Check Out Lyza Garay ’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lyza Garay

Hi Lyza , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Throughout my childhood I never really gravitated towards sports. Around six years old, I was put into sports, just to give it a try. I began with softball, then got into martial arts, and I played basketball in high school, however I felt like something was still missing. My love for sports media began freshman year of high school when I chose “TV Production” as my elective and little did I know this would change my life entirely. I went from wanting to be a veterinarian to wanting to become a sports media producer. Taking this class I got to meet my life-long mentor which was my Tv Production teacher at the time, Mrs. Jhoann Acosta-Idda. She plays a very important role in my life. She has taught me all the skills I endure today and given me the confidence to work in this industry with endless support and advice. I had asked Mrs. Jho why our school news never covered sports. She then told me I can change that and handed me a camera. I had many athletic friends and they all encouraged me to practice filming at their games, and this is when my love for sports began. Towards my sophomore year I began creating a documentary about my schools varsity football team. I also starting winning awards from San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) for short films I was producing and editing. At this time, I was directing and editing our schools’ broadcast channel. Mrs. Jho even encouraged me to become the president of Film Club, my senior year, since I had been in the class for four years. I quickly took on the role to film and photograph every sporting event at my school. I traveled with the teams and captured their seasons, creating life-long memories. After high school, I started expanding my work to different regions of the Inland Empire and building my portfolio. I began taking pictures and videos of several teams, I developed a steady clientele and began my journey to showcase the talent within my city!

Alright, 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?
Working in sports has been the biggest challenge I have faced. You have to consistently want to work in this industry in order to maintain success. Working in sports as a woman has not been a smooth journey, however it has taught me so much about myself and pushed me to reach successes I had only dreamed of. There were many obstacles as far as truly being seen and heard. Often times you have to work 100x harder than the person next to you, to even get a fair chance or opportunity to showcase your talent on the field/court. Working in this industry isn’t just as easy as showing up and pressing buttons. You have to plan your work (pre-production), travel to create the content (production), and then finish it off by editing and delivering the final product within a timely manner (post-production). This is a process many people over-look. At first I often struggled with over working myself and experiencing burn out, until I learned to develop a healthy work/life balance. Overall I feel like this has really molded me into the multimedia specialist I am today.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have six years of experience specializing in sports media ranging from photos, videos, graphics, editing and much more. Lately I have created more wedding, corporate, and lifestyle content. I’m most proud of my first ever football documentary, this was the first documentary published by my high school. It really meant a lot to me because I was so hands on with the project and I got to cover an amazing story from start to finish. I had the vision for the documentary, I just didn’t know how it would come together to create a full story. That’s why I love sports, it pushes me to want more and create without any boundaries. I would also say I’m most proud of being able to help others create a name for themselves. I’ve had athletes reach out and tell me that my videos helped them get the attention of college recruits and that’s why I love working in this industry. I feel like my work stands out from others because I like to focus on the story of the game/ player I’m filming/ photographing. I like to create a narrative throughout my work and pride myself on showcasing the athlete/ program to the best of my ability. Throughout my work, I’ve not only created content for the Inland Empire, but I’ve created a family within the sports community.

What matters most to you? Why?
Being able to create a platform for underrated athletes and being able to put the Inland Empire on the map is so crucial to what I do. There is so much talent within the Inland Empire and I feel like we deserve more recognition and I believe that’s why I put so much effort and time into what I do. It’s all for my city at the end of the day. I believe everyone needs creative services to build their brand, or their image especially as a young athlete or newly established organization. Being able to assist the new generation of NFL, MLB, NBA, NSL, WNBA etc. athletes here in the IE feels so heartwarming because the talent was there all along. They just needed the platform, and I’m extremely grateful to be that platform for them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lyzagaray01.wixsite.com/creative
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/llyyzzaa/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@llyyzzaag
• Other: https://lyzagaray.pixieset.com