Today we’d like to introduce you to Franky Verdecia.
Hi Franky, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started out with an interest in Photography in High School that led me to selling tropical fruits and vegetables around the United States and the Caribbean.
When I got to college, my photography hobby led me to shooting and directing the art department for a fashion magazine at Florida State. That led me to working for their sport television program Seminole Productions that landed me gigs with ESPN, ABC, Fox Sports and their local public television studio, WFSU. I missed living a spanglish lifestyle so I moved back to Miami not being able to land a job in Television so I went on to help manage a popular gallery and artisan store in Wynwood, Wynwood Shop.
Due to lifestyle changes, I went back to working odd gigs and concentrating more on my Amazon venture selling handmade bracelets and taking product photography for other E-commerce businesses. During the pandemic, I build a team of 10-12 seamstress’ making cloth masks until the supply got back to normal. Around the same time, even a few months earlier, found myself in a cold-storage warehouse taking pictures of different varieties of plantains, bananas and other fruits for hours a day at my father’s new venture with two other partners. The produce industry is filled with people from the stone-age still sending faxes and hand-writing invoices. Luckily I was able to introduce Millenial ideas to a dinosaur industry like an e-commerce store, high-quality production media and marketing. Currently, I serve as the operation manager overseeing the full operation from import to delivery of items, directing the marketing and product design of new items like our plantain chips and also personally serving customers throughout the United States from Coast to Coast.
Alright, 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?
Definitely not. Not counting my personal struggles growing up, finding myself and purpose has been filled with many ups and downs. Since college, I began to construct a career in media and television that was quickly stopped as soon as I moved back to Miami. I came home to be with my mother since she had lost her job due to relocations. I spent a few months looking for a job and was only able to land one at an art store in Wynwood. There I was able to learn how to manage a business, inventory, interpersonal sales and most importantly, how to quickly solve problems. All my life, I’ve been selling on the internet on sites like Craigslist but never in person. I later had a fallout with the shop and quickly ran out of money, having to move back home for the second time. With a declining self-worth, I fought hard to keep going and rebuild my future for the 3rd time. Even now at my current job, I find myself working many 16-18 hour days with many problems being thrown everyday like rising inflation, issues with transport and working around the pandemic.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Apart from my real-world job, I’m mostly known for my photography, concentration my work on the place where I want to be the most, Cuba. I collect a lot of old Cuban and Communist artifacts since I was a kid. The whole history with the Cold War interests me a lot so it goes hand-in-hand with my photography. I’ve done exhibitions in Tallahassee and Miami with a whole experience on the Cuban Cold-War era. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do any shows in the last two years due to my banana situation but you can find my work at Pinecrest Bakery on Bird Rd and Ludlum and my “30 Days to Cuba” series on Instagram. I believe my work sets me apart from others because I let my audience get into my head with these photographs. I love to write and reflect so with every work, you can find an excerpt from what I was thinking. Think of it like a History class with Photography.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was the child every mother wants. Quite, never cried, always did what I was told. Basically a “niño de Dios”. I was born five months after my parents and sister arrived from Cuba. Being the first one in my family to be born in the United States, there was hopes of becoming someone great filled with opportunities not available to the rest of my family, even my own sister that is six years my elder. Since I was three years old I had played baseball and started Karate at the age of six. Growing up with sports and martial arts help develop the discipline and hard work need to get to where I am today. I also grew up as a musician. I started playing piano at the age of five until I wanted to be in a metal band and begun playing drums in High School. Now my musical career consists of campfire songs and beer. I never really grew up with any enemies and always got along great with everybody since I was a kid.
Pricing:
- I sell prints in Wynwood, Little Havana and Coconut Grove for $15, Online too!
- The 1 of 1 photos I sell in Pinecrest Bakery are available for $375/e
- My handmade bracelets and jewelry are available in the same stores as above from $15-$45, as well as online at Etsy, BasicMIAshop
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/at/shop/BasicMIAShop or www.congotropicals.com
- Instagram: @elverdecia or @congotropicals
