Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jacob Morales. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jacob, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?
When I first decided to pursue a creative career, I had very minimal support from my family I had support from my mom and my grandparents.. as I’ve grown more with my business and art now the whole family is a little more on board..
as for my friends at first everyone was on board because I was just doing free photoshoots to get better and keep working on my craft but as I started to get better and I started to charge for my photos and then a lot of that support there disappeared.
What has bothered me the most is when friends/family ask me to do a shoot for them, and I tell them a price and then they ghost me and find another photographer because they thought it would be free just cause we are family but they were nowhere to be found when I first started this.
For me, if you’ve supported me from the start.. we can work something out amongst each other.. but if you’re just hopping on to try and get something for free then I’m not rocking with that..
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.
My name is Jacob Morales.. I’m a photographer & a creative. I became serious with photography in 2020.. I always knew photography was something I wanted to do since I was a child. It sounds ridiculous but as a child I was obsessed with spider man and everyone knows that Peter Parker was a photographer.. I would also credit my mom for getting me into it too. Growing up my mom would take photos of everything, and she would always let me use her old cameras and I would just take random pictures and I thought it was so much fun. Fast forward into high school, I got a instax wide instant film camera, and I was hooked.. my friends and I would go out and do photoshoots everyday, I was taking so many pictures and just having so much doing it.. that’s when I knew officially it was something I wanted to do forever.
As a business, what I find different about myself is I love a good challenge.. I try not to constrain myself into a certain mold I’m always trying to do something new or try a different style of photography.. I’ve done family photos, I’ve shot for some musicians, sports, etc..
I’m most proud of how far I have come as an artist. I stated in one of my last interviews but truly, when I first started to get a little more serious with a camera.. I could have never imagined what it would entail. I’ve met so many awesome people, and had so many unforgettable experiences that all would never have happened without it.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Create for yourself.. when you stay true to yourself people are gonna rock with you more. And Be real, don’t try to create a fake persona.. as a photographer, yes people will enjoy my photos or hate them.. but people will follow you for you!
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
There’s no specific videos, or books i would credit things too.. but there is one person I would credit to significantly impacting me in so many different ways.. that would be my friend/coach AJ Contreras.
I met him in 2020 right around when I first starting we worked together serving at BJ’s. He was starting to pursue a career in Personal Training/ Lifestyle Coaching. He told me one day he was going to need my help, and he kept true to his word. We’ve worked together since 2022. Without his guidance, I truly do not know if I’d still be doing this as seriously as I have been. AJ has always helped steer me in the right direction and help keep my head straight.. I am forever grateful for his friendship, guidance, and everything he’s done for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jacobxmorales.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jxmoraless?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Image Credits
Albert Mora
Jacob Morales