Today we’d like to introduce you to Adriel Joy Thurston.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Adriel. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started my photography studio after a trip to New Orleans when people started asking to purchase copies of pictures I posted on social media. My friends urged me to see that I had a talent I had not realized before. I had always been a writer, so I didn’t consider that I was an artist on multiple levels until then.
It all escalated from there! After a few years, I began doing sports photography for the MLB and NBA. Later I morphed the company into an umbrella name to cover multiple avenues. I launched a podcast, Fork You, which can be found on all the podcast platforms, started blogging more on various items and at the beginning of 2020 launched my nonprofit organization, Love Is A Verb. I am currently the Director of Field Marketing for a wellness company, so that also keeps me quite busy. But, legacies are not built by doing the status quo. My best friend and I also started our own marketing firm, A/C Marketing and an umbrella company, Abrazo, which covers social media training, event planning, etc.
It’s a beautiful world and it is a humble honor to be a part of helping showcase it’s beauty through many avenues.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It certainly has not been a smooth road at all. We all live and learn, many times the hard way. After not establishing contracts, I found myself in a lawsuit with a former client and that was certainly a life lesson that was hard but certainly taught me!
Being the boss of your own dreams is not easy. You don’t wake up after deciding to follow your own path and discover yourself on top and able to leave your “pays-the-bills” job. It takes sacrifice. It takes dedication. You will not always be able to relish in the downtime. You have to wake up, stay up, push harder and cry in the shower sometimes.
Growth is not easy. It is worth it.
A Joy Studios – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am becoming known for my style and ability to lead in social media above all, I believe. Being an artist is incredible because everyone has a different vision and sees things through different eyes. I am more urban, prefer shooting outdoor over studio because I like the realness of it. I like to show honestly above fakeness because a false sense of humanity is what is wrong in the world today. We are perfect as we are on all levels. We need to love ourselves where we are at, to show our vulnerability without word vomiting negativity. We need to shine hope, love and inspiration back into the world and make it brighter again. That is the legacy that I hope I leave behind.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
This may sound cheesy, but it’s true when my parents started telling me all the time how proud they are of me; when my friends told me that I inspire them to chase their dreams, to change their lifestyle; when I started liking who I saw in the mirror. Those are the moments. That is what we should all be striving for. It is so easy to get lost in the day-to-day. We get depressed, bogged down, and unfocused on all the good that is out there. We need to breathe, focus on what makes us happy and go get it!
What we focus on is what we will see. It’s time to adjust our vision.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.adrielthejoy.com
- Phone: 5126897722
- Email: adrielthejoy@gmail.com
- Instagram: @adrielthejoy
- Facebook: @adrielthejoy
- Twitter: @adrielthejoy
- Other: @forkyouthepod (podcast Instagram)
Image Credit:
Lindsay Mac Photography and Beyond Epilogue.
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