Young Successful Entrepreneur

Photo by Wm. Marc Salsberry | @wmmarc

Just when you think you’ve learned every trick in the book or met every important person that you need to meet, I promise you that you’re going to meet someone who will open your eyes to new ideas and new ways of doing things.  Today was one of those rare moments for me; I met an extremely motivated, well-connected person who gladly shared his experience and wisdom with me.

Wm. Marc and I sat down at Iso Cafe in Westwood to drink some Boba and take pictures for my upcoming feature in LaLaWag.  Wm. Marc’s never drank Boba before (I know, I couldn’t believe it either), so he whipped out his first-gen iPhone and Wikipedia’d “boba.”  With his camera out of its holster, we proceeded in chatting about entrepreneurship, LA tech, social media, and about our personal lives.  Every once in a while he would snap a picture and remind me to “lower my chin” because I guess my under-chin likes to pick up a lot of shadow.

I’m used to controlling the conversation with some exciting stories and lessons of my own, but Wm. Marc’s stories completely dwarfed mine to the point where I was just sitting quietly, listening and learning.  He spoke about traveling to Beijing with Carmelo Anthony and Steve Nash and touring the nation with Pete Cashmore.  I finally paused him and asked, “How is it that you were able to accomplish all of this?”

Even an economic downturn, money should take 2nd place

In a time when the economy is garbage and no one can find a job, doing what you love for a living is extremely hard.  However, even when your main concern is generating money to pay your next set of monthly bills, it is very possible to do what you love.  Prime example: My girlfriend loves fashion and shopping, so I built her a site called In Our Closet and am helping her start her own Personal Stylist company.  She’s going to work on this project nights and weekends.

Wm. Marc’s goal was to build connections with important people and exponentially expand his network.  Armed with a love for photography, Wm. Marc set out to build his network and personal brand by looking through the lens.  Wm. Marc is another clear example of how a person can utilize a passion for something and turn it into a springboard for life.

Lesson learned: Don’t doubt yourself. If you don’t have time during the day, do what you love on nights and weekends.  “Hussle” is the most important word in the dictionary!

Money is littered on the street; learn how to pick it up

Remember the time when “tech” people were all pocket-protector-wearing nerds sitting in front of their computer or laptop smiling at the camera.  Well those days are all long gone thanks to Wm. Marc.  He had a vision, and the vision was to make the tech community look like “rock stars.”  All he had to do was send a Tweet asking for social medialites that wanted their pictures taken.  One head shot lead to another one until he was taking pictures for Jason Calacanis and Michael Arrington.

He saw that there was a need for people who could make the top tech community look good. His passion for photography and niche lined up perfectly so that he was able to capitalize on it.

Lesson Learned: My dad once told me, “Money is littered all over the streets.  All you need to do is know how to pick it up.” Wm. Marc is a clear example of finding a niche where no one else had looked.  There are thousands of undiscovered niches that are waiting for you to come and claim.  Keep your head up and your eyes open because there could be a niche waiting for you just around the corner.

Put people before personal gain

Wm. Marc has had plenty of opportunities to take a “Gotcha!” picture and sell it for thousands of dollars.  He doesn’t take these pictures because he knows that his personal brand is worth more than any one-time picture sale could ever give him.  His brand is that he will make you look good no matter what. When social media stars request that he doesn’t publicly post the pictures that he takes of them, he respects their wishes even when his pictures may contain some juicy, gossip worthy images.

Futhermore, Wm. Marc takes many pictures for people for free because he wants the opportunity to meet new people and build a relationship with them.  Today was a clear example: he took the time out of his day to take pictures for my upcoming publication.  Because of his generosity, we were able to make a great connection and I’ll hopefully be able to connect him with some people that I know as well.  At the very least, he gets this cool post on my blog 

Lesson Learned: Go out of your way to help people and make them feel good about themselves.  From Never Eat Alone, I learned that people will be forever in debt for you if you help them with 1 of 4 things: money, family, health, or sex.  If you want to meet someone very important, think about what you could specifically do for them before you try to make the connection.  It can make or break the relationship.