Check Out Akemi Rico’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Akemi Rico.

Hi Akemi, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m a physical therapist, but I always loved to travel. My first international trip was six weeks backpacking through Mexico with a couple of friends from college. This was before the internet, before I had a digital camera, and we had a great time. After that, I spent seven months traveling through Brazil, going deep into the culture there. Then I decided I needed to go back to school and get a graduate degree, and I chose physical therapy because I love being active and I wanted to keep my body healthy. For physical therapy school, I attended Mount St. Mary’s University, located in the heart of Los Angeles. While in school, I visited Nepal to volunteer in a hospital. When I graduated I celebrated by taking myself on a four month long backpacking trip through east and west Asia- an amazing trip in which I learned about how despite many differences between cultures we actually have many similarities. This adventure introduced me to the joys of solo travel, and taught me that not everything has to be figured out ahead of time, people are generally good and helpful, and the unexpected can bring so much more than planning ahead.

After graduate school, it took me a while to get back out on the road. I ended up holding back on travel for a long time as I focused on paying off my physical therapy school loans. Student loan debt is a huge barrier to many people, and I acknowledge that I am very lucky to have been able to pay off my loans a couple of years ago. I have since have had the privilege to reframe my life and focus on what I *really* want.

I’ve never been married, and never had kids. I consider this a blessing, although part of me wishes I had a family now. It’s not something I ever had as a goal though, and I’m ok with it. I appreciate my freedom, and I’m very happy being single. I turned 50 last year, and at the time it felt like a big shift in how I look at my life. I had to let go of a lot of how I thought I was going to be, and come to terms with not living a “typical” life, with a white picket fence, a stable job, a nuclear family. I had to let go of the future I thought I was going to have and accept that perhaps I might end up alone, with none of the physical trappings of a “successful” life. I had to redefine success.

Success to me is having the freedom to do things that I enjoy. First though, I had to figure out what I enjoyed- this was harder than it sounds. I had spent much of my life working really hard, first at school, then at work. I was living up to other people’s’ expectations of me, and didn’t spend much time learning about me- how to care for myself, cultivate a relationship with myself and learn what I am really like. My explorations in this realm have led me to take yoga teacher trainings, live in ashrams, participate in self-development programs and complete a couple of rounds of ten day silent Vipassana meditation retreats. I think these experiences have been really important in learning about myself, learning to love my imperfections, and to be patient and less judgemental with my own perceived faults.

The one thing I really wanted to do seemed impractical and out of reach- photography. But after the pandemic started, I realized that it would be now or never. At the time, people were getting really sick, and I considered that if I were to get sick, I would regret never having tried photography. I started taking classes at Santa Monica College, and realized that I could actually do this! My teachers were supportive, I was published in the LA Times, and I won awards. This gave me the confidence to keep going. I changed my perspective of how I was living my life to overcome self judgement and shame for not following a typical career path.

I’m still going through this process of self acceptance, and I think it’s a lifelong project, especially as I continue to give myself permission to live such a fantastic life! I’m currently booking myself out as a retreat photographer for adventurous and spiritual wellness retreats around the world. In between these trips I take creative portraits of Los Angeles locals, and love finding cool places to take photos. I cultivate my friendships, and my favorite places to travel have spiritual and cultural significance to the people that live there.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road! The biggest obstacle was the mind shift into believing that I could do it. I had to do a lot of inner work to allow myself to dream this big. The unconscious question that was holding me back was, “Who do I think I am to have this kind of life?” Before I could step forward, I had to learn to love, care for and support myself the way a mother would love a child. I had a lot of negative self-talk to move away from.

Recently, I experienced a shoulder problem, called frozen shoulder, or technically, adhesive capsulitis. It’s a terrible condition that comes out of nowhere and causes unbelievable pain and discomfort, followed by reduced range of motion, and finally resolving, over a period of up to two years. I was lucky, in that the whole thing only lasted me about nine months. I had about three months where I couldn’t sleep longer than an hour or two before an involuntary movement woke me up in excruciating pain. I was on daily pain medication and used ice on my shoulder at least twice a day to manage. I thought it was the universe telling me I shouldn’t be a photographer, I shouldn’t travel, and I shouldn’t dream big. In the end, I believe it’s strengthened my resolve even more to keep going. It had me see how fragile we are. As it started to feel better, opportunities started to pick up again, and I found that I wasn’t held back at all.

Every step forward makes my heart skip a beat. I feel that perhaps I don’t deserve it, or that things might not work out. I’ve had to really learn to treat myself like my own best friend, and image that things might work out even better than I could imagine it.

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?
I specialize in creative portraits, whether it’s a brief moment captured at an event or on the street, or on an elaborate set with lighting and costuming. I’m proud of the work I do capturing cultural events like Dia de los Muertos, or documenting people at retreats. I love the moment when a smile lights up a face, or someone is caught up in thought. I have a photojournalistic style, paying careful attention to lighting and making sure the audience sees what I want them to see.

As a photographer, I balance between the creative and the practical. I find both aspects challenging and fulfilling in their own way. I love the work that I’ve come up with when challenged with a creative, seemingly impossible task. It takes time to be inspired, to dream, and connect dots between seemingly unrelated interests until they blossom into a new reality. I love working with people who have a creative vision, creating something that only existed in one’s imagination and bringing it to life.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
What a great question. I’ve been reflecting on how important it is to take risks. I think it’s absolutely necessary to move forward in life. Risks are subjective. Our brains are wired to calculate risks based on survival, but really, it’s out of our control. The biggest risk lies in not moving forward at all, staying at home, doing the same things we always did. It’s scary to risk rejection, embarrassment, failure. But none of those things are actually real. Sometimes I pretend that everyone in front of me is only wearing their underwear, or I remind myself that no one is paying as much attention to me as I think they are. They are in fact worrying about themselves just as much as I worry about me. And in cases where things don’t work out, it’s an exercise in staying present in my body, breathing into my feet, and remembering that I am whole and loved just as I am, and not because of anything that I do, or don’t do. Risks are a part of life.

That being said, I hate taking risks! I’m really hard on myself when things don’t go the way I wanted/planned them to go. I’m really scared of losing money. A big risk I took, that actually didn’t work out in the way I wanted it to, was in buying a house. I thought it would be a good investment, that I would be able to make money from short term rentals, and enjoy staying there when it wasn’t rented. It turned out to be a money pit. The cost of upkeep, maintenance, management, and constant stress dragged me down. I decided to take the loss and sell it. It ended up being a huge lesson. First, to really know myself and what I want my life to look like- it might not have been a bad decision for someone else, but personally, it wasn’t for me. I also learned that if I want to live the life I really want, I get to go out there and do big things, as big as buying a house and renovating it. It cost me a lot of money, but I didn’t die! I’m not living on the street, or starving. I know that as long as the risk makes sense to me, it’s ok, and I’ll be ok. I’ve learned to trust myself and not care what other people think. I’ve started to vet the people whose opinions I ask, to think first before asking questions, and to collect all the facts before making a decision. Instead of living in embarrassment and shaming myself for something that didn’t work out, I’m taking it as a learning experience and using it to take bigger and better risks in the future.

Pricing:

• Creative Portraits: $200- up
• Events: $150/hr
• Branding: $200- up
• Elopements: By consultation

Contact Info:

• Website: https://akemisadventures.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akemisadventures/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akemisadventures