The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex - How a Football Injury Turned Into a 6-Figure Film Hustle ft. Grizzly Films

Episode Date: June 28, 2025

In this powerful episode of The Level Up Podcast, Paul Alex sits down with Osiris Pollock—better known as Grizzly Films (@grizzly_films)—a Miami-based filmmaker and photographer who's worked with major artists like Rick Ross, Wale, and more. 🎥But his journey didn’t start on a movie set. It began with a football dream that came to a sudden halt and a leap of faith after walking out of a hospital job. This episode is all about how Osiris went from uncertainty to building a thriving business doing what he loves—capturing powerful visuals and storytelling through his lens.🔥 What You’ll Learn:Why shooting celebrities doesn’t guarantee success—and what actually doesHow to price your creative work with confidence in 2025The #1 mistake beginner creatives make when trying to scaleWhy niching down (maternity, weddings, etc.) is the fastest way to growHow Grizzly is shifting from client work to commercial contracts & Netflix dreams💡 Key takeaway: Passion is the start, but mindset and execution are what truly take you to the next level.🎯 Whether you're a creative, aspiring entrepreneur, or someone trying to escape the 9-5—this is your blueprint to turn passion into profit.👉 Don’t forget to subscribe, like, and share with someone chasing their dreams.🎧 Now available on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.“Your Network is your NETWORTH!”Make sure to add me on all SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:Instagram: https://jo.my/paulalex2024Facebook: https://jo.my/fbpaulalex2024Youtube: https://jo.my/ytpaulalex2024Linkedin: https://jo.my/inpaulalex2024Looking for a secondary source of income or want to become an entrepreneur?Check out one of my companies below to see if we can help you:www.ATMTogether.comwww.CashSwipe.comFREE Copy of my book “Blue to Digital Gold - The New American Dream”www.officialPaulAlex.com

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've got to do the intro, man, just because you're my boy. 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. That's short for Grizzly films.

I'm a photographer and filmmaker out here in Miami, Florida. Been doing it for a long time now. Paul got me on his cast. I'm a little nervous. But I'm going to be me. At the end of the day, I'm going to give it to you, you know, raw scrate. and hope this can inspire somebody else like somebody inspired me

10 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 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 of all the way through high school.

I thought I was going to the NFL, you know, like a lot of us, you know, it did. So, but right before this, I already had a camera in my hand. I always did. I had a clothing line by Fifthfield King being my brother. They're still going. But I was doing the pictures 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 really just taking pictures with 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 a 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. money doing what? Taking pictures? Like, people pay for this? She's like, yeah. So that's, that's why I got into it. But before that, I was just really just taking pictures for fun. I was enjoying the clothing line, enjoying the process of just living, honestly. When a 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 may 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 pan out what year was that I graduated 08 so I went to college I went to Bethune Cookman I was there I had a football scholarship but I had injuries too so I didn't really feel 100% yep and I felt in my heart that I knew football wasn't going to be the thing really I kept it 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

That's a tough gig, bro. I play that at Miramar. My quarterback is still in the NFL. No way. Geno Smith. Oh, wow. We had the Raiders now. So that's crazy.

We had a tough team. You still talk to him? I still talked to him. We've seen him unreason. 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, I just ain't it. That's crazy, man. One of my newest guys, his name's Trey. He actually was a division one football player. Broke his back, and now we work together.

So I'm going to link you guys. after this it's gonna be good but um all right so to go back to your story dude so you go ahead you know you knew in yourself you're like dude like football's not for me um 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 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 are you know book you for this and that i was like okay cool so i still got into it yeah i wanted 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 yeah still having that same passion and love for what i'm doing because i was beyond other than the 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 to a girlfriend and to now we married. So I was just trying things, but I always kept that camera on 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 until 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 like a five-year gap? Was it almost immediate? Like, what would you say? I'll say like, while I'm leaving high school, 08 and dealing with college, 09, 10, 11, 12, met my wife, met my wife now in 2014. So it was a big gap years and I'm trying to find out what I'm going to do. My friends, they're doing med school, they, 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 through your entire 20s, basically. 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 that, she was modeling at the time, too, kind of understood, like, hey, we paid photographers that got great quality such as yours, money.

So I'm like, okay, let's see how this goes. It went good. Really? 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. 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. It 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, it seems like your wife's giving you the ideas. man yeah she still kind of dude it's a cheat 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 to be married and just beat to that woman I mean it actually progresses you in business man it does because I believe a woman can be you're up and your downfall if you're allowed women in general if you want to have multiple women you're going to have multiple problems

you're right I like that you have multiple problems That's for sure. That's very true. So me, I stuck 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 lot.

I was working, like I told her I was working at a hospital at that time. I just quit one day. I'll be quit. So I come home. You just decided one day you were like, all right, I'm done. 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 of time, I quit in my own decision. I literally quit that morning. Was it something that happened at work that made you quit? Not, uh, I think, yeah, I see the dead body, it bothered me so much. Ah, okay, there we go. There we go. That's all good. That's horrible, man. Somebody go to the morgue. I'm like, go to the morgue. I'm like, go to the more. I said, you're like, I'm not doing this. Because it made me feel dead. Not that I really feared the dead body. It just made you feel wrong. It made me feel wrong. Yeah. 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 with. At that point, I'm really like, I'm not going to do this with or without you at this point. Like, you say you believe in me, so you know what it is. She said, well, I believe you and let's do it.

Okay. Now, of course, we're 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 ever worked that was like corporate anything like that and what your family say oh

hey that's the struggle that everybody goes through man my mom is very like you know chase a dream she don't really try to get in the way but she's not going to be like like yeah go and quit a job like nobody's believing that 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 is going to work just fine.

And I was like, for him to say that, my brother comes from, you know, you got to work hard, you got to get out the mud, this and that. So he's not, Cameron, I ain't going to make no money. They ain't ready to take care of your family. So, I mean, of course he had to see it, believe it, but that one thing he did say, really, it did motivate me and push 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 their support.

You know, we all wish we had that push. Now I'm pushing my nephews that do, you know, I don't know him, wouldn't do music, want to 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 are you going to feed a family with that? 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 want them to be that 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, 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. Right. You got to have the health insurance from the job, this and that.

That's the number one thing. I'm like, no, that's not my route. And my mom, she knew because she always said. 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 want to 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 help them see

their dream 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. 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 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 master class, 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, man. I would say right now. And even then, 2025, guys. We were in 2025, social media. media. It's 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 co-leys. 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'll provide their service. If I would start 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. I was a maternity. That's big money, dude. It was good money. It still is. 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've got to get them as a gift.

And she loved it. Loved it, like, I was like, goddamn. Where is that? Yeah. Because you end up shooting. maternity 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 yep and now you may be 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 that's networking yes your network is your net worth that's all right Awesome, dude. That's, that's a bomb. I have people I've been shooting for probably like five years now. Really? I'll do all their birthdays, shot their wedding. I love that.

Shot their maternity. If they're 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 into an A-TLA sister. They tell their cousins, this and that. So now, hey, can you shoot my wedding? Can you shoot my maternity shooting? 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 out of shooting everything, you're not going to build a sprint. Yeah. Yeah. And then would you say that. you know for a successful entrepreneur that's getting to photography or video okay what would you say is the path of least resistance yes the the niching down but let's say if somebody was like hey man I'm trying to scale I'm a hustler you know

whatever it takes what would 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 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. 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 DM it, you DM in certain people are reaching out certain people, you don't come with no numbers. You come with, hey, I do 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 to with a lot of celebrities and stuff like that. Are the people that you think that will say after a few times while I book them? Sometimes they don't happen. Wow. So they only ought to capitalize off as far as how can I make money from it, from that, from

those extra eyes. And I think that's what I did 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 what 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 want 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're an 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, no, that's amazing. 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 cloud's going to convert for them. No, and they 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 film or photographer. You got to put in that work. I don't care if it's going to be 2026 and they want to move faster.

You got to kind of put in this work. You have to. And I don't see some guys that got great talent. And I'm like, you probably should get paid that amount. But it just don't happen that way. Because people still want to, people need to know who you are. I realize like being personal in my business matters the most. 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. like people understand like people don't have to give you their money they don't they really don't

so you treat these people like this thank god i'm natural just like who i am i'm a nice person i'm not trying to fake the funk of when i'm dealing with people right so it comes easy but some people just not good with people yeah no 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 and have you had mentees before uh i i yes like protege's protégs yes okay But what would you say, okay, makes a good photographer great? What characteristic? Being 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 gaining clarification before they do the shoot? Yes. Okay. Exactly.

Because sometimes, like, they're rushing sometimes. Yeah. And they're 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.

And 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 detailer to the people. 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'd be seeing some of these people, they look like models. And then I see you my person.

I'm like, yeah, damn. We can talk about that all this because I know who looked 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 the 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, sweetening 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 funk out of that. And it's okay.

That's how they're making their money to it. 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 I really edit. And I think that's because sometimes that's the fun part sitting in the 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 to edit a very high 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'd be directing sometimes. Sometimes I got to D.P. or I bring a DPN, 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. Now, do I think that's always the right way to go? No, because I like sharing money with people. So I love bringing the team in and say, delegate, you do this, you do this, and we all going to make money. We all going to have fun doing this. But I kind of got lucky, like my boy, like to say,

that, hey, man, you do both at a crazy level. But that's because I love it, though. love it, though. It was a difference. I really loved photography. I really love making films commercials and everything like that. That's what I love to do. Like my passion behind and, like, I'm never tired. I'm never, like, you did these 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 pick this career and you have a huge network, man. I mean, you know a lot of people, right? Especially a lot of people in business. You know a lot of artists. You travel

all over the world. 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 place. Okay, okay. All right, you said traveling. What was the number one location you and the wife you've gone to for work?

Number one? Yeah, man, you got to pick one. You got to pick one, dude. In one year, I went to like eight countries. So you're talking about I seat it all. I know, but you got to pick one country, man. I always 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 want 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, I was in Thailand and 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're from? So 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, I food is a big problem. But Thailand, number one, for sure. If I had to give it, number two, would be probably Croatia. That's a slept-down place. Croatia was amazing.

And I think all of them were 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 a year I've been kind of thinking about how I'm going to pivot. Yeah. And it's crazy that it kind of came now. 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, they're returning to stuff like that. That doesn't come as frequent all the time. So I got it in companies 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 to really a big team.

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, 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 is now. 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, but like more than a year. And people was like, man, you're making all this money. Believe it not that, one camera made all that money for him.

Of course. So right now I'm training him. I do with 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's going to take time. Yeah. Because I didn't direct that big music videos. I don't work with some big artists.

Some of the biggest Jamaican artists. I don't work with Rick Ross. Wale Cranium Dexter Daps The biggest DJ Dutty Dex You know, so I don't 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, yes I've seen So if you were to go ahead and do movies Are you talking about like directing, producing Like the whole nine or like

I want to direct for sure And I got a team now I know I can bring in I can really get it done I see these movies that they're making now. I love them. They're great, but I know I can do it. That's a fact. Any specific genre?

Me? I'm into the action. Action? My man. Action, they're a thriller. That's me all day. I need guns and violets. I need it.

Come on, man. Bring it back. Bring it back. I need that. Because my favorite director is like Quentin Tarantino. Oh, okay, yeah. You know, Christopher Nolan. Michael Bay.

That's my top three. And I kind of really got ideas from them and kind of built more monsters. That's what made Grizzly. My nickname is for my wife Most people think that's my real name 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 But I think right now I'm going to go with 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 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. I have quite a few friends that they've 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 said, like that instant, You can't chase the instant. You can't do that. Yeah. That'll have you thinking about short-term little dreams. Of course. And then you're sitting there, you're 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've got to, in this business, I don't seem 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 to learn.

No matter what, no matter what your low may be, it can be a million dollars this year and only $20,000 to fall. following. I think you've 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, or this isn't that. And with Instagram, we all know like we got money. It's like money to make sure, very true, very true. I want to make sure my family good. That's money to me. That my wife can do what she want to do. My daughter can do what she want to do. She does dance. It's very expensive. So, like, that's my dream. That's my, for me being rich right there.

Look, I don't care anybody to see me as. I guess I got nice things. I got cars, clothes, but that don't mean nothing because it's like my wife always told me she's like oh when you got the car why didn't you post it because I got it for me

if they see it if they see it if they want to talk about cars we can really talk about cars because I really love cars so I'm not doing it to flex on anybody like that if we want to talk

damn 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 it puts you around those certain people that they're chasing those people too they're chasing those celebrity i want to look like that like i'm like i'm like i see photographers looking like rappers yeah i'm like bro like you and photography are you into what it looks like because you're next to those people yeah i'm like man i'm not a rapper i feel like uh i hear the same thing in uh when athletes play sports yes and they want to be rappers right they dress like the rappers they dress just like the rappers

you know i'm like man i'm all okay okay with the marketing i got my dreams i want rolexes and stuff like that, because I really enjoy them, you know, but I'm not trying to look like nobody of them guys. And that's cool. But I support all the rappers and support 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 Sorry to put you on the spot No, it's good

I think my why It's my family And I want to continue dreaming I want to continue dreaming I don't want to never stop dreaming And I say that meaning like Not saying 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 like I'm going to do that probably a year it's gonna happen yeah and i'm gonna say i'm in by dreamt about that what's my next big dream i want to do or even 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 didn't happen like this yeah from every car on drove from every camera out of embroidered she's like i'm

like i remember when you really spoke about that camera and you buying this expensive camera out of nowhere i feel like like no i drinked 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 long as everybody happy yes that's okay with me yeah I never and I it's like when I talk about business is hard sometimes because I know people want to talk about the dollar course they want to share what their numbers they want to know how much you make a year Grizzly how much making a month I don't seen 20,000 in a month I

seen 30,000 a month that really don't mean that yeah I never really I hate to talk about the money aspect because I feel like then you're gonna chase a dollar bill and you're gonna 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 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 master class. I also want to do some traveling with it

because that's kind of the fun part of being a film photographer and kind of get you indoors. So I was like, I want to do a program where we travel. We travel to the world. We travel in 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. Yeah. So I'm starting a master class, definitely, this year. 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 master class is one 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, memoir, 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. and how you treat people on set in general. That's big. And I think that's what really helped me grow

is how I treat people in the day. Everybody say, oh, Grizzly work with him? Oh, he's 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 get paid. I'd be like, well, how much one 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.

I'm big on self-education. Any books that you have read in the past or currently reading that you can recommend to the audience. I was YouTube University. I didn't read too much like books. And that's okay. If you got some good YouTube channels or some people are like, you can recommend, dude. It's crazy, like one guy on YouTube named Matt, Peter McKannon. He's like, the goat probably here at 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 on 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 that when they were teaching something, I was Googling it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because my wife would tell you, I was on YouTube probably sometimes 48 hours straight. She would come home, I'm still on the computer learning. Wow. She's like, did you even sleep? I slip a little bit.

I'm about to learn how to do this program in three days. Yeah. I learned how to do what we work on, like, what we call Adobe Suite. Yep. 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 in the Photoshop I probably got really good with it after like a month because it takes a long time I really know how to edit those pictures make girls look how you want to look and stuff like that

this generation will have a little easier but for sure they're going to have a lot easier but I was in that computer just learning yeah books I would say one book I read I can't remember the name right now

it was about really about what's it Andrew Carney it was about really like how to deal with people yeah it still wasn't about the cameras yeah 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 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 know how to work all this stuff you're young I'm like nah I taught myself these guys like I'm like 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 20 son they're like

not no I just taught myself. Yeah. That's awesome. I think YouTube University is a thing. There you guys. I should start my own YouTube University channel. That's what I'm thinking about doing.

Well, that was going to lead me to my next question. What YouTuber or what influencer or what consultant online can people go to actually learn how to generate money using their camera? And if you say there's no one, then Chris Lee's your guy, guys. Yeah, I think I am when to get into that. I mean. I don't think nobody really on YouTube really teaches how to invest. It really teaches how to really make the money aspect. Well, that's what I'm saying, dude.

And I think some of them are getting paid so much from YouTube. I think Matt spoke about that. Another guy, he was like, we get paid so much from YouTube. He was like, I don't even know how I'm not to make money outside of YouTube. And I was like, dang, it's not his fault. He started being so much of a big YouTuber. He wasn't really out there getting clients. He was just teaching stuff he knows, 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 knowing how to get it. So I had to go get it out there. I knew how to really go get clients built, clients, like, you know, for a long term. Yeah, man. 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 went wrong.

Yeah. Something worked wrong with how I must have treated them. Yeah. Has that happened, though. The bridge was burnt somewhere somewhere. And that's like, my wife would say right now I deal with hundreds of people, and I have probably even thousand people at this point out. I can probably come up 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 already done anybody but I love the confidence I'm like I don't really have a bad taste anybody else my wife's like I really think about it you haven't lost any clients yeah if a client couldn't shoot with me they probably said well they either move somewhere far or they was like I just can't get in your schedule yeah I'm like ah you should have wrote up me again or something like that you should 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 master class slash program from grizzly soon definitely in the summer because i want to i want to take them out of town i want to of course do it right i want to 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 that they is you face 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 would just give up. They just be, I'm just going to go to 9 to 5. Yeah. But you decided, 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 on this camera. It ain't going to beat me 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 wanted 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 of your mom don't believe in you honestly you got to believe in yourself more than anybody and i think it'll come i believe i'm i believe in god so i believe in that energy what you put out is what you're going get yeah 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 do how do you how do you go ahead and avoid those type of people i think you have to separate off of it and it sounds like messed up like oh this is my It's my brother. This is this and that. Or this is my own wife. Sometimes people get divorced. That's just the truth. Love them from afar.

You love them for afar. You know, so if they're not with you all the way, why be with them? Exactly. Especially if you're out there giving your energy to them. I'm going to separate myself from people real easy. 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 are 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 at, on Instagram at Grizzly underscore Films. I do ask 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. Hello. 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. My clients love it.

They call me anytime. But any day, just DM me, call me. I'm here. I'm not hard to find it 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 definitely send somebody out to get it done. Boom. And it will be, you know, overseen by me. Yeah. But right now, more, you know, business as far as with companies. We're shooting commercials. We're shooting the big music video, stuff like that.

We're still shooting the weddings at a certain amount per year. Yep. Because it would be a lot of those, and 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 well 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 going to be phenomenal I already know it is you're going to 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 of right guys this is paul a podcast once again make sure to like make sure to go ahead and share this with somebody that you care about. It's going to change their life, aspiring 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 already done it. But guys, make sure to tune in. Make sure to add us on YouTube and Spotify and Apple Podcast.

We're 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 Love Allop Podcast. 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 official Paul Alex.com for more episodes and resources to kickstart your journey. Let's level up together.