We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Derrick Wright. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Derrick below.

Derrick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment

Best Investment: They say the best investment you can make is in yourself. Putting in the time, money and energy into improving your current and future life can contribute to long term health, wealth and increased knowledge. In regards to being a business owner the best investment that I have made thus far has been the continued education and increased focus that I have been involved in. In the midst of me launching and scaling my businesses, I made it a necessity to gain even more knowledge of the industry, market and various audiences so that I can be a bigger force. I made it a point to learn new methods, policies, standards and ideas has helped me grow into a well-rounded and polished business owner. Investing in yourself is a never ending process, so remember to attack life one day at a time. Growth is a process, one that does not happen over night. Plant your seeds, and watch them grow! Remember you are the only one that can make the decision to invest in yourself, its never too late.

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 am a Baltimore native, being born and raised here. I am a father, a son, a brother and mentor amongst many other things. I am truly blessed to recognize that I have seen and experienced a lot throughout my years. I graduated from Boy’s’ Latin School of Maryland and went on to obtain my bachelors and masters degree from Penn State. During my time at Penn State I strived to get out of my comfort zone and be impactful to my community. In doing so I joined the Mighty Gamma Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Incorporated. My college education and experience has opened a lot of doors for me and I am forever grateful. Now I am an entrepreneur and business owner of two businesses. As owner of Blindeye, LLC I have the opportunity to create art and ever-lasting memories through my lens with creatives and emerging brands. My photography and videography has opened many doors for me. When it comes to photography and videography, I am self taught but owes everything to GOD. As a professional he is client-focused and strives to amplify messages, engage audiences and grow brands. I love to capture memories, create content and build long-lasting brands through my lens. My portfolio ranges from portraiture, street photography, concert & live music photography, product/fashion photography, videography and many more genres. My resume and EPK spans a range of clients including Penn State University, Snowfall, FX Networks, TV One, One/35 Agency. I am an emerging brand strategist with a love for developing and establishing superior brands.

On the other hand I am also a certified firearms instructor and counselor through the USCCA. These credentials allow me to teach firearms safety, educate the community on basic second amendment rights and provide training for licenses in the state of Maryland. As a training counselor I can train individuals to become certified instructors to teach even more people about the fundamentals of firearms. I came to this line of work as a response to my own personal experience with firearms. One of the scariest nights of my life was being held and robbed at gunpoint. Two individuals with guns ambushed me, pinned me to a wall, and proceeded to steal all my belongings. They stole the shoes from my feet, my electronic devices on person, and even my BMW with all my small business equipment inside (cameras, lenses, drone, etc.). In that moment I wanted to give up on my passion as a photographer as all my things were taken but something told me to keep going and it led me to this new line of work in the firearms industry. This situation served as a wake-up call because I realized that I must be my own first responder and be more aware of what’s going on around me at all times. Today, I am a certified firearms instructor teaching people firearms safety skills and self/home defense tactics in the Baltimore area.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Paid advertisement through google and social media has helped me get in touch with my specific audiences. After, promotion draws in the clients I have been seeing great stability coming from referrals and word of mouth invites. I encourage all business owner to ask for feedback that can be displayed to potential customers for review.

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

One of the scariest nights of my life was being held and robbed at gunpoint by masked individuals. At the peak of the pandemic in Baltimore, I was working an overnight weekend job. One night, as I was on lunch break, I was robbed at gunpoint. Two individuals with guns ambushed me, pinned me to a wall, and proceeded to steal all my belongings. They stole the shoes from my feet, my electronic devices on person, and even my BMW with all my small business equipment inside (cameras, lenses, drone, etc.). I went to Baltimore Police Department and they were pretty much helpless as they did not put forth any effort to support me or investigate throughout the entire process. This situation served as a wake-up call because I realized that I must be my own first responder and be more aware of what’s going on around me at all times. Today, I am a certified firearms instructor teaching people firearms safety skills and self/home defense tactics in the Baltimore area.

The path to bounce back from an armed robbery was not easy at all. However, staying resilient and goal-orientated helped me through. I took it upon myself to take the necessary training needed to become a confident gun owner and mentor to those coming up after me. In doing so I figured it would probably be more impactful to spread this knowledge and training across within my community. It has been almost year as a certified instructor. In under one year, I have successfully trained over 50 individuals on firearm safety, handling and operation, home/self-defense, and MD gun laws and those individuals are now have the skills and knowledge they need to be law-abiding gun owners.

Contact Info:

• Website: 410dwright.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/410dwright
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derrickwright4/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/derrickwright410
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/410dwright
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEc_D97kPR70clXF69CrsqQ