Today we’d like to introduce you to Javier Edwards.
Javier, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I founded El Roi Photo, eight years ago, on sheer passion. It was the perfect intersection of my faith and what I’d hoped would become my trade. I spent two years studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Florida, before flunking out in my junior year. I simply could not gather the discipline to study the content – I had zero interest.
At the same time, I’d purchased a Nikon D40 and was taking pictures of pretty much anything I could. It’d become a serious hobby. Once I’d flunked out of engineering, I decided to pursue my “hobby” as a career – the rest is history. Eight years, a wife and hundreds of thousands of photos later, here I am flourishing, still collaborating and creating with brands big and small.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Ha! Not at all. Remember, I switched majors while a junior in college – from engineering to journalism. I was three years behind all my other peers in figuring out what I wanted to do. I had no professional network at all. Even crazier, although I was studying journalism, specifically photojournalism, I knew I never wanted to work for any news outlet. So where would that leave me post-graduation? Jobless, right? Yup. Jobless.
I had no job and was surviving on the clientele I’d built for my, at the time small photo company slash side gig. By God’s grace, I landed a huge short term contract with the University of Florida for six months that allowed me to buy a car. Once that contract expired, because I had student loans, I was forced to move back home in Fort Lauderdale, where I AGAIN had to build a network and client base from scratch, with little to no guidance. Yet again, by God’s grace, I landed a very lucrative position with a now giant e-commerce retailer, which allowed me to invest and scale up my own business.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
El Roi Studios started as El Roi Photo. It began with just me as a photographer taking basic portraits – but now it has expanded into a more robust studio where we provide commercial portrait and product photography to various brands. I’m most proud of the aesthetic I’ve established for the brand: Clean and Emotive.
Though simple, that’s what sets us apart, as a company – our ability to use those simple ethics to deliver beautiful, on-brand content.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Scale. Grow, grow and grow. I want to began to expand our team of photographers and add on videographers and graphic designers. I want El Roi Studios to be a full-scale content marketing machine.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elroistudios.com
- Phone: 9544799718
- Email: javier@elroistudios.com
- Instagram: @elroistudios
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elroistudio/?eid=ARD4YtyE1QZAAZzYj98I1-v76LwtCP2I15LXAfV3OrYS_7dKXa88aOEFLYabgKOxG9Aylw4xl6ZYbm_Q
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