A *not-so* regular summer
A *not-so* regular summer
This was not part of my post-graduation plans
Hey! It’s been a minute…
Lucky for you, that means this blog is filled with great stories and reflections.
In this post, I share how I spent most of my summer in Los Angeles. Topics include…
🎥 Filming for Kyrie Irving
🏀 Hooping with Zendaya & Tom Holland
😎 Partnering with Veniceball/HOOPBUS
One-Way to LA
I graduated college in April, and stayed home all of May.
After a few weeks, the days in Michigan (my home-state) looked the same, and I was running low on Regular Hoops content.
So I booked a one-way flight to LA and crashed at a friend’s apartment.
I arrived on the first day of summer (June 21st) and figured I’d be around for the next 1-2 weeks… AT MOST the next three weeks.
But those three weeks turned into three months.
Here’s how that happened ⬇️
Veniceball x Regular Hoops
Part I: 7am Venice Beach workouts
One of my goals in LA was to highlight the city’s basketball culture.
And the first thing I thought of was Veniceball.
“Veniceball began in 2006 as a community tournament on the legendary courts of Venice Beach, and has become one of the most prominent summer leagues in the World.” (Veniceball website)
In order to be trusted with sharing the Veniceball story, I had to build relationships with the players and the people behind-the-scenes.
But didn’t have any connections, so I got creative…
On Veniceball’s Instagram, they promoted 7am workouts on Venice Beach every Wednesday and Friday.
I went to every single one.
And stuck out as the only person not associated with Veniceball.
Part II: Helping out
I shared the Regular Hoops story with the group and asked how I could help.
I didn’t care what that looked liked, which meant doing things like moving a large piece of glass across town.
Nothing crazy, but that helped the Veniceball team capture a nice shot in this PUMA commercial (that I tested out lol).
Part III: Forming a partnership
By my second week in LA, that willingness to help established trust.
Which sparked an exciting partnership…
I noticed Veniceball did not mic up their players during the games.
Their team was busy with other tasks and could not make time to bring mic’d up videos to life.
Mic’d Up Video: “A video in which the subject has a microphone discreetly attached and is the focus of the camera shot. The “Mic’d Up” aspect comes in the sense that the subject is not typically recorded or heard in action. Viewers can be immersed into the actions of the subject as if they are next to them in the video.” (Nico Ruggieri)
But I had been producing mic’d up content for months, so I offered to make them a video at no risk to them.
The video below is what I created.
As I produced this video, I shared a vision of revealing player personalities to better connect fans with the league.
Veniceball believed in this vision and started collaborating on one video/week with Regular Hoops.
The Inflection Point
Part I: Far from home
By the time this partnership began, I had been in LA for three weeks…
My parents expected me to be home by then. And I did not want to overstay my friend’s welcome.
But I needed to be in LA.
Part II: Moving into the Veniceball apartment
My FBI agent must have known this because—soon after—a room opened up in the Veniceball apartment, and I was asked to move in.
Just like that, I had a new home for the summer.
This apartment was similar to a content house.
“Content House: A residential property which is most commonly used by internet celebrities, social media influencers or content creators in order to provide a focus on creating content for social media platforms, such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.” (Wikipedia)
Part III: Kept on creating
Living at the Veniceball apartment was the greatest thing that happened all summer.
I became friends with like-minded creators, as we challenged each other to produce better content.
And I got close with the Veniceball team.
They treated the apartment as an office space, so we would interact daily—which led to the Zendaya opportunity.
Zendaya x Regular Hoops
Part I: HOOPBUS
The HOOPBUS is a non-profit that builds community and spreads love through basketball.
It was founded by Nick Ansom—who is also the founder of Veniceball.
From being around him at the Veniceball apartment, I got asked to help the HOOPBUS activate at a few events early in the summer.
Part II: Zendaya gives back
So when the bus was activating at a basketball court renovation organized by Zendaya and Project Backboard, I was fortunate enough to be invited.
I captured moments like this for the HOOPBUS social media pages, and I recorded videos for the Regular Hoops page.
My favorite is this video of Tom Holland learning to shoot a basketball and hitting a three-pointer. The video has garnered TENS OF MILLIONS of VIEWS since being reposted by outlets such as...
Bleacher Report, House of Highlights, ESPN, PEOPLE Magazine, VOUGE, The Athletic, Sports Illustrated, and many more.
While Veniceball & HOOPBUS made up the core of my time in LA, I was still meeting others around the city.
Beyond Veniceball
Part I: Small creators unite
As a small creator myself, it’s important to support other small creators because we understand the grind of growing a new audience.
One creator I connected with months before landing in LA was Angel Gutierrez Mendoza, aka @bubbz45 on Instagram. He creates POV basketball content.
I didn’t know him personally, but we would always engage with each other’s content.
When I arrived to LA, I sent him a message. And it turned out he is the Director of Sport Operations for The Shoe Surgeon, a company that designs customized sneakers for clients including Justin Bieber and LeBron James.
Part II: SRGN Studios
This opened even more doors because the The Shoe Surgeon also operates SRGN Studios—an experiential space cultivated for creatives, by creatives.
If you can’t tell from the video above, this is not your ordinary studio. It has a full basketball court, open bar, retail store, and more.
They host open (invite-only) basketball runs every Wednesday, and I started going weekly thanks to Angel.
Part III: Filming for Kyrie Irving
At these Wednesday basketball runs, I met Miss Carli Jay.
Similar to me, she captures pickup basketball moments with an iPhone.
But unlike me, she is a coach on Kyrie Irving’s Drew League team, the Nationwide Souljas.
We would chat every week at SRGN Studios. And after forming a strong relationship, she asked if I could film her Drew League team.
Keep in mind that I don’t follow the Drew League and had no idea who was on the roster. I just wanted to help.
Next thing you know, I was in the locker room with Kyrie and capturing moments for the Souljas.
On the Regular Hoops page, I did not post any of Kyrie’s highlights because it goes against my brand… but I did poke fun at the situation 😅
Thank You
*pinch*
That’s what I’m doing to myself because this summer did not feel real.
Basketball or not, there are so many other moments and people that made these last three months special.
If you’re one of those people reading this, thank you. I’m forever grateful.
Next stop… New York City 📍
I have no idea what this next chapter holds.
But that excites me because the journey is the reward.
And I never want it to end.
As the Veniceball family likes to say, the #GameNeverStops.
What an amazing summer and what a hustle💪
From Michigan to LA, and now New York, keep on hustling and connecting with inspirational people anywhere you and Regular Hoops are🔥