Meet BigTom
If you weren’t at the event, my photos should make you feel like you were.
Tom O’Connor. Six foot six, Pittsburgh-born, Las Vegas-based. You’ll see me working the room, and you’ll never see me in the way.
- 15+years behind the camera
- 50+major brands served
- 30+states on stage
A $10 bang trim turned into a $600 afternoon
Five o’clock on a Saturday at our salon in Mandalay Place. A mom walks in with three kids and asks for a quick bang trim for her daughter. I’ll be honest: I sized them up as a “$10 special.”
I gave them the full tour anyway: the drink bar, the color bar, the Lather Lounge. Then I told the mom we could just trim the bangs if a $128 haircut was too much. Her seven-year-old looked up and said, “I want the Experience!”
Two hours and $600 later, I had the lesson I’ve built everything on since. People don’t pay for the cut. They pay for the experience, and they’ll remember who gave it to them.
I spent 14 years delivering that experience behind the chair and on stage. Now I deliver it behind the lens, for planners and brands who need their guests to feel taken care of and their story told.
An accountant, a hairdresser and a photographer walk into a ballroom…
It’s the same guy. Each chapter added something clients now get on every job.
- 1998
BA, Accounting & Finance
Marietta College. The son of a CPA, he learned to read the numbers before he learned to read a room.
- 1998–2000
PNC Bank · AT&T
Y2K conversions at PNC, then Sales Compensation Administrator at AT&T, tracking sales, incentives and bonuses. He learned the difference between a lucky month and a consistent performer.
- 2000
Walked away from a corporate job
Became the first apprentice at A Robert Cromeans Salon (ARCS) in San Diego. No hair school, just front desk, assistant, then stylist.
- 2000s
Paul Mitchell International Educator
On stage in 30+ states, China and Rome, in front of arenas of up to 8,000 hairdressers. He started holding a mic the day a show needed one and nobody else would.
- 2005–2014
Artistic Director, Las Vegas
Ran two ARCS salons at Mandalay Bay: about 30 stylists plus assistants, a multi-million-dollar book and $128 haircuts. He built the team’s performance scorecards and ran the salon’s marketing and imagery.
- 2010–2011
First camera to NBA All-Star
Bought his first camera in October 2010. Four months later he was shooting NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
- 2011
BigTom Photography
Founded in Las Vegas while he was still running the salons. His salon clients backed the travel, and many became his first photo clients: the NBA, Tequila Patrón and Destinations by Design. Corporate programs worldwide followed.
- 2017
Dunaj Agency
He pitched Dunaj on bringing the same photographer to every program instead of hiring locals and hoping. He has traveled with them ever since, covering sales meetings and incentive trips for their clients worldwide.
- 2018–2019
Team photographer, Tequila Patrón ESM Racing
Official team photographer for the IMSA prototype program.
- 2020s
Tech, the experience side
Creative and UX lead for CarPair (born as Driveway) and Client Experience Specialist for White Top SMS.
What the business years taught the photographer
I shoot the whole story
Start to finish, movie-style, not 20 greatest hits. Every room and every session, so the people who couldn’t be everywhere can see how it all came together.
I shoot for the end use
Square for Instagram, room for your logo, a sponsor in the frame. I learned to think like the marketing team because I was the marketing team.
Same photographer, every time
Your brand becomes my brand. Agencies like Dunaj have brought me back to their programs year after year.
VIPs relax around me
NBA players, race-team owners, CEOs and their families. Years of keeping people comfortable in my chair made that the easy part.
“When you walked in I felt so safe, and I knew I was going to get things I never would have seen.”
“Words cannot express how thrilled I am with the gorgeous photos Tom took for our signature fundraising event. He perfectly captured so many memorable moments, and I am so grateful to have this special evening memorialized so beautifully!”
Floyd Ganassi’s prints
My dad worked for Floyd Ganassi in Pittsburgh. Mr. Ganassi carried a camera at the races and photographed everyone the same way, mechanics and owners alike. Then he developed the prints and mailed one to every person.
That’s where I learned that a photo is a relationship. My mom, Elizabeth, taught me the rest: make friends with people, because you never know when they can help you.
“Everything I did was a picture. Sometimes it was pencil and paper, sometimes a canvas, and now it’s through the lens.”
As told to SDVoyager, 2018
Brands that keep calling back
- NBA
- Hologic
- B. Braun
- Bausch Health
- BeOne
- USTA
- Everpure (Pure Storage)
- Tequila Patrón
- Michelin
- Oracle
- Delta
- Paul Mitchell
- Novo Nordisk
- B+L
- Hewlett Packard
- OpenText
- ESM Racing
- Travel ETM
- G League
- WNBA
- My Salon Suites
- Behind The Chair
Planning a program in Vegas or on the road?
Send the dates and the run of show. Tom will reply with availability and the right menu for your event.