My journey in video editing started back in 2010. I graduated from a two year school for Media Communications and began looking for work. I knew I wanted to create videos for a living but I had no idea where to start.
I was flat out lost. And it would take me years to find my way.
I saved up enough money working as a cook in a kitchen and I bought my own camera and computer to edit on.
I started freelancing and over 6 months of giving it all I had, I made a whopping $800.
I knew something had to change. So I built a portfolio website, added all my freelance work to my resume, and began applying to full time jobs in video.
It took me a few months of trying, but I finally landed one. The only problem…it was 120 miles away from home. But I knew I had to take a chance and go for it to get my foot in the door.
So, I moved away from home, something I never wanted to do, just to get my start in the industry. And it definitely was only just a start. I signed on to make $30,000 a year as an in-house videographer/video editor for a German aftermarket car parts distributor (ECS Tuning).
And while it was a dream job in a sense (I got to make videos about cool German cars) I was barley making enough money to get by. My credit cards were maxed out. I could only afford to live in a house with some strangers I met on Craigslist (this is a story for another time). I didn’t know anybody in the area. And I didn’t have much support from my family back home.
I even got a job cleaning offices at night to help make extra money. I was so embarrassed, I didn’t even tell anyone about it. I was so broke, I even had to get pay day loans a few times just to cover the bills. These were my darkest days. I was extremely lonely and my back was up against the wall.
I stayed at that job, in the middle of Ohio, for 3 years. This was a pivotal time in my life. Outside of having kids, this was the biggest growth phase of my life. I literally had to figure it out or I’d have to move back home and live with my mom. I was 24 years old.
But over the next 10 years, I kept my head down and continued pushing. I kept my full time job and freelanced on the side. I slowly learned all the skills it took to be a freelancer and run my own business. I ended up moving home and getting another full time job making a little bit more money that the last one ($45k a year).
I started my own video agency on the side of that full time job. I kept learning and making a little bit more money each year. $70k…$80k…$90k. It was working, my efforts were finally paying off.
But at this point I was burnt out. I had a panic attack one day and everything came crashing down. I thought I was having a heart attack. I was sitting in my office at work and I didn’t know what was happening to me. I ended up in the ER.
Before then, I never knew what burnout was. The reality was, I was taking on too much work and responsibility. And it wore me down mentally and physically. I never saw it coming.
It’s been a long journey, my career in video production. Going on 14 years to be exact. But now I’m at a place where I feel like I finally made it.
I have my own a house, I have two paid off cars, I have a beautiful wife that I’ve been with for 10 years, I have amazing 2-year-old twin daughters. All the bills are paid. We’re saving a lot of money for our retirement each month. And my brothers and I just built a 4 bedroom vacation home in the mountains.
And that’s all thanks to my career as a video editor. My work life is amazing right now. I work remotely so I never have to leave my house. I manage a team of video editor full-time for a company called GymTV. Since I don’t have to get ready and commute to work, I have tons of extra time. I use that time to work for a Social Media Marketing Company call Millennial Media Group. I manage their team of video editors and do a lot of video editing myself.
I’m no longer running my own agency on the side, so I don’t have the stress that comes with it. But I do still have one of my monthly clients ($2k a month) where I still handle all their content and marketing.
It’s still a lot of work (and I’m still probably working too much) but last year I made $130k. My 3rd year in a row over the $100k a year mark.
I’m here to tell you that if I can do it, you can do it too.
If you’re reading this email, you’ve probably interacted with my content on Instagram and signed up for something I gave away for free. I just started that Instagram account 7 months ago with the goal to share everything I’ve learned over my 14 year career in video production.
I’d love to help younger people walking the same path as me, do it in a much short time span. It took me 11 years to have my first $100k year in video. I want to help you do it in half the time.
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