Gustavo Fernández’s first career in pharmaceutical sales was inspired by his stepfather, who was the general manager for Johnson & Johnson in the Dominican Republic. Gustavo stayed in the industry for 10 years after graduating college — until his real passion started calling to him.

Photography had been Gustavo’s hobby since college. Wherever he went, he always took a camera along with him. Then, when the internet became a massive tool for building communities, he started connecting with other photographers. Serendipitously, one of the top wedding photographers in the world lived just down the street from him. So he went to a workshop she was holding, and that changed the whole trajectory of his life.

Now, Gustavo has a career photographing people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. 

The internet and online communities continue to be hugely important to Gustavo’s photography and career, too. Because, in this era of social media, the vast majority of new business that comes to him is through word of mouth.

But you can’t just be part of a Facebook group and reap the benefits of belonging to a community — you have to create lasting, authentic relationships with people

When Gustavo is building relationships...

• He always follows up leads and conversations (he even carries a notebook so he doesn’t forget anything!)
• He always picks up the phone. A couple of years ago the event planner for Forbes called to ask him to photograph an event. And she told him, Thank you for picking up the phone. No-one picks up the phone anymore.
• He gives unique, thoughtful gifts to clients and contacts. A $10 gift he sent to a contact actually resulted in $10,000 worth of business. 

Gustavo says that people sometimes comment about how different his two careers are but, at the end of the day, it’s all the same — because “it's all people.”

Don’t be a podcast junkie…

Resources:

• Gustavofernandez.com
• Instagram: @gustavofernandez
• Facebook: @gustavofernandezphotographer
• Twitter: @gustavo
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