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

Amani, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think it takes a plethora of things to be successful. The main things for me are patience, commitment, confidence and preparation.

The secret to success is letting go of all the things that are holding you back, like procrastination, negativity, and the fear of failure, and instead embracing healthy, productive habits.

One of my favorite quotes by John Wooden —

“Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”

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

First and foremost i’m from Buffalo,NY moving to Atlanta,Ga in 2011. a former football player for Douglas County High School (CO’2017). I tore my ACL my senior year ending my senior year and ruining my chances at a legit D1 scholarship. At 16-17 years old I was very naive to how the real world is not having a clue of what I wanted to do or if I even wanted to attend college. A couple years later I had got a couple photos taken of me by a good friend of mine and became very interested in wanting to know why and how cameras operated. 2019 I purchased my first camera as a hobby and started shooting sports/studio photography. When I realized that my skills were being praised as much as they were, I decided to pursue it as my career. I attained my LLC for my business,(ShotbybillupsLLC,) in July 2021. Then I got hired full time for a high school football team, offering photo and video services. My name quickly began to rise in a industry full of so many talented people that I quickly had to adjust and in August 21’ I quit my FT job, and my hobby quickly turned into my new job. As of right now I offer any type of photos from sports, to studio, to weddings and any type of events or lifestyle photography. I also offer video services like behind the scenes of events or shows to highlight tapes for football games , even looking to get into music videos very soon and documentaries. I haven’t had to solve many problems in my career so far, but I can say I try to make things as easy, and simple as possible for my customers. I try to be available as much as I can to answer any questions comments or concerns. I think what sets me apart from the industry is that my quality is like no other. I want you to literally feel like you were there looking at my pictures. Another is that I think my work is dynamic. A dynamic composition will have some MYSTERY in the picture — which requires you to use your brainpower to interpret my photo, and come up with your own story, and fill in any blank spots.

I am most proud of not only myself and how I’ve grown so rapidly over the past year, but just really proud of the connections and people i’ve met along the way. Good relationships and business partners are hard to find , I think for me it’s safe to say that i’ve built a good relationship with the right people and I hope I meet more along the way.

What I want potential clients and followers to know about me is that I will never devalue you or your content, and that I will always deliver consistent quality work in a timely/professional manner.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist/creative is that I can see the happiness of my customers when they see their work. I love the smile a photo can put on someone’s face, and they remember the moment. it’s so rewarding when you put so much time into something to actually see/ feel the love and praise from anyone is an amazing feeling.

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

My particular goal driving my creative journey is making it to the NFL as a photographer or videographer. i’ve always wanted to be a player in the league, but realizing that wasn’t an option I realized that it was so many ways to get there. I’ve played and watched football as long as I can remember. i’ll probably break down in tears to actually make it where I dreamed one day i’ll be but this time in my dream i’ll have a camera with me.

Contact Info:

• Website: shotbybillups.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/shotbybillups
• Twitter: twitter.com/shotbybillups