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

Alright, Will thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

One of my heroes in life and in history is Muhammad Ali. Not only is he one of the best boxers, if not the best ever, in the modern history of the sport, but he fought for the rights of African Americans at one of the most difficult eras of injustice against people of color. His title was taken from him by the government, but that did not stop him from bouncing back and climbing the mountain again to regain it. All while fighting his own social, legal, and religious battles outside the ring. He is the true definition of perseverance, resilience, and what having the heart of a fighter means in life.

He has taught me that no matter what obstacles life is throwing at you one must keep fighting if you believe and are passionate about something. When the pandemic hit is when our company could have fizzled away. Everything was shut down, people were losing their jobs, and we had to reinvent ourselves to overcome one of the toughest economic times we have seen in our lives. TeamBelu LLC up until then had focused more on capturing events, which all came to an end once the shutdown happened. But businesses still needed to run, and that is when we revamped our services to helping business reach their audiences through social media. We literally had one client, and our bank deposits were just enough to barely cover expenses, but little by little word of mouth started to help us grow.

Learning to adjust to any climate, reinventing yourself, and not giving up when times are tough is what has kept us in our fight. It is a constant process and one that is worth learning from in every round. Sometimes you will lose a round, but you have to come back and try to win the next one, and the one after that.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have two degrees, one in Art and Archaeology, which explains my love for visual arts, and the other one in IT, which explains my tech skills with editing software. Two completely separate degrees that I never thought would actually combine to benefit anything at the same time, but life has a way of finding balance, and sure enough those two skills are crucial for our company. I began working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC right out of college, and then when I got a degree in IT I worked at one of the top IT companies in the country. I have been truly blessed to have gained skills at institutions at the very top in their respective fields.

I handle photography, videography, and idea creation for our clients but I also edit and produce those very ideas when needed. Sometimes I get an idea at a shoot that I know I can rock myself, no need to send to our editing team. This is a huge advantage but specially if a client has communicated to me what they want to see, there is no loss in message to the rest of the team. I am very proud of that, because coming up with new ideas is not easy, but when you have an art background it definitely helps tremendously. People in the art industry see the world through different eyes, and I believe that is a huge asset to TeamBelu.

My love for photography comes from my degree in Archaeology. I see our clients as I see a curator working on an exhibit, what pieces are we going to put up so people stop and admire their page as they visit? What will they like, what will make them come back? I think that type of mindset and background definitely sets us apart.

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

I think two things have to go in tandem for a clientele to grow organically: a good service/product and you have to treat the client well, which sounds obvious but does not always happen. I believe you can grow if you do at least one of those two, but if any one of them is lacking it will make things tougher in the end. For example, if you own a restaurant and the food is delicious but you don’t treat people right, you very well may have people come back, but they may eventually not want to put up with poor service after a while. If a restaurant does not have great food, but it does have great service, people will still come back but eventually will find another spot. They will appreciate the treatment, but ultimately they want better quality.

I believe that is what has helped us grow our clientele. Our clients can esthetically see the improvement in the service and quality of the visuals we produce, but we also treat them well and treat them with respect. We do not claim to know everything, and when we first begin with a client the communication is crucial to understand their brand and their likes and their vision. That first month or two is the toughest because we are learning each other, but, if we were not able to communicate and have the personal skills to understand and relay messages, we would not be in business long.

Lastly, tell the truth. Do not oversell your services, and let the client know your limits. Honesty is part of that respect, and people will always appreciate honesty as long as you know how to deliver it. Which is what I believe really makes us stand out, public relations and media is our forte and background in TeamBelu in addition to the services we provide.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I am going to say I have two goals, one for myself and one for the company. For the company I want to reach a level, and I believe we are getting there, where people see one of our posts or a series of posts and start inquiring in the comments or in the DM’s, “who does your social media (with a fire emoji)?” Whenever I see that, I know we are showing we got skills.

One of the toughest parts of social media is that it is constantly evolving, trends change, applications and AI bring different designs and new visuals, so keeping up with all of that and constantly having to learn new skills is a must. Technology changes, cameras get upgraded every few years, lights, gadgets, software, all of that keeps you on your toes, and if you do not keep up, you are only a few fifteen second posts away from a client moving on from you. So the goal is to constantly be a contender and let our clients see that we evolve as the market does as well, which I believe we do very well.

My personal goal is to rock every shoot I’m part of. Many photographers are not satisfied at the level they are in, including myself. Photography is so technical and dependent on so many factors that people do not realize how much can go into a food photography shoot for example. They do not see the angles, the lighting, the diffusers needed so you don’t have a crappy shot, the rushing of the food, the time restraint, the pressure you are in if it’s a new client, the space limits, etc. I am getting there, but every shoot has its level of stress, and in the end, I want to know that I can rock that shoot either for TeamBelu or for my personal growth. I do not believe that is something that comes from the photographer, it is something that has to come from the people who see your work in the end. Until then, I’m just going to keep being hungry.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @will.campos.dc