We were lucky to catch up with Nathan Concepcion recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nathan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

If I was starting over, I would avoid letting my desire to succeed cause me to change directions too quickly. In our society today, we’re all about hustling and getting to where we want to be by taking the fastest route we see, but the fastest route isn’t always the best route. On my path to where I’m at now, I was going between jobs and freelancing almost every 6 months, thinking “I’ll get it right this time around” or “I want/need the consistency” after quitting my last job or after giving up on freelancing again and finding a new job. I either got tired of inconsistency or got tired of too much consistency because neither of them were getting me where I wanted fast enough. What I really needed was patience and to understand that getting where I wanted to be takes time and making mistakes and looking at where I was at as an opportunity to gain more experience.

Nathan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my journey in photography during a full time job as a hobby and I quickly fell in love with being able to capture moments and then bring out its full emotion through editing. I started out like most people hanging out with friends and taking pics for fun and it turned into my first freelance client in 2019. I began to dabble in video and that turned into more freelance opportunities as well as a full time job. Since 2019, I’ve had the pleasure of helping tell stories at companies like Open Gym SD, SPortRx, Victory Outreach SD, and Moniker Group, where I am now employed as the Marketing Coordinator. My job at Moniker allows me the freedom to keep telling stories through photo and video within the company, which ends up translating to many other people’s stories due to Moniker’s connectedness with the community and it’s mission to create a place for that community.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

It feels like my whole journey as a photographer and videographer has been constant pivoting due to impatience, but I will say that had I not gone through all the different experiences through pivoting, I wouldn’t have the knowledge and understanding that I do now that informs how I operate in my current role as a marketing coordinator Moniker. One of my biggest pivot moments was getting married and realizing that career decisions that I was making weren’t just for myself anymore but for both myself and my wife.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

My best source of new clients is old or current clients as well as my job at Moniker. A lot of my clientele comes from developing my relationships with current clients who have someone in mind that they would like to refer me to for a similar or completely different kind of project. Most of the time, clients care more about their experience with you as a person than the end result. Photos can be replaced but experiences are engrained in people’s minds. The other way I get clients is by doing my job capturing photos and videos where people see me and come up to me and ask what I specialize in and if I have a business card. That’s why I always suggest going out to shoot and practice even if you don’t have any client projects.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nathanconcepcion.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanconcepcion/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanconcepcion/
• Other: https://www.monikergroup.com

Image Credits
Darwin Avalos