Todd Graham: Wedding Photography and Videography | The Business Blast Podcast #603

Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite makes the process of becoming a published bestselling author as simple as sipping your morning cup of coffee. You can learn more about Authors Unite at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.

Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Todd Graham with us. He is the co-owner and creative director of Mike Moon Studio, one of the largest wedding photography and videography companies in Georgia. So welcome to the show, man.

Thanks, man, I really appreciate it. I'm excited to be here.

Of course, grateful to have you on. We'll jump into the first one, Todd. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

Oh man, it's always such a tough question 'cause there's so many big things. I'd say the first thing that kind of comes to mind is, you know, just, I was a typical high school kid that just, I don't wanna say coasted, but, you know, never really tried as hard as I should or could. Other than things I was really passionate about, which was like baseball and friendships and things like that. But when it came to schooling, I did pretty well and I just never really tried as hard as I could have. And I had an honors English teacher named Ms. Polovic, and she had that kind of dark, witty sense of humor and goofed around with us a lot. And I remember it was that last day of my senior year, of high school, and I was the last one out of the class, and she was handing us back a report on, I think, "Ulysses" by Joyce, and she didn't let go of the paper, and she just looked me in the eye, and she was like very stern, just very firm, and she said, "Never settle for less than what you're capable of," which, you know, kind of hit me that obviously she saw that I wasn't doing what I could, and yeah, I've thought about that quote, you know, just about every day since high school. And I take it into my business, I take it into my personal life and my family and things like that. And that's really kind of that moment that it kind of clicked that I can always be doing more. So yeah, that and, you know, you have your, my mom, for example, always trying to push me to pursue art. I was always afraid of pursuing it 'cause everyone could tell you you can't make money at it. So yeah, I have to give a shout out to my mom there because obviously it's working out.

So yeah, yeah, I'm glad she pushed you.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

I'm excited for your answer on this next one. So what is the most valuable piece of information you can share with us that's within your expertise or industry that we should know?

Yeah, there's two different ways you could take it. I guess for if you're talking to like couples, if you know somebody is getting married, they're listening to your podcast, I'd say don't skimp on your wedding photography or video budget. It's quite literally the only thing other than your marriage that increases in value over time. Nobody remembers the alcohol or the food or, you know, if Uncle Bob showed up or not, but those photos and video are kind of like the only thing to remember it by. And if I'm talking to shooters, You know, we actually— I've been doing interviews all day today actually for more shooters. And, you know, one of the most discouraging things I'm hearing from shooters is that it's such a saturated market. You know, like everyone's got a camera, they're, you know, all this technology is super accessible, it's super cheap, and it's hard to find wedding clients. And, you know, you know, my business partner and I were just talking about it's, you know, saturated if you're not— if you don't have that it factor that you found within yourself. Um, You basically need to find something that differentiates you within your market, and all of a sudden you're not a saturated market anymore. If you're like everyone else, of course it's a saturated market because you're competing with everybody just like you. But if you have something, if you bring something unique and interesting to the market and you have a little bit of business sense and, you know, that work ethic, then you'll be just fine.

So, and, uh, what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

Yeah, I think no matter what you do, I think one of the most important things you can do is find a mentor that can kind of guide you along the way. I'm very fortunate. My best friend is my business partner and mentor, Joel Brantley. He's been a huge, you know, a huge part of where I am today. And for him, his business coach, Jeff Smith, amazing, incredible guy. And basically you find this person that can, see your company from an outside perspective. I mean, you get, it's kind of like when you're losing weight, you know, like you don't see these changes happening, you know, over this time period and having somebody that can look at your company from an outside perspective is such a huge, it's incredibly valuable thing to have. So I would look for a mentor or a business coach or somebody that can, you know, guide you that's kind of been in your shoes before. That'd be my biggest thing.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

Stop wasting your time on things you don't really care about. That, and it kind of goes with it, but surround yourself with people that are where you want to end up. So, yeah.

And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

Patience, embracing the process. I mean, whether that be in your personal life or business life, in order to become successful in most things, you have to embrace the journey to get where you want to be and having the patience it requires to get there.

And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?

I wish I had something deep and meaningful to say here. I read The Richest Man in Babylon. My mom made me read that when I was a kid. But yeah, I just don't have a whole lot of time for books. But I did, I did read I Can't Make This Up by Kevin Hart not too long ago, audiobook on my home. And the thing that I kind of took away from it, as goofy as he is, is really the deep underlying meaning is you can essentially choose to be the victim or the victor. And I really am a firm believer in that it really doesn't matter what socioeconomic background you come from. With enough hard work and dedication, you can kind of get to where you want to be. But yeah, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can be that NBA basketball player, but if you want to better your situation, you just got to kind of keep your eye on the prize and keep moving forward. So it's kind of what I got from that book.

And what is your favorite quote and why?

Probably, "It is appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity" by Albert Einstein. Got it.

Awesome, brother. Dude, thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?

Yeah, people can find us at MikeMoonStudio.com or on Instagram or Facebook by just searching Mike Moon Studio, @MikeMoonStudio.

Perfect, brother. Thanks again for jumping on.

Absolutely. Thanks for talking with Tyler Wagner.

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