Exploring Life & Business with Khalif Bradley of Flexstars

Today we’d like to introduce you to Khalif Bradley.

Hi Khalif, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I started as a simple filmmaker. As a kid, I was always interested in movies and would make short films with my friends in the neighborhood. That was my first real film school, just experimenting with cameras and figuring it out.

Eventually, in college, I directed and produced my first short documentary, “Black Beverly Hills 2,” on YouTube, which was supposed to be an experimental film, but somehow gained over 200,000 views. Eventually, doors started opening up for me, and it wasn’t too long after businesses would ask me to produce content for their brands and social media pages. I realized I might have something here. Then I started to receive more luxury-based work, like real estate firms, social media influencers, and business owners all asking me to work with them. With more opportunities opening up, I decided to make a business that caters mainly to the luxury market. In hindsight, my years of experience with film perfectly ties in nicely with our start-up company, Flexstars. We’re a luxury photoshoot and video service, but we also stage over-the-top sets for client photoshoots, so it’s all one big movie set.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
So far, it’s been an interesting journey. I have a lot of respect for entrepreneurs because entrepreneurialism is about building a foundation up from nothing and turning it into something. When starting with absolutely nothing, it’s easy to lose hope and think it may not work out because of so many challenges you face.

Everything seemed to work so far when we started this business, but I asked myself, “can I pull this off for years to come?” “What if I set goals that were too high?” “What if I fail and lose everything?” It became rewarding once I realized I was capable and could take more punches than I thought I could. Another lesson I’m learning is patience. With any new business, you want fast results and feel discouraged when it doesn’t happen, but great things take time. It’s still a painful lesson, though.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Flexstars is a luxury-based photography service. It’s not a traditional photography service where we take boring photos of you in a warehouse. We stage grandeur and over-the-top photoshoots, mainly for social media purposes. We give you the appeal of being a successful influencer, business owner, artist, producer, or anything you can think of by supplying you with luxury attire, accessories, props, and the setting to pull off your look. If you want to look like you’re shopping on Rodeo Drive for the day, we’ll provide you with everything you would expect to see from someone shopping in Rodeo. If you want to promote your brand and look more successful while doing so, we’ll give you everything a successful business owner would wear, along with our professional setup expertise.

Clients use our services to market their brands as they realize they appear more established and reputable. Using our services is a great way to get a company or any idea off the ground to attract a following and look more credible. You can also expect an array of other features including having a luxury SUV take you to your photo shoot if you want, and traditional craft services provided for you with your favorite food and snacks amongst other things. We also provide these services for birthdays, events, and anything else. You can check out our website for more details at www.flexstarsla.com

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I learned the biggest life lesson once Covid 19 hit. I was laid off from the job I was working at during the height of the pandemic, months before I started Flexstars. Being let off from my job made me realize how disposable employees are to companies and big businesses. I told myself I’d never work for a company where I’m not appreciated again, especially with the amount of work and energy I put into someone else’s dream. It was either I take a leap of faith and fail or work until it becomes a success.

But I think, in a way, it was also a blessing in disguise. During the peak of covid, I connected myself with successful entrepreneurs and convinced them to mentor me. My mentor, who I shadowed, took me under his wing and showed me how to negotiate fair deals, provide excellent service to clients, and overall gave me business advice that I think is much more substantial than any business class you can take. Those were the lessons I took and used to build Flexstars. In hindsight, starting a new business in the middle of a pandemic, along with inflation, sounds like a recipe for disaster, but since we started, we’ve had a pretty decent clientele with solid positive reviews.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.flexstarsla.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flexstarsla/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086163832529
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/89874002/admin/
• Email: Flexstarsla@gmail.com