Today we’d like to introduce you to Lloyd Austin.
Hi Lloyd, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Growing up, I knew I was never going to be an athlete despite being a big kid all my life, I knew I was never going to be anything academic despite my family members’ best efforts, and I knew I was never going to do anything musical – despite being African American I have the worse rhythm known to man But, I always knew I wanted to do something involving storytelling. I wanted to be a cartoonist, write/draw comic books, write books in general – I always loved how stories affected me and seeing the effect it had on my family members when they would leave a movie and everyone would share their thoughts and give their interpretations. I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t grow up in California, I lived in Chicago until I was 16 – but for some reason, it didn’t hit me until my late teens that people actually make films, like actual people, I couldn’t believe I never realized this was a career path. As my passion grew for filmmaking I eventually moved to San Diego, got a camera, and was quickly known as “The camera guy” because no matter where I was at, school campus, work, bar hopping in north park, or just around town, I always kept that “thang” on me.
As I got more familiar with the camera, not only did I grow a love for video but, surprisingly photography. While I love the stories I can tell with video, I loved the precision and the frozen-in-time aspect of photography. Unfortunately, as life goes and we get older other priorities come in the picture. Paying bills, working a part-time job, then a full-time job, wanting to get promoted at that job, relationships – things quickly started stacking up in my life, and my passions got pushed to the side. My life for a long time was working my full-time manager job at Forever 21, and if I’m being honest…it wasn’t much of a life to live. I grew tired, bitter, and didn’t have much time or energy to give to my passions because whatever energy I had left I would happily give to my relationships. Then, something crazy happened to all of us – COVID-19.
I was furloughed off work 3 months after me and my girlfriend moved out together, we moved out January 1st, 2020. We both were panicked, stressed, and overall unsure of the future but now I had nothing but time on my hands. I blew the dust off the camera gear, and I just started making stuff. I made a podcast, shot YouTube videos around the house, went out on hikes, and would film the whole thing. I spent that time just making content, and at that time, I’ve never been happier…I was finally doing what I loved.
With my friends on social media seeing the content I was making and how the quality would increase with each post, eventually I caught the eye of a friend I met in screenwriting class at Southwestern College. She told me she works at a video production studio where they basically make commercials for people selling products on Amazon and would love for me to meet her boss so I could interview. First off, I couldn’t believe that while I’m folding clothes and harassing customers to sign up for credit cards, that there are people getting paid to shoot and edit all day.
I would do anything to be there instead of here.
Eventually, my furlough ended, I was back to work but around August I had the opportunity to interview and was offered a 6 months intern position If I did good it would turn into a full-time position. Even though I already had a 40-hour-a-week job working as a full-time manager at Forever 21, and the internship was an additional 25-35 hours to my week – I made it work. I couldn’t tell you the amount of times I would wake up, edit, leave for work at 2 pm so I can be there at 3 pm, be there till 11 pm to close, head home and spend 5 more hours editing. There were days where I would have to open the store the next day – so no sleep for me some nights.
But it was worth it, I was putting out so much work and strengthening my skills so much that by the time my internship ended, and I left forever 21 I’ve gotten the attention of a few small business and entrepreneurs. I’ve done work for Fashion/clothing brands, real estate investors, best-selling authors, comic book authors, makeup artists, hair stylists, tattoo artist personal trainers, and more! Before I knew it one decision (and a global pandemic) changed my life. I was finally using my talents to tell stories, and I couldn’t be happier.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
You know when you’re on a plane, and the pilot comes “We’re experiencing some rough winds, so please prepare for turbulence,” and then IMMEDIATELY the plane starts shaking violently? It was a bit like that. Everyone tells you as a creative that the journey is going to be rough, but you really don’t know what they mean until it starts happening.
For me it was financial – while retail was soul-draining, depending where you work and how good you are, they’ll pay you well for that chunk of youth they’re taking away from you daily. My job at the time was paying me $24 an hour for my position, when I left that job to the job making videos, I started at $15 per hour and eventually got the clawed my way up to $17 an hour. Just to make it I had to do ubereats after work and grind as hard as I could to acquire new clients… My lifestyle literally flipped upside down.
But that taught me a lesson, while I had less money and honestly worked more hours just to make a fraction of what I was making before. I was happier, every day I woke up excited to start the day, which is in complete contrast to when I was working at Forever 21 and the night before. I would stay up in horror thinking about what the next day had in store.
I tell people all the time YOU pay to be a creative and the payment is sacrifice. If you’re not ready, don’t sign a check you can’t cash because life will come and get it regardless. Know what you need to sacrifice beforehand and when it’s time to hand it over – do it with a smile because down the line the rewards will come.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I make cool stuff for small/medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs. Maybe that’s putting it too simply, I make quality content for business that translates into tangible sales and business growth. I’m known for my “Cinematic” style, creative storytelling, and using my knowledge on marketing so we can surpass just making “cool” videos or “cool” photos. While they are cool, they’re going to help your business because of the thought and care I put into my work. My content is made to help business solve problems and that’s what I pride myself on.
Even though my time in retail isn’t something I look fondly on, that background is what separates me from others because I understand numbers and sales. On top of that, with my retail background I’ve gotten the ability to communicate clearly and just be personable. My clients find me easy to work with and overall egoless. Hard to have an ego after folding shirts that have quotes liked “blessed” and “lit” on them for the last 5 years of my life.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Shy. I was so shy! I would go to school; I had my little friends that I was close with, and they knew me and how cool I was but for the most part I stayed to myself. After school, I didn’t do any after-school programs. I didn’t like sports, and where I grew up that’s really it for when it comes to after-school programs. I would go home, watch TV or a movie, play Xbox with my friends., just normal millennial stuff. Wasn’t until college where I started branching out and learning more about the world and what I like. For the most part, where I grew up, if you weren’t in a sport there wasn’t much to do after school. So, a lot of my time was spent at home staring at screen in some way or form, probably why I’m here today, so I’ll take it!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/lia.mov
