We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Justin Kase a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Justin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
After being heavily involved with the entertainment industry since 1996, my freshman year of high school, 16 years off and on the radio and beating addiction, it was time to take control of my life again. After a few years of abuse, not doing what I love to do in life and having no energy led me to abusing adderall. I already took adderall for my adhd. When I took it, I noticed that I had energy and when I took more I noticed that it numbed my ache and pains. Before you knew it, I was outside with a desk lamp at 3 am, mixing cement and making firepits and flower pots lol. Finally went to rehab and upon my 90 days, I asked my counsel Bill “how do you wake up and stay clean” and he said to find a hobby. A short time later I was on facebook and my friend was selling his camera. Not knowing anything about a camera beside taking pictures for fun, I bought it. This was the best decision ever because it has kept me clean from cocaine adderall, heavy partying and out of trouble since September 25th 2018. All I have done is take pictures, come home to edit and back to taking pictures. I put my blood, sweat and tears into what I have built my photography business into. To be where I am at now, getting interviewed in magazines and on the tv, has me in a state of shock. I never knew that buying that camera as a hobby would change my mind, health and life forever.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
In 1996, my freshman year of high school, I became a ballboy for the NBA. I would show up before the games, hang their jerseys, get their shoes out, make the Gatorade, bring the rack of balls to the court and run drills with them before their games. I would sit on the bench with them and hand them Gatorade, follow behind when they went onto the court and grab their jerseys they threw behind, I would wipe up sweat when they fell and had the best seat in the house to watch the games. I networked and met radio personalities who would let me come to their morning show and teach me radio before I went to school for the day. When I would leave, I would go home and do my homework and right back to my job with the NBA and repeat everyday. I went to broadcasting school in 2004 and graduated with my sister, Latasha Givens of 11 Alive News. Then I got an internship, which led to a on air position and my own radio show and 18 years later doing celebrity photography. If you do good things and business, good things come in return.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Being persistent, hard working, honest, humble and doing good business has kept me in the industry for all of these years.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
That partying on the job gets you absolutely nowhere. Yes, it is a lot of fun but people will always think of you as great and talented individual but he just stays f*cked up. Once I left rehab for adderall and cocaine, bought a camera as a hobby and I am still clean, party free and out of trouble, business is beyond incredible. I went to rehab to affect change within my mind, body, soul and for my family and friends. I have a successful business and I have a positive image to uphold.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://justinkasephotography.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/justinkasephoto?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/DrivewayConversationsWithJustinKase
- Other: You can book my services here: https://justinkasephoto.darkroom.tech/ You can purchase my landscape pictures here: https://imageconnect.usa.canon.com/photographer/Justinkasephoto
Image Credits
Justin Kase Photography