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

CJ, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

College is certainly not for everyone and it was definitely not for me. A lesson I wish I learned prior to my parents spending two years of tuition on me to find out, but a lesson learned for sure. During that long ride home from Elon University with my dad we talked about the “what’s next” of life and my dad strongly suggested I come work for him in the family business. The goal, to my dad, was for my to gain real life work experiences and figure what I wanted to do next. To say the next 14 years would change everything would be a massive understatement. Anyone who’s worked with family knows the rollercoaster that can be. My dad and I are very different people who manage and approach business from near opposite angles. I have been notoriously emotional in my choices, thinking more of the people being impacted than the business. My dad would be first to admit he was always a business first mindset. Loyalty matters, but the business comes before all as a means to care for not only his family but other’s. In our years of working together and navigating the impact it had on our personal lives, I’d like to believe we both rubbed off on each other. I know I’m better equipped to make the tough business decisions, to wake up early and stay late, to do what it takes as a sole proprietor. I’ve watched my dad be that guy for most of my life, many years side by side. Owning a small hardware store in the days of Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Amazon doesn’t just happen without the hard work I’ve seen from my father.

CJ, 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?

My wife and I went on our Disney honeymoon in 2016 and I was immediately hooked on Disney travel and entertainment. I knew, somehow, I wanted to find a way to make a livelihood out of the magic created by the parks and the people. Years of figuring it out, trying different works of media, the one constant from day one was photography. I learned every bit of being a photographer from doing so in the Disney theme parks. Now, I’m a full time creator focused on theme parks and travel. I also own my own media company, helping families and small businesses create lasting memories and impactful ads in both video and photo form. I started behind a cellphone taking photos in The Magic Kingdom and now I have multiple photos published by Disney Parks social media, am a contributing photographer for WDW Magazine, and own my own company where I get to create magic for others in their own space.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Thankfully the Disney Instagram community is a (mostly) supportive and fun space. When I started my current account, MainStreetLightroom it started growing fairly steadily because I was heavily involved in the community and other projects. I interacted with people on their posts and made it a point to be supportive of others work when they supported mine. As the account grew, it obviously became harder to support every person who supported my account, but I now make it a standard to interact and respond to everyone who takes the time to comment on or share my work.

I really believe most people are on social media more for the SOCIAL than the media. Because of that, I try to maintain being social with the people who take the time out of their day to be supportive of my work. Sure, the Disney reshares, the viral videos and photos, that all helps. I believe those things only help grow your following not your interactions. We are the only ones capable of increasing our engagement with those taking the time to follow our work.

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

I started focusing on travel media as a career choice the year prior to the pandemic. Yikes. It was that time I learned the ability to make the biggest pivots and how to develop new brands on the fly. Selling shirts with photos on them? Done. Leaning into masks and doing full on “quarantine shoots”? Ok. Filming weddings and capturing engagements when no one else wanted to? Whatever it took. It was during that time I pivoted from travel photographer to creator and I did whatever I needed to keep creating. As soon as things came back around and felt normal, my feet were already on the ground and I was running full steam.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mainstreetlightroom?igsh=aGZueTR6NGNvdGIw&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/p/mainstreetlightroom-100063495731619/