Today we’d like to introduce you to Sal Cincotta.
Hi Sal, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Wow, where do I start? I come from an immigrant family. Im half Italian and half Lebanese. My grand parents came to this country for a better life. I was the first to graduate college coming from a very hard working blue collar and often times – BROKE family. My mother sacrificed everything she had to keep me out of trouble. Growing up in Brooklyn NY trouble and distractions were everywhere. This was an old school Italian neighborhood. So, whatever you have seen in the movies., its just like that. My mother, Terri, very much a single parent cashed in her retirement to send me off to New York Military Academy as a last resort. See, I had been kicked out of 4 high schools in 2 years. If there was trouble to be had, I was in the middle of it. It was at New York Military Academy that my life really began to change. See, the administration changed their philosophy with me. They told my mother, he is not a “trouble-maker” he is a natural leader. He needs to be given responsibilities and he will turn around… and I did. I excelled at everything i put my mind and energy into. It really was self-rewarding. It taught me a lot about myself and what I was capable of. Those lessons have carried through my entire adult life – leadership, community, team, sacrifice, hard work and more.
Fast forward to more recent history. I graduated from Binghamton University with a degree in Business Finance and Computer Science. I followed the corporate route because that’s what i was supposed to do. I excelled as you would expect, but i wasnt happy. At a young age I got the bug for photography, but my family was never going to let me be an artist – this was an immigrant blue collar family after all. After working for multiple IT companies, my final stop on the journey where i spent a significant amount of my career was Microsoft as a Principal Technology Specialist. It was a great company with great people, but again, i wasnt doing what i loved. I loved photography and i was hell bent on finding a way to make money at it. Ill never forget the day I gave my notice to my boss. Where are you going he asked? The typical concerns rang out – are you going to one of our competitors? IBM? Oracle? Google? No, I said. I’m quitting to become a photographer. DEAD SILENCE ON THE OTHER LINE. After a moment or two, he asked, is this about money? We can pay you more money if thats what this is about. Of course, I thanked him and told him this was my dream. Do you know, almost every 4-6 months for the next 2 years they contacted me with job openings to see if I wanted to come back. its good to leave your mark and be loved.
Back in around 2006-2007 I started Salvatore Cincotta Photography. It didnt start off as well as I had hoped. Being an entrepreneur is a whole different animal. Suddenly, everything was my responsibility and if I didnt make money we couldnt pay the bills. Talk about pressure.
Eventually, my business mind kicked in and within 2-3 years we were a $1m year entity. I couldnt believe it. Suddenly, speaker requests were coming in. New sponsorship opportunities were coming in. And suddenly we were on the cusp of social media and the dreaded term “influencer”. All of this was new to me. I realized though, I loved to create. within those first years, i had launched several new lines of business all within the photography niche and we eventually made it to the Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies 3 years in a row. The growth was EXPLOSIVE and we grew to a staff of over 40+. We had a photography magazine that was one of the top photography magazines in the world with distribution in Barnes and Noble. We created the 3rd largest photography conference called ShutterFest – we just celebrated our 10 year anniversary. It has been an increible ride.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Hardly. Some of this I outlined in the previous section so i dont want to be repetitive.
I risked everything. looking bankruptcy in the eye twice. I remember sitting in my kitchen… tears coming down my face… saying out loud… i fucked up. how am i going to make payroll? i cant be the first entrepreneur to feel that pain. but i tell you what, im stronger for it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I love photographing people. I love creating personal arts of work for my clients. The clients we work with are looking for something that is different something that stands out from others something they will cherish for generations to come.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Coming from a big city, there is something to be said about the midwest. Cost of living is reasonable and the people are friendlier.
But thats also what i dislike. the midwest can be very narrow minded at times. with big cities comes diversity. Not only diversity in culture, but in ideas, food, personalities, etc. I miss that most about NYC.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.salcincotta.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salcincotta/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SalCincotta1
