Meet Kevin Turcios | Photographer, Videographer, and Tattoo Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kevin Turcios and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kevin, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
One of the habits that helped me succeed is to always remain consistent. The thing about consistency is it will pick up where motivation cant. When leaping in to becoming an entrepreneur you have to understand that wether its day 1 or day 3,000 you will always deal with ups and downs. But you must always remind yourself to stick to daily habits of waking up and blocking out all distractions and, for a lack of better words, grind! You are the boss so there isn’t any one over your head 9-5 telling you, you have to do this or that or checking to see if you’ve completed projects. Its literally just you, you have make yourself accountable for making sure you hit deadlines and complete projects. Which may sound or seem overwhelming or intimidating but don’t be scared of it, embrace it! Because its very comparable to renting vs buying. When you rent something every dollar you put in to that purchase doesn’t do anything for you bc in the end its still isn’t yours. But when you buy, every dollar that you put in goes to you hitting that final goal of owning this possession. Just like when you work for a business all your doing is helping some one else make there dream come true and all you get is paycheck at the end and idk, maybe a pat on the back. But when building a business, every dollar, every second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year(s), blood, sweat, and tears will be worth it because its all an investment into your dream and trust me when i say you will reap every benefit of what you sow! Also one more thing to add is to remember that the word “success” is a very subjective term. As hard as it is, do your best to never compare your self to other ppl and their success. Stick to your craft, build your craft, and do what you love. People will gravitate to it naturally and you will build your audience and community the natural way.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
One of the things that I’m most proud of and excited about is knowing that my art has gotten me to where I am today, made me who I am today, and helped me build the community I have today. Never did I think my camera/vision would take me around the world. I still have hard time believing it. But I wont lie, as glamorous as that sounds, it wasn’t easy. Moving across the country from Baltimore, Md to southern California already in its own came with many difficulties. But with that move came also a switch in professions. Before coming to California I was a real estate agent. So clearly saying f*ck this comfy suit and tie job “I want to be an artist” was quite the shock to everyone around me, including myself! It was hard to deal with the constant questions of “how will you pay the bills, can you afford to live, do you have a back up plan” all things of that nature, a nature which is doubt. Doubt is by far the hardest things to deal with. Not from myself but from those around me. Because as much as I try to tune it out there would come those days where those words would really eat at me and fester in my mind causing me to second guess myself. But luckily for me I’ve just always been a person who has lived by the words of “if it makes you happy it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else”. I’ve fallen in love with my craft. Photography and videography are two things I do for the sake of the passion I have for it. Im a person who creates because its possible not because it profitable. Which is one piece of advice I will give to anyone in the creative world, wether you’re just starting out or been in the game a few years. Sometimes you will have to create something for free on your own time, so people know what they’re paying you for. Those kinds of projects is where you really get to showcase who you are. Thats kind of what might set me aside from others and also what I’d like for people to know about my brand and thats that everything I do I’m excited about! I am extremely excited every opportunity I get to shoot, work on a set, shoot a wedding, do BTS, or work on passion projects. It doesn’t matter the project, big or small, I just genuinely love the whole process!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m also new to California but chances are I would make them do the same thing I did when I first moved here. First we’d ride down to San Diego down the PCH making as many stops as possible hitting all the breweries, I love San Diego for all the breweries they have! maybe check out the gas lamp quarter since they have a bunch of cool little places to grub and grab a drink. But on the way back to LB/LA I’d make my favorite stop on the PCH at San Clemente State Beach. No clue why but I’ve always loved stopping there just to enjoy the view for a few minutes and stretch my legs. But once were back in LB I’d take them to all the small ma and pa owned shops(support the little guys) that Long Beach is so known for! We’d definitely walk around as well because long beach is such a walkable city and there is just so much art everywhere! At some point I’d have to absolutely take them out to LA/Hollywood to go see all the touristy spots just because as lame as it is its also kind of fun. The walk of fame, Hollywood sign, the observatory, LACMA, the tar pits, Malibu, and so much more. California is such a big state that I myself am still exploring it. So tbh I’m probably one of the worst tour guides you could get out here hahah

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d actually love to shout out my big homie Rachard Johnson. He is an amazing videographer based in Long Beach. Craziest thing about him is that he’s actually a pro rollerblader I grew up watching and one random day I just saw him at my gym working out. I of course was like “holy sh*t thats Rachard Johnson!” and I just went up to him and said whats up! but any ways, just through conversation we became IG friends and what not. But by some stroke of good luck he liked my work and asked if i wanted to help him on a shoot. And have since shot a good bit of gigs together. But the thing about him is that, and idek if he knows this, but he’s the first person who said “yo, you’re a lifestyle photographer/videographer and you should really stick to that!” and ever since I have and honestly it really worked out for me! Also there is a saying he says and I think everyone should hear it “Find what you love and do that sh*t everyday!”

Website: mimaproductions.com

Instagram: @m.i.m.a.productions

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-turcios-063861249/

Other: https://unsplash.com/@kevin_turcios