Meet Isaiah Owens

Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaiah Owens. 

Hi Isaiah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I graduated college with my Associate’s degree May 4, 2020, and during that time was when Covid was just starting and I was also filming basketball players such as Emoni Bates. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to film basketball games for a while so I decided that I knew that I needed to find something in the meantime to keep my passion for what I love to do. I then started to teach myself Graphic design and create flyers for basketball players to have a cool post to post on their Instagram page for committing to the school they were going to. Then shortly after that I started to think about getting into photography which was something I never wanted to get into, so I took a leap of faith when I saw a post from my now mentor Jaylin “Jet Mitchell, and it was a workshop for beginners that wanted to get into photography. I went to the event and I got to learn the basics of Photography and honesty fell involved with it. Then December came around and he opened a studio and was offering free studio rentals and I knew that was my chance to officially get in the studio and really learn photography and learn how to pose models. I had someone cancel on me and my mentor gave me an idea for a modeling workshop for people that wanted to get into modeling. I had an amazing event and over 15+ people come to learn and take photos. From there I was doing photoshoots every single month, sometimes every weekend. Now I have my own modeling Agency and published one of my models named Jozlyn Thomas in A Magazine. I’ve been able to help a lot of people that want to get into modeling, start their career in it and take it far and serious. I am now doing lots of work for magazines and building my modeling Agency called IROS Intellectuals where I’ve signed over 8+ models to get their modeling career off the ground. This all happened by stepping out on faith and believing that God has something greater in store for me after graduating college with my first degree. I am now also working on my second degree in Marketing because I want to take my photography to the next level and one day operate my own studio.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road hasn’t always been easy at all. Being a photographer consists of a lot of late nights of editing, doing research for your client to make sure that the type of shoot that they want your making it happen. Sometimes you might have shoots all day and you don’t get to eat or really sit down until past 10 pm. When you are very dedicated and love what you do you will do anything to make it happen. I’ve had to sacrifice time with my family sometimes. Sometimes they will be about to go out and I would be headed to a photoshoot, or I would come home and they already got food and ate. I have lost a lot of friends with me going into this business because I knew that I had to sacrifice for what I wanted, which was to become a successful Published Photographer that could make a change. I would also say that August 2021 was my toughest month. I didn’t really have that many shoots going on, I was really tested by a lot of people and was getting done wrong by a lot of people but I didn’t let that discourage me from staying on the right path to success. I struggled my second semester of working on my bachelor’s degree in Marketing. I was balancing school and doing photography but with the grace of God, I was able to finish the semester. I want people to know that the road to success isn’t always easy and that you might have to sacrifice to get to where you want to get to in life. You might lose some people down the road to success but I promise that once you reach the goal that you have been wanting to get to, it will all be worth it in the end. I am only 22 years and now my work is published in magazine front cover. So, to answer the question the road hasn’t always been smooth and yes, I have struggled along the way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a local Photographer from Belleville, MI and I Currently do all my photoshoots at the biggest studio in Detroit Michigan called the Creative Playground that is also 13,000 sq Owned by my mentor Jet Mitchell. I am known for inspiring the youth and also being a local photographer in the Metro Detroit Area. I do a lot of creative shoots such as doing a shoot for depression and anxiety, doing photoshoots to help a client get out of their comfort zone and feel comfortable with they’re body and embrace who they are. I also own my own modeling agency called IROS Intellectuals, where I have signed people to my modeling agency and I help them get more out there for modeling and get paid for what they love to do. I am most proud of being a published photographer at 22 years old and the fact that I have only been doing photography for only 10 months and it hasn’t been a year yet. I have accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. I am also proud of getting my first model published and her getting her first paid shoot. It makes me feel like what I have done for my models has been working and the results are showing.

What’s next?
My future plans are to open my own studio after I finish getting my second degree, whether that’s me living in MI, ATL, Texas, or wherever God leads me to. I also want to help the youth out more; I want to start going to schools all over the world and speaking to the Kids and inspiring them and helping them believe that anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it you can do it. I would like to be published in five more magazines before the age of 26 which I believe is possible.

Contact Info:

• Email: bookiroent@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iro_entx2/

Image Credits
Isaiah Owens
Donald Freeman