Growing Your Video Business While Maintaining A Creative Culture w/ Joey and Aaron of 31 Films

Ok, confession time. There was a time in my filmmaking and creative business journey where I almost let the business take over my life. I let the work that I was doing take over more and more of the energy and attention that I should have been focusing on my family, and I learned some really hard lessons from it.

Joey and Aaron of 31 Films and Film Lab Creative were getting established in this business around the same time as I was, and I’ve been watching and admiring their work for a number of years. Right from the beginning, the thing that set founder Joey’s companies apart in my mind was the culture he established. He’s been able to take his companies from a one-man operation to bringing in Aaron, to now having seven full-time editors on staff!

Of course, it wasn’t easy for them, and they too have learned many hard lessons along the way (don’t we all?). It’s never easy, knowing when it’s time to bring in someone else to help grow your business, but Joey has some great insights into what’s worked for him. Not only has he grow his companies, but he's maintained a healthy work-life balance and focus on family for both his employees and himself.

Have you hired employees to help you grow and expand your creative business? Did it work out? How did you know when the time was right? If not, what’s holding you back? Leave a comment below!

Quotes:

“Having a brand that speaks to brides on the level that we like to - on a really personal level - but also speaks to corporate America is not very doable.” [21:18]

“I think that’s been a huge key for us, is not just creating good work, but being really pleasant to be around and being really easy going, and not taking ourselves too seriously” [25:36]

“It’s not just about your work. It’s about how you connect with people, and how they connect with you, that they trust you or not” [29:19]

In This Episode:

- The difference between working with freelancers & in-house employees
- How to know if you should separate your wedding and corporate work into distinct brands
- How Aaron and Joey tackled a backlog of 38 weddings!!!
- The importance of knowing your numbers when it comes to hiring employees

Links:

Story and Heart Academy

31 Films
Film Lab Creative

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