Leyco went from shooting footage of his skateboarding to send to prospective sponsors, to realizing he loved being behind the camera more than anything, and so went all-in on his creative career with dreams of one day working with the worlds most renowned models and living the life he desired. He attended college for a brief stint but like so many other entrepreneurs, felt restrained by the subject he was studying and dropped out in 2015 to pursue a full-time career as a creative. It’s clear that this was the correct decision to make for Leyco, as he as now amassed a social media following of 150,000, and continually works with some of the most renowned and well-known faces of the modelling world.
What is he working towards?
Leyco’s accomplishments are growing year in year out. He has recently co-founded two brands, one being skateboard brand, Implied Skateboards, and also digital lifestyle publication ModelGrams. Implied Skateboards are dedicated to donating 1% of total sales to support a non-charitable women’s foundation. He names these companies as two of his top priorities in the future, and if they’re anything like his personal brand we’re sure we’ll be seeing much more of them in years to come!
Never feel out of place, just do what you came to do.
In recent years Leyco has worked with some huge names (including Victoria Justice for example), and names this as one of his biggest successes, but it hasn’t always been a straight shot for him. He has worked from the bottom to the top of the ladder, and has always pushed himself to work hard and build his skills to the point where he is confident in his craft and abilities. “From the very early stages of my creative career, I pushed myself to work on gigs way above my skill level. For example, I was the youngest photographer at Samsung’s Red Carpet Gala shooting the likes of Nick Cannon, Demi Lovato, Joey King, etc. I had a crop sensor Canon EOS Rebel T3i and a cheap nifty fifty lens, and the older photographers had thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment I was ogling over. It was quite funny, a lineup of notable magazines and there I was ‘Tristan Leyco Photography’ a section all to myself, happy as can be, the polar opposite to the older photographers who were stressed and bickering with one another. It’s always been all work and all play for me. The moment it all starts to feel like work is the moment I leave it all behind.”
We’re sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of Tristan Leyco as he continues to build his empire. Check him out on Facebook at Tristan Leyco and Instagram at @tristanleyco.
