How a Football Injury Turned Into a 6-Figure Film Hustle ft. Grizzly Films

Welcome to the Level Up Podcast.

I'm your host, Paul Alex.

I went from being a cop to an eight-figure entrepreneur that helps average people like you and me make money every single day.

I created this podcast to help you get motivated and to crush your goals.

Let's win together.

Remember, I have your six.

Get ready to level up right now.

Hey guys, and welcome to another episode of the Level Up Podcast with Paul Alex.

Guys, I have another banging interview, okay?

Look, usually I do the intro, and you guys know how I get down, but I feel like you got to do the intro, man, just because you're my boy.

Like, so go ahead, let the folks know right now who you are, what you're doing, and then let's get it going.

Okay, so my name is Grizzly.

Um, that's short for Grizzly Films.

I'm a photographer and filmer out here in Miami, Florida.

Been doing it for a long time now.

Um, Paul got me on this cast.

I'm a little nervous, but I'm gonna be me at the end of the day.

I'm gonna give it to you, you know, raw, straight, and hope this can inspire somebody else like somebody inspired me

years ago.

And that's what it's about, man.

So let's go ahead and talk about what you were doing before you got into entrepreneurship.

Okay.

So,

man, you could talk about, you know, this is the level of podcast, man.

It's to help people with their mindset, to motivate them to self-help.

That's what it's about, right?

So

what were you doing before, right before you had that epiphany of like, yeah, you know what?

I'm going to start working for myself.

Oh, man.

Okay.

So I'm a football guy.

So I actually played football from five years old all the way through high school.

I thought I was going to the NFL, you know, like a lot of us, you know, did.

So, um, but right before this, I already had a camera in my hand.

I always did.

I had a clothing line by the Fitfield King, me and my brother.

It's still going.

But I was doing a picture just for that.

I was just having fun.

I really got into it because I met this young lady, which is now my wife, and that's the crazy part.

I met her and I was just taking pictures for fun.

I didn't know what I really wanted to do, to be honest.

I was like, hey, I love the camera.

It puts me in a different mindset, different headspace.

I watch movies to this day every day if I can because it gives me like a sense of escaping, you know?

Not saying I'm trying to escape reality, but you know, I'm a dreamer.

Yeah.

I'm a big dreamer, and I still love the dream to this day.

So I was just doing it to continue just dreaming.

My wife was like, hey, you know, like people make money doing this.

I'm like, make money doing what?

Taking pictures?

Like, people pay for this?

She's It's like, yeah.

So

that's why I got into it.

But before that, I was just really just taking pictures for fun.

I was enjoying the color line,

enjoying the process of just

living, honestly.

When the football dream didn't go about, I didn't really know what I really wanted to do.

And it was a tough time, but I made do and tried to just have fun with life like I try to do now.

I have so many questions, man.

So let's go back to the time where, let's say, you were like, hey, I'm about to do football, and then it didn't didn't pan out.

What year was that?

I graduated 08, so I went to college and went to Bethune-Cookman.

I was there.

I had a football scholarship, but I had injuries too, so I didn't really feel 100%.

And I felt in my heart that I knew football wasn't going to be the thing.

Really?

And I kept it real.

I wasn't like, like, one day you just told yourself,

my body ain't going to go through it.

It's not going to go through it.

I ended up transferring out of the school because I knew that.

What were you playing?

A linebacker.

Linebacker.

Oh, that's a tough gig, bro.

I played that at Myanmar.

My quarterback is still in the NFL too.

No way.

Geno Smith.

Oh, wow.

We got the Raiders now.

So that's cool.

We had a tough team.

You still talked to him?

I still talked to him.

We seen him recently.

That's awesome.

We've seen him at

our little school reunion we kind of did.

I had a little party we had.

He was there.

He came.

I just knew it, though.

I knew it.

I was like, this ain't it.

That's crazy, man.

One of my newest guys, his name's Trey.

He actually was a Division I football player.

He broke his back, and now we work together.

So I'm going to link you guys after this.

It's going to be good.

But all right, so to go back back to your story, dude, so you go ahead, you knew, you knew in yourself, you're like, dude, like football is not for me.

You had met your wife now, and she told you, like, hey, she's giving you like the idea.

So are you saying it was your wife that inspired you to go ahead and actually make the move, like move the needle for you?

Yes, I'm 100%.

I think I was doing it really just to have fun.

And it just kind of kept my mind, you know, just like at peace?

At peace.

And that's still, that's what it does from this day.

Like,

i'm just at peace with that cameras in my hand so she was like hey um i think you can you know you can make money from this people uh you know book you for this and that i was like okay cool so i i still got into it

yeah i want to chase it as an entrepreneur but it was still out of passion and love and i and i think that's what got me here to this day still having that same passion and love for what i'm doing because i was

Beyond other than football, I tried many other things.

If we want to be real, like I tried firemen.

I tried, I worked at a hospital.

I was just trying to find my way, but I always had a camera, but I was just trying things.

And she was there for some of that part too, as a friend and turned into a girlfriend into now we married, you know?

So I was just trying things, but I always kept that camera in my hand.

That was the only thing that really brought me peace.

No, absolutely, man.

That's awesome.

So during that whole entire journey, how long from the time that you got injured in football till you actually started going ahead and making, you know, what you're doing now a full-time career?

How long has it been since then?

Yeah.

Like, what was the gap?

Was it like a five-year gap?

Was it almost immediate?

Like what's the first time?

I'll say like,

well, I'm leaving high school, 0-8, and dealing with college, 0-9, 10, 11, 12.

Met my wife, met my wife now, 2014.

So it was a big gap.

It was years until I'm trying to find out what I'm going to do.

My friends,

they doing med school.

Some of them attorneys, they know what they're doing.

I'm like, I'm still trying to figure it out.

You were trying to figure out throughout your entire 20s, basically.

Yes.

And then at what age did you finally say, you know what?

This is it.

I would say

25, 24, 25.

At the age of 25.

That's when I knew it was like,

I knew that I was going to do something with the camera.

I didn't know how to make money.

Okay.

I didn't know how to make the money.

So my wife, being there, she was modeling at the time too, kind of understood, like, hey, we pay photographers that got great quality, such as yours, money.

So I'm like, oh, okay, let's see how this goes.

It went good.

It definitely went good.

But of course, you know, you first start off, you ain't making the money that you want to make.

Right.

But I always tell people, like, when you're doing what you love to do, the money will come.

Yeah.

So I never chased the dollar bill at all.

I still don't chase money.

It seems to just come because I believe in what I'm doing.

I believe in the service I provide.

So providing value, then it always comes back.

And then you have an abundance of wealth.

Yes.

No, absolutely, dude.

I agree.

So with that, at age 25, your wife's like, hey, let's go.

Man, see, it seems like your wife's giving you the ideas, man.

Yeah.

She still kind of do.

But it's a cheat coat.

It's a cheat coat.

Now that, you know, my wife, my beautiful wife, like, I tell people it's a cheat coat.

Like, you just, man, it's so powerful.

I think that's why you're going to be married and

just be to that one woman.

I mean, it actually progresses you in business, man.

It does.

I think.

Because I believe a woman can be your up and your downfall.

Oh, wow.

Absolutely.

Women in general.

If you want to have multiple women, you're going to have multiple problems.

You're right.

I like that.

You got to have a problem.

Multiple problems.

That's for sure.

That's very true.

So, me,

I stuck to it, to being just,

I was dating her and sticking out with her, and she was there for the journey.

When I ended up saying I wanted to go full time with it, though, honestly speaking, she didn't really know because I'm not a lie.

I was working.

Like I told you, I was working at a hospital at that time.

I just quit one day.

I up and quit.

So I come home.

You just decided one day you were like.

Yeah.

All right.

She pushed me towards like, you know, do the camera thing.

So I was doing it.

I'm like, okay.

But as far as taking it full time, I quit on my own decision.

I literally quit that morning.

Was it something that happened at work that made you quit?

Not,

I think, yeah, I see the dead body.

It bothered me so much.

Okay, there we go.

Oh, there we go.

I was like,

that's horrible, man.

You told me, go to the morgue.

I'm like, go to the morgue for what?

I'm like, oh, can we go to the morgue?

I said, you're like, I'm not doing this.

Because it made me feel dead.

Not that I really feared the dead, dead body.

It just made you feel.

It made me feel like, I'm like, I'm dying here.

Yeah.

Like, this ain't what I want to do.

This don't inspire me.

This made me feel like I'm dying.

So.

I quit.

I come home.

I say, hey, I know you believe in me in the camera thing.

She's like, yeah, I like, but I quit my job.

She said, oh, so I said, you know, I love you, but I'm going to do this.

At that point, I'm really like, I'm not going to do this with or without you at this point.

Like, you said you believe in me, so you know what it is.

She said, well, I believe in you.

Let's do it.

Okay.

Now, of course, we young, I'm not saying I had to, she was forced to be with me.

But I said, if you want to go on the journey, let's do it together.

And I, because you made me believe in myself.

And she was like, okay.

Like, you could have told me you was going to quit.

But she's like, let's do it.

So that was the last job I ever worked that was like corporate or anything like that.

And what's your family say?

Oh.

Hey, that's the struggle that everybody goes through, man.

My mom is very like,

you know, chase your dreams.

She don't really try to get in the way,

but she's not going to be like, yeah, go and quit a job.

Nobody's believing that.

My brothers are very, you know, they believe in work, working hard, is really going to make it happen.

And now they're older now, they understand that I did the right decision.

I remember when my brother, and this really lifted me.

I don't know if I never told him.

I said, he said, hey, you don't need a plan B.

Your plan A is going to work just fine.

And I was like, for him to say that, my brother come from, you know, you got to work hard, you got to get out of the mud, this and that.

So he not, a camera, I ain't going to make no money.

They ain't going to take care of your family.

So, I mean, of course he had to see it to believe it, but that one thing he did say really, it did, it did motivate me and pushed me.

You know, other than that, like my other family members, I didn't really worry about what they said.

Of course, we all want that support.

You know, we all wish we had that push.

Now I'm pushing my nephews that do, you know, out of the known, one do music, one do this.

I'm pushing because I know it can't, it can't pay off.

But, you know, we come from the parents that's like, what is that?

How you going to feed a family?

That camera ain't going to feed a family.

Now they see it, they believe it.

But, you know, it was okay.

Of course,

I'm very like, I'm a loving person.

I love my family.

So I wanted to be there off the rip.

But I understand, you know, it is what it is.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

And I feel like almost every entrepreneur goes through this with their family, man.

You know, especially when you come from a family and it appears like your family is very traditional.

Yes.

Right?

It's like the old American dream of like, hey, work hard, get the house, start the family, be happy with retirement, and you've made it.

Yeah.

You got to have the health insurance from the job.

This, this, and that.

I'm like, that's the number one thing.

I'm like, nah, that's, that's like my route.

And my mom, she knew, because she always said, like, you never really did, other than play football, because I did love it, you never did like the norm.

Like, she knew, like, yeah, you were smart.

I had all the advanced placement in school and all that, but I was, it just wasn't me.

It wasn't I knew books wasn't my thing either.

Right.

Yeah, I'm gonna finish school, but I'm like, I don't want to do none of this.

I don't be no teacher.

I don't be none of that.

Like, I want to be a creative.

I want to help other people be creative.

Right.

I want to maybe help them see their dreams.

So exactly.

For me, I feel like a camera allowed me to do that.

Yeah.

That's awesome, man.

So you're a visionary, dude.

Yeah.

I'm a visionary.

Like, you know, I could see things.

I could extract information from people and then use it to go ahead and like build their story, man.

I know, I have have seen it yeah

and what you're doing dude is you're able to see people's story and their vision through your photos you know because you do good work bro

but with that being said okay so let's get down to what a lot of my audience likes to talk about okay money

so how can you make money as a beginner let's say you know we didn't know each other I got a camera you know i got it as a christmas gift and i'm like dude i want to pick this up but i want to make some money what would you tell me Let's do a mini masterclass, man.

Okay.

What would you tell somebody?

Like, what did you do in your humble beginnings, dude, when you were starting to go ahead and actually get gigs?

How were you getting the gigs?

Were you using like Craigslist?

How were you searching for that?

Was it network?

Tell us your secrets.

I would say right now.

Yeah.

And even then.

2025, guys.

We're in 2025, social media is big.

I mean, you got direct line to most people.

Not saying everybody's going to answer their DMs, but you do have that access.

I would definitely just go do some coal leads.

Like, I'm DMing everybody.

Hey, this is what I offer.

This is what I can do.

If they have a business, they have personal.

Most people still want to do Christmas shoots.

Most people want to have maternity.

Most people want to have their birthday shoots.

Hey, I provide their service.

If I was starting right now, that's the first thing I'm doing.

I'm in everybody's chest with it.

Question.

Would you niche down when you're starting?

Like, would you be like the perfectionist and, let's say, like the baby photos, the maternity?

I would say yes, because I did.

I was known for maternity, actually.

Oh, really?

I was a maternity.

That's big money, dude.

It was good money.

Yeah, I mean, I just paid for my younger sister.

She just had her kid.

So essentially, you know, my wife, she's like, hey, we got to get them as a gift.

And she loved it.

Maternity.

Maternity.

I was like, God damn.

Is where it's at.

Yeah.

Because you end up shooting the maternity shooting.

You end up shooting the baby when they come out.

If you like shooting babies, then they, if they're not married already, they're going to end up getting married.

And now you may be able to shoot the wedding down the road.

So, but I feel like the niche is everything, though, for sure.

I love that.

Look, for anyone that's listening right now and watching this, you saw the way his mind thinks.

They're not married.

You've already established that relationship with them.

So when they do get married, guess who they're going to hit up?

You.

Right?

Yes.

So, dude, that's networking.

Yes.

Your network is your net worth.

That's awesome, dude.

That's a bomb.

I have people I've been shooting for probably like five years now.

Really?

I do all their birthdays, shot their wedding.

I love that.

Shot their maternity.

If they getting pregnant again, I'm shooting that.

So it's like, you built that relationship with them, you know, and it's just going to keep, and then they tell A sister, they tell A cousins, this and that.

So now, hey, can you shoot my wing?

Can you shoot my maternity shoe?

You know, it all just falls down the line.

But definitely telling them the niche is the best thing.

Because if you try to start off shooting everything, you're not going to build the strength.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then

would you say that, you know, for a successful entrepreneur that's getting into photography or video, okay?

What would you say is the path of least resistance?

Yes, the niching down, but let's say if somebody was like, hey, man, I'm trying to scale.

I'm a hustler.

You know, I don't, whatever it takes.

What would be be your expert advice right now, man?

To scale fast.

To scale fast.

You know, people, people want to scale fast in 2025.

You know, that's just the way it is now.

And it's, it's sad to say that it is.

It's kind of tough to scale fast in this business.

Okay, I like that.

I'm going to be honest with this, there's no quick way to it.

You guys hear that?

I know some people say, well, hey, I want to go shoot some celebrity, get the big following.

Yeah.

I know people that shoot all the celebrities ain't making no money.

No way.

They ain't making, got the biggest following.

Wow.

On Instagram.

I'm not going to say no names, but trust me, I know a lot.

So let me ask you this.

Let me piggyback off that question.

They have a big following.

They shoot celebrities.

Why aren't they making money?

I think what happens is they get caught into the trap of what it looks like.

So when they're, like I said,

you DMing certain people or reaching out to certain people, you don't come with no numbers.

You come with, hey, I just want to work for free.

Got it.

So off rip, they're going to treat you like that for a while sometimes too.

Wow.

That happens with a lot of celebrities and stuff like that.

Are them people that you think that, well, say after a few times, well, I'll book them.

Sometimes that don't happen.

Wow.

So they don't have to capitalize off as far as how can I make money from it, from that, from that, those extra eyes.

And I think that's what I did really, really well is that when I did work with certain people of status per se, I knew how to capitalize off it.

Okay.

And I knew when to say, well, hey, this was cool, this was for free, but if you want this service to continue, this is what it costs.

So when they try to scale fast, they skip how to make the money part and how to even speak to people about money.

That's the hardest part.

That's the hardest part.

A lot of them don't believe in themselves either, so they don't know how to speak about money.

I love that you said that, man.

I'm so big on having that self-confidence in yourself i actually tell people charge more charge more especially in 2025 man you know if you you're expert in your niche and you know what you're talking about and you have the results and the social proof just like you do oh dude you could charge all day right but um no that's amazing that that that makes total sense you know people they think that just because you're actually shooting for a celebrity that it should be for free so you could get the clout and then they think the clout's going to convert for them no and it don't work that way wow so they think that's going to scale them fast yeah but i think in this one it's kind of tough to scale fast as a filmer photographer you got to put in that work i don't care if it's gonna be 2026 they want to move faster you gotta kind of put in this work yeah you have to and i know i've done seen some guys that got great talent and i'm like you probably just you probably should get paid that amount yeah but it just don't happen that way right because people still want to people need to know who you are right i i realize like being personal in my business matters the most yeah the quality is good because we all got good quality, but it's about who you are as a person.

I get so many calls from clients saying, I deal with this person.

He was just a bad guy.

He was a bad person.

He wasn't responsive.

He was an a-hole.

I'm like, wow, people understand.

People don't have to give you their money.

They don't.

They really don't.

So you treating these people like this.

Thank God I'm natural just to who I am.

I'm a nice person.

I'm not trying to fake the funk when I'm dealing with people.

So it comes easy, but some people just not good with people.

Yeah.

No, it's absolutely right.

You know, old school customer service, man.

You know?

No, it's good, dude.

So let me ask you this.

What would you say?

And

have you had mentees before?

Yes.

Proteges.

Proteges, yes.

Okay.

What would you say, okay,

makes a good photographer great?

What characteristic?

Being

attention to detail.

Attention to detail.

Okay.

That's number one.

And what are they looking for exactly?

I would say look for what your client really needs.

So like, are you talking about getting clarification before they do the shooting?

Yes.

Okay.

Exactly.

Because sometimes like they're rushing sometimes.

Yeah.

And they just like, oh, I got paid.

And it's like, yeah, you got paid, but have you made sure everything was correct with this client?

Is everything, you know, how it's supposed to be?

So me, that's what I'm great at.

We're going, and my wife helps a lot too.

She'd be like, hey.

Did you make sure you get this, this, and that done?

She kind of wanted it this way.

I'm like, okay, make sure.

Me call her.

And it'd be those simple things that can really kind of make them great.

It ain't even about the quality.

Right.

Because the quality can come easy if they learn.

They want to learn that fast, how to take pictures, how to edit and stuff like that.

But it's about that real detail to the people.

Yeah.

That's what's going to make them great.

Not nothing to do with that camera.

Question.

Do you believe like now in 2025 that a lot of photographers have to master the skill of editing?

Because the only reason why I say this is because now because of social media.

Man, you be seeing some of these people, they look like models.

Hey, damn, I see them in person.

I'm like, god damn, you know what?

We can talk about that a little bit because I know who look like it for real and who don't.

So would you say in order to get paid the big bucks as a photographer, do you have to master the skill of editing in 2025?

Yes.

Yes.

Because

I mean,

even my wife wants a little touch-up, even on her face or something like that.

Like, you know, so.

Editing is everything.

Once you get the shot, you got to know how to, you know, baby that shot up, sweeten it up a little bit.

You know, so that is big.

I get a lot of calls like, can you teach me how to edit?

Can you, how do I get this done?

Editing is very big, I know, because I know a lot of models that be faking that fuck out.

And it's okay.

You know, that's how they're making their money, too.

Yeah.

You know, so like, hey, I'm not hating on them.

It'd just be, it'd be funny.

Yeah.

It does be funny.

And a lot of photographers don't know how to really edit.

And I think that's because.

Sometimes it's like the fun part, sitting at your computer all day.

And for me, I actually, like, you know, I do photo and video at a very high level.

Yep.

Like, so, and I know how to edit at a very high level level on both sides, whether it be photography, when I can make it look like a magazine, or whether it be a short film or a music video, which I be directing sometimes, sometimes I got to DP it myself, or I bring a DP in, but then I got to go home and edit it myself.

I'm doing the color grading.

I'm doing the cuts, everything, even the effects sometimes, you know.

But that's just me.

I wanted to be able to do everything.

Do I think that's always the right way to go?

No, because I like sharing money with people.

So I love bringing a team in and say, delegate, you do this, you do this, and we're all going to make money.

We're all going to have fun doing this.

But I kind of got lucky, like my boy to say, that, hey, man, you do both at a crazy level.

But that's because I love it, though.

Yeah.

It was a difference.

I really loved photography.

I really loved making films, commercials, and everything like that.

That's what I love to do.

Like my passion behind it, like,

I'm never tired.

I feel like you did this video two days in a row.

Y'all was up this five in the morning.

I'm not tired.

I just love it.

Yeah.

That's what I love to do.

So what would you say now that you picked this career and you have a huge network, man?

i mean you know a lot of people right uh especially a lot of people in business you you know a lot of artists um you travel all over the world um what would you say is the best part of your journey right now the traveling the traveling yeah i mean i don't like the play okay okay all right you say traveling what was the number one location you and the wife you gone to uh for work uh number one yeah man you gotta pick one You gotta pick one, dude.

In one year, I went to like eight countries.

So you're talking, I see it all.

i i know but you gotta you gotta pick one country man i would say thailand thailand thailand for sure what was it about thailand that you guys were like wow the people the people the people are so nice

like oh they're amazing they treat you with so much respect and the food number two yeah the food is better than anywhere and i went a lot of places anywhere i've ever been definitely better than the united states united states is i mean yeah with like the food regulations out here man it's crazy yeah in thailand they laugh at us when we say like um i was in thailand in hong kong

and I was like, oh, I don't want no ice cream, I don't want no milk.

They was like, where you from?

I said, I'm from America.

They say, that's garbage.

That's why I drink this milk.

Yeah.

I drank the milk, my stomach didn't hurt at all.

I had no problem.

I ate ice cream, went to bed with no problem at all.

No issues.

So yeah, our food is a big problem.

But Thailand, number one, for sure.

If I had to give a number two,

would be probably Croatia.

And that's a slept-on place.

Croatia was amazing.

And I think all of them are great because I'm paid to be there.

Yeah.

No, of course, man.

I mean, you're not stressing.

You're getting paid.

You're enjoying the sites, you know, get to have fun and play, man.

That's good.

So let me ask you this, man.

So

what are you looking forward or what are you looking towards in the future?

What are you looking forward towards in the future?

Are you looking to expand your actual company?

Are you looking to have people under you and then have like a massive team where you're like going ahead and like just, I guess, serving celebrities and athletes and like, you know?

And I think this year, that's a great question because this has been the year I've been kind of thinking about how I'm going to pivot.

And it's crazy that it kind of came natural.

So for me, I've been working with a lot of companies, and that works for me.

I just, I don't know, it's easy to deal with companies more than dealing with people.

Because sometimes people don't know what they want to do.

A company is, for sure,

they know their direction.

They're building for something.

So when you're dealing, you're counting on, you know, not saying small business.

But you're dealing on people that like them attorneys stuff like that that doesn't come as frequent all the time So I got in companies a few a few years ago So for me right now, what I've been focused on is getting me a smaller team.

I don't want really a big team.

I want a small team that I know I can count on.

I'm also even training my nephew right now who got into it naturally.

So I'm like, hey, and I did him tough.

Like you say, oh, what's, I said, get any camera.

I'm not giving you a camera.

I'm not giving you any money.

I pay you when you come work with me.

But whatever camera you're going to get, you're going to go earn it.

He called, oh, I need this equipment.

I have all that equipment you need.

You're not going to get it.

You're going to work with this one camera for a year straight.

And I told him that because when I started, I only had one camera for like more than a year.

And people was like, man, you making all this money.

Believe it or not, that one camera made all that money for me.

Of course.

So right now I'm training him.

I join a small, tight team.

I'm focused on working with companies more on a full-time basis, like yearly contracts at that point.

Because I want to put more time into short films, me personally.

That makes sense.

That's my goal.

I want to be Netflix is my goal.

Is that where your passion is going to right now?

Yes.

Okay.

It's always been there, but I knew it was going to take time.

Yeah.

Because I done direct big music videos.

I done worked with with some big artists, some of the biggest Jamaican artists.

I done worked with Rick Ross,

Wale,

Cranium Dexter Dapps, the biggest DJ Dutchy Dax.

You know, so I done seen it all, been on big sets.

Nothing kind of shakes me at all.

So I'm ready to go for the movies.

That's my goal right now.

So you've seen what it takes.

I know it takes.

Yes, I've seen.

If you were to go ahead and do movies, are you talking about like directing, producing, like the whole nine?

I want to direct, for sure.

I want to direct.

And I got a team that I know I can bring in that can really get it done.

Nice.

I see these movies that they're making now, and I love them.

They're great, but I know I can do it.

That's a fact.

In any specific genre?

Me, I'm into the action.

Action?

Action.

My man.

Action through a lot of it.

That's me all day.

I need guns and violets.

I need to be like, oh, yeah, come on, man.

Bring it back.

Bring it back.

I need that.

Because my favorite directors, like Quentin Tarantino.

Oh, okay, yeah.

You know, Christopher Nolan, Michael Bay.

That's my top three.

And I kind of really, like,

got ideas from them and kind of of built my own monster.

That's what made Grizzly.

My nickname is for my wife.

Most people think that's my real name, you know, but Grizzly is actually my nickname.

If I have a son, I will name him Grizzly though.

I love that.

I will name him Grizzly.

You should.

You should.

I think right now I'm going to go with the just running companies, like their social media they may need,

anything they may need for their website.

Just stay in control of that.

Let that make the income.

where I can have time to really chase my dream and make the movies.

I think it's a powerful move that you're deciding to go from working with independent clients to companies.

And a lot of people, they're like, I don't want to lose the clientele.

They look at the instant gratification of the money, but you're going for the long money, dude.

You're going for longevity, which is smart.

Yes.

I have quite a few friends that

have landed big, big company contracts with like energy drinks, like every single energy drink, right?

Imagine if you were the go-to company for the media team.

And that's how you want it.

Because what I realized too is that, like how you say, like that instant, you can't chase the

it.

You can't do that.

That'll have you thinking about short-term little dreams.

Of course.

And then you're sitting there, you still kind of like running this little wheel race, the little rat race, they like to call it.

You're just running that over and over.

Sometimes you got to,

in this business, I done seen big ups and downs.

And how I look at life is it's just a roller coaster.

Right.

So you're going to have ups and downs.

Absolutely.

That's part of it.

I think we need the highs and we need the lows.

No matter what.

No matter what your low may be, it can be a million dollars this year and only 200,000 the following.

I think you got to embrace that, that journey.

And a lot of people don't want to embrace that, especially in my field.

They don't want to embrace that.

Well,

I got to be broke.

This isn't that.

And with Instagram, we all look like we got money.

It's like

very true.

Very true.

I want to make sure my family good.

That's funny to me, that my wife can do what she wants to do.

My daughter can do what she wants to do.

She does dance.

It's very expensive.

So, like, that's my dream.

That's my.

For me being rich right there.

I don't care what nobody see me as.

Yes, I got nice things.

I got cars, clothes, but that don't mean nothing.

Yeah.

Because it's like, my wife always tell me, she's like, oh, when you got the car, why didn't you post it?

Because I got it for me.

Yeah.

If they see it, they see it when they see it.

If they want to talk about cars, we can really talk about cars because I really love cars.

Of course.

So I'm not doing it to flex on anybody or nothing like that.

If we want to talk, DM me, we can talk about cars all day.

I really know about engines.

We can do that.

I'm doing what I really love to do, and I'm doing it for the other people around me.

Absolutely.

And I think what happens when we doing like this career with film and photography and they put you around those certain people that they're chasing those people too.

They're chasing those celebrities.

I want to look like that.

Like I'm like, I see photographers looking like rappers.

Yeah.

I'm like, bro, like you into photography or are you into what it looks like?

Cause you're next to those people?

Yeah.

I'm like, man, I'm not a rapper.

I feel like I hear the same thing in when athletes play sports.

Yes.

And they want to be rappers, right?

They dress like the rappers.

They dress just like the rappers.

I'm like, man, I'm all okay with the marketing.

I got my dreams.

I want Rolexes and stuff like that because I already enjoyed them.

You know, but I'm not trying to look like nobody of them guys.

And that's cool.

But I support those.

I support all the rappers.

I suppose all the athletes.

I work with a lot of athletes.

I work with a lot of rappers.

You know, I think we all should be in our lane at the end of the day, you know, and chasing our dreams.

So I'm just hoping to inspire somebody.

I don't care if it's one person.

Any room I walk into, that's my goal.

I love that, man.

So let me ask you the most important question of this interview.

What is your why?

My why is

it?

Sorry to put you on the spot.

Nah, it's good.

I think my why

is my family, and I want to continue dreaming.

I want to continue dreaming.

I don't want to never stop dreaming at all.

And I say that meaning like not saying I'm not living in the now, but when you're chasing dreams, you're going to do everything that you're going to dream about anyway, if you really believe in the dreams that you're dreaming.

So when I dream about something, I'm like, I'm going to do that probably in a year.

It's going to happen.

And I'm going to say, I mean, I dreamt about that.

What's my next big dream I want to do?

Or even maybe maybe a small dream my wife has seen it with her own eyes she has seen me talk about something and dream about something like I'm already enjoying it and she like it done happened like this yeah from every car I done drove from every camera I done brought she like I remember when you really spoke about that camera and you buying this expensive camera out of nowhere feel like now I dreamt about this so I want to just continue dreaming and just having fun with life that's my why yeah you know and seeing my family happy my daughter my wife yeah my mom-in-law my mother my brothers as long as everybody happy, that's okay with me.

Yeah.

I never, and I, it's like when I talk about business, it's hard sometimes because I know people want to talk about the dollar.

Of course.

They want to share what they numbers.

They want to know how much you make a year, Grizzly, how much you make in a month.

I done seen 20,000 in a month.

I seen 30,000 in a month.

That really don't mean nothing.

I never really, I hate to talk about the money aspect because I feel like then you're going to chase a dollar bill and you're going to be somewhere you shouldn't be.

Yeah.

You're right.

Because you were making money before this.

Yeah.

So you know it's not about the dollar bill because you could have stayed doing what you was doing.

Absolutely.

It's about fulfillment, man.

It's about fulfillment.

Yeah, you're right.

And I know a lot of people that, you know, they make a lot of money, but they're not fulfilled.

And at the end of the day, this is why like we encourage, you know, mindset.

We encourage self-help because it's important.

Before you can be successful in entrepreneurship, before you can make this abundance of wealth, right?

You have to have a strong, strong why.

Right.

And I think it's the biggest aspect that a lot of people don't talk about, right?

But I love your story, dude.

I love absolutely everything that you're doing, man.

So right now, let's say, for example, we have a lot of beginners, dude.

We have a lot of people that are looking for their why.

They're looking for like something that they want to do in life, like whether it's a side hustle, whether it's to replace our nine-to-five.

So if, let's say, for example, I get a few requests or you start getting your DMs blowed up after the episode comes out, and they're like, dude, Grizzly.

Do you have a program?

Like, like, like, where can I learn from you, man?

I would say definitely reach out to me because I am starting a program.

I do want to start like my masterclass.

I also want to do some traveling with it because that's kind of the fun part of being a film photographer.

It kind of gets you indoors.

So I was like, I want to do a program where we travel.

We travel the world.

We travel places where I teach you.

But I also want to teach, more importantly, like you say, your mindset.

I want to teach you how to really get clients, not based off your talent, but off how you treat people.

You.

So I'm starting a masterclass, definitely.

You should, man.

You got more than enough experience.

You work with enough clients, enough authority.

You know what you're talking about.

You have the proof, you know.

So, at the end of the day, I think having a masterclass is

another stream for you, but it's going to help a lot of people as well.

And it's very unique, dude.

Traveling and the photography, that's awesome.

Yeah, I was like, me and my wife is like, we should travel.

We should bring some models.

That way, they have fun.

They know how to interact with, even interact with the models.

You got to learn that too, how you treat women, how you treat people on set in general.

Yeah.

That's big.

And I think that's what really helped me grow is how I treat people.

Everybody say, oh, Grizzly worked with him.

Oh, he's a good, he's good.

Oh, Grizzly called me?

I'm going to go work with him off rips.

Most time I call people, it's crazy enough.

I call them and I need to work on this project with me.

They never ask how much they're getting paid.

I'll be like, hey, well, how much want for this?

Man, Grizzly, you already know.

Whatever you want to do.

And because I'm a great person.

Yeah.

You know, so I'm definitely, that's what I'm going to teach.

We're going to teach how to be a great person more than anything.

I love that, dude.

I love your core values.

That's what it's about, man.

That's what people do good business with and they do longevity business, right?

That's how you keep clients.

But let me ask you this man um i'm big on uh self-education any books that you have read in the past or currently reading that you can recommend to the audience oh i was youtube university like i didn't read too much like books and that's okay if you got some good youtube channels or some people to like you can recommend dude crazy like one guy on youtube named matt

um peter mccannon He's like the GOAT probably here to YouTube.

Matt and Peter McKinnon is probably all you're going to need, to be honest with you.

And this is for photography and video.

Photography and video.

And what do they show exactly?

They show from how to use equipment to, they don't get into the gaining clients per se, but they're more like how to get started and what you're doing.

They'll teach you a little bit of that and how to work with certain things and stuff like that.

But they're a lot of inspiration.

As you're watching their YouTube, you get inspired.

So I got inspired by them, and then I just thought it, when they was teaching something, I was Googling it.

Yeah, yeah.

Because my wife would tell you, I was on YouTube probably sometimes 48 hours straight.

She would come home.

I'm still in the computer learning.

Wow.

She's like, did you even sleep?

I slept a little bit.

I'm about to learn how to do this program in three days.

I learned how to do, we work on like what we call Adobe Suite.

I learned how to work that program probably in like 72 hours.

Like I was done pretty fast.

Man.

I got into Photoshop.

That took me a little longer.

Like, I got into Photoshop.

I probably got really good.

with it after like a month.

Because it takes a long time to really know how to edit those pictures, make girls look how they want to look and stuff like that.

This generation is going to have a little easier, but for sure they're going to have a lot easier.

But I was in that computer just learning.

Books, I would say one book I read, I can't remember the name right now.

It was about really about,

was it Andrew Carney?

It was about really like how to deal with people.

It still wasn't about the cameras.

It was like how to deal with people, how to make people work with you, how to be a great boss, stuff like that.

I was reading those type of books before anything, dealing with a camera.

I got camera and stuff like that from YouTube and just going out there and do it.

I did not go, a lot of people went to film school, stuff like that.

I didn't do no film school.

So when I was on big sets, they was like, oh, what film school you went to?

You're not going to work all this stuff?

You're young.

I'm like, no, I taught myself.

These guys, like, are like, what?

I was on a set, HBO show called The Ballers.

I was on that set.

I'm like, I know how to work this stuff already.

I'm in my 20s son.

They're like, well, not no film school.

I just taught myself.

Yeah.

So that's awesome.

I think YouTube University is a thing.

There you go.

I should start my own YouTube University channel.

That's what I'm going to talk about doing.

That was going to lead me to my next question.

What YouTuber or what influencer or what consultant online can people go to to actually learn how to generate money using their camera

and if you say if you say there's no one then grizzly's your guy guys yeah i think i am wanting to that

i don't think nobody really on youtube really teaches how to really make the money aspect well that's what i'm saying dude and and i think some of them are getting paid so much from youtube i think matt spoke about that or another guy he was like we get paid so much from youtube he was like i don't even know about how to make money outside of youtube and i was like dang it's not crazy to me he started being so much of a big youtuber he wasn't really out there getting clients he was just teaching stuff he know having fun on projects and he was like a lot of youtube was just bringing me money so i wasn't really going out there really know how to get it so i had to go get out the mud i knew how to really go get clients build clients like you know for a long term like

from the maternity shoot to the wedding to the next baby if i felt like they had a third baby or a third maternity shoot and i didn't get that shoot something something went wrong.

Yeah.

Something went wrong with how I must have treated them.

Yeah.

Has that happened though?

The bridge was burnt somewhere, somewhere.

Somewhere.

And that's like, like my wife would say right now, I dealt with hundreds of people, probably even thousands of people at this point now.

I can probably count in my hand that probably they say had a sour taste with me.

Was it probably my fault?

Probably not.

Because I'm like, what have I really done to anybody?

I love the confidence.

Like, I'm like, I don't really have a...

bad taste in anybody's mouth.

My wife's supposed to be like, I really think about it, you haven't lost any clients.

If a client couldn't shoot with me, they probably said, well, they either moved somewhere far or they was like, I just can't get in your schedule.

I'm like, oh, you should have written up me again or something like that.

You should have hit me up.

That's the only reason.

Other than that, I haven't lost a client and I don't know when.

I love that.

I love that.

So, okay, guys, so you guys can expect a masterclass/slash program from Grizzly soon?

Definitely in the summer because I want to take them out of town.

I want to

do it right.

I want to do it right.

Do it right.

That's awesome, man.

All right.

So, words of motivation, man.

That's your camera.

Let them know.

Like, all right, this is the level of podcast.

So, everybody that's watching here, they usually watch this for self-help, to get inspired.

I mean, you have such an inspiring story, dude.

Huge, huge.

And the thing is, you faced so much adversity, dude.

You wanted to do football.

You knew you were going to be able to do it because physically you just,

you were done, dude.

So a lot of people just give up.

Yeah.

They just be like, I'm just going to go to nine to five.

Yeah.

But you decide you put your passion towards what you're passionate about, dude.

And you grew it.

You work hard in football.

I was like, I can work hard this camera.

I said, it ain't going to beat me up like the football field is.

So, hey, let's get into it.

So, what are you going to tell the folks, man?

So, I would say, chase those dreams.

And I mean, like, when I mean chase, I mean like how you want it to breathe.

I think a lot of people just quit too early, especially in this generation.

Believe in yourself and get the right people around you that actually believe in you.

Don't sit around people that talk down on their own dreams.

That means they don't believe in yours.

And I realize one thing, you can't share all your dreams with everybody because they'll speak down on it even behind your back.

And I believe in energy.

Facts.

So watch who you share your dreams with, but believe in yours wholeheartedly, no matter what.

I don't care if your mama don't believe in you, honestly.

You got to believe in yourself more than anybody.

And I think it'll come.

I believe in God.

So I believe in that energy.

What you put out is what you're going to get.

So put out the right energy.

So what would you tell the folks that, let's say they have a family member, they have a spouse they have a friend that's doesn't believe in that man they're bringing them bad energy how how do how do you how do you go ahead and avoid those type of people i think you got to separate off real and it sounds like messed up like oh this is my it's my brother this is this and that or this is my my own wife so sometimes people get divorced that's just the truth love them from afar you love them from afar you know so if they're not with you all the way why be with them exactly especially if you out there giving your energy to them i'm gonna separate i separate my myself from people real easy and i don't waste no time because I got a family to take care of.

Absolutely.

Hey, I love you.

It's cool, but you where you at?

I love that.

I love that.

Love them from afar, guys.

Do not waste your energy with people that are not going to pour energy into you.

So, with that being said, Grizzly, where can they find you, brother?

You can find me on Instagram at Grizzly underscore films.

I do answer all my DMs.

My phone number, I still have my phone number on my Instagram because I'm like, you can get in contact with me easy.

No excuse.

Just don't hit me up after like 11.

I'm like, crazy, what do you think about this, man?

Because I get all that all the time.

Like, my clients love it.

They'll call me anytime, but anyway, just DM me, call me.

I'm here.

I'm not hard to find at all.

I'm not that type of person.

Love that.

Love that.

And then are you still doing like events?

Are you do it all?

Right now, I won't shoot an event, but I'll definitely send somebody out to get it done.

Boom.

It'll be overseen by me.

But right now, more business as far as with companies.

We're shooting commercials.

We're shooting the big music videos stuff like that we're still shooting the weddings at a certain amount per year yep because there'll be a lot of those and they're they're tough absolutely some of the weddings and i still got a you know a soft spot for the maternity shoot so i'm still doing a few maternities only a few per year

there you guys go grizzly man you you are killing it my friend and i can't wait till you actually come out with the master class it's gonna be phenomenal i already know it is dude you're gonna smash it so with that being said guys look out for grizzly on netflix It's coming.

It's coming because you're speaking to existence, bro, and you make it happen.

That's what we're talking about.

The level up, right?

Guys, this is Paul Alex.

This is the level up podcast.

Once again, make sure to like.

Make sure to go ahead and share this with somebody that you care about.

Okay, it's going to change their life.

Inspiring story with Grizzly from being a football star to now being a full-time entrepreneur in the video and photo game, guys.

I mean, he is changing lives, guys.

You guys are going to see him in his movies.

And man, don't forget about me, bro.

I won't.

I'm just saying.

No, I won't.

You're my boy.

You really do.

But guys, make sure to tune in.

Make sure to add us on YouTube and Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

We are currently ranked top three in business in the United States.

We'll catch you on the next one.

Number three, baby.

Thanks for listening up to the Level Up Podcast.

If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to share with a family, friend, and everyone you know who's ready to level up.

Leave a five-star review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you tune in.

It really helps spreading the word.

And don't forget to check out officialpawalex.com for more episodes and resources to kickstart your journey.

Let's level up together.