We recently connected with Taj Smalls and have shared our conversation below.

Taj, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

Early on, our growth was fueled entirely by Facebook and strategic content creation. We built our client base organically, embedding ourselves in business-focused communities where our services naturally filled a need.

A pivotal shift came when a team member introduced us to Thumbtack. Within seven months, we had optimized a repeatable system—investing approximately $500 weekly to generate between $5,000 and $10,000 in revenue. That consistency propelled us to #1 rankings across multiple cities and two states, ultimately leading to our first $100,000 in just six months.

After maintaining the top position on the platform for three consecutive years, we transitioned toward more advanced, in-house advertising strategies. While Thumbtack remains a valuable channel, our current growth is driven by highly targeted campaigns that offer greater efficiency and scalability.

Taj, 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?

After four years of building, 2023 marked a defining breakthrough.

During that year, Ninety7Frames partnered with high-profile organizations including the Atlanta Falcons, Cintas, the University of South Carolina, the office of U.S. HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, the NAACP, and a portfolio of companies valued from hundreds of millions to over a billion dollars.

Gaining the trust of institutions at that level—particularly at such an early stage—was both rare and transformative. It solidified our position and reinforced that our trajectory was aligned with something greater. Opportunities of that caliber often take a decade or more to access. I was blessed to earned them at 25 and with a crew with the average age of 22 years old .

Ninety7Frames is a full-service visual production company specializing in photography, videography, and content creation. We capture high-quality visuals that not only document moments, but elevate their image and tell a compelling story.

Our corporate side helps brands, businesses & organization connect with their audience visually and emotionally . Where their customers base turns into Supports and Family for years to come.

Our Wedding team , helps turn that 1 day into a loop of happiness each time they revisit that day they’ll never get tired of watching their video or staring at their Photos one by one .

At its core, Ninety7Frames is driven by passion. If money didn’t exist, we would still do this. We love what we create—but even more, we love what it creates for others. Bringing an idea to life and watching it impact people is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

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

Oddly enough there was a magazine company in charleston that had an event , which I attended with my clients . For some reason their editing team wasn’t getting the job done . They called me a few days later . I was grieving at the time because on that same day as their event My childhood friend pasted. Once they called they offer me a magazine spread or cash I took the publicity they actually said well give you both. While in grieving, I showed up , I killed it they lived it I needed the money and the publicity at the time ( 2020 ) . They proceeded to give me neither like they promised. A few days later it was due I had no money I had to go back to a job.

Fast forward 2023 break out year 2025 Voyager Reached out and gave me my magazine publicity that I never got.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn to keep trying something when you see it not working and the data shows .

Follow your data you collect it shows you everything you’ve done right or wrong. There are no secrets to success. Success is a system and that system find your system and collect your data . Repeat that process that what we did .

Also had to unlearn my bad money habits. Those cause me to go break 2024 and it took a while to start seeing good money again. Doesn’t matter how much you make it matters how you manage it !

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Ninety7frames.com
• Instagram: Ninety7frames
• Facebook: Ninety7frames & Ninety7frames Weddings
• Linkedin: Ninety7frames
• Youtube: Ninety7frames