Meet Justin Choquette | Entrepreneur, Photographer and Social Media Influencer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Justin Choquette and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Justin, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
To build a community of like-minded individuals. Being an entpruner and photographer can be a lonely job, and its an industry that is extremely hard to get into. When I was starting, I knew no one in the industry, and I had to teach myself everything I knew in order to make my dream life a reality. Years later, after finally achieving my dream life, I now have the knowledge to help and teach up-and-coming creators and entrepreneurs to pursue a similar dream. So my thought process behind starting my business was to build something that would allow me to escape the rat race, and once I had achieved that goal, I would build resources that would help up-and-coming creators and entrepreneurs achieve a similar goal because I know how hard it is when you are all alone and have no help

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
How did you get to where you are today professionally? I never had anyone teach me photography. Everything I know I learnt from spending years practicing and failing, and eventually, I figured it out.

Was it easy?
Yes and no. At the moment, it was easy because I loved what I was learning. But looking back at the amount of time it took tot get to the point where I am now, it was not easy.

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way.
To learn to love failure and never give up no matter what.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
That anyone can do what I did. I went from working in the trades as an electrician to living my dream life as a photographer and building a thriving business. All it took was years of hard work and failing hundreds of times.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
You must add Vancouver, BC, Canada, to your bucket list if you haven’t already. It is the most beautiful city in the world and is the place I am lucky to call home. So when you come to visit Vancouver, make sure you head into town to see the classic Tocofino. Here you will taste one of the best tacos of your life. Once you have filled up your belly, it’s time to go burn off those calories in the place Vancouver is famous for—the mountains. One of my favorite hikes in the city is called Saint marks Summit. Here, you will get treated to views looking over the city and the ocean, and it is one of my favorite places to spend the night, and if you are lucky enough, you can see the northern lights.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
IWhen I started, I knew no one who was a photographer or influncer. I was alone for years, none of my friends were into photography, and most people didn’t understand why I loved taking photos. My mentors and teachers were random people from youtube and podcasts host or authors. Since I knew no one in the industry and wanted to make my dream life my reality, I took it upon myself to teach myself everything I knew. I spent a year trying and failing. It was challenging and lonely, and that is the main reason I have made a community in my online school where people can meet each other and learn together because I know how hard it is when you have no one to guide you.

A little about my story:
For those of you that I haven’t had the honour of meeting, my name is Justin. I fell in love with photography when I was about 12 years old. I couldn’t tell you why, but it was something that I absolutely loved. It was an escape from reality; I could be in my own little world, focusing on nothing other than the subject that I was shooting. The first camera I ever bought was the GoPro Hero 3 Black, and I was obsessed with that thing from the moment I laid hands on it. Every day I was out into the mountains shooting photos and videos of my friends and I shredding down the local mountain bike trails. Back then, I would often dream of buying a van and travelling around the country, shooting photos of mountains I could only dream of. I’d watch GoPro videos on YouTube and imagine myself hiking and biking in some of the far-off places where these videos were filmed. But that was just a dream. I had no idea people made money from shooting photos, let alone enough money actually to live off of. However, when I was 15 years old, I received a DM from GoPro. They wanted to know if I would be interested in selling one of my photos to them. I was in complete shock. A few days later, after sending them the photo, I received a cheque for more money than I could’ve ever hoped for. I couldn’t believe it.

This is where everything changed. I knew I wanted to make this my career, but I had no clue how to start. Fast forward a few years, and I graduated early from high school when I was in grade eleven and went straight into trades school to become an electrician. I spent the following four years working in the trades. It was a job that I didn’t hate, but I knew it wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It also started to take its toll on my body which scared me. Looking around at my coworkers’ physical conditions, I could see what I was destined for, and it was not a pleasant thought. I had job security and made a relatively good wage, but I was scared of becoming too comfortable. I knew that complacency was a trap and that I didn’t want to get stuck in society’s rat race. No one wants to die with regrets, and I knew If I never tried pursuing my dreams of becoming a professional adventure photographer, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

I always used the excuse that I didn’t have any money, or that I had no one to teach me, or even that I wasn’t smart enough. For years I had watched YouTubers talk about building up a multi-source income, becoming financially free and so on. It never really clicked in my brain that I could do this. We fall into the trap of believing that people online are different from us when in reality, they really aren’t. I needed a change in mindset. I needed to stop thinking that I could never afford that and start asking how can I afford that? How can I go on that trip? How can I climb that mountain? Better yet, how can I do all that and get paid for it?

Fast forward to today, and the years that I spent teaching myself how to turn my passion into a successful business have paid off – I am now living my dream life. I’m being paid to travel, hike, and explore some of the most beautiful places in North America, using my content to help inspire others to do the same (which still blows my mind).

Website: https://www.justinchoquette.com/destnations-1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justin.choquette/reels/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQqkCP3aZLThL_TjF3dbRUw

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@justin.choquette

Image Credits
Justin Choquette