168 ~ Swim Week Las Vegas & What’s Next

Swim Week Las Vegas came to town and with it a new epiphany for me. 

In this episode I encourage you to realize when something no longer works for you in the same way it used to, how you have the power to create new opportunities for yourself in whatever way you choose. 

Swim Week Las Vegas was a blast! Tons of new connections, tons of old connections, a handful of pictures, and as always; an experience to remember. 

Let's connect! I'd love to hear from you.
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

What is up? Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Johnny. I forgot. I forgot my own intro. Thank you for tuning into this episode of the Johnny Boy Studios podcast. I am Johnny and I am excited to bring you this episode of the podcast. Now, I want to talk to you guys about swim week Las Vegas, where it just took place a little over a week ago. It was August 7th, 8th, and 9th here in super sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. And I went and I attended. I helped set it up. I helped organize uh lines, uh collections. I had the models in order. I personally took care of four different collections, almost all by myself. It was a good time. There was a lot that went into it. I really enjoy being behind the scenes. I had my camera there. I didn't take too many pictures, but I did get some really good ones. And I really enjoy being behind the scenes, being backstage, being part of the production crew, part of the staff, part of the people who pull off these big events. And this is something that is kind of in my wheelhouse. It's what I've done almost my entirety of my uh professional career. Whether that was my time in trade shows, whether it was my time in large form large format printing, whether it was my time at bands, I've always worked to kind of make the vision happen. That's something I realized more and more is I make visions happen. People come to me with an idea. I show you how to make it be done. And that's what I was doing at Swim Week. We were putting together backdrops, we were helping with the runway, we were making sure uh models had the appropriate look, that they were lined up correctly, that they knew where they needed to be and when they needed to be there, that they did their quick changes if they were walking in two collections back to back. We had their clothing ready for them. It was a good, good time. Now, coming out of, you know, actually going into it, I kind of had this inkling, this feeling, but coming out of it, it was definitely confirmed. I had some very key takeaways that followed me out of Swim Week Las Vegas. And one of the things that I did immediately after the show, it was probably actually two days after the show, because it wasn't the next day. The next day I slept like a baby. Okay. The the show ended on Sunday night. I went to the after party. Uh, Monday, I slept, I slept so soundly. And then um Tuesday is when I did this this brain dump where I just opened up my my notepad, got out my pen, and just started writing. And I have key takeaways, I have models I needed to reach out to, I have brands to reach out to, um, I have content that I need to create. I I made uh notes of things to do better next time, things I never want to do again, uh things that went well, things that did not go well, so on and so forth. So overall, swimweek Las Vegas was another success in the um the world that is Johnny Boy Studios, or the the history, the journey that is Johnny. Now, this particular production company I have worked with a number of times, and I want to say this is time number 10 or 11. The first way that I came into um just any sort of realization, any sort of contact, I was following. No, no, no, no. I attended a different fashion show. Um, it was one particular brand was putting on their fashion show, and I got a ticket to sit in the front row, and then that got me a ticket. Um, that included a ticket to the after party or some other things that were involved. I got a swag bag. I think there was a little bit of a meet and greet. Um, if you watch Scandal, the the actor who played Huck, I can't remember his name at this exact moment. He was there. I got to meet him. That was really cool. Um, but there was there was just a lot of really cool things that went into it. So I'm sitting there in the front row. I'm watching this happen. I'm watching the models come out in each look, each each collection. I am seeing the lighting cues, I'm seeing the um the music cues, I'm seeing how everything's going together. I understand how the uh check-in and the admittance works. I get what they were doing with the front row, with the second row. I even understood the activations that were all around the venue and the different sponsors that had all of the things they were doing. So I'm attending this fashion show and I'm taking all of this in. All of this is just like right there, front and center. I get it. It's great. I loved every minute of it. But something, something in me said, you don't belong here. You do not belong here. And what it was, it was not imposter syndrome. It was not me thinking that I didn't belong with all of these people who were dressed to the nines. Because I remember I looked good at this time. It wasn't me thinking that I wasn't qualified or I was in the wrong crowd. What was going through my head was you don't belong out here in the front row. You belong backstage, making all of this happen. Because yeah, it's cool to brush elbows with celebrities. It's cool to be in the um the pictures of when people take pictures of the runway or, you know, in the video when they're they're videoing a model walking by and you're in the background. All of that stuff is cool. It's cool to have your unobstructed view of the runway. All of that was great. I loved every minute of that. But I wanted to be a part of the team. I wanted to be part of making that runway happen and organizing the event and being connected with the designer and the models and the production. I saw how everything was coming together, and that's where I wanted to be. So I began to look into how I can make that happen. And a couple of the models started announcing they were walking in other shows. So I started to follow those other shows. And then this particular production company put out their upcoming show, followed by a open call for volunteers. So I said, heck yes, I'll do it. I'm in. I went to that first volunteer experience, and I had my camera with me in a camera bag, uh, a shoulder bag, and I didn't take it out of my camera. I didn't take my camera out of the bag one single time. Not a single time, that first experience. I got a ton of pictures on my phone, some video, but next to nothing. You know what? I went two days in a row. The first day I didn't take it out at all. No, the first day I didn't even take it in. The second day I took it in, but didn't take it out a single time. At least during uh setup and all these other things. So fast forward to the next time I volunteered with them, I took my camera with me again, and this time I got a ton of photos, a ton of video, and it was awesome. But what it made me realize is how much I love doing it. That was pre-pandemic, so it had to be 2019, maybe 2019, maybe, yeah, I wanted to say it was like 20 early 2019. So fast forward at least seven years, I've worked with this company numerous times in numerous capacities, all backstage helping to pull off some incredible things. And what came out of this show was me realizing I don't need to do that anymore. Now, I volunteered all those years ago because I wanted to be in the room where it happened. If you've ever watched Hamilton, I wanted to get that much closer to the designers, to the models, to the people who would use my skill set as a photographer, as a budding photographer at that time. And I I wanted to get in connection with those people, with my ideal client avatar, with with with the ones I knew I could help and I could add value to. But over the years, I've I've done so many things outside of this aspect, right? Um, I have the calendars that I've produced, I've I've shot um weddings, I've cold called gyms and said, hey, you guys need some new photography. And they're like, well, bring your camera in and let's do this. You know, I've made some amazing connections with some really incredible people. Because I was bold enough to send that DM, to walk up and talk to somebody, to have a conversation, so on and so forth. And because I was bold enough to do all of these things, I made so many things happen in my life, in my world that have nothing to do with volunteering backstage. Now, please hear me loud and clear. I appreciate every single opportunity. And I had fun, there were learning experiences, I made great connections there. Absolutely loved almost every single minute. Now, you know, backstage can get hectic, timbers can flare. That happens in any job. But in these particular instances, when I was working with this particular production company, it was almost always a good experience. Almost always. And I would say 90 to 95% of the time, I would walk away extremely happy. And I did walk away from Swim Week Las Vegas extremely happy. It was a great, um, it was a great experience. It was a great event. But what I realized walking away was that I've just grown in a different direction. And they have grown in a different direction. We haven't necessarily grown apart. We haven't, you know, there's there's no odds with each other. There was definitely no um bad blood, nothing bad happened. It I just realized at this stage of my life and of my career, I think I've gotten what I needed from those experiences. And it's time to move into a new season where I'm just making it happen on my own. I no longer need someone else to open the door for me to get in the room. I can open the door and get in the room myself. And that's kind of what I wanted to unpack in this episode of the podcast because I believe it's easy to get into a routine and to kind of look at, well, this is work in the past, this is work before, this is what I know. So I'm going to continue to do this over and over. Whereas if we really apply ourselves in a different method, sometimes we really just need to wake up and see I already have what it takes to get in the room. I have what it takes to open new doors, to make things happen, to grow in specific ways. Now, from this event, I have a whole list of actions I need to take from photos to edit, videos to edit, things that I want to get back to models, brands I want to reach out to, more content I want to create. I'm talking YouTube videos, both long form and short form, uh, TikTok videos, Instagram reels. I want to put a post on my my blog at Zero to 40. Um, I want to put a post on my photography website, Johnny Boy Photos. I'm recording a podcast episode right here, right now. That is a piece of content. But what I also know is that I need to be better organized if I want to do something like this in the future. I need to be better organized. And that's on the back end for myself because I had wanted to have an entire landing page dedicated just to this show. And I wanted to have online storage organized and ready to go because I have so many different things. I've got Box, um Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, and I think like three other online storage that I use that that can use a bit of dusting off and reorganizing. And I had wanted to have something in place and done prior to going to this show. Um, also, I had wanted to include um shot lists, some templates and presets ready for the editing before I got back. I had wanted to try out some new camera techniques prior to going to the show so that when I was at the show, all I had to do was pull the trigger. Those things weren't in place. And if I go and do something similar like this in the future, I and again, it would be because I opened the door, not because I'm volunteering backstage, but if I go and I shoot an event that's as fast-paced, that's as chaotic, that's as um ever-changing and dynamic and impactful as a fashion show, I want to be ready. And I want to be ready in a way that I feel I wasn't ready at this point, even though, but well, mainly because I was not going in the capacity strictly as a photographer. I was going more as part of the production team, doing whatever was needed. And mixed in there, I would pull out my camera and take some pictures. So, for what it's worth, it was an awesome experience. It was very valuable. I made some wonderful connections. Um, some of those connections may lead to future opportunities, but I know I could have done more had I been better organized leading into it. Now, there was one thing because I'm tight with the person who is in charge of the backstage production, and had a conversation with her. Um, I said, you know, this was probably my last time um volunteering and being backstage. And she said, Well, you know, Johnny, if you want to come back ever as part of the media team, and then you don't have to do it, deal with any of the backstage stuff, you would just do media. You would just take pictures, just take video, and um you may be on the riser, maybe or may not. That would be up to the media guy, who I also know. But she said, if you ever want to come back as part of that team, you're more than welcome to. And it's a paid position, so it's gonna pay more than the backstage stuff was paying. And, you know, you do have to give up some of the photos, some of the rights, but you don't have to give up everything. You can come back as part of the media team anytime, any show. Just let me know. And I said, Oh my gosh, thank you so much. I appreciate that. That is wonderful. That made me super excited because all of these years, putting in work, setting up chairs, setting up backdrops, organizing collections, getting models, herding models is like a full-time job all by itself. Okay. So doing all of that and getting it in place, it wasn't for nothing. It got me to where I am now. It got my portfolio up a little bit more, it got my connections up a little bit more, it got my confidence up a little bit more. But it put me in a position where I realize and I recognize I can go out and do what I need to do in the next season. Well, it's this season that I'm in. But in this season, moving forward, I can go out and I can create the opportunities I need myself. I can go out and I can I can make those connections, I can network, I can do what I need to do, I can get in the room. And I I just want to encourage people because sometimes we feel like we can't get in the room. I'm just telling you, if someone shuts a door, go around the side of the building and find a window. You can get in that room. It just may take a little bit more work. You might need to get a little bit more creative. Side note, I am not encouraging anyone to break and enter. This is a metaphor. This is it a simile? No, I'm not using like or ass. This is a metaphor. Okay. I'm using the analogy of going into a building. That might be a simile. I'm using using going into a building as an analogy for getting next to or in those opportunities that you want. You have what it takes. You just have to plug in. Now, I've worked with this particular production company for what did I say, almost a I don't know, I don't know, about seven years, seven or eight years, something like that. And they've been wonderful. They've been wonderful. I will definitely attend future shows. Um, if I have a chance to actually come back as part of the media team, if it's uh a right fit, if it's aligned with where I'm going and what I'm what I'm headed to, absolutely I will do that in a heartbeat. They're a good team, they're just going in a different direction than maybe I'm going in a different direction at this point in my career than where they are currently headed. So I appreciate everything that went into it. I am going to absolutely go down this list that I put together for um like my follow-up. Also, I heard this phrase many years ago. Fortune is in the follow-up. Make sure you are following up, make sure you are taking that action, make sure you are doing the things that are going to lead you where you want to go. So I have this large list of models, of brands, of the production team, of different people I need to reach out to. That's what I'm focused on this particular week, but um, I'm going to continue until the list is done. I'm gonna reach out to each and everyone on this list because that's how I will be forward. Swim Week Las Vegas was a great time. I went to the shows, um, I went to the after parties, there was a beach party. I didn't go and attend that. Instead, I went and I actually helped set up and got some things ready. There's so much that goes into producing something like this. And there's so much that I personally got out of it that I can't wait for the next event that I can be a part of backstage. I've got all I needed from this season with this production team. And I feel like just for me personally, it's time to move on to whatever's next. As I grow my photography business, as I continue to find doors and find opportunities and get in more rooms, I I'm just excited for what's next. But I once again would encourage you if you've got what you needed from something, move on. Go to whatever you need to do next. Take that next step and continue on your journey. If something isn't serving you, not necessarily out of any sort of malice or or negative approach, but if if if you're riding a train and the train gets to the end of the track, and you need to get off of that train, and you need to hop on a bus or get a cab or hop on a plane or get on a bicycle, but the train will go no further. Like that's not a bad thing. That just means that's where the train ends. And it's time for you to find your next mode of transportation. I am so thankful for everything that went into getting me to this point. And I'm just I'm excited for what's next. So I'm gonna end it here. Swim Week Las Vegas 2026 was an absolute blast. If you guys are on my Instagram channel, then you'll be able to see um some reels coming out over the next couple of days. If you're watching this when this is if you're watching, if you're listening to this when it is being published, um, then over the next few days, I'm gonna have some Instagram reels going live. I'm gonna have some stuff just coming out, showing some behind-the-scenes images, some behind-the-scenes videos, a couple of runways that I was able to capture. But overall, this season is done. And I'm so thankful, I'm so appreciative, and I can't wait for whatever's next. Until the next episode of the Johnny Boy Studios podcast, I'm Johnny. Go out, create a great day.