Figure It Out
Figure it out.
Those have been the first three words that I have been telling myself every morning when I wake up.
It has been about three months since I first moved down to Southern California and I figured I’m overdue for an update for the people who like to keep up and actually read what I write.
First off, why am I even down here? For the people that don’t know, I moved down here to grow and build. Last April, I started working with In The Lab as a photographer. This May, I ended up moving into a house with the team. We’re down here to grow the business and, well, get In The Lab. The goal is to build the business and each other.
We all had to sacrifice a lot to even be down here. I can’t speak for the other guys, but I’ll talk a little bit about what I’ve had to sacrifice. Some of the biggest things that come to mind are leaving my family and girlfriend, quitting my job at Apple (and having a steady income), and basically having to start over. No job, no school, no friends. A whole lot of discomfort.
I know some people down here in SoCal, but honestly, I know A LOT of people back home in the Bay. That’s one of the things. I worked pretty hard to build the relationships that I had back home and tried to stay in contact with a lot of people. Down here, I have essentially no connections and, as a result, less opportunities right of the bat. That’s something that I need to work on. I won’t lie, I’ve been slacking on that side of things the most while being down here. Sometimes I don’t even know where to start. It’s almost as if there’s just so much going on that it’s overwhelming. Another reason I’ve been slacking on that is because I’ve been spending a lot of time inside. This has to be the most time I have ever spent looking at a computer screen and to be honest, it gets really tiring. I’ve been spending a lot of my time trying to experiment with different looks for my pictures, watching videos and tutorials, reading, and finding different things to learn every day. Even though I don’t go to school, I’m still staying educated.
Speaking of education, I feel that the best way to learn is to actually experience. At USF, I was studying business with a major in marketing. Honestly, it was the most boring thing in the world. I was just sitting in the classroom bored out of my mind, blanking out every time the teacher started to teach. I just wanted to build a business already and figure it out. That’s part of what I’m doing down here. As part of building In The Lab as a whole and our clothing line, I play a role in the marketing aspect of things and just figuring out ways to help grow the company. At the same time, my personal brand is growing as well. With social media, people become their own businesses. With that being said, I’m essentially trying to build two businesses at the same time.
In terms of growth, I can see and feel it. Artistically, I can feel my ideas becoming more developed and I’ve been able to just play around with different edits and styles. I’ve had a lot more ideas. They may not all be good ideas, but I’m not worried about it. I figured that for every hundred ideas, I’ll probably have somewhere around two good ideas and I’m good with that. It all starts with an idea.
Physically, I haven’t worked out consistently since sophomore year of high school. That’s a LONG time. Sophomore year, I had an accident when I was training and injured my head, neck, and back. I know it’s no excuse, but after that, I never really had the same mentality when it came to working out and getting back into the groove of things. I would try to start back up, but I was holding myself back mentally. That’s one of my biggest regrets, but we live and we learn. Out here, I’ve been slowly getting back into it. I can definitely feel that I’ve gotten stronger and I’m starting to see it little by little. I’m actually not concerned with seeing the results, I just want to win the mental game again.
Being away from home is the hardest part. It’s probably taken the biggest toll on me mentally. Before leaving, things were actually going really well. Growing closer to my family, my girlfriend moved in, everything was going as it should and I had zero complaints. Gigs were flowing in, Apple was a great place to be, I had just stopped going to school, it was great. I feel like I left a lot back home, but it was necessary. Everything I’m saying isn’t bad at all. I actually feel really lucky and blessed to be down here. I’m just telling it like it is from the mental side of things. The hard part of moving down here was leaving everything as it was still growing and actually picking up momentum. It’s actually kind of hard to put into words. A lot of days, I feel kind of lonely while trying to figure things out. I know LA isn’t that far from the Bay, but still. Also, I know that a lot of people experience the same thing. I know people go off for college and all that. Again, just telling it like it is. Won’t simp much longer though lol.
Figure it out.
It’s been a real challenge so far. A fun one though. Figuring out how to pay the bills, where the money is coming from, when I’m going to see my family and girlfriend again, where the opportunities are going to be, who my friends are, personalities on the team, fun things to do, everything. The process has been unique. Not everyone has the opportunity to just pick up and go make something. It’s been a blessing to be in this house with these guys. They’re all special and I wouldn’t want to build with anyone else right now. Even though I may not be with family back home, these guys have become my family. Being the youngest one in the house, I’m learning a lot. Knowledge is power.
There are a ton of positives of being down here. I won’t go too deep into it, but I’ve been able to do some pretty cool things so far in the few events that I’ve been to. I’ve gotten to shoot people like Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Tyson Chandler, Rick Ross, and Famous Dex at different events like the Drew League, Adidas events, or just training sessions. It’s also been really dope to hear about all of the cool people that my team works with. I’m just trying to grow and get to their level.
I know I haven’t written in a long time. I’ve just been trying to get used to everything. Writing this, I felt pretty rusty, so if it is, I’m sorry if that was rough to go through lol. I’m going to try to write more, so if you have any suggestions of what to write or any questions you might want to ask, feel free to hit me up. Leave a comment below, DM me, text me, whatever works. As always, thank you to everyone who rocks with me. I’m still figuring things out. Stay on this journey with me and let’s see where this takes us.
To Live and Prosper.
- JSquared
@_J.Squared
@InTheLabLifestyle