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

Hi Darin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

Asking friends and family to support your small business sounds like a simple concept but in my case it’s not. Once I started posting photos with A-list celebrities and famous social media influencers friends and family started to reach out more, repost my photos and help spread brand awareness. Prior to that I would ask those same people to follow my photography page, buy my art work or introduce me to whoever you know that’s building a brand or in the creative industry. A few of them would do the minimum of what I would ask but the majority would just drop a like or reply to me with a thumbs up. Majority of them would say “I got you”, but I learned over time that people say “I got you” until you need them.

I think it could be perceived as inappropriate to solicit your business to those friends and family members who come off as super successful/wealthy, however on the other side of that coin wouldn’t you want to see someone in your circle also become as successful if not more successful then yourself? I do. I had an expectation that everyone else also wanted that but I learned a valuable lesson. “Expectations are your quickest way to disappointment.” – Karlous Miller, comedian. Other people do not want to see you win. To them they might feel insulted because I asked them to pass my information to someone in their circle because they think that’s all I want from them. But when people ask me for the same favors, as long as what they’re offering can bring value in any type of way I gladly do what I can to plug them in and at least bring up their name in a conversation with the talent. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. That one connection could lead you to a life time of success or elevate you/your brand to the next level to get closer to success.

I’m a natural born line stepper. A habitual line stepper if you will. But my line is drawn at the other end of the field. If you ask me to plug you in with talent or a venue or events and the outcome isn’t what the talent expected or they last minutes call out or something happens and they fall thru I will still do what I can to give them constructive criticism and will most likely plug them in again. I draw the line if you don’t show interests in improving on whatever the issues might of been. But a few months later if they come back around demonstrated changed behavior I don’t see why I shouldn’t refer them again. Again, that one opportunity might be enough to push their brand to the next level. On that next level they might need a photographer and that photo gig pays you a few thousand dollars for 8 hours and you get booked for the next 3 months working along side that one friend that you helped 5 years ago and they decided to return the favor to you because no one else wanted to give them a second chance.

Most of my views about the topic of “Friends and Family supporting you” stems from the experience most creatives have when trying to break away from your day job and turn your art into your career. We consistently grind to gain exposure. The people in our circles see us grinding and most ignore us. But once I started posting content of Snoop Dogg, Billy Sorrells, Teddy Ray, DoggFace and other famous talents then I started getting kudos, text messages and DM’s from people that always view your IG stories but never interact with you. I welcome all the love and attention but I hope we break this cycle of people who know you’re a creative not doing the bare minimum to support you until the rest of the world and strangers starts supporting you.

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

I got my first introduction into photography when a mentor of mine in the Civil Air Patrol noticed I had an interest in photography/videography and he gave me his Canon DSLR for the day at an event. After spending the day with his camera I pursued a deeper interest in photography with my high schools journalism program Friendship News Network(FNN). They would let me take home a Nikon D40 and check it out during all breaks from school. Fast forward to present day I enjoy shooting Behind The Scene content as well as comedy shows and all calibers of music performances. Outside of having my first publishing on a newsletter when I was deployed in the US Air Force, my proudest moment was achieving a licensing deal with MTV in 2021. Currently I have 2 photographs on the theme opener for a TV show called Messyness of my favorite comedian Teddy Ray(Rest In Peace). Every photo is a moment forever frozen in time and all photographers can take amazing photos but just because we use the same recipe doesn’t mean it’s going to taste the same.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn everything people told me about doing free or highly discounted gigs. I had to learn it’s risk vs reward. Giving away my time to capture photos for a venue or person with a great following was the greatest thing I ever did despite getting nothing monetary out of some of them. But to stand in front of a crowd of over 1000 people and capturing the photos that those 1000 people will always look back on to remember a good time is beyond satisfying. That might be someone’s 1st concert or their last favorite moment before their friend or family member they were with passed away. I probably could of charged a premium for my services for some of those free gigs but I regret nothing. The people I’ve met and places I’ve been wouldn’t of been possible. I relocated to Las Vegas December 2021 and I promise you, I will not be where I am now if I didn’t take the risk and give out a few free samples.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The Karlous Miller interview on the Hot Breath Podcast by Joel Byars. Most of the interview was related to being a successful comedian but a lot of the gems Karlous Miller dropped could be considered universal. Some of my favorite quotes are: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
“Failure is temporary. It’s only real for as long as you allow it to exist.”
“If you get taught something to learn how to succeed and don’t doesn’t mean you failed. You just lacked the knowledge to succeed at the moment.”
“When you dislike some shit you tell everyone. When you do like some shit you don’t even wanna comment or “like” it.”
“At the end of the night you have to lay down by yourself and get up in the morning and look yourself in the mirror and be comfortable with all of the decisions you made as a human.”
“Stop depending on other people to supply your happiness, wants, needs, thoughts and desires. It’s selfish but it’s real.”

Dr Leslie Brown also lives rent free in my head. His famous Georgia Dome speech where he says “Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jetlagmedia.darkroom.com/
• Instagram: @jetlag,media

Image Credits
photo credit @jetlag.media