Today we’d like to introduce you to Rey Robles.
Rey, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m a transient human bean (yes, that was intentional). I was born in Manati, Puerto Rico (also lived in Bayamon) and have lived in Virginia (Newport News + Hampton), South Florida (West Miami + Sweetwater, Miami and Pembroke Pines + Sunrise, Broward County), New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York (Brooklyn + Harlem), Portland, Oregon, and now Los Angeles, California. I studied sociology/anthropology in undergrad and advanced conflict resolution practice in graduate school, which I dropped out of but still finagled a certificate. I was in education for three years, working with special needs students as a Teaching Assistant before I moved to New York and connected with my now mentor and big brother Bobbito Garcia who single-handedly changed my life. Special thanks to my old roommate Mark for pushing me to send Bob a cold email.
Bobbito introduced me to the realm of marketing, which I didn’t know existed before meeting him. I interned for him personally and the event production agency he was creative director of at the time while juggling an after school teaching assistant gig, internships at Wax Poetics and LTD Mag, grad school online, and overnight shifts at the U.S. Census Bureau. I then got pulled in by Bob to work as a Production Assistant for his film with Kevin Couliau titled “Doin’ It In The Park: Pick-Up Basketball, NYC”.
Up to this point, I still had no clue what I wanted to do with my career. I put pen to paper to list all of the things I enjoyed doing most on the daily and realized I spent A LOT of time on social media, which I decided to pursue professionally after gaining some experience as the Community Manager for the aforementioned film. I was able to finesse that into a full-time gig at a social media agency working on off-broadway shows and CPG brands. Half a year later, I saw some tweets about a big name agency in Portland hiring from a guy I only knew online. I DM’d him not thinking anything would come of it and sure enough at the end of that month I was moving my life across the country, where I knew no one and had no family, to work at AKQA on the Nike Global Football account for the 2014 World Cup (thank you for taking a risk on me, Ben). After a few years, my close friend Marcus brought me into the fold brand-side by hiring me on the NikeLab digital team working on website content strategy.
Then California came calling, thanks to a chance encounter with a recruiter on LinkedIn, and I landed at one of the world’s most successful tech companies. This is where things got REALLY interesting as I was brought on to work on editorial content, started with helping re-platform the company website for my first year, and am now in a hybrid digital creative role. My first few months I’d shared to my coworker how I really wanted to try photography but was too scared to get into something “creative” as I didn’t feel the least bit creative. Three years ago, on the last day before winter break, he gifted me my first 35mm camera, a Pentax k1000 with a 5omm lens, and I’ve ran with photography ever since. After about a year, my boss noticed my personal work and asked if I wanted to start shooting photos at work. This is when I transitioned from purely digital work to incorporating creative work into my career and we’re now officially caught up to the present with my work life.
In short, the biggest theme of my career is that I had a lot, and still continue to do, a whole lot of faking it/making it. I pick-up things on the fly, I relentlessly research and write notes and nerd out with anyone that’ll lend an ear to help things stick in my brain. For all of my jobs, I’ve had no experience in the work I was doing prior to it. I also wouldn’t have gone anywhere if it wasn’t for the support from my family and friends and blind trust from then strangers who put me onto opportunities. Flexibility in what I did, openness to trying/learning new things, persistence to not give up too soon before some magic happens, taking a lot of risks, pure shit luck and recognizing my privileges (i.e., as a cis-gender straight man living in major cities, coming from a two-parent household, etc.) all paved the way to how I got to where I am in my ever evolving life.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Absolutely not smooth. Being that I didn’t do or study the things I’ve done with my career thus far, it’s always a game of catch-up on my knowledge and skillsets. I adapt quickly, but it’s never easy. Moving with no plan and no job from Florida to New York on a whim was a huge struggle. Ruining my credit by maxing out my cards to survive, car and apartment break-ins, getting assaulted at my doorstep, and so many other things that could’ve gone wrong did go wrong. But there were lessons in each of the struggles, and if I didn’t learn it the first time life smacked me with it repeatedly until I gleaned something worthwhile from the experiences. Even when things look glamorous, it sure as hell isn’t always so behind the scenes. But it all ended up working out for me after a few years. What ended up working for me might not work for you as we all have our own journeys and timelines. Speaking of timelines, destroy your conception of it. How quickly someone else achieves what you want to do isn’t your timeline. Lives aren’t 1:1 as we don’t start from the same place, don’t have the same privileges, have the same access to resources, etc. When things happen, that was the perfect and intended time for it to happen.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Most recently, I’ve specialized in photography. While I shoot a lot of “famous” people for my 9-5, my personal work of documenting my loved one’s lives is what really drives me. I’m still relatively new to the craft, only having been shooting film for three years and digital for one year, so I wouldn’t say I’ve found my niche that sets me apart quite yet from an aesthetic and storytelling standpoint but I’m getting there! I also have a decade of social/digital marketing experience working on local and global brands. Sheesh, where has the time gone?!
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My parents who have always supported me regardless of whether they agreed with the risks I’m always taking with my life. My mentor Bobbito Garcia, the most influential person in my life next to my parents. My old roommate Mark who pushed me to reach out to Bobbito. Kevin, David, and Justin who inspired me creatively and gave me a shot to help while filming “Doin’ It In the Park”. Hyun for being a great big brother and helping put money in my pocket when I had none in New York. Ben for blindly trusting me on my first global job. Marcus who helped me get my first brand-side gig. Mike for gifting me my first camera and really sparking my interest in the craft. Chrxx and Salim for pushing me creatively. Tahirah & Carl for always holding me down in general. Ja for giving me the opportunity to be a mentor for his Pow! Wow! School of Photography (shoutout to that entire crew!). My old boss for trusting me to begin shooting for work knowing I didn’t have any formal experience. So many people to credit that I didn’t get a chance to here, but know I love you all.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.reyerobles.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reyerobles
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