SPEAKER_03 1:45

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. I'm your host for today, Tamaya, as well as my co-host, DJ Ann What. How are you guys today? How are you today? All right, so today we have the pleasure of speaking with Miss Lexi, a Columbia, South Carolina-based photographer, content creator, mom, and entrepreneur. She is the owner of Luxurious Photography Studio, which specializes in real estate and commercial photography. How are you today, Lexi?

SPEAKER_02 2:15

I'm doing great.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

Thank you for having me. Thank you for being here. It's a great morning. So I just want to give people a little bit of background about you. Can you tell us about yourself before you picked up the camera and started photography?

SPEAKER_02 2:30

Sure. I was born Alexis Davis. Before I picked up the camera and became Lexi Killin' them, I was a hairstylist. And I worked a so I was an entrepreneur most of my life. I decided to start working a job, listening to the advice of other people. And I did that for about six years. And but before I was a hairstylist, I was an accountant at a dealership. So I've always done hair. I've been doing hair since I was a little girl, eight or nine years old, is my earliest memory. So yeah, I was just a regular degler, just working a job and with a side hustle.

SPEAKER_05 3:09

That's still amazing, though.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

So did you live in Columbia your whole life or did you move around a little bit? I moved around a little bit. So I was born in Reno. My parents were military, and I was raised in Fort Washington, Maryland, up until I was about, I guess, 11 or 12. And then we moved to St. Louis for about a year. Then we moved to Atlanta for about a year. And then we ended up, my dad retired, and we ended up settling here. So so yeah, so I mean, I'm pretty much I've been here for the past 20 years.

SPEAKER_03 3:43

Okay, so I see that you do do photography and you love commercial photography. How did you actually get into that? What influences, what upbringing? Did you always have a camera in your hand? Or was this something that someone just pushed on you? Or how was how do how did that come about?

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Okay, so I love this question because the answer is not what you're gonna think it is, but and of course I don't know what you're thinking, but I but but I'll just say that no, I never I never wanted to be a photographer. I was at a place in my life where I was honestly I was broke. I was broke and I was I was trying to do everything my way. I was working a job, like I said, listening to the advice of my mom. She was like, you need to, because I was a high school dropout. So I I was call me Defiance. If Defiance had a picture by it, I'm that. But and so I I literally was working at this dealership. I hated this job. I really couldn't do hair much anymore, which is the only thing that I knew how to do, that I knew that I would do because I had done it for so long. But even their job that I had had taken me away from it because of demanding hours at the job. So I was just kind of praying. I was I was learning how to pray, learning how to just talk to God and just, you know, I was doing a lot of crying, doing a lot of talking, taking advice from other people. None of that stuff was working. So a friend of mine told me to pray. And I said, okay, you know, I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm just gonna pray. And I literally just followed. There were doors that were closing for me that I was trying to open, beat down. And those weren't working until the doors that were opening, I really had no choice. I was a single mother. So I started um going towards the doors that were opening and just trusting God. And the camera just kind of came about. I was working at a studio, a friend of mine, to make a long story short, they were some hustlers that were trying to get out of the streets. They opened a recording studio. And because I had accounting background, they were like, hey, you know, you should come over here and help us out on the paperwork side. And I just realized that I had a place there. I was able to help out a lot more than than I thought. And that's kind of how the camera was born. It was the the music industry needed uh um, I know I'm sounding long-winded, but I'm trying to get to the point. The music industry at the time. I know you'll cut some of this, but um, at the time, the music industry, I had written a song just playing in the studio one day, working with these guys, and the song actually was a hit. It took off DJs were requesting it. I mean, you know, asking me to bring it to the club that they were spinning at. And a friend of mine was doing, she's been an artist for years, and she invited me to a show that she was doing on Mother's Day at a place on Bribera. If I can't remember the name of it, it's changed so many times. I think it was called Scores at the time. But she invited me to come and she was like, friend, I want you to come rock the stage with me. And so I had just recorded my song, just for fun, like I said, and the guy that was DJing the event was waiting for artists who were showing up late if they weren't, if they were, if they weren't late, then they didn't have their CD or DVD or I mean or jump drive or any of that stuff. They just weren't prepared. Well, I just happened to have a jump drive, a disc, and the guy thought that I was an artist just by the way that I was looking. And I was like, no, I'm not an artist. And I said, you know, it's funny you asked me that because I just recorded a song. And so he wanted to hear it. I let him hear it. And he basically was like, no, you gotta get up there and perform this. He was like, You, you, you gotta get the mic. And I'm like, I wasn't here for this. I was I'm here to be for the play. And so he put the song on, the crowd went crazy, and that's kind of where it was born. I realized I never wanted to be in the spotlight. I realized that I had all these friends and I knew what they needed. I knew that if if I could just give them what I had, you know, people were starting to notice me.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

In the reluctant star.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

Yeah, people were starting to notice me, like in the streets, at clubs. Lexi Killingham, can I take your picture? And I'm like, wow, you know. And so I just, that's how the camera was born. I literally built a platform called The Buzz where I would just give them exposure. And that's how I started with the camera. I know that's a long story, but that's that's how it started. I I wasn't trying to do this. It just, I just remember somebody asking me, what do I want to do when I was trying to figure it out? And they said, and the only thing I could think of was help people. Help people. So sorry about that long wind.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

No, that is fine.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

We want to get to those you're perfectly fine, and we won't cut any of that out, right, Kevin.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

We'll keep the whole the whole spiel because people need to hear those stories so that they can understand that people don't just fall into this these positions out of nowhere. Like you know, there is a process that comes along with it, and it's good to hear the process because it's all about the journey, man. It's all about the journey, you know. But uh I know you you were speaking about this and uh about those early beginnings. You have so many different creative talents, okay? And this is this is an interesting point because a lot of creators, when you're trying to take the creativity and make it worth your while, i.e., monetize it, there's usually a struggle. And I know as you were saying, your mother wanted you to work a regular job, but you know, you knew how to do hair, and that's normally what you would have done. You could fall back on that because it's easy to monetize. But going into a new endeavor, one that you haven't monetized them before, you hadn't been out there as an entrepreneur. What was the biggest difference that you saw when you jumping into this photography and et cetera, between being an artist and a creative? Because, like, you know, being it's hard to say this like this, but like an artist, you're doing it for the love of whatever you're doing it for. Sometimes you aren't even looking for money, but as a creative, you're that's your work. You're there to make it an enterprise. Um, what do you think the biggest difference is between those two? And do you feel that uh there's a difference in opportunities for black creatives versus other groups when it comes to monetizing, you know, their work?

SPEAKER_02 10:10

I don't. I don't because nowadays we have access to the world wide web. So as soon as the internet came out, that's basically how I made a name for myself. It was through the internet, and that's when I realized the power behind it, which is why I do commercial marketing at this point, because you can literally reach millions of people with one click. You know what I mean? If you if you just have the right content and you and you know how to target your market, you can do anybody can do this at this point. But to answer your question about monetization, that's how you do it. Uh you get online, you you come to the audience, you let them kind of, you just have to be consistent. It's just a it's all about consistency. And you're not out here looking for people to support you who you know. What you want is the supporters who don't know you.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Oh, explain, explain that. Explain that because we had a we had a guest up here, Mr. Yo Shane, and he was talking about the fact that he doesn't even promote his music in South Carolina. He promotes it outside of South Carolina and internationally. And he has, he actually broke in Africa, which is interesting to say that. And when you said what you just said, I was like, cling, that just ticked the message. That's exactly the point he was making. Can you tell you what, explain that to folk what you mean by how you get out there and reach people outside of your community and go find your quote unquote tribe elsewhere?

SPEAKER_02 11:35

Yeah, um, so like, for example, now this might sound kind of messed up, but it's the truth. And I'm all about the truth because that's the only way we can accomplish anything. But most people, entrepreneurship, business, ownership, all that stuff is new to the black community. It is. Our ancestors have not been business owners for years and years and decades and so on and so forth. But so most of us that are working jobs are living paycheck to paycheck. Let's just be honest. So we don't have the extra money. Those people don't have the extra money to support your entrepreneurial endeavors. They just don't. So people tend to get mad and think, oh, they're not supporting me. How do you know they can't afford to? Because I know when I was working a job, I I I would love to have supported my friends. I couldn't, though. I just couldn't. I mean, if I had taken $100 and bought a pair of shoes or a hoodie, I would have been taking food out of my kids' mouth. So we have to get out of the mindset of thinking that everybody's against us, because when you get stuck there, now you're not thinking about there's a whole world of people who are definitely for you, and everybody is not for you. And you're not looking for everybody, you're just looking for people who want what you have. So, in order for you to find that, you gotta get out and network. You gotta get out and meet new people. That's just the bottom line. So the internet is one way to do it. Um, and and and other ways to do it is to get out and travel. You know, there's all types of events that you can look up on the internet, on Facebook, on Instagram. Attend some of those events, shake people's hands, get to know those people because those are the people who are like you. Most of those people who are doing business are the people who can support you and will support you. You know what I mean? And then I'm sure once your friends and family get a chance, they will support you. But you can't get mad if people don't like, you know, what you have. You aren't for everybody. The focus is who is for you.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

That's so true.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Don't take a personality.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

So true. Don't take yes, don't take things personally.

SPEAKER_03 13:44

People do that all the time. It's not personal, it's business. It's hard. It's hard as a creative not to take things personally because you're like, well, every somebody should like my creative process, you know, but it's it's all about learning.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my shit. Like, I understand that. But we have to take the being sensitive out of this. This is not about friendship out here. You know, you gotta, you can't, this is not for the weak. You you can't wear your feelings on your sleeve in business. You gotta be mindful of the things that people are saying about you because it does help you constructively in your business, but you just can't take those things personal. You just can't. You gotta keep your personal feelings out of it.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

And I think that's the big difference between being an artist and a creative. That right there, what she was just saying. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

Can you explain the importance of like everybody is a brand? I feel like people don't understand how important they are. Like anything that you promote, like you are literally a a brand. You can build off your own yourself. So can you like tell us about how you've done that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

So first of all, I am LLC'd because I'm not out here to just, you know, like we have to one thing we don't know a lot about is business taxes, filing taxes as a business. Because we could be doing all this stuff in vain if we don't understand that everything that I do, I have to, I have to be present for my kids. And I'm not out here just doing this for fun. So I have to be, I have to know the paperwork side of things. And so when I branded myself, I branded myself for that reason. When I file my taxes, I want to be able to get the tax business tax perks, to be able to have all the tax write-offs, to be able to, you know, have my kids as employees on my business to be able to build business credit, to be able to, so for me, branding is more so about that. It's about the paperwork side of it. But on the non-paperwork side of it, you have to brand yourself because if you think about all the big businesses that are out here, Walmart or the big corporations, names, Nike, they all have to have some sort of umbrella. Even all the products that they put out, they have to, that consistency has to be there in order for people to get to know who you are. If you're just kind of, if you if none of your branding is consistent, like if you got a different name on Facebook and a different name on Instagram, and you're going by something else here, nobody's gonna ever know who you are because you have all these different names. And most people nowadays, when they're looking for a product, they're Googling, you know, the luxurious photography. And the more places they can see your brand come up, the more legit. I mean, you gotta think about it. There's so much scheme, you know, internet bams going on. You gotta be consistent. So you want to brand yourself and take some pride into that branding, you know. Like I said, get your personal life out of it. Keep it all business, cross your T's, dot your I's, and make sure you have a place online, if you're an online business, that people can find you and be consistent across all platforms with your name and your branding and your logo and so on and so forth. But for me, I literally took my name because it's uh my name is Alexis, my birth name is Alexis, and I like to call my style of photography a luxury style of photography. And so I just that's how my business name was born. You know, I chose something that wasn't it was unique. You want something that's unique. You want something that that's catching, that basically says what you do without saying what you do. You know what I mean? Yeah, branding is important. It's really important because we're businesses. We're we're not just playing out here. You really have to take this serious and receipts and file your taxes and make sure you're getting those gas miles, you know, getting those gas receipts and repair bills and studio time if you're an artist, taking those receipts and and keeping them and turning them into your tax preparer because all that stuff is it'll affect your brand. If you want to see your brand grow, you gotta you gotta take it serious. You gotta be a businesswoman or man about this.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

That's a big uh Dr. Claude Anderson point. Yeah, no, it answered the question. That's and that's a big Dr. Claude Anderson point. He recently has been very big, he's always been about this, but about black folk getting their business together properly, having good business acumen, being professional about their work, how they are perceived out here in the community, especially with branding and the product, the the how we say the quality of the product that you're putting out, and the quality of your product is excellent, I might say. So I've been and it is very innovative. I was reading one of your um posts, and you're talking about how you had to basically you took what you were doing when COVID hit and you found a new way to get it done. And it's so darn innovative. I was showing this to my fiance last night. I was like, look how cool this is. And um, and I I guess this leads into the next point of finding your creative niche. And I know being a creative always helps it's fun. You can have a lot of fun doing it, exciting. But if you want to have it be worthwhile and you want to create a lane and make sure that you can make something out of it, you have to find your niche. You have to find a place where you can insert yourself in and actually give give something to uh whatever culture or et cetera that you're in. Do you have any advice you could share with other creatives looking to find their niche as a creative um an entrepreneur?

SPEAKER_02 19:32

I do. I'm glad you asked that question too. I would say that to find your niche, this is what I did, and that's the only thing I can tell you. I was always the type of person that remember I told you I dropped out of high school. So I had to figure out another way to do this thing. Plus, I was a mom early, I was a mom at 20. So I couldn't go to college. I needed to be home. So what I did was I always got jobs, first of all, to find your niche. Usually it's whatever you love to do for free. What people most commonly call you for. If you're always getting called for, can you come install this fan? And you're like, yeah, sure, I'll come do it, and or come fix this appliance, and that person's always you're willing to do it for free. That's to me what God gave you to build off of.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

And if you just do that with the passion, that's the best, that's the best I've heard that put.

SPEAKER_02 20:26

Yeah, if you just do that with the passion that you that if you just continue to do that for free, eventually a paycheck will come. People will say, No, no, no, no, I have to pay you for this. No, no, no. Like, you know what I mean? You and that's that's how it happened for me. But also, like, let's just say for me, photography. When I first picked up the camera, like I said, I was doing videography. I was doing this for free. I loved it. And I just wanted to help people. I really did. I wanted to help them get noticed, get recognized. And I realized shortly after that, like, man, there's so many different types of cameras. Like, let me start exploring because I wasn't making that much money. Um, and I realized at some point, like, okay, Lexus, you you need to start getting paid here. That you're spending a whole lot of time. You know, you get to that point where you're giving more than you're receiving. I was there, I was burnt out. And so I just decided to, so that goes back to my original point. What I did was if I was in the type of person where, because I can't go to college, I have this child, this baby, I need to be able to get a job. If I if I wanted shoes, I got a job at a shoe store. When I wanted to learn accounting, I got a job at a dealership. When I wanted to learn photography and the business side about photography, I took a job with Picture People, which is a portrait company that has studios all over the United States. And I became the studio manager because I wanted to learn and to see if portrait photography is where I wanted to be. I aligned myself with that. I started, I started meeting, I met this old guy. He's got a company called Midlands Action Photography. I just happened to be sitting in a car wash with a name tag on. You just, my point is you can't be willing to, you gotta be willing to try different things within that scope. But I met this guy named Mike, and Mike said, he saw my name tag and he said, Oh, do you do you take pictures of kids? Are you are you able to take pictures of large groups of kids? And I said, That's all I do, because picture people, most people who do portraits are are children. You know, think about it. When we get grown, I'm taking pictures no more of us. But we document that. So I said, Yeah, he said, Well, look, I need another photographer. And so because I was trying to figure out where my footprint went in this in this field, I was willing to try all types of photography. So I got into sports photography dealing with him. So I went from videography to portrait photography to sports photography. Then I had uh, what else have I done? I've done boudoir, I've done, which I know I'll never do again. I don't like doing naked photo shoots, looking at it's so awkward. It really is. I mean, I think women's bodies are beautiful, I think men's bodies are beautiful, but it's just not my thing. But I've tried it all, and the 3D virtual tours is where I'm at now. I'm gonna tell you why I stuck this.

SPEAKER_05 23:26

That's so dope.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Here's why I did this one. Real estate, I realized that real estate was my niche because A, remember I said if you want to if you want shoes, you get a job at a shoe store. You wanna learn photography, you get a job at a foot at a photography studio. Well, I wanna design luxury. I know that photography, you know, when you're an artist, you have Many things you want to do. I know that photography is not going to be the end all be all for me. It's a vehicle for where I want to go. I want to design a luxury real estate, and and I want a big house. And I don't understand. Between me and my old man, we have uh four kids and one on the way. So I know we're gonna need a pretty big house. I don't, my true, I don't understand real estate. I don't, I really don't. I don't understand how we get into it. How do we get low interest rates? I was trying to understand this whole credit thing. So the easiest way for me to do that was surround myself by people who knew that. And who better than to take pictures for than real estate agents or smart?

SPEAKER_03 24:27

You built the door. You go into the door. You built your own door. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

And so if I know, if I know that I wanna, you gotta think about how much money you want to make. I know that I want a five, four to six thousand square foot house. So I gotta start making money with the big dogs. So I gotta start hanging with the big dogs. I have to start providing services for the big dogs. Portrait photography, I wasn't making any money. There's a ton of photographers out here. A ton of them. So I was always taught that if you want to make money, the best businesses are the ones where people have to come to you to get a service, or that you have a service that people have to come back to you to get. A service that people need, not people want. So I need it. Yeah, for portrait photography is a want, not a need. They only take those pictures when they want them. They don't need to have pictures on the wall, they have camera phones. So how do I get into the need? Real estate, healthcare, those type of industries, they're always a necessary. They always need photography. So that's where I'm at. That's true. That's where I'm at with it now. But my that's how I found my niche. I was trying to, I was, I tried it all. I tried it all. Anything that wouldn't degrade me or that wasn't, you know, illegal, I tried it.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Good point. Yes, big point.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

It didn't go outside my morals. I tried it.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

Yeah. You just have to be willing to get in the mix. Photography as well. So I'm trying to figure out what area my niche is. So right now I'm trying it all. So I appreciate that advice, especially for creatives. I know it's hard out here when you don't really have a certain guideline. You just really just trying to figure out what's what's your thing, what's your purpose?

SPEAKER_01 26:16

Mm-hmm. No, no lie about that. I know I was uh researching about that question because I just wanted to see what other folks said about it. Man, I couldn't find anything about that. I'm telling you, like it did not exist. That's why I told you, like, the way you the way you exp expressed it and explained it was the best that I heard it of anybody.

SPEAKER_03 26:35

Yeah, you simplified it so uniquely.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Yes, yes. And I think a lot of our audience are gonna like that.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

It's a lot easier than we think to get where we're trying to go. College is um an option. I'm not down in college. I didn't go that route. But if you didn't go to college, that doesn't mean this the end-all be all, because I felt like that before. And I'm telling you, it's just about placing yourself around the right people and and be and and going into the job saying, I'm not gonna be here forever, but I'm here to learn something. Because that's the only way you're gonna be able to learn is to watch somebody else that did it. You can't be, you can't, you know how some people are like, I ain't getting around, I'm not asking them for no help. Well, you better. You you better.

SPEAKER_05 27:18

It's the only way you're gonna learn.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

You're so humble, man. It's so humble.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

Because for me, when I went to college, they pulled the creativeness out of me. And but then when I graduated, I felt like, dang, I I wasted so many years. Now I gotta like hustle and bustle and catch up on figuring out what I want to do. Because you spent four years focusing on your craft, and it's like I could have been in the streets hustling, you know, surrounding myself with better people. So it's like how you look at it, yeah. But I know being a creative, you get judged a lot, and people stereotype you as, you know, being like you might just be a broke artist. Like, do you experience that at all? Of course.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

Of course. Um I've had I've had people who, you know, they they want stuff for free, but they don't realize that this is how I pay my bills. They assume that I'm just doing this for fun because it looks fun. You know, being walking around with a camera, I don't have to answer to anybody else. I'm just kind of free to do what I want to do when I want to do it. People don't take that seriously because they think, like I've had, even my old man has told me in the beginning of our relationship, he said to me, You need to get a job. And I was so offended because I was working my ass off. This is my job. All right. I was like, what? This is my job. But people tend to, but when they're used to punching the clock and taking orders from someone else, to them, it looks like I'm doing nothing. I don't know. I'm the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker in this business. They make you having fun. Like this is. Yeah, I have to do the marketing. I have to do the consulting, the, I have to do the actual, I'm the the I'm self-employed as well as the entrepreneur. I have to do the hiring, the the customer retention. I have to do it all. Whereas entrepreneur just, I mean, uh uh employee just goes to clock in and they take orders from someone and they just sit down. I have to do the budgeting, the tax filing, I have to do it all. So yeah, I get it, I get it all the time. But usually, once I explain to somebody, you know, I would love to help you out, but unfortunately, this is my business and I have bills to pay, and so I can't do that for free or, you know, I'll be able to help you in this way, but I can't be in that way. But yeah, I get it all the time. I get it all the time. It's just it's it's that learning curve, y'all. We we like I said, I don't take it personal a lot. I try not to as much as possible because we are new to business. When I say we, the African American community, the black community, we a lot of us are new to business ownership. So, you know, it's to be expected.

SPEAKER_04 30:16

I can learn a lot from us.

SPEAKER_05 30:18

Isn't she so angry?

SPEAKER_02 30:21

I can learn a lot. I will be talking to you soon. Feel free. I love to build a network because it's a lonely process out here. I swear it is. It's like you against the world.

SPEAKER_03 30:34

So, as you know, anyone who has ever started their own business knows that it's a tremendous amount of work. It sounds really sexy to set your own hours and stuff like that, but in reality, it means you have to figure everything out by yourself. Like you said, how do you balance your professional ambitions and being a mother?

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Oh, I got it all wrong first. So I can definitely tell you what not to do. I felt like I had something to prove when I was out here at first, um, because I had so many people against what I was doing. Get a job, get a job, you know. So my first on I was on a mission to prove them wrong, and that's the wrong way to go about this. You can't do this for other people. You have to do that, you have to remember what, why you started this in the first place, and stand on that. Because I found myself working with the wrong energy. You understand what I'm saying? Like what I mean by that is I was doing it out of anger, out of I'm gonna show you. And all that energy I was putting into my business without instead of me going into it with a peaceful mindset, I was overworking myself mentally, spiritually, physically. I was thinking, you know, I have to do this seven days a week, 24 hours a day, because I have to work that much harder. You know what I mean? Because they're against me or I'm not working a job. But I literally um had to take a break. I took a six-month break from from it all. I just opened back up. I took a break from April until September this year. I just opened back up. So I'm just getting on the other side of that hill of learning how to take care of yourself and being a mother at the same time. You know, so being a mom is so demanding because the babies, they're, you have them and they're attached to you from that point forward. And I'm the type of mom where my kids come first. But I had to learn, Alexis, you come first. Because if you're not straight, then no one else around you can be straight. You know, nobody else is gonna be good. And that energy passes on through your business. I was, I was, I was finding myself frustrated with customers. And when I once loved doing this, you know what I mean? So what I would say to that, if you if you find yourself in that point, or before you get to that point, put yourself first, go for a walk. How I balance it, I start my day with me. I had to remember to put myself back on my schedule. Put me. Just me without the kids, me without a business, I had to remember about Alexis. And one thing I realized is I had never taken care of me. I had never done that. I I I lived my whole life trying to please my parents. And then once I had kids, I'm trying to please them. And then, you know, when you have a man, you're trying to please him. And I I forgot, I didn't know who the hell I was. You know what I mean? So now I put myself on my schedule. I start my day with it's all about you have to balance yourself spiritually, mentally. I start myself with nature. I start myself with a clean breakfast, water, sea moss. It's all of those things really have a lot to do with your with your daily life and and and your business. You won't get as far as you think you will if you're not eating right. Because you're gonna get sick. You're gonna get sick, number one. Number two, God is guiding all of this. We don't know what we're doing. You know what I mean? I don't know. I I didn't I didn't stumble across these things. I was literally divinely guided to a lot of this stuff. And it was in the times where I was quiet, where I was sitting with myself when I was fasting, when I was praying, when I was eating right, walking outside by myself, no phone, no, no, no Facebook, no, none of that stuff. It's just it's taking care of self. You take care of yourself and everything else will follow. And so how I balance that is by taking care of I put myself first, not my kids, not my business. Alexis, what do you need today?

SPEAKER_03 34:47

Yeah, I'm so happy because a lot of mothers feel like they sat need to put other people first and they sacrifice a lot throughout their whole life. But I don't think people understand the importance of if you're not healthy, you can't do anything for nobody. Like you came in this world by yourself, you leave this world by yourself. Everything here on this earth is borrowed or loaned to you. You have to appreciate it in fullness. So thank you for being so transparent.

SPEAKER_02 35:12

Yeah, we're taught that though. If you think about it, from day one, we're taught to please other people, right? And I I love school, but school is the first place that teaches you to listen to some, to you're you're in school doing this work because someone else wants you to do it. You go to college to get a job, that's someone else's dream. You you know what I mean? That's it's always like, but there's no but there's no place or that I know of in school, no class that says, I think there should be a class that says that's called like, Who are you? Where they just sit you down and there's no curriculum, and there's literally just open space for you to just, I mean, maybe there's crayons and there's paintbrushes and there's tools, and you just do you and figure out who you are. And maybe you write that down, and then class, you know, day number two is all right, where do you see yourself in five years, or what would you like to do next, or whatever. It's just a creative thinking class. Like, I just think that we're just not taught how to do this.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

We're not taught self-awareness.

SPEAKER_02 36:15

There you go, self-awareness.

SPEAKER_03 36:17

They don't want you to be aware, they don't want you to know yourself. Once you know yourself, once you tap into your high your higher self, your higher self, you will succeed. And they don't want you to to do that.

SPEAKER_01 36:26

It's too dangerous.

SPEAKER_03 36:28

Oh man, we'd be too powerful.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

Yeah, that's what I mean. That's what I mean. For them, it'd be a problem. For us, it'd be great.

SPEAKER_02 36:33

It'd be great. Freedom like no other. It it really is. I I can't even like I didn't even know that life could be this good. I didn't know that I just had no clue, y'all. I didn't, but I'm thankful that I know now. And it's still a struggle. I have to still remember to say no, you know, if I haven't done me yet. Because first, you know, people, first thing in the morning, my kids, mom, can you uh I haven't done me yet. Give me a minute. Right. Give me a minute. I'm just collecting my thoughts here, you know?

SPEAKER_03 37:03

I respect that. I respect that. Now, what like advice do you give to your kids as far as you know being more self-aware or learning themselves?

SPEAKER_02 37:12

I tell my kids, I don't force school on my kids. I I ask my kids, who are they? I talk to them a lot about what their desires are. I just ask them about how they feel. And the the main advice I give them is to go for it. Whatever it is that you, whatever you want to do, I I I definitely, my kids, I wanted to show them how to run a business. So they carry camera bags, set up equipment. They even do a couple shoots sometimes while I do the posing, if that's the case. And my daughter, she has a job right now, and I encourage her to go do it because I feel like if you're able to see both sides, you know, working a job, and then what it's like to be able to make your own schedule and, you know, the entrepreneur side of it, then she'll be able to decide what she wants to do. But I know for me, I wasn't shown both sides. You know what I mean? So if we know better, we do better. So I I my advice to them is to follow their heart. And I I don't, I do not. This might sound crazy to some people, but I don't care. I do not, I tell my kids, if you want to drop out of school, just be up front with me. Don't go to school and make me look like a fool, and you ain't even in there doing what the hell you're supposed to do. If you don't want to go to school, that's fine. That's fine. Look, you know what's crazy? My kids are straight A students, they love school, but I was the exact opposite because school was forced on me. And my kids love school. But I that they know that I don't care if they don't go to college, because if they don't go to college, then if as long as they tell me, then we can sit down and make a game plan on how there's another, there's a million ways to skin a cat. Let's let's sit down and make a game plan on how what do you want to do and other ways to get that done.

SPEAKER_03 39:01

Creativeness, I love it. You just stay creative with them. It's always a pr different perspective of something.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 39:09

That's right. I want to know more about virtual tours. Can you tell us more about that? Sure.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

So 3D Virtual Tours. Well, I picked up my first camera in 2017, and I just happened to stumble across the camera, the technology. I think the first camera was built in 2015. The first camera was put out on the market. Well, it was too tech forward at the time. And so how I ended up looking for, I had a I found a 360 camera. Do y'all remember when Samsung put out the like Samsung started putting out the notes and all those different phones, the um galaxies and stuff. Yeah. We came out with this camera that was called, geez, what was it called? It it was a little, it if you bought the phone, you got the camera, right? But what it did was it took 360-degree photos. So you just sit it in safe in the middle of a room, hit, you know, shoot or take the picture, whatever the power, whatever the whatever you call it, button is to take the picture on your, you controlled it from your phone, and it would take a panorama 360 degrees in the room. But the problem was, I said, man, this is dope. You know how many things I could like take pictures of and sell to people. Like I could take pictures of insides of cars, insides of houses. Well, the problem was the the pixels of this camera was so low, it just didn't look like the money I was trying to make. So I was Googling. Yeah, I wanted, I was like, I can do this, but I need some more money. So I Googled, I was trying to find different types of 360 cameras. So I stumbled across the technology that I own now, which is called Matterport. Well, I saw this camera, this camera was $4,000, but man, what it did. I was blown away. And I knew, I was just reading the reviews, I was joining groups of people who own the technology, which it wasn't many people then because of the price point of the camera. I started seeing the pros and cons of it, but I could see the future in this. I knew that first I knew the importance of investing in yourself. An investment is not something that comes to you right away. You put your money up and it grows over time. You know what I mean? So I said, man, if I get into this right now, and I and I saw the market predictions for it, reading Forbes and stuff like that. And the market predictions were saying that in 2020, it was a $2.8 billion industry. And I was like, man, I gotta get into this. I gotta, I gotta invest in one of these cameras. And so I did. I bought my first camera. I have to I own two of them now. I bought my first camera and I just started. What it does is it allows people to virtually from your internet browser walk through a space or a place. So you don't have to leave to tour a hotel, make reservations at a restaurant, see where that, you know, you want to go in and see where you're gonna be sitting. Maybe you have someone in a wheelchair and you need to be able to have wheelchair access. You can literally go to these places from your internet browser because how many times have you booked a hotel from off of like the internet, and then you get there and it looks like a matchbox? Like it looks so huge from the picture, and then you get there and it's like, this is this ain't no way in the world.

SPEAKER_03 42:41

Then you mad at the photographer, whoever they are.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

Yeah, yeah, it's like false advertisements. So, but like I said, going towards the real estate thing, I said, this is gonna get me in the door where I need to be, because I'm gonna have something that people need, but they have to come back to me to get it. And so I looked at how many other owners there were in Columbia. There weren't any, so I had no competition, right? And that was that was what I was really looking at. It was a million DSLR camera owners, a million portion photographers, a million sports photographers, a million broudoir. I'm like, no, this isn't this isn't it. So, but but how I got into the photography, I mean, how I after I bought, let me get back to where I was saying, after I bought the technology, I literally just started asking people, friends, family, hey, can I photograph your house with this new technology? You know what I mean? I just, and so that's how I built my portfolio. I did my own house, I did my parents' house. I would do when I would go out of town to Atlanta to see uh relatives or friends, I would ask them. And it's a benefit for them because when you have like a fire in your house or um a flood or something like that, you want to have some documentation on what was in your house to so you can cover it. That's amazing. Virtual tour can capture everything that's in there, and on top of that, you can measure from inside of this virtual tour. So let's just say you need to have floor replaced. You can send the file that I give you to your contractor, and they can measure from the virtual tour and go get the carpet. You can send it to everybody, whoever you need, the painter, the carpenter, I mean the the whoever, all your contractors. Just send it out and and they can get what they need. But COVID really pushed this through. Because you remember when COVID came in, people still wanted to buy houses, but now we gotta figure out how do we do it without inter without close interaction with people. How do I get people in and out of this house? And there was a lady who called me. She had a doctor as a client. She was a real estate agent. Her name is Nicole Johnson from uh YIP Premier Real Estate uh brokerage. But Nicole called me. She said, uh, it was on a Wednesday. She's like, Hi, do you do virtual tours? I I need, I Googled, and you are the only company that I can find, I can I found. And she said, I need, I have a doctor whose house I need to sell, and he told me that I need to figure out how to get it sold without having all these people in and out of my house. He's a doctor, a surgeon. So he said, Find one of those people who do that virtual tour thing and get them here. And she found me and she said, Can how soon can you come out and do it? And I said, Well, how soon do you need it? And she said, Saturday. I was out there Saturday, I did the virtual tour, and she sold it to a couple, I think in Maryland, from the virtual tour. Just recently, I had a lady from here, Shanika, who's with EXP Realty. We sold her house. She had an open house for I think. Two days, like a Saturday and Sunday. I think it was Halloween and Halloween Eve, you know, like that Saturday and Sunday. And she had, I think she said three people to the physical open house that came. She had 156 visits to the virtual tour. That is what I'm talking about. Nine days. Nine days. I know we broke the record. They bought it. They went, they put their offer in from the ver they never stepped foot physically into this house. So this is a game changer for so many people. Real estate realtors actually work really hard. They have to go to listing showings. They're not getting paid until this house clothes on them. Closes on them. They're spending a lot of gas, money, a lot of time away from their family. This is you know, entrepreneurs, we are basically problem solvers. This is a problem solver for the real estate agent, I mean, industry as well as the buyer industry because you don't have to w risk yourself getting sick. You don't have to um waste your gas. Everything's gone up right now. You know, you can be everything, yes. And buy and sell literally from these virtual tours. So I'm thankful for COVID. I know a lot of us, we have l I've lost family members, but on the other side of it, I'm so thankful that I invested in this when I did because I I I hit the mark, you know what I mean? Like, and it's just beginning to take off. And I can't wait to see what the future of this is because that's where we're headed. It's virtual everything. And right now it's a need, it's necessary. People are looking for it. They're like, hey, so do you provide virtual tours? And the relatives are like, Look, I need somebody. You know what I mean? So I look forward to expanding and hiring.

SPEAKER_03 47:33

Um and I was just about to ask you that.

SPEAKER_02 47:37

People need to know. Yep, I am hiring. I got two cameras. I need to put people on them. If anybody owns a camera, hit me up. I definitely hit you up, girl. If you own a camera, I can put your contracts out. Absolutely. Definitely. I'm trying to take over the whole southeast of uh the United States, you know, at least Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and surrounding areas. Because why not? Let's let's get this money. And it's enjoyable. It's a really I love doing it. Love doing it.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

Man, I like the point that you made. I hope people paid attention to that, especially audience that everything is becoming virtual. Do not sleep on the game. Get yourself in position to be ready for this virtual world. If not, you will be left behind, penniless, because even the money's going that way. So, like, you better get ready. I'm happy you said it. Because that's one of the things that that made me really stoked about talking to you, talking to you today and listening to what you had to say about these things. Was when I was looking at the thing, I said, 4K, 3D, what? I said, this can't be real. That's what I'll tell you. I was showing my fiance. I was like, yo, look how dope this is. We just go walk through all these houses. Yeah. We can figure out what we like, and we don't have to go anywhere. Because when we were first riding around looking for places up here when I first moved up here, man, we spent so much money on gas, driving place to place. Even though you had like the setup where you could, you know, be there by yourself, you know, just get the key out the door, go and walk yourself through the house. You're still having to go do it, still got to clean yourself, make sure you're correct when you come back. You have to go to all these locations, you gotta ride through some all these neighborhoods, spend your gas money, eating while you're doing this, all this stuff. You have to have time. And I was just like, yo, this is what we needed then. And I was just like, yo, this is dope. This is one of the coolest products I've seen from any of our guests that we've had up here because it's so darn innovative.

SPEAKER_02 49:36

Innovative, yes.

SPEAKER_01 49:37

I must give you kudos for that. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 49:39

Thank you. Appreciate it. I give kudos to the big guy, because I'm telling you, I didn't. I I found this. If I was not praying and fasting, I wouldn't have, if I was just still trying to do what I was wanting to do, man, I wouldn't be where I am today. I swear I wouldn't. I know I wouldn't.

SPEAKER_01 49:53

You're so humble, man. I'm not gonna I gotta I keep saying that because you yeah, you're really you're the epitome of it. Yeah, you kept it real.

SPEAKER_02 50:03

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 50:03

That's all I can. Like, thank you. You bought it. See, she can't even but I like your journey, your process. Um, I like to tell people like if you if you find something you like, walk towards it, and the universe will meet you halfway and conspire things towards your favor, and you are a true definition of that. So it was nice meeting you and talking to you. Wow, I appreciate it. Thank y'all for having me. This has been dope. Do you want to tell anybody any um upcoming projects you're working on or a market that you would like to reach out to? Um, sure.

SPEAKER_02 50:39

So if you book me for any photography of any property, you automatically get a virtual tour right now. It is not an option because I know how necessary it is for you to keep your doors open. You gotta evolve. So if you need any type of marketing for your business, brick and mortar business, give me a call. 597 Buzz 803 597 Buzz. And the virtual tour comes with it. You get a uh yard sign if it's a house where people can scan it from the curb and virtually tour that place without even having to get out their card. And that is going for uh $250 right now. So hit me up. Also, for portrait photography, I have a Christmas special running that comes with three poses for $75 and Christmas cards. So if you get three backdrops and three poses, it is the season. Yep, let's get the people, everybody's home now. So your kids are home. There's no reason. You can't beat that. There's no other time you can get everybody in one household to get pictures taken except Christmas and Thanksgiving. So hit me up, same number 597 Buzz, and you can find me on all platforms under Luxurious Photography Studio. That's Instagram, Facebook, um, and even LinkedIn. So let me know if you need me. Give me a call, hit me up, send me a message. I'm your girl. If you're looking for a job and you got a 3D camera or you're willing to be trained, hit me up. Let's get this sh money. I like the way you promote your stuff.

SPEAKER_00 52:11

I love her style. I love your style, man. This ain't my day. She got a smile on her face this whole time.

SPEAKER_05 52:17

Oh. Well, thank you so much. Thank y'all.

SPEAKER_01 52:21

Well, go ahead tomorrow. I I guess is is there anything else that we that we have to bother her with? Because I know we've been picking her hard. We made her work today.

SPEAKER_03 52:29

No, no, she's good. I I could pick her brain off, you know, off the grid.

SPEAKER_01 52:36

Well, man, we definitely appreciate you coming up here on our platform, gracing us with your presence, your wisdom, your understanding, your life experiences. We are very grateful for it. Like I said, we we build this platform because we want folks in our in our age, we're growing up the way we've grown up and stuff, to have some kind of understanding. I'm happy that you made that point of letting people know that hey, it hasn't been long that we've been business owners, etc. And a lot of us young folk out here trying to become entrepreneurs, trying to find our way, find our niche, figure out what's going on. We need to hear from folks who've done and been through certain struggles, understood how to find their ways out of certain ditches, because there is no better teacher than experience. So um, yes, I must say we do appreciate that. And man, just to close out for today, I do want to say um blessings to everybody. I want everybody to be safe out here moving around because all this bad weird news and stuff that we get nowadays, it just lets you know to make sure that you are thankful for your people, especially going into this holiday season. I want everybody to enjoy it and have a good time, but be safe out there. And of course, you know, this will conclude this episode of the Hilltop Glove podcast.

SPEAKER_05 53:51

Sign it out.

SPEAKER_01 53:51

I want everybody appreciate it, appreciate it. And of course, we will make sure to post all the information that you did drop for us when this episode is out, so our folks and our audience will be able to get to it. And other than that, man, everybody be easy. Have a good Saturday and peace.