We were lucky to catch up with Luca Castagnini recently and have shared our conversation below.
Luca, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I have always been very self conscious since I was a kid.
I was very focused on fitting in and I was always trying to stand out while also trying not to become a potential target for bullies at school. That initially brought me to develop a broad net of friends since I had a lot of acquaintances and I would bounce around between one group and the other. I thought being liked and sought after by other people would actually help developing self-esteem. But that’s when I realize it doesn’t work that way actually.
In my experience the understanding my own uniqueness and creativity, alongside the support of my family and close friends, made me develop my confidence and self-esteem, both professionally and overall as a person.
I truly think confidence is something you have to work on and it starts by understanding yourself and your singularity. Of course my experience is unique in the sense that I was lucky enough to have a supportive family and friends in my creative and professional path as a Photographer and Creator, but I believe self-esteem and confidence need to be developed day after day nonetheless.
Finally, I strongly believe the environment you find yourself in has power over your journey of confidence and self-esteem development. From friends, to attitude toward life and the challenges you face every week, down to even your posture and discipline. There’s not a specific formula to improve these skills, but it is for sure a mix of good discipline, empathy, and creativity.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Professionally, I currently freelance in the Marketing field and I help business and personalities in their journey of creating or expanding their business through social media and other channels. I truly love connecting with people and especially getting to know their story and what they want to convey. I believe in the positive power of social media and I always try to utilize it in a way that is positive and actually helps the people and potential customers of my clients.
This year I am also very stoked about launching a sustainable wallet brand alongside my brother, but that’s still in the works so I don’t want to spoil too much!
Finally, for what concerns my creative career, I will soon launch private preorders of my travel book with photographs from my trips to Japan, a country that has really changed my point of view and turned on my creative side once again after some downtime.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that most helped me through my professional and creative journey are definitely discipline, creativity, and knowing how to communicate, or rather knowing what and how to communicate depending on the person I am talking to and what my goal is out of the exchange I am having with them.
Discipline in my opinion is built with consistency and a deep focus on your goals. Once you focus on the end point you want to achieve, and you’re consistent with the effort you’re putting in to get there, you’re already halfway there.
Creativity flows through you, it’s something you need to look for in the things you’re good at doing. It can be problem solving with creative solutions, the ability to creatively pivot and find middle ground during hard conversations or negotiations with clients or your peers, or even the ability of showing people something they weren’t able to visualize without a nudge. The only way to find your creativity is pushing yourself out there and through the challenges, you should be able to understand better how it flows through you.
I am in no way saying that I am a pro at communicating, it’s an insanely big field that takes practice and years to master, but I know enough to understand how important it is to know how to communicate to advance and improve relationships, situations, and life in general. I recommend reading books about communication and also active listening, because effective communication also comes from effective listening. My two book recommendations on these topics are: Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, and You’re Not Listening by Kate Murphy.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me is allowing me to prove myself and to choose my path, guiding me of course and increasing my awareness about potential challenges and how to overcome them. But overall they never put a limit or tried to push me to do something I did not want to do even in my educational path. We are not a rich family but any means, but they always gave me all the support they could.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lucacastagnini.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/luca_castagnini_/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luca-castagnini-2b2669159/
Image Credits
Luca Castagnini
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