We were lucky to catch up with Barry Harris recently and have shared our conversation below.
Barry, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers
Well I’ll start from the beginning. Even though I wanted my studio to function like an Air Bnb, in the beginning stages, I would always go there to do remote work for my full time job. It wasn’t only for the fact that I finally had my own office now, but also to monitor how individuals interact with the whole smart studio concept. I actually had a booking for one of my usual’s, and she was telling me it was a surprise photoshoot. A couple, who were both tattoo artists, were coming in and doing shoots with their tattoo equipment. The girlfriend was the one surprising the boyfriend. It was cute or whatever. So I let them get settled in, watched from the window as the woman, walked her blind folded boyfriend into the studio. From there I used imagination, because I obviously wasn’t going to go in the studio as a random and ruin the moment. So I went back to work. As moments go by, I’m in the zone, listening to their tunes flowing through the walls. All of a sudden I hear a long high pitch scream come from the studio. This scream must have been pre-recorded. I mean it was epic. It could have easily been used for any horror film. I was frightened none-the-less. Someone is literally dying in my studio. Jesus Christ, I’ve only been open for 6 months. My entrepreneur endeavors are over. Of course I jumped into action. I hopped out my uncomfortable office chair from Wayfair, ran out the office, open the studio door and peeped in first to make sure there’s no blood, then ran over to them. I see tears in the girlfriends eyes. Mr. Fiancé of the Year flipped the script and did a reverse surprise to her and proposed. It was beautiful. I wanted to cry in relief and disbelief that this was happening in my studio. But I wasn’t going to do that because I’m a grown ass man. I was so honored to accidentally be apart of that. And can you believe they both tattooed “Yes” on both of there hands. Like whaaaaaaaaat!!! I was appalled. All happening right in little old Conxept Studios. So believe me when I say, it’s just a magical place. Oh and you can find a video of some of it on our Instagram ; )
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hello, my name is Barry Harris, I’m an Art Director and business owner by day, and just a business owner by night. I’m the owner of Conxept Studios in Pompano Beach Florida and we provide a smart and intimate space for Photographers and Videographers to capture their visions. In the past when I was just a Jr. graphic designer, I worked with many brands. With these businesses I’ve realized that they rely so heavily on stock photography. At this moment I knew how important imagery is and knew I wanted to do something in that realm. As years went by I played with the idea, adding on to it. I eventually came up with the “Smart Studio” concept. I would set up the studio to function like a smart home to make studio sessions seamless. I’ll have the whole booking system operate like an Air Bnb. This was 6 years ago. Fast forward 4 years, Conxept Studios was birthed. Conxept Studio is a self sustained photography and videography studio that I operate mostly with just my phone. Our man product /service is our space and the accommodation. We offer the full space with pro photography equipment, lighting, infinity wall, backdrops, props, fabrics, you even have coffee and water included with every booking. The smart conxept is our standard and many appreciate the ease of adjusting things in the studio with simple voice commands. Another element that many photographers love is the intimacy of the space compared to other studios. Other places usually have many sets that a lot of times get cluttered and they also try to have multiple booking at once which leads to privacy issues. At Conxept we only book 1 at a time and we want to make sure that time is as special as you need it to be. We pride ourselves on being lean so we can keep the place in A1 condition. We also secretly offer design services. These go through strict consolations to make sure we fully see a match as a client.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Well I actually was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) Nov 2019. It was a challenging time for me and my new family. ALL is a blood cancer that progresses rapidly. I went to the hospital due to fatigue and after a few tests they came back to my room to tell me and my wife the news. I went right into chemotherapy and was in the hospital for over a month. Me and my wife just had a baby boy in October so his first 8 month was daddy going in and out of the hospital to receive chemo treatment. during this time I was bald, weak, and just looked like a smiling naked mole rat. I could laugh now, hell I was laughing then, because I wasn’t going to let that stop me from being with my new baby boy. I always kept my head held high even when the medications had me emotional. Because of how aggressive my cancer was I was told the best cure would come from a Stem Cell Transplant, which required a matching donor. This was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been. I did all the horrible Google searches to find out the likelihood of finding a match and it wasn’t looking good for me. But I didn’t let that discourage me. I knew that God would bring me a cure and he did just that. He brought me my sister, my sister was a 100% match, she literally saved my life. I knew that with determination and the love of God I would get back to my wife and baby boy healed. I stand before you now, cancer free, a happy father and husband, and ready to take over the world.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
This was a challenge. I definitely hand no money. My new business had no capital, it had no credit, no bank would even consider loaning my infant business a dime. I knew no one that would lend me $30,000. I did have a last resort. Which was rather easy with decent credit. I had to take out a personal loan. So I took one out for $30,000 to fund my studio endeavor. It was a great way to jumpstart my idea.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.conxeptstudios.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conxeptstudios/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conxeptstudios
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-z-harris/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConxeptStudios
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/conxept-studios-pompano-beach?override_cta=Get+pricing
Image Credits
Unjaded Media & Wisler John