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

RICO, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission is to inspire the forgotten to never forget what they can achieve or what they possess. I grew up in an environment that displayed the “outside” world as unreachable, unattainable and unwilling to grab the minds and futures of those who had less. I grew up in an environment that made everything bad easy to obtain and everything good seem so distant from reach. We weren’t encouraged to dream out loud or shout our hopes for success. Unless, we walked the road frequently traveled, even if led to no where. I’m here to tell the young mind to dream big, dream massive. The sweet fruit is within the journey that lies ahead, even it’s difficult to view right now. Right now, is the time to continue to dream. There’s beauty in the struggle of “finding” and “discovering”.

RICO, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As a kid, I watch tons of music videos and films of all genres. I was sort of that kid in the ghetto that knew so much random pop culture. I have a distinct memory of music videos, timeless photos and most kinds of art. I got into this industry in search of something that made me happy instead of rich. As taboo as that sounds, I wanted balance while mainly relying on creativity. Creativity is where I sit at most in life and that is what I use to guide my vision. I usually solve the creative process for my clients who have a hard time figuring out that aspect of things. I provide a unique vision for each project. I don’t heavily emphasize the money to dictate my creativity and I think that kind of sets me apart from others in today’s industry. I am most proud of putting smiles on faces, repeat customers, and being a driving force in helping people create memories or even careers. I want potential clients to know that I LOVE art in all facets and I am willing to go above and beyond to make something come to life. Whether it’s photo,video,film,writing, etc., I will always put my best foot forward.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I believe that people should understand that the journey in this industry is NOT easy. It’s not just “pressing a button” or saying “action”. So much goes into pre-planning and post-production. That’s the actual action. Preparation is the key and I will admit that there’s times where I both under prepared and over prepared. Times where I didn’t want to do anything. Other times where I was drained creatively and with life and was unable to do anything. Either way, I learned lessons that I am still learning and that is always the goal. Never refuse to learn.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My story that illustrates resilience is happening right now. I’m getting older and wiser, I have kids, a fiancee and a life outside of my craft. Along the way, I realized that I’ve did a lot of things the wrong way. The industry has changed drastically and I’ve suffered feelings of inadequacy and inability to “keep up”. You have to post and post and post even more to grab short attention spans that consumes media like fast food. I’ve figured out that keeping up shouldn’t be my focus. Keeping on should be more of what I’m looking forward to. So in this moment, I am fighting to keep on. I’m doing something everyday to keep on. Whether it’s writing, putting together vision boards for ideas I have in mind, reading and researching, learning more about the technology within my industry, etc. I owe it to myself and those who believe in me to fight through today’s industry and show the world that I have great things to offer.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/director_ricox/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@DirectorRicoX?si=iTPggiN9pnNF19Nl

Image Credits
Brianca Wiltz Quincy Wiltz Som Brooks Greg Brooks Aaliyah Walker Wagelyn Tolliver KeAaronee Bean