We were lucky to catch up with Joey Solis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?
In the beginning it was only myself, which made it difficult as I began to get very busy and overbooked. My clients like my style and my ‘eye’ which is difficult to teach and pass on. Building a photography team is no easy task. Especially when you have a certain ‘eye’ for things. One of my mentors once said, “it’s easier to train someone with zero photography experience than it is with someone already experienced.” I didn’t understand what he meant by this because it just seemed the complete opposite of what I would have thought. However, I finally understood what he meant when I tried to train a well experienced portrait photographer into an architectural photographer.
When you are already experienced in a certain field of photography, you tend to bring that experience and ‘eye’ into other fields of photography. However, what works in one field may not work in another; and that was the situation we found ourselves in. In my opinion, the most important aspect of photography is the way you frame your shot. I noticed the portrait photographer was having a hard time framing his shots because he was bringing his experience from portrait photography into architectural photography. In the end, it didn’t work out and I sought after someone with zero experience in photography.
I offered a photography position to a mutual friend who had zero experience with photography. However, I already knew this person had certain traits that would excel in this line of work. Mainly, excellent customer service, friendly, patient, and eager to please and to always do their best. These are the traits I look for when bringing someone onto my team, because those are traits that I have, so naturally I would want someone as similar to me because in the end they represent me and my brand. With zero photography experience, they didn’t have any past experiences that they could bring into architectural photography, which meant I had a clean slate to work with. Within a month of training them and ‘molding’ them into an architectural photographer, they began working right away and are currently excelling in their field.
Just because you are a photographer, doesn’t mean you can do a good job in all types of photography. I like to use the medical field as an example. Just because you are a doctor, doesn’t mean you are qualified in all fields of medicine. Doctors tend to stick to one field, whether it be orthopedic, plastic surgery, heart surgery, brain surgery, etc. You wouldn’t have a heart surgeon perform brain surgery, or a brain surgeon perform rhinoplasty on a patient. This applies to photography. You wouldn’t have a wedding photographer take photos of a home for real estate. While yes technically they could, the equipment is different, the editing is different, the approach is different, it’s all different. And while a brain surgeon, heart surgeon, and plastic surgeon all have the general idea of how the human body works and could possibly work on these other type of medical fields, they wouldn’t be able to do a perfect job as one who specializes in one field of work. A wedding photographer could take photos for real estate, however they would not be able to do as good of a job as an architectural photographer who specializes in this field of work and knows what to look for and what to avoid.
I know there are photographers who specialize in many fields, so this isn’t to say it isn’t possible. It’s only for those photographers who tend to stick to one field of work and specialize in it. I only stick to real estate and architecture because I truly enjoy it. I don’t enjoy portrait photography, wedding photography, event photography, etc. I have zero knowledge of what it takes to be a wedding photographer and would not even dare to take on a wedding project because I know I wouldn’t be able to give a the same service as a wedding photographer.
I currently have three photographers on my team. All of which had zero experience in photography prior to starting, however all had the specific traits that I was looking for. If you can hire someone who has similar traits to you, then in theory you should have a solid team as you can operate as one entity because whether it is me or another photographer on my team, you will receive the same service. And with that, we are now running one of the top real estate photography companies in San Antonio.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I began my real estate photography journey thanks to my parents. At the time they were one of the most successful realtors in San Antonio/Texas and had no shortage of listings. One day my mother asked me if I could photograph one of their listings using their DSLR camera. This was before social media was popular and the majority of realtors were taking pictures of their own listings. Real estate photography was no where near as essential as it is nowadays, as you can tell by my mother asking me with zero experience of photography to take photos of their listings. So I went ahead and I actually enjoyed it. It almost came naturally for me and this is when the idea of owning my own real estate photography business came into play.
After photographing several of their listings, other realtors began to ask them “who is your photographer?” This lead to an abundance of referral’s and this hobby turned into a full time business. Things began to move real quick, and with zero experience in photography, I turned to the modern day virtual library, or YouTube for short. I quickly learned I had to develop a higher standard of myself and service because I was representing the agent when dealing with their clients. You are not only a photographer, but you are also a business owner at this point which comes with big responsibilities. Again, I went from being an unemployed college student to owning my own photography business real quick. I always wanted to own my own business, so I already had that entrepreneurial mindset, which is why I believe the business has become so successful. You do need an entrepreneurial mindset if you’re going to run your own business. While I know this sounds obvious, many businesses fail because the owners simply don’t have that mindset and outlook.
My business is ranked with expertise.com as best real estate photographers in San Antonio for 2022. I was recently featured on the front cover of both Luxury Homes Magazine and HAVEN Magazine for the August 2022 issue. We work with some of the highest top producing agents in San Antonio, which is an honor having their business, but more importantly their trust. When clients use us they know they will receive excellent customer service, fantastic quality of images, and a photography company that knows how to best showcase their listing in order to get it sold. There are many photography companies out there, but there is only 4 of us who have the ‘Maverick’ eye.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Everyone deserves to share the wealth. It is my photographers who help make and run this business, and in return I share as much of the wealth as I can with them. I know if my team feels they are being treated right and paid accordingly, they will give their 100%. How do I know this? Because of the specific traits that I currently look for when hiring. I know if I was in their position I would give my all because I feel I am being valued. I see them as a human being rather than another worker, which means I allow them to have a lot of freedom and to choose their own schedule and hours. It’s the closest thing to owning your own business without the responsibilities that it come with. If a photographer on my team wants to take several days off they are more than welcome to do so. I truly value and respect them, and in return I receive the same value and respect from them because neither one of us is above or below the other. That’s the beauty about this specific job, is the flexibility that it comes with. I know this business philosophy/model wouldn’t work in other business fields, but it does in this type of field and this is the way I run my business. So in short, treat your team as you would want to be treated. No one wants to be looked down on or forced to do something they don’t want to do. Keep your team happy and feeling valued, and they will continue to take the business to higher levels and greater success, because they too are a part of it.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Referral business is the best business. In real estate it’s all about making connections and having a small group of professionals to help provide an excellent home selling/buying experience. Realtors are not photographers, inspectors, appraisers, loan officers, escrow officers, etc. They look for professionals in these fields because each field is extremely crucial during the real estate process. This means for each listing they receive, they will likely seek their preferred photographer, preferred escrow officer, preferred loan officer, because they trust them. This also means they will refer their preferred professional to other agents because they know they will provide a wonderful experience. Here at Maverick Studio Photography our business is 100% referral based. We don’t advertise, cold call, meet with brokerages, etc. We simply let our work and customer service speak for itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.maverickphotographytx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maverickstudiophotography
- Other: https://www.expertise.com/tx/san-antonio/real-estate-photographers#MaverickStudioPhotography2777433