We were lucky to catch up with Mark Kuroda recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Mark , thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
It’s intriguing how prevalent this term has become in recent years. Personally, I’ve always had a clear understanding of my goals and my position in relation to them. I tend to view my career as a narrative composed of three distinct chapters. The first chapter began right after I graduated, when I ventured into the world of wedding photography. The second chapter saw me immersed in the world of commercial photography for various advertising brands. And presently, I find myself deeply engrossed in the realm of filmmaking.
When I encounter the term ‘imposter syndrome,’ I detect an underlying sense of deceit or trickery that, in my opinion, isn’t necessarily intentional. Rather, it often stems from a lack of experience, with individuals feeling like novices. However, this can be perfectly fine, as long as it’s openly communicated. To address the question of how to feel confident when embarking on a new task or adopting a new identity, there are several strategies to ensure you’re well-prepared.
First and foremost, mentorship has played a pivotal role in any success I’ve achieved. Finding someone who has already walked the path you’re aspiring to follow can provide invaluable guidance. Seek their advice on where to focus your time and energy. Secondly, practice is paramount. Strive to create the very thing you’re aiming for to the best of your ability before diving in. Much like Kobe Bryant’s meticulous pre-visualization routines, immersing yourself in the experience beforehand can make you feel more at ease when you’re actually in the moment.
Remember, gaining genuine experience and trusting in your abilities during the actual experience is key. If you’re honest with yourself about your current position and firmly believe in your potential to achieve your goals, you’re not an imposter; you’re simply at the beginning of your journey.
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?
I’m Currently focused on making a bunch of short films. One of them is about an anti-Asian hate crime that ruins a young musician’s dreams right before it’s about to happen. The other is about the changing landscape of human connection, two people fall in love over gaming, try to meet up in real life, and it doesn’t work. Lastly in the ideation stages of a documentary (never thought I would make a documentary) about the DDT dumping off the coast of Palos Verdes, where I grew up.
I’m pretty excited about photography broadly in the Los Angeles area, but a new offering that came out of a demand from personal network are headshots. I took everything I had learned from the advertising and editorial world, about quickly communicating someone’s essence and energy. Would love to share that with the viewers and please do reach out if you need photography or a DP on a project!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
These are great questions, the first is being super clear on what your goal is and where you are headed. Once this is defined and you know what that might be, then your mind is brilliant and can figure out how to get there. Any time I’ve struggled it’s because that goal was vague or non-existent.
The ability to prioritize and focus on what is important would then come second. I have a friend up in Portland who uses post-it’s and has three columns, a thousand dollar problem, a hundred dollar problem, or a one dollar problem. He then arranges the post its in ways that he’s tacking the most important issues all the time. Though it’s easy to fool ourselves and feel like we’ve been productive handling one dollar problems all day long, but little progress in life is made.
Thirdly would be grit. Success is hard work, most people don’t see the countless struggle, the near broke bank accounts, the discouragement, because the story that is focused on is a natural talent, or that tipping point in their career. But the honest truth is that it’s going to be a tough journey if you want to create a unique and beautiful life for yourself. There are going to be so many times you want to quit and go back to your previous way of doing things, but life is incredibly short, and you were put here for a reason, so go be brave and keep fighting.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Tough question there are so many great books. There was one at the very beginning of my career called “love is the killer app”. It’s basically a book about abundance, and how generosity and creating a network of trust and giving will open doors, and create abundance. It goes on to say that the shark mentality, is short sighted, and they might have short term gains but lose out in the long run. I’ve come to see this time and again, that sustained success is the tough thing, and that requires integrity, kindness, and generosity. Imagine what the world would be like if some of the big tech companies employed this thinking, they would be far more profitable, and the world would truly be a better place, not just some catch phrase from their pitch deck.
Contact Info:
- Website: kurodastudios.com
- Instagram: @markkuroda
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-kuroda-ab2aab90/
Image Credits
Photos were by me
