Jai Long

Interview by Madeleine Dore

Jai Long: Creative entrepreneur, educator and photographer

Shownotes

01:31

No one way – In life, in the creative industry, or even in a pandemic, there is no one way to be. Everybody acts and reacts differently and everybody needs different things. Some people might need routine and some people might need to lean into a rut. Remember our differences and take the time to learn about other people’s situations.

04:51

This weeks’ guest – Jai Long is a photographer, an educator, and a creative entrepreneur. He has grown three successful businesses, runs workshops, and has a podcast that focuses on the creative industry. Jai shares his story of success and talks about the cycle of life that he experienced to get there.

08:11

Starting with nothing – When he was growing up, Jai didn’t have much of an education and he was homeless. His difficult past helped to build his confidence and his drive, and he started his first business at the age of 20, which failed after one year. This failed business taught him the most important lessons of running a business.

12:23

The fear of failure – The pressures of life and the fear of failure can really weigh down on a person, and it’s important to realise when it’s too much. It’s okay to stop if it’s not working and to try something new. You will feel liberated and free, and you’ll have a blank slate ahead of you. Focus on what is good, and move onto the next thing.

15:36

Enjoy the moment – During difficult times, try to find the good and try to enjoy the moment. The economy may be struggling and work may be slow right now, but instead focus on the positives, such as a decrease of pollution around the world, the increase in the birds that sing, and reconnect with your loved ones.

18:02

Refocus your attention – When things are no longer in your control, instead of feeling upset or frustrated, refocus that attention elsewhere, to something that you can control. Setbacks and stress will build up your resilience over time, meaning that you’ll be able to take more on board as times goes on.

22:30

Wired differently – Everybody is motivated differently, so know what drives you forwards and use that to your advantage. Whether it’s having a packed schedule where you’re constantly on the go, or time and space to breathe and think things through, do whatever works best for you and you alone. 

25:12

Letting go – All of our experiences shape who we are today, including our negative experiences that create fear and limitations in our lives. Letting go of these experiences, as hard as it is, will allow you to become limitless. Nothing will stop you from reaching your goals or achieving what you want to.

28:22

Personal cheerleader – You need someone in your life to root you on and to help keep your spark going. Find somebody who is on a similar level to you and share your goals, your achievements, and your ambitions with them. Keep each other accountable and push each other forwards.

33:55

Building yourself back up – After a big loss, you have to go through the grieving period and then you have to build yourself back up. Allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling and give yourself as much time as you need to recover.

36:07

Typical routine – Jai wakes up every single day at 6am and enjoys some alone time first thing in the morning, and takes advantage of the fact that he’s most creative at that time of the day. To fit everything into his busy schedule, he likes to create weekly, but flexible, to-do lists for both him and his staff to keep them on a mostly set schedule. 

41:49

Prioritise ideas – Even with a team around you, it’s impossible to do every idea that comes to mind, so keep a list of what these ideas are so you can come back to them when you do have time. Prioritise which ones can be, or need to be, done first. It’s good to be ambitious, but you also need to be realistic.

47:23

Innovation – As a business owner, you need to constantly be learning and innovating. If you don’t, competitor’s will out-innovate you and you’ll become redundant. Innovating and scaling your business go together hand-in-hand, so do both of them simultaneously. Think outside the box and come up with ideas that no other business has thought of.

50:19

How important is talent? – Most people who are successful started at the bottom and with the basics, then constantly learned and taught themselves new skills as time went on. They didn’t give up when it got difficult, but instead they were resilient and fought through the obstacles that came up along the way. Just keep going, and you’ll get there.

53:08

Evening routine – Because he feels like he’s missed out on an education earlier in life, Jai likes to spend his free time in the evenings learning as much as he can, before heading to sleep at 8-8:30pm. He manages to fall asleep early by switching off technology and letting his mind rest.

55:21

Create deadlines – Working towards a deadline will often push and motivate you to complete your task. It helps to remove any procrastinating and any excuses that you might come up with. 

56:50

Leave your comfort zone – If you’re scared of something, or if you want to improve on something, make yourself face it head-on. For Jai, he was scared of voicing opinions on podcasts because it would be out there for the world to hear, so he started his own podcast. Put yourself out there, even when it’s terrifying, and don’t hold yourself back.

59:30

Be practical – Concentrate on what you do have rather than what you don’t have. There’s no point in wishing that you had more money or wishing that you had more time, because that won’t help you to achieve those things. Instead, focus on what is available to you and what you can do to drive you towards those goals in the future. 

63:30

Creative cycle – Things go up and things go down, and this includes the creative industry. Right now, in a time of trouble and worry, the creative industry will bring people together and the creative industry will make an impact in our communities. You don’t need money, or anything else, for that impact. You just need you. 

Findings 

Instagram and Website - Jai Long

Free the Bird - Wedding Photography

Make Your Break - Podcast

Heartbreak Booth

Life lessons

On being comfortable with yourself…

“This is me being comfortable with myself and not everybody allows themselves to be comfortable like that because a lot of people will say oh, I can’t do that because people will call me a workaholic or I can’t do that because I need to spend more time doing this or this, and not giving themselves permission. So it was a bit of a game-changer for me when I gave myself permission to be myself and to run at the frequency that I am born to run at and, for me, that is why can’t I take this opportunity right now to do all the things I want to do? Why can’t I? Who’s stopping me? Why is there a rule out there saying that I only can do a few things with my life? Or I have to be a certain somebody?”

On being a fighter…

“If you’re a fighter then you’re there and you stand your ground, and when times get tough, it’s when you flourish because you’ve been there before. You know exactly what it’s like and you’re not scared of it. People are scared of what they don’t know, so that’s why people get scared of being bankrupt or people are scared of losing everything. But I have lost it all and I have had nothing, so it’s not something that scares me. If I lose it all then I’m like, well, I can rebuild and start again. I’ve already got new ideas and new things. As long as I’ve got my health and my fitness and my mental health, I can keep going.”

On dealing with failure early on…

“The quicker you learn to deal with failure and the quicker that you do fail, you get comfortable and then you free yourself for success, and I think that’s a really important lesson.”

On letting go to become limitless…

“Letting go is like one of the key secrets to any kind of success and also happiness. I guess it’s not undervalued, but it’s not talked about enough. When you can let go of the fear of the limitations, you absolutely become limitless.”

On the importance in being innovative…

“…you need to always be innovating because if you’re not innovating, someone’s going to out-innovate you, and when that happens, you’ll become redundant.”

On everyone having their own timeline…

“As long as you’re resilient and you’re constant and you keep showing up and you keep showing up with your work and the work that you do, you’re going to get there. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, maybe in five years, maybe in ten years, I don’t know, we all have a different timeline, but as long as we keep pushing, you will get there.”

On acknowledging your privilege…

“Imagine if I didn’t take this time to absolutely change the life of the people around me and to make the most of these opportunities? Because not everyone has the privilege to even have the opportunities that I have in my life, and I do have to acknowledge it and I have to make sure that I don’t waste this privilege because it’s not something that I chose, it’s something that I’m obviously born into, and it’s something that I have to make sure it does some good.”