Today we’d like to introduce you to Zeek Yan.
Zeek, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing up in a small town in Louisiana, I learned to love the outdoors. My parents would always tell my siblings and I to go play outside. We’d catch fireflies during the hot summer nights and frogs after a big rainstorm. Our family vacations consisted of crabbing, camping, and driving to Florida to spend time on the beach. My family enjoyed being outdoors rather than being cooped in the house. Halfway through high school, my family moved to California. We decided to spend our first vacation in Yosemite. I instantly fell in love with the park and promised myself to visit more national parks. For those who haven’t been to Yosemite; seeing those gigantic rocks for the first time made me realize how small we truly are. There’s so much of the world that I have yet to see. Picking up a camera felt instinctual. I loved being able to capture moments. Pictures are able to encapsulate more than the image itself, but the emotion and feelings you had when you took that photo. Being able to remember who you were with and what you did that day through an image is so powerful. It wasn’t until when I started college and got hired at my university to film campus events that things started to take off. I started freelancing on the side with my friends and started to film weddings on the weekend. It wasn’t until I finished college that I decided to freelance full time. I built my Instagram and started traveling the world. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some big brands over the years. I’m truly blessed to be able to travel the world doing what I love. Never could have imagined turning a passion into a career.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I didn’t go to college for film or photography. Being Asian, my parents would’ve never supported that. I studied business in hopes to someday work at a tech company in the Bay Area. After I graduated, I thought finding a job would be easy now that I have a college degree. I was quickly proven wrong and found myself in a job interview after job interview. After six months of contemplating whether or not to keep applying for jobs that I wasn’t passionate about, I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue freelance full time. It wasn’t easy at first, but my friends and family supported what I was doing. It took me a few years to get my foundation set, but I’m happy I made that decision. Another huge challenge that’s recently hit me as well as a lot of freelancers is COVID. The travel industry was put on hold and I had to shift my focus. We can’t ever plan for things like this, but we have to adjust to be able to make things work. We can’t just give up when times get tough. If you’re a freelancer and you’re making it through this pandemic, props to you! It’s not easy doing what we do on top of a pandemic.
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’m a commercial photographer and filmmaker that creates marketing assets for brands. I primarily work with lifestyle and travel companies. Visual storytelling is my main focus in my work. Being able to tell a story in a film without dialogue is a powerful thing. I’m proud that I was able to turn my passion into a career. Not a lot of people are willing to take a chance on their dream. Luckily I have a lot of family and friends that support what I do. My dedication to my craft is what sets me apart from others. I’m self-taught which means that I’m constantly learning new things. I believe that you don’t need to pay for an education to learn something you’re passionate about if you’re hungry for knowledge. I learned a lot by watching hundreds of Youtube tutorials and spending months in the field shooting. There’s no limit to the amount of things we can learn.
What makes you happy?
I feel extremely lucky to be able to do what I love everyday! Freelancing can be one of the toughest careers but it’s also really rewarding. The key is to be passionate about what you do. You’ll attract more success into your life and your years of hard work will pay off. Stay focused and keep hustling!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.zeekyan.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/zeekyan
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/zeekyan
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/zeekyan
