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John DeMato Blog

Welcome to the Deliver Magic blog, where experts who speak, coach, train, consult, and write books will find actionable insights to elevate their personal brands through visual storytelling. From strategy tips and branding photography to live event coverage and storytelling techniques, discover step-by-step guides designed to help you align what you say with how you show up in photos. Get ready to unlock the magic behind creating a cohesive visual identity that drives engagement, builds credibility, and inspires your audience. #DeliverMagic

Thanks for the advice, Mr. Gupta.

 

You know this whole “be passionate about what you do” thing?

 
 

I learned about it early on and it stuck in my head ever since...

 

Recently on social media, I’ve come across several thought leaders who have panned the idea of pursuing a career or business about which you’re passionate. 

They suggest that this pursuit clouds practical judgement and that it places limitations on your growth. 

I might be a little biased here, but I smell bullshit.

Perhaps it’s because I’m an artist who’s built my business around my art and passion, but, I cannot unsee the way that pursuing a successful photography business has not only made me a living, but has also created a level of happiness in my life that would’ve never happened had I stayed working in the television industry.

Or any industry that doesn’t revolve around my passion for photography.

If I were running a company that sold a product or service and I wasn’t the face of the business, perhaps that would affect the level of passion…

...eh, I don’t really know. 

All I know is that passion, mixed with blind faith, for the first few years of my business was all I had to sustain me because clients weren’t exactly busting through the door. 

And if it wasn’t for one of my high school teachers providing me with my first lesson on the importance of passion, I might have become an architect instead of a photographer.

It was 1995 and I was a junior at The High School of Art & Design.

At the time, I was thinking about SAT’s and art colleges, specifically art schools that had good architecture programs. 

Up until that point, I had taken 3 years of architecture, and without much thought, assumed that I would go to school to continue the process. 

Not because I had this fire within me to design spaces and buildings, but simply because I thought it was pretty cool and was familiar with it.

One day, I had a conversation with one of my teachers, Mr. Gupta, a retired architect, about the industry. 

I was thinking a lot about my future at the time, and I wanted to know what kind of money I could make, and how many years I’d have to put in to get to that point. 

Before I could finish my thoughts, he interjected, “Do you love architecture? Do you love creating in this way?” 

I shrugged my shoulders and offered a half-hearted, “uh, yeah. It’s cool.”

Immediately, he responded, “Then you shouldn’t pursue this. It’s a very long road. You need to be passionate about it in order to be successful and deal with the ups and downs of working in the industry.” 

Passionate? Really? For your job?

That was the first time that someone brought up to me the concept of being passionate about what you do with your life. 

I grew up in a middle-class home where passion for what you do for a living was never mentioned once. My parents worked so they could pay the bills and take care of my brother and me. 

For them, stability and predictability was the name of the game, not passion. 

Regardless, I took Mr. Gupta’s words to heart and listened to his advice. 

The following year, I switched out of that major, dropped the idea of going to college for architecture, and started to think about a career for which I’d feel a high level of passion.

It was because of this change in focus that led me to pursue a career in TV production, which ultimately exposed me for the first time to cameras, lenses and capturing magic, :)

Had I did what I thought was the right thing to do and not pursued a path which I was passionate, who the hell knows where I’d be today.

Can you remember a conversation early on in your life that didn’t seem that important then, but looking back, represented a monumental moment that affects your life to this day?

PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you, because I care, :)