Hidden Gems: Meet Leo Ayrault of Reality Tell Your Vision

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leo Ayrault. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 2008, I moved from Japan and started my life in America. After I moved here, I struggled to find my footing, going to three different schools in my first two years in the states. However, during this period of time, I learned a valuable lesson: being by yourself helps you figure out how to be yourself. After I overcame the language and cultural barrier of high school, it was time for college. I was terrified to know that it would be a challenge even greater than high school. Even some people who live in the states their entire lives don’t finish college. Plus, I had no idea what direction I wanted my life to follow. Once I got to college, I was struggling and received an academic probation letter. I didn’t yet find my path in life, so I found it hard to focus in class. It wasn’t until my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer that I really started to realize what my purpose was. Alongside his six children and wife, I witnessed Grandpa take his final breath, and, for the first time in my life, I experienced mindfulness. I realized that the problems that I had weren’t more than what was in front of me. I also uncovered that life is precious, so I made sure to appreciate what I had rather than what I didn’t. Witnessing Grandpa’s end made my life flash before my eyes, and I determined that when you lay on your deathbed, all that you’ll reflect upon is your memories, and how much you either enjoyed or despised your life. From that day forward, I pledged to always have my glass half full, and gained a more optimistic outlook. My second life-changing epiphany came at my grandpa’s funeral. All of these kind people coming up to me and describing how appreciative they were of the impact he had on their lives helped me understand that I wanted to have that same impact on others throughout my life. Through his personality, Grandpa had the ability to make everyone feel important and loved. I wanted to do the same. Once I discovered this new purpose, to continue my grandpa’s legacy, I finally saw that life isn’t about status or materialism, but more about how you affect those around you. 

After Grandpa’s funeral, I had a new-found ambition. I decided to switch my major from business to communication. In my first semester in communication, I got a 4.0-grade point average, a huge turnaround from before. This ambition not only gave me the passion to get through college but also allowed me to thrive in my last four years of school. Despite my new success academically, it didn’t mean that I would get anything handed to me all of a sudden. I applied for the University’s Journalism organization to try to get my foot in the door and find some internship opportunities through them. However, my overall grade point was still too low, and they denied me. I didn’t allow this news to discourage me; I only took it as fuel to improve myself and find an internship on my own. In the meantime, I was working at a shipping department for a pharmaceutical company alongside coworkers who seemingly wanted me to fail. One day, I attended my company’s leadership event located at ford field. At this event, Detroit Lions legend and all-time leading scorer, kicker Jason Hanson was the guest speaker. After he finished speaking, while everyone else was going up to him and asking for photos, I had a different plan in mind. I went up to him and recited an elevator pitch, formulated based on other elevator pitches I heard from podcasts and audiobooks about successful people: “Mr. Hanson, my name is Leo Ayrault, and I’m a broadcast and communication student at Wayne State University. I was born and raised in Japan, but I learned that in order to be successful in this country, you need to have two things: one, you need to have the ambition to go and get what you want in life. Two, you need to know the right people. I apologize if I come across as being pushy, but not every day do I get to meet someone like yourself. So, do you know anyone that may be able to point me in the right direction in my career?” He smiled, shook my hand, and gave me the name of the director of broadcasting for the Lions (at the time) along with a personal recommendation. I was able to successfully set up a meeting with him, and that led to an internship opportunity for the broadcasting department for the Lions. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, and quickly after the internship began, I found myself in jeopardy. The experience that I had gained in my new passion in broadcasting was not enough in comparison with the responsibility I was given as an intern. During my first videography session at a Lions practice, I was handed their massive digital camera. I held it like a bazooka, and quickly, my superior noticed how green I was. I knew nothing about camera operation, sound, or video editing. My experience was not enough for a position of this caliber; my attitude and personality got me this position in the first place. Based on my evident lack of knowledge towards this work, I was called into my boss’s office that same day. He expressed his disappointment and felt like I tricked him in a sense, in that he thought I was more proficient in videography and editing, although I was nowhere near what they expected from someone in this position. I remember feeling like I was about to lose the greatest thing that would ever happen to me, but I trusted that I was meant to be there because the greatest memory I had with my grandpa was watching the Lions play on TV together. I stood up, looked my boss in the eyes, and said “Well, it looks like the only option I have here is to win ‘the most improved player of the year’ award.” And my boss smiled, shook my hand, and said, “And that is why I hired you in the first place.” But that was just the beginning of an uphill battle: I had to learn everything at once. Being a biracial kid with English as my second language, I was already able to learn quickly in school. So, when my new skills were put to the test two days after the meeting with my boss, I was more prepared. I was able to wow my superiors by how fast I picked up on shooting the bazooka. The uphill battles didn’t stop there, but I soon realized that both my ability to learn and my purpose of continuing my grandpa’s legacy was enough for me to overcome any of those battles. Through this once-in-a-lifetime experience, I was able to shoot, edit, and be a part of my favorite football team. Working with the Lions taught me about leadership, being a professional at the elite level, and reminded me of how blessed I am to have my grandpa’s spirit look over me. In addition, I made connections with many kind, accomplished, and ambitious people at this internship. These connections aided me in starting my next endeavor. 

After the internship with the Lions ended, I still had to go back to my shipping department job and finish school as well. I didn’t get a full-time position with the football team and because of this, my coworkers made me feel like what I did at my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was a failure. It wasn’t a failure, life was just happening for me, not to me. This motivated me to go after what I really wanted in life: to run my own business. The Lions job allowed me to determine the “what” or purpose of my business: to serve society. I would do this through storytelling with videography and photography, video editing, and posting content on other businesses’ websites and social media platforms. I realized that every business or company has a genius marketing director and that my job was to put tangible things in their hands such as photos or videos. My positive attitude during my internship allowed me to build many relationships with people who worked for the Lions in multiple different industries. This included current and former players and broadcasters, some of which became the first clients for my business. Then, Reality Tell Your Vision LLC was born. Similar to the internship, there was a lot of learning as time went on, throwing myself in the fire and trying new things. I had to build my business from the ground up. Since I formed my company, I have produced thousands of pieces of content for clients such as the National Football League, Foot Locker, musicians such as Big Sean, radio stations such as 107.5 (Detroit’s Hip Hop station), organizations such as the Detroit Lions and Detroit Pistons, and companies such as Microsoft and Chevrolet. Many other clients impacted me throughout my journey as well. Overall, my journey continues to be a spiritual one; I’m very passionate about bringing what makes people beautiful out of them, not only because of my grandpa’s passion to do the same thing, but also because I was once a lonely new kid and determined that I would grow up to be the person that that kid needed. I’m a man who does what he loves with those he loves in the name of love. I’ve really discovered how blessed I am throughout my life. Being able to do the sacred work that I cherish is fulfilling. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been two areas of hardship so far: The first was doubt, not only within myself but from the people around me. My friends and family were worried whether I would land on my feet. For example, my mom was telling me to put my dreams aside to get a real job after college, but I decided that getting a job would get in the way of what I really wanted to do. I did apply to these jobs, but I didn’t get any of them. Plus, my heart was still more in building my own company. Knowing my history in school, I thrive when I’m passionate about something, not when it’s forced, so I took the more unconventional route. One of my first clients was Detroit Lions star cornerback Darius Slay. I had a conversation with him that really stuck, in which he said, “Never have a plan B until plan A fails.” The reasons I chose my plan A were, 1) I wanted to take responsibility for my own life, 2) I wanted to have greater control over who I wanted to work with, and 3) to continue my grandpa’s legacy. That third reason was the one that allowed me to overcome any obstacles the most. 

The second area of hardship was covid because 100% of my gigs got canceled, which was very tough. I also made the decision to walk away from a long-term relationship at this time, which doubled up my expenses. Not knowing if I was going to be able to support myself financially going forward was a scary situation. At this time, it was difficult to prove myself as valuable to potential clients because I couldn’t network in person. It took a few experiences to get over this hump. The first of these experiences happened when my Japanese grandfather died. Since I was a little kid, he always told me to do what I love. I was going through my grandpa’s photo albums, and that reminded me of the words of wisdom he provided me throughout my life. While I wish he was still here to tell me these messages in person, his death served as an indication that I needed to follow what I love to do. In addition, at some point during the pandemic, I was in fear of getting kicked out of my apartment if I couldn’t pay the rent. I remember going to my parents’ house and taking home an egg and rice wrapped in saran wrap just so I would have something to eat the next morning. Fortunately, I was able to find gigs that paid seemingly the exact amount of money I needed to stay afloat, at the perfect time. One day, a gig of mine got canceled, so I sat next to my phone and prayed to God that I would not move from my chair until he blessed me with another gig. Sure enough, two hours later, I received a call. The caller wanted me to visually document a funeral for those outside of the country who couldn’t make it. So, God led me to a church. A few weeks prior, I had to be called on skype to attend my grandfather’s funeral. This was a full-circle moment, because I was essentially responsible for providing peace of mind to these people, the same peace of mind I received when I was able to virtually attend my grandpa’s funeral. 

We’ve been impressed with Reality Tell Your Vision, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’m a digital storyteller and content creator. I specialize in videography, photography. I do anything from event coverage to business commercials to photoshoots. The world is my office; I work all around the globe. What sets me apart is my energy. I care about my work, but I also care about the people I work with. I’m most proud of my network; my network is my net worth. I’m also proud of all of the work I’ve put out so far. There’s not a specific project I would rank above any other project. Each project served a purpose for a certain time in my life. Because I started this business from the ground up, I cherish every gig I can get. No matter how big or small the project is, I’m thankful because each one has contributed to my overall growth. 

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?
The first lesson I learned from the pandemic was that money does not equal value. When Covid-19 hit, 100% of my business was shut down. Every gig I had was canceled. Getting work was hard enough as it was before covid because I was only on year three of starting my business. There were social distancing gigs here and there, just enough to hold me up financially. But, navigating through that strengthened my spiritual aspect of entrepreneurship. I had to pray a lot, but I also had to have faith that abundance had to be on the other side. I was living by the motto: “when the world is at still, those who create motion create separation.” I didn’t want covid to cripple me, so I took the time in quarantine to organize my business so that when I would be back out in the world, I would be prepared and evolved. Overall, the covid journey was a difficult one, although I think it strengthened me as an entrepreneur and helped me find myself through the darkness. 

Contact Info:

• Website: RealityTellYourVision.com
• Instagram: @realitytellyourvision
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RealityTellYourVision2018
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@leoayrault8033 

Image Credits
Reality Tell Your Vision