He's Probably Met Your Favorite Celebrity | Luke Strege's Videography Journey

When Luke Strege and I first crossed paths amidst the chaos of 2019, little did we know that our shared zest for videography would be the kindling for a friendship and professional camaraderie that spans from whimsical wedding shoots to the glitz of Los Angeles. This episode is a nostalgic trip and a treasure trove of insights as Luke and I trade tales from our formative days in the content creation realm. We share earnest revelations about chasing our professional dreams while maintaining a personal touch in every frame we capture.

Venturing into the world of videography can often feel like stepping into an unknown realm, but it's a journey he embraced, moving from a secure corporate life into full-time film production. The heart of this episode lies in the stories of transition and transformation—like the unforgettable email that landed in his inbox, opening the door to pursue his passion unbridled. Our chat isn't just about the glamour of red carpet moments; it's an honest reflection on the grind, the late-night edits, and the vibrant tapestry of experiences that shape a creative professional's life.

But what happens after you've started to make your mark? We wrap up with a candid discussion about staying grounded amid the industry's highs, the influence of authenticity on one's work, and the continuous journey of self-improvement. Creatives, dreamers, and everyone in between, you're invited to join us as we peel back the curtain on the perseverance and heart that fuel our craft. And for those eager to walk this path with us, our Instagrams are just a click away for sneak peeks into what's brewing next in our world of content creation.

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Watch the visual version of this podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@thisisntmydegree

Original Dante - Host
YouTube: www.youtube.com/originaldante
Personal IG: www.instagram.com/vibesbydante
Podcast IG: www.instagram.com/thisisntmydegree

Luke Strege - Guest
IG: www.instagram.com/lukestrege
Wedding IG: www.instagram.com/elearintime

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Can you believe it? There is a beaver in the shot, right there Back there. You see him. There's a beaver. Welcome to Riverside Chats, powered by Riversidefm. The beaver is not a paid actor, by the way.

Speaker 1: 0:16

Today we're going to talk about how mad I am, because outside it is literally in the 30s. You want to know what's really insane about it. Here in St Louis yesterday it was 86 degrees, we broke the all-time February warm record, and then this morning it was 26, and it's windy out. So I'm actually going to keep this very brief. This week's guest is Luke, one of my longtime friends, and today's Riverside question is going to be what was your dream job growing up and did you end up doing that thing? Like I said, today's episode is with one of my longtime friends, luke, who I met back in like 2019. And we both had a passion for video whenever we met and it was super cool.

Speaker 1: 1:01

This podcast is honestly, I think, one of the most eye-opening that I've filmed so far, because we spit so much knowledge and so many things that, even if you're not interested in content creation, it's relevant just to like your personal fulfillment journey and ending up where you want to end up professionally and creatively, and episodes like this wouldn't be possible without Riversidefm. Honestly, it makes my life super easy, because all I have to do is invite people to my studio link record. The files are uploaded. So even if the internet's buggy or dodgy which it did get there for a few minutes you guys don't worry about that, because you won't even see it, because all the files are recorded locally. I mean, the geese are going crazy for it back there.

Speaker 1: 1:41

I also found out that you can use your iPhone to tether as a webcam, so that's pretty cool. So, without further ado, let's get into today's episode with Luke Stregge. Luke, the last time we did a podcast, you got me in trouble, so I need you to be on your best behavior this time around, because we're not doing that again. I didn't get you in trouble, though you almost got me in trouble.

Speaker 1: 2:03

You, I'll never forget that I was.

Speaker 2: 2:07

I was in Croatia at the time and it was like 1 AM my time, and this man sends me a text and I was like can you get on a call right now?

Speaker 1: 2:22

I remember sitting in my office and I called you and we were both just like, wow, this is real life. Huh, this. You know what this is. You've seen this before, but it was in way better condition. I do. This is my degree and this isn't my degree. It just fell apart across the room. Oh shit, welcome to the show where.

Speaker 1: 2:42

I give you a backstage pass in the life of a full-time freelancer and content creator and sometimes I get to virtually hang out with close friends like Luke Stregge. Luke Stregge, this guy, this guy, we go so back we. We met at the winter social at the selfie room.

Speaker 2: 3:05

The winter social at the selfie room.

Speaker 1: 3:07

That was such a crazy time. That was like whenever we were just getting really just getting our start.

Speaker 2: 3:12

Getting our start. What year was that here? Hold on. Was it 2018?, bro, it was December 2019. How'd you beat me to that?

Speaker 1: 3:24

Wow, ok, so 2019. We've known each other since 2019. That's crazy. For those that don't know who you are, who are you?

Speaker 2: 3:33

Yes, my name is Luke Stregge. Why did you?

Speaker 1: 3:36

why did you approach the microphone and say that, like that?

Speaker 2: 3:41

Yeah, who am I? Who am I? So I am a content. Professionally, I'm a content producer, storyteller director, based in Los Angeles, California, and I focus on telling short or using short form content to tell stories for my clients.

Speaker 1: 4:06

And you have worked with a variety of brands, businesses, people. You started here in St Louis, so walk me back through whenever you first started out as a videographer, what kind of things were you shooting and how did you get your start in the video business?

Speaker 2: 4:24

How did I get my start in the video business? I always love this question In terms of making money. I started in weddings and, fun fact, I still do weddings to this day under my wedding brand. However, it's much more niche and I do only three or four a year and much different than what I used to do. So I used to. Yeah, weddings was what got me started and what really showed me that I could make a career out of this, or the potential to make a career out of this. But then on the side, I was exploring so many other options of types of creativity so working with models or going and doing sports and things like that while I was also working a full-time job. So when I started, this was not my main income source. I had a 9 to 5 corporate job that I stayed at for about three years while I was building this with that purpose.

Speaker 1: 5:26

OK, so you were doing this more as a side hustle, not as much as like this is my main thing.

Speaker 2: 5:34

Right, I wanted it to be my main thing, though what was the moment?

Speaker 1: 5:37

that you realized that you wanted it to be your full-time job.

Speaker 2: 5:40

The moment I realized I wanted videography to be my full-time job was, honestly, after working at the 9 to 5 that I had and it had just passed the honeymoon phase. So it passed like that four to five month internship period where, oh no, I'm not going back to college.

Speaker 2: 5:57

And also don't need to go to college in general, if you're listening to this, but we can touch on that in a bit and I filmed one of my co-workers' weddings and I offered to do it as a gift because I just wanted to get into it to see what it was like, and I did that and then I realized that I just had so much fun and then I had to go back to normal life after the wedding was over and I was like no, I want to do more of that. And so I kind of just got hooked. And then also seeing people's reactions from that, like the emotion that it evoked and other people approaching me to do it, I was like, oh, no. Or I was like, oh, I can do this full-time eventually if you look at the path set out. So it was more of a technical view of it, but that's how my brain works a bit.

Speaker 1: 6:54

I mean that's good. You come from a more technical thought process behind it, because that is something that a lot of creatives lack and, ultimately, why a lot of people jump out of the creative industry is because you got to market yourself. You got to actually look at the technical aspect, not just the creative vision.

Speaker 2: 7:16

Yeah, I agree, but I think potentially, when you mentioned lack, it's not that it's not learnable.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2: 7:24

So anybody?

Speaker 1: 7:25

can start training themselves to understand the technical side of things. It's something that a lot of creatives are just blissfully unaware of. It's in their blind spot until they finally throw themselves in and they realize, oh, I have to do more than just create things. I have to distribute it. I have to be the person to come up with how this is going to get to people and how this is going to make money, where that money goes. Whenever I make it, there's a lot to pick up on there, exactly. So, yeah, with weddings, you ultimately did leave your job. How did you feel Right before you put in your two weeks? Or did you just quit outright, like I want to hear?

Speaker 1: 8:14

your thought process from the moment that you typed up your resignation letter and you were like OK, this is my time, this is my moment, this is it.

Speaker 2: 8:23

It's happening, damn Dude, that that's a wild story. So I had known for a like a year or two prior that I wanted to leave my job and I was in a situation where I couldn't really without paying a lot of money back because I had gone back to school to get a master's degree. So you think you got it through this podcast.

Speaker 2: 8:49

This isn't my degree, so I got. So, yeah, I got my grad degree through my corporate company, which is a super sick benefit in general, sure, and if you're in the corporate world, definitely take advantage of that. And but for you, you basically I signed two years of my life at that company if I didn't want to pay it back after graduation, and so the company at the time, covid, had just hit. This is what back in 20, mid 2019 or like start starting 2020.

Speaker 2: 9:26

And then they started to go through rounds of layoffs and so if you get laid off with fine print is you don't have to pay it back. So I saw that as an opportunity for myself just very unique situation, for sure and I pushed for it and it took me about six months before they approved it. But I remember the time that I was on a plane landing in LA, ironically enough, and I was I was there to film an allotment of one of my coworkers and this is going to like should people use or invest in themselves outside of what the project scope is? And this they were alloping because of covid, this was like deep into it, so like people were allowed to like see each other, and basically I. It wasn't a part of their package, they weren't paying for it, they weren't covering it, but I was like you know what? I want? To capture this moment because it'll make the overall story better and go towards the type of weddings at the time that I want to film.

Speaker 2: 10:40

And so I invested in that weekend trip out there. I landed in LA and I got the email that I was eligible to voluntarily lay myself off while you were in LA. And while I was landing in LA, I literally and I had like five texts from my coworkers because they all knew that I wanted to leave and I was like, wow, I just sat there and I like had full body chills on this Southwest flight landing in Santa Ana, california, and it was about noon Pacific standard time. And then that day I had free and I went to Instagram because I was like, let's see, why not Like?

Speaker 2: 11:25

if if I'm going to leave my job. I want to just also want to see what I could do, like the day prior to the one, inside the free day, to help out other careers, and I DM'd everyone that I had built some sort of relationship Like DM basis on Instagram, and there was one individual who was filming a music video that day.

Speaker 1: 11:47

And this story is so like it still gives me chills because, yeah, I'll just let you tell it. I'll let you tell it. No, you're good.

Speaker 2: 11:58

And so I DM, I DM like probably like 15, 20 people. I didn't expect anything by the way, you can never go into it expecting anything and I was like, hey, I'm here for the weekend, would love to add value to you. Do BTS? I'm around, let me know. And just kind of left it there. One person responded and they said come on set. And I was like sounds great, granted. I had nowhere clue where the set was and so so wait you just got a cool DM.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Basically, that said, show us what you said, show up to the set, come on through. But you didn't know where that place or location was.

Speaker 2: 12:43

Right, exactly. However, that was an open invitation to myself, yeah. And so I was like, okay, I'm going to figure it out. And I DM them and I was like, sounds great, what's the address? And 30 minutes past, they opened the DM and left me on red no, and I was like, oh, shoot, um, what do I do now?

Speaker 1: 13:05

And so I looked at their stories and this is also it sounds wild when you say it, but it all makes sense.

Speaker 2: 13:17

Yeah, so I looked on their stories to figure out like an approximate location, because, granted, never do this, though, if you're not invited.

Speaker 1: 13:26

Yeah, don't just be pulling up to sets. Don't do this If you're like. I did a disclaimer. He had an invitation. Yeah, he was invited to this set by one of the people responsible for organizing it. Don't just show up to the set, yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:43

And so I showed up to the set, yeah, with no expectation and granted that there's security and things, so it's still safe. Yeah, but I show up to the set and I give my name and I say say the person's name that um invited me to the set. So they radioed up to to the crew and they were like all right, you're good to go through.

Speaker 1: 14:07

And I was like whoa, whoa.

Speaker 2: 14:10

So, like I got the clearance, I got through approval and then I go up there. I had no clue what to expect. I just knew it was a music video and 40 minutes in they started talking about the talent that day and it was like a moment of being like a super dope artist and crew. That really just was a pivotal moment in my in my life and that moment was like why not me? And so it kind of just further encouraged myself, the belief in myself, to be like, if you can come do this, like why, why can't you make a life out of it?

Speaker 1: 14:51

Dude, honestly, you have to make a documentary about this someday, because the way that all of those events unfolded, the story almost just told itself, because, if you think about it, that 24 hour time period, like everything changed. That was the moment that everything shifted and it was all you got I still get like chills.

Speaker 2: 15:19

I was literally a life changing thing.

Speaker 1: 15:21

I remember talking to you like right after this happened. You were like, dude, you're not going to believe what kind of day I've had. I'm like, okay, tell me all the details. And then you told me that and I just remember sitting there thinking, holy shit, if, like, that is the biggest sign that you were destined to do this.

Speaker 2: 15:42

Exactly, and I think. I think we all have our own little, our own moments in life. For me, that was like granted for perspective as well. That was like two and a half three years of me consistently working on top of everything else. And the opportunity just came and the opportunity came.

Speaker 1: 16:01

Talking about how you worked hard to get this opportunity came.

Speaker 2: 16:07

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean you just put in consistent work, right, and with like volume negates luck, and with that the volume of work that you put in whether it be personal or professional life eventually it's going to work out Like if you don't quit it'll work. And in that moment, right, like it was like accumulation up until that point of everything I've ever done and not that I condone overworking, or like staying up all night. I proceeded to take all the footage and photos of that set, edit them overnight, had the wedding still to film the next morning and all day delivered it to the client. Then I proceeded to go on and film that elopement that day and then I got a text that later that day and they're like client loves what you did and they ended up using my BTS video as the main BTS video for the whole music video.

Speaker 1: 17:18

So it's like you have to take a risk, because one of them that followed is you leaving St Louis, uprooting your life and moving to LA. That's a huge risk because whenever you move to a new city that's intimidating enough, as is Even with connections it's scary. So walk me through the like weeks leading up to you actually boarding that plane or driving your car all the way from St Louis to LA.

Speaker 2: 17:52

Wow, okay, so let me I'll put some time Sam's. So October 2nd, I should. I should look at when I got that. I believe it was like August 22nd was the day that I got the notification that I could leave October 2nd. So a month less about a month later, I leave my job. I officially moved to LA. Like I landed in LA in the first place that I lived October 20th. So within two and a half weeks, I just decided fuck it, I'm gonna, this is my, this is my time.

Speaker 2: 18:34

What's the worst that can happen? The worst case very grateful for this situation is that I moved back to Missouri, moving with my parents, or, if you don't have like good relationships or whatever, have a friend or someone, I'm sure there's someone in your life that would back you. Hopefully, I moved back in. I could move back in with my family and then figure it out from there, go back to my old job. So for me, there was no, it was a win-win situation and yeah, so it risks. Definitely. I was scared for sure, because I went out not knowing anyone, except for like one person that I knew on Instagram, and so I really spent. It took me six months to make any money, meaning like to be able to pay my bills at the bare minimum living in LA, and that's another risk.

Speaker 1: 19:35

Those risks are scary, like being like okay where's my next check coming from and you have no clue what that answer is yeah, because with a traditional job, you show up to work, you do your job, you get paid every week, two weeks, month. However your structure is, you know there's guaranteed money coming in, even if you're sick, even if whatever. But exactly whenever you take on the life of independent contractor, freelancer life, if you want to paycheck, you have to make it happen.

Speaker 2: 20:11

Put in consistent work, right and with like volume, negates luck and with that the volume of work that you put in, whether it be personal or professional life. Eventually it's going to work out Like if you don't quit it'll work. And in that moment, right, like it was like accumulation up until that point, of everything I've ever done and not that I condone overworking or like staying up all night. I proceeded to take all the footage and photos of that set, edit them overnight, had the wedding still to film the next morning and all day delivered it to the client. Then I proceeded to go on and film that elopement that day and then I got a text that later that day and they're like client loves what you did, and they ended up using my BTS video as the main BTS video for the whole music video. So it's like you just have to take those risks, right.

Speaker 1: 21:25

So let's talk about taking a risk, because one of them that followed is you leaving St Louis, uprooting your life and moving to LA. That's a huge risk, because whenever you move to a new city, that's intimidating enough, as is, yes, and even with connections it's scary, so walk me through the like weeks leading up to you actually boarding that plane or driving your car all the way from St Louis to LA.

Speaker 2: 21:55

Wow, Okay, so let me I'll put some time, sam. So October 2nd I should. I should look at when I got that. I believe it was like August 22nd was the day that I got the notification that I could leave October 2nd, so a month less about a month later, I leave my job. I officially moved to LA. Like I landed in LA in the first place that I lived October 20th, so within two and a half weeks I just decided fuck it.

Speaker 1: 22:35

I'm gonna. This is my, this is my time.

Speaker 2: 22:37

What's the worst that can happen. The worst case very grateful for this situation is that I move back to Missouri, moving with my parents. Or if you don't have like good relationships or whatever, have a friend or someone, I'm sure there's someone in your life that would back you. Hopefully, I moved back in, I could move back in with my family and then figure it out from there, go back to my old job. So for me there was no, it was a win-win situation and yeah, so it risks. Definitely. I was scared, for sure, because I went out not knowing anyone, except for like one person that I knew on Instagram, and so I really spent. It took me six months to make any money, meaning like to be able to pay my bills at the bare minimum living in LA, and that's another risk.

Speaker 1: 23:40

So yeah, those risks are scary, Like being like okay, where's my next check coming from? Yeah, and you have no clue what that answer is. Because with a traditional job, you show up to work, you do your job, you get paid every week, two weeks, month. However your structure is, you know there's guaranteed money coming in, even if you're sick, even if whatever.

Speaker 1: 24:09

But whenever you take on the life of independent contractor, freelancer life, if you want to paycheck, you have to make it happen Exactly. But that's also a blessing. It is Because that means also like there's no real ceiling, except for the one that you put there, which, like he said, don't overwork, don't romanticize the hustle culture where, oh, I'm competing for the least amount of sleep tonight. Not worth it.

Speaker 2: 24:40

Not worth it? No, and there will be periods of time where you have to do that for sure.

Speaker 1: 24:45

Yeah, I mean that comes kind of with almost any job is that you're going to have to put in extra hours? Yeah, but don't like do multiple sleepless nights in a row every weekend or something, no, exactly.

Speaker 2: 24:57

Yeah, not worth it. Mental health is important and it's definitely something that I neglected for the first couple of years.

Speaker 1: 25:08

So you've gotten settled in LA now.

Speaker 2: 25:09

Yes, right.

Speaker 1: 25:11

Yeah, how are things going? How's it been going?

Speaker 2: 25:14

It's been good. I feel much more myself here and I think now I would feel myself anywhere. But it took me choosing myself and pursuing like the inner wants and needs of me personally and just kind of like finding myself a bit more. And obviously we're all kind of continuing to find ourselves as we go, but it feels good. I like LA. I think LA, or anywhere that you're at, is like there's so much opportunity and I love it for what I do and the environment is super cool.

Speaker 1: 25:59

I mean, I'm consistently impressed with all the work that you put out, all the projects that you've been taking on lately, like you went from full time weddings to jumping into LA and now you're doing red carpet premieres. You're working with very high level people and very public facing people, but you're the one producing the quality work out of that.

Speaker 2: 26:23

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:24

So it's so cool to see your growth and your character arc since leaving here and really settling into not just like creative director, luke, but person Luke.

Speaker 2: 26:36

Thank you, I appreciate that dude.

Speaker 1: 26:38

Dude, of course, yeah, we're homies bro.

Speaker 2: 26:42

Yeah, hell yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:46

Dude, I love.

Speaker 2: 26:47

Dante Barger put on the record Anyway holy cr Dude, luke Strigi.

Speaker 1: 26:52

This guy, crazy, crazy. If you don't know Luke Strigi, you are missing out on life. Hey, now.

Speaker 2: 27:00

Anyway, I'm just saying, just saying no, I'm saying no, I'm saying no, I'm saying no regrets.

Speaker 1: 27:09

It's my credo. No regrets.

Speaker 2: 27:12

Not even one. Anyway, yeah, dude, so I do. I appreciate it and also like throwing it back at you. I also remember after the winter social in 2019, we met up for coffee at a Starbucks at this place in St Louis called the Westport oh my.

Speaker 1: 27:36

God yeah, and.

Speaker 2: 27:37

Westport and we sat there and just talked about life and Dante and I had, like similar personal experiences with relationships and so or ex relationships, and it was eerie like how close the timing was for that.

Speaker 1: 27:56

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:57

Yeah, so we really bonded, dare I say, trauma bonded.

Speaker 1: 28:01

Holy shit, that is trauma bonded. If you think about it, we trauma bonded. Oh wow, we trauma bonded.

Speaker 2: 28:09

Therapy Luke coming out, I just started therapy, so therapy is nice.

Speaker 1: 28:14

Therapy is here. I need to start it.

Speaker 2: 28:16

But but yeah, no, I just want to throw like. We both talked about goals and things and we both didn't know how we were gonna get there. And now look at us. I would say we've surpassed everything that we've talked about. Yeah, For the most, For like almost everything Pretty much.

Speaker 1: 28:37

I mean, if we were to look back at the, you know, I think that was like February 2020. It was like right before the panorama hit, we were sitting there talking about what we wanted to achieve and where we wanted to be at and, to be honest with you, I think those guys sitting at that table looking at us now would be like whoa.

Speaker 2: 29:01

I agree.

Speaker 1: 29:03

Not where I expected you to be at all.

Speaker 2: 29:05

No, not at all bro.

Speaker 1: 29:08

Like yeah, I mean just thinking back at life, you know, late 2019, early 2020, it was so different, so different Like we were just. We were just like getting some momentum going.

Speaker 2: 29:27

Yeah, I agree with that and like, let's talk about momentum. I think that you can build your own momentum. You just got to take action and like an example of that is like when I still was in St Louis, like that 2019, look right Into 2020, into leaving my job. So, outside of making money aspect of it, I challenged myself to post on socials at least two to three times a week when I was there or when I was like in St Louis, and that means posting content that I wanted to create. So like I spent almost 40 weeks posting two to three times a week and it would be three, like three posts from each shoot that I did. So every week I was meeting up with different people or the same and creating different types of content, editing it almost real time, because I would put it out like three days, two days after, so it would be a video and two photos that I would post. I don't know if you remember this. I remember this.

Speaker 1: 30:28

Yeah, and so like this was back whenever posting super regularly was like a great thing.

Speaker 2: 30:33

Yeah, so I was posting three to four times, like three times, a week, and it was all.

Speaker 2: 30:38

Every week would be new content and it would be like, even if I forced myself to post it, to challenge myself to make every video better than the last, and that is how I built my own momentum, without me knowing it, like I didn't realize that that was happening, but like looking back. If I look back at like the first video I ever posted during that time, versus like 30 to 40 videos later, which is crazy in a 40 week time period. These are all short form content, so not like long ass videos. But yeah, so 40 videos later, or 40 videos or 40 things of anything, you're bound to be better. So, it's true, it's just like getting getting in like the reps and like time, and it doesn't necessarily have to be every week. Whatever works in your schedule and your life and you stay consistent with it is what's going to build that momentum. And then eventually you're going to look back and you're going to be doing everything that you once dreamed of and be like, wow.

Speaker 1: 31:46

And you're not even going to be thinking about it at that point, it's just going to be the norm for you. Yeah, it'll just be part of your. Your morning reps or you know something that you do every single day. It's just part of your routine.

Speaker 2: 31:59

Exactly Like you get up and brush your teeth. It's the same thing, Literally. Yeah, you know you're going to have to look back and get to the way to fit into your, into your life, Because if it's not, I I'm a firm believer of. If it's something that we want to do as a human, we'll figure out how to prioritize it, to make it happen?

Speaker 1: 32:21

Oh, absolutely yeah, if you want something bad enough, you will find a way to fit it in. Yeah, like you will make sure that you have capacity for Exactly.

Speaker 2: 32:33

Whatever project, whatever task, yeah, adjusting your life will happen.

Speaker 2: 32:38

So I always look back at my younger self and I put out and create and tell stories that my younger self would have loved to hear and see that could have potentially helped him on his way a little faster.

Speaker 2: 32:53

And so I think, as with the positions that we're in and it's not like we're at the top, like there's always room to grow and I think the biggest thing is not to let ego get in the way. However, I'm just trying to think of always, constantly, when I'm creating or when I'm making choices would my younger self and my future self be happy with me? And I think that's relatable to across anyone. I'm just making it specific to myself because I'm talking in first person. However, just like, if I can help one person's life, then it's all worth it to me, and I know one person may not sound like a lot, but you can start such a domino effect with that, because we have these social platforms with hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions plus can see your content, just like this, and it's such a valuable and beautiful tool that we have to do and you never know what impact you're making or who's watching.

Speaker 1: 34:06

So you really don't. One example that comes to mind is I remember a piece of content that I posted that, at face value, I believed underperformed because at the time, I had, I think, 4,000 followers on Instagram and it only reached about two to 300 of my followers. So I saw it as a flop. But out of those two to 300 followers and a few non-followers, one of those people ended up being a great connection for now, now that I'm like an independent content creator that I've collaborated with. Now, like it's so wild because you really don't know who is watching and it's not. Sometimes. It's not about how many people are watching, it's are the right people watching. Yes, and I say this all the time, I'd much rather have 10,000 followers that are super focused on, like what I'm putting out there, because I'm providing value to them, rather than a million people that are just feeling lukewarm about me.

Speaker 2: 35:15

Yeah, I agree and I think kind of oh, that's cool.

Speaker 1: 35:18

I see their stuff. I followed them at some point. I'd rather have an audience that actually cares and vibes and fucks with what I do.

Speaker 2: 35:26

I agree.

Speaker 1: 35:28

It's about finding the right people, not just the most amount of people you can reach Right.

Speaker 2: 35:35

Exactly and if you think about it like I think at the time of this quarter, I have like 4,700 followers on Instagram. However, I started doing this full time when I had like a thousand followers, but I could have done it at less. Right, it's not. It's not about how many followers you are or that you have on socials, even though in today's world there's so much noise. It's about the value that you add to the clients and the bottom line in their profit, as if we're talking on a business standpoint, like it's about making them money.

Speaker 1: 36:10

Mm, hmm.

Speaker 2: 36:12

And there's a world where you can make money as well as tell us, tell an impactful story that changes others' viewpoints on things, and, at the end of the day, I think those are the most powerful combinations of of creation, mm, hmm, because there are worlds where you can do it all the time.

Speaker 1: 36:33

I like to categorize projects between Passion and paycheck. Yeah, sometimes it's going to be both. Exactly, but there are going to be times when you're going to do some things for passion and sometimes you're going to do things just for a paycheck. Yep, ideally it's all in the same meal, but at the end of the day, sometimes you have to be fulfilling yourself passionately, but then also you got to pay bills.

Speaker 2: 37:00

It's inevitable and I think that's that's the part of the question and I think that's that's the part of creating, and we can dive a bit deeper. To end off the podcast with this. I think that's like a part that isn't really talked about enough. And, like you said, passion versus creating, or what were the two terms, passion and paycheck? Pate, passion and paycheck. I love that, or another. I've never viewed it that way, but now I'm adding that one to the toolbox. There's another one meal versus a reel. Dude, yes, the meal versus a reel. So, like you said, sometimes it's going to be both, but the thing is, is there's so much happening behind the scenes on socials, like in real life, that people will never see. Like I do so much work that never gets posted, and I'm cool with that.

Speaker 1: 37:52

Same and I'm cool with that. We'll do a lot of corporate stuff that's very, not very engaging for social media, like people don't want to watch it. But Doesn't mean it's not happening.

Speaker 2: 38:05

Right, like I'll work with some media agencies just to get hired to film and like help produce content for them. I get paid a rate there. I don't share it, but it allows me to continue to do what I'm doing, and I think that's that's what a lot of people don't talk about.

Speaker 1: 38:25

So yeah, people don't talk about that enough, because not all the work you do is going to be sexy. It's not all going to be this exciting new opportunity. You're going to have to do some things that you might find not boring but just not as fulfilling as a passion project. Yeah, I agree, and that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that. Exactly, and that's that's. I feel like a stigma out there is that if you do the quote, unquote, boring stuff, it's not as cool, like you're not as great of a content creator, when in reality, like, you're still doing great things. It's just sometimes projects aren't going to be beautiful and sexy, period, and that's fine, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that. There are a bunch of videographers that I know that it work exclusively with corporate clients. Yeah, like, very like health care that's like. Or insurance, it's not very fun and exciting, but they're doing very well for themselves, they pay well, but just high. Exactly, it's just just don't see yourself as above that kind of work. Yeah, that's, I think, the biggest thing to take away from it.

Speaker 2: 39:39

Yeah, just don't. Don't let ego get in front.

Speaker 1: 39:41

Literally. That's literally what it is.

Speaker 2: 39:44

Yeah ego, and I think that also goes with the type of work that you end up loving Right.

Speaker 1: 39:49

Well, first off, love all my clients, and you know I have a question for you before you get into this, because, speaking of ego, you I'm going to brag for you for a minute. I you work with I'm not even kidding like literal celebrities yeah, like literal. You've worked with household names. So how do you keep ego in check? Because I know for a lot of people, if you start working with those high level people that everyone's going to recognize, you're going to kind of be like oh yeah, I'm doing some good shit now. So how do you keep that ego in check? Because you still are a pretty humble person, I'll be honest. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 40:34

I was scared. I was scared when they moved to LA man because, I'm like that's not a place known for being humble.

Speaker 2: 40:41

True, la Luke came out a little bit, got some more tattoos. Paint my nails, no, anyway.

Speaker 1: 40:46

You got sleeves and I are tempted me to get a sleeve. Sleeves got necktie Anyway you got leg tat. Leg tat.

Speaker 2: 40:53

Hey shit.

Speaker 1: 40:54

Anyway, no.

Speaker 2: 40:56

Before going back to our normal cells. You let me circle back. How do you, how do you keep you going? Check?

Speaker 2: 41:02

I love that question because like the thing is is like the way I view it, or what I've seen and experienced in the, in the rooms that I've been able to document and do my craft is everyone just wants to be treated like a human and you're not above anyone else. And like the thing is is that, at the end of the day, being genuine and authentic and I know the term authentic, it's thrown around so much now but like being genuine and just being a human, like being yourself, as scary and fearful as that is. Like I'll tell you right now, I'm an introvert, I get anxiety, I force myself into these situations in a positive way and if some people you won't vibe with, some people we will, and you just find that out by just doing. But how do you keep your ego in check? By understanding that, for me at least, is this could technically or this could go away tomorrow. I think about that and that's not a negative, like pessimistic way to view.

Speaker 2: 42:17

It's just like understanding and having gratitude for the opportunities that come your way and just knowing that, as long as you lead with your heart instead of like being like oh, I just worked with so and so I'm going to I'm only doing this to post to social media, but that will not get you anywhere and people can really tell, like the talent can really tell if you're there for good intentions or not, because at the end of the day, they don't let very many people into their circles, and that's another thing is, once you're in, you can. As long as you continue to be a good person and obviously you have to perform you'll likely find more opportunities. Well, whether it's for that with that talent or for people in their world. Right, and it may come slow, but yeah.

Speaker 2: 43:14

I think, to put it short, just you're never better than the person next to you.

Speaker 1: 43:22

And that's so good to keep in mind because we really are in a relationship based industry. I don't know about you, but a lot of work that I get comes from referrals, previous clients or people that I've worked with. I don't really do a ton of traditional advertising. It's just word of mouth and it's because you know, like you, I prioritize being a good person to work with. You know they're just being a good person and, like you said, delivering on expectations.

Speaker 2: 43:56

That's huge huge, and if we're and if we're looking at it from a professional standpoint, another thing to understand is, as much as I'm an artist, you're an artist. Whoever's listening or watching is an artist is. At the end of the day, we're there to perform a task and a job. Yeah, it might hone our expertise, which is storytelling, like in our case, storytelling how to use a camera correctly, not having to ask questions of oh, what's this lighting gonna be like, just knowing and showing up and being able to be on autopilot in a way, but then jumping in when you need to with these situations, because most of the time when I'm working with talent, I'm a fly on the wall, except for maybe five minutes of the entire day If there's a specific social concept. So I have those five minutes. I have to jump in, get whatever the specific ask is and outside of that, it's general capture most times, and you just have to be always ready and just ready to go into being.

Speaker 2: 44:59

That mindset is just being present and just staying ready. But I think what I was saying on the professional side is you have to understand yeah, we're artists at heart. However, we're there to perform a task and to get a job done, and which means the way I view it is. Being consistently good is better than being occasionally great. You're not there to get the most beautiful shot like, if you can, amazing Always the goal to make the best product that we ever can. However, as long as we're getting an adding value to the client consistently, you're gonna come back around.

Speaker 1: 45:42

Dude, that's so true Occasionally great versus consistently good. I've never heard it put that way, but that is facts, that's complete facts, and I think that's a good ending point for this show. Yes, just take notes on that, just write that down, remember it, pop it in your head, burn it into your memory. We dropped a lot of gems in this episode. We did A lot, and this will not be the last episode that we do either. No, it will not be. We have so much more to talk about, and you are launching a podcast yourself right, I am Podcast slash.

Speaker 2: 46:27

I'm gonna start with short form content, I believe, and then move into the podcast. I might do a solo cast, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 46:35

But you can find out by keeping up with Luke. I'll put all the description show notes. You'll find links to both your Instagram. What else are you on TikTok?

Speaker 2: 46:47

Yeah, I mean I have all the platforms, but if you wanna stay up to date with me, instagram is the best. No, but yeah, if you're listening to this and you have questions or anything like, feel free. Like DMs are open. For sure, I'll answer in the time that I have and get back to you when I can.

Speaker 1: 47:08

But yeah, this guy could continue to drop gems and gold and silver and bronze and whatever the fuck else. Minerals we can think of Emeralds, I don't know, diamonds, but we're gonna stop you here. Thanks again. Thank you for tuning into this week's podcast. Don't forget to like, rate, share, comment, subscribe. There's too many terms. We'll see you in the next one.

Speaker 2: 47:38

Peace.