Something new this week, as this weeks #Boss is none other than my photographer, Jerren Willis! Jerren and I started shooting over a year ago now & we have had so much fun! Shooting with Jerren is anything less than anadventure- he is known to publicize bloopers & catches the best candid photos. Celebrating his 10 year anniversary of his photography business this week, Jerren tells us all about how he got started in photography 10 years ago and the secrets as to how his business is still thriving now!
Tell me a little about yourself. Where did you grown up, get your degree in etc? What is your current job?
I’m a Houston native, growing up on the north side of town & am the youngest of three siblings. I graduated from Texas A&M University in 2009 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Currently, I am an engineer and entrepreneur. My business is Jerren Willis Photography, and it is something I started while at A&M in 2007 & been doing for ten years.
What made you decide to start your career?
I picked up photography around the same time Facebook added photo galleries as a feature on their site. In the fall of my junior year in 2006, one of my friends encouraged me to apply for a student worker job as a photographer for A&M’s Marketing and Communications Dept. That’s where it got started & later that summer I used a portion of my summer internship earnings to invest in equipment and officially start my business.
What inspires you on a daily basis?
Perfection is what inspires me. Although it’s not likely I’ll ever get there, it’s what I strive for in everything I do. My high school football coach once told me that “the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement”, so I spend a lot of time doing self-evaluation and putting forth effort to be better in all aspects of my life.
What is your favorite bible verse & why?
My favorite bible verse is I Peter 5:7, which says ‘give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.’ This verse really gave me comfort when I was dealing with a cancer scare back in 2011.
What’s something you would tell your 20-year-old self?
Go ahead & get that Math minor. The message is to go ahead and finish things while the opportunity is there. I already took four of the six classes to get it through my engineering requirements, but I decided to take an easier way out. That’s something I definitely wouldn’t do now.
What is your end goal with your career? What do you want to accomplish?
Continue to grow my business and have it morph into being able to empower younger photographers and give them opportunities to grow and start their own businesses. I want to start giving instructional classes and workshops. Also, I want to launch a philanthropic branch of my business, of which I can use what I do to help the community.
What are the 3 most important things you would tell someone starting off in their career?
Always evolve, master your communication techniques and pay attention to detail
[Tweet “…pay attention to detail.”]
What is your favorite thing to do regarding your field?
I like meeting different people and being able to capture the vision that they want.
What is your least favorite?
Might sound cliché, but I really don’t have a least favorite part. It’s all a part of the process, and I like every step.
What has been the most surprising challenge within your field?
Learning how to tell people ‘no’. Sometimes I feel like I can overstretch myself with the number of opportunities I take on.
Jerren is one of my favs & his work is amazing! Pretty much any of the photos on my blog are his work- about 90% if I’m being honest! For more information about how work, feel free to reach out, as his contact information is below:
https://www.facebook.com/jerrenwillis/
Info@jwilphotos.com
Until Next Time!
-B
