Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrian Rupley.
Hi Adrian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started out with just an interest in making memories and loving taking photos with my phone. I never knew or thought I had talent until a couple of friends of mine asked me if I ever thought of trying it professionally. I never even picked up a real camera in my life or knew what to do with one. I definitely couldn’t afford one. One of my friends who suggested I try it professionally had a beginner camera, a canon, that they didn’t use that often and asked me if I’d like to try to practice with it. I went to seaport village and learned what buttons did what. Eventually I could at least take a photo. I decided to make an instagram for fun to post to photos I was taking and people started loving my work as well as reaching out and offering me payment in exchange for the photos. Eventually I was able to afford my own camera as well as self teach how to edit in a way people love. I never thought until then why don’t I make this into a business, especially since it will never feel like I’m working, as much as I love it. One thing led to another, connections led to relationships with many people around the city and before I knew it was doing major events all over the place, annual events downtown, festivals at waterfront park, r&b wine sessions at curuth cellars, weddings, quinceras, large scale farmers markets, clothing brand promotion, all of the above! I love what I do and wouldn’t change it for the world. It has been 3 years now and it’s only the beginning.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Some of my struggles were self confidence in my work and taking time to realize this is something that no matter what is beneficial to me because I love to do it. I struggled a lot with not feeling like I was doing a good job or taking the best photos, being really hard on myself as a perfectionist does. Seeing people smile and enjoy my photos along the way and hyping me up every single time and people reaching out not wanting anything but to tell me how much they loved my work and enjoyed seeing me shine really gave me the confidence boost I needed and from then on, I haven’t looked back and I never will!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m known for brand promotion, content creation, photography and curating huge events in the city of San Diego as well as helping within my community via a non profit called BLAC, a leadership program that helps young black and brown individuals gain access to opportunities they never knew they had and also helps them be uplifted within theirselves as well as their community.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I see me continuing to do everything I love at a larger scale and finding a way to help people while doing so. It’s only up from here.
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