Meet Phillip Pierce

We recently connected with Phillip Pierce and have shared our conversation below.

Phillip, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

Even though real estate media is all that I advertise, I actually perform a variety of work. I create videos and print media for my church, and build websites and create social media content for small businesses as well. These other outlets help me flex new ideas and styles that I really don’t get to in the more corporate realm of real estate media.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m currently a real estate photographer with aspirations of becoming a theology teacher. In 2020, I became a realtor. As time went on, I gradually felt God calling me to start attending college, so I slowly worked my way out of being a realtor and transitioned to working as a freelance photographer and videographer. By the end of 2023, I was no longer a realtor, and was instead working for my church and building experience shooting real estate. It’s definitely been a journey balancing work, school, church, and our family of five, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m nearly at my Associate’s degree, and then it’s on to my Bachelor’s!

Throughout this, one of my main focuses has been on ensuring that I do good, affordable work while maintaining my attention to school. I actively try not to make quick decisions out of fear or reaction, and instead go to the Lord to help with most of the leading. I haven’t wanted to expand and grow into the largest photographer in the city or become a media mogul, because I know that this job ultimately has a time limit, though it still has many years left. However, I’ve been incredibly blessed by how it’s gone, and I’m so thankful for all the experiences that it’s brought.

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?

Others may have different answers about me, but I think that the three most impactful things on my journey have been the support of my family, going to God with any uncertainty, and simply having a lifelong experience with cameras and computers. My wife has lifted me up through the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I could never do this without her support. On top of that, whenever I’m struggling to find what to do or where to go, God always provides a way. Lastly, even though I continue to learn all the time, I’ve used Photoshop since I was 12 and was practically raised by computers, so having that kind of background has helped the learning curve substantially.

If someone were to ask me how to get started in this field, I would tell them that these three things are fundamental. They need support from those around them, God, and to begin learning the technical requirements through whatever means necessary. YouTube is your ally and has an endless amount of tutorials and information to help.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

Failure.

Failure has made me question my employment, but it’s also provided the drive to improve. In the beginning, it wasn’t unusual for me to refer to screenshots of YouTube videos I had listened to 15 minutes prior on the way to a shoot, only for it to completely backfire. My first shoots involved me spending literally five hours editing one property, then I would hear other photographers talk about how they would shoot and deliver five in one day. In a way, it’s both frustrating and fun problem-solving my processes and finding what is and isn’t working. Through the repeated little failures, I’ve gradually grown to a point where I have confidence in my knowledge and understanding in my job.

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