By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Seattle native Von’Rico O’Neal, owner of Hey Suav Photography, stood against all odds as he took his journey from being an aspiring photographer to a successful business owner in a matter of two years.
In 2020, O’Neal was a student-athlete at Green River College, running track and field. However, the pandemic abruptly ended his season and schooling, leaving him uncertain about his future. It was at this point that O’Neal bought a camera from Kendall White, a long-time friend and basketball coach at Auburn Mountainview High School and decided to tinker around with photography.
“I will always remember the words he shared with me,” recalls O’Neal. “If you start getting serious with doing photography, I will bring you out to Auburn Mountainview where you can take pictures for the team and begin to network with the other schools that you could potentially take photos for.”
Utilizing those wise words of encouragement, O’Neal immediately began practicing his photography skills by taking portraits of his friends and family. Soon, word quickly spread of his admirable work to people and coaches in the area.
“Rico became known almost right away among the basketball community in the South King County area,” said White, who says that he immediately noticed O’Neal ramp up his professionalism and was taking his photography very seriously after selling him the camera. “He was our official photographer for our annual basketball showcase which was only months after selling him the camera.”
However, despite his early success, O’Neal faced some significant personal challenges, as the news of his grandmother losing her battle with cancer took a serious toll on him. Without the support of one of his main sources of stability and inspiration, O’Neal decided to put his photography aspirations aside and made the difficult decision to join the military.
Despite experiencing a great deal of personal growth, O’Neal’s time in the service abruptly ended after a knee injury suffered during basic combat training presented many challenges that affected his ability to run and walk and forced him to leave the military and return home.
“I went through a lot of ups and downs while I was in the Army, but the injury caused me to come back [home] and really think hard on what I needed to do with my life,” says O’Neal. “It was a hard decision for me to make as I wanted a future in the military, but I had to do what was best for my body. I am glad to be back healthy but sad at the same time having to leave.”
After his departure from the Army, O’Neal began to focus more on advancing his photography career. However, he quickly learned some of the pitfalls of being in business, especially if you don’t have the knowledge and infrastructure to run your business professionally.
“When starting up my business, I experienced a couple of times where clients would not pay me for my work, and that is when I learned that I had to make sure I was getting paid before sending my work out to the clients,” says O’Neal. “This happened with businesses and schools that I have worked with in the past, where I understood the consequences on my side of losing that opportunity to work with them in the future, however, it was either my business or them.”
O’Neal also found difficulty in securing a business loan to support his endeavor, which led him to self-funding his business expenses paying for lenses and equipment through the money he made from his full-time job and client photoshoots. Despite the difficulties of balancing multiple roles in his everyday life, O’Neal says that time management and an unwavering dedication to his long-term goals allowed him to overcome many obstacles to his path of entrepreneurship.
“I think my story is something important to share with other young Black entrepreneurs to encourage them to keep going no matter what is going on,” says O’Neal. “There are going to be a lot of ups and downs in your business where you will have to figure things out to get back on track and keep moving. There will be slow months where you are not making anything but there will also be months where you are so busy that it motivates you to not give up.”
While there have been many bumps in the road, O’Neal says the journey has been well worth the adventure.
“If it wasn’t for my friend Kendall selling me the camera, I don’t know what I would be doing with my life right now,” says O’Neal. “He gave me the opportunity to take team pictures for him which caused other coaches and schools to notice my work and I began building those relationships as well.”
According to O’Neal, it was these relationships that helped him create a pathway to success. His portfolio includes taking photos at former NBA star Jamal Crawford’s annual “CrawsOver” basketball game, and many big name artists in Seattle and Portland. But nothing is more important than working to improve his photography skills.
“Even though I have had those big accomplishments, I feel like me getting serious in photography and returning the favor by taking pictures for Kendall is the biggest accomplishment out of all,” says O’Neal.
“Rico is a professional and if you don’t know about his challenges, you wouldn’t know they exist,” says White. “As a coach, I deal with photographers and videographers all the time and his dedication and his drive is second to none. He shows up early, builds relationships, has quick turnarounds, and shows personality.”
“It has been beautiful to see his growth. Rico is a household name in our community. I see him at sporting events, and concerts, and he even did my best friend’s wedding,” added White. “The best part about his growth has been the connections he has made in so many different industries. I have people from all backgrounds texting me asking about who does our photos, so it’s wonderful to see the fruits of his labor, and I am sure it is still only the beginning of his career as a photographer.”
Growing up O’Neal never had any pictures of himself playing sports to show his family, and that has been one of the driving factors of specializing in sports photography—to provide younger generations with photos of themselves playing the sports they love.
Despite the setbacks he has encountered, O’Neal takes pride in being a young Black entrepreneur. He is very mindful of the fact that not every day will be a good day for his business, but better days are always yet to come.
“Don’t listen to the criticism and do what you like for you and your business to get where you want to be in life,” advises O’Neal. “Despite everything that has and will happen, always look back at why you started and keep that same mindset throughout your progression of trials and tribulations. Keep on striving for greatness.”
Even though he is still a relative newcomer to the profession, White believes that O’Neal is already impacting the lives and aspirations of others.
“He [O’Neal] is an artist, but he is also an inspiration to the community,” says White. “Kids can see themselves when Rico is around. His ability to overcome setbacks while maintaining a quality brand shows kids they can chase their dreams and do things they love despite the hurdles life will bring your way.”
Disclaimer: This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBC Universal.