An Inspired Chat with Trevor Norris of Phoenix

Trevor Norris shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Trevor, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
I feel that the day to day of life makes me lose track of time. You just move through days on that “autopilot” mode and focus on just getting through life. Something that the Aquascaping hobby teaches me is that it is all about the journey not the destination. Just like the famous quote “Life moves pretty fast, If you dont stop and look around once in a while you could miss it” I truly believe when you stop and appreciate what’s around you, realize the progress you’ve made, you find yourself again.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Trevor, and I share my journey through the wonderful world of aquascaping. Aquascaping is the process of keeping fish and plants in a harmonic balance while showcasing the beauty of nature inside your home. I show my journey on all platforms under, TrevsTanksAZ and showcase long format videos on YouTube under Trevstanks. I never claim to be a professional, I just want to share my experience with others and help them get into the hobby that has brought me so much joy. My goal is to showcase the hobby through social media along with a small positive tone to hopefully brighten someone’s day.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child I always believed that all adults had it truly figured out. That they truly understood the world and knew what was going on. As I get older I have come to understand that we are all just doing our best in this wild game called life…. we need to understand we are all going through something, we all experience highs and lows, and the only constant is supporting our family, friends to the best of our abilities.

Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
When initially getting into this hobby I never in my wildest dreams thought any of my pages would grow. I started them as a way to digitally keep track of my aquascapes. When my posts started getting some traction, it was overwhelming at first because I had never been into social media and I thought I had to do 10000 things at once. But my wife was so extremely helpful in listening to me and truly helping me organize my thoughts and help me make a solid plan on how I could continue the hobby and grow my channels better. Not only did she help me grow the pages but she allowed me to fill our house with WAY to many tanks. And for that I will always be thankful.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
One of the biggest things about this hobby, aquascaping that turns alot of people away is the idea that you have to be perfect. What you see online are perfected aquascapes from truly professional aquascapers. One thing I try to show in my process is that you dont have to be perfect, you just have to enjoy it and try your best and improve at your own pace. This hobby is about what YOU enjoy and what YOU think looks good. As long as you properly care for your fish there are SO many ways to create an aqauscape and enjoy it.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
I feel that I understand deeply the importance of waking up everyday and making an active choice to be as positive as possible. People need to understand that putting a smile on is a choice, it rarely comes naturally. This world is full of negativity, instant gratification, and isolation that we all need to do our best to smile and uplift those around us.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trevstanksaz?igsh=bWt4Nm1oMDdrc3lz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BF4TXNWTE/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@trevstanks?si=lJdrSfhAW-4LIFeY
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@trevstanksaz?_t=ZT-8y8ONP9mFst&_r=1