Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Cabral.
Daniel, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. After graduating college I moved out to Long Beach, California with nothing but aspirations to work in the Skateboarding industry. I got off the plane in 2011 with no job, friends, family, car or even place to live. After applying for jobs for 3 months straight I finally landed a job at BakerBoys Distribution in North Hollywood entering sales orders. As a lifelong skateboarder, it was my dream job and I was their dream employee who would basically do anything. Around that time social media started to become prevalent in marketing, especially in skateboarding and I just so happened to have a Bachelor’s in Marketing Associates in Advertising. Before you know it I was running facebook, Instagram, and twitter for 5 different brands on top of entering sales orders.
After 2 years the company restructured and I was out of a job. Almost instantly I was contacted by Volcom and eventually hired full time to work in Costa Mesa where I currently work full-time.
Has it been a smooth road?
Money/student loans, getting my foot in the door, adjusting to the vast landscape of the west, still don’t have a car.
Do you feel luck has played a role in your life?
When I first moved out here from Rhode Island, I moved to Long Beach with one goal, to find a job in the skateboarding industry. I had no job, friends, family, a place to stay or car and I would just sit in the Starbucks on 7th and Redondo and apply for jobs all day. Eventually, I would apply for every job I felt I possibly could be qualified for and would start researching on ways to get into the industry. Every interview I would read would mention some sort of lucky break that got them into the industry and I thought mine would never happen. After about 3 months in I heard back from BakerBoys Distribution, distributors of some of the most legendary brands and my favorites growing up. The job was for data entry, basically entering all the sales orders that came in. After two interviews and four hours and a half train/bus rides ups to North Hollywood, I got the job.
I have a Bachelor’s in Marketing and an Associates in Advertising with a concentration in arts and was doing data entry, but couldn’t have been happier to be working for some of my favorite brands. About 6 months into the job, social media started to become extremely relevant for brands and having degrees, I was the one chosen to run all of the Instagram and facebook accounts for Baker Skateboards, Deathwish Skateboards, Shake Junt and Brigada Eyewear, all on top of my current duties of entering sales orders. About a year later the distribution ‘restructured’ and I was let go, At the time Baker Skateboards was doing a collab with Volcom and the former Art Director of Baker Skateboards mentioned to the head of skateboarding at Volcom that they just let their social media manager go (even though I was officially just a “sales assistant”). Volcom just so happened to be looking for a social media manager and eventually I was hired to manage all of the social media for the Volcom skate department, which is my main role today.
In short, I guess you kind of create your own luck.
Is there a quality or characteristic that has played an outsized role in your success?
I would have to say self-reliance and discipline. Every time I tell my story to others it sounds pretty ridiculous, even to myself. I got off a plane in Long Beach in 2011 with nothing, stayed in the cheapest hotel until I found the cheapest room for rent and lived on $20 a week by eating a banana for breakfast, hot dog for lunch and pasta for dinner for 3 months! I found a room on craigslist in Long Beach for $400, it was a guy who lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in a complex who just divorced his wife. He was renting out his daughter’s room since she was staying with her mother in Florida for all but 2 weeks out of the year, so for a month or so I was living in a room that had a pink shag rug and Twilight posters! It seems funny now but at the time I was really questioning what I was doing haha, now I just realize how disciplined and self-reliant I was.
Tell us about your favorite and least favorites things about our city.
Obviously, coming from the east coast, the weather is damn near perfect everyday. However, I really do miss real seasons. So I would have to say the weather is what I like and dislike the most. It’s great for skateboarding, don’t really have to worry about it raining, snowing or being too humid, but some days I would really like for it to downpour so I don’t feel like a pile for wasting a sunny day. Other than that getting used to how vast and spread out LA is, took me a while to get used to, especially since I didn’t have a car. Public transportation in LA isn’t that bad either, you can pretty much get anywhere you want, it just may take a while.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.cabralphoto.com/
- Phone: 4015789154
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @shredcorn
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dcabralphoto
- Other: Twitter @DanCabral
Stephen Ruggiero
November 13, 2016 at 19:03
I’ve been looking at this dudes photos since his time on the east coast shooting a lot of local music. He is an extremely well balanced person and deserves every opportunity that comes his way. Check out his instagram @shredcorn and his work with @volcomskate