We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leo & Brittany Trevino a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Leo & Brittany, 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?
Our work ethic comes from several places, but the main place being our parents. Both sets of parents (on either side) came from very little means, but as kids we witnessed them work hard to find success in their individual fields of occupation. They instilled in us that nothing is owed and to apply time and dedication to whatever we want to accomplish. In our case, we really wanted to run a photography and video company. We knew it would be challenging, but we sat down, made a plan, and introduced ourselves to as many wedding vendors as possible.
Once we got the ball rolling with weddings and photo-sessions on the calendar, our business grew, but so did the challenges and, likewise, our work ethic. You can’t grow unless you acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them, and then do what’s necessary to make it right, something else our upbringings taught us. Thankfully we’ve also been humble enough to lean on the community of photographers here in Tampa Bay whenever we’ve needed help or advice when presented with new challenges.
Now that we’ve been in business for over 10 years, we feel as though our work ethic has matured, allowing us to help younger/newer photographers, let our business run fluidly, and has allowed us to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
At Rad Red Creative, we focus on photography and videography services, specializing in weddings and portraits. Our style of work is creative, fun, colorful, and genuine. The tagline on our website is: We have found the perfect balance between capturing a natural/candid style of photography as well as creating and directing portraiture that is required on such a momentous day. Our brand focuses on a complete experience for each couple instead of just a transactional relationship. We offer help with planning, answering questions, finding out each client’s specific needs, creating timelines, picking locations, all with the goal of having their day run as smoothly as possible. Beyond that (and the most important thing), we want our couple to have fun! No one wants their big day to feel stressful or rushed, so we do our best to make the entire process fun and enjoyable while accomplishing everything necessary. We also have a heart to serve each couple and be more than just a photographer; we’re in their corner and will always have their backs. Whether that means pinning on a boutonniere or helping with the bustle, we give each couple 100% on their day!
At the end of the day, meeting and getting to know each client is the best of what we do. We don’t take our job of capturing the chapters in your life for granted. We see it as an honor!
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?
First of all, Customer Service because the core of our business is serving others. By providing excellent customer service, our business creates loyal customers and has allowed us to become successful. Good customer service means actively listening to needs, addressing concerns, ensuring every customer feels valued, and going above and beyond all expectations. We credit our knowledge to working in the service industry. We both honed these skills working retail at The Apple Store, but any retail or service job can help you learn and develop customer service skills.
Secondly is finding and maintaining a healthy work-home life balance. This is crucial for overall well-being and success. Since we are constantly giving our all to every client, we found that you need the right balance for mental and physical health to avoid burnout and stress and be properly equipped to handle challenges and achieve our goals. By taking care of ourselves and finding harmony between our professional and personal obligations, we can lead a fulfilling and satisfying life.
Lastly, a passion for photography and cinema. Nothing helps your business grow more than actually enjoying what you do for a living. If there’s a new lighting method to learn, we’re on it. New trending photo poses, or ideas? We’re going to try it, all while finding ways to put our spin on it. If we’re watching a movie, what lessons can learn from how the director lit a scene or moved the camera? If we’re booked for a wedding at the same venue for two weeks, lets find ways to make the wedding portraiture unique. We’re constantly learning and always trying to find the beauty in what we’re capturing!
Our advice is to treat everyone you work with, with respect. You never know who will open doors of success for you, or who will shut them.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
Like many other industries, we are continuing to learn what things look like in a post-pandemic world. In 2020, our industry was hit hard with shutdowns, and then we saw a huge boom when things opened in 2021 until now. Many people would say, “Great! Booms are awesome because that means you are working!” And while that may be true, there is an inevitable counterbalance in the wake. Mix that with inflation, and we fear that things could tip back toward the opposite side of the scale.
Our resolution is the continue to stand apart from the competition in the area. Offer top-notch services and offer the best customer service we can, and we believe that even in the valleys, we can maintain a successful business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.radredcreative.com
- Instagram: www.instragram.com/radredcreative
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/radredcreative
Image Credits
All Photos by Rad Red Creative
