Today we’d like to introduce you to Santi Dominguez.
Hi Santi, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My journey started senior year of high school when I first began to gain interest in video editing and, soon after, photography. For a short period of time, I started filming and editing my own YouTube videos and had some decent success in the short time, gaining more than 500 subscribers. However, this did not last long as burnout, and the self-expectation to film and post weekly became tough due to work on weekends and school during the weekdays. Because of this, my passion for photography was put to the forefront, and I began following a content creator known as D4Darious, specializing in short films. From him, I also discovered Peter Mckinnin and Jared Polin, both in the photography genre inspiring me to become a more focused and creative content creator. During this time a friend of mine was a boxing coach in the Houston area right off of Beltway 8 and asked if I wanted to handle their social media and shoot video for them, I without hesitation, said yes, and my passion for photography grew. Round4Round boxing gym at that time became my new home and growing place as a content creator. I filmed some sparring sessions, beginning to network with the boxers in the area, and started attending MMA and Jiu-Jitsu events all around the Houston area thus growing my passion even more for the sport. My dream at this time was to make it to the UFC and even to this day if the opportunity presented itself, it would be very tempting. Due to me being involved in the Houston martial arts world, I became friends with various gym owners and MMA/Boxing promoters in Texas simply working freelance and hoping to find a way into my dream job. A few years later, Jon Jones would take on Dominik Reyes at UFC 247, where I went to shoot the press conferences and follow my deepest desires of creating content for the UFC. All of these things were amazing and even had the opportunity to shoot photos for a Houston Dynamo blog, but Covid-19 changed everything for me. Gyms shut down, sporting events were cancelled, everyone stayed indoors meaning a forced break was being applied, leaving me without freelance opportunities and chances to network. At the time, I was in my second semester of college at Lonestar Cyfair taking graphic design courses more specifically Photoshop, which I really wanted to learn. With classes being shut down and having endless amount of time, I started to create my own projects with the little knowledge I had, eventually creating my Instagram sd_graphicshtx. Initially, I was actually afraid to have my work judged by people and was very hesitant knowing how brutal the online world can be. I ended up making my account public because I wanted to keep track of my projects and see my progress over time, not necessarily for people to see or care about. I made 2 key posts to this day that grew the traffic to my page exponentially without the intention of having my account grow. Fast forward 3 weeks later to this, and I had gained 3,000 followers in that time. This was the first glimpse I had into what lied ahead of me, and I thought to myself, wow I can actually DO this! My parents during this time fought me a bit on the idea of sticking to my current job or finding another job with flexible hours, but I had faith in freelance work and design regardless if they understood or not. Over time I pushed to become better at my craft posting roughly 3-5 times a day and continuing to gain followers and commission work. Through this account, I networked and met a lot of awesome people to whom I’m still good friends with many to this day. Over the course of a year, I unknowingly met my future boss, asking questions and getting as much information as possible about how to improve as a designer. At this time, Trackhouse Racing just formed and broke news headlines in the NASCAR world, a world that I grew up with very passionately as a child and only recently got back into. Few months after this I received a message from him asking if I wanted to help out with content creation as the newly formed team was looking for employees and I agreed to his request; this was early 2021. Fast forward to late 2023, and I now work full-time with Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR as a content creator. I have the honor to design some of the car wraps you see on track on Sundays and create content for the various social media platforms that are out there. Any creative needs outside of social media and car wraps are also covered by me and the creative team. This is truly my dream job and a true testament to why one should never give up. There were many times I felt I wasn’t good enough or this just wasn’t for me, but I know God will always provide so I kept going. I soon relocate to Charlotte, NC in early November, and I am beyond blessed to work with some good friends of mine and in my dream industry as well. If there is any room to thank anyone, it would have to be God as he has never failed me. He made a way for me even when I lost opportunities or it seemed there was no way to achieve what I desired. Julio Gonzalez, Matt Heasley, Kyle Sykes, Damon Gonzalez, and my entire family are the people that helped mentor me to be the person I am today and I am forever thankful they chose to make time for me even when they didn’t need to, it just goes to show how influential and impactful 5 minutes of your time can be, it can change someone’s life without you even realizing it. See you in Charlotte!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road for me. Ranging from arguments all the way to the Covid outbreak, it has been far from easy. There have been 2 moments in time where it seemed I would not return to Trackhouse due to me not being able to relocate to NC. I still had a lot of classes to take in college, which kept me in Houston but also put my job in jeopardy. God came through, and solutions were made each time promoting me one step closer to where I wanted to go. When something bad came, instead of being upset and bitter about it, I actually gave thanks for the opportunity, which both times lead to positive outcomes; I strongly believe this has a lot to do with why I am here today; it was a test from God on my heart posture and how I would react if I had what I wanted taken away. There were many moments I doubted my own creative and social abilities, asking myself if I was even in the right profession and if anyone would care. It’s a lonely and scary feeling when you feel you have to figure everything out yourself, and you don’t know what the next move should be.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
What I am probably most proud of is having the opportunity to take my family to Las Vegas, the place where my first NASCAR cup design raced in the fall of 2022. This was a major milestone achievement for me because I finally felt relief that I had made it. The satisfaction that you get when you achieve a dream goal is huge, and I am beyond thankful to have been able to experience what I did. Being able to take my family with me was a dream come true as it isn’t all about me; it’s about family. To this day, I have my Instagram account with 10.9k followers, and at its peak had 11.6; inactivity will do some things to your account haha. I owe everything to this account as it is the reason I met 95% of people I talk to and know today. Since I was 6, I would design and draw my own NASCAR race cars not knowing that one day I would be designing them for real. I wasn’t trying to create any memories or aspire to design the way I do now when I was young; I was just having fun. What sets me apart from others is definitely my drive and motivation. Due to that, I spent hundreds of hours improving my craft and trying to outperform my previous render or graphic. This has propelled me into the position I am in today and has made my work stand out from the rest as mediocrity is never an option.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the diverse community Houston has to offer. I grew up an avid soccer fan, and I still am to this day. The Houston Dynamo is the team I will always support no matter where I go, and I am forever orange. There is a lot to do in Houston, and it is always full of life. It is so interesting to me that you can walk into a room full of people, and everyone can be from a different background, race, and culture. There is no other place quite like Houston, and when I get older, I’d love to come back and live here again. No matter where I go or where I live Houston will always be my home. As for what I don’t like is this heat man, like seriously, you’d think after living here all my life I’d be used to it. The traffic can be just a LITTLE rough at times, too haha.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: sd_graphicshtx
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-dominguez-b650a2225/
Image Credits
Barr Visuals
