We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bryan Kinkade a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Bryan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

I am a photographer. I started early when I joined the Army as a photo journalist at 17 years old. When I got out of the military, I tried to start a photography business. It did not go well.

I did not give up, but I decided I should go to school for photography and advertising to gain credentials.

Throughout my education during my bachelors degree, I never received any schooling about business. So I took a class at a community college later in my life for small business entrepreneurship. This was one of the smartest choices I had made to become a business owner. But it didn’t help me understand how to actually run a business. Just gave me some insight similar to all of the other degrees you can get in school.

If I were to change anything about school and career preparation, I would make sure there were classes to teach about how to run a small business, or even a big business.

Bryan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have bounced around the photography, industry and all sorts of ways. I started in fashion photography, jumped into family portraits and weddings, then I moved into the commercial advertising industry. Photographing, many celebrities, and football stars. To be honest, the photography career is much like the ocean, you have to surf the waves, and enjoy every minute you can. But I can truly say, you cannot do it without help. If I didn’t have the mentors and friends to help me succeed, I never would be where I am at now. My most proud moment in my career happened when I was a kid. 19 years old, and I got a chance to photograph for the Washington Post. My images ended up on the front page Sunday, edition of the newspaper, and I can say I will never live up to that.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I first started photography, I thought I had an idea of what I wanted to photograph, and who I wanted to photograph. But once I started my business, I just went with the flow. We can talk about pivots, same as my flow.

In college, I thought it was really cool to photograph, fashion and models. Then I realized there is no money in that. So I moved onto motorcycles. Then I moved onto product photography. Then I moved onto weddings. Then I moved onto corporate headshots.

You can always be a photographer, and you can be the best at a single type of photography. But I’ve always found that I don’t have the focus on one individual type of photography, I love it all.

I didn’t move on to motorcycles just because I wanted to photograph motorcycles, someone reached out to me from a motorcycle magazine and asked me to photograph motorcycles.

When you are starting out in Photography, you just try to find work. But while you are finding work, you also find yourself. I was fortunate enough to become an assistant for an incredible photographer in Phoenix (Christopher Barr). He showed me the ropes of how to become a jack of all trades, master of none; which sounds really funny when I say it out loud. He taught me to be a one stop shop for an advertising firm. Which is an incredible feat.

The way I look at it, if you are not flowing with your industry, you aren’t pivoting where you need to, you will fail. Our industry is a flowing river, and we are the rubber ducks racing down it.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

While I was attending Northern Arizona University, I was working as a bartender in Phoenix during the times I was not at school. Once I graduated, I continued to work at this restaurant, making decent money and taking small photography jobs wherever I could. One night, our manager went on a rampage and I got fired. First time I’ve ever been fired in my life. And it was the best night of my life, because I chose to give up my job and Photography my full-time job. Don’t get me wrong, I was scared shitless, but I didn’t stop.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kinkadephoto.com
• Instagram: @kinkadephoto
• Facebook: @kinkadephoto
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/bryan-kinkade-47177121
• Twitter: @kinkadephoto

Image Credits
My fiancée and I at the place we first met.