Meet Max Raymond | Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Max Raymond and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Max, why did you pursue a creative career?
I pursued a career as a creative because after years of being an athlete it just felt natural for me to able to express myself. For years I was able to express myself thru my sport but with many restrictions because of the aspect of team, this was finally my opportunity to allow my imagination to run free and fully express myself and use it to fuel my passion in creating.
 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Well as I stated before I got into this career with the passion to express myself and that’s something I’ve always wanted to instill into others being comfortable enough to express yourself. I first got into this career being a friend to Scope a cinematographer form Miami Fl, that has done projects with some big names in sports and music; it first started off with me just giving my input on some of his projects he was already working on to him making me realize I was creative directing the entire time and that I could make a career out of it. At first I was unsure if I could creative direct because I now had the pressure of the title but I always reassured myself by leaning on my natural creativity and willingness to work with others and their vision, that’s where that team aspect came in handy for me. Honestly my ultimate goal is to influence the generations after me to seek the same freedom I did the freedom to express and be unapologetically yourself, be you and be loud and proud about it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Knowing me and how my best friends get down especially my friends from college that aren’t from Miami, Fl our itinerary would involve fluorescent lights good music, great food and great entertainment. LOL. so when you land first thing we are probably doing is going to get something to eat from the local spots; I like to show the real side of Miami and not just South Beach, so we might stop off at Snappers and get some wings with extra lemon pepper powder on there, then we would most likely head out to Wynnwood and walk around catching some of the artistic sights and sounds until we find our way into Brick; which is a cool urban lounge in the city that plays great music and has great vibes. Once 3am hits its now time to end the night at Tootsies a great place to get some great food and entertainment before you head on home to beat the sunrise. Then you wake up tomorrow head to any of our beaches and soak up some good sun reminiscing on the night you had b before, that’s the usual weekend I would have. In between the week I’m usually working to afford this weekend because the Miami nightlife is no where near cheap or affordable some nights.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to first give a shoutout to my childhood friend,Scope he’s a Cinematographer and he was who I first started my creative journey with from when we created our first platform for athletes in high school and college to use just creating workout routines for ourselves to excel as athletes. Another person instrumental in my success is my older brother Reggie he’s always been the frontrunner in supporting any of my dreams whether it be a word of encouragement or investing in the vision. and lastly I would say all of my close friends and family that I have been able to create with from the Kesh Green to the JWxndur just allowing me to be apart of their vision and allowing creative minds to collaborate. That is something that has always fed into my confidence and reassured me I have a place and voice in this creative industry.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hitsquad_og/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/max-raymond-805ba7126

Youtube: @maxraymond1680

Image Credits
All Images are credited to Scope and Purplemountains.