We were lucky to catch up with Collin Pape recently and have shared our conversation below.

Collin, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

When I first graduated from high school in 2007, I took the path commonly traveled on—school, sports, find a job. I played college football in AZ for 2 years at Glendale community college. In 2009, I moved to Denver where I had originally planned to finish my last two years of college football at a D2 school. However, plans changed, and I decided to go to the Metropolitan State University part time while I worked as a chef for 2 years. During that time, I joined the Glendale Raptors which was a rugby team. After two years I moved to Bolivar Missouri where I finished playing my last two years of college football before moving back to my home state of Arizona earning my bachelor’s degree in Sports Management at Grand Canyon University.

Shortly after graduating, I was presented the opportunity to join a startup sports media company—FanRag Sports, to run their marketing/social media marketing department. This was the first job that opened the doors to a more creative path. I became proficient in photoshop, illustrator, graphic design, web design, and even shot a couple of interviews with college and professional athletes—which was a completely new learning experience. This job was where I began building my creative resume, and when I first started with FanRag sports, their website went from less than 5000 views/month to over 10.5 million views/ month in a span of 3.5 years. I worked with them until FanRag was sold to a different company.

In 2018 I joined another startup company—NeuroForce1, a health and fitness company specializing in training high profile athletes. This included UFC fighters, Bellator fighters, MLB, NFL , and USA Olympic wrestlers. During my time with NF1 I worked as the Marketing/Social media Marketing director and grew the company from 465 followers on Instagram to 16.2K followers over an 18-month time period. During this time, I marketed our athletes public influence to grow the company’s social media presence and created content to market the company to the public. This was the first time I ever picked up the camera, and unknowingly opened the door to an entirely new life path.

I began photographing and taking videos of the athletes training and recovery regimens and edited all of the content to create marketing campaigns. At this time, I barely knew how to work a camera, and what started as a “point and shoot” soon became intentional as my passion for photography grew.  I began teaching myself through online articles and trial and error. Before NF1, the only experience I had recording the world around me was with the GoPro I bought in 2015 to document my friends’ adventures and trips to places like Havasupai Falls, snowboarding excursions, hiking trips in Utah, etc. This was where my journey and passion for photography and videography began–it was a culmination of having a passion for documenting life experiences and adventures and translating these skills into a professional setting which allowed me to bring art to business.

Towards the end of my time with NF1, a close friend who later became a mentor let me use my first real camera– a Fuji XT2. The moment I got my hands on the camera I became obsessed with shooting everything around me and began to create my own vision and style as a photographer. I attempted to get one more “corporate” job at the National Academy of Sport Medicine as the Social Media Community Manager in Gilbert, Arizona (March 2020). However, it was the day they called to offer me a job that the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the position was discontinued.

Covid-19 was an intensely stressful time due to the inability to get a job with the nation on lockdown, but what started as something hopeless, later became one of the defining moments of my life. It was during this lockdown that I made the decision to take a risk. I no longer wanted to work for an employer, I wanted to create my own path with my own brand as a photographer/ videographer. Despite this being the most financially tight time in my life, I took the plunge and I saved all my unemployment checks to buy my first camera: Sony A7III, in May of 2020. I essentially started from the ground up. I had no prior idea how to create my own business, let alone how to find and retain clients in the creative world.  It was the most unsure I had ever been in my life, but I was determined to create the life I wanted to live, and work by a brand I could proudly stand behind. I used the lockdown to teach myself and become a master of my craft (a never-ending task) and focus on my goal of becoming a freelance creative. When we came out of the lock down so did the brand and lifestyle now known as Authentik Vision.

Authentik Vision was brought to life in May 2020 with an all-encompassing theme: “Life Through the Lens.” My goal was to bring authenticity to impactful experiences in a person’s life to create a timeless moment that could be cherished forever. I wanted to help people bring their vision to life and share those moments with others.

Half way through 2020 and the pandemic I retained my first client with Pedal Haus Brewery out of Tempe, Arizona. I was sitting at the bar editing some photos When I noticed the shift manager canning their craft beer. What was a daily process for them was intriguing to me, and I asked the shift manager Riley, if I could take a couple of videos. I took the videos and made a 43 second b- roll sequence. I took a chance and sent Riley the video who ended up sending my video to the owner of Pedal Haus Brewery. An hour later Julian, the owner, reached out wanting to do more work together for his business. Fast forward 3 years after the creation of Authentik vision and PHB has remained my retainer client for all of those 3 years.

Since the beginning of this brand, I have been privileged to work with over 30+ clients including Press Coffee, Bacardi, Tanduay Rum, Gracie Barra Jujitsu, multiple bars/restaurants, and the creatives & artists in the phoenix area, and in January of 2021 the heart and vision for my brand evolved once again as I entered the EDM Music Industry.  I fell in love with the creative freedom and range that the music industry brought me as well as the genuine relationships I was able to form. In the last two years, I have had the chance to work with many artists including Smoakland, Kareem Ali, Noises, Myrtle, PR!CE, Cafe Caderas, BOSTN, REJACK, FishScale, Ekonovah, and countless other incredible acts. I have had the opportunity to capture legendary moments from Bob Moses, Dom Dolla, Bonnie and Clyde, Louis the Child, Porter Robinson, Deathpact, Noizu, Walker & Royce, Flume, Marshmello, NGHTMRE, and other big name artists while assisting companies dominate in the festival landscape, such as, Relentless Beats, Polar Productions, and other organizations. The joy I get from recreating beautiful moments created by these artists to last in time for their fans is truly why I took this huge risk in the first place.

At the end of the day I want my work to embody the authenticity of life and capture the rawest moments of a person’s life so that they can cherish those experiences forever. While I have improved exponentially from knowing nothing about a camera to where I am today, I continue to work on my craft to be the best and give my clients the highest quality work I can. My end goal is dynamic and changes as I continue to improve and grow, however, I always strive to pursue perfection in an ever-advancing craft. The passion and desire to be the best I can be is ingrained in the lifestyle I have adopted. I have learned that it is not about the destination, but rather the journey I get to create, and the people I bring along with me.

Despite everything I have built since 2020, my journey has just begun. I have lived by the motto to always move forward and strive to provide value to others before asking for anything in return. This has undoubtedly been one of the hardest journeys of my life. I have overcome countless road blocks, self-doubt, and feelings of imposter syndrome. Many times, this road has been lonely. It has also been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. What started as taking a risk to create Authentik Vision is now a privilege and an honor to let the world live life through my lens.  

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 feel like I explained most of this in my previous answer. I do all types of photography and videography product, portrait/fashion, lifestyle, landscape, music & concerts. I love it all. I decided not to focus on one niche just so I could learn as much as possible in all different areas and industries.

I get a general feel for a client’s brand and what their goals are in the first meeting with them. I want to bring them high quality content that they love that represents their brand while keeping the voice and style within the message.

I want my potential clients, followers, fans to know that I am so engaged in this passion that it is a lifestyle. I take pride in all of my work, it is a direct reflection of me. I strive to bring the highest quality content I possibly can to my clients, follows, fans.

I am building Authentik Vision to be more than just a photography/videography business. I made Authentik Vision to represent myself as a creative and as I have grown personally and creatively I found I want it to be a tool of motivation and happiness for others as well. I want to share my passion through others any way I can. I want to help people chase after their dreams and aspirations and unleash their creativeness into the world. If I only get one person to do that through seeing or following the Authentik Vision journey, then I’ve done my job in this world.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think what has helped my reputation within my market has been my genuineness and how I treat people. Yes what I do is a job, but like I have mentioned in my other statement this is also my lifestyle. Which means that I genuinely care for people and clients and what the goals and aspirations are. I want to help them succeed just as much, if not more than myself. I feel like the only way to do is to be fully committed and insert yourself into the team and really bring value that helps that team succeed.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I keep in touch with clients through all forms of communication. Phone calls, emails, social media, text messages, meetings, etc. Since my brand is a direct reflection of myself, I take pride in the relationships I am able to build through my craft and business. Most of those relationships become lasting friendships, which allows for me to spend more time with them on a personal level once business is taken care of.

Instagram has really become a main source of communication for me through direct messages, comments, replies, etc. I really take the time to follow the journey of my clients, comment on their posts, share their posts, to feel like I am apart of their journey as a follower and not just a creative who makes content for them. I want everything in the relationship to be authentic.      

Contact Info:

• Website: authentikvision.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authentik_vision/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthentikVision
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthentikVision
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGkE8EhZsJk6bNjNZ15c11A
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authentikvision?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc