We recently connected with Fernando De la Espriella and have shared our conversation below.
Fernando, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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.
The biggest risk I think I have taken was kind of forced on me. I worked in public service for most of my adult life. First in EMS and later as a law enforcement officer. That was my path and I was looking of making a career of it. Unfortunately, in 2005, I was involved in a fight with an individual who was in custody. During the struggle, I blew out my knee and ended up having major health issues from this which amounted to blood clots in my leg which traveled to my lungs. I had to retire from the field and was forced into a different career path.
As anyone who has worked in those type of fields for several years will tell you, the transition to civilian life is one of the toughest things to endure. After searching for my next path, my parents were still receiving mail from Full Sail University from years prior to me entering public service. As a kid, I wanted to be a film director and create amazing visuals. My inspiration were directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, etc.
I decided to take the next step and enroll in the Graphic Design Bachelor’s Degree program, for the sole reason that it had video editing and I could learn some film making aspects. As the program progressed, I began to excel in motion graphics, even though that portion was only 2 weeks long. I began to take in every tutorial on YouTube, Lynda.com (LinkedIn Learning) and anything I could get my hands on.
To this day, I still learn something new every from tutorials as I get ready to start my day, or as I go to bed. This helps me stay ahead of the curve and helps me solve issues that I may be having in a project, or even give me new ideas of things I can try out for clients.
In a way, that injury helped me get to where I am right now, so even though I wish it hadn’t happened, it was a blessing in disguise.
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 specialize in video editing and motion graphics. I have been in the field for close to 10 years doing everything from photography, videography, to graphic design. My first break was as a product photographer for Kane’s Furniture, taking photos of the furniture, editing it, and uploading it to their website. Shortly after that, I jumped into the deep end by working as a Motion Graphics Designer at HSN. I created motion graphics for their live shows. Being that this was my first Live TV gig, it was definitely an eye opener on that fast-paced environment where you have to be very flexible and have very thick skin while working with producers and the talent.
About a year into this, I began working at The Applied Science and Performance Institute. I would have to say that this was one of the best opportunities I’ve had. Not only did I help create an entire 30 week course on bodybuilding, strength training, anatomy, physiology, and nutrition, which are some of my favorite subjects. I also had the opportunity to work with some of the top minds in that industry. I also got to work with many celebrity clients, athletes, CEO’s and companies. Couldn’t ask for anything more. After a year, I was promoted to Creative Director overseeing all creative projects.
After leaving The Applied Science and Performance Institute, I had another break working in national news as a Graphics Editor. This dive into headline news was a change of pace, but definitely honed my motion graphics and editing skills even more.
At this time, I am working with several clients doing video editing for their YouTube channels, helping them increase their social media reach.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
After officially leaving law enforcement in 2008, we were at the start of the recession. I was unemployed for close to 3 years. Trying to figure out what my next chapter was and realizing that I was not going to be a law enforcement officer was definitely a tough pill to swallow. Of course, it helped me get though quite a bit of my degree. Having worked in EMS, my first job back was as a night shift tech in a hospital, so the road to my degree became a bit more difficult trying to balance the overnight shift with school.
I think those years of struggle definitely gave me a never say die attitude. Even in times where I struggle financially, or if I’m struggling to land clients, I always think back to those tough times and realize that things aren’t so bad and that even as dark as things get, they will always get better.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Word of mouth is everything in this field, and of course your portfolio is your calling card. So building a great reputation for creating high quality work for your clients and continuing to evolve your skillset is what will make you or break you. I pride myself in creating content that will surprise my client and leave them completely satisfied from the first meeting to the pitch, all the way to the delivered product.
My father is one of the most hardworking people I’ve ever seen. He’s also meticulous with every detail of his craft. One thing that he instilled in me since I was young was to always take pride in your work and never settle for mediocrity. I have taken those lessons and use them to create top notch work that will make clients proudly display the project and spread the word on why others should use my services.
Even though I can brag about never missing a deadline, I can definitely say that I will not rush the project for the sake of finishing it early. I will probably revise it several times in order to make sure it meets my high standards.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fdledesigns.myportfolio.com/
- Instagram: @fdledesigns
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fdledesigns
Image Credits
Img 1 – Testing WWE Superstar Jinder Mahal (R) Raad Gheith (L) Me Center
Img 2 – Photo Courtesy: Moses Vega
Img 3 – Home studio
Img 4 – In studio filming content with Dr. Jacob Wilson
Img 5 – Trying to work with Ripley