We were lucky to catch up with Jeffery Mullins recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeffery, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

We all have the FOMO of what could’ve been. But in essence, what really matters is your willingness to do the thing. If you’re able to mix your instances of preparation and opportunity, and by the graces of reality are able to take some of those moments of curated luck, I believe that that’s admirable for anyone to experience.

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 photographer, singer & songwriter, and I just recently started to mess around more with video & audio production. All of these creative endeavors blossomed from being surrounded by some of the right peers and mentors way back in high school. I’ve been lucky and privileged with finding passions early on, to where I could focus on the business side of creativity and not have to worry as much about essential skill sets, all the while learning things continuously out in the field. In addition to new and creative endeavors, I have just recently acquired my first business/studio space in Downtown Royal Oak. Being next to the music theater and near my other jobs really make this new step in personal investment exciting.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Comparison is the death of happiness. I would be surrounded (still am) by very talented creatives, and at times, I would find myself being jealous, angry, disappointed, discouraged, you name it. I let my insecurities take ahold of my creative processes, and even while I was creating art that I was proud of later on, I would take other people’s success and inflate it unhealthily to where I thought of myself as lesser than I actually was. My first lesson to my past self would be to just keep my eyes on my own lane, and if my eyes wander to another, it should only be to cheer others on.

Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses.

I have recently acquired a studio space that I will start to utilize for commercial and artistic photography. I’ve rented spaces before at a day rate, but this is the first time I have a fully creative space that is mine to use whenever and how ever I like, within reason. And how I acquired it was through connections I had made at my day job. I’ve been with the parent company for about 6 years now, and I had reached out to the owner about available spaces in an office building I was familiar with. After that, it’s all very very recent history.

Contact Info:

• Website: jllins.smugmug.com
• Instagram: @j.llins & @say_llins
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/j.llinsphoto
• Twitter: @jeyllins
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9QoHFey8Arsm9VrDXbuSQw

Image Credits
Paul Raymond, Trilogybeats313, myself, Mary Plunkett