We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rafael Larin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rafael, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Work ethic for me came from three primary sources. First, was my father. He had his own business growing up and when you’re a business owner, the one thing that ensures failure if you do not have it is work ethic.
It can be too easy for some that are their own boss to say, “I’ll just cheat part of the day and watch a show.” It can be easy to cut corners when it comes to customer service. Fighting these urges comes partly from will power and sources that teach work ethic, like my father.
Alongside my father, playing sports throughout my childhood and now into my adult life is also a source of learning a work ethic. Anyone that is competitive in sports knows well that without a work ethic you will just be mediocre. Finally, being in the US Air Force helped bolster my work ethic. Cutting corners is not allowed in the Air Force and spending 10 years in the military, between active duty and the air national guard as a weekend warrior, definitely helps bolster a work ethic.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I own and operate The Light Committee, a Los Angeles area photography studio focused on one-on-one photo sessions. This tends to usually be actor headshots or professional headshots for business. However, other one-on-one shoots can include senior portraits, social media and other online profile photo sessions, modeling headshots and modeling digitals.
With this focus I get to collaborate with another person that has a goal to accomplish in their photo session. The one-on-one collaboration is a fun process that unfolds during every session. An actor might come in wanting specific looks that help her or him appear to be a hero-like character. A psychologist might come in with the goal of appearing to be a warm and accepting person. So much goes into creating branded photos like these, to get at such goals – the lighting, background, the camera and lens choices, the subject’s expressions, their outfit, and more. It’s a fun balance between creativity and technical know-how.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Be client-centric first and foremost. If you are a business owner, that your customer is always right is paramount. But it goes beyond this. You should attempt to anticipate everything your client might want so that you can meet their every need – as much as possible. This brings up the next important and related quality that has been impactful.
Technical aptitude and continued learning are a way of business life. It’s all too easy to automate as much as possible when it comes to understanding camera gear, lighting, and post-production work. The same is true of many fields. However, the more you can do things manually, the better you will usually be at your craft. For example, a person can use tracing paper to trace a landscape onto a canvas and it might look the same as an artist that learned to do it all manually by hand. But the artist that learned to do it by hand can continue enhancing the painting. They know how to add more flowers or trees if they feel the piece would benefit from it. So, technical aptitude is important.
Finally, any business owner should understand marketing. This can include everything from PR to advertising, and more. My background in PR has been helpful. Equally important is knowing your boundaries and not being afraid to get help if you are not an expert. For example, if you do not know website design, or don’t have the time for it, you should be comfortable accepting that getting help is not a bad thing.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?The book “Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It” is still as relevant as ever. Basically, if you chase two rabbits, both will escape. It is difficult trying to wear many hats and the more you attempt to do so, the more you defocus yourself.
Furthermore, it’s difficult as a brand to be more than one thing. Imagine if Starbucks began making and selling beer as a beverage company or if Budweiser started opening coffee locations. It doesn’t sit well in the mind of a customer, even on a small scale. If a local pizzeria grew wildly successful over many years and then suddenly started putting ramen noodles on the menu too, their customers are likely to start to thinking differently of their pizza. It’s easy to fall into the trap.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thelightcommittee.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelightcommittee/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-light-committee-montrose
Image Credits
Jaydn Meier Tatiana Tayeh Lumi Nessa Fred DiBella The Light Committee
