25: Is your hobby your next career?

When people offer to pay you for something you do well, take note. It could lead to a career switch. It did for Anthony Randazzo. As a straight-A student, Anthony grew up with two career options—doctor or lawyer. He became a corporate lawyer and worked on Wall Street before he quit at age 29 after he realized the profession was not for him.

In this episode of Career Switch Podcast, Anthony tells us how his photography hobby led to his next career when his friends started offering to pay him for taking pictures. He shares how he got his small business, 1028 Photography, off the ground and offers advice if you, too, want to start your own business. 

Find Anthony Randazzo at:

Website: www.1028photo.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/1028photo

Facebook: www.facebook.com/1028photo

Resources:

Professional Photographers of America: www.ppa.com

Other photography associations: 
https://csus.libguides.com/photography/associations

Music credit: TimMoor from Pixabay

Podcast info:
What's your career switch? What do you think about this episode and the show? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Transcript

Lixandra: Hi, everyone. I'm Lixandra  Urresta, and this is Career Switch Podcast. This show is here to encourage you to take action with whatever career change you're considering or working on. Maybe you're trying to switch industries or professions or break out on your own and start a business. In some episodes, I talk to people who've made their own career switch, whether by choice or circumstance. They share the good, the bad, and the truth about their journey, including what worked for them and what didn't. In other episodes, I speak with experts who offer their best career advice on challenges that can come up during the process of making a career change. After all, it takes guts to switch things up, and it's not easy. However, it is possible.

So, I hope you hear something in this episode, an idea, a suggestion, a piece of advice that'll spur you into action with your own career switch, whether it's taking that first bold step or trying something new. Welcome. I'm glad you're here.

When people offer to pay you for something you do well, take note, it could lead to a career switch. It did for Anthony Randazzo. As a straight-A student, Anthony grew up with pretty much two career options, doctor or lawyer. So he went to law school, became a corporate lawyer, and worked on Wall Street before he quit at age 29, after he realized the profession was not for him.

In this episode, Anthony recalls the initial shock among his family and friends when they found out he was no longer going to be a lawyer. He tells us how his photography hobby led to his next career when his friends started offering to pay him for taking pictures. Anthony fills us in on how he got his small business, 1028 Photography, off the ground, how he made it through the worst of the pandemic, and offers advice if you too are looking to start your own business.

Hi, Anthony. Thanks for joining us today. Let's dive in. What were you doing before your career switch and what led up to it?

Anthony: Yes. I started out life as an attorney at one of the big wall street firms. Realized pretty quickly, it was just not the right fit. You know, sort of your whole life, if you're a straight A student, doctor or lawyer, and that's the path. Then once I got there, I was like, Oh, this isn't the right fit for me. The work isn't interesting. It's not what I thought lawyers do. And my dad wasn't a lawyer or anything like that. And then, uh, started trying to find a way out.

Lixandra: You started working as a lawyer in 2008?

Anthony: Yeah, I started, uh, at the firm the week that like Lehman brothers crashed and the whole financial crisis started. So fun time to join the industry.

Lixandra: Oh, wow. So baptism by fire there with the timing. So when you say that the work wasn't what you expected, what was the work like?

Anthony: You know, you have this image of what lawyers do. Yeah. I know it wasn't going to be in a courtroom. I mean, I wasn't that kind of lawyer, but kind of what we think deals are and negotiations are and how things go. And it turns out it's a lot of just sitting alone in an office doing SEC disclosures. And then also because I started right when the financial crisis hit, the initial thought was I would be a tax attorney or I would join the tax group, but then deals weren't getting done. The system was in shambles and a lot of clients were going bankrupt. So they were pulling people from all sorts of departments to join the corporate bankruptcy team. So I ended up doing a lot of corporate bankruptcy work, which, you know, that was not at all like part of the plan to be a bankruptcy attorney.

Lixandra: And what was the Wall Street culture like in your experience?

Anthony: There's a wide mix of people and I don't want to paint the whole industry with a brush, but the people who really succeed, there are the ones who live for the deal. Where your life is your work, knowing that like, oh man, we're going to be here till 4am. Like that's awesome. You're expected to be on call 24 seven. If you need to put in a 20 hour day, you're putting in a 20 hour day. That's what it is. And some people are driven by that adrenaline rush and the industry is great for those people. Not so much everyone else. Cause if you don't love the work, it's hard to make that commitment. If you don't really love it.

Lixandra: How long did you work on wall street?

Anthony: That was, I think about four years. I managed to hold out.

Lixandra: So you quit at the end of 2012, even though you had nothing else lined up. How old were you at this time?

Anthony: I was, so I was about 29 ish.

Lixandra: So for a lot of us, like you said earlier, we grew up with the idea of becoming a doctor or lawyer. They are admirable professions. And you became a lawyer. How did your friends and family take the news that you had quit and were no longer going to be one?

Anthony: Most of my friends are from the law school realm. They thought I was crazy. The initial reaction is what? And then they realized, oh yeah, no, that makes sense because they know, oh yeah, you're not happy there. You know, you don't like what you're doing. They don't like what they're doing in their jobs as lawyers either. You know, so after the initial shock of like, wait, you got the job at the big firm and you're quitting that, then they know, they know cause they want to quit too. And then family, you know, my mom, I think still doesn't still doesn't understand what happened. Cause they're not in it and they just think, oh, you had this great job and you accomplished all this stuff and you spent all this money on law school. And it's hard, you know, there's the sunk cost fallacy that if you're outside of it, it's, it's hard to understand why someone would do that. But you know, eventually everyone's come around and they seem that I'm happy and doing well. So. Eventually they came around, but there was an initial, certainly an initial shock.

Lixandra: Yeah. I think for a lot of parents, they worry about what else you're going to do, especially when you quit without another job. Yeah. That's pretty shocking too.

Anthony: It's either crazy or brave or both or some mix of the two.

Lixandra: Now, when we first spoke, you told me about how you kept in mind a lawyer friend who kept postponing his leaving the industry. Tell us about that.

Anthony: Yeah. There's someone I worked with who, you know, I think was also unhappy with being a lawyer or at least at one of these types of firms. You mentioned at one point he wanted to leave, but then he was getting married, so he couldn't. Then he got sick, so he couldn't. Then they were having a baby, so he couldn't. And all these things kind of postponing, and then you're 10 years in. And you're trapped, you know, cause now you can't do anything else. Cause now you've built up this resume with the specialty field of law and there's nothing else you could do. And he'd missed all these potential opportunities to leave. Um, and I didn't want to end up in that unhappy place or have it start to affect my health. So I sort of took it as a cautionary tale. Don't get stuck in the quicksand.

Lixandra: All right. So what did you do after you quit?

Anthony: Initially after some searching, got a job as a legal recruiter. I know I didn't want to be a lawyer, but my resume is pre-law, law school lawyer. So it was a way to kind of utilize my experience, you know, on kind of the business side of the industry. And it's certainly much more interesting than being a lawyer to me. Found a nice group of people, a very good company that I worked for for about five years. And it was a good stepping stone away of starting to remove myself from the day to day of being in the industry.

Lixandra: And how did photography come into the picture? No pun intended.

Anthony: Photography had been a hobby all along and then just eventually got to the point where kind of the, the light bulb went off that, that that might be the next move.

Lixandra: How did you first get into photography?

Anthony: Yeah, I sort of always liked it. Even as a kid, my parents always had me take the photos with our old clunky Polaroid because I was the only one that wouldn't cut off heads or wouldn't have the photos crooked. But we never had money for like a real camera or lessons or anything like that. But as an adult, it's like, Oh, I can afford to buy an actual camera. So I did that and just go to the park and take pictures of squirrels and stuff. And, um, you know, just kept at it.

Lixandra: What do you like about photography and how did you get better at it as an adult?

Anthony: You know, it's a hobby, it's an artistic outlet, but I'm also a nerd. So it's learning about gadgets and gizmos. And then it's also, there's a lot of science behind it. When you start getting into it and learning like all the little knobs that you're changing on the camera and it's changing all these numbers. What does that mean? And what is it doing? So it was a good kind of sciencey thing and artsy thing and gadgety thing and kind of put it all together. I think that's why I like it. And it's something you can just learn by doing, um, is, is kind of the key. Just always take a camera, just go outside or even inside. I can take photos of the cats all day. Um, and you could practice things, try things out. It's like, Oh, what if I do it this way or that way? And then, you know, there's some workshops, you know, the camera, there's a couple of big camera stores in the city that are great about putting up workshops and demonstrations, at least pre COVID. Tons of resources on YouTube and demos. So it's good to learn new techniques or ideas of how things might be done.

Lixandra: So going back to when you were doing legal recruiting, you did it for five years. How, during that time, did you get started with your career switch to becoming a professional photographer?

Anthony: Yeah, I started getting offers. Like, you know, a friend would ask, oh, hey, you know, can you do this? I'll pay you for it. And, you know, I was like, no, no, no, I'm not a professional. Like I couldn't charge for that. I'm not that good. But it happened a couple of times where someone mentioned something, you know, like, Oh yeah, you should be a pro. And so eventually, like after a handful of times, it's like, wait a minute, like, I'm thinking I'm not good enough, but if people are offering to pay me, maybe I am. And so I started researching, researching online. Like, what does it mean to be a professional photographer? Uh, you know, what does it entail?

Lixandra: What did you learn from your research?

Anthony: So one, there's a million paths. Cause you could be a product photographer and you take pictures of like perfume bottles, or it could be your wedding photographer, or it could be, you know, that you work for a company online or a magazines that, you know, they have an in-house photographer. So there's all these different paths. And it's like, oh, I'm gonna have to figure out which of these works. So you sort of learn all these different paths and it's like, oh, if you actually want to make money, you have to photograph weddings and events.

Lixandra: What else did you look into?

Anthony: You know, I had no idea, like, what if photographers get paid, you know, how much money can you make? Like all those sorts of things. Cause it's one thing to apply for a job where, you know, like, oh, in this industry or I go to a glass door or whatever, like, oh, they're paying this versus how much, how much does a photographer make? Is that something I could live on? I don't know. So I had to really look into it and see what's out there in the industry.

Lixandra: How did you find out about that?

Anthony: There's a lot of good sort of message boards and forums in the industry. So a lot of pros will ask questions of each other. You know, sometimes it's as basic as like, Hey, what would you guys charge for something like this? And sometimes there's someone like me would ask, Hey, I'm thinking of doing this. All the advice was like, it's 90% knowing how to run a business. 10% actual being decent at taking photos.

Lixandra: What other resources do you recommend?

Anthony: So professional photographers association and. For something like photography, at least you can, or it's kind of a freelance thing. You can look online, just photographers in my area. Go on their website and see if they have pricing, you know, and see what they charge.

Lixandra: Okay. So how did you land your first paid gig?

Anthony: So one of my best friend's daughter's first birthday party was coming up right around the time I was officially launching business. I think I might've charged like 50 bucks for it. You know, friends and family discount, but officially for the first time taking money in exchange for photos. So.

Lixandra: Were you nervous?

Anthony: I think I was okay. I think I was more nervous about, cause I never like officially worked an event where like I was still learning flash. Cause it's one thing like when you're just out and about taking photos of friends, it doesn't matter. But it's like, oh no, now I'm indoors. I need to bring a flash with me just in case the lighting isn't great. And it was my first time, like on a real job, like figuring that out on the fly. I mean, obviously I had practiced and things at home, but now we're live and I have to get it right. Uh, so that part was more nervous than taking the photos themselves. Cause it was everyone I knew. Um, and so that made it easier too, because it's like, okay, I know these people, they know me. I've taken that photo before.

Lixandra: Nice. So how did you build your portfolio from there?

Anthony: Luckily my, my friend group, you know, has been great. Um, so a few friends had hired me for things. Oh, this one works in this office and they need headshots. So, you know, they brought me into their company to do headshots, things like that. friends just referring, Oh, my friend just got engaged. Send them over to take engagement photos, or they just had a kid pass along my info. And there's online advertising and there's a few freelance websites where people post, you know, Oh, I need photos of this or that. And you can put in a bid on it. So my initial portfolio was just photos. I take it to my friends and family. But then eventually it starts to build. And if you do well, this person refers this person who refers this person who needs a personal thing, but then they also hire you for their company. And, you know, sort of the starts to snowball on itself. Um, you know, if you, if you do decent work and treat people well, now you run your own business.

Lixandra: How did you set it up?

Anthony: Fortunately, it's the one time in my life being a lawyer helped out. So part of it is, you know, you have to file and decide, am I going to be an LLC or a corporation or what should I be doing? And I already knew that part of it from being a corporate lawyer. Like I know what these things mean. So, you know, just find the forms online, you know, the state and city actually make it pretty easy, at least in New York. Definitely hire a lawyer if you don't know what you're doing. But luckily I knew it. So I was able to do it for myself. And then, you know, the other part is kind of the day-to-day bookkeeping and things like that. I'd worked for a small company in college. So I picked up like bookkeeping and accounting and like just sort of ins and outs of like managing a business. So I sort of had that basis. So I could do that for myself. And then I'm a nerd, so I already know how to make a website and the technical side of things is second nature to me. And then I have to learn how to be a marketer and learn social media. And that part of it was the part I didn't know.

Lixandra: How did you learn marketing and social media?

Anthony: That implies past tense, present tense, still figuring it out. Some is trial and error. The one good thing is you can set cheap budgets. So I can, there's Google AdWords, there's Facebook ads, Instagram ads, all these sorts of things. You can put 10 bucks, you know, and let's see what happens. Let's put 10 bucks on this one, see what happens. And then you start to see which kinds of things are getting any sort of a response, which ones aren't. I still don't know that I'm great at it and still learning and figuring it out.

Lixandra: Did you ever have any hesitation while setting up the business?

Anthony: No, I think that all the hesitation would have been in the stage of like, should I do this? Like, should I quit? Quitting the recruiting job is where the hesitation comes in because that's the big choice. But then once I made that decision, it's like, no, I'm doing this. You know, I'd spoken with my wife and it's like, all right, we don't have any kids yet. You know, if I'm ever going to quit a job and give up health insurance or, you know, all those implications, now's the time to do it. And I'd built up some savings. So I knew, all right, if I make $0, I'm okay. If I'm a year out and I've made $0, I could just get a job again. So fortunately I was in that sort of life circumstance where I felt pretty safe and secure in making the jump. So I was able to really just go all in and then kind of at the end of it, be like, all right, it's catching on enough that I think there's something here. Let's keep going.

Lixandra: So you started your business 1028 Photography in the summer of 2017, and it grew nicely, mostly through word of mouth. Then the pandemic hit in March, 2020. How did that affect your business?

Anthony: Everything I had booked over the next three, four months, one by one, everything canceled as everyone realized now we're shutting down. So yeah, I sat around for a couple of months because I'm not an essential worker. No one's going outside, no one's gathering. And my business relies on being with people.

Lixandra: What was going through your head when you started getting all those cancellations?

Anthony: I wasn't surprised, obviously, given what was going on. More of the concern was like, what's going to happen with this pandemic? But I knew, you know, even though my business was drying up and things were going to be slow for who knows how long. I knew it was an external thing. It's not like, Oh, my work was poor and that's why people are canceling. Fortunately, I don't have like my own studio space or anything like that. So I don't have a lot of overhead. Um, you know, it's, I work from home and then I go onsite to a park or an office or an event space. Unfortunately they passed a law that allowed like self-employed or freelance people to collect unemployment and things like that. So that helped kind of cover some of the, some of the gap while we waited to figure out what's happening.

Lixandra: Good, good. Glad you got through the worst of it. Let's touch on another aspect of your business. The people side. I for one have a hard time taking pictures. So what's it like relating to your clients and making sure they're happy with the photos you take for them? Yeah, no, definitely.

Anthony: Yeah. That's a good point. you know, a lot of people, when they see a photo of themselves, it throws you off a little bit. And it's kind of learning how to coax people along that like, no, it's okay, you look fine. And that's definitely a learned skill. You know, I think I'm decent at like, just generally relating to people, talking to them, making them laugh, hopefully. But then the part of like, oh, overcoming your psychological hangups about what your face looks like and doing it in a gentle, delicate way. Yeah, I was not prepared for that and had to learn it on the fly.

Lixandra: Thanks for sharing that with us. Okay, Anthony, tell us about your business, 1028 Photography. What's your style and what kind of events do you shoot?

Anthony: My style is kind of more natural, candid, you know, trying not to make things over processed and catch people kind of in real moments, natural reactions, like when they laugh and they hug and keeping an eye out for like when those little moments are going to happen throughout. And yeah, the mix is events of both corporate and family type events of weddings, parties, showers, networking events, presentations, and then portrait work from family portraits, corporate headshots to social media marketing.

Lixandra: Where can listeners check out your portfolio and how can they reach you if they need a photographer in the New York City area?

Anthony: 1028photo.com is the best place to find me. You can see all my work. I'm also on Facebook and Instagram at 1028photo. So you can follow me there as well.

Lixandra: And as we wrap up, what three tips can you offer our listeners who are working on starting their own business as their career switch?

Anthony: One is definitely learn business. Um, you know, those things I mentioned before, kind of the bookkeeping and accounting or the legal side of it. Definitely do do research on that front and learn business first. Cause you could sell a mediocre product, but if you run a business, well, you could, you could be successful. Second thing I would say is, is reach out to everybody, you know, cast a wide net. Cause you'd be surprised that it might be some distant acquaintance refers more business to you than your best friend. You know, just because they're the people that are closest with doesn't mean that they have all the resources to help you. So cast that net. And the third device is just, just to do it. The longer you wait, the less of a chance that will ever happen. There's always going to be reason not to quit your job, health, age, kids, family stuff. And eventually you're just going to get stuck. It's just going to get harder and harder the longer you wait. So, uh, if you think you might want to do it, do your research, do your homework. And if you could do it, just do it.

Lixandra: Thanks to Anthony Randazzo for being our guest today. You can find Anthony at his website, 1028photo.com and on Instagram and Facebook. You can find links to the resources mentioned in this episode and more helpful information in the show notes and on our website, careerswitchpod.com. 

So what's your career switch? Are you motivated to take action after listening to this episode? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. We'd love to know, along with any feedback you have about the show. Let us know too, if you'd like to be a guest. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at careerswitchpod. And please rate, review, and share with your friends and colleagues. It'll help get the show out there. Thanks for listening today. Till next time.