaska called Juneau. I remember always being intrigued by technology and had a curiosity growing up, even at a young age, at the possibilities it had. I was maybe 9 when YouTube first came out and I was all over it. This curiosity is what ultimately brought on this mentality that I didn’t need to wait to learn the things that interested me, instead, I could teach myself. In middle school I started really diving into content creation and teaching myself how to use Adobe programs like Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, and 3D programs like Cinema 4D and Blender. No one introduced these programs to me I just took it upon myself at 12 to spend thousands of hours watching YouTube tutorials and researching more about these programs.

Not many people knew what I was spending my time on. I don’t even think my parents knew what I was doing exactly at the start but whenever anything intrigues me I have to follow that feeling. On the outside, I was a kid who loved the outdoors, hanging out with friends, and was really into skateboarding, scootering, and snowboarding but nobody knew what I was doing/working on the inside. It wasn’t until my freshmen year of high school that teachers, friends, and family started noticing what I had been working towards. Up until this point, I only was really using these Adobe programs for fun but then I had a project for one of my science classes where we needed to make a collage that describes us.

So I used what I had taught myself and made a Photoshop collage of all the things that describe who I am and what I love. After I submitted it the teacher took me aside a couple of days later and asked “When did you learn how to do this?” I said I taught myself throughout middle school. She then said “I brought it to the Yearbook teacher and she wants you in her class. Usually, we don’t allow Freshmen or Sophomores in the Yearbook class but she said she needs someone who knows Photoshop.” I knew this was one of those offers that I couldn’t turn down so I decided to go for it. This was surprising at the time because I was a shy freshman with lots of social anxiety but this opportunity led me to where I am today.

I would go home after school and spend hours more working on the Yearbook or photoshopping images or coming up with new ideas that we could do for the school. Sophomore year, I became head designer and got inspired by my counselor to do a school-wide Lip Dub.

We had 30 minutes if even that to get the video done. I spent hours during and after school planning this video. I designed maps of the school with color codes, figured out how many “singers” we would need, sent out sign up slips to every class, organized a rehearsal with just the singers so we could practice the timing of the music, the speed I needed to walk at and where everyone would need to stand to be ready for their part in the video. I posted the mashup of songs onto Soundcloud so everyone could listen and remember their lyrics and then chose a day. We sent out maps to each class and each class had an assigned area to be in and then when the camera passed to the next hall that class would then meet up in the Gymnasium where we would end the video at.

This taught me that I really could do anything if I set my mind to it. We made two lip dubs one my Sophomore year and one my Junior year both accumulating to around 40,000 views, making it on the news, and also bringing in funds for the school for things like Art and Sports which at the time was being cut significantly. My Junior and Senior year were probably the highlights for me as I started getting recognized more throughout the state for my work. I was the Editor in Chief now for Yearbook and won “AAEC Champion of the Arts” for the State in 2016, “All-State Art Competition Winner for Graphic Design” in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Then in 2017, as I was graduating I flew to Anchorage, Alaska for a conference which I had been invited to by my Yearbook teacher. At this conference, I was surprised when I found out I was being awarded the “ASTE 2017 Student of the Year Award for Technology” in recognition of all I had done throughout my years at TMHS. My time at TMHS also brought me “Student of the Year for Yearbook” and our Yearbooks took 1st place two years in a row through the “American Scholastic Association” where I also received an award for “Outstanding Yearbook Cover” for my 2015 – 2016 cover design. Senior year I picked up a camera and started diving deep into the Photography and Videography world.

Technically I started my first business in 2015 called “Mauricio Designs” but really started taking it seriously in 2016 – 2017 with “Northern State Media” I started taking my classmate’s senior photos charging $60 per session and learning how to take the camera to the next level with editing and lighting and what makes a great portrait shot. I would do small gigs for small businesses, shoot music videos, design cover art, you name it. If it was a digital creation I was all over it.

I wasn’t 100% sure where I was heading with the business but I had a general idea of what I wanted it to look like. This was also while I was still finding my style and consistency. I went on to college in Idaho for a year studying Graphic Design where I learned a lot but also had a hard time because this was the first time someone was teaching me hands-on rather than me learning through trial and error or following along with a YouTube video.

I ended up transferring to online classes where I would finish my certificates in Graphic Design and Adobe. Since high school, the biggest challenge I’ve had to face has been finding my own path and where I want to go with this. I don’t fit in just photography or video or graphic design I love all of it and I need to do all of it. I’ve worked with lots of people on different projects like Music Videos, Weddings, Portraits, Cover Art, Advertising, Products, and more. I have accumulated over 65,000,000 views on my photos and 300,000 downloads and am still hungry to create.

The numbers are great sense of knowing I’m doing something right but it really comes down to quality for me. I want to keep delivering quality creative services for businesses and people who need them. I love collaborating with other creatives to work on projects and tell stories and at the end of the day, I just want to inspire others to chase after whatever it is that intrigues them. Whatever it is that you’re curious about or want to learn more of just take the leap and do it because no one waiting for you, but you.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I knew more about business and marketing. Maybe having a mentor along the way would’ve been helpful but I’ve also enjoyed the journey of trial and error and finding what works for me.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

For me it’s been moving around and reaching out to any opportunity that interests me. If I never moved to Utah for a year and app[lied for an internship with Del Sol and Cariloha then I would’ve never met all the people there who now come to me for contract work throughout the year. Every time I move somewhere I always find myself making 5x the connections I had before and they always lead to new opportunities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sonnymauricio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonnyaustn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/northernstatemedia
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonnymauricio/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonnyaustn
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSA4OHsX4pfIlVuKvvEWLqA