Meet Carl Bott

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carl Bott. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Carl, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

I’ve always had high spirits. Even as a kid I’ve always looked on the bright side of things. It wasn’t until I moved to Nashville that this was truly challenged.

I moved to Tennessee is March of 2015 to work a door to door job for ATT. Unknowingly to me, my apartment was unavailable due to a water main break and nothing else was available. I check nearby apartments and hotels but nothing. Nashville was the fastest growing city at that time with over 250 people moving here every single day.

I’m originally from a small town next to Flint, MI. Before moving down I had been shot at twice and had 3 guns pulled on me. My friends were dying due to gang violence and drug abuse so moving back was not an option. My friend and I decided to sleep in the streets until our apartment was ready.

What was said was going to be 2-3 weeks became 8 weeks really fast. I was still working the door to door so I had that to occupy my mind. But, there was one moment I remember very vividly. It was storming really bad that day. We were leaned up against the side of this abandoned building charging our phones and we just started laughing. It wasn’t a joyous laugh. It was more of a…desperation sort of laugh. We realized we had hit rock bottom and as scared as we were we just started dreaming. Or at least I did.

I told my friend, one day I’m going to own a million dollar business right here in Nashville! He looked at me rain dripping off his hair and said “Carl that’s cool and all but we don’t know how we are going to eat tonight…” He was right, but I had a fire in me that was different from all the times before. It was like the only path was straight ahead.

Fast forward to today, I own the largest independently owned photography studio in Tennessee. We service roughly 100k families and growing exponentially. So, where does my optimism come from? I think it’s from being stripped away from comfort and proving that eventually everything will.be ok as ling as I keep taking that step forward. I can stay optimistic because I KNOW that as long as I keep walking the storm will soon pass.

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?

A lot of my story I told in the last section. I am the owner of Legacy Photo Company, a high volume photography company that specializes in youth sports, little league and school photography. We went from a dream to photographing 100k kids and having a full time team of 4 and 25+ contractors in just 6 short years. 2 of those years being covid which in our industry was completely shut down at that time.

Our mission is to make every child whether they are the starter on the team or the shy kiddo at school to feel like an absolute Rockstar after leaving our Photo station. We make an impact on these kids through their self esteem and that is important to my team and I.

We have just partnered with an augmented reality company which will help bring our photos to life, literally. We can now utilize video in conjuction with our photos to help tell a better story.

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?

1: Communication
Learn how to communicate! Listen then tell. Learn what’s important to people and then you can make a difference.

2: Sales
Sales is everywhere. We sell to our clients, our spouses and even our kids. The art of Sales doesn’t have to be scary or bad. Learn it with integrity and you will go a long way.

3: Relationship Building
This may be the most important. Learn how to build true relationships. Care about people, not just transactually. When you turn the what’s in it for me to what can I do for you hold on because your life is about to change.

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?

Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willinck

This book took my mindset and set it on fire. Learning that everything is my fault (even when it may not be) gave me so much power in my decisions. When you feel in power you instantly become more confident. I highly recommend checking this one out.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Legacy Photo Company

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