We were lucky to catch up with Steve Cassingham recently and have shared our conversation below.

Steve, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

When I was 15 years old, my grandfather gave me his Nikon F and taught me how to take a photo. He had a background of filmmaking back in the day when it required heavy cameras, film, and without a way to review footage real time. What he did teach me, which I find most important, was this idea of centering the work around the story and the people involved. Over the years, I really just immersed myself in the world of creativity and film. I would use my camera at every opportunity that I could, and went after it with an unapologetic pursuit of great work.

I believe that at the root of any creative pursuit, it comes down to the willingness to be curious at all times. Curiosity is, in my mind and career, the secret to success. The ability to question the world around you, why things are the way that they are, and to have an open mind to be able to have your perceptions and believes changed through experience.

Coupled with a never-ending sense of curiosity, the skill of consistency is paramount. This doesn’t necessarily have to do with publishing on social media or always doing something, but the consistency of making progress towards the end goal. For me, I have always wanted to share the stories of those that are the best in the world at what they do because I have a genuine fascination with what it takes to be great. As long as I am making progress towards that goal, even a step a day, it is better than going backwards.

Of course, you always have the obstacles of financial hardship, projects that don’t go the way you imagined, or unexpected hurdles that inevitably question your determination. However, those obstacles, while seemly insurmountable at the time, end up being the moments that shape the resiliency required to get to the next level. It is pretty easy to go from 0%-80%. It’s the last 20% where it gets harder and harder to achieve greatness.

Steve, 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?

I have always been a deeply creative person. When I was a kid, I used to make films with friends, just for fun, as a way to spend an afternoon. I quickly found that a camera was the best way that I could express the way that I saw the world, or felt the emotions of a moment. But I didn’t always pay attention to this gift that I later found out that I had. I did what most probably do and work towards what is “expected” of us from a cultural standpoint. This includes working jobs that didn’t best fit my skillset or my passion, and trying to live a dream that I thought was my own.

I decided to take a big risk when I finished college and pursued creativity full time. I worked in a small office, where I slept many nights, as I offered video as a service to almost anybody that would need it. It wasn’t glorious work, but it gave me practice. I quickly found that the clients that I had, for me to grow a business, did not have websites that reflected what I had captured. Naturally, I began designing brands, further integrating myself into companies in a way that I could understand how the business world worked from the inside out. While it was incredibly valuable and I still use a lot of the skills I had learned to this day, it was a time that I lacked focused on the craft that I was ultimately wanting to pursue.

After a decade of pursuing filmmaking and creative work, I have been lucky enough to work with some of the top brands in the world and, more importantly, met some of the highest performing athletes, CEOS, and genuine world changers and learn.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Being completely authentic. Authenticity is the number one quality that I think will help anybody grow in whatever they do. You can’t make it by being somebody that you are not. If you are authentic, transparent, and honest with everybody you meet and every project you work on, good things will happen. I used to believe that I could shortcut the line by using the “fake it ’till you make it” approach. While it may work short term, it rarely.works out in the end. Eventually, you are either the real deal or you are not. That comes from experience and being humble enough to admit that you don’t know something. Also, learning is the only way to progress so by staying in a learning mindset, it helped grow my clientele as well as the quality of the work.

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.

Creativity is not just for those that are pursuing things such as photography, film, or design. Creativity is a universal quality that we all have inside of us that hasn’t been given attention. Creativity is needed to change the world. In anything that has been invented, learned, or taught, took creativity. From the invention of electricity to a better form of fitness, the original thought of “what if?” had to come about. To explore that is creativity.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.stevecassingham.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevecassingham/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smcassingham/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpwuBM_bUfMeiuTwwh6V0yQ