Personal Statement for RMIT Admission

My name is Andy, I’m a 24 year old photographer/business owner and recently appointed visual production manager for Shopper Media Group. My photography business - Andy Miao and Partners, currently employ 4 full-time photographers in Sydney, with contractors in Queensland and Victoria.

I’m interested in undertaking the Graduate Certificate in Business Administration as I feel it would equip with with the skills needed to undertake larger projects with ease. In my past experiences, I’ve felt unprepared to handle large scale projects involving large teams and have been on the back foot - always learning new skills when new projects require it and never beforehand. Although I have found success in my photography business as a photographer who can capture great images, I’ve lacked the skills to manage my business to it’s maximum efficiency.

After researching for solutions to my woes, I stumbled upon the Master/Graduate Certificate in Business Administration. It was a light-bulb moment for me. In the past 3 years, my role has shifted from 99% photography to 80% operations and account management, 20% photography. I’ve excelled at recruitment and training but have always had room for improvement in business management, data and financial analytics and strategy; all subjects covered in the course. I never wanted to be relegated to just a managerial role in my own business, and I hope the course will help me boost my efficiency in completing managerial tasks and leave more time for me to focus on my art.

As I reached adolescence, I found myself feeling less intimidated by my parent’s constant pressuring for academic success and felt a need to rebel. I’ve always wanted myself to have a successful life, but during that time, my adolescent self did not link a strong education with success. As soon as I was at the legal working age, I started working at McDonald’s for $7.76/hour before and after school. In a year of working, I managed to save up enough money to buy a camera. I found much success in the event photography sector during the early years. Not to blow my own horn, but photography came very naturally to me and I had picked up the basics within a few weeks. I shot events for rappers, school formals for prestigious Sydney private schools and some (retrospectively) less than desirable out of control teenage parties. In a matter of 6 months, I had amassed a social media following of 5000 and had jobs lined up months ahead.

I left high school in 2012, at the start of my 12th grade studies, to study Photo-Imaging at Tafe, but consequently left 2 weeks before graduation due to the poor syllabus. Since then, I’ve been working full-time. I made it my goal to hone my craft through real-world experience instead of being tied down to photography classes taught by failed photographer’s. I thought at the time- “The REAL photographer’s are out there, in the spotlight, honing their craft! Not in a classroom teaching!”. Boy, was I wrong. Being a young immature teen at the time, I failed to see the importance of formal education, even if it’s for photography.

The primary motivation for my leaving Tafe, was the lure of a big opportunity with a Sydney-based artist management agency - Creative Dreams Entertainment. I grabbed the attention of company director when one of my photos from a RnB artist’s party was included in a press release that was emailed to him. During my time at CDE, I acted as a glorified Instagram snapper for his artists, but I also learned a lot about media communications - which has proved instrumental in my later wok.

I started my own business in 2015 at the age of 20 after having already worked as a photographer for 2 years for various other organisations with much success. In the beginning, my business was a modest, one-man operation. It was during the first month of operating my own business that I realised - operating a successful photography business required a heck of a lot more than just capturing great images - it required great discipline and time management, financial planning, and sales experience; much to my dismay, the last 2 weeks of my Photo-imaging course actually covered the before mentioned topics. I was shockingly unprepared for running my own business.

Since then, I’ve expanded my business to employ 4 full-time staff with contractors in 3 states. I have contracts with some of the biggest names in finance and accounting and once in a while, land big contracts like the Commonwealth Games. My fine art work has been exhibited and published around the world but in the past 3 years, my role has shifted from 99% photography to 80% operations and account management, 20% photography. I have plans of further expanding my business but I fear that my skills are inadequate to accommodate any more. I’m always on my feet, learning new skills as new challenges arise, which has put a strain on my business. Although I’ve still got much to learn, I’ve excelled enough at recruiting and staff training to be noticed by my client Shopper Media Group, Australia’s fastest growing Out of Home advertising agency, that they subsequently offered me a position as their in-house visual production manager.

So, I’m 24 now. I feel like I’m constantly on the back foot due to poor choices in my youth. I’ve had great success, but I’m hungry to achieve more and more each year. I feel that a MBA will help me maintain a competitive edge for the years still ahead of me. I humbly ask for admission into your university for I have reached the age and maturity-level to finally realise how crucial education is to a strong career. I am currently at a turning point in my career - I can either soldier on as I have for the past few years, and find mediocre success for the rest of my life; or, I can study, and equip myself with the knowledge and skills to reach new highs.