Meet Rex Fuller | Owner of Lux Original LLC, Boutique Real Estate and Small Business Media

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

Hi Rex, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Back home in Montgomery, Alabama I worked many years as a wedding and portrait photographer and had night shifts at UPS as a charger while I finished my art degree. I also assisted a local ad agency doing different jobs on commercial sets. While I was there I learned how to do many different jobs in media production–such as operating a camera on set, focus pulling, steadicam op, how to use a NLE to edit footage, etc.

Those years of my life were fun and I learned a lot, but they were very hard. There was never enough money and I was constantly grasping at any work I could find that was creative. As a child I yearned to be artistic. I was in heaven in those those moments when I found a project that could get me into a wholly contented and connected flow state. I got to that state of mind less and less as I grew older and I found myself continuously seeking that feeling again and again.

I’ve only ever wanted two things since I can remember: to be a film director and to be a photographer. Being able to make a living doing at least one of these things as an adult was my lifelong fantasy. So I took on anything and everything that I felt would get me closer to making either of them a reality. I got my first camera as a young child and blew through 110 film and disposables, I acted in short films, I made videos of family holidays and friends and edited them together, I took photos of everything, I assisted on sets, and even as a young child I voraciously consumed films of all sorts. I especially loved foreign films. They exercised fibers in my brain that made me long for new and different experiences; made me less scared to imagine myself in those experiences.

Eventually, I moved to Atlanta and went full time as a corporate field tech and photography trainer at a real estate marketing company. I stayed on with this company for several years until I decided to branch out on my own. I took a beat to prepare a business plan and design the branding, ephemera, and other marketing collateral for my new business. The idea of not having a safety net and not relying on a company to bring me work was horrifying. But I’ve always been a fairly independent person and me and my wife felt that becoming self sufficient was the next move. Starting my own business and implementing the varied skills I had learned from my work in production and as an artist seemed to be the most logical culmination of my talents, and it sent me further in the direction of my ultimate goal–to be a fully self-sufficient artist that can also provide for my family.

I could provide services and products that the corporate company weren’t interested in. My company is small so we can be nimble and adjust to changes in the market faster than a larger, corporate company can. We can roll out new services and products faster. We can adjust when the market changes. The motivation has always been to have more freedom to be with my family and money to support them. Often times it has been harder than I naively anticipated, but succeeding as a business owner has been extremely rewarding. Being self-sufficient is not only what I want for myself, it is also what I want for our children.

What should our readers know about your business?
Lux Original LLC is a boutique real estate and small business media company. My work in graphic design, production, and photography allow me to provide products and services that are a marriage of these skills and decisively delegate and manage these productions. Having a varied skillset has been beyond useful in starting my media company, especially since in the beginning I did most of the jobs involved by myself.

Once I loosened my grip and allowed others to complete tasks for me by delegating based on how personal experience informed my own tastes things became much easier. My business is small and is an extension of myself. I am very much a people pleaser and I take pride in keeping my clients happy and satisfied. Parts of the road here have felt very rocky and personal issues such as imposter syndrome have plagued me and many of my colleagues who manage their own similar businesses.

Like many of them, I strive for a level of quality that I often times feel that I do not meet. This is difficult because that mentality is not something that can be shared with clients. Even saying that I’ve felt this before feels like a betrayal of my business, but it is an issue even with the best photographers that I know.

If approached in a professional way, this mentality can be a huge advantage. It creates a constant struggle to learn and improve your craft. As a photography instructor, training new employees in corporate exposes you to some very difficult personalities, especially so in newer photographers. I couldn’t tell you how many photographers that I’ve attempted to train that had the largest egos and poorest quality work.

I’m reminded of Yeats: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” An artist that can recognize what isn’t working can adjust, change, and adapt while those consumed by ego tend to erect a wall of ignorance around themselves to justify their work and decisions. The trick I’ve found is to develop a confident resignation, an objectivity within oneself.

Truly, it would be unprofessional to declare an unhappiness with a product you’ve just delivered to a client. We’ve all heard silly jokes about the uselessness of art degrees. “An art major walks into a bar…then starts serving drinks.” But I will say that in art school I learned probably the most important skill I’ve ever learned that has helped me do my job better: to take a critique. Good art schools share one major thing in common: they give critiques.

Student’s are forced to be a part of a conversation that is solely about the quality and content of their work. Being receptive to these (sometimes) negative comments about something you just spent a long time doing can be utterly crushing. But learning to parse this information into something positive–to be objective and disconnect myself from the very thing that I’m doing has led me to be better at my job. Pushing to adjust my business and my life without ego has led me to be a better business owner and husband. Being attentive to clients’ needs is something that I strive for and in those instances when I can anticipate their needs I truly do feel accomplished and vindicated in my choice to begin this venture.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We’re based out of Marietta, Georgia in Cobb County (Money Magazine recently named Cobb the best place to live in Georgia). We’re in Metro Atlanta, north of the big city. While many visitors flock to hot spots in the city like Little Five Points or the overpriced Ponce City Market, honestly at this point in my life I like the small town squares we have down here. Personally, I love the Marietta Square. We have small mom and pop shops (we have a great record store and flea market called Sweet Melissa Records), big and small art galleries, lots of unique, fantastic dining (Thaicoon Railroad Thai is amazing), a few great bars (go see my best friend Travis Jones at Johnnie MacCracken’s Celtic Firehouse Pub). and the best ice cream shop in Metro Atlanta (Sweetreats)! Downtown Marietta is a beautiful old town, with many old homes dating back to the 1800s. I actually had the privilege of photographing the Archibald Howell House which was built around 1842 when it went on the market several years ago. And don’t forget to stop by Atlanta proper and go see a film at the independent Plaza Theater. Famous filmmakers often stop by to see movies, Francis Ford Coppola himself was there a few months ago chatting up locals. Not to mention they screen a film print of The Shining.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would not be in business right now if it wasn’t for my wife. Starting a new business venture can be stressful on existing relationships due to the variable nature of available time and income–especially in real estate. I can be a control freak and I have very specific ways that I feel things need to be done so my time management in relation to running my business has not always been perfect. I was terrified to let people do some of the work for me because I was scared that I would lose clients if it wasn’t good enough. While part of the reason I started the company was to have more time with my family, it admittedly took me a while to learn how to make that happen. We both work very hard to be able to enjoy our time off during vacation but for work days I have had trouble delegating tasks to other people. Delegation was a huge hurdle for me and it’s something that I’ve forced myself to progress at much to the health of our marriage! Without her continuous support and endurance I would likely still be a corporate field tech instead of a business owner.

Website: http://www.luxoriginal.com

Instagram: luxoriginalatl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luxoriginalmedia

Image Credits
Rex Fuller