THE RAMBLER PODCAST: PAUL LOREI 77'

The Rambler Podcast: Episode 90 with Paul Lorei ’77

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(00:02) Hi, I'm Bella Spiros. And I'm Jack Remy. We're seniors here at Cathedral Prep. This month, our school community is preparing for something very special. Giving Day is coming up on Thursday, November 20th. Giving Day is important to us because it directly supports tuition assistance, enhances academic programming, and creates opportunities for students like us.

(00:24) We've experienced firsthand the generosity from alumni, parents, and friends that make Prep such an incredible place. From outstanding teachers to traditions that make this community feel like family. On November 20th, we invite you to help make Giving Day a success. Every gift, no matter the size, strengthens the prep experience that we cherish and keep strong for future generations.

(00:40) Thank you for believing in us and in the mission of Cathedral Prep. Hi everyone, my name is Jimmy Smith. I am a proud member of the Cathedral Prep class of 2011 and I have the pleasure of working here at Prep in our advancement and alumni relations office.

(01:02) Welcome to episode number 90 of the Rambler podcast where we are passionate about sharing what makes Cathedral Prep the standard of excellence. I will be your host for today's episode and we're excited to have Paul Laurai join us as a guest. Paul graduated from Cathedral Prep in 1977 and he is a nationally certified professional photographer with more than 35 years of experience capturing people at their very best.

(01:24) As the owner of Lauri Portraits here in Erie, he has built a studio known for its timeless style which blends indoor elegance with outdoor freedom while creating lasting memories for families, seniors, and professionals. Paul's career began in advertising as an account executive and copywriter before he transitioned into photography.

(01:45) First as a school photographer and then as a small business owner. Over the years, he has photographed hundreds of thousands of people and built a reputation for creative lighting, composition, and storytelling through portraits. A proud graduate of PREP, Paul went on to earn his bachelor's in marketing from the University of Dayton and his mers in English from Ganon University. He has served in leadership roles with the Sarah Club and St.

(02:09) Thomas Morehouse of Prayer and he continues to be deeply rooted in faith, family, and community. Beyond his professional work, Paul is a writer, traveler, cyclist, and cross-country skier. Most importantly, he is a devout husband, father of five, and grandfather of seven, soon to be eight.

(02:28) and his prep connection runs deep, not only through his own education, but also through his siblings, children, and extended family who proudly attended Cathedral Prep and Villa Maria Academy. So, we're excited to sit down here with Paul, talk about his journey, his creative eye, his reflections on prep and Villa, and what it means to build a life around connection, storytelling, and legacy.

(02:46) Wow, that sounds pretty impressive. Well, we welcome you. Thanks for joining us. It's a delight to be here, Jimmy. Really fun. How fun. And uh you know I graduated with Max your son and uh he's a character. He is absolute character both figuratively and really in every possible way. Yeah. But it is fun.

(03:12) It's uh those prep connections as I was just mentioning in the bio that that do make that that fabric of prep and villa so special. You know our little connection there and through the years of all the portraits I've done with you professionally and with family. Yeah. It's been marvelous. It's been absolutely marvelous. It's it's it's been great. Yeah. And I'm sure with all the the the photography you do, uh I'm sure there's many times people bring up, "Oh, do you know so and so?" And it just leads to many conversations. One thing after another. Yeah. You only like six levels of uh uh difference

(03:41) between people, but I think in Erie it's only two. So yeah. And the Prep Villa microscope, it's even less. It's incredible. It's incredible. Yeah. Did you you went to school with my brother, didn't you? Yeah. Yeah, that's so funny. Yeah. And uh it's glad to have you here in uh at the old headm's house where my office is.

(04:01) It's great. We were talking about this is where uh Matsin Dinger Yeah. Manior Dinger is here and and I just saw Father J Bush a few minutes ago and he was here I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. This was his uh his digs as well. And a lot of history between the schools and this this house, of course, too.

(04:20) And uh uh it's exciting and it's fun to be able to jump into a little bit of our conversation today. Yeah. Um you know, you were here, you graduated 1977 and you know, when you think back to your time at Prep. Yeah. What are some of the things that you start to think of? I see the smile you're doing. I know. I just, you know, I immediately think of blazers and ties and staring at the tile floor, walking around with four or five books, bad haircuts, pep rallies, football and basketball games, uh the cathedral, the 17minute lunch, racing to class, uh the structure of everything. I I look back on it and I think in many ways it was just like one

(04:58) giant Monty Python skit, you know? It was so much structure but then so much high jinks. We had so much fun. There was there was always a joke going on in one way, shape, form, or another. That's so funny.

(05:17) And the one that stuck out to me the most is uh well, not the most, but when I hear 17-minute lunches, the kids nowadays, they have no idea how good they have it. Oh my gosh. Sometimes you'd have to race from the um you know from the first floor up to the third floor to get your books and back down to underneath the cathedral, get into the uh get your get your lunch or uh and and eat and then get back to your locker and then get back to class. And it was crazy. It was just crazy.

(05:42) And this isn't, you know, if there is current students listening, this isn't the same cafeteria they're in today. Yeah. This is all the way on the other side of the school. Yeah, you might have a quarter of a mile run before you got to lunch and a, you know, and an eighth of a mile on the way back.

(06:00) Um, I think by the time I me and Max were there, it was maybe 26, 27 minute lunches. Uh, they have 45 minutes. Oh my gosh. 43 or 45. Uh, today. So, they get to have a little bit more relaxed, you know, period to socialize. We got to ride hard on those kids, man. They That's That's getting a little too easy. I always thought that the the headmasters didn't want to give us any time to get in trouble and I always thought that was the reason for the short lunch.

(06:32) Like if these boys have another 10 minutes, that means 10 minutes of mischief. We're going to just take it off the schedule. I think you're probably right with that assumption there. I'm sure that was probably part of the formula. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's funny. And uh you come from a large family. I don't think I realized that until I was reading your bio. Yeah, I have I have nine siblings.

(06:53) So, I have uh seven brothers, two sisters, and uh yeah, it's kind of fascinating. My oldest brother just passed away sadly uh just a couple months ago, but um man, uh it's it's kind of amazing. I I look at, you know, I always think you take for granted your education and where you came from and then but when you really stop and look at it, I look at my siblings.

(07:16) My oldest brother was a a very successful journalist, but I also have a priest in the family, an architect, uh a a landscape uh designer, um a a like a a visual Bible translator, uh a a physician, an orthopedic physician, um you know, um probably missing somebody. You got nine to try to remember. Yeah. My brother, uh Mark was a a really good business manager, too. So It's like there's a and my sisters are no slouches in in any way.

(07:48) So it was really it was really a marvelous I look back and I just go man we really were were so blessed to uh to come to a school like this. You know I think of my and my mother and my aunt both went to villa but my grandfather on my side only went to two weeks of school his whole life and he ran a cider mill and a and a and a lumber mill.

(08:14) Um but and then my father never graduated from high school because he enlisted in World War II. Uh and uh he was just a you know few months shy. Uh but so then it's such a gift then the foundation and I I look at where my siblings have gone and and what it's enabled them to do and I'm like wow this is really it's really remarkable. Really gave them wings like they they never would have had. Yeah.

(08:40) Yeah. It is uh to your point, sometimes when you're just in motion and you're going through the the grid of school and then on to college or wherever the world takes you, sometimes you don't always sit and take a look around and you know count those things and then you one day sit back and you think to yourself, wow. Yeah. Talk about that foundation we had laid.

(08:57) It's such a great thing. Yeah. Yeah. It's absolutely amazing. Now, uh person now where where are you in the pecking order? So, I'm fourth. I'm fourth. So, the first eight kids are boys. So, I'm smack dab in the middle of the boys. And so, I have three, you know, three older siblings, four younger siblings, and I really got completely, you know, I I was in the middle of it. Yeah.

(09:25) I I I think of I ended up having a a really good friend my senior year of prep, Tim Dohy, and he he and I got to be best friends. We went to grade school together. We never even talked to each other. I don't think in grade school, but when we were here at prep, we got to be friends. And at one point, I found out that he had, you know, the exact same family combo is me. And it was like, oh, well, this is interesting. What are the chances of that? No wonder we get along so well.

(09:51) That's right. That's right. Yeah. You guys needed each other just to help through the herd of your families. Yeah. Yeah. It was crazy. Yeah. I always say I never wore handme-downs. I wore third me downs and fourth meowns. I remember my mom used to be able to spread a can of tuna fish across about, you know, six sandwiches.

(10:09) And I remember one time I'm sitting down at Prep at at lunch and um uh Danny Boures is sitting across from me and my you know, mom would pack my lunch and she said, "Lori, what are you eating? Is is is that a bread sandwich?" And I'm like, "No.

(10:27) " And I and I open up the two slices of bread and there's a little tiny island about the size of a half dollar piece of of tuna in the middle with this, you know, huge margin of bread around it. And I was so embarrassed, but that was it. That was that was that's what it was like to grow up with Laurai. So yeah. Well, and you know what's funny? At the time as a kid, you didn't think anything different of that. That was just how life was. No. You know, and because we knew a lot of other families just like us. So yeah.

(10:49) Yeah. Oh my goodness. That's hilarious. And so you have all these siblings and family members that have gone to Prep and Villa. uh you know what what's it like having that generational connection to the schools. I mean I mentioned you know Max having been here with me.

(11:07) I mean what's that mean to you and your family to have those ties together? Yeah. Yeah. So you know we have five kids and all of our kids went to Prep and Villa. Three boys, two girls and uh so there's sort of this this common language and common understanding and common framework. Um you know either when we get together or um you know and just this sense of humor and the sense of order. I mean, it all kind of ties together.

(11:32) Our our kids, you know, unlike say the Fesler family where everybody stayed more local, the Lores are just like, you know, like going to the ends almost to the ends of the earth. I mean, we're just scattered a bit, but uh but there's still that um uh that that joy and that connection and the sense of humor.

(11:51) I always feel like that's the one underestimated thing about prep is how much it develops one's in addition to everything else, it develops one's sense of humor. I would have to agree with you on that because I think uh through the years of doing the podcast now, the amount of stories that I'm just sitting here cracking up at listening to these stories, you're absolutely right.

(12:09) There are a ton of those moments where uh they're not always school sanctioned activities, but then nonetheless were good moments that we've had in our years. Yeah. Yeah. It's awesome. Um and uh you know, kind of one last question reflecting on here from your time of prep. Yeah.

(12:26) You know, were there any any teachers or coaches and you mentioned a classmate already, but anybody who really had that lasting impact on you? Yeah. So, um I well I never had him for class, but the at the pep rallies when when Dave Wenrich would get up and give the speech before any type of McDall uh contest, whether it's basketball or football, I mean, that was just comic and it was genius.

(12:51) And I I could still, you know, I think I can still repeat his his speech like word for word, you know, 50 years later. You some people say cathedral prep ain't what it used to be. Some people say anyways and he kind of builds up and and it just like absolute rabid stark raving young man. Crazy. Can't wait to get to the game.

(13:13) Can't wait to be cheering the stands. And it was just like more fun than anybody should have. So that was good. I always admired too. I was like, Bill Flareity always I had him for class, but you always watched him on the sidelines and it like he had this composure and he had a smartness about him and I think that's why he won the state championship. I thought he was so good. And I was thinking of Father Dan Krinski probably very understating.

(13:36) Probably don't hear a lot about him, but he was had such a gentle and good soul and he was really a good he was a good man, good priest. I think of um one of my classmates and and good friends, Tim Dhy. I always think that guy had perhaps a better he he was he was comedically better than Bill Murray. I mean he was just absolute comic genius.

(14:02) I never laughed so hard in all my life. I'm like this guy was just an absolute natural comedian and many people know his young his son Tim Dhy who was he was I I understand equally uh hilarious. But anyways I just think of that. But if I can tell you one story Jimmy Timmy. So, uh, it's my senior year and I we're really kind of, you know, full of ourselves senior year.

(14:24) We're taking, uh, Mrs. Bixby's typing class and we're really screwing around in the class and we're, you know, taking the the typewriter covers and we're throwing them around the room and somebody was throwing pennies against the ceiling and it was raining pennies down and I stepped out of the classroom the one time and with my friend Ray Palansky and I was there was two doors to the uh typing room and I said, "Hey Ray," I said, "I'm going to knock on the door and then Um, I'm gonna open the door and and he was going to throw an orange into the classroom. So, I go up to knock on the door and I

(15:05) put my fist through the glass and I couldn't believe what I did and it was a smash. I'm like, and it just stopped everything. Everything stops in the hallway. Everything stops in the classroom. And I'm like, "Oh my gosh." And I pulled my hand out and I I'm like, "Oh no." And I I'm walking down the hallway to my next class and and I see my thumb starts bleeding and I'm like, "Oh no." Like, so I go into the class and I think I had Mr.

(15:36) Drabina and I said something to him. We weren't really doing much in class and I said, "Hey, could I use the restroom?" And and I said, you know, I I cut my thumb and he's like, "Oh yeah, you you can go." So anyways, I'm like, "Oh no, I'm in trouble." So, I'm walking down the hallway and I see Father Swagger and he says,"Lai, were you involved in this like,"Oh gosh, guilty, guilty.

(15:56) " I'm like, "Yeah, Father." And he's like, "Get down there and see Father Dinger." I'm like, "Oh no, this is awful." So, I'm, you know, I I kind of like, you know, keep my thumb from bleeding anymore. I go down to Father Dinger's office and I show up there and he's there and he says, "Mr.

(16:14) Lauri, were you involved in in this?" And I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, on senior I was." He goes, "Tell me what happened." Now, this is this is I'm not proud of this, but I lied to him and I said, "Well, there was a there was I'm a senior." And I'm like, I said, "There was a sophomore." And he he pushed me and I put my fist through the glass. And he stopped and he kind of shook his head and he goes, "You know, Mr.

(16:31) Lori, you're the kind of young man we need here at Prep, you know, to stand up here and and, you know, and and you know, come out with us." And he goes, "We need more of your kind of young men." And I'm like, "Oh gosh, father, I just lied to you." So anyways, I didn't have to pay for the broken glass. I didn't get any dearitas. I didn't have to do any Saturday detention.

(16:53) I didn't even get a a whiplash or, you know, like I I was off scot-free. So anyways, you've been holding that in 50 years. 50 years of college. Really? He he let me off the hook, man. He probably knew. He probably knew. He wasn't born yesterday. He wasn't born yesterday. Yeah. What a story though. Yeah.

(17:16) And that's certainly one of the moments that uh when you think back, you're just like, "Oh, what a knucklehead I was at that time." Oh gosh, this is crazy. It was crazy. Yeah. And and those years are so much fun, too. I mean, stories like that, of course, a little bit on the extreme end of things that can happen on a normal day here at Prep, but uh we all have those times where we look back and think, "What was I thinking?" Yeah. Gosh.

(17:39) But but on a positive spin of things, what you've been able to do uh with your your career has been quite impressive. Um you know, I was reading in the the bio as I introduced you more than 35 years and um recently you had a LinkedIn post that um just amazing how you were able to articulate some of the moments in your journey and I have some questions lined up for you off of that and um but uh congratulations 35 years in business.

(18:04) Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. No, it's been just a wild ride, you know, just to give you a little bit of the a micro story of that. I um I was in the ad business. I worked for my dad a little bit in the school pictures business. And then I decided I wanted to finish up a master's degree. I was going to write the great American novel. Uh married, we have two kids.

(18:26) Uh within um you know, before I finished my grad school, we had four kids. But I remember one time I um and I was getting paid a stipen of $5,500 a year uh as a grad student. And so can you imagine trying to keep a family, you know, even with just two kids afloat even back then 1990.

(18:52) So I come home one day from school, my wife says, you know, uh we've got a $35 electric bill and I don't have any money. I'm like, there's no, you know, there's no quarters in the couch. I mean, there's nothing. And she goes, "No." She goes, "We are broke." And so I had $25 left, not enough to pay the bill.

(19:11) So I went down to Palacos and I bought a box of chocolates bars, the kind that you sell for a buck a piece, but you pay 50 cents a piece. And I hawkked chocolate bars around Ganon one afternoon so I could make enough money to pay the bill. And I said, I there's got to be a better way. So, I put together a little portfolio and I had, you know, some uh exposure to photography both with my father but also in the ad business.

(19:37) And I put together a portfolio. I walked down to Gan and I I talked to this uh woman by the name of Roberta in the PR office. And I show her the portfolio and it's like a picture of a, you know, like a a falcon and my kids on tricycles and some trees or something like it's not impressive in any way.

(19:56) And for some reason, she gave me a job and I got paid $35 to do some PR work. And uh and then, you know, a couple weeks later, she gave me another job. And then I got some other jobs through uh at Mercyhurst uh college at the time. And then I started to do some group photos for class reunions. And then I kind of morphed into weddings.

(20:22) And it was all because I it was necessity like I had to produce or my family would not eat. I mean I bounced to feed. I had shoes that needed feet, you know, or feet that needed shoes. And I'm like, I got to do something. So, but you know, long story short, four years down the road, I looked around and I I'm talking to my wife Gretchen.

(20:40) I'm like, you know what? We got a full-blown business here. Like like we're making some money. I mean, I'm not getting rich, but I'm like, you know, I'm, you know, and I I had to get good in a hurry. You know, I had to master my craft and I had to get good in a hurry. So, with absolutely no intention of starting a business, I started a business. I went absolutely backwards into it.

(21:04) And we went from those original PR and class reunions and weddings to our current mix of families, high school seniors, and business head shot. And it's been an uh it's been an amazing run. I I you know, it's like we raised five kids. We put five kids through, you know, prep and and villa. We got five kids, you know, most through college.

(21:23) You know, kids that that went all the way through college. Yeah. But it it's like an absolutely amazing run to make a living as an artist. I got to tell you, Jimmy, it's like riding the ravine flyer every day of your life and never getting off because there are no residuals. There's no regular paycheck.

(21:41) There's nobody that you know 100% sure is going to come back on a regular basis. And so it is really a um it's a it's a it's a walk, you know, it's you're walking the plank with a with a um with a blindfold on, but it's also one that you it's sort of a faith walk. Like it's like I I have to do it, so I'm going to do it. Yeah. and and we did it.

(22:10) You know, I'm still shocked. I'm still like, I can't believe this. Like, how did we how did we manage that? You know, at one point, we had, you know, multiple kids in high school and college and we still made it go. So, how did that work? Yeah. Talk about faith. Yeah.

(22:30) Yeah. Walking that out and just trusting in the Lord to provide and exactly do what needed to be done. And I think there's a great lesson um of entrepreneurship in that too. just that that sense of urgency you talked about from the very beginning and you know I've I've kind of you know had conversations with friends before and they contemplate you know maybe wanting to start their own business and you can tell there's some serious consideration into doing that you know maybe whether they've been working for a number of years or they're coming out of college at the time they want to start their own business and um but I think that drive that you just talked about I mean it was sink or swim

(23:01) literally in regards to your point shoes needed to on the feet, mouths needed to be fed. You had no options. Yeah. And there there was Yeah. There was just no backup plan like like I got to make this work now. And what a great again going back to that that idea, what a great lesson of entrepreneurship of, you know, anybody's listening to this and thought about starting their own business. Yeah.

(23:26) That sense of urgency to the point of it. Yeah. Yeah. If you're going to be an entrepreneur, you got to be able to ride the ravine flyer every day. That's my that is the best analogy because it's like it is it is crazy and it is wild and you have to trust the process and you have to trust that you have put yourself in the best possible position and given yourself the best possible advantage to succeed and then you have to be determined to see it out.

(23:50) And is that um your personality type? Is that easy for you? Are you somebody who's very detailed and planned out or is it easier for you to be able to ride the wave every day and just kind of see where it takes you? So, it's a great question, Jimmy. There's this is the difference between um like regular people and creatives.

(24:11) I when you say regular people, I mean just I just mean most there are cats and there are dogs, okay? And and um creatives are cats. They cannot be herded. They cannot be told what to do. They can't be trained, you know, like like a dog. I'm not saying not trying to say anybody's a dog.

(24:34) Don't get me wrong, but it's like what I'm trying to say is I'm talking about creative. I mean, creatives, we're nuts. We're crazy. We we're we're squirrel chasers. And so, you know, it's not the best um to be wildly creative is not the best way to uh to establish a business. But it is doable if one knows what the end game is, where I have to get to.

(25:01) It's like, okay, I might not take a linear route, but I got to get across this and so I'm going to do it. I have to do it. Yeah. Yeah. No, that makes total sense. I think passion, I'm sure I can hear it through your voice. You know, passion fuels what you've been able to do and accomplish and uh that that creative juice.

(25:26) I feel like if you weren't pursuing your inner creative person, you'd be stuck in a mundane position and you wouldn't be fulfilled. Yeah. And I've had jobs like right out of college, I worked for a few different ad agencies and and that's, you know, probably the most creative end of the business and I was still like very um let's just say frustrated. Yeah. Okay. That's funny.

(25:46) And and uh so you're you're going through this process of it was really um it just had to be done, right? It wasn't you're sitting out, I'm going to start a business. What should I do? Maybe photography. No, that's not how this started. No, this is a lark. This was a lark cuz I wanted to write the great American novel. I still want to write the great American novel.

(26:04) I was still working on the great American novel, but you know, this is what I had to do. Yeah. And so you're going through those years and you mentioned you were talking to your wife Gretchen and you you kind of got to this point you're like we might have a business. What kind of indicators pointed that to you? Was it just your schedule being full? Did you feel like you were now developing a really good skill set within the the field? What was it that was kind of tipping the scale now to make this a full-time career? Boy, great question. My clients really liked my eye. They really thought that I

(26:32) had a a good eye. my clients like me. And really when my wedding business took off, it was really the wedding and the class reunion business. Um, both of those took off almost the same year. And all of a sudden, I'm booking out for weddings like, you know, a year in advance.

(26:53) And I'm like, "Oh, I guess I I guess I have what it takes. I guess they you know and and I was I was just it was I could have booked three or four of myself at one point when I was shooting weddings of like I could have kept myself I could have kept four of me busy all the time. That's why you had five kids. Right. Right. Gosh. But I have to say it's not for the faint-hearted.

(27:17) I mean I worked you know over the summers when I'm uh when I was doing a lot of um families over the summer uh down at the beach. I would be working oftentimes six nights a week and I would still work a regular 40-hour work week and then I would still do morning shoots on top of that and I would do Saturday morning. So I'm knocking out in the in the throws of it.

(27:37) I'm knocking out a 60-hour week and it's like I'm not turning down any work. I got bills to pay. I got tuition to pay. I gota I got to make this happen. Yeah. But it this made me, you know, it really honed my skills and it made it honed my uh my personal skills and it honed my business skills and it honed my organizational skills and all the the necessity of the whole thing made me better in every category.

(28:11) I'm not saying I'm perfect or I'm not saying I'm the model, but it's like it works. It worked, right? You kind of had what from what it sounds like you had this drive to do well because of your family. Yeah. And then in those in that regard you had to manage your time well. You had to shoot well. You had to manage the business well. All these different aspects of what you had to do to be successful. Right.

(28:34) Yeah. Right. And and on top of that, it's like you really have to like anybody in business will tell you, you know, there's there's the skill of of running the business or whatever your craft is, but really the the people skills in something as personal as photography have to be really high and you have to have an emotional intelligence and you have to be able to read a situation just like that.

(28:58) I remember at weddings I would have to be able to take charge of a group of 150 or 200 people and yell over them and get their attention and tell them and tell them exactly what to do. And in 10 seconds later I would fade into the wall and be fly on the wall and be invisible. And I had to be able to do that on the drop of a hat.

(29:19) I had to be able to go inside outside and I had to know my equipment and have a backup system. And it's like it was it was a trial by fire, but it was, you know, it was great. Yeah. Yeah. And you get to meet so many wonderful people. Oh, I did. I did. I just have the best clients in the world. I really do. I do. And if you're out there and you're my client or you're not my client, you're still the best person in the world.

(29:44) Just slightly not as good. Right. Just kidding. Yeah. No, I mean I think that's uh that's a great testament to you perfecting the craft. Like you said, maybe you're not, you know, perfect with this, but you've certainly done the work to learn a thing or two.

(30:03) Uh when you do a shoot and whatnot and um you know, I'm sure a lot of what it comes to be with photography is there's a lot of connection and you want to help people be able to have the right expressions and different aspects of the photo that you're trying to capture. Um how do you bring that out in people, especially maybe the ones who aren't as photogenic? Yeah, that's a that's a great question, Jimmy.

(30:22) I have so often I'll have someone come into my office and say, "Paul, you know, I'm just not that photogenic." And or or they'll say um and and apologize to all dentists out there. I you know, I I I hate this, you know, more than the dentist. And I'm like, "Don't you worry." I said, "I I'm I'm pretty good at charming. I'm char I'm good at charming your kids and I'm pretty good at charming you.

(30:42) So, it's like just trust the process." and I said, "I think I can win you over if you if you just work with me." And and I I I think I'm able to do it. Yeah. So, yeah. And it's, you know, there's the there's the skill behind the of knowing, you know, lighting and posing and and composition, right? But then there's the skill which is in many ways the the more difficult skill of knowing how to to get the expression, how to get the move, how to get the eyes right.

(31:09) Yeah. The eyes are so so critical. Um, can I tell you one story? Yes, please. All right. So, I worked with my dad for four years as a school pictures photographer. And that was the hardest thing I ever did in my life. And shooting school pictures, you had to have a different child on the school every on the stool every 60 seconds.

(31:31) So, you had to get the child on the stool, get them to sit up straight, get them to turn the right way, get them uh framed in in the camera, get it focused, get an expression, get them off the stool, and repeat that. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. and and you'd be shooting I I I would always be shooting like 250 to 350 kids a day and it was absolutely brutal and and especially if you get, you know, some squirmy kids and it was it was very challenging and and my vision of hell is always that I'm behind a school picture's camera and I've got one squirmy child after another and when I

(32:01) go out in the hallway the line snakes on for eternity like like I'm never going to leave this camera. But I remember one day I was photographing and I think they were like either first grade first graders or second graders at a a small country school down state.

(32:21) And this kid gets in front of the camera and I'm framing him in and I'm looking at the kid and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, this kid is really this is he's really a handsome kid. Like he's like he's beautiful. Like the kid's he's really a good-looking kid, you know." So the kid gets off the stool and next kid gets on. It's a girl and it's like, "Oh my gosh, this girl is really she's really pretty.

(32:37) " And you know, she's got beautiful eyes and you got great face structure and he's like, and then the next kids gets on and are beautiful. And I'm like, how did I miss this? Each one of these kids is really beautiful. And so that's how we came up with our motto. Every face is beautiful. So I've taken that to heart when I approach someone.

(33:02) It's like every face is beautiful. Most people have never worked with a real professional photographer before that can actually um photograph them with the in the best light with their best expression and their best pose. They've just never done it. And so they think it's impossible. And so I've taken it on as my, you know, personal um, you know, mission uh to to show them like, you know, I want to show you a a version of yourself that you might not think is there, but it's there. Wow. To me, that seems like the most the more difficult part of being a professional

(33:40) photographer. to your point, the lighting, where you set the camera, the focus, those seem like more of the technical aspects that certainly you need to learn and master. Yeah. But being able to get the expression in the people the right way, but I think that's why you've been so good at what you've done through the years is you have that just childlike uh belief in people that every face is beautiful.

(34:07) And if you don't start from that position, how are you going to capture that for someone else? Yeah. People can feed off your belief in them that they are. Yeah. No, it's absolutely true. Absolutely true. And it's funny, Jimmy, I think about that and I'm like growing up in a family, you know, surrounded by boys where it's like a little bit of doggy dog and it's a little bit of constant battles. Well, it's constant. It's constant battles.

(34:26) I'll just be perfectly honest. But it's like if you can thrive in that kind of environment, I mean, that really set I feel like that set me up well. and then come into prep. And it's like, you know, prep is is fun, but it could be challenging. It's a it's a little bit of oneupmanship.

(34:46) But if you can thrive in those environments, then, you know, the regular world is many ways easier. Couldn't agree with you more. It's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about prep is you take kids who put them in this environment and over four years, you know, our mission developing men and women of vision in spirit, mind, and body.

(35:03) And to me, you know what that really means in the simplest term is we develop leaders. You go through prep with the academics, the extracurriculars and sports and camaraderie with your classmates. But to your point, we bring out the best in each other. We want people to be pushed to their limit, to know what it's like to fail and and to lose to a classmate in a a pop quiz or lose on the field, but then to learn from that to become better so next time around you can know what you did wrong and learn how to be better. And then that's like that continual cycle during your four years. Yeah. To your point, when you graduate, you go

(35:33) on into the real world. And I remember going to college and thinking, "This is easy stuff that we're doing here." Yeah. My freshman year was so easy. Yeah. Yeah. But to your point, it's like prep didn't coddle us. It challenged us. And I look back and I'm like, that was it was so good.

(35:50) You know, because as a as a young, you know, as a teenage boy, I mean, you're you are hostage to your passions. And if someone doesn't corral you and ride hard on you, you know, you can end up in a bad place. Certainly. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right. We certainly have had those moments during the years as well. Yeah.

(36:13) Yeah. Um and this is a a little bit of a fun question for you. So 35 years in business, hundreds of thousands of faces you've captured. Um is there besides the meaningful your first one kind of thing? Yeah. Is there a portrait or an assignment over the years that that stuck out with you as I'll tell you one. I was thinking about that and um uh this is like 20 years ago.

(36:38) I'm I photographed this uh this beautiful little baby, a newborn baby. Um and uh got some really beautiful um photos of the girls. The girl's name was Maggie Kofsky. And uh and then when she was about 18 months old, I I had photographed her again and I got some other really beautiful images of her. So I had just delivered the photos of her, you know, 18-month-old portraits and uh in something really tragic happened.

(37:13) the the the the little girl drowned and it was so tragic. And I remember going to the funeral home and the the family was just beside themselves and it was so sad and it was so so tragic, but they had that beautiful portrait of her and they had the beautiful portraits of her and and I I know that I had given the family a real gift. Yeah. and that they would have the portraits forever.

(37:41) But the kind of the uh the followup to that story is that the the parents were able to have another child uh several years later. And when their son was about the same age, I created a portrait of the brother and the sister together. A and they they of course never met each other and they couldn't know each other and it was it was seamless and beautiful.

(38:14) So that's you know I just go when I do my job well I become a friend of the family. Yeah. And that's the highest possible compliment because I'm trying to serve the families. I'm trying to I'm trying to, you know, I'm I'm all out on every shoot. I I give my all and I'm really, you know, I'm not perfect, but I I really try to give something that that will live, you know, way beyond me and it's a treasure. Yeah.

(38:47) That if their house is on fire, they're going to get their their their their kids out and their pets out and then what do they go for next? I think in a lot of ways they go for their portraits. Yeah, those things that can last forever with them and be passed on to future generations as well.

(39:06) Those those moments and what what a neat story of just something you were able to help capture that family to your point. You're there to serve them, to capture these moments so they can hold on to them. Um, and you can tell how much that that meant to you that you know going to that service and seeing the picture there that represented their child. Um, it's really special. It's very meaningful. It's really something. Yeah.

(39:25) Yeah. all the all the fun of being a creative and all the things you get to do um still keeps you grounded to know that what you're doing actually matters for the family too and you know what you get to do um and you know in in the in the LinkedIn post too I mean through your own journey you know you reflected um if you don't mind just kind of mention a couple things you know raising five kids surviving loss celebrating weddings and welcoming grandchildren all while building your business and There was a lot more to the post that you mentioned, but just a few of those. Yeah.

(39:57) And I guess, you know, it just made me think, you know, as being a being a father of four. Yeah. Um, how's your family journey been intertwined with your professional one? I mean, your life is your work, your work's your life, you know. Yeah. You know, when you run a micro business, you're they're they're intertwined.

(40:17) I mean, I at least it is for us. So, it's like if I don't produce, you know, my family doesn't eat. uh but you know my wife helps me in the business and uh most of our kids help me you know here and there. So it's uh there you know if between you know my clients especially when they come back to me they're always kind of like friends and so it's it always I think it gets a little bit you know meshed together. Yeah. So yeah it's it's been a beautiful run.

(40:51) Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. All all the uh the extended family you gained through the years. Yeah. Yeah. Um and uh you know, we've been talking about the professional journey you've had, uh the the moments that you've been able to capture and the professional, you know, the the business acumen and skills you've been able to learn.

(41:16) Um, if there was a a piece of advice, um, whether to a young professional or a prep student listening to this, what maybe would be a good piece of advice that you would leave off for some of the younger generation listening to this episode? I got it for you. Okay. So, when I was in college, I remember sitting around with buddies of mine in college, and we were all talking about where we're going to be in five years, and and everybody had these kind of grand plans, and I said, I'm going to work for a major ad agency. I'm going to work on a major ad account. I'm going to live in

(41:44) a big city. I'm going to have my own car and I'm going to have my own apartment. That was the goal. And I was going to do that, you know, by the time I was like, you know, 25 or 26. And so I ended up getting just a couple years out of college, I ended up uh being hired by the largest ad agency in the country.

(42:02) I was working uh was a Madison Avenue agency, Young and Rubicam. I'm working in the Houston office. I'm working on the golf oil account. I had my own car. I had my own apartment. And I was miserable. I absolutely hated it. And I thought, what in the world did I just do with my life? I mean, it's like this is everything I wanted.

(42:26) And why am I so unhappy? Yeah. And I had to stop and retool and say, what am I all about? What am I? And that's when I realized like you are a creative through and through. And if you are not a creative, if you are not doing something whether painting, writing, drawing, photography, something in that field, you are a miserable person.

(42:55) And so it's like I had to retool and I had to say, okay, I'm going to kind of like start over on a whole new path. So my advice to young people is if you come to a fork in the road, you might want to take it because it might be your path. It might not be the path that you selected for yourself, but it might be the path that you should take.

(43:22) M I look back and I realized even before I got into photography that I was circling photography and I look back on everything I did in my in my youth and it's like man it's like it's so clear to me that it was I was a creative through and through. Yeah. But I didn't know that about myself and it took me a while to figure it out.

(43:45) So if you read a, you know, if you if you reach a a hiccup, you have to allow a little bit of serendipity. You have to allow a little bit of grace and you have to say, you know, maybe I should pivot. Maybe this is the right time. Yeah. Life has so many surprises and you can't plan it all out beforehand. And if it doesn't go the way you plan, it doesn't mean it's a bad life.

(44:14) It just means there's grace and that God probably had a different plan for you, right? That's the thing I always try to chalk it up to when things aren't exactly as I was thinking they were going to go. Um, you know, sometimes it's maybe it's God opening this door for me that I don't really see yet, but he might be leading me down some way.

(44:37) And then many years later, you can look back and say, "I see what you were doing there. I see why you led me in that way or why I took that decision instead of the other one because you were working these things out for your good and for my good. Although I may not have seen that. I think that's where the faith element that we were talking about in the beginning of the episode comes in. Yeah.

(44:56) Where if we can operate in a in a in a method of just having faith and trust in our Lord, uh he's going to lead us down the right path. I know. And it's it's it's challenging. It it's challenging. It's very challenging I think for any of us whether we are more on the creative type or uh more the regular people as we've been uh talking about uh it is challenging uh to operate in faith but u it's why it's a beautiful thing I'm reading a book on uh St. Jeanta Brabou.

(45:23) He was a Jesuit uh missionary to the Huron Indians in Quebec. And he went and lived with the tribes. And these folks were so um and I don't mean this in a mean way, but they were so primitive. They had not even uh invented the wheel. And their language was so guttural, they didn't even close their lips when they formed their letters.

(45:46) And it was so challenging to live with the heat and the cold and mosquitoes and the famine and the constant the the um tribes were always um uh fighting with each other. Anyways, I'm just thinking that is the that is the challenge of all of our lives. It really is. It's like to to to set out onto a path that we you don't know how it's going to work out. Yeah.

(46:11) But also what an exciting life that we get to live. We do. We certainly do. It's true. I'm a glass half full kind of guy. If uh you and the listeners don't know by now, I know you are, Jimmy. I know that about you. Certainly. Well, and speaking of the the glass half full comment. Um, so 35 years. Yeah. What are you most proud of in in terms of uh you know in the the the world of your your business, your family, you know, serving the people you've been able to have uh through your doors and or out of your doors as you've gone out in the community and done the shoots. When you look back on 35 years of Laur Portraits, what are you the most proud

(46:47) of? I think it's just that, you know, you don't want a business that's just a transaction like I create goods or service and you pay me money. I I you know, you know, there's just an exchange. It's just a kind of a a barter. I want to create something beautiful and I want to give a lasting legacy of a of a person or of a family that would live, you know, way beyond me and that would be treasured.

(47:22) And I I I like to think I've done that. Yeah. Created something beautiful that families will treasure that did not exist uh if I didn't, you know, act on it. Yeah. And I would say through this episode that's very evident by everything you've shared the stories and you know you can hear it in your voice how passionate you are to your point not the transaction and look at my business success and how well I've done.

(47:47) I haven't heard you say that at all. Yeah. It's been about the people you've served and how proud you are of the what you've created. Yeah. Yeah. It's been a good run. Really has. Yeah. And not to say you haven't been successful. Yeah. No, I I haven't.

(48:03) I mean, it's like like it's like any any creative that can, you know, pay their bills, it's like, man, you've been a success, brother. Well, and and uh you know, through through years of business, I'm sure, too. Um the other part of it is technology changes. I mean, when you started 35 years ago, I'm holding my phone pointing to it right now, people didn't have a camera on their phone to snap a picture.

(48:24) Um as you've seen these new technology changes and things come, things go, things improve. Um I think it probably cements for you more and more and I know I would um just from the outside how much value in a professional photographer there is. Same can snap a photo but to do all the things you've talked about in terms of the expression and capturing the moment, the lighting, all the things.

(48:43) There certainly is nothing to replace that. Yeah. Yeah. Jimmy, a great great point. You know, I I never signed up for the whole technological wave, but it it uh it hit me like a tsunami. I remember when you know switching from film to digital and I was like I you know uh could only operate a computer to do word processing and now I had to do everything on a computer.

(49:10) I just think of our little business takes like five computers to run our little business and you know we have had to learn software and more software and and the whole industry is only about 20% the same as when I started it. So I'm constantly changing and constantly keeping up. And now we've got AI which is a whole another oh my goodness is a whole another world. But no it's uh it's good.

(49:35) You just have to be ready to You need to be ready to to run and to pivot. Yeah. Amen. I think we're all seeing that in our lives, especially, you know, the world of AI as that's been becoming more and more uh present in our everyday life. For sure. Yeah. Oh, man. Well, I got just a couple here questions for you as we wind down. Um, you know, kind of tying it back to to prep for you as we come to a close.

(50:00) you know, prep prep often, you know, between prep and we often talk about forming men and women of vision, you know, in spirit, mind, and body. Um, when you kind of reflect back at your time of prep, how do you see that experience tied into the vision you've been able to carry through to your career and to your family? Yeah, that's a great question.

(50:24) So, I I think back on it, I'm so glad you asked that question because when I was going through prep, you was like, well, it's just something I had to do. this is where my parents said I'm going to school and so it's just like I just have to grin and bear it and get through it. But I realized along the way that I learned some discipline. I learned a little bit of self-control.

(50:42) I was challenged uh academically and mentally and I I I I ran into some very sharp people along the way. And I realized at this stage in my life like, wow, that was very very foundational. And it set, you know, a a moral compass at the same time a really strong moral framework. And then when I really kind of like pull back to the, you know, the 30,000 foot view, I realize, well, gosh, this is a Catholic school.

(51:09) I mean, the Catholic Church in um, you know, created these magnificent cathedrals and monasteries. It created hospitals and universities. It created some of the greatest writers and artists and architects and scientists the world has ever known. And just go I was privileged enough to get a tiny toothpick of that and I'm like and I am so grateful. Absolutely.

(51:41) just to be a part of that fabric that that that faith element of our lives to be a part of that element of the four years we spent here at Prep and you know our upbringing the foundation you know I just think of that word that you used in the very beginning that foundation of what set us all up in terms of the successes in terms of being able to face failure and defeat all the things that we can then come back and look at what our roots are in uh is really a beautiful thing it really is true and and I think you don't really I I think I didn't I I

(52:12) think I appreciated prep from the get-go, but as the years have gone by, I just have appreciated it that much more. I mean, we can see all the foibless of our teacher and we can see the foibless of our administrators and you can see the, you know, the petty things that might happen with your classmates, but when you pull back and really take the grand view of it, it's like that's life.

(52:42) And we, you know, you forgive the the inconsistencies and the failures of others and you learn from the lesson and you just go, it's made me, you know, a better person or at least I like to think so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Certainly. Well, it's one of the things I really enjoy uh most about my position here. Um, you know, you and uh Tim Dohy and um I'm blanking on the other classmate that came in. Oh, I I Well, he came in.

(53:07) You guys came in about a month ago. Oh yeah, Greg Roak. Shout out to Greg and shout out to the entire class of 77. Yes. Be remiss if we didn't give them a shout out. Uh, one of the things I enjoy most about uh, my position is when alumni reach out for a tour of the school and it's so much fun to walk around the halls with them and uh, you kind of get the the after dark hours uh, episodes of the podcast where I get to hear all the fun stories that we wouldn't necessarily put on the air, but but nonetheless, walking through the halls and you walk into the gymnasium

(53:37) and it smells just like 1975 when you were here. uh it looks the same, but then we walk around the hall and then it looks completely different because of the renovations that have been done and the pool being gone and all the different things like that.

(53:55) Uh Villa alumni who get welcomed into our school with open arms and they get to see a lot of the relics we brought over from Villa to Prep to still keep the legacy of Villa Marie Academy alive here at Prep. Um, you know, it's it's uh certainly been some of the most fun aspects is connecting with alumni like yourself and others to hear their stories and hear what made that Prep and Villa experience so special to them.

(54:13) Yeah. Yeah. And Yeah. And I got to say, when our daughters went to Villa, I never experienced uh Sports Day and I went to sports day and saw what they did there and I thought this is the coolest thing I think I've ever seen. like this is really cool. And we brought those things over to Prep today.

(54:37) So we have sports day, we have Mary's day, there's a ring ceremony. Villa had so many great annual traditions that they did that we've carried over here at Prep as well. Uh so it's been very fun to see these last few years come together in such a great way. Yeah. Um but what a great uh episode. It's been a lot of fun sitting here with you.

(54:56) Thank you for joining me. I am so delighted to be here. I can't tell you, Jimmy. It's been marvelous. Thank you very much for having me. Oh my goodness. Of course, it's been great. You know, uh you were somebody that uh I had on my list of people to invite onto the podcast.

(55:13) When I saw the LinkedIn post, it really, you know, inspired me to to reach out to you, to get you on because uh 35 years is quite the accomplishment and congratulations again. Thank you. And to just hear about your journey and the things you went through to get to where you're at. Um, it was fun to have this dialogue to hear more about the backstory of many of those things.

(55:30) So, um, well, but thank you again for joining me. You're welcome. It's been an honor. Thanks, Jimmy.