Keys to the Kingdom or How I Managed to Outlive the Competition

 When I first decided to get in the photo-repping game in 1986 I was far from the only one out in the field. There were dozens of reps  from photography reps to fine art reps , print reps, and just about any other "rep" of about anything you could think of. Representing a talent or a source is I guess to some people just a different way of saying "sells". Yes, it is selling without question ...there is a lot of doing that kind of thing.... but I personally think when you "represent" something , especially a person or people with a particular skill set it is a much deeper relationship than just "selling ". I have always found it an important position being a sort of  "conduit" between a client and the talent and I have never once taken the "service" aspect for granted with either party. 

As the years have  accumulated one by one the other "reps" seemed to disappear. They were either leaving the job market , leaving town, or moving on to something new and different and I kept going until I looked up one day to discover I had been doing this for 30 years! How is that possible? As stunned as I am by the sheer volume of years I have acquired in this field I am also rather proud to be the "oldest living rep " in town as I feel it means I must be doing something, at least a tiny bit, right!

 I remember starting with a stable of 3 talented shooters which included Michael Hart ,who I still proudly represent today. Michael  found a designer to create a logo for me, bought me my first set of business cards, and explained to me in great detail how this whole "rep" thing worked. I listened intently, took notes, and thought "I'll do this for a year maybe and then find something more interesting to do with my life!".  So thirty years later I guess it's safe to say Mike made a good investment . (You'll have to check with him to see if that statement is true or false!)

I  can now look at my stable of talent not only with dumfounded amazement but also with  a real sense of pride. I  work with a force of extremely talented photographers in Houston, Texas but I have expanded my stable to include shooters  around the world from Perth to Paris, London, Aberdeen, Mexico City, Rio, Istanbul, Cape Town , Vancouver and Edmonton. Each photographer hand picked and chosen to the meet the needs of  my current or potential clients   and to allow those companies with even the tightest of budgets to have their visions made into a reality. The expansion of my company was necessary in order to work with companies  in Houston that had an International presence. I was quick to make sure that each photographer was not only fluent in English but was also willing to have the unique certifications necessary in order to work with companies headquartered in  Houston. No easy task I assure you ,as more than not , the safety certification we require to shoot offshore here is not something necessary in, lets say, Rio where anyone can jump on a helicopter and shoot whatever they like without ever having taken one HUET course. Vetting each photographer has been imperative to creating the kind of stable I am proud to work with. The time it took was well worth it and that is evident by the amount of repeat business I get once someone gives my overseas talent a try. 

As it turned out , that small decision to work with photographers has been the best of my life. I have been beyond  lucky to work with such a talented and gifted group of people..and that includes our clients as well as the people I represent. It has always been about relationships and the ability to understand and communicate and deliver what the client wants. When the photographer and client are on the same wavelength then the magic really happens and a kinship is born that hopefully lasts forever. I am the lucky one who gets to help facilitate these relationships, a matchmaker of sorts , who gets to bask in the glory when things go very very right and has to scramble like mad to make things right  on those few occasions when things didn't go as planned. For the most part my business has been good but there are, as with any company, those days when it all feels like a venture in futility  and throwing in the towel and driving trucks for a  living comes to mind more than once.  For all the times I have been stood up, ignored, mistreated,lied to, hung up on, or bluntly told "We aren't interested!!", there have been countless other times where people took the time out of their busy day to look and see what I had to offer, were kind, supportive , and genuinely impressed with the work.  It is to those people I have undying respect and gratitude.  You didn't have to see me but you did and I thank you!

I am keenly aware that as reps go I was not necessarily the best and that in truth you are only as good as the people you have in your portfolio. I am fortunate to have amazing people. Loyal, talented, creative people who have stuck with me through thick and thin, feast and famine. I am also sincerely grateful that I have had my nose down to the grindstone for so long I was unaware that time had been so fleeting as to honor me with being the last one standing. I have always jokingly said, " I had to keep doing this, I don't know how to do anything else!".

I take this opportunity to thank my group of great shooters....each and everyone a Key to the Kingdom for me....and also to thank the many people in the business who have given us an opportunity to show what we could do! It is the gold of this business to have referrals and each one is appreciated with every ounce of my heart.  Houston is a great place to live, a great place to start a business, and if you have to be "the oldest living one"......it's not a bad place to do that either!