Ian MacDonald: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome back to Best in the Biz, the pod talking business with College of the North Atlantic student and alumni entrepreneurs. I'm your host Ian McDonald and today we're talking with Kyle Callahan, owner and operator of Kyle Callahan Photography. Originally from Mount Pearl, Kyle stayed on the East Coast where he went on to study graphic design at CNA.
After schooling, Kyle founded his photography business. Thanks Kyle for joining us. How are you doing today? I'm doing best kind Ian, how are you doing? I'm doing great, thanks for asking. All right, to start out, tell us a little bit about your business and how it came about.
Kyle Callahan: Uh, I like, I'm a grown man taking pictures of toys.
That's the bottom line. No, I [00:01:00] like to mix together pop culture with the local scenery and tradition, local traditions and whatnot. And I started it back in, I guess, 2012 now. I graduated 2011 and just dabbled in it, did the craft fairs and sci fi markets. And that's where it really blew up. And went full time with it in 2014.
And I also do wedding photography and all that too. So that also adds to the gist of what I do, but a lot of it is just my toy photography. Godzilla and St. John's Harbor or Batman down by the Basilica or Deadpool down on water street and C'est la vie.
Ian MacDonald: Yeah, that's really cool. It's a, it seems to be kind of taken off there too.
I I've seen it all in a lot of spaces on social media and stuff. It's really cool. I must say. All right. So what kind of role did CNA play with respect to your business?
Kyle Callahan: That was this where I learned all my technical knowledge is like Photoshop and illustrator and all the digital programming that I had to use for.
Learning photography and [00:02:00] photography. I never touched a camera before, before I entered the program. Okay. I only came to Kona cause I wanted to, I was always big into drawing and painting and I want to add a, um, an industrial sense to it and try to get into the workforce through that way, but I fell out of web, I wasn't really keen on punching in code and digits and made my eyes spin like it's not for everybody, but of course fell in love with the camera and studio work through there and just kept on pursuing that.
Ian MacDonald: OK, that's awesome. It seems like it seems like you're really enjoying the photography
Kyle Callahan: as well. Oh, my God. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Yeah, you meet so many cool people, too, right? Touched so many lives and whatnot. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. There you go.
Ian MacDonald: Yeah. It's interesting to, uh, to do like the action figure photography and, you know, the wedding photography too.
I mean, that's such a big thing in so many people's lives. So it's a, it's full
Kyle Callahan: circle for sure. Oh, totally. Like it looks like we're taking Like I'm taking toys downtown and whatnot and I'm posing and I get some weird, funny looks from a lot of folk, right? So, [00:03:00] yeah, I would
Ian MacDonald: say, yeah, but uh, it turns out great.
I must say. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. So what made you become an entrepreneur? So, you know, an entrepreneur,
Kyle Callahan: uh, well, I was working currently as a framer at the time and I couldn't give up my Saturdays and I wanted to try wedding photography. I pursued that and they said, do you give me a choice between one or the other?
And I went with the, the photography side and that's where it stuck. So,
Ian MacDonald: okay, good stuff. Sorry if I cut you off there. No, no, geez. Jump in whenever. Okay. Um, so you started out with wedding photography and then moved into the, uh, the other different, uh, the different photography. Did you, the toy
Kyle Callahan: photography?
No, I, I started that like my first original piece was Godzilla coming through. The St. John's narrows, which is pretty widely known. I don't. Yeah. Right. So it was a final project for my graphic design. Oh, really? Right. So like I want to learn Photoshop more. So I did four or five [00:04:00] different projects on Photoshop and that being one of them.
Yep. And seeing the appeal it got from a lot of folk, I just continued on with it and did like sci fi on the rock and all that and that's got more and more, but I was only mostly doing just small scale studio stuff, not really focusing on mixing the local like scenery with the figurines and stuff.
Ian MacDonald: Right.
So, yeah. Okay. That's really interesting. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, good stuff. CNA's Entrepreneurship Hub is your one stop shop for entrepreneurial support. I'm Ian McDonald, host of Best in the Biz and Business Development Officer Entrepreneurship at College of the North Atlantic. CNA has countless entrepreneurial success stories, from students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
Our Entrepreneurship Hub aims to further support this kind of success. The Hub includes workshops, resources and information, details on our mentorship program, and much more. Check us out at www. [00:05:00] cna. nl. ca slash entrepreneurship. The website link is in the show notes. Now back to our episode.
Okay. So, uh, what would you say your most successful small business moment is? So up to date, was there anything that really stood out over the years you've been operating? I mean, we've
Kyle Callahan: had, or I've had a. It's a storefront downtown for a couple of years, and this was before Snowmageddon and whatnot, but I had a business partner at the time and he wanted to pursue his bar front and wanted to leave, and I couldn't find no one to capture it.
So I had to shut her down, but it was right before Snowmageddon. So it was kind of a plus in that fact because we would have went out of business right then and out. Um. And starting the farmer's market, getting a full time spot there has been really big for me too. Yeah, I would
Ian MacDonald: say. The, uh, the farmer's market seems to be a really, really hot topic here in St.
John's. And it seems to be doing a lot for a lot of small businesses in the area. It is, oh my god, yes. [00:06:00] Yeah, so, uh, that's a great spot to set up. Okay, uh, was there any other moments that you'd like to, uh, to touch on? Mmm,
Kyle Callahan: not that I can recall. Oh, okay, perfect.
Ian MacDonald: If not, I do apologize. Hey, again, not a problem, my god.
All right. So what advice would you give an aspiring entrepreneur just looking to get started? Oh
Kyle Callahan: my God. Follow your passion. Follow what you really enjoy, but also think about your audience at the same time. So like, just don't do what you love a hundred percent. Try to like do a 20, 80 percent job on what you love versus what you're trying to get to the audience.
And then once you get established, try to focus more on what you want to put out there. Right. Cause that's the only way you can really get your foot in the door. That's right. You got to build a name for yourself and yada, yada. So
Ian MacDonald: especially as a photographer, artist, you know, you kind of have to build your own style and then I guess the audience kind of follows your style.
Right.
Kyle Callahan: So you can see local photography a dime a dozen. That's right. Yeah. Right. So I tried to do a little bit different on that and yeah. It seems to [00:07:00] work. Yeah, it
Ian MacDonald: certainly does. It's, uh, it's definitely a niche there. Yeah, that's quite the niche, which is, which is really nice. Okay. So we do have a few questions here from the audience.
So we're going to start out with one from Charles Paul Murphy, executive director of Quadrangle NL. So what inspired you to do the type of artwork you do for a living? And how have you found turning a passion into a business? How do you find the balance between the two of them?
Kyle Callahan: Well, I've always been a big nerd, right?
Like, I'm a Godzilla dork, as it were, and I've collected toys and figurines and all of that. And movie collection galore. I got everything home. The wife is not too... Well, she, she don't care. We found a happy balance there, but that's fine. But, um, I get to play around with toys and mixing together that and apply it to the workforce for my own personal sake, right?
So, and, uh, getting to see people appreciate what I do is also really good as well. Very rewarding, I would say.
Ian MacDonald: Yes. Good stuff. Okay. [00:08:00] Uh, next question. Kyle, did you ever use action figures for your CNA projects? If so, which ones? And this is from Matthew LeDrew, co founder of Engine Books.
Kyle Callahan: That's right. I do believe I've already answered that, but the family or the final project.
That's right. Um. Yeah, it was Godzilla coming through the narrows. Godzilla's only like an inch and a half tall. Little tiny figurine. I did a huge panoramic from the, the room's museum. Okay. Under balcony and I was like click click click click click click click click click click click. And it's a huge, huge piece.
And stitched it all together myself and at the, down at D block here at CNA. And... Put it all together and play with a bunch of filters and lighting and try to get this certain perspectives of Godzilla and pop me in that little splashes of the tail. And yeah,
Ian MacDonald: there was. That's really cool. All right. Uh, thanks Matthew and Charles for submitting those questions, and I wanted to thank you, Kyle, for chatting with me today.
No, my
Kyle Callahan: pleasure. Can I also [00:09:00] add a little something about Matthew with Engine Books? Yes, of course. I'm on a partner project between myself as a photographer, a writer, and my old high school art teacher. She's doing the sculpture work. We're doing a collab, doing a book together, being published by InGen Books.
Oh, nice. As the Fairies of Foggy Island. And so like, she did the sculpture work and it's all like pushed, or what's the yarn texture? Needle felted. Okay. So it's all about fairies and about a professor going on an island and hopefully, the book is hopefully supposed to be released later on this year. So yeah, that's, that's pretty big deal.
Yeah. That is a huge deal. Yeah. Yeah. I should have forgot to
Ian MacDonald: mention that. No, that's all good. Uh, the title seems quite fitting for Newfoundland, right? Yeah. Awesome. Is there anything else you like ads like to add before we kind of clue up today? No, my buddy. I think that's it. Yeah. Okay. Uh, would you like to share your social medias so the audience can get in touch with you?
Kyle Callahan: Yeah. Uh, you can just look me up on Facebook Just Kyle Callahan photography, [00:10:00] and I got my own website. It's just kylecallahan. ca where you can purchase pictures or browse through my wedding portfolio. So.
Ian MacDonald: Excellent. All right. Thanks for joining us once again. That's a wrap for this episode, folks. Thank you for tuning in to Best in the Biz, CNA's entrepreneurship podcast.
Leave a review if you'd like today's episode and keep up to date with all new episodes on our website at www. cna. nl. ca slash entrepreneurship. And on all other major streaming services at bestinthebizCMA.