Conversations with Ricardo Ponce

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ricardo Ponce.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am an introvert, and as such, I am very analytical and observant. As a child, I was inclined into drawing. At school, I was a good student, although I didn’t like reading that much 🙂 since I am more of a visual type of person. I learn by doing and seeing how things work. I guess I’m better with my eyes and hands than with my mouth. I’ve been wanting to do a lot of ‘artistic’ stuff, such as designing (logos, forms at work, signs, etc.); so one day I thought “I have to choose something and start pursuing it, I can’t just keep ‘wanting’ to do them and not do anything”, so I pushed myself to pick one. I listed what I wanted to do the most, and it came down to the one that was more doable: photography. So, I bought myself a camera and started attending Meetup photo sessions to practice and gain experience.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to gain experience wasn’t as smooth as I hoped it would be. Since I grew up lacking social skills, it was hard to start attending any type of social event and interact with people. So you can imagine that when I went to my first photoshoot event, I felt awkward being surrounded by other photographers with way better equipment and gadgets (lights, extra lenses, etc.) that I didn’t have. I felt intimidated, but at the same time I thought, “well, maybe I can learn from some of them”, so I tried to have a good, positive attitude. Ironically, once I started taking some photos with a model, the ‘sleeping lion’ woke up! and I felt so much at ease that I totally forgot about the other photographers… I felt I was on my own environment! In some cases, I started directing some models and their feedback was so good that it kept me going… even some photographers were “using” some of the poses I was suggesting the models to do! It was very fulfilling 🙂 To try to overcome some of the struggles of not having enough equipment, I started to purchase used ones to at least start getting the taste of using more tools to do my craft.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have been working in the Aerospace and Defense industry since I was 20! I worked for a small manufacturing company of specialty electrical cables and wire harnesses. Since I didn’t have any experience, I started as the assistant in the identification department. I was moved to another department temporarily to assist, and I did it without any complain. I guess the managers liked that, so one of them offered me to learn another department, and I said yes. I learned how to work in that department so well, but I event tried new things to improve the process. Once again, the Quality manager offered me to learn how to be a quality inspector, and I agreed. I learned the process very quickly, too. At the time, they had a computer to inspect the products, and I was curious to see how it worked. They would hire outside programmers to come and write test programs. I asked the manager if I could learn to program the computer. He said yes. So he gave me the manuals and I learned how to program the computer. I saved the company a lot of money by becoming their in-house computer programmer. I kept learning other departments, but I kept being interested in the computer system. Eventually, I became the IT manager! And since I have been in pretty much every department, I can offer support and even help write their procedures. I’m also one of the instructors that certify the employees. I like helping my co-workers, whenever they have an issue and they share it with me, I try to get them a solution or bring it to the right person. Some of them have told me that I should be the HR person! Haha It’s nice to be recognized, even though I do it with pleasure. I’m also part of the Safety Committee, so I’m constantly looking out for everyone’s well-being. 🙂

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I come from a traditional Hispanic family… um… a big family… of 10!! I am child number 9! So, I remember enjoying our 7pm dinner with the whole family eating sweet bread with chocolate milk around the TV watching a comedy show. I also enjoyed the times when, for some reason (maybe the weather), the electricity would go out, so we all had to gather in the living room with candles, but we would all be talking, telling jokes or funny stories… it was a very nice time! I didn’t like it when the electricity came back on, because everyone would go back to whatever they were doing 🙁

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @neo1011101

Image Credits:
Yumi, Jessika, Joy, Ashton, Kenna, Ansoph, Yangyang, Tao