We were lucky to catch up with Elexis Vasquez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elexis , thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Taking risks and stepping outside of my comfort zone has brought me to the success I have today. Some of the first risks that come to mind when I think about what paved the way in my career is hopping on flights and traveling to other states to photograph people who reached out to me through social media. Having the opportunity to do things like that is such a huge blessing, but can also be scary as a young female traveling alone to meet strangers to photograph. A little over a year ago I took a gap year in college to focus on photography and travel to different states to make connections, I was flying back and fourth from Chicago to LA every month or two just reaching out to different people to shoot and network with. Fast forward to last summer, I was reached out to by someone I had only ever been mutuals with on social media to get flown out to Atlanta and shoot for artists she manages for the weekend. I was very nervous and almost did not go because I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew if I didn’t go I would always regret it. I ended up going and am beyond grateful that I did, it was such an amazing opportunity that I almost didn’t take because of fear. It helped me to prove a lot to myself in the sense that sometimes we have to conquer our fears and take the risk to earn the reward.

Elexis , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi! My name is Elexis Vasquez and I am a 22 year old freelance photographer based in Chicago. I began my business in February 2021 and it’s been an insane journey ever since. I always knew I would do something in the creative industry, I was 11 years old when I went to my first concert and I remember being so mesmerized and having such a strong euphoric feeling that I said from that day forward I wanted to be a concert photographer when I grew up. I got my first DSLR a few years later, still a very young age because I always had dreams of creating some sort of content such as YouTube videos or having little photoshoots with my friends. I would do camera work on and off through out my teen years up until the pandemic in 2021 when I finally decided to take my dreams seriously and take the steps towards making them come true, so that’s exactly what I did. I bought a cheap backdrop off of amazon, set it up in my parents living room and began asking my friends and mutuals to model for me. I had so many ideas of what I wanted the work I produced to look like, so all I had to do was execute that vision and when I did, I began gaining traction and people really supported what I was doing. From doing portrait shoots, I was able to network and expand my way into shooting concerts and nightlife, which was my dream. Every single day I feel so blessed to live the life I do, making a full income off of my passion and I will always advocate for anyone to follow their dreams no matter how big or small because if I told my 11 year old self the things I am doing today, she would’ve never believed me.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My biggest piece of advice for building an audience on social media is consistency. It is definitely easier said than done and something I am still working on, but hard work and consistency is what built my business up so fast. If you are consistent people are going to notice and you will gain an audience.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

A book that I really love is called The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau. This book tells the authors story of wanting more out of life than just a boring 9-5, and also making his dreams come true while helping others along the way. He went to school and got numerous degrees, but realized he wanted more out of life than just that, so he picked up everything and moved across the world with the goal of giving back and make a real impact, while also making his own dreams come true along the way. I have always had the though process of if I can help someone I will, and I constantly say that I cannot wait to be so successful that I can help others dreams come true, just as mine have. This is a very inspiring book that I read early on in my career and it put so much into perspective for me.      

Contact Info:

• Website: https://portraitsbyelexis.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/portraitsbyelexis

Image Credits
All images shot and edited by Elexis Vasquez