Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaren Sirak.
Aaren, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in Atlanta, GA on March 19th, 1997 and was raised in the northern suburbs of the city, where I lived until I graduated from high school. Throughout high school, I was focused on my grades, sports, and work. When I was 17 years old, I helped found my first company, called Atlanta Arbor Tree Care Specialists, and I was the head of canvassing and lead generation for the now multi-million-dollar company. I learned many valuable skills from working as a door-to-door salesman and building that company from scratch with my two business partners. Soon after getting Atlanta Arbor operational, I decided to go to University of Miami to study mechanical engineering and moved to Coral Gables in August of 2015 to start my freshman year. I was devoted to my studies for the first two years of school to bolster my GPA and then studied abroad in Australia for the first semester of my junior year. That is when my mindset changed about how I wanted to live my life after graduating.
For four months, I lived in Wollongong, Australia and traveled around the continent, photographing all of the beauty along the way. At the end of my semester at the University of Wollongong, I had two more months of free time before the next semester back at UM. I took full advantage of that time and traveled solo to seven countries. Having the opportunity to be responsibility free for weeks with no one to answer to but myself allowed me to explore myself and the world like I never had before. During that time, I camped, cliff jumped, climbed mountains, and pondered life as I drove and flew tens of thousands of miles. It was a life-changing experience that developed my passion for photography and independence. Upon my return to Miami in January 2018, I found myself wishing I still had such beautiful scenery to photograph, but I realized that my love for photography extends beyond capturing the beauty of nature. I soon began shooting for some friends of mine whenever I had the time outside of going to my classes and started building my portfolio.
In August of 2018, my father was diagnosed with stage four cancer and I had to take steps back from photography and school to fly back and forth to Atlanta to help take care of and spend time with my dad throughout my senior year. My dad and I both knew that I didn’t want to just get a job or even work for someone else at all, so with his support, I decided to start my own company, called Sirak LLC at the time, and founded it January 1st of 2019. I started getting paid to shoot events and networked my way through the hospitality and entertainment industries, building the foundation for what is now Sirak Studios LLC. My senior year quickly came and went, and I graduated from UM in May of 2019 with a degree in mechanical engineering concentrated on internal combustion engines and a minor in business management. Unfortunately, my father died on June 4th of 2019, after an eight-month battle with cancer. As an only child with divorced parents, all of my dad’s possessions were left to me in his will. It was an extremely difficult time for me having to deal with the grief and accept the new responsibilities of taking ownership of my childhood home in Atlanta while also being in the midst of trying to build my company and the team necessary to run it effectively in Miami.
I decided to consolidate, renovate and sell the house, and set up a new home base in Miami. September 5th, 2019, I purchased property in Allapattah, 2 miles west of Wynwood, with the intention to renovate the building in order to use it as my company headquarters and my personal home. I essentially became a general contractor and construction project manager as I planned and designed every aspect of the renovations from demolition to interior design. The building contains a photography studio, two music recording booths and control rooms, as well as office space for myself of my colleagues. I have been improving my skills and reputation as a photographer and now have a portfolio that includes A-list celebrities and globally acclaimed brands. The next step is to finish renovations and launch the headquarter building for business.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The greatest challenge I’ve faced has been finding the right balance in my life. As an independent entrepreneur, I have complete control over how I spend my time. When emotions, people, and various projects and ideas are constantly drawing on my time and resources, it becomes challenging to determine my priorities and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I was forced into adulthood very rapidly after my father died, acquiring new responsibilities and dilemmas. I have always been pretty good at managing my time, but as my to-do list grew to an overwhelming extent, sacrifices had to be made. Often I will go 20-30 hours without eating or sleeping because I am so motivated to be productive, but I have had to become better at delegating, compartmentalizing, and maximizing efficiency.
Sirak Studios – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Sirak Studios is a creative production company headquartered in Miami, Florida. We are an innovative community of entrepreneurs with coinciding areas of expertise, connections, and perspectives. Our ambitious culture empowers us to tailor our business relationships and client experiences to develop and catalyze potential. The thoughtfully designed multi-purpose studio and collaborative spaces encapsulate the resources necessary to efficiently turn creative visions into successful businesses. As a company, we work with creatives and entrepreneurs as well as corporate clients to produce, manage, and distribute visual and audio content.
Photography is what Sirak Studios is most known for, but once the headquarter building is up and running, music will become a much larger facet of the business as we build the foundation to start a record label. Personally, as the owner, I am most proud of the generally positive feedback that we get from clients, friends, and even strangers. The company’s reputation is that of quality and professionalism, and it is only growing. What sets Sirak Studios apart is the meticulousness and fervor with which we perform and deliver products and services. I am 23 years old and each of my three company associates I have brought in to form our team are under the age of 26. We are young and ambitious beyond belief, setting the bar for ourselves higher than anyone else could.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career thus far is when I was scheduled to shoot a DJ set by Paris Hilton for the second time but was then asked by a client to instead shoot backstage at performances by Post Malone, Von Miller, and Zach Bia, and more, hosted by Kevin Hart during Superbowl weekend 2020. I was invited back for the following night where again I was granted full access for myself and my team of other camera operators to shoot the event, this time headlined by my favorite musical artist, Russ, as well as The Chainsmokers, Rick Ross, Megan Thee Stallion, The Lost Kings, and Emilia Mernes. We ended up meeting numerous other celebrities and noteworthy individuals and came away with some amazing photos and footage that the client and artists loved.
Pricing:
- Shoot Time: $200/hr/camera operator (photo editing included)
- Video Editing: $200/minute of finished video
- Music Recording: $50/hr for audio engineering/recoding sessions
- Beats: $100-$1000 for exclusives
- Social Media Management: $200-$400/month
- Web Design: $250+ depending on the project
Contact Info:
- Address: 2219 NW 28th Street, Miami, FL 33142
- Website: www.sirakstudios.com
- Phone: 404-275-4447
- Email: sirak@sirakstudios.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sirakstudios
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sirakstudios
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/sirakstudios
Image Credit:
Sirak Studios
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