Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aaron Garrette. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Aaron, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?
This is a tough but great question & I state it is tough in the sense of I have multiple stories to tell that would suffice in the answer. With anything I do, whether it be creative work in photography or cinema, or all the way to working in my primary career in the mental health field, I give my ALL! I strive to really learn who I am working with, asking questions, relating, just genuinely getting to know them. One example actually that was carried out today. There was a young woman I met a few weeks back as I was conducting some street photography just to get out and enjoy the weather and city. She is a highly stylish & very eye grabbing young woman who can surely model for brands & in shows! I asked to take a portrait of her and in doing so, I just asked her more about herself, shared about myself & the creative work & ministry work my wife and I do. After taking some amazing portraits, we exchanged social media info because she was open to creating more in the future & we had mutual respect for each others desires in life career and creative wise. About a month or so later after small chit chat here and there with her, she stated she was currently looking for an internship for her degree in kinesiology and needed a certain amount of hours to complete her class. I instantly connected her to 3 different personal trainers/gym owners and within two hours she was set to have an internship through me really building a friendship with her and utilizing my own personal resources to help her with one of her goals. Today she actually had her first day at the internship and it was awesome! These are the things I love about meeting people day to day when I am either doing creative work for a festival, a fashion show, or just out and about in my city. I really get a chance not only to capture a photo or video of them in that present time, but get a chance to sort’ve become a part of their life journey and them in mine going forward!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
“The game doesn’t stop until the clock runs out, and until then run the full 94 feet of the court!”
That’s a motto I have always kept in the forefront of my mind throughout my basketball career. Now it is something I carry over into every other aspect of my life! Give it my all, the entire time.
Hey there, I am Aaron Garrette, 94shots, & I am an Urban, Fashion, and Event photographer who loves to give it my all.
I have worked in the Mental Health field for almost a decade now, played sports on some of the highest levels, and have dedicated my life to always inspiring others through my faith, talents, & career as well as learning as much as I can in all my endeavors.
I have worked with Universities, Open Mic Events, Fashion Shows, Weddings, Festivals, Birthdays for Adults & Youth, and Headshots. Along side my amazing wife, I am Co-Media Director for AMS.SF, Co-Lead Social Media Manager & Co-Lead Photographer for my Church, and also am Co-Founder of Cadmium Creative.
I love capturing moments from perspectives many may not think of, while also making sure your vision and goals are met to the best of my ability in a genuine manner that fosters a friendship and connection that continues.
Growing up, I was so used to being in front of the camera for sports, some commercials, etc. but around 2016 I began to really get involved into my love for photography. That started with just photography in my church where I was self taught and really invested into myself to grow in my skills. This then lead to me desiring to go out in my city and do street photography of people, buildings, etc. I got to connect with so many people over the years and create so many lasting friendships and partnerships.
I have been able to not only grow in my craft over the years, but also be involved in some amazing projects to even having some of my photos published in articles for organizations like KQED!
Every client I have gotten the chance to connect with, I truly love making them extremely comfortable and extremely apart of the process. From making music playlist that I can play on my speaker during the shoot, to making vision boards with me so we can ensure their goals are reached, I love working with the client no matter the event. Most of the time, my clients need some guidance on poses, location scouting, to even wardrobe/make up ideas, which I provide due to the amazing assistance from my beautiful talented wife, but also because of the experience I have been able to gather over the years & also the other creatives I have connected with who are always happy to join me on shoots.
What sets me apart from others is first that I am a very down to earth and relatable creative that happens to be an African American Male, which we sadly don’t hear a lot about in the photography/creative world. Being from the Bay Area brings another entire level of style, vision, and experience that can really show in my creative ideas and connections. Also, being a man of so many talents from sports, psychology, mental health work, working as a teacher/child care instructor, and so on, gives me an edge that can be utilized in every scenario.
I am truly proud I can utilize my love for my city, my work & experience, and creative mind to help people capture some of their most prized moments! I will never take my talents and ability to do what I do for granted because it will surely inspire youth that have similar backgrounds as me to go on to do greater things than myself!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I love this question because I constantly utilize my story to inspire others who are starting to face similar challenges in their life that I have faced. Well to answer the question, I feel that I am constantly showing resilience when it comes to my day to day life. Growing up I have been very talented in basketball to where I have been sent across seas for basketball, been on television in tournaments, etc. A few years back, I had been meeting with semi-pro coaches while living in Sacramento, CA. Eventually my mother had become critically ill in which I quit my job as a Behavioral Analyst and moved back to San Francisco, CA to take care of my mother full time. Her health conditions got to the place where I needed to dress, wash, shop for, cook for, and even at times carry my mother downstairs to ensure she got to her mandatory appointments. During this time I also was engaged to my amazing & beautiful now wife, planning the wedding, in ministry, mentoring multiple people and trying to ensure I took care of my own health. This also was in the middle of the pandemic, which was new for majority of us and brought its own challenges. During this time, I began to have kidney issues. Coming from being a consistent high level athlete, coach, etc. to now having health challenges, while being the only family member to take care of my mother was a true battle emotionally, mentally, physically. If it wasn’t for my Faith and my Church Family as well as my desire to strive toward being an example to many, I would’ve had a much harder time. This is the time where I began to really dive into my street photography and really leveling up my skill set on top of everything else I was managing, and I do not regret one bit of it. I am now in a space, where yes I still wear multiple hats in different aspects of my life, but I have built such a stronger sense of resilience strictly through learning how to lean on God in my Faith more and more day in day out. Obviously yes, living in a schedule, setting boundaries, and so on., but the emotions that could easily take me out from the battles that come daily, are able to be managed in a health manner due to my relationship with my Faith. I have only been able to grow more and more in my character and my skills where I have helped work on films, shot festivals, fashion shows, conducted my own fashion shows, and meet countless amazing men and women all across the world.
Any advice for managing a team?
When it comes to managing a team and maintaining morale, I feel that the key is to meet people where they are at. Within my church, I have been given the honor of mentoring multiple men and women alongside my wife, with the task to not only raise them up to be stronger men and women in their faith, but also grow in their lives whether it be school, work, social life, etc. I have had the honor of doing this for years and the one thing that has been consistent is that, I would see the highest growth when my wife and I are striving to meet people where they are at. When someone has a hard time with time management, I don’t come down on them hardcore, I help them see the success they have had, but also ways they can grow just a little by little each day. Leadership isn’t about domineering people & forcing them to have high morale, but being a great teammate to them in the sense that they feel as if you are walking with them day in day out. This will result in the team being encouraged and have high morale. A teams goal is to win. The best teams overtime have been those that build the close familial bonds, and through that the morale would grow in a positive manner.
Contact Info:
- Website: garretteaaron.wixsite.com/94shots
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_94shots_?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/agarrette?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
All images credited to @_94shots_ also known as Aaron Garrette