We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ricky Crumbley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ricky, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I got my first Camera when I was a junior in high school way back in 1984. I wanted to take photos for the school newspaper. I really enjoyed getting to be around everything that was happening in the school. I also enjoyed being able to work in the darkroom and see the photos appear out of nowhere on the paper in the chemicals. It was like magic to me. I really wanted to be a photojournalist. I wanted to tell stories with my photos. I wanted the photos to be able to both stand alone and help illustrate whatever story was being told. I couldn’t afford to go to a university, so I went to South Ga. Technical . in Americus Ga. It was a great experience. I obtained the knowledge that was necessary to have a professional Photography Career in whatever avenue I decided to pursue. My first job as a photographer was with the local daily newspaper The Rockdale Citizen. After spending a couple of years with them I moved on to Prestige Portraits. Prestige is the High school division of Lifetouch. Working in the school photography business for several years was an entire new education. While working for Prestige I was trained both in photography concepts as well as the business end of a photography business. I gained a lot more confidence in my ability to both excel in my photography and be my own boss. I moved up the ladder with amazing speed at Prestige. I won many company wide photo competitions which really boosted my confidence level. I also learned the sales and serving side of the school photography business. I took this knowledge and used it to start my own sports and event photography company. My first company was called Creative Images Photography. After some internal issues with other employees I had to regroup and start over. Crush Photography was started in 2009. Since then I have had several ups and downs. But that is the nature of the beast when an entrepreneur .

Ricky, 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 am a Master Photographer. I have the ability to bring your ideas to life in photos. The majority of my clients are youth sports leagues. I photograph teams and Individuals for the traditional posed picture packages. I love to photograph action. Events of any kind as they happen. I have always used a photojournalistic style (non posed shots) on the most part.
I feel that non posed action shots of any event truly tells the story in a better light. You can look back at those memories and feel the emotion of the day.
I am also an avid nature photographer. I have traveled the country taking wonderful photos of wildlife, scenic landscapes, waterfalls, and more. My nature photography is branded as R L Crumbley Galleries. I sell fine art wall prints of these portraits as well as Metal Prints and Acrylic Prints.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

My business has had 3 major near catastrophic moments. Truly low times with severe stress. In each of these moments I had to absolutely start over. The first one was in 2008 when me and my business partner split up . Very hard feeling and a lot of non truths were spread to our clients. This caused the company to lose all clients but two small accounts. I had to regroup, rename, rebrand and relocate. I had to take on jobs with other photography companies just to make ends meet. After working hard for nearly 5 years to get a client base built back up, my professional photo lab hung me out to dry. The owner of the lab was trying to sell out. So he wasn’t getting me my orders in a timely fashion. Plus the lab was making a lot of mistakes in the packages. So in one season he cost me almost all of my accounts. then comes the year of 2020. COVID shut down the world. Nobody was out in the world. Everything closed down. No Sports, No Events, No JOB.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

In my business as in most business, your reputation is the most valuable asset you have. Your reputation is everywhere that you are not. I pride myself on honesty and integrity. I do what I say I am going to do. I always strive to be professional and courteous.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: crush photography
• Yelp: crush Photography
• Other: Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 706 -476-4754