We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vicente Lara. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vicente below.

Hi Vicente, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Above all else, I believe success is a result of resilience and adaptability. Being able to recover after a loss or failure is a skill that many people don’t talk about when it comes to success, however you find it embedded in many “success stories”. It’s absolutely essential to be able to recover through the inevitable ups and downs that come with setting out to accomplish goals, big or small.

Vicente, 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 was introduced to Graphic Design & Marketing at Lake Region High School through the iMAG Career Academy. I instantly fell in love with logo design and by 10th grade, I knew I was going to be a creative professional in some shape or form. I later found photography while pursuing a Digital Media degree at Polk State College, and saw it as a way to better round myself as a creative.

As of the time of this interview, I can say that I’ve been freelancing for 8+ years and have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of different small businesses, artists, and brands. As a designer and photographer, my job is always to make my clients look good. Whether it’s a brand design project or a portrait session, I always aim to see the good in every person or company that I work with so that I can present them in their best light.

I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve been able to carve out my own career path. I also take a lot of pride in knowing that my clients trust my opinion and value my work. Often I work with clients who like myself, are in the “come up” phase of their careers and I love helping them problem solve and aiding in their success.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Until now I never really thought about it this way but I guess I never looked at my creative career as a side hustle. Even when I was in college doing my best to make it to class, working part-time jobs and also freelancing aka looking for any work I could get, I always knew my creative career was my real focus.

But to answer the questions more directly I would say the true transition point was in 2017, after leaving a local marketing agency due to the hectic work environment. The following week, I was able to generate more revenue as a freelancer than I would have working for the marketing agency and never looked back.

Since then I’ve been working for myself under the name VL Graphics and more recently became part-owner in Kevlar Productions, a film production company based in Tampa, Florida.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My partners in Kevlar Productions are of the most versatile individuals I’ve ever worked with. Our Head Cinematographer and Editor, Jose “Prime” Viera is a close friend of over 10 years. We really connected while working together to establish his music career in Central Florida around 2018 before moving to Atlanta where his career in the film industry began (which eventually gave birth to Kevlar Productions.)

Shortly before the founding of Kevlar in 2020, I connected with Myles “Gee” Richardson, a close friend of Prime’s who is also an amazing recording artist, entrepreneur, and tradesman. Although we all went to high school together, I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Gee personally until a few years ago. He truly has taught me a lot since we made the decision to the team up.

As partners we put our heads together to push the company forward and toward bigger goals than we could knock out on our own. We are diverse and yet, think very much alike, complimenting each other with all of our different skills.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/vl_graphics
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/vlaragraphics
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/vicentelara/
• Other: www.kevlarproductions.com www.instagram.com/kevlarproductions www.facebook.com/kevlarfilms www.youtube.com/channel/UC53RgkdLF33NewUTDxzf2lw