Carter McKinney - Capturing Creativity and Community - I Will Not Lose Podcast - #0048

Transcript

[00:00:00.210] what's up what's up good morning good evening good night good afternoon whatever time you're
[00:00:04.530] listening in wherever you're listening from this is another episode of i will not lose podcasts
[00:00:09.690] let's take a moment you could have been anywhere in the world but you're here
[00:00:13.370] right now let's take a moment be present recognize that it's now right now whether
[00:00:19.570] you're right now is working running driving flying recording your first remote pod in nazareth
[00:00:24.770] there you go let's be grateful we're alive baby yes thank you it can be frightening yeah man
[00:00:30.850] remember failure can be frightening but as winston churchill reminds us success is all
[00:00:35.130] about going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm this is i will not lose
[00:00:39.870] podcast where we proved it set out to prove everything is learned from failure we must
[00:00:44.410] recognize it as one step closer to success i'm your host tony ortiz we're joined by carter
[00:00:49.570] mckinney man what's up hey good morning thank you for bringing the podcast here i know that
[00:00:54.390] this is a little different it's on location normally you know i think you do it at your
[00:00:58.250] home office and yeah it's like 9 10 a.m here so we got the day started on friday um yeah man we're
[00:01:05.890] in the beautiful northeast uh pennsylvania so i was looking back a little bit you're from
[00:01:11.930] pittsburgh originally yes so you rep pittsburgh or no so i so i kind of rep like pa born and raised
[00:01:19.910] because i left when i pittsburgh when i was like under five so i was like very young but so i've
[00:01:24.710] been here the majority of my life i'm 23 about to turn 24 but yeah my whole thing is like pa pa
[00:01:29.770] born and raised because i do travel you know not to like california or anything yet or overseas
[00:01:35.010] but you know like florida atlanta texas you know stuff like that and that's always pa you know i
[00:01:41.450] mean yeah that's what's up man presenting big shout out to quesa the artist he's doing the
[00:01:47.050] same thing videography around uh california he's been shooting stuff all around texas so
[00:01:53.130] i want to get to cali it seems so cool yeah i haven't been there as well i got a an artist
[00:01:59.050] from cali on the show next week shout out to devin haley hey shut up the episode will drop
[00:02:05.700] in a little bit so you got out here i was really fascinated with your story and you've always
[00:02:10.360] sparked me i saw you on facebook and putting some stuff out and really just representing the
[00:02:15.220] entrepreneur hustle you know you do this full-time you work super hard from photography to video to
[00:02:22.220] putting together photo parties that's I met you at a few of the photo parties why don't you tell
[00:02:27.880] tell the guys about that venture okay so yes guys um you know a little bit about me like I said I
[00:02:33.820] was well like Tony said I'm from Pittsburgh you know I lived in Bethlehem for like over 15 years
[00:02:39.240] um I have I've been in business for about five years so I went to Lehigh um sorry Liberty High
[00:02:48.190] School and then I graduated from Bethlehem Catholic and then I went to you know North
[00:02:53.450] Hampton Community College um I went there for a year studied biology and you know business
[00:02:59.190] administration was trying to go the college route but play it safe by going to community college
[00:03:03.570] and then I decided it wasn't for me my grandfather was an entrepreneur as well
[00:03:07.850] Um, he went to Lehigh to be an engineer. Um, and then he ended up owning his own business,
[00:03:13.530] you know, for engineering things. And he taught me a lot of what I know just as a man and as a
[00:03:19.370] business person. And then I carry a lot of that stuff into my work every day. Um, and yeah, um,
[00:03:26.250] as Tony was saying, I have this event called the photo party. It's one of my events that I do with
[00:03:30.710] my partners um so the photo party started as a networking event for models and photographers
[00:03:39.070] creative people in the tri-state area to come to nazareth pennsylvania to my home studio it's like
[00:03:44.650] an open house and i'll have some vendors and things like that and it's a you know safe space
[00:03:50.130] to have fun be productive and network and we've expanded to doing other events as well so i have
[00:03:55.450] a shop small holiday market coming up in december 2nd of 2023 whenever you're watching this
[00:04:01.330] And that is going to be the biggest event ever.
[00:04:03.810] We're going to do over 25 vendors, over 150 people, hopefully.
[00:04:07.950] And that's going to be in Allentown.
[00:04:09.530] So we're just moving around.
[00:04:10.810] We're trying to not just do one location, reach different people and different audiences.
[00:04:15.250] It's like a family thing, you know, support creatives, small business and entrepreneurs.
[00:04:21.240] Super dope, man.
[00:04:22.240] Super dope.
[00:04:23.140] A lot of people get into one lane when they become an entrepreneur and they just have,
[00:04:27.200] you know, one hustle or one service.
[00:04:29.000] how do you find the time to run the full-time business but also you know it's a lot to put
[00:04:34.060] together an event yes it is so um just like tony and i were talking off camera um we're we're
[00:04:41.540] working overtime like it's it's the holidays you know we're working like 12 hour days every day
[00:04:45.880] almost and i you know my girlfriend's entrepreneur as well so she owns a salon in bethlehem it's
[00:04:51.600] called lovely faces shout out my girl ashley um you know she does lashes brows skin things like
[00:04:58.000] that. And she has a big space, um, over there. Um, she's doing great, you know, big boss things.
[00:05:05.060] Um, but yeah, it, it is really hard to run, you know, my own full-time business, my team and
[00:05:10.520] things like that, as well as events. Um, I have investment partners. Um, I have six other guys
[00:05:16.660] that were in an investment group and we do the events together. Um, shout out, you know,
[00:05:20.840] friends, we have Allie and V live and DJ Romeo and things like that. We do events almost once
[00:05:26.040] a week nowadays and um i also help my girlfriend run her business as well and my family of course
[00:05:32.240] that's what's up man yeah big shout out to dj romeo g i see him everywhere yeah he's
[00:05:37.400] crazy shout out to shout out to you romeo hustler that's what's up yeah i want to get
[00:05:44.120] events is always something i would think would be cool to do but even just setting up the live
[00:05:49.160] production even just doing this you know you helped help take me out of the the shell and
[00:05:53.900] get everything set up to take the show on the road put the post out this morning that this is
[00:05:59.460] kind of the direction i want to move and and set it all up so thank you for helping me do the the
[00:06:05.000] first use case man we're locking it in history absolutely first on location pod i will not lose
[00:06:11.620] bah good morning we gotta do big shout out to lawrence right as well at the barber pill yes
[00:06:17.620] you guys are you guys partnered up he's the official barber yes so i basically have this
[00:06:24.860] thing going where i had like the lady does my hair my barber and you know my girlfriend my dj
[00:06:31.880] like i have the official you know everything of mckinney media that's my business if i didn't
[00:06:36.900] introduce it um and yeah so as a marketer it's natural for me to partner with certain people
[00:06:43.520] and put their business out there as i'm traveling and i consider myself like a serial networker
[00:06:49.620] you know and as i'm traveling i you know i'm always trying to sell you know the different
[00:06:54.760] services that i use the companies the people um and just kind of spread that out affiliate
[00:07:01.720] marketing that's super dope man what sort of philosophies you had hit me with a quote when
[00:07:08.250] we were off camera about uh you want to hit them with the quote yeah so quote of the day you guys
[00:07:13.370] so it's one i love it's just i call it um let your footsteps be either invisible or golden so
[00:07:20.750] when you come into a space or you know a situation or you know being in another person's space like
[00:07:26.590] tony today um leave leave that better than you found it or you know or the same you know i mean
[00:07:34.270] don't don't come into a space or a situation or what whatever you know leaving it worse um like
[00:07:40.030] whether it's like physically leaving a space dirty or, you know, whatever it is, or just
[00:07:44.510] bring bad energy or bad vibes. Um, if you have anxiety, if you have stress, if you have,
[00:07:50.650] you know, a problem or you're upset or angry, um, or, uh, you know, a stereotype or something
[00:07:58.390] like that, just leave it at the door. You know what I mean? Like, you don't know who this person
[00:08:03.670] is. You don't know what kind of day they're having. You know what I mean? You might have
[00:08:07.330] had a situation with one, you know, person or a woman or whatever it may be, or a business or
[00:08:13.210] whatever it may be, but you don't know who this person is. So give them a chance.
[00:08:19.810] Wise words, man. Wise words. I think it's important to have some sort of philosophy
[00:08:24.570] or something that drives your business. Some sort of like key thing. I know for me with Tony Ortiz,
[00:08:30.010] the designer was integrity. And that's one thing for the 15 years I've been doing it. I'm always
[00:08:36.710] like, OK, nobody's watching. Am I being on point with my time logs? Am I being realistic with when
[00:08:43.830] I'm spending my time that I'm working efficiently? You know, I always think that like being an
[00:08:49.890] entrepreneur is kind of like a personal development. Like when I went through my 20s and
[00:08:56.350] interviewed and talked to a bunch of successful entrepreneurs in their late 60s or 70s,
[00:09:03.310] I didn't meet a single one that had at least didn't admit it to screwing over a whole bunch
[00:09:09.370] of people in order to get where they were. It was always based on some sort of integrity or
[00:09:14.770] networking or adding value to their network. And then it reciprocates itself. You know,
[00:09:19.930] that's what that's worked well for me. I'm not switching it up. I don't know.
[00:09:23.210] Yeah. How do you feel about that? I don't know. I think that integrity is very important
[00:09:27.270] in business. When no one's watching, you want to be doing the right thing because there's a lot of
[00:09:32.330] people that are strong people, but there's a lot of people that are also, you know, they have
[00:09:36.810] different characteristics, like they're more delicate, they're more sensitive and you don't
[00:09:41.270] want to stomp on those people. You don't want to take advantage. Um, I kind of live my life trying
[00:09:46.290] to donate my time and services and finances to people, to protecting and serving those kinds of
[00:09:52.950] people. Um, so yeah, I, uh, I think integrity is very important. You know, what I live by in my
[00:10:00.410] business is you know share quality with your community that's my slogan um you know do quality
[00:10:06.890] in everything that you do invest in your equipments in your skill set in your character um like right
[00:10:14.230] now i'm in a phase of my life where i'm kind of heavier like i'm a heavier weight and my girlfriend
[00:10:19.530] she goes to the gym like you know three four times a week and whatever so it's made me think like and
[00:10:25.270] her personal trainer is always in my face like oh come work out with us and whenever i try to pitch
[00:10:29.770] like a gym or personal trainer client they're always trying to be like oh come come work out
[00:10:34.170] come work out or we can't work with you basically and i'm like dude like i'm kind of focused on my
[00:10:38.710] business and my finances and my character and other things like i think i know that health is
[00:10:44.670] important but i've kind of been focusing on other stuff and i feel like that's totally okay hey man
[00:10:50.780] it's okay i've gone through i don't know if you've seen pictures of me i used to be 60 pounds heavier
[00:10:56.500] oh shit no twice in my life i was up to close to 240 um and then twice i lost 50 60 pounds and now
[00:11:05.380] i'm back at i'm at like 190 or something like that but so i i can tell you how to do it right
[00:11:11.260] i can tell you how to do it wrong uh my listeners know i have a background as a district 11 wrestler
[00:11:16.320] and we're uh we do some horrible things to our body and like sucking weight and stuff i'll never
[00:11:22.800] go back to that. But I can tell you, man, diet's the most important. Like if you can't get to
[00:11:27.880] exercise and I used to run three miles every day, five days a week, like it's not exercise.
[00:11:36.830] I can tell you, at least for my body, you could exercise like crazy. It's going to make you hungry
[00:11:42.290] and you're going to eat calories versus if you just switch some things, cut out the bread,
[00:11:48.090] cut out things like that but now man i'll help encourage you with with stuff you just take little
[00:11:53.670] steps yeah here and there drink more water and you know do different stuff where yeah i i was
[00:12:01.000] always like man i'm too high i gotta go and run and then i would get obsessed and like next three
[00:12:08.940] years i'd be running so i don't say to do that yeah i used to run a lot too like jogging running
[00:12:14.980] and there was one summer when i lost like 20 pounds alone in just a few weeks um but yeah man
[00:12:21.400] i definitely want to get back into like fitness and you know exercising and being a healthier
[00:12:26.560] person overall and even like going to therapy i think uh this month or last month was like men's
[00:12:32.980] or it's like mental health awareness month or something possibly this month is a national
[00:12:36.980] alzheimer awareness so it's a bit of mental health okay um i think march or may is mental
[00:12:45.540] health awareness okay but yeah man get into that's something i preach for heavy like i was just at
[00:12:52.480] therapy this week feel great i've been working with professionals just uh in that aspect for
[00:12:58.960] years like the goal is not to be in it forever but there's always something you can better
[00:13:06.400] yourself and it's somebody that holds you accountable for stuff that's not gonna like
[00:13:10.140] you know even i'm biased as your friend or as your colleague i'll be biased with something
[00:13:15.460] their job is to be completely unbiased so it's like a sounding board and stuff but
[00:13:20.780] i got a recommendation for some good people too if you want to talk to them yeah word i really
[00:13:26.540] want to get into that because i feel like just as we're talking about health and fitness and
[00:13:31.340] things like that and even like financial you know financial uh health if you will um physical i mean
[00:13:39.360] sorry therapy um is something that i think falls in that wheelhouse as well that's been
[00:13:45.600] underrepresented historically and um i definitely want to participate in that and just grow you know
[00:13:51.970] what i mean like grow my mind grow my heart grow my you know spirit and all kinds of different
[00:13:56.450] things yeah man you gotta grow your energy gotta grow your energy and a big part of it is gratitude
[00:14:03.490] yes that i've found three things you're grateful for like every single day or at least whenever
[00:14:07.790] you can think about it um right now we're filming this in november uh you know thanksgiving i believe
[00:14:14.070] is next week and i always say throughout the whole year i try to be very hyper aware of you
[00:14:20.350] know the fact that tony took his time out today he could have been working he could have been with
[00:14:24.210] his family he could have been you know having fun he could have been catching up on sleep or work
[00:14:28.830] um and he was here filming so thank you thank you for coming today and um you know just the fact
[00:14:35.170] that you don't want to take people's time for granted time is the only true currency that you
[00:14:39.490] can never get back um and it's just it's so important um and being thankful for things even
[00:14:46.930] not on thanksgiving even not on christmas even in a tough situation um my girlfriend and i for a
[00:14:53.550] while every single day waking up hey babe what are three things you're thankful for um so yeah
[00:14:58.410] very important heck yeah man i worked with um shout out to clay green i worked with a coach
[00:15:05.510] the one time that's another thing if you can get a chance to work with a mentor or a business coach
[00:15:09.970] it's so huge in professional development but we had done a lot of work with flow and getting
[00:15:15.770] yourself into that state where you know your brain's not thinking it's like the state that
[00:15:20.870] of skateboarders in before you know tony hawk does the 900 like your brain has to turn off and your
[00:15:27.810] body just goes and you can channel that into your work when your your skills things like that but he
[00:15:34.170] had taught me a lot about gratitude and he asked me what's something you're grateful for and i was
[00:15:39.630] like my wife he's like that's the easiest like how are you going to take your wife you know like
[00:15:44.150] the love of your life that's easy to be grateful for he's like how about that pencil like that tool
[00:15:49.110] that you have on your desk I'm like the pencil I don't know it didn't feel anything to me but
[00:15:54.530] then something clicked with me where I'm like oh my gosh just my headphones when I push play I'm
[00:16:00.350] like thank you for this creator for making music that I can hear and be in this vibe right now
[00:16:05.610] thank you for the photography you know like that's why even when I'm working on my stuff it's like I
[00:16:12.290] don't want to put out crap like I'm not I'm way better at not being a perfectionist but
[00:16:18.730] somebody's going to view this and somebody's going to see it and if it makes a smooth transition for
[00:16:24.430] their eyes and somebody says wow that's beautiful even if they just like it on facebook and keep
[00:16:29.290] scrolling like you were a part of their day that was a privilege exactly exactly just got to care
[00:16:35.410] about stuff you do man yeah exactly like put your everything into it like a lot of the times what
[00:16:41.410] i'm thinking about is being remembered like that what's my biggest fear not being remembered you
[00:16:46.190] know what I mean like having work that outlives you and you know it lives in museums and you know
[00:16:52.770] different art galleries and things like that that is so fire um and just me personally I'm
[00:16:58.650] entrepreneur and a business person as much if not more than being a creative person I am a
[00:17:03.550] photographer but I'm a business person um and I I love playing you know best of both worlds you
[00:17:10.010] know what I mean I dress it up I dress it down I do work at home I do work on location you know
[00:17:15.050] local and afar um and all kinds of things and i have white family a black family you know all
[00:17:21.130] kinds of stuff i love that i i had a conversation with my sister me and my sister are always the
[00:17:26.470] closest but this was a moment where we really understood each other she said you know growing
[00:17:31.930] up half because i'm jamaican and white so growing up half white half black and also you know just
[00:17:37.950] doing creative work and all different kinds of work it allows us to be a chameleon and really
[00:17:44.070] adapt to a bunch of different situations and i thought that that was a very interesting take
[00:17:48.410] and i totally agreed i can relate i was gonna started drafting a book in high school about
[00:17:57.850] chameleonism and just the idea that it's not the best thing that i can say that i've learned
[00:18:05.790] personally about that is if you just be yourself you fit in everywhere exactly there you go
[00:18:12.850] linking together with the equipment but that's the other thing i'm always super grateful for
[00:18:18.200] too man it gets easy when you're a creative entrepreneur to be like why don't i have the
[00:18:23.400] tools like if you go all the way up to hollywood there's always a better tool than what you have
[00:18:29.320] you know what i mean and we're not talking about thousands of dollars we're talking about tens of
[00:18:33.700] thousands of dollars so sometimes hundreds yeah if you get into like a like a red or some
[00:18:39.680] yeah ridiculous red dragon komodo craziness i actually have access to a red though if i want
[00:18:47.040] to learn it or use it or something too but um it's the sort of thing that if you're not grateful for
[00:18:53.940] the tools that you have you're just you're going to be miserable like you're always going to live
[00:18:58.400] in the world that you don't have like it's nuts so i could sit there and be like oh man we don't
[00:19:04.600] have a black magic live studio we don't have a producer to help us with the show but to just sit
[00:19:09.620] there and be like wow you know we built all this we're able to go on location we don't have to show
[00:19:15.000] up to a nine to five today because we have the flexibility to be able to be here on a friday at
[00:19:21.040] 10 9 10 a.m and just be working and talking and really sharing real life insights and things like
[00:19:28.740] that with you guys so thank you for listening thank you for watching wherever you are um thank
[00:19:33.880] you yeah absolutely absolutely grateful for listeners i have i only i honestly wonder
[00:19:41.490] sometimes would i do this show even if nobody's listening and the truth is absolutely yes in fact
[00:19:48.870] i try not to get caught up into who's listening or who just sees because you're listening too
[00:19:54.890] you're listening too you know what i mean as you're doing it yeah it's uh actually it's funny
[00:19:59.850] I'll throw back my, I'll shout out my therapist again. We talked about it before I started the
[00:20:04.770] show on whether or not, and I'm like, what's the worst that, what's the worst that could happen
[00:20:09.210] once a week? I try to tell people to think about success in terms of failures and the step towards
[00:20:15.690] it and not as something unachievable that they'll never get. Just in the past year, my mentality of
[00:20:22.170] reinforcing that and taking notes and thinking about real life world examples on how we can flip
[00:20:27.370] bit. And then even just giving a voice to, you know, like a lot of guests that I have, like
[00:20:33.830] the Tug McGraw interview, I'm a huge Tug fan. I've been for years and stuff. So to be able to
[00:20:39.830] provide a platform for him to promote his newest body of work, that was like a dream come true.
[00:20:45.310] That's like super dope meeting you with the photo party and coming in. I remember I walked in
[00:20:51.130] and you guys were recording a podcast in here. I'm like, you know, this is a cool space. And
[00:20:56.050] it was like a rainy saturday yeah it was a sunday and it was like flooding rain and you know i sold
[00:21:02.310] like 60 tickets but i had only 35 people show up um it was actually still a good turnout because
[00:21:08.350] all the vendors made money we all made connections and it was fantastic it was the first one but then
[00:21:13.750] the second one um we had seven about 70 people show up and it was like wow like it was a saturday
[00:21:20.990] this time and we're learning and we're developing and the vendors made like even more money this
[00:21:25.870] time and then now because that's what it's all about i don't make a ton of profit on the events
[00:21:32.330] i probably lose money on the events but for me it's about something that that that's something
[00:21:36.770] that people remember you know a safe a safe space to have fun to be productive to network
[00:21:41.890] to be creative to ask questions to you know expose certain thoughts and share certain things
[00:21:47.850] um you know i buy free pizza stuff like that so if you're local please come by to the photo party
[00:21:54.870] year of one of my events sometimes we have nighttime stuff sometimes we do brunches we do
[00:21:59.570] all different kinds of things and shout out to tony for coming through um he's came through to
[00:22:04.810] both of my photo parties and done videos for both that were fantastic that i helped with to my
[00:22:09.730] youtube and share um so yeah thank you for that really they're they're fantastic and tony does a
[00:22:16.110] lot of uh logo work for me and you know my clients and family and things so you just reminded me i
[00:22:24.240] do owe you that logo i'm gonna get that knocked out after the show no rush i'm not going anywhere
[00:22:29.580] we're here for the long haul and then you got a busy day today you got another live show
[00:22:34.500] or yeah like any minute that someone's gonna be walking in to do another podcast or live stream
[00:22:40.000] hopefully we can all do something together um shout out to my people on tiktok uh live over
[00:22:45.460] there um and yeah i um yeah i love i love studio days i try to pack them up from like 9 a.m to like
[00:22:53.850] six i am gonna step out and get my hair done at some point today um but other than just because
[00:22:58.750] it was like the only day before thanksgiving because she's super booked you go to lawrence
[00:23:03.050] oh you're getting your hair done yeah retwist it up and i got lawrence on monday so you might
[00:23:08.510] have to introduce me to your hair person i think i'm gonna start growing it back out again i gotta
[00:23:13.890] show you old pictures how so like braids or twisties oh i want to start with little like
[00:23:18.650] uh maybe i'll start with like baby locks but i don't know if i want to commit to
[00:23:22.790] growing them all out but but i'm i'm like a all or nothing like you know i was like oh i'm just
[00:23:30.630] gonna get some mics and talk a year later we're going live on location with the sm7b it's like
[00:23:36.190] it's the way i go so if i started i'm probably gonna get into and then just grow them until
[00:23:41.650] they're too long but my wife agreed she's like you've been looking like this for like 15 20 years
[00:23:48.050] yeah and um for a while when i had long hair i still dreamed like even after i cut it when i
[00:23:55.430] would dream i would have long hair so it's just something like it feels like yeah like and i would
[00:24:01.470] be playing with it in my dream and then i'd wake up and be like sad so it's like a part of my
[00:24:07.910] identity i don't know it's like you're gonna go into uh the hair appointment be like i have
[00:24:12.310] i have a dream yeah right do it just like i had it last night in my dream
[00:24:17.510] put something together but i just love uh shout out that's another thing photographers artists
[00:24:23.870] graphic designers get the shout outs but shout out to the cosmetologists barbers that's a that's
[00:24:29.090] a crazy grind yeah it is esthetician anything like that yeah and i've been getting into like
[00:24:35.190] a lot of charitable work and non-profit stuff and i came across this organization that's called
[00:24:40.810] operation address the homeless shout out to tommy and his team out in allentown on 7th street
[00:24:45.650] i i've lived out there for a year and in allentown right a couple blocks away i never knew it was
[00:24:51.190] there so they have these freezers and fridges and you know like shelves and hangers full of clothes
[00:24:58.510] for the for homeless people people experiencing homelessness and displaced people and honestly
[00:25:05.890] it was so beautiful like i got invited to come by and you know we walked in the front door all the
[00:25:12.850] way through the back they have like the laminate wood floors it's two two you know levels two
[00:25:17.630] floors we walked upstairs there's a barber room with two chairs and mirrors full setup and like
[00:25:23.290] i don't know if you guys have ever seen the videos online and it's not about the videos it's not for
[00:25:27.430] the clout but just the being able to see that the fact that they took someone that was homeless with
[00:25:32.150] like real long hair or whatever and like cutting it and you know giving them a fresh cut and like
[00:25:38.170] seeing the transformation i always thought that was so cool so i would try to get lawrence to do
[00:25:42.650] some of that i asked him about it that's super cool i did see that i did see that video shout
[00:25:48.870] out to a couple people i saw on my feed and that's what what's dope you know i go down my feed and
[00:25:54.510] it's not i don't know if we're just getting older it's not people in the club it's all people doing
[00:25:59.910] stuff i think i kind of subconsciously attracted higher energy people i don't know what i don't
[00:26:08.080] want to say higher energy like i don't know just people doing stuff oh okay you scroll down your
[00:26:12.260] feed and it's like okay that person's helping the homeless that person's working with the school
[00:26:16.760] yeah this person's working on their doctorate it's like it's really cool to see well you know
[00:26:23.200] be part of that network that's a good touch point that we could go to because you know i was just
[00:26:27.920] talking to my sister she's going through a kind of tough time in her life she you know went to
[00:26:32.640] school for a while in atlanta and she had a tough relationship and all of it she's out of all of it
[00:26:37.920] now and she's kind of like what do i do and how do i get up every day and like she's going through
[00:26:42.700] some bad mental health stuff too and i'm i'm just telling her that you know you have to really go
[00:26:50.500] out and and have tunnel vision like it's so hard you know what i mean like the concept that no one's
[00:26:56.140] going to look out for you but you is limiting but in certain ways it is true you know I mean
[00:27:01.040] it can be a cold way to look at the world because there's great people and you know neighbors that
[00:27:05.240] will help and random strangers and things like that but at the same time you do have to just
[00:27:10.220] look out for yourself you do have to tone stuff out you do have to say no and you do it to be
[00:27:14.740] selfish sometimes and and there's nothing wrong with that you know I mean something that that's
[00:27:19.500] sometimes hard for me I'm a giver like I just want to give all my time I want to give it away for
[00:27:23.840] free and i want to do it really well super hard but yeah you know you have to there's balance to
[00:27:29.500] all things i saw one thing that uh struck me on that note but uh said never lower your prices to
[00:27:39.080] get a sale because it devalues the people who are paying your price yeah your full price you know
[00:27:45.780] so that's something i try to work into business and all that sort of thing but so you've been
[00:27:53.120] been in business five years what's the next step did you write like a five-year business plan did
[00:27:59.510] you write like a 10-year plan are you rewriting a plan no I didn't write down a plan and I am
[00:28:06.110] someone that would probably be expected to do that but no I didn't do that just yet I sat down
[00:28:12.010] with someone and they were asking me you know where do you want to be when you're 30 which
[00:28:17.570] would be seven years from now for me and I said you know he it was funny because I'm not going to
[00:28:23.710] say who it is but I sat across from this guy so he basically is someone that you could consider
[00:28:30.430] competition he is a big marketing agency in the area and I sat with him and we got breakfast
[00:28:35.450] and I sat across from him and he like he was like kind of getting in my face he was like
[00:28:40.970] you know all this stuff and I was like normally I'm I like to consider myself a strong person
[00:28:47.030] not like strong physically, but like, you know, whatever, I'm not going to take shit, but like,
[00:28:51.350] I kind of welcomed it because it's like, if you're going to be strong with me and, and firm,
[00:28:56.710] like I actually get that. You know what I mean? Like he was like, dude, like, you know, you want
[00:29:01.450] to be a provider for your woman. You want to be a provider and have kids and have a home. And,
[00:29:06.250] you know, I told him that I wanted to make a hundred thousand dollars. And here's the reason
[00:29:10.030] for that. And I don't mean to take in that in my business and all of my ventures, but just for me.
[00:29:16.070] And it's not even about the number. It's about the fact that I don't need a million dollars in my account every year. I want to give away more than I take in, if that makes sense. You know, like it's not about how much I'm making or whatever.
[00:29:32.210] it's about how much i give honestly because when i was hearing about wealthy people and
[00:29:39.010] billionaires and stuff people and you know low and you know middle class they'll talk about how
[00:29:46.620] much they make but i'm trying to talk about how much i give away you know what i mean it's all
[00:29:51.060] about impact i have heard that in circles of and you're not talking about like millionaires and
[00:29:57.400] stuff you're talking about like wealthy people that's all they talk about is how much they give
[00:30:01.760] And it's not about the money even, man.
[00:30:04.400] It's like, it would be great to say that I impacted a billion people instead of like, oh, I'm a billionaire.
[00:30:10.300] You know what I mean?
[00:30:11.420] And I've heard, I've had the privilege of hearing and capturing a billion stories.
[00:30:16.360] You know what I mean?
[00:30:17.240] Well, you do it with the, you do it with the photography and you do it with your service.
[00:30:22.040] But I just, I want to take it.
[00:30:24.060] Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt you.
[00:30:25.080] i'm trying to take it from just it being me to like really like almost like making an uber style
[00:30:30.920] app for photography where it's like re like re-navigating the way that you think about it
[00:30:37.770] and would that still have you be accessible to the people that like like one thing i always try
[00:30:46.530] to keep in mind is like accessibility with my pricing you know what i mean like yeah so that's
[00:30:51.330] The skill could be at this or like even if you Google what are the average rates for graphic design, they'll tell you a starting rate is this.
[00:31:00.370] I'm lower than that. But people can get corporate quality photography from you.
[00:31:08.020] That headshot, you don't understand that could get somebody an interview that could get them a job that could change their whole life.
[00:31:14.600] Exactly. And if they can't get that unless they have, you know, seven hundred dollars an hour or something ridiculous, which might not even be ridiculous.
[00:31:23.900] I don't know rates like that. But, you know, I mean, you got to at least I think it's very important to be grateful for what you are doing and who you can help and have that passion, have that goal.
[00:31:39.770] like I'm going to touch this many people, but you don't get to choose, at least in my experience,
[00:31:46.150] you don't get to choose who you influence and who you do stuff. Like most of the most influential
[00:31:52.570] stuff I've done, I was doing just being myself and that's how it inspired someone else. But like
[00:31:58.710] the podcast, I'm like, Hey, people can take something. And people do come to me. They're
[00:32:03.810] like, I get something from every episode. I listened to every episode. I'm like, bet I'm
[00:32:07.670] going to keep doing it and keep going from there and stuff like that. But, you know, the amount of
[00:32:14.330] people you help on the way, they say money doesn't make you anything but more of the person you were
[00:32:19.250] you had before it. So like if I make sure if I have five dollars in my wallet, I'm going to tip
[00:32:26.540] somebody. That's not going to change when I have money. I may just tip more like it's just it's
[00:32:33.960] I don't know. I think it's, I think you're doing a phenomenal job and I think that you're helping
[00:32:38.960] people where you need to help. I think, I don't even think you're all that accessible, but your
[00:32:44.760] value is definitely higher than your price. And that's a, that's a good place to be.
[00:32:51.700] Yeah. And so I had a retain, so I did the retainer model where I'm sure you do, I'm pretty sure you
[00:32:58.100] do it now, but I had the retainer model where, you know, I'm basically an employee, but I'm a
[00:33:03.940] 10 99. And, you know, I work with this client every single day, every week, every month, and
[00:33:08.820] I get a guaranteed check at the beginning of the month. And it's, and it was a nice one,
[00:33:12.580] but that, that tied up my work so much. I didn't do any of these events. I didn't get to sit,
[00:33:21.090] like spend time with as many people as I do. I probably wouldn't be able to be here right now.
[00:33:25.670] Um, and it was really, at first I was like, okay, I don't give a fuck that I don't,
[00:33:32.090] that i'm not working with them anymore or not doing it but then it was like damn like that
[00:33:36.970] was a lot of money and that was nice like i missed that and i need to replace this money i'm like
[00:33:40.750] starving but then just like we were talking about earlier i had a price of like 500 an hour for
[00:33:47.890] photography and i'd get paid it you know i mean every once in a while not all the time a couple
[00:33:52.410] times a month right but then i made the hard decision because my business my freelance business
[00:33:59.800] was really struggling i wasn't getting enough bookings and the economy is starting to be
[00:34:03.640] you know kind of not as good and i lowered my price to 200 an hour that's what it's at now
[00:34:10.520] and i get to work with all kinds of different people i get booked a lot more frequently
[00:34:15.160] and it makes a lot more sense for my business and that that was a tough conversation to have
[00:34:19.960] with myself and with my team because i was like oh my god like how am i supposed to you know hire
[00:34:25.960] another photographer under me and still get my percentage inside of 200 you know what i mean
[00:34:31.800] like groceries are so expensive like my grocery bills at least 250 a month you know what i mean
[00:34:37.160] like it's just everything is so expensive and so high and yeah man like it was i felt like man like
[00:34:46.480] mercedes-benz and rolls-royce and all these big brands that i'd aspire to have similarities to
[00:34:51.840] in certain ways they wouldn't lower their price they wouldn't do that but i guarantee that they've
[00:34:56.560] had to in some cases you know i mean not like doing a black friday sale but like lowering their
[00:35:03.720] price in general you know i mean and the economy switches and businesses switch and clienteles and
[00:35:10.020] different things seasons and i think they totally do switch so i'm hoping for the best with that
[00:35:16.040] it's doing great right now i love i'm so happy with my business so it's been really successful
[00:35:20.560] and i appreciate all the positive love and you coming here yeah man definitely i need a gratitude
[00:35:26.680] button i think i don't even know what these buttons do i think if we hit them there'll be
[00:35:30.500] like a laugh track or something let's not let's not hit anything it might blow the podcast yeah
[00:35:34.780] but um no i want to grow that sort of stuff put it together there's definitely i'm grateful for
[00:35:41.080] guests and just the fact that i created something that's what my post said earlier you know
[00:35:45.420] i've got three interviews this week i only drop every other week so we're booked out to like
[00:35:53.420] january this might come out in december or sometime in january yeah my birthday is january
[00:35:57.940] 6 so maybe around that shout out to capricorns yeah i'm january 12th oh shit word so we might
[00:36:05.280] have to do a photo party right around like the yeah so i'm planning an event i'm trying to do
[00:36:10.000] something on friday the 5th so the day before in leah valley i always go to like new york or some
[00:36:15.040] other city with like family for like a family dinner and then i'll get like a hotel and stuff
[00:36:19.820] like that um but yeah i think i'm gonna do an event on friday the day before my birthday
[00:36:24.760] man i'll wake up on my birthday and go to the city that'd be dope that'd be super dope i try
[00:36:32.430] to do more celebrating like i'm uh i just did i did something stupid i took myself out to red
[00:36:40.540] rabbit or something and I just told myself order anything on the menu like just go from there and
[00:36:46.080] just as I'm eating the food I'm thinking and I pray a lot I do a lot like I'm so much different
[00:36:51.520] than I was in my 20s and I feel like that's why I finally caught my stride like I'm really
[00:36:59.640] living the stuff I don't create a show and have to this is the thing that I love
[00:37:04.220] I don't have to pretend to be somebody I'm not. The reason why I have rappers, doctors,
[00:37:11.400] entrepreneurs, recovering addicts is because I really connect with these people. They're in my
[00:37:16.520] network. So they're able to come on, have a conversation with me. Nothing is nobody's coming
[00:37:22.560] and saying, man, I see you're getting a million likes. So I want to be part of your show because
[00:37:26.460] this can help me promote something or blow something up like that. Everyone's like, I just
[00:37:30.880] want to have a conversation i've had things where technical difficulties have gone wrong and i had
[00:37:36.520] a conversation with a doctor and i'm freaking out like oh my gosh i wasted your time and she's like
[00:37:41.060] we just had a great conversation wasn't a waste of time you know um i may actually still put that
[00:37:47.080] one out on audio i still have the audio but the the video failed so me being a perfectionist i'm
[00:37:53.300] like let me hide this from the world but well yeah it could be like a little bonus feature maybe
[00:37:58.460] you're on the holidays you put it on spotify and things like that and do a soundbite we'll do
[00:38:03.580] something dope like that for sure for sure but uh you mentioned uh community and having things
[00:38:08.980] in community i wanted to touch before we land on the plane on your coat drive oh okay yeah so
[00:38:14.860] um i don't yet have a non-profit but i do some non-profit things um i partner with
[00:38:23.160] lawrence from the barber pill shout out lawrence the official barber of mckinney media um we did
[00:38:28.400] a backpack drive so a little backstory lawrence i reached out to him because i wanted to do stuff
[00:38:35.280] i follow this guy named luca brazi um you know he has a cannabis brand called gumbo new york guy
[00:38:42.340] very big personality and he talks about going into like times square he's a new york guy he
[00:38:48.080] talks about going to times square and like giving out millions of dollars like a million or a
[00:38:52.720] hundred thousand dollars worth of toys and computers and TVs to, to all kinds of people
[00:38:57.780] for the holidays. And I was like, all right, I'm going to start where I can. So, cause I was
[00:39:02.100] inspired by that. And I was like, okay, I'm going to go and, you know, get as many backpacks and
[00:39:09.640] school supplies as I can. We raised 50 backpacks full of supplies for the community in Bethlehem
[00:39:14.820] and we gave out those backpacks. Um, and then the coat drive that Tony's talking about is,
[00:39:21.160] you know, a season or two, like fall and winter time long, um, coat collection. We have an Amazon
[00:39:28.000] registry, um, you know, for coats, only new stuff. Um, you know, when we're doing charitable work,
[00:39:34.840] we only give away stuff that we would really use or, you know, quality things, nothing used
[00:39:40.440] or beaten down or leftovers. None of that. We want to give people good stuff, great stuff,
[00:39:46.180] um, and make them feel a part of the family. Um, so yeah, we, that the coat drive has been
[00:39:53.460] established for quite some time. I didn't have as much engagement with it as I thought, but
[00:39:57.840] at my events, I'm going to start, um, having like a stand and a flyer and stuff where I ask people
[00:40:03.500] to give, even if it's like five bucks, 10 bucks and we'll get it going. Um, and I'm trying to get
[00:40:09.420] some institutional support too. And hopefully, you know, in the next three months, um, my goal
[00:40:15.180] is to start a 501c3 a non-profit there we go you said the next three months yeah all right i'll
[00:40:23.000] keep track well uh that'll be my goal get this video out get this video out before valentine's
[00:40:30.380] day yeah before valentine's day i want to i want to celebrate valentine's day with having a
[00:40:35.780] non-profit that's super dope it's not something i thought of doing but i do um i do donate work
[00:40:43.540] to this is actually the first time i'm saying it publicly but i donate work to a select non-profit
[00:40:49.580] every quarter and just do something from there yeah sometimes i'll carry for a longer than a
[00:40:56.460] quarter working with the group but i'll just like sit on their marketing chair so like sit on their
[00:41:00.840] board help with marketing donate some time or services yeah that's what i do and um that always
[00:41:07.460] seems to reciprocate itself with networking and things like that but yeah man you're on the right
[00:41:13.500] path and i didn't even realize you you said you're what 23 yeah uh don't let ever let anybody tell
[00:41:19.940] you that you lack experience or knowledge because of that you know you're an old soul
[00:41:24.860] they tried to sun me yeah throughout my 20s you know what i mean they always try to do that i'm
[00:41:31.880] like hell no talk to me like i'm your equal get the fuck out my face boy now if anything you also
[00:41:38.340] have to realize like you come up with a world of technology that sometimes boomers haven't done
[00:41:44.120] you know what i mean and like you're not better than them or worse than them they have a set of
[00:41:48.960] skills that we don't have yeah exactly but you know you you can't put boomers down for not knowing
[00:41:54.680] technology and they can't put you down for not aging you know stuff definitely comes with age
[00:42:00.640] i'm still young myself as well but so many people wish they could have spent their 20s
[00:42:06.580] doing stuff with their legacy, doing stuff as an entrepreneur. A lot of people spend their times
[00:42:12.780] in clubs, on drugs, on alcohol, you know, which is great. Spend your time when you're young,
[00:42:18.280] especially if you don't have any kids, but to go and create the legacy, the hard work and pay your
[00:42:24.700] dues and climb those humps early. Oh man, you just cruise in the rest of your life, man. So
[00:42:30.720] big shout out to what you've been doing. Thank you so much. I have a really big,
[00:42:35.260] like back to that whole impact and being remembered thing i have a huge thing about me where i like
[00:42:41.880] paying your dues like that apart i love that i love it like i want to work my butt off so that i
[00:42:49.940] you know i've earned some respect i've circulated my work into the community i've empowered people
[00:42:57.200] you know help them create businesses a business isn't just a business it's a family you know i
[00:43:02.680] mean there's a family and people behind that humans um and humans struggle businesses struggle
[00:43:08.880] like there's some businesses that made it out of covid there's some businesses that doubled and
[00:43:14.260] tripled and quadrupled in size during covid or more you know there's all kinds of different stuff
[00:43:19.100] and and someone that i've been in in the face of people that were experiencing homelessness six
[00:43:24.020] months ago they said when they were in front of my face and they're coordinating events and all
[00:43:27.960] kinds of different stuff they were just sleeping in a car you know what i mean like you never know
[00:43:32.440] who you're talking to so sometimes it's just about being like super respectful and super you know
[00:43:38.780] considerate and understanding and patient um because whether you you know you're the strongest
[00:43:47.420] person in the room or the weakest person in the room like you just want to be considerate man
[00:43:51.800] because you never really know what's going on and to a certain extent don't let people tell
[00:43:57.600] you shit man you know like you you you got your own story to tell and there's a reason why you
[00:44:02.540] feel that tension in your chest when they said something or whatever um that's your gut telling
[00:44:07.840] you to say something or to get out of a situation or whatever um don't don't sit on your hands with
[00:44:13.460] that you have a story to tell you deserve to be there just as much as anyone else does so yeah man
[00:44:20.500] big proponent of equality and stuff like that and mindset knowing that you're not better than
[00:44:27.260] anyone else but you deserve just as much as everyone else like oh keep it down the neighbor
[00:44:32.160] next door might have a problem okay well i might have a problem if the neighbor next door is a
[00:44:36.420] problem because i want to have fun and i pay to be here just like you do you know what i mean
[00:44:40.520] so stuff like that it's duality my neighbors play music super late i go to bed at like 10 30 i'm
[00:44:46.520] in bed early and i'm up super early but at the same time i know at seven in the morning when
[00:44:52.760] i want to bump some trap because i'm getting ready because i'm getting a logo on or whatever
[00:44:56.760] i thought you were gonna i thought you were gonna look at me crazy because we were listening like
[00:45:00.840] some Lil Wayne and Rick Ross and all kinds of shit like 21 Savage Mad Loud yeah because it
[00:45:06.360] was mad loud and like I don't know my girlfriend hates it do I come off as that professional
[00:45:12.720] no like no you are professional but I you know I don't know sometimes everyone's different like
[00:45:19.320] I said so I just do me that's what I would have done that's what I do so that's what I did you
[00:45:23.820] know so I I'm gonna tell you and we'll start to land the plane but I want to tell you a quick
[00:45:27.700] story. I was in a, I was networking a lot in my twenties. And at the same time I was putting out
[00:45:34.800] music, I was putting out rap and I was working with rappers to put out mixtape covers and stuff
[00:45:41.220] like that. And somebody had said to me, uh, you know who you are, shout out to you, man. You're
[00:45:46.300] some of the best advice you ever gave me. But they said my portfolio was too hip hop for the room
[00:45:51.820] that nobody was really interested in my style of stuff like that. And I should look to get
[00:45:58.560] towards more corporate stuff. So I thought, okay, this is me, this is my style, but this is honest
[00:46:05.080] feedback. So let me see what I can do. And I've always tried to mix in a little bit of corporate
[00:46:09.760] stuff. There's a reason why it works, but I kept doing the nightlife flyers. About a year later,
[00:46:16.400] I was in a networking group that I had went to. I just had an argument about why are you doing all
[00:46:23.960] these networking groups? I'm like, my time is coming. I'm standing next to a guy and he owns
[00:46:30.220] like a media buying group. And I introduced myself to him. I introduced myself to his wife
[00:46:36.080] and I'm showing his wife some of the stuff that I do. And I get a call like a day or two after
[00:46:41.120] the meeting, like, Hey, I just closed a deal with Sands Events Center. This was what used to be
[00:46:47.200] the wind crease. We want to have you, you know, my wife actually said that you should throw your
[00:46:53.960] name in the hat for it. So I bid against, I don't know, six or eight other designers. And I, it was
[00:46:59.000] like a Friday like this. I just had time. I knocked it out in about eight hours. One day I knocked out
[00:47:04.800] the concept, sent it back, but long story short, I got the job. And the reason why they said they
[00:47:10.240] went with me was because of my background in the nightlife that sans audience was baby boomers and
[00:47:15.980] college kids nightlife that was what their stuff wanted so they had actively sought out my brand
[00:47:22.340] and my style that just ended it staying true to who you are everything was corporate from then
[00:47:29.400] on because i was able to show them look i've worked on a global brand like i was in my 20s
[00:47:34.160] and stuff but that switched for me it was like you're gonna respect me you're gonna respect my
[00:47:38.580] craft you know um and i did dial back some of the you can't just go and make everything hip-hop and
[00:47:46.960] corporate like there's a even mainstream hip-hop has a very clean polished look to it i think like
[00:47:53.320] travis scott or something like that like there's an i hate when they call it urban but there's an
[00:47:58.820] urban style you know and you figure out where you want to go and what makes you feel good and what
[00:48:04.620] community you got into to help and to start with from the same but yeah man just be yourself
[00:48:12.160] long story short absolutely unapologetically you because no one else can do it like you no one else
[00:48:19.020] is you so do you well i say we throw on some lil wayne or some kanye i don't know is kanye
[00:48:26.510] canceled i don't think so i still listen to kanye he's a little crazy but he's been through a lot
[00:48:32.870] he's been through a whole lot oh man we can do a whole other episode on he's also a genius so
[00:48:38.750] give kanye his his credit it's uh it's messed up it's messed up man like we'll have a whole other
[00:48:47.780] maybe a mental health we'll do a we'll do something on yeah i feel bad for kanye's story
[00:48:53.560] i feel like he doesn't i don't know if he's just totally against medicine or if he feels like he
[00:48:58.920] can't create without it or what but i don't know but hey man this has been i will not lose podcast
[00:49:06.980] we prove out the set that everything is learned from failure we must recognize it is one step
[00:49:11.520] closer to success hope you enjoyed our hour with carter mckinney entrepreneur photographer
[00:49:17.000] philanthropist legend man legacy in the making legacy in the making so um the qr code will show
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[00:49:37.700] listening. Yes. Thank you for listening to another episode of I Will Not Lose Podcast.
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[00:50:04.290] slash links and there's instructions to donate up there thanks so much