We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Luke Coco a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Luke thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The story behind my mission I would say is somewhat simple, to inspire others no matter where they are in their walk of life. In many circumstances the best moments in my life are when I feel inspired by an external source whether that would be someone’s work or just how beautiful the landscape is around me. There is something that will always amaze me and push me to become an inspiration for others. Even if my work moves someone in one way, making them want to create and explore something on their own because of my work, I would say I have done my job and would want to continue to do so. I started my creative career as a graphic design artist who is and still is to this day love making logos, branding and advertising content for people as I love bringing peoples ideas come to life and watching their face light up to the fact that their dream can become a reality. But as of late thanks to my new job I have felt a gap in my heart that I didn’t know how to fill, be filled by becoming a content creator and hearing the feedback of how much they enjoy my photography. This past year I was hired to be on Grand Canyon University’s outdoor recreation team to become a media guide on trips that we take other college students on all across the west coast. From the islands to California to the fourteen thousand foot mountains in Colorado, we cover so much ground and it is my honor to capture every moment on those trips for not only the participants to look back on and reflect on the trips that they experienced, but for also the University to use and promote their amazing programs that they help fund. The content that I create I want to be perfect so they can bring the most excitement and joy. The Lord has truly blessed me in all my opportunities that I have had and has continued to amaze me in the places that I end up in and the fantastic people that I have met and been able to create an amazing bond with.

Luke, 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?

I am a Saint Louis born creative that has grown up all my life in this city and am now a sophomore in college at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix Arizona. I started out in school loving the hands-on creative projects that we would do in any classes and that lead to me becoming very fluent in the adobe softwares. During my freshman year of high school I was involved in a very serious accident leading up to me becoming partially paralyzed from the waist up the day of the accident, slowly gaining back feeling. After that accident I have never looked at life the same. I wanted to do something with my hands and be creative to not only create projects for people to enjoy but also remind me that I should never take the things I have and have earned for granted. Even though people really struggled through Covid I took that time to improve myself and become a better creator through the form of graphic design and I learned so much through that period. Not only was I able to help small businesses through that rough time by creating content and rebrand for them but I was also able to build up my portfolio knowing that I was helping people along the way. During that time my neighbor’s husband unfortunately passed away, who was the local cameraman and the wife asked me if I wanted to have his camera. Not knowing anything about cameras but with a very eager heart to learn how to use it, I accepted it and there has been no looking back. Through that camera I got hired as a freelance sports photography to shoot high school and semi-pro lacrosse games, win SONY’s youth photographer of the month in September of 2021, get asked to work for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and get hired on GCU’s outdoor recreation program where I am a media guide taking college kids all across the West of the US, taking photos and video, capturing every moment. I am so thankful to everyone who has helped me get to this point in my life as I have been able to do great things, but this is just the beginning and I hope to create an even larger impact than I already have.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are so many rewarding factors as a creative but by far the most rewarding one that I have encountered is the excitement and joy people get by viewing my work. Every time there has been people that give me wonderful feedback on my work or give a nice small compliment, it just fuels me to create and share even more of my work. I am also blessed to be in a work environment to create with other creators on my team and the fact that we can hype each other up and cultivate the best content for viewers to enjoy, is the best thing that I could ever ask for as a creative. It is super important for me to hear feedback, whether positive or constructive as it helps me become not only a better person, but a better creative, ultimately improving the work that I produce. To not only the media team on the Outdoor Recreation team but to the guiding team as well, I thank each and every one of you for being so supportive of the work that I have created and I look forward to each and every trip that I am on, knowing what we do is not only one of the coolest things but also impactful on other people lives. And this experience that I have had has only been amazing because of the program that we have put so much effort and dedication into.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I have been blessed that I have been able to achieve many goals that I have set for myself but there really is not one that is standing out to me the most as of now. The main motivator for me is knowing that I get to travel around with great people and capture the environment around us, knowing that not many people do what I do and experience not only in college, but in life. But knowing this, I want to capture everything that I see in the best way possible so that the people around me looking at my work can be immersed in the work that I have created and also feel included and motivated to create. I want to travel on as many trips as possible and continue to keep being a creator so that one day an opportunity can appear and I can seize that moment. Opportunities like that are never just handed to someone. A fantastic work ethic and many hours of dedication, seen and unseen, are the key factors to creating opportunities to partner with inspiring people and companies to continue producing jaw dropping content.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://500px.com/p/lukecocographics?view=photos
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lukecocophoto/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukecoco/
• Other: https://www.behance.net/Luke_Coco