Meet Akila Anderson | Photographer/Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Akila Anderson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Akila, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor in me being successful is never ever giving up. Seeing all these other photographers post their work on social media would be discouraging to some. For me it’s motivation. I see myself being one of the top photographers out my city and no matter what I have never given up. I’ve taken many losses this past year but this has also been my best year due to not giving up on anything I have put my energy into. Year to year, month to month I’m always getting better, anyone can see that from my online work.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What makes me stand out is my willingness to learn and get better. I never want to stand still in my business, I always want more and want to get better at what I do. I spend a lot of time learning, researching, watching and asking questions. I know about 5 professional photographers whom I get on their nerves I’m sure lol because I’m always asking questions and trying to learn certain things from them. From there actual editing techniques to learning about crafting an online presence. None of this is easy, you got to understand this is not another 9to5 nobody is telling you to get up and clock in, nobody telling you that you need some training or you need more hours to meet your goal. Everything you put into your business, you have to want to do it. You are the boss and you are the one in control of your success. The difference is it’s work I love doing because it’s my passion. Most of my challenges come from me being very quite and laid back. I am not a people person and networking can be hard for me because of it but I overcome that each and every time just by realizing my goals and I’ll just suck it up and get out there and do what I have to do. In doing that I have gotten extremely better talking to people and letting them know what I can provide. Lessons I’ve learned up until now is one, a closed mouth does not get fed. People don’t know you so how can they pour into you. You have to network and talk to people. You never know when that one person is the right person to change your life. Secondly hard work can feel easy as long as you are working towards or for what you want. All I want the world to know is that this is just the beginning for me, my vision for my business is way bigger than the content on my Instagram and things will start to unfold on a much bigger scale for me. It’s already written.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Food wise I would choose, snooze, yolk or breadwinners for breakfast. Lunch I would choose magianos pizza, wine wood grill or anything and the legacy food hall in Plano. Dinner would be the keg, hopdoddy burger bar (lunch/dinner) and maybe trulux just depending on what the vibe is. I don’t do much handing out but when I do I like to do fun things like bowling and right now my favorite spot is the bowlounge it’s got a intimate old school feeling and the wings are good.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Absolutely, my friends Tarrah, Jasmyn & Dana. This group of woman individually contributes greatly to the success that I am having throughout my business. Tarrah is always there to talk out the big plays, what’s next and how I’m going to get there. She been my rock on establishing my footprint in my work. Jasmyn is a fellow photographer who has been my “phone a friend” life line. She has a lot of experience in the photography game and she’s always there when I have a question, I’m trying to learn something and need to be pointed in the right direction or just a little motivation to keep pushing. I’ll always give her that light because she’s the one that got me out from under my rock and encouraged me to step out of faith. Now Dana was referred to me by my friend and I have been shooting with her and for boutique for almost a year now. She started off just a new client I was trying to supply good content to, to now she’s more like my sister. She pushes me to be creative and learn new techniques to get better each and every time we shoot. She has put me on to some networking opportunities, new clients and all sorts of opportunities I didn’t know I was worthy of. These woman I will forever give credit when due. I wouldn’t be this far without them.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/iamakilaj

Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamakilaj