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

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

Being successful is measured in many different ways. One measure is what society at large deems as successful, this is normally centered around financial gain and status. Another measure is what our friends and family consider successful, which I believe is derived from perceived accomplishment based on what people think you are doing. Then there is the measure that I think is the most accurate, which is your personal measure. Of these, I believe that your personal measures will form the guidelines that determine what we as individuals call successes and failures. But for me it is easy, patience and hard work! Patience to allow yourself time to develop to the levels that you need to move forward in your individual industries; and hard work to so that you understand what it takes to be move the preverbal needle.

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 am a Navy Veteran and photographer originally from Lakeland, FL. I lived in central Florida for most of my childhood until I enlisted in the US Navy soon after high school. After 29 years, 32 countries, and 43 states, I began military retired life in Navarre, FL. Since I had served almost 30 years on active duty, I wanted to build my next career in an area that I was extremely passionate about. It was at this time that I began taking professional pictures in the Northwest Florida area. Starting out with landscapes, I soon found that I wanted to shoot something more dynamic, something that captured the energy of my personality, it was here where my professional fashion journey began.

Graduating Summa Cum Laude from the Ashford University Business Administration program and a graduate of the New York Institute of Photography, I continued to push my vision of photography and fashion into the world and was soon invited to be a contributing editorial photographer with several magazines to included Vanquish Magazine, Crush Magazine, INKX Magazine, and Brand Magazine. My personal resume does not just stop with magazines, you can also find his images used by various musical artist, business professionals, and US Government officials and their official press offices. I consider myself a driven individual, So I continued to want to produce the best images that I was capable of manufacturing, but I also wanted to find a way to help as many others as I could to achieve their industry goals. It was this combination of thought that led to the inception of VIVYD Magazine.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

While in a lifetime we all go through so many ups and downs. Some of them much more rememberable than others. The single most point that I insist changed me forever was when I did not graduate with my high school class.

As a student, historically I have always done pretty well. I work well with established timelines and understand material pretty good. While in high school, I had a few problems with self-accountability, which manifested as absences from school. And while academically I was sound, my grades suffered because I simply was not there. As this continued, I got to the point to where I would not have enough credits to graduate. If you could image an once honor society student, simply just failing because I wasn’t in school. Long story short, my grandfather convinced me that even though I had stubbled, I needed to dust myself off and that I should still be at my graduation. So, I went. I don’t know, something about meeting your failure headfirst and watching my friends graduate changed me and the way I thought about failure for the rest of my life! Now adays, I completely understand that failure and success are partners, you cannot have one without the presence of the other. Which I understand to be, that if you are looking to be exceptional in what you do, you have to be willing to fail as well. Neither is a determining factor in you are as a person or speak to what you can accomplish in the future. Both are just measures on how improve on a process.

Any advice for managing a team?

When managing a team, be firm in your expectations. Set the table for things you wish accomplish now and why those milestones are important for the future. You must understand that each individual team member, requires different needs, have unique issues, and should be cultivated to become leaders/managers themselves. By accepting your team, working with your team, and understanding the needs of your team. morale will always be at its highest point.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vivydmagazne.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/vivydmagazine
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/vivydmag
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/vivydmagazine

Image Credits
Bobby Lee Elrico Tunstall Ivette Virola Elysian Solace Semmuel Jenkins Peyton North Rosaly Martinez-Corcino Alexia Amedeo