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

Alright, Cai thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve taken many risks in my life and I’m not sure one risk outweighs any of the others. Each and every risk I have taken has moved me further than I ever could have imagined. From singing with some of the best barbershop choristers in the world to coaching a parkour team to winning #1 in the west coast, all the way to becoming a first-place national dance champion, every single accomplishment that has made me who I am has started by taking a leap of faith. Growing up without much money in the family, vacations, and opportunities to see the world and what she has to offer were few are far between and they sure felt like rare diamonds when they did find their way into our lives. Because of this, every choice felt so serious as though I needed to be sure that the choice I was making was for the best possible outcome because the opportunity was likely to never come around again. I spent a lot of time paralyzing myself into inaction simply due to over-analysis and fear. It wasn’t until I started taking leaps of faith that things really started to change. My first big break was auditioning for a big college musical that I felt very underqualified for but my friends were adamant that I could convince the college that I was good enough to look past the fact that I wasn’t even an enrolled student. I felt so out of my league that I mainly took the audition as a joke to prepare me for the hardships of rejection in life. But as it turns out they loved me and I accepted the role and had one of the best experiences of my life for those 2 months. Ever since then, I have gotten into the habit of only reaching for the things that I felt vastly underqualified for. I learned to be excited by it! I am someone who enjoys being challenged and pushed past my comfort zone, how else are we going to learn and grow without that? And only reaching for the things that feel easy has done nothing but put me in a stagnant place of complacency, and when has that ever done anyone any good? I encourage anyone at least once in their life to shoot for something scary, if you were scared enough to not reach for something in the first place then you likely have already planned for that thing to not be in your life so if you get rejected, all you lose is a small bit of pride. But what you stand to gain is groundbreaking.

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.

My name is Cai and my brand is The Kviro Project (the_kviro_project on Instagram) I am not one thing who provides one service. Although it may be cliche I like to live as a jack of all trades, or at least as many as I can before I kick the bucket. I am currently pursuing a Masters’s Degree at Arizona State to be a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. I am also a passionate photographer, I hold a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance (singing), I’m a 1st place intermediate national country swing dance champion and instructor, a certified professional parkour athlete and coach, and training future family man.

I chose to use the word Project in my brand intentionally as I see myself and my life as a beautiful creative project that I am constantly adding to and building. My passion for living life and hearing others’ stories is unmatched and it informs every piece of this project that I am constantly working on. I sing to share an emotional connection with others. I coach to help children and adults feel confident in themselves and their abilities. I dance to express the joy of life through the medicine of movement. And I capture photos of all these moments so we can hold onto these moments and never forget why we are alive on this earth.

I offer many services, but above all else, I offer a dedication to the beauty of life and the journey we are all embarking on. Whether you hire me to capture the big moments in your life, to teach you to dance your sock off, or even just come to me for advice I can promise that I will give it my whole heart. It’s just who I am.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission comes from a wise friend of mine in California. The last time I visited him we were talking about a book that I am writing and the meaning of our tattoos. He told me that his most meaningful tattoo was a small phrase that he put on his body that simply says “No One Can Stop Me.” The idea behind this is that we are immortalized through the interactions and the love we share with others and in this way we live on forever. Every time you meaningfully interact with people and your surroundings you also leave a piece of yourself there, you never know what little thing you might say to someone that can stick with them forever. My mission in life, no matter what I am doing, is to leave as many pieces of my love and kindness in this world as I possibly can. I want to offer help to all those I can and above all else I want to be a shining example of compassion and healthy masculinity as a father for my future children and family. More than anything I am excited to be a father and my main mission in this life is to work on this “project” as long as I am able and to pass on this project to my children so that they can carry on this love to their kids and their future grandkids. Even though I am finite, I want the love that I have fostered to be felt for generations.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being a creative, in photography specifically, has been the constant practice of gratitude that has allowed me to enjoy life to a larger extent than I could have ever imagined. As a photographer, you are tasked to find the beauty in all things. Sometimes you get lucky and a client or the scenery around you is already naturally beautiful and you don’t have to do anything but focus and capture. And sometimes the venue gets rained out, or you lose the proper sunlight, or the groom spilled coffee on his suit and you are tasked with taking the worst situation and turning it into something beautiful that will be permanently captured and cherished forever.

I was always told that, as much as we would like to think it is natural in us, gratitude and love must be practiced and fostered. I find that as a photographer I am tasked with this practice all the time and I have added it to my daily routine. During the winter in Arizona, I do daily cold plunges as a meditative routine. The same task every night at sunset. Cold walk, cold pool, hot tub, cold walk, repeat tomorrow. After I am done forcing my focus inward by shocking my body with the cold, I allow myself to open outward again as I warm up in the hot tub. At first, I found myself getting bored with watching the same sunset in the same scenery every evening and I was wondering when the world around me was going to change so that I might be entertained again. I quickly realized the arrogance of my ways and realized that it was up to me to find that beauty. I started approaching each evening hot tub with the mindset of “How can I find something beautiful in the scene today?” This has allowed me to see such an unmatched beauty in the world around me that constantly brings tears to my eyes and it is so rewarding to feel so full of love for life. I’m not sure if I would have been able to come to this without being a creative.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_kviro_project/ Handle: the_kviro_project

Image Credits
The Kviro Project