We recently connected with Tapree Collins and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tapree, thanks for joining us today. Everyone has crazy stuff happen to them, but often small business owners and creatives, artists and others who are doing something off the beaten path are often hit with things (positive or negative) that are so out there, so unpredictable and unexpected. Can you share a crazy story from your journey?

I started my entrepreneurial journey at the age of 19 years old. At that time, resources were scarce to none, especially for someone that was starting from scratch. Ground zero. No trust fund, no degree, just myself and a dream. I had to essentially create my own opportunities with limited connections, but I didn’t let adversity strike fear in me. Thus I began shooting music videos for various artists throughout the inner city of Chicago. I created a lane for myself to develop a craft I eventually grew a raw talent for, directing and producing my own works of art. I had a genuine passion shooting videos for some of the most renown artists in my city such as Famous Dex and Gherbo, to name a few, while accumulating over eight thousand YouTube subscribers in over a year in a half span.

Being that I was the creative eye and director behind these projects, it doesn’t negate the fact that I was still in Chicago. In other words, I found myself in the middle of some dangerous situations.

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 Tapree Collins I’m an editor, filmmaker, and producer originally from the Southeast side of Chicago. I got my start into the world of video producing and filmmaking back at the end of high school right around the year 2013. At that time the Chicago music scene was on the rise and was taking the world over by storm. Our cultural influence was so powerful and I really knew I could contribute to it through my talents as a video shooter and editor. As time progressed my love for the craft continued to develop and I had this urge to create more forms of content outside of music videos. I got to a point where I didn’t only want to create content for somebody else’s vision, but I then began to develop my own vision for content that I wanted to see out in the world and that’s what led me to my next step.

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

My family is 100% the driving force behind the vehicle of my dreams. They’re the ones who motivate and push me everyday from my beautiful wife, to my one year old baby girl, my sisters and brothers and also my lifelong friends who’ve all been so patient with me and this process.
They’ve proven that without them driving me, it would be no way to show that we can really be our own heroes.
We can save ourselves.
We can obtain generational wealth.
We can break curses and habits that have plagued our families and communities for centuries.
My mission is to inspire , from the youngest the eldest in the room. I aspire to be the living proof that no matter what the present or the past looks like, I have to power to create my future, for it remains unwritten. To embody the belief that the steps I take today, the actions I make on a daily basis, the discipline, the hunger, and the humility I have will design the blueprint for my tomorrow.
If I can do it, a whole generation can.

I also believe everyone has a God given purpose… once you open your heart to being vulnerable and let go of the fear attached to “not being good enough”, make your requests available to God and ask Him help you find that divine purpose. The minute you find it, operate in it! Go for broke! I can guarantee by experience that life will make room for your gift to flourish.
It will happen no matter how much funding you have, regardless of resources you do or don’t obtain, and even without the connections you’ll soon make along the way.
Just start with what you DO have.
Any goal or penuchle you plans to reach can be achieved, but not without hard work. I say this because hard work will outweigh talent any day and you have to work harder than than what you did the day before.
Your only competition is you.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Early on my power to build genuine relationships was my only resource. Coming from the inner city of Chicago and being raised by a mother that worked blue collar job day in and day out to provide, there was never much room for me to dream. While I’m extremely grateful for my upbringing, because my mother was taught that 9-5 occupations pay the bills and college degrees equate to job security, I never was introduced to the possibilities that sprout from exploring my creativity and actually being able to make a living out of it. Because of that, I had little to no resources starting out to explore what inspired me. It took for me to go outside to meet people that made music, engineered, directed, filmed etc. that were operating in the space that I wanted to be in as an editor and director to actually start learning about what’s required to become what I dreamed of.

I wish that there were more people around me growing up that didn’t view what I was trying to accomplish as a home-run or a dream that could never be realized. I wish that there were more people around that were in positions such as directing, photography, or simply operating in some creative space that could show me that what I wanted to be was actually attainable. In short, I wish I knew at least one adult that was truly pursuing his or her dream, that saw beyond their circumstances and were able to work in their passion, regardless of the field. If a resource like that came into my life early and encouraged me to stay the course there’s no telling how much quicker I would have gotten over my fear of the “unknown world’ that is being a creative.

Ultimately, I want to be that resource that I lacked to the youth that will come after me. I feel as though my purpose in life is to make a living off of mu passion while inspiring the next generation. Once I get into the spaces that will afford me the knowledge I once sought, I plan to help the lost. I want to be a resource to those in the same position that I was in years ago who don’t have the support or the access to reach what God put on their heart to accomplish. I want to look these kids in the face and assure them that if they continue to dream, and to create they will reach their goals, no matter how unrealistic it may look to those around them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/editedbytapree/?utm_medium=copy_link
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tapree-collins-a85896219
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tapreee