We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Lopez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Daniel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I think one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken was stepping out and starting my own business. You see, in 2019, I lost my dream job as a youth pastor, and not knowing what was next, my wife and I ended up moving back home to Southern Illinois. Like hundreds of thousands of other people who lost jobs during the pandemic, I didn’t know what was next. I was working at an electrical company in Carbondale, Illinois, as the shop guy, which means I wasn’t making very much money.
Just trying to make ends meet and working hard, I received a phone call from a friend who I used to do photography gigs with. You see, I got into photography by random chance—a guy came up to me one day in 2014 and said, “God told me to give you a camera,” and he handed me a Canon T3i for free. So, being just out of college, I just started taking photos and doing wedding photography. I wasn’t trying to start a business; I just wanted to make extra money. But because I did, I met some really cool people who were doing some pretty awesome things, and this guy was one of them.
When I received that phone call, I asked for a day off so I could go film a local TV commercial. It was one of the coolest days, and genuinely, I remember every moment of it—multiple cameras, lights, scripts. It was really cool. The guy who took a chance on me, well, his name was Marcus Taylor (Brotherdale CCO), and he made so many deposits both creatively and spiritually. He taught me about the business but also how to care about doing great work. Honestly, I was so inspired I wanted to be the best.
After taking the opportunity, I ended up going back to work the next day. I was genuinely on a high from the video production. Crazy enough, the next day I walked in, and the owner of the electrical company told me that he hoped the video gig would work out for me because I was out of work again, and they couldn’t afford to keep me on. So I ended up calling my friend back and told him, “Man, I need work really bad.” Marcus said, “We don’t have any, but just show up and see what happens.” So I did. I showed up, and before I knew it, I started making money creating content.
It was new and exciting because we were able to enter so many different industries, capturing so many different stories and making videos that people watched. Fast forward—I did agency work for the next four years. It was fun and fulfilling.
The craziest thing is that I started my own LLC but worked as if I was a W-2 employee while working at different creative agencies. You see, I loved what I was doing, but even more, I loved owning what I was doing. I was being trusted to lead teams and to lead big productions. I was being trusted to connect with clients and build brand strategies. But the problem was all this history I was making was not on my own timeline. Like you see in the Marvel universe, I was living in someone else’s timeline, fulfilling their dreams, not my own. I put my confidence in people who I believed had my best interest at heart. I allowed my financial insecurity to drive me into long-term commitments that weren’t serving my future or my dreams.
In 2020, right before I was let go from my dream job as a youth pastor, I was given one of the best pieces of advice and corrections I’ve ever received: “You’re loyal longer than you need to be.” For the next four years, I completely ignored that advice. Instead of investing in my vision and my dreams, I invested wholeheartedly in the dreams of others. I became an owner in my heart, but not on paper, for creative agencies that had different goals than mine. Now granted, I learned so many things within the last four years that transformed my belief about myself and the way that I want to do business.
In December 2024, I was let go from an agency, and that reality of being “loyal longer than I needed to be” came back to me once again. This time I listened, because this wasn’t a correction but an invitation to step out and pursue my dreams and my vision. On one of the last days in December, my wife and I took a day to cast vision for what we wanted for our future, and giving up and working at a corporate job wasn’t it. We got a whiteboard and wrote out our values and our vision. We both agreed that the only option was for me to launch my own creative agency and also pursue all my hopes of building multiple businesses so that I could go into philanthropic endeavors, because we both agreed the only point of being rich is to help those around us.
In January 2025, I stepped out and took a chance on myself. Three months later, I have already doubled my income, worked with nationally recognized personalities and brands, partnered with more agencies, and have started to create legacy partnerships. I waited so long and learned a lot of lessons, but learning how to take a chance on myself has been the best lesson I’ve learned.
See, my story isn’t for people who are trying to make it. It’s for people who are told that they’re not going to make it and that they don’t have a chance. Let my story be proof that as long as you have strong values and a vision/dream, anything is possible.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m Daniel Lopez, Founder and Creative Entrepreneur of Daniel Lopez Creative. Since establishing the agency in 2022, I’ve been dedicated to transforming brand visions into compelling visual narratives that captivate audiences and drive meaningful business outcomes. With over 10 years of creative experience as both a technically skilled photographer and intuitive storyteller, I help brands differentiate themselves in crowded marketplaces through authentic visual storytelling.
Random Talents:
– Drumming
– Producing
– Creator and Founder of Cedar Sessions (Youtube Live recordings)
– Book Reader
– Podcast Enthusiast
Leadership:
I love leadership and recognize that it’s not about being on top but getting others to the top that makes leadership great. Because of my history working at a church I learned alot about prioritizing the people more that the mission. Why? Because people are the mission. I want to carry that same mentality in everything I do. If I take care of my team, they will take care of our partners, and those partners will always take care of our business.
At Daniel Lopez Creative, Our comprehensive services include:
– High-end video production
– Social Media Strategy
– Content distribution across major platforms
– Data-driven marketing strategies
– Sales funnel optimization
– Brand storytelling and strategy
– Commercial and lifestyle photography
– Startups & Brand Launches
The problem we solve often depends on the industry and who their audience is. I heard that “if you market to everyone you market to no one.” So my goal is to do the research and then make educated decisions while still pushing the limit on the creative perspective and creating content that aligns with our partners needs/dreams.
Proud that ive just chosen to be honest in how I do business no need to lie or trick to make a sale just do good honest work.
Creative Philosophy
I focus on genuine communication and Data Driven approaches. This authenticity yields content that resonates with viewers on a deeper level and the data gives us the right feedback to keep growing your brand. Having worked within agencies before launching my own, I understand both the creative and business sides of content production.
My journey from musician to visual storyteller shapes everything I do. The risks I’ve taken—particularly betting on myself and my vision when launching my own business—have proven worthwhile, leading to partnerships with nationally recognized brands and personalities.
Beyond building a successful creative agency, I aspire to develop multiple business ventures that will ultimately support philanthropic endeavors. I firmly believe that financial success is most meaningful when it helps lift others up.
The thing im most proud of is my family, faith, and my friendships. The work is just icing on the cake.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I think mindshift by Erwin McManus has been a game changer for me, its a short read but a powerful one. one of my fav lines is the ending almost like the final moment before a symphony goes quiet. ”
What will you become ambitious for? You cannot have too much freedom. You cannot have too much justice.
You cannot have too much compassion. You cannot have too much equality. You cannot treat a person with too much dignity. You cannot love too much. You cannot have too much faith. You cannot have too much hope.
These are the virtues that the human spirit needs in abun-dance.
Make room in your soul for the things that make you a better human. Be ruthless in eliminating everything that is not a reflection of your best self. There is a universe inside you, and like the universe itself, it is ever expanding. You will always have more room to grow. You can explore love all your life and never come to its bor-ders. The same goes for hope and faith and courage and generosity. There will always be more to discover. When you make them a part of who you are, you become limit-less. When you pursue the good and the beautiful and the true, it changes you at a fundamental level. It transforms you. You become the good and the beautiful and the true.May the ever-expanding universe inside you become your gift to the world. May everyone who crosses your path be blessed by the person you have become and the world you have created. May you always be a beacon pointing to the noble and honorable and best of human-ity. With every breath, may you be a light in dark places, and proof of life to those holding on with a silent des-peration. May your life be an inspiration to all the dreamers yet to come.” pg. 132-133 – Mindshift
This perfectly portrays what I feel like im in pursuit of. A better me to make a better world.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
Everything is relationships. If you don’t understand emotions and human communication then you will find it really hard to connect with potential clients. Im not saying to be there best friend but to understand their desires and to translate their vision correctly. I believe the only reason I have been able to grow so quickly is because my goal is to understand. Money is secondary to the relationships, when someone feels heard and understood its easy to keep working together.
Contact Info:
- Website: UPDATING NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON
- Instagram: @daniellopez.co
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046205081925
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-lopez-23249017b
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@daniellopezcreative
Image Credits
LAZ_Studios (Insta) took photos
Daniel Lopez Creative Edited