Talent Isn’t Enough. VALUE Yourself.

Tolulope Berry: 00:00:00

Slow motion is better than no motion. My mom bought me a camera at the time, a little, you know, point and shoot camera.

I went to the beach at some point, took photos of random couples, and from there people started seeing things from other people like, who did this? I want that. Then I started getting calls like, oh, can we hire you for this? And I was getting like 50 here, 70 here, 100 there.

And the more I learned, the more I valued myself. So when I charge people for shoots, I don't charge for the shoot. I charge for the experience. Five clients paying you $5,000.

That's better than 20 unnecessary clients paying you $100. You have to kill the person you're comfortable with to the person who's ready to be uncomfortable to get there.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:00:45

Based on you listening to this podcast, you're probably a creative entrepreneur who's ready to stop hustling for clients and start building a business that runs on purpose, profit and peace.

ShySpeaks: 00:00:56

If that's you, we want to invite you to join the Creative to CEO challenge. A five day live coaching experience designed to help you shift your mindset and develop the habits to turn your creativity into consistent cash flow.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:01:09

And it's all happening live on Zoom inside a private community of ambitious creative entrepreneurs just like you. People who are done guessing, done grinding and ready to build with clarity and confidence.

ShySpeaks: 00:01:21

By the end of the challenge, you will have a crystal clear direction on your next 90 days. A profit plan that fits your lifestyle and the framework to start earning 10k plus months doing what you love without burning out or selling out.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:01:35

So if that sounds like what you need, then tap the link in the description or scan a QR code if you're watching this on screen. And do not forget to upgrade to VIP for bonus coaching and behind the scenes Q and A every day of the challenge with me and Shy.

ShySpeaks: 00:01:50

We can't wait to help you unlock CEO mode and the freedom you've been working for. Now let's get back to the episode.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:01:58

Welcome, welcome. And welcome to the Mighty My Creative Business podcast.

The number one podcast for creative entrepreneurs to learn strategy, structure and self development. I am your co host, Ron ironically.

ShySpeaks: 00:02:10

Jr. And I am your co host Shy Speaks. And this is going to be another great episode. I think they're all great. Why?

Because we're tapping in with creative entrepreneurs who are doing it and giving you a peek behind the brand so that you too can do it as well. Maybe you are already doing it or maybe you're getting started. You're in the right place because I'm about to introduce somebody who.

Man, if you're a photographer, lean in. Okay, Mr. Toluberry, aka Tea Berry Pictures, is in the building. Y' all clap it up.

Tolulope Berry: 00:02:46

Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:02:49

So that's us introducing you. How would you introduce yourself, Mr. Berry?

Tolulope Berry: 00:02:53

I'd say I'm a, you know, fashion, portrait and beauty photographer. I Nigerian by birth, moved here 13 years ago, and ever since then, it's been photography for me. You know, I used to live in the uk.

I lived in London for about a year.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:03:12

Okay.

Tolulope Berry: 00:03:13

Then moved here. And I feel like that's the one thing I really want to do with myself. So.

ShySpeaks: 00:03:18

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:03:19

Yeah. It's just doing what exactly I want to do.

ShySpeaks: 00:03:22

Wow.

Tolulope Berry: 00:03:22

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:03:23

Okay. Come on. Your little accent.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:03:26

Right, right?

Tolulope Berry: 00:03:26

Nah, don't pay attention to that. Nah, don't pay attention.

ShySpeaks: 00:03:31

Texas accent too. In there, too.

Tolulope Berry: 00:03:32

You got really? Do I?

ShySpeaks: 00:03:33

No, I'm just.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:03:35

Now, you. You were. You were born in Nigeria.

Tolulope Berry: 00:03:37

Yes. Okay. I was born and raised in Nigeria.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:03:39

Okay. Born and raised. And then you moved to the UK and then to the uk?

Tolulope Berry: 00:03:42

Yes.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:03:43

Okay. Okay. That's what's up. That's what's up. Now, along that journey, when did you. You fall in love with photography?

Tolulope Berry: 00:03:52

It was when I was in London.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:03:54

Okay.

Tolulope Berry: 00:03:54

So my mom bought me a camera at the time. A little, you know, point and shoot camera. And then there's this effect that you get when you shoot, like, a subject out of focus.

The background is blurry. I used to do that with Photoshop.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:04:09

Okay.

Tolulope Berry: 00:04:10

And I was wondering, how do you get that effect? And I shot a photo of a bird at Trafalgar Square, and I got that, and I realized the science between subject distance and background.

Ever since then, I just kept doing it and doing it, and I fell in love with photography. And I said, you know what? I'll just do this as a hobby. And from there became a hobby.

People saw it, they liked it, they wanted a service, and then became a business from there. Wow.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:04:36

Wow.

Tolulope Berry: 00:04:37

Yeah, that's dope.

ShySpeaks: 00:04:38

That's dope.

Tolulope Berry: 00:04:39

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:04:39

Fun to stay, became intrigued with something.

Tolulope Berry: 00:04:44

Yes.

ShySpeaks: 00:04:44

So, first of all, I wonder what made her want to get you a photographer? I mean, a camera, though, that's kind of interesting.

Tolulope Berry: 00:04:49

I used to do grassy designs. So she wanted to just do something special for me. And, you know, being a hustling mom, she wanted to make me smile, so she got me a camera.

ShySpeaks: 00:04:59

Right. She could have got you, like, a keyboard.

Tolulope Berry: 00:05:01

Like a keyboard. Right. Not knowing the camera would be the start of the greatness.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:05:06

Wow.

ShySpeaks: 00:05:07

That's so cool. Shout out to the moms out, right? Matter of fact, right now, if you're watching your mom, just go buy a camera. You know what I mean?

Just go ahead, buy it. Put it in their hands. We never know if they never know what area of the science of photography. So that's pretty cool. Ron, you got something?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:05:22

Yeah. So your mother gets you this camera. You, you know, you obviously, you play around with it, you learn how to use it, right?

You get better, you develop your skills. But then from somebody just using. Was it a point and shoot or was it like.

Tolulope Berry: 00:05:36

It was a point and shoot.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:05:37

Okay, so you're using this point and shoot camera, right? How did you get from mom giving me this point and shoot camera to, oh, I can monetize this? Like, yeah, what?

Like, yeah, fill in that little dash right there for me.

Tolulope Berry: 00:05:51

All right. So it was back in: 2011

She lived in Ghana at the time, also Nigerian. I wanted a camera. Obviously, I couldn't afford it. I was young, and she's like, you know, I'll get it for you.

Then she bought me a Canon T3i, which is my very first DSLR. It was like $600 then, right? I said, oh, snap, now I have this. Let me see what I could do with it. So I started learning things on my own.

I, I, I went to college, photography as well, have a degree in photography, and I also have a degree in computer science. Having that DSLR made life easy for me.

ShySpeaks: 00:06:38

We're just gonna put that out there, multiple degrees.

Tolulope Berry: 00:06:42

You know, having that camera made everything easy for me. I didn't have to, you know, process photos. The way we normally would do is go to the lab and print out, you know, do all that stuff.

And I just kept trying things, new things. When I do this and I get a result, I write it down. I had a book where I wrote everything down.

You know, I learned settings, ISO, shutter speed, and aperture myself. And from there, it became better because the more I tried, the more I learned.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:07:12

Hold on, let's put a pin in it. Don't stop. Put a pin. The more he tried, the more I learned.

So a lot of times, us as creatives, we suffer from perfectionism where we want it to be perfect, right?

Tolulope Berry: 00:07:25

Yes.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:07:26

And then we don't end up moving, we don't end up doing because we want it to be perfect, because it doesn't exist. But she was like, no. The more that I did it, the more that I tried, the better I got, the more I pulled.

Tolulope Berry: 00:07:36

Shout out to a friend of mine. He said one thing one time. Rul. He's also a photographer. I trained him too. He says, slow motion is better than no motion.

ShySpeaks: 00:07:46

To the people.

Tolulope Berry: 00:07:47

Slow motion is way better than no motion at all. When he's. That. That's. That stuck in my head for years. He was just learning too, then. And I said, oh, wow. Just gotta try.

The more you try, the more you learn. And. And I got to a point where I was teaching my instructors in school things. They didn't know what a history brush was.

They didn't know what a gradient tool is. I had to teach them. Wow. And because of that, they hated me. It's like, how are you teaching your instructor things? My. My classes.

I used to sleep through class because I already know exactly what he's talking about. So your assignment will be easy for.

ShySpeaks: 00:08:28

Me because you was just so studious about it.

Tolulope Berry: 00:08:31

Yes.

ShySpeaks: 00:08:31

So you became just so like, I'm checking this out. I'm trying this out. I'm checking this out. You were just so. By the time they're teaching you, you already.

Tolulope Berry: 00:08:38

I already know exactly what you're talking about. It was the time I spent three days straight with no sleep learning how lighting works. No sleep at all. And I slept for another three days.

When I finally slept, it's like, oh, God, I'm tired. That's how I got here.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:08:55

Wow. No, I. I saw and I. Innocent. This is the thing. You perfected your craft, which I don't think the average creative has that issue. Right.

The average creative, they've put in the hours they've spent time perfecting it. So you got the point and shoot. You perfected the craft.

Tolulope Berry: 00:09:13

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:09:14

But then there was a point to where you was like, okay, I have this skill set. Where does that. Where does that light bulb to where? Oh, I can monetize this. Come in at.

ShySpeaks: 00:09:23

I'm gonna be charged. I'm a charge.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:09:25

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:09:26

I'm gonna do it as a career.

Tolulope Berry: 00:09:28

So in: 2013

They said, oh, can we pay you $50 to, you know, take a photo of this party? I was like, $50? I'll do it. Because I was just an international student, you know, who didn't have no money. It's like, 50. I'll take it. I did it.

Then I went to the beach at some point, took photos of random couples like, hey, go. This is your photo. You like it? Da, da, da. Paid me 20 for a print. And from there, people started seeing things from other people like, who did this?

I want that. Who did this? I want that. Then I started getting calls like, oh, can we hire you for this? And I was getting like 50 here, 70 here, 100 there.

And the more I learned, the more I valued myself.

ShySpeaks: 00:10:27

Because wait a minute, we're not going to go not another step further.

Tolulope Berry: 00:10:32

The more I learn, the more I value myself.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:10:35

I value myself.

Tolulope Berry: 00:10:36

Yes. I didn't let nobody place the value on me. I value myself because I spent all these hours, sleepless nights learning.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:10:43

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:10:43

Now I'm gonna charge you for it.

ShySpeaks: 00:10:45

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:10:45

So when I charge people for shoots, I don't charge for the shoe. I charge for the experience because I've spent too much time learning.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:10:52

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:10:53

So then from there, I had a. Had a girlfriend then who's like, why don't you just, you know, take this as a profession? And my mom really wanted me to get a degree.

She said, you can't be a child of mine without a degree. Nigerian moms don't play. She said, whatever you want to do with your life, get a degree.

So I went to college, got a degree before then already became a little business. I live for my friends and family. And after college, I spent this much money in college, I spent this much time learning.

Now I want to gain money from what I learned. So from there, I made a website while in college. I met a. I made business cards while in college. I had an art show while in college.

And from there, my name just went out because I had one of the best photos at the art show.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:11:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:11:45

Became a business from there.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:11:46

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:11:47

There's a certain level of, like, studiousness that I think, like, is not.

Tolulope Berry: 00:11:55

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:11:56

Like you say. You said you think the average creator and the create, like, the average creative, they. They lean into the creativity of it. They study that.

I don't know if they. Studying, like, how he's, you know, like, he. Yeah, yeah, he told me he's talking about something else.

It's a certain level of study that I understand the full gambit of it to where nobody has to come to me as a business coach to convince me of my value.

Tolulope Berry: 00:12:26

Right.

ShySpeaks: 00:12:26

When you meet creatives, because I know you've coached creatives, sometimes they do the thing and they know, but you're still having to encourage them to, you know, you know, you can charge a little bit more, or maybe you can. Or maybe, you know, you're so valuable. And they're still not convinced of that.

Tolulope Berry: 00:12:41

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:12:42

Because they haven't had this level of studiousness. And then there's also some. What do you call it, Initiative that I'm hearing.

Tolulope Berry: 00:12:51

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:12:52

That you took. And so, man. And I'm sure, like, if you're. Somebody's watching this in their photographer, they're like, man, get on with it.

We all, all photographers, we got our stories. I was shooting. He was, you know, I was shooting in the gym as well, you know.

Tolulope Berry: 00:13:05

Yeah, we're showing me at the gym.

ShySpeaks: 00:13:07

I was doing that too. Like, okay, so we know how he made the. The funds. Like, how do you get. You got to this point where you made a website, though.

You made your own website. And so then you. You're like. And then word of mouth gets out, and so now you're just booked.

But how do you get to the point where at some point, like, okay, I went from making 50, 70, 100, where I'm like, oh, I can actually live off of this, where maybe I'm not at 100k, I'm not at six figures, but I'm at, like a good 70 salary, like, what. What I would be making if I had, like a teaching job or something like that.

How long did it take you to get to the point where it's like, this is a pretty decent salary?

Tolulope Berry: 00:13:47

Honestly speaking. So many years to understand my value. Right. I did things for free as a. As a new photographer. You have to shoot for free.

Because while shooting for free, you're learning too, right?

ShySpeaks: 00:14:03

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:14:04

You can't just, you know, put yourself out like, yeah, I'm a photographer, and then mess things up when jobs come. It took me a while, but when I. When I figured it out, I changed my pricing from what everybody wants to what certain people want.

Because quality is better than quantity. Right? Right. If you have like five clients paying you $5,000, that's better than 20 unnecessary clients paying you $100. Right?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:14:40

Right. So. So. Oh, so let me. Because that quantity over quality or quality over quantity argument is had quite often, but depending on the situation.

So initially, when you were learning. Right. When you were developing and growing, it was quantity over quality.

Tolulope Berry: 00:15:00

Yes.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:15:01

Because the quantity helped you get to quality. Right.

So then once you get that quality, though, now it's about quality over quantity when it comes to who I want to serve, because I can't service everybody. Right. Because once again, there's a certain Level of client that I want. Yes. Right. And I'm providing this quality for. So now I'm not doing as much.

I'm doing actually less, but I'm probably making more.

Tolulope Berry: 00:15:29

Exactly.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:15:29

Because of.

Tolulope Berry: 00:15:31

Yeah, yeah. You just have to weed out.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:15:35

Like.

Tolulope Berry: 00:15:35

They'Re like, less is more.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:15:38

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:15:38

If that makes sense. Yeah.

So without the people who don't appreciate your craft, without the people who don't understand what you do, without the people who want to pay you less for more, without the people who want to disrespect your craft and just say whatever, because they think it's just photography, anybody could do it. No. Not everybody can be a photographer. Everybody can use a camera. But being a photographer is way beyond just clicking buttons and.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:16:02

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:16:03

And making pictures.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:16:04

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:16:04

And so you're like, I don't just do that. If you. You just need somebody to, like, take a random shot for you, then you probably just.

When you say, I'm going for certain people, I'm putting my price at people who are looking for quality. Because I'm like, a quality person. I'm a. I'm a quality shop. Quality, editing, quality, this. And so they. So this is my. My target target market.

So you start thinking your pricing strategy matches your target marketing. Okay, then. But how do you begin to go after these clients to get like. Like, are you starting to post? Like, how do you, you know, like.

Tolulope Berry: 00:16:42

Yeah, how do I get my client.

ShySpeaks: 00:16:43

Now that we know who they are, certain parts attract them, what is the, you know, rhythm or whatever to get.

Tolulope Berry: 00:16:50

Them coming to me?

ShySpeaks: 00:16:52

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:16:52

Most times I rely on posting more and tagging brands. I used to do that a lot. But in recent times, they've. They've been the one finding me because obviously my work speaks for itself.

You know, signature edits, the kind of content that I. That I put out. And when they find me, I make sure that I. I service them in ways where they'll want to come back again.

You know, I don't really care about how much I want to charge you. I care about you coming back. Because if you pay me 5k one time and don't come back again, it's not good. But if you pay me 3k and come back 10 times.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:17:33

Right.

Tolulope Berry: 00:17:34

I'm good at that. And then the more I give you, the more you appreciate me, the more I, you know, increase the price as time goes by. So mostly they find me.

But the best way to get contact with brands is research. If you research online, look for, like, the art director for, say, Fenty. You always find the information.

And now that we have AI, AI does everything for you.

If you go on chat GPT and say, hey, I want to shoot with, with Fenty, it tells you who the art director is, the email, the phone number, who to reach out. It tells you everything. I'm mind blown, but back then I had to go on Google search, spend hours to do that.

So the easiest way that I've gotten clients in, in real time is just continuously posting and tagging who you want to work with. When you want to work with say Nike, you can do a headshot thinking you work in Nike.

No, you have to go buy the brand, get creative with it, tag them. That's right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:18:35

You said, you said posting.

Tolulope Berry: 00:18:37

Yes.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:18:37

So I mean, I just want you to be clear, where specifically are you posting?

Tolulope Berry: 00:18:42

Instagram and Twitter.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:18:44

Okay.

Tolulope Berry: 00:18:44

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:18:44

Okay, so Instagram and Twitter, those are your, those as a photographer, it's like.

Tolulope Berry: 00:18:50

Yes.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:18:50

And because I mean Instagram started as a photography platform. Right. It may not be that now, but still.

Tolulope Berry: 00:18:55

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:18:56

Okay.

Tolulope Berry: 00:18:56

So Instagram is the biggest place to be honest.

ShySpeaks: 00:18:59

Okay. All right. So that's, that's how you attract them to you.

Now once you get a client, what I believe is what also helps a person go to the next level financially, especially in with their craft, is once I got a client, how I'm going to treat the client, the client experience. So do you have a particular like system, systematic way that you handle the client from the time they book with you, the time they get their photos?

Like tell somebody if they're, they're listening, they're a photographer. What is it, what's the experience supposed to be like? Is it quite the, you know, or is it just a quality photo? And this is.

Tolulope Berry: 00:19:37

No. So two main things, right? Be careful and be respectful. That's it.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:19:46

Be careful.

Tolulope Berry: 00:19:47

Careful and be respectful.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:19:49

Can you elaborate? Elaborate.

Tolulope Berry: 00:19:52

Because be careful is you don't know who you're talking to. You don't want to say something out of pocket.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:19:58

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:20:00

Say example, a brand comes to me and says, oh, we want to have a shoe with you. We have 20 models, we have 10 hair products this and that. You don't want to say, well, I can charge you 20,000 for that. No.

You will ask how much is the budget? What are we working with so I can know exactly how to fit in your budget and make it comfortable for us. Right. Know what you say?

Be careful what you say because you could throw them off in a second.

ShySpeaks: 00:20:31

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:20:32

And be respectful. A lot of photographers these days just think having a camera is all that's needed. They're so disrespectful. No, just.

And they say something in lines of, oh, well that's, that's too much for us. And you're like, okay, cool, well that's my price. No, can't do that. Right.

Just say, okay, I respect your choices and your pricing, but how can we fix this where it can work for both? Because I really would love to work with your brand. I love your brand.

I've seen what you do and, and I would like to impute in what you do as well and give you my creative side where both of us can benefit from this. That way you already attracted who you're talking to. Okay, you know what? I like him.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:21:17

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:21:17

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:21:18

All right, so somebody is watching, like, man, that sound cool. He's saying, be nice, you know.

Well, how has this client experience that you provide which I actually asked you about, like, what's the process once they work with you, like the actual systematic process.

But I love what you said, so I'm gonna come back to that question though, like, because I'm sure if you're working with you said gave an example of Nike or whomever they. You get the contract, you get the client, then you shoot. There are some files, there are some emails or something.

That's the process I wanted to ask you about because I'm sure you have to handle them with certain. Like they may have deadlines or deliverables or uploaded. I don't, I don't know. I'm not. So that's what I'm asking.

But before I do that, for those who are wondering how this, this, what he provided works, tell me some of the brands that you've worked with.

Tolulope Berry: 00:22:08

All right. Currently I'm the photographer for Juvia's place. If it's a big makeup brand, if you know them. I shoot all the pictures now.

I've shot with Universal Studios when I shot with designer to do the sings. Yeah. I've also worked with what's it called? Dashiki Pride. I have had like a one on one session with someone from bet. So I've those my major and I've.

I had a lush La Vie. It was a lingerie brand as well that I worked with as well. So it's. It's just a bunch that I've done.

ShySpeaks: 00:22:53

Yeah. I'm just saying. So you may want to try to be respectful and be. What do you say? Be careful.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:22:59

Careful.

Tolulope Berry: 00:23:00

Careful and be respectful.

ShySpeaks: 00:23:01

All right, so I'm gonna come back to, to your, to your process question. Do you have a process rather that as part of the client experience that you do it always this way. Like I do my files this way, I do, you know.

So is there something you want to share with that?

Tolulope Berry: 00:23:16

Oh yeah, process. When I do the shooting, I make sure they have all their photos also depending on the contract that we have.

So contract in place says you do the photos, I want the rights to the photos. The clients always want the rights to the photos, which is something you can charge for if you want to.

I charge for it because I created photos, I own the rights to it automatically. A photographer does. So whoever, whoever clicks the button, even if it's your phone, they own the right to it. So they want the rights.

I provide them the prices, they're okay with it. I do the entire photo, I send out to them instantly. They have all the files.

After I like deleted the duplicates and done some color corrections here and there. When I send it, they send me back how many photos they want edited, which is also in the contract.

So example with say, let's say Juvia's place wants the 100 photos edited, they'll tell me we want 100 going to be in the contract. They will send me back the 100, I edit the 100 send out to them.

And I always make sure I stick to time because if they say we want this in the next one week, it better be ready in the next one week. If I'm going to be later than a week, three days before I let them know, hey, I've done this much, I will need a few more days to finish this.

So the day that you say you're going to finish it, please finish it because they wouldn't want you again if you, if you go past that.

ShySpeaks: 00:24:48

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:24:48

If you keep to your words, they stay with you.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:24:50

Yeah, but that's. And that's good. That's, that's communication.

Tolulope Berry: 00:24:53

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:24:53

Right.

Tolulope Berry: 00:24:53

Gotta communicate. Yes.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:24:55

Even if I know that I'm not going to make the deadline three days before that deadline, I'm communicating. Right. And that's all a lot of times they want to hear. Yeah, is this let me know, don't let me wait now?

I've been waiting these 10 days, the 10 days here, you like?

Tolulope Berry: 00:25:08

Yeah. Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:25:09

Well, I need it. I need an extension.

ShySpeaks: 00:25:11

What?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:25:11

Like, why are you just not letting me know? That's. That's huge. That's huge. And that's something. So it's so small.

Tolulope Berry: 00:25:18

So small, but so effective.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:25:20

Exactly.

ShySpeaks: 00:25:20

Integrity. That's a part of your client experience and that's why? Because people want to know well, why they always want to work with him. I got good stuff.

That's why I'm. We're trying to let you know what is happening with people who are making six and seven figures and eight figures with this, with their talent.

It's some other little nuance things that you can maybe add.

So, ah, the day of I'm letting you know that I'm not gonna have it when in reality, you know, that's not careful because the person has already told the web design team that they're gonna get this stuff so they can move forward with there. But now they can't move forward. They're at a standstill because they're still waiting on. And so you really are not really mindful.

And then like, like what you said, it's like, hey, I've done this much. Let's say back to that 100 here I have 60 of them done.

Tolulope Berry: 00:26:06

I can give you, send you 60 and the 40 is going to be ready at this time.

ShySpeaks: 00:26:10

That way they can move forward with the project. Sometimes these things are not just depending.

Like if you're shooting with brands and you're trying to get to this six and seven figure mark, like some of this stuff is going to wind up on the side of a building. It's going to be on a billboard. It's going to be at Times Square.

Tolulope Berry: 00:26:24

Oh yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:26:25

So we need. They need time to get with the photo to add the copy or font on there or whatever they're going to wind up doing.

They need to have that into the billboard company. So many, so far in advance. If you don't get it in advance, it's not going to be on the side of the building. It's not.

So you're going to mess with the whole rollout campaign at the photography level. And I wanted to go through all of that because I want people to understand how important the creative is.

Sometimes we see all this stuff like, man, it's super cool. I got my name on the. I'm on the billboard in Times Square. You know what I mean? But that is probably a photo that was shot by a photographer.

So when you're reveling at all these billboards, just know is probably, you know, somebody like Tolu on the background. So yes, but you, that's why, that's why your client experience and your timely delivery or communication matters. Or giving what you can matters.

Because they may say, hey, we get it. It's three days later. You, you don't have all 100. All I need is give me 10.

Tolulope Berry: 00:27:25

Give me 10, give me 10 and.

ShySpeaks: 00:27:27

They can move forward with the project and that.

So and I like that you talk about that because a lot of times people want to know, even with me as not just like and some of the other entrepreneurial whatever that I have that may not be as creative, but in the creative side of me, people work with me specifically because there's an experience that they get. They were able to book me from what time they booked me. We had, they got a timely contract from the contract. They had an invoice.

They knew what the next steps was. We, my team, we were communicating with them as far as like, hey, here's what you need. We don't wait for them to ask.

We know that they're going to need a W9. Yeah, you know, okay, right, you're going to need a W9. So here's your, here's. Hey, thank you so much for. We book and we're all locked in.

Here's your, here's her W9. Here are a few headshots if you're going to need those. And then also here's this, right?

So we just give them everything that we know that they're going to need. So they're not asking and they're like, man, we just love working.

Tolulope Berry: 00:28:20

Right.

ShySpeaks: 00:28:21

And they like why was what I saw on stage or what I saw her. It wasn't that part. It was the back end. It was the experience.

Tolulope Berry: 00:28:28

It was experience.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:28:29

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ShySpeaks: 00:29:29

Now I'm gonna go back, I'm impress you a little further on the systems and structure side. You said I upload this and I send that. What tools are you using?

Because you say you're editing and I'm sure you need to edit quickly, you're getting this stuff to brands because we know this stuff is going on billboards. Right. So what are the tools? What, like, what are your favorite editing tools? Like your top one, and if you can't use that one, your second one.

And then also, how are you uploading and sending things? What tools are you using for that?

Tolulope Berry: 00:29:56

Yeah, I use three major things. First is Capture One. Capture One Pro. I use that for lighting and color correction.

mputer renders files in Adobe: 1998

Now, if you want to render in SRGB, you lose 100%. You have to bring it back somehow, which I don't like to use. I haven't used Lightroom in years.

So I use Capture One Pro for my color correction and highlights and shadows. I export them to Photoshop as TIFF files. If you export them in JPEGs, you're limited to what you can do. Right.

So I export them as TIFF files or png, which is direct negative, to Photoshop. Photoshop is where I do my skin corrections. So all of my skin retouching, hair removal blemishes, and that is done in Photoshop. Then I export it.

I want to export files. I don't export as JPEGs. Again, I export as TIFF files. Because T files are way larger.

One photo can be about 50 megabytes or 200 megabyte because they're large enough for print. Hence the reason why, if you look at Juvia's place's Essence Festival event, they had my photos blown up super big on their walls.

And I didn't even think it was gonna happen until I saw that. I said, oh, well, dang it. This me. Right?

ShySpeaks: 00:31:36

So this goes back to what I was just talking about a while ago when you. Again, delivery matters. And like, this episode is not. I know that. You don't know that. You need to know it more.

Okay, listen, you need to know, like I said Billboard, but you're giving a real world example. They're going to Essence right now. We're in Houston during the time frame of Afro Tech. And when you. When they're. There's like vendor hall.

So this makeup line is there. They have their booth, and they don't want the stuff looking all pixelated on them.

Tolulope Berry: 00:32:08

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:32:08

So this is how. How do you get these quality, quality, quality photos.

And so if you're a photographer right now, you're probably like, oh, I'm gonna put myself in lightroom and stripping my color. But now you just helped them out. Boom. They're going here, and then from there they're going to here, where you edit and then you export.

And now you're able to retain this. But what if you didn't do that? The quality wouldn't have been there. And now they're at Essence without a booth because they didn't get quality is.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:32:32

Yeah, but like you said, some people don't know that. You was like, we know that. Nah, some people don't. I said, I've worked with photographers that's still sending JPEGs. You know what I'm saying?

Tolulope Berry: 00:32:41

And it's like, so I see. So I'm still shooting JPEGs. I'm like, Bro, what are you doing? Yeah, you can't shoot. You have to shoot raw. Yeah, RAW is like shooting videos in C log.

It gives you access to mess with the colors however you want. Yeah, but JPEG is. Is automatically going to kind of assume this is the best settings for you.

Then when you do that, you put it in Photoshop, you can't even do much.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:33:08

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:33:09

One, they're really small files. Two, they've been compressed. Three, you have lost quality and details.

There's no way you're getting the crispy image out of there unless the camera is just something super nice. Like if you have like the Sony, like a 7R III, you might get away with it.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:33:26

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:33:27

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:33:27

So. And what's the. What's. What's so dope about this interview?

And what I'm hearing from you is there is a balance between talent and then there's a balance between just the intangibles, the things that's not necessarily attractive, like you said, just that customer experience, knowing the technical side of things to where, once again, that stuff will keep. That'll keep me getting business. Talent will probably get you looked at.

But these other things that, that you're discussing, that's what has them coming back and that's what's missed a lot of times, because once again, people are just focusing on talent.

Tolulope Berry: 00:34:00

Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:34:01

And they'll look at somebody's stuff and they, like you said, we were talking about comparing earlier, where it's like they look at it. I'm comparing it. I'm just as good or my stuff. Yeah, but your talent may be better.

Tolulope Berry: 00:34:12

Right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:34:13

But this other side, this other side, your business acumen, the. Your customer experience, the way that you, you know, deliver on time, the integrity, like all the communication, all that Stuff they may not have.

Right. So they're not going to get those opportunities or if they get them, they're not going to keep them.

So I'm seeing that balance to where it's like, you can't just focus on talent.

Tolulope Berry: 00:34:34

Can't. Can't. I'll give you a secret. Be funny.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:34:39

Okay.

Tolulope Berry: 00:34:39

Be a funny man. Be a funny woman. Be funny creator. Because it, it makes your clients warm up to you. My favorite, Juvia's place.

She loves me because whenever she sees me, she's like, your energy just feels this room. And I know it's you in here. There was a day I left the room, I was in to the other room where they were doing, you know, makeup and set up.

And once I walked, he didn't even see me. Once I walked in, she's like, totally here. She didn't even see me. She was facing the other way. She's like, totally. How do you know I was here?

So I can just feel your energy in here? Because I make her laugh, I make her comfortable. She doesn't like taking pictures, but when she sees me, she wants to take pictures.

Because you've given her that, that comfortability where it's like, yes, I like this person. I want to keep working with them. So I always say it might not be accurate, but I say the entire work is 60% behavior and character and 40% talent.

ShySpeaks: 00:35:47

I believe it.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:35:48

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:35:48

Yeah, I believe it. 60% character and behavior and 40 talent.

And what you're saying is, you're saying be funny, but what you're also saying is really, what you're really saying is be personable.

Tolulope Berry: 00:36:00

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:36:01

Because for some people, funny may not be.

Tolulope Berry: 00:36:03

They like the thing. Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:36:05

But they can be personal. You can be sweet, you can be hospitable. You can be, you know, and, and that really, it really does matter.

Because I remember a friend of mine referred another of our friends to a, like a. To go play with a touring musician. And he can play like, he can, he can play. He can play, play, play his instrument. He's just not a good hang.

It's just not good to be around like, he does not.

It's just like you don't feel like you want to be here because when it comes to creative based businesses, we don't have, we tend to not have stale businesses. We want to have businesses that feel a bit different and we wanted to feel it. You have to keep the vibe high.

Tolulope Berry: 00:36:50

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:36:51

Right. And so you can't, you can't run, you can't drain the vibe. Because you're gonna kind of disrupt what's going on. So I, he, he, he.

He got called back a couple of times. Just. They just need somebody just to play the instrument.

Tolulope Berry: 00:37:02

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:37:02

But he didn't wind up eventually. He never got called back after a while because it was just kind of. And we asked the person, like, why you. Why you been working with such and such.

You know, we. It's like, he's good. He's like. He just. He didn't. He didn't connect. It didn't seem. And it doesn't feel. And I've experienced that too.

I be like, I'll have people that'll be working with me that I've contracted, and it just don't seem like they like me.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:37:27

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:37:28

Yeah. Once they feel uncomfortable with you, they're not calling you back.

ShySpeaks: 00:37:33

Yeah. And they might. But I just date us. They're just. They seem like they're just there treating.

Tolulope Berry: 00:37:38

It like I'm just there for a job and I'm gonna leave. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:37:41

Do this job. I'm gonna make my money.

Tolulope Berry: 00:37:43

And I'm out.

ShySpeaks: 00:37:43

And I'm out. Like, you know? You know what I mean? Like, not trying to say we gotta be buddy, buddy, pal, pals, friends, BFFs.

You know, you and her probably not going over each other house. Like, I mean, not. Maybe not yet, but, like, it. It needs to. What you said is very important and it is a secret.

Like, I need to know that you enjoy being here. You. And first of all, do you enjoy doing what you do? It's hard for me to tell if you ain't even enjoying it.

Tolulope Berry: 00:38:07

Just doing it for the money or what. Right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:38:09

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:38:09

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:38:10

Nobody wants that feeling. So I just wanted to echo. Echo that. So shout out to that secret. I've been asking a couple of questions. I pressed him on his processes, his tools. Okay.

What you got? What we got? What you got?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:38:22

Well, no, I mean, he. The stuff I wanted to know. He. He answered. We. We've heard. Just kind of like that. That matriculation. No. Nope. Thank you. Thank you. I'll edit that out.

Whatever. So what they want to ask.

ShySpeaks: 00:38:35

Okay, so. So what do you want? What do you want?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:38:39

So we talked about you and kind of what you do, but I would assume it's not just you. It might be you with the.

With the shutter and whatnot, but I'm assuming you have some other support that's helping you to scale and do some of the great work that you've been discussing that you do.

Tolulope Berry: 00:38:59

Yes, I do.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:39:01

Your Team.

Tolulope Berry: 00:39:02

I have a few people that work with me, so I, I, I, I kind of raised myself to be a one man army, which is bad because I drain myself out. But when it comes to certain clients, I make sure I do the work personally.

I have a retoucher who's not here far away that can help, help when needed. I have a manager, her name is Dami. I have a lawyer as well that helps with the contracts in case there's something going on. They handle all that.

And I have an assistant, a guy who, you know, when I need support. Say, if I want to shoot a wedding or I want to do a birthday, I want to have an extra hand with a different camera.

I have a guy in Dallas, okay, who's also on my team. That helps me out.

ShySpeaks: 00:39:46

So.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:39:48

And now. And how does having them a part of what you do, how does that impact your business?

Tolulope Berry: 00:39:55

Makes it easy for me.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:39:56

Okay.

Tolulope Berry: 00:39:57

Makes life easy. Because there are times where I have three different clients with three different jobs and I cannot sleep. I can't do nothing but work.

So if I could just split the workout. No, I have 500 pictures to edit. I'm gonna hit up my retoucher, say, hey, I need you to do this and do that.

All you have to do, take out the blemishes, clean up the hair. I work on the skin. Here you go, 200 pictures. My other assistant as well, if he has free time. I say, you know, what are we doing about this?

And then he comes. Like, the last job I had, I had to shoot products and I needed an extra hand because I had, I needed things to float in the air and drip.

I called him, I said, bro, I'm dying. I need help. Yeah, I can't throw it right. So he came, he did all that, you know, got the job done as an editor. So they really helped me.

And my sister as well. Is my manager smart? She's very smart when it comes to, like, jobs. I'm just saying, hey, this job is here. Handle it.

And she talks to them, tells them, this is what we're going to charge, then comes back to me like, okay, this is what I said. How we doing? She makes the calendar, invites if I have a meeting. Sometimes we have like, you know, zoom meetings just to admit to clients. We do that.

And she's on top of it. And she, she, she gets paid too. She don't play, right? She, she, she likes money, right? So I have to do what that is. So, okay.

ShySpeaks: 00:41:32

Yeah, okay, so. And I'm happy that you brought that up because it's one of the things that we love to talk about here on the Mind.

My creative business podcast is, you know, like you saying people build themselves up to be the One man, ban the. The One man show, which is cool to get it going. But then you start saying, I hate it because I'm draining, I'm drained. Right?

So that, so what we're trying to encourage them to do is move from, you know, not necessarily. Not just being a one person because you're still doing a lot.

Like you said, you, you're a high touch company because you have a. I mean, that's your talent, right? Specifically what you're doing. But like, there are some other things that someone else can do. Like you said, I got three jobs going on right now.

They're talking about going back on the contract. This other new job just came in. They're talking about the details. They're saying they want 500 photos for that price. I think I can give them 300.

I want. You can. She can be having that conversation. Meanwhile, I'm editing over here and I need somebody to come in and throw things up in the air.

Hold this or do that. Like it. It takes things to the next level because people want to say, I want to, I want to do that. I want to get there. I want to.

I want to be the CEO of like Teaberry Pictures. And I work with these particular brands, but the brand needs the stuff floating in the air. Okay.

And so you're not going to be able to do you know what I'm saying? So you have to. We're trying to get them to condense condition. If you want to be the CEO of something, you have to get in the mindset to do it.

And that's a, actually a good place for me to invite you. If you're listening right now to the podcast, you want to join the Creative to CEO challenge, right?

Ron and I have put together this challenge for you so that you can start minding your creative business. You walk away, you'll literally have a CEO playbook, right? Five days live coaching and mentorship from Ron and I.

Of course, you'll be in community with other CEOs like yourself, creative CEOs like yourself. And you'll be walking through the challenge as well. So it's a really cool opportunity, so you can start getting there.

But maybe you're right now thinking, I have to do it myself, but you start realizing there are some other things that someone else can do, someone else can help me. It frees it up. It makes my job easier. But it's not just to make my job easier.

The last thing he said is, and she gets paid too, because what good is it for you to just be paid? To me, if you're really a creative CEO, you should be using your creativity to figure out ways that I can start getting other people paid.

Yeah, you can use your creativity to figure out how to get sugar. Yeah. You can use your creativity to figure out how to produce something. Yes, you can use your creativity to how to design something.

But what if I can design another job? And what if I can figure out creative ways to get this person paid? Then you're really a CEO. So join the seat. Creative to CEO challenge.

Okay, I'm, I'm off. I'm back in here. Okay. You laughing at me? He said, oh, she just letting it out. Letting it out. So. Okay, cool. I just want to make sure you.

Tolulope Berry: 00:44:19

It's important to pay people. Pay, pay, pay people. Whoever you're working with, pay them.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:44:25

No. And it's important. And when you pay people, they want to continue to work with you.

Tolulope Berry: 00:44:30

Vax. Yeah.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:44:32

Yeah. There's been times somewhere I couldn't necessarily pay people what they wanted at the time. Right. But I was able to pay them something.

Tolulope Berry: 00:44:39

Something that worked for me.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:44:40

I appreciate it. And then when other opportunities came up to when I could pay them above and beyond what they was requesting, they was there. Right.

So it helps to establish that working relationship too.

ShySpeaks: 00:44:52

Okay, cool, Cool. I mean, I would normally have some more questions, but you really have kind of like knocked them all out.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:45:01

I do got two more.

ShySpeaks: 00:45:03

I'm like, I don't even know what else to say. Okay, good.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:45:08

I do have two more. So what's next for Teaberry?

Tolulope Berry: 00:45:16

Let me see. My next thing is working with Fenty.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:45:20

Okay.

Tolulope Berry: 00:45:21

That's my next big thing.

ShySpeaks: 00:45:22

Okay.

Tolulope Berry: 00:45:23

Like, that's what's on my mind.

Also coming out with an ebook, you know, for starting photographers who want to know, you know, how cameras work, how lighting can change your photography, you know, editing that skin work done. Also website is getting work done. But what's next, for real is breaking into, like, super big brands. Ulta Beauty, Fenty, Nike, Balenciaga.

Because I. I know I have things in my head I can offer them. I just need to put in the work to get there. Right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:45:57

So that leads me to my next question. Who do you have to become in order for you to get to that goal?

Tolulope Berry: 00:46:06

You have to kill the person you're comfortable with. To the person who's ready to be uncomfortable to get there.

ShySpeaks: 00:46:13

Yeah. And what would that mean for you?

Tolulope Berry: 00:46:16

It means I have to stop being comfortable where I'm at.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:46:20

Right.

Tolulope Berry: 00:46:21

I have to kill this part of me that feels like I'm doing good right now. You know, I'm, I'm doing great.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:46:26

Right.

Tolulope Berry: 00:46:26

If, if I get paid 20, 30k for a shoot per month, I'm fine. No, I'm not. I need to kill that person and work as hard as I need to be. Right. To get where I need to be. Because I, I get too comfortable sometimes.

It's a, it's a bad trade I have. I get really too comfortable. Like, I'm fine, I'm not doing anything. But no, you can't be too.

Because if Elon Musk was too comfortable, he would not be. The world's richest man is well over 400 billion. So I want to get there, right?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:46:57

Yes. No. And that's, and that's real. That's real. But I think that's a human, that's a human thing, right?

Is we tend to get comfortable too, but in that comfortable. So this is one thing that I learned. It's like when you, when you get comfortable, you get complacent, right?

When you get complacent, then you become content. True. And when you come content, then there's, there's, there's a level of creativity that doesn't happen.

Tolulope Berry: 00:47:19

Right.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:47:19

So now we have to put our place, ourselves in a place of discomfort. Right. So then I'm not content right now. I want more. So now that sends me back to the lab or back to the cave or wherever so that I can create.

And then in that creating. So now you're becoming. Right. So I asked you, who do you have to become? So be as a state of being. This is who I am.

And, and then the word come is an invitation. So now you're inviting yourself to be a different version of yourself.

Tolulope Berry: 00:47:48

Yes. You have to become somebody uncomfortable with being comfortable.

ShySpeaks: 00:47:53

And then I love what you're saying is, is that as I, I have to become uncomfortable because a lot of people are saying, man, I'm making that 65. That, that salary he just talking about.

And I'm like, if I can get to the six figure mark, give me a couple of, like you said, couple, $10,000, $5,000 contracts. Boom. I'm at six figures. I'm barely cracking iceberg up six figures, but I'm good. And you're saying, it's not necessarily that I want more money.

You, you think that you are like a super quality Photographer. And so you're like, I need to work with bigger brands, because guess what? It's going to come with tighter deadlines.

It's probably going to squeeze me a bit more. They're going to want more out of me.

So I'm going to get to push and you're going to wind up being back in the wonder that you had when you first had that camera. That camera. But you won't get there if I'm. It's like I'm.

I'm playing on a level that I'm, you know, I mean, I got to play on a level that's challenging.

Tolulope Berry: 00:48:47

That's challenging, exactly right.

ShySpeaks: 00:48:48

So that's. That's really what it's. Sometimes people like, I'm just, when is enough money is enough. That's not what we're talking about saying.

Yeah, I want to work with bigger brands just because I want to. The, The. The title Universal is already big. That's as big as you want to get.

So it's not necessarily about the title and the bragging rights and even the money. Like, yes, I want to get to more money.

But as creatives, we should definitely want to put ourselves in a position where we can put our creativity under a brighter light, which means it's going to be up on a different scrutiny. And so we're just pushing it to the, to the limit and seeing.

Seeing how great I can actually make it and how I can be a part of somebody else's greatness and help make what they have pop. That's what we should really. That's what we should really be doing. Yeah, that was good question. Oh, man. Okay, so listen. Thank you.

Tolulope Berry: 00:49:38

You're very welcome.

ShySpeaks: 00:49:39

Thank you.

Tolulope Berry: 00:49:39

Thank you for this.

ShySpeaks: 00:49:41

Yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:49:42

You know, giving me the space to, like, talk to people because I. I'm a shy guy. I like to, you know, when I see things go wrong, I will say something, but it's like, very subtle. I don't like to make people feel like they're not.

They're not doing right. So. Thank you.

ShySpeaks: 00:50:00

Yes. You did well. I mean, you spoke. You could have spoke more stuff about cameras and tech and kind of.

Tolulope Berry: 00:50:06

Oh, trust me, if I stuck that, you're gonna be here all day because I really enjoy talking about cameras. So.

ShySpeaks: 00:50:13

Yeah, before you go, let me let you nerd out a little bit. Tell me, what's something cool that about camera? That would be super camera talk that only camera people would know about.

Tell me something real quick.

Tolulope Berry: 00:50:21

Let me see something super cool about cameras.

ShySpeaks: 00:50:29

Something that, you know, I won't probably understand, but you know, just go ahead.

Tolulope Berry: 00:50:33

Okay.

If you want to shoot with one light and make it look like you have two lights in there and you have a reflector, the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

ShySpeaks: 00:50:59

Angle of incidence is, you know, pretty much.

Tolulope Berry: 00:51:02

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:51:04

You know.

Tolulope Berry: 00:51:05

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:51:06

Multiply that, divide.

Tolulope Berry: 00:51:07

Let's say this is a reflector right here and it's facing your face. Right. This is the incidence, the sunlight. So if I'm shooting you, I put the reflector here so it can bounce the light of this to you.

So that way it will seem like there's two lights. This and the reflection of this. So incidence, angle of reflection. It's like a triangle.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:51:28

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:51:29

Okay. I'm excited about that. So listen, I'm excited about the. The ebook that's coming out.

Tolulope Berry: 00:51:35

Yeah.

ShySpeaks: 00:51:36

People who want to just get into photography that the. Those who want to begin. But I think you're gonna have to like, come follow behind that.

For those who are like on the next level, they're like, yeah, yeah.

Tolulope Berry: 00:51:50

I always. I'll always put out something for everybody. Yeah. Because I've been a teacher as well. I've taught for.

During COVID I did too many classes, Way too many. And people really became me. I was mind blown.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:52:07

Right.

Tolulope Berry: 00:52:07

Like, they really started shooting and editing like me.

ShySpeaks: 00:52:10

Wow.

Tolulope Berry: 00:52:12

For like three, I was like, did I do that over like three day class? This one guy I gave an assignment to, he really did the photo. There was only one thing that was different. The coloring.

Everything else was just like me. I said, oh, I might have done too much. Now I worked out because now you're me. But I'm happy teaching.

ShySpeaks: 00:52:32

That's great. And I heard somebody say you were created to be duplicated. So it's okay, you know, that you were able to duplicate that.

Which means whenever it's time to continue to. Let's say you go to this next level of the bigger brands and you need to duplicate yourself. That means you know how to do it in three days.

So don't tell me I can't find nobody that can shoot. Like, you just told me, you know how to train them. You know what I mean? But anyway, I just want to. I just definitely want to thank you for sure.

Coming on, sharing your expertise and actually talking, you know, a lot of people like Gatekeep, you know, when it comes to it. And so we didn't kind of get into a lot of the numericals.

You toss some numbers around out there, but I mean, pretty much a $5,000 contract a $3,000 contract, a $20,000 contract, obviously, with brands and stuff like that. Now there's an ebook that's there that you're going to be able to see. I think you have a version of it, but I think you, like, you're going to be.

Tolulope Berry: 00:53:28

Yeah, I had a. I had a version years ago that I'm trying to, like, enhance because there's new cameras out, there's new things out, and new inventions like AI, that's everywhere. And I have to incorporate that into the ebook.

ShySpeaks: 00:53:40

Come on.

Tolulope Berry: 00:53:40

It's very important.

ShySpeaks: 00:53:41

See, he says very important. So we got that version. You know, we're in school. You watch, you have the book. You had, like the 8th edition come out with the next edition.

So people can tap in with you with that if they're looking to learn, if they're looking to just work with you on an individual level. I know that. I'm sure I've seen you do have some individual shoots while working with the brands.

But, you know, how can people get in contact with you?

Tolulope Berry: 00:54:10

Email is the best way. My, My angel, she reads all the emails and she tells me, okay, this is what I read it too.

You know, when I have free time, I go on my emails and see what's going on. So email or Instagram, don't, don't, please don't try to call me. He would not be there to answer if.

So if it's an inquiry about how can I, you know, do this and do that, I'm always open to help. I don't really mind doing that. So email or Instagram, just DM me on Instagram. Send that dm. Don't be scared. People get too scared of me.

It's like, oh, I don't want to. I will not ignore you. Trust me.

ShySpeaks: 00:54:50

Okay, what's your ig?

Tolulope Berry: 00:54:52

Oh, I am T Barry. So I am. And T, B, E, R, R, Y. That's it. And my email is tberry pictures gmail.com.

ShySpeaks: 00:55:00

, now we're recording this in: 2025

But right now, you know, it's all, you know. But seriously, I just want to also thank you for tuning in to this point.

If you're watching this, like, you are a real MVP and you want to learn how to, to take your creativity to the next level. We've already mentioned before, join the Creative to CEO challenge. So I want to give you that invite again. Just five days.

You are up to the challenge. I know you are. Run. You have anything else you want to give them?

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:55:40

Yeah. So if you're watching this on YouTube, like, subscribe, leave us a comment. If you're listening to us on either platforms, leave a comment.

And also make sure you're downloading and share it with a another creatorpreneur who needs this information. Right. Our goal is to reach like a million creatives and help them to mind their creative business.

And the only way we're going to do that is with your help and support.

Tolulope Berry: 00:56:05

So share.

ShySpeaks: 00:56:07

Yeah. All right. And one of the things that I always do, I always think it's important to end each episode with an opportunity for. For you to hear from you.

You've heard from our guest, T. Barry here, AKA Tolu. You heard from myself. Shot speaks Ron ironically, junior. But you need to hear from yourself and you want to end it with the mantra that we say.

This is the MMcD mantra. So I want you to repeat after me. So as you hear your say self say this, you are minding your creative business. You going to repeat it?

Tolulope Berry: 00:56:38

No. So, okay.

ShySpeaks: 00:56:40

All right. Cool. Cool. So here we go. All it takes. All it takes is intention.

Tolulope Berry: 00:56:45

Is intention.

ShySpeaks: 00:56:47

Consistency.

Tolulope Berry: 00:56:48

Consistency.

ShySpeaks: 00:56:49

And laser focus.

Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: 00:56:50

And laser focus.

ShySpeaks: 00:56:51

To mind my creative business.

Tolulope Berry: 00:56:53

To mind my creative business. Hmm. I like that. And on that note, thank my creative business. That's necessary. And on that, like that, thank you.