We were lucky to catch up with Chris Carzoli recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Chris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

Stop buying the latest and greatest gear!

I did the unintelligent thing and bought a new camera body every year for like 3-4 years because I thought that was what I needed to be great. It’s not.

Learn your camera. Learn how to properly edit. Learn and keep learning. If you want to get better buy glass. If you’re really sure the camera body you have is obsolete then research it and look for maybe a used version.

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 Chris and I’m a photographer | videographer | drone operator. I do social media management.

I got into this in 2016 or so professionally. Social media especially now in 2023 is one of the most important tools any business owner big or small needs to utilize. Understand the algorithms and tools available at your disposal.

I grew a business from relatively no business to having regular customers day in and day out. Where they grew to be top 5 in their franchised locations for 3 years running now.

Mad Octopus Media is the name I settled on. The octopus is one of the most interesting creatures on the planet. They can shape shift and change colors and open jars. It’s amazing.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I just liked to take pictures. I didn’t dive into it. One day I started watching Casey and Peter on YouTube and I just kept learning and invested into photography.

I learned a ton on YouTube. I took courses at community, I tried to learn everything I could.

The most nervous I have ever been was my first wedding. I didn’t know if I was going to do great, horrible or what was going to happen. Fast forward and look where I’ve come from. Shooting street photography and portraits to doing large events and now social media management.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Be open and honest with the team. Try and look at things from their perspective and be reasonable but don’t get stepped on. There is a fine line and you have to walk it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madoctopusmedia.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/themadoctopus
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@madoctopusmedia