Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Collazo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?
I have always known since I was a kid that I wanted to get into the creative field. I really didn’t care what I was doing but as long as I was in it. On my 15th birthday I shot someone’s birthday party and made $30. I probably had never been more nervous in my life. In retrospect I probably should have paid them $30 for how bad that video came out. But I have always been looking for opportunities to grow. About 2 and half years ago I decided to start my own company and even though 10 years have gone by since that first random odd job I somehow felt like I was 15 years old again. It was a very scary feeling to try to find my first official client. I started by going to friends who had their own businesses and filming them for free to build a few projects in my portfolio and then I went on the hunt. I had so many coffee meetings and gave out all my business cards for about 6 months before I launched my company. My first client was a fitness tech company and it literally catapulted my career. I’ll never forget the feeling of sending my first invoice and not being able to believe that someone is gonna pay me to do what I love. It’s been 2 and a half years and I still feel like that everytime I send an invoice.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Michael Collazo, I am 24 years old, and I’m the owner of Brisa Studio. When I was in 2nd grade a did a project about how when I grew up I wanted to be a photographer. Here I am at 24 years old making a living out of it. Once I hit 6th grade is when I really got into pursuing photography. I sold candy in my school until a raised enough money to buy my first camera. Then I dropped out of high school and got an internship at a church learning everything there is to know about photography and videography. I spent my 4 years of high school working everyday to build my craft. I am so thankful for every opportunity I’ve been given in life because now I am 24 years old with a lot of actual experience in the field.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
For me, I think that hard work always pays off. If you have good work and you make people feel important, I think work will keep coming your way.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
A lot of time. Even though I am young I have been either doing freelance jobs, working as a full time video editor, and also a full time creative director since I was 15 years old. Over all that time I have always pushed myself to create projects I am happy with.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Swany Castañeda – Photographer