We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Victoria Lewis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Victoria, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Once I started viewing purpose as a journey instead of a set destination, I gained a lot of clarity.
I first began thinking about purpose in high school, and it hit me that I felt as though I didn’t have one. It was a sad revelation – a feeling of meaninglessness. Part of it was teenage angst, but a lot of it was grief and the reality that I didn’t know myself very well. If I had, maybe I would have understood that art class being the only class I truly enjoyed might have meant something, or that there was a resolution to my feelings.
When I first started college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I took a wide variety of classes my first semester and I chose the class I did best in as my major – Psychology.
When I first graduated, I got a job working at a charter school. I had been introduced to working with the Black Student Union youth program when I was in college, and built up a solid background of youth work – between the youth program that I ended up running, interning at a child development center, working at camps, and tutoring. I was somehow convinced that I’d be a great fit to work at a charter school, and boy were they wrong. Within 4-5 months I was let go due to philosophical differences between myself and the administration.
For my mental health, I began going outside every day to shoot with my 35 mm camera that I had from my photography electives that I took my senior year. I spoke to so many new people, and connected with old friends.
I will forever be grateful to my friend that asked me to do a photoshoot for her and forced me to let her pay me 8 years ago.
I had finally found my thing that I could share with the youth. It’s important to have some sort of skillset that you could teach outside of just having a deep compassion for them.
I told myself that one day, I would have a production/art space that I can teach and create out of, but in the meantime I would become as talented as possible.
This long term goal has allowed me to be present to take each step and understand it as part of the larger picture.
There was a point where I was juggling 3 jobs at a time so that I could make enough to pay rent and make time for the craft. I had many jobs that humbled me, but each move that I made brought me closer to where I’m at and I’m still not even close to done yet.
The more I learn, the more I find that I don’t know. The spaces that I’m in keep getting larger, and the knowledge continues to get more and more intricate.
Currently I am a photo editor for a company with 3 separate entities and provide photo research for company wide marketing teams and process about 25 photographers work full time.
Outside of that role I am a photographer, gaffer, set designer, and lighting designer for live visuals.
Every project that I work on with a team of other creatives, inspires me and keeps me active. Being on set tests my skills, and it allows me to problem solve. It puts my mind to good use, and therefore puts it at ease.
If you’ve worked with me on set, you know how I am about getting to the vision. There’s nothing that I love more than nailing the ideas that myself and co-creators have in our heads. My goal is always for the vision to be actualized.
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My purpose is my path, and to share it with anyone who cares to listen.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
The most exciting thing about what I do is the versatility. One day I can be working with top executives and the next I can be working on an overnight music video for an indie artist. The lack of monotony while still maintaining structure is a very happy medium for me. I’m grateful for this opportunity to talk about what I do because I don’t share enough. My business is called Right Eye Studios where I perform photographic, gaffer, lighting design, set design and modeling services. I’m hoping to have an event to showcase some of my work next year!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Patience, reliability, and determination have been my top 3 qualities that have been most impactful on my journey. Patience is key because a strong foundation won’t happen over night, and as much as you think you want to quickly get there, you will learn that being prepared is more important than being fast. It can hurt you more than it can help you to get the opportunity and not be able to truly rise to it. Being reliable has made me a valuable asset. When people book me, they know I’m going to be communicative, timely, and I will do what I said I was going to do to the best of my ability. You’d be surprised how often people’s words don’t match their actions. My determination has kept me going when I’m tired. The reality is that the work is never finished. There is always work to be done, and sometimes this requires long hours and long nights. You must know when to rest, but you also must power through to the finish line.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents could have done was allow me to be a witness to how hard that they worked. Not working hard, hasn’t seemed like much of an option. I witnessed my mother go back to school and complete her bachelor’s degree all the way to her PHD. I saw and assisted her performing manual labor to grow vegetables and beautiful flowers and how she made sure to pass on that green thumb to me and my 3 sisters. I would overhear my dad leave in the morning to work in Midtown Manhattan at 7 AM and come home just in time to hype us up right before bed (much to my mothers dismay) often with stories of a celebrity he might have encountered at work and how cool he was about it. He always said that they’re regular people and the minute you lose sight of that you won’t have the same respect. Then he transitioned to working at home, and we saw how much his clients called him all day – every day and came with piles of paperwork, and he still found the energy to cook a big breakfast for the whole family on the weekends.
Contact Info:
- Website: veelewis.com
- Instagram: @veedotk
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-lewis-b5a6b397/
Image Credits
Shot by Colton Hannah’s
