Local StoriesOctober 11, 2021

Meet AJ Visuals

Local Stories

Today, we’d like to introduce you to AJ Visuals. AJ was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Jodi-Kay Edwards.

Hi AJ, we’re so thrilled to have you sharing your story with us today. Maybe we can kick things off by having you introduce yourself to our readers? We’d love to have you go into your story and how you got to where you are today.
I feel like every photographer’s story of when they first picked up the camera starts the same. For me, it was when I went to the pawnshop looking for a laptop because I was actually going to go to school for Robotics, in that search I found a camera for $200 and bought it on a whim. I started recording my surroundings and wanted to learn how to edit what I was capturing. I’ve always been computer savvy. my brain is great at making sense of technical things.

I actually ended up not going to school for Robotics and enrolled in various classes to learn not just editing but special effects, greenscreen, everything I was exposed to I wanted to learn about. I’ve always been a self-starter and prefer learning through hands-on experience. It wasn’t until I started experimenting, exploring various features, and putting music to my videos that I understood how to bring various visions to life.

I received some pretty harsh criticism while I was exploring my camera and its capabilities, which only increased my drive to learn more, be more, do more. Today I work with celebrities and various artists capturing their performances and behind-the-scenes content for their brand. I’m actually an artist myself but took a break. I’ve always loved music, writing it, making it, and capturing it. I started taking music a bit more seriously after I played a few songs in a Barbershop where a man tuned in and decided to take me under his wing. He taught me everything I know about music and the industry today.

This part of my life was pivotal for my current business Jackson Visuals LLC. While in the industry I got burned by people who were bitter so I learned the value of contracts and protecting your intellectual property. I actually learned how to run a business while managing my music career. People were always telling me that I was taking things too seriously when I presented contracts and set boundaries but I learned to never allow anyone else to tell me my worth. The best lesson I learned was to go all-in on myself.

Expansion has always been my word, even when I would write music I would pick a word from the dictionary and use it in my songs. People wouldn’t understand it, that’s something I’ve gotten used to over the years. People won’t always understand what you do or why you do it, but it’s important to do it anyway,

Over the years I’ve invested thousands just trying to learn different pieces of equipment, and people. I feel like too many photographers get stuck starting to shoot on auto, and stuck thinking they can reach their version of success on their own. I’ve had the privilege or learning from and working with some amazing people. I’ve learned to never stop learning. I’m a lifelong student of my craft, I can’t wait to reveal what the next level of Jackson Visuals LLC looks like. The right people are finally in my life and helping me make these dreams from when I first picked up that camera.

Please tell us more about your brand.
Jackson Visuals is a multi-media production company that utilizes its multiple talents to assist clients with bringing their vision to life. What sets Jackson Visuals apart from the competition is we collaborate with our clients and listen to their needs, no two projects are exactly alike because no two clients are alike. We pride ourselves on our ability to innovate. Learning from every project, with the goal of constantly innovating and improving.

Jodi-Kay Edwards and Alignment Is The New Hustle have been great to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship with them as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Jodi-Kay Edwards and Alignment Is The New Hustle and your experience with them.
Jodi has helped me to be more aware of what my brand can become. We’ve implemented techniques that have created more strategy and organization for my brand to expand. Through having more structure I’ve been able to book more clients, raise my prices, and create sustainable traffic for my website.