Your Photography Matters More Than You Think - Find Your Why with Matt Emerzian

Pat Miller: 00:00

I'm Pat Miller, and this is The Professional Photographer Podcast. We've all had times when we are struggling, when we are wondering, why in the world am I doing all of this stuff? The work feels heavy. You don't feel like you're making a difference. You're in it just for the money. You're kind of stuck in a rut. You've been there, right? I know I've been there. How do we get out of that? And how do we get reconnected to our purpose and our joy, and our art, and the meaning and the difference that we're making for our clients? Basically, how do we remember that you matter? Today's guest is going to tell us about that. Matt Emerzian is our keynote speaker at Imaging USA 2026. We'll get to hang out with him in January in Nashville. And this is the concept that he teaches, "You matter." How do we hold onto that? How do we remember our impact? How do we prove our own value and value to the people that are around us? That's what he's gonna talk about at Imaging USA. That's what we get to talk about today. He's standing by. We'll talk to Matt next. Matt, welcome to The Professional Photographer Podcast. How are you today?

Matt Emerzian: 01:18

I'm doing well, man. I'm excited to be here.

Pat Miller: 01:20

Well, we're counting down the days till we get to see you at Imaging USA. We get to see your key in Nashville in January. We're definitely looking forward to that.

Matt Emerzian: 01:29

I can't wait. I've heard amazing things about this experience, this event from dear friends of mine, like Shola Richards, who spoke, and I feel I'm just so excited. He said it's one of his favorites he's ever done, so that speaks volumes.

Pat Miller: 01:44

Well, Shola is such a good dude, and we're excited to see you. We were excited to see him last year. And what you have to teach is so accessible. So before we get into that, though, I'm a former radio guy, 22 years in the industry, and when I heard that you were in the music business, I'm like, oh, I need to ask about that. So you were in the music business, and now you have a movement. So how did that come to be? What was the moment that switched you up from music to a movement?

Matt Emerzian: 02:15

You know, I wish I could take all the credit for it to say, like, oh, I have this brilliant idea, but the truth is, I had a Monday morning that was pretty rough, and I woke up with a massive panic attack, turned chronic anxiety, then depression. And it was something that was forced upon me, if you will. I mean, of course, I got myself in the position in life where a breakdown was eminent, so I take responsibility for that. But ultimately, it was I wasn't well. And so I had to go through, well, I didn't have to. I chose to go through a healing process and a journey to figure out where I went wrong and also why my life matters. And in that journey, I just started realizing that, you know what, maybe I'm not the only person in the world who's struggling with purpose and meaning in their life and why their life matters. And so I decided then to, you know, it's like, if I could just help one person kind of thing, but it's turned out to be a little bit bigger than that.

Pat Miller: 03:16

Yeah, you've traveled all over, written several books, keynote speaker, and we get to see your keynote called You Matter. What does mattering mean to someone that's running a small photography business?

Matt Emerzian: 03:29

I mean, I think the core mattering is it's very human, for starters. Right? So to feel, to see, feel seen, heard, loved, valued, and a lot of these things that we all want in our lives, it's not like either at, you know, at work or in life. And so I want to feel like I'm valued at work just as much as I want to do in my personal life as well. And so I don't change my costume, if you will, from one day to the next. And especially with small business owners. And having lived in Hollywood now for almost 40 years–no, 38 years–I'm very familiar with the entertainment industry, the modeling, acting, etc., music, you know, it's a fight out there and, and it's not easy to go out there and to really do well as a small business owner or photographer, or an actor, or a musician, or anything. So I think it takes a real just being steadfast to why you're doing it. And I think that that's the stuff. Like, I wake up, you know, I'm so driven by this mattering movement. I get so deep in who I am, my DNA, that when I wake up, it's like, let's go. And you know, it's just it's a part of who I am. It is my purpose, it is my legacy. I want to be remembered as the guy that help people know how much they matter. And so in some ways, I reverse engineered this thing to be like, this is how I'm going to spend my days, even when it's hard. And trust me, running a nonprofit organization is not easy by any means. And so to the photographers out there, just remember why you started. And remember also, as technology enhances and grows, and now we're seeing AI and all of these things, and I don't want to speak negative about any of it, There is still something so powerful about the photograph. Right? And this, the moment that they're capturing and sharing with the world, whether that's at weddings or wherever they're doing it, right? Or an artist on stage, wherever they're doing it there. I believe that a photographer's skill is a gift to the world.

Pat Miller: 05:46

You're capturing, maybe why other people matter as well. You're giving them a gift and showing them their humanity, right?

Matt Emerzian: 05:54

Absolutely. And, I mean, I don't like having my picture taken, so I really don't. I can speak in front of 5,000 people. And it's a joke in my world that the best photographs of me are when I'm not looking at the camera. And I don't know what to make of that. But there is, it's a real. Especially, like, for someone like not comfortable like I am, when a photographer is able to capture my essence and show me, like, my humanity. It's an absolute gift. There's no doubt about it.

Pat Miller: 06:29

You've taken this concept and you've boiled it down into a mattering mindset. Can you talk about the mattering mindset? Because it sounds like. I don't want to say operating system, but it sounds like a way that we can take what you're teaching and practice it every day. Can you describe it for us?

Matt Emerzian: 06:43

I love that you said operating system actually, because one of my board members says that we operationalize a purpose or meaning or significance. Like, that is what we do at our very core, through the nonprofit that I started and also through my work as an author and a speaker. At the core of everything, we believe you'll find mattering. And that's just basic because you're here, because you are alive, because you are 1 in 8 billion people, and there's no one else like you in this world. You matter. Period. And then we go from that to the space of valuing ourselves to these three perspectives of I matter, you matter, and we matter. So we help people see the world, if you will, through this idea that "I matter." Yes. The good, the bad, the ugly, who I am, I'm still a blessing and a gift. The "you matter" is my understanding of how I impact those around me with my Thoughts, my actions, my words. And then the "we matter" is that we're all in this together and how can we connect to this larger, you know, fabric of humanity, if you will. Once you go from the perspectives, you go to values that matter, and we start to drive values, empathy, compassion, kindness, respect. When slowly you start to change the way people see the world, then you start to change their behavior and ultimately, you change the future of whatever you're trying to change. So it is an operating system, and I've never heard it put that way till you. It is an operating system for how to be better to yourself, to other people, and to the world.

Pat Miller: 08:15

It sounds like for the people that are watching this, entrepreneurs who happen to be photographers, that this is almost a higher awareness of what we're trying to get done. And the opposite of what some people teach, which is hustle harder, hustle and grind. Put your head down, take all you can for yourself. Is it fair to counterbalance those two things that "you matter" is the opposite of the "hustle harder" culture?

Matt Emerzian: 08:42

Oh, that's a great question. Is it the opposite of, in some ways, I think there is truth to that part, and we can go on a very deep path with this, but I think part of living in a capitalistic country, you know, corporate America, what our system values is, you know, performance. And so we work harder, we try to make more money, we try to get promotions. And there's nothing wrong with being successful with any of that. I mean, I was successful in the music industry, but I'm here to say that that success of that form is not why we matter. And so in the world, I can see two things. I can see people who just feel down and out, or they're going through a transition in life and they're trying to find their identity. They don't feel like they have purpose or worth, and they're struggling with their mattering. At the same time, you can meet somebody who. Who is wildly successful and has a huge ego, and they think that's why they matter. Both are problematic. Right? And so in some ways, working harder, burning yourself out, grinding yourself down, I don't think is going to make you feel like you matter anymore. I don't. Unless you can somehow find purpose in that. And I'll give you an example. A friend of mine has a nice home and they have a tractor lawnmower. And in order to use this tractor lawnmower, you first have to clear all the branches off the grass because it can't run over branches. And which sounds like a just tedious, boring act. We all have that in our businesses as well, right? Things that we hate to do. But he's found a way to make it a game with their six children. And so, in a way, he's brought mattering and purpose to this thing that otherwise sounds horrible. And so might we be able to, even in the hustle, even when we're working hard, can we still find a new way of looking at it and maybe attaching different meanings to it that maybe we didn't do before?

Pat Miller: 10:57

That's a different camera angle on a problem. I absolutely love that. Which takes it from I to we. Now you're bringing the family in. You've got the meaning of being around your family. That's a great example. Thank you for sharing that.

Matt Emerzian: 11:09

Absolutely.

Pat Miller: 11:10

What might the first step be? If I've only got 15 minutes and I'm feeling isolated, and I'm feeling kind of like my art is not connecting with my ideal clients, I'm just in a spot where your message is hitting me saying, "Yes, Matt, help me." What might be the first step or the first best practice that we could take towards what you're teaching?

Matt Emerzian: 11:32

Great question. You know, I did a keynote one time, and afterwards, a gentleman came up to me and he said, "You know, Matt, my whole life, I had it that I had to learn how to love myself before I could love other people. But you taught me, actually, through loving other people, I could also learn to love myself." And it's a fascinating thing to me because I personally, when I broke down, one of the biggest things that I did to find my purpose again was acts of service. And I went out and served something bigger than myself. I volunteered. I fed homeless people. I tutored students. I found these things to do to get outside of myself. At the same time, I also needed to take better care of myself. And so, there is this equilibrium. And if you see like I matter, you matter, we matter as like a Venn diagram, if you will. And right there in the middle, where all three overlap is where I think us as humans are at our very best. Now, do we always stay there? No, we don't. And sometimes, you know our we's better than our I. For most of us, actually, our I is probably the worst of the, you know, especially those who work in the service industry, especially people who really want to please others and make sure they do a good job. And I would imagine photographers fall into this place. It's vulnerable. You know, they're. They're getting paid money to deliver something that really has to mean something to the person who hired them. So it's a combination of spending time with yourself and just simple reflection of, and maybe some basic life questions at the same time, getting outside of yourself. Maybe getting outside of your business for a day or for an hour or two, and losing yourself in acts of service or something to that effect. Or taking the skill that you have as a photographer and volunteering to go teach a class on it at a local school. You know, just something that just–again, another angle on this talent that you have because there's so much you can do with that talent besides just trying to squeeze it in a box of success all the time.

Pat Miller: 13:43

I want to ask you about Imaging USA in a second because we're really excited for the keynote, but before we go there, I want to know what is it like for you personally? Because if you go back to when you founded all this stuff through your own personal redemption, to where you are today, what does it feel like to you to go from wait, why do I matter? To now traveling the world, teaching people we matter and you matter, and all of this stuff has come true. What does that feel like for you as a person and as a creator that's not only trying to teach this mattering concept, but you've also kind of proven to yourself that you matter.

Matt Emerzian: 14:25

This is probably one of the biggest parts I struggle with, to be honest with you. I live my life by this motto, that I matter, but it's not about me. And I would say to people, you matter, but it's not about you. And there's something in that that helps me kind of navigate all of this. Literally, just this morning, I got an email, a stunning email, from a woman who was in the audience of a keynote. This is probably eight months ago. And she wrote me this morning saying, "You probably don't remember me, but I remember you. And I've done a lot of thinking and gone through a lot of stuff," like death of her husband, death of her mom. "A lot of things happen. And finally, on this day, I realize why I matter. And I want you to know that I matter because I love deeply." And I got this email today, and it's like, I don't know. I don't know how to process that stuff sometimes. You know, I mean, I've spoken at big companies. One company in particular, where afterwards, a woman took me out to the parking lot and handed me duct tape and tubing that she had bought to run the exhaust of her car back into the cab of her car to commit suicide. And she said, God brought you here today because tomorrow is going to be it. And so I don't know how to process that sometimes. I don't know, it's hard. And I want to be there for companies. I want to help them solve their business challenges. But it's the human stories are the ones that, you know, matter to me the most. I hate to say that. And at the same time, I think if more companies understood, if your people truly knew how much and why they matter to themselves and to each other and to their teams and to their customers and to their client, it would change everything. And if it's not enough to convince you of that, then just look at it the opposite way. What if none of your people felt like they mattered to themselves, to any relationships, to their employees? What would that generate? You know? So this is where, again, like I said earlier in this conversation, if you just impact one person. It's humbling. I just try to be grateful and not make it about me. But this movement that I started and will continue to grow.

Pat Miller: 16:57

Well, I was excited about your keynote before, but now I'm, like, jumping up and down, excited. When we see you at Imaging USA, what can we expect from your talk?

Matt Emerzian: 17:06

A lot of what you just got right there. Keynoting is not about me at all. It's about the audience. I think that the best keynote speakers are the best listeners and feelers, and it's just creating a space where people can really reconnect with how much they matter to themselves and to each other and to this world. And I like to be a little bit interactive also with my keynotes. So not just you're going to hear me talk for 60 minutes about this idea of mattering, but I want you to experience it there in that hour because I think we can move beyond just inspiration into some transformation in that time together. So it's a very human experience. You might laugh, you might shed a couple tears, but by the end of it, you will absolutely be reconnected to your mattering. And from there, the sky's the limit.

Pat Miller: 17:58

Absolutely cannot wait to see you at imaging USA in Nashville. Matt, thanks for coming on the show. I really appreciate it.

Matt Emerzian: 18:03

Can't wait to be there, man. Thank you for having me.

Pat Miller: 18:05

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of The Professional Photographer podcast. Did you love it? I could have talked to Matt all day. Cannot wait to see him in Nashville. Show us that you loved it by liking the show, maybe subscribing or leaving us a comment. That way Matt and I and the team here at PPA, we can all know what part of the episode resonated with you. Leave us a comment. That's the best way that you can give us some feedback. One last bit, if you're not yet a member of Professional Photographers of America, you're missing out. PPA is perfect for photographers who are serious about growing their business in a sustainable and profitable way. At PPA, you belong here. Discover more about membership at ppa.com that's PPA.com I'm Pat Miller, founder of the Small Business Owners Community, publisher of the Small Business Summary Newsletter, and your host of the show. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you right here next time. Take care.