Do You Long To Turn Your Creativity Into a Lucrative Business? 6 Key Steps To Success

Part of my Forbes.com series “Creativity at Work”

If you’re a follower of my blogs, you might have read that I had the exciting experience last year to be featured in a short video that LinkedIn sponsored, about why I love to write and why LinkedIn is a great platform for sharing your core messages and thought leadership. The two-day video shoot was incredibly fun, and quite a dream come true for me. Up to that point, I’d never had a full film crew (11 people!) in my home, and I’d certainly never been featured in this way or asked to share deeply about the writing work that I love to do.

But the most eye-opening part of the experience for me personally was observing Trevor Gavin, Owner and Creative Director of ALCHEMYcreative, and Nathan Henry, DP/Director, work their magic. From finding just the right scenes to capture my core messages, to transforming my home into a gorgeous setting for my writing, and applying their creativity to all the major and minor challenges of filming a powerful short video that inspires the target audience, they are clearly masters at their work, and it was inspiring to watch.

Here’s the outcome of their work (with help, of course, from the talented LinkedIn team):

Creative entrepreneurs by the truckload have asked me over the years how they can leverage their creative talents to build highly successful businesses and earn great financial reward doing work they love. They’re typically filled with doubt that they can make money doing what they love. Often that’s because their family and friends (and perhaps some well-meaning but misguided advisers or authority figures) have drilled into them the damaging notion that “creativity and the arts won’t make you rich – find another livelihood.” But sometimes it’s because they’re not sure they want it enough to stick with it when going gets tough (and it will). Many creatives also fear they don’t have the financial and business management “chops” to build a viable enterprise.

To learn more about how Trevor was able to build his successful video production agency, I asked him to share his story. Here’s what he told me:

Trevor Gavin (Photo by Nathan Henry)

Kathy Caprino: Trevor, please share how you got started in this business.

Trevor Gavin: My love for video started early, probably close to my early teens. In high school I made my own skateboarding videos using a VHS camcorder and two VCRs to cut my videos. That’s where I fell in love with the craft and power of editing. At this time I was living in Northern California outside of Redding in a small town called Shingletown, just outside of Lassen National Park. I still frequently escape out to the mountains for inspiration and to decompress.

In my early 20s I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to go to college, with my primary focus at the time being Film and Video editing. Nearing the end of my 2nd year I found an opportunity at a local production company and decided to put all my efforts into this new adventure. I figured learning on the job was better than hearing about it in class or reading it in a book. I wanted to dive in head first without a thought but it was a very tough decision for me to make. At that time, my grandfather was helping support us financially allowing us to live in the Bay Area while I went to school. When I had to tell him that I wasn’t going to school anymore, it was a terrible feeling. I felt I was disappointing him, but at the same time I knew this was a decision I had to make on my own and trust my gut.

Caprino: Was it the right decision for you then?

Gavin: I’m really glad I made that decision as it set the path to where I am now. Upon arriving at the production company, I was given one of the editing suites to myself as the senior editor was on vacation for a few weeks. This was my first look at an Avid suite. Having never seen or worked with a system like this before I set my sights on the manual. I read it cover to cover. A fascinating read, really. I was slowly able to make sense of it and cut my first video game trailer within a few days. Once I did that, the doors were open. I started to get all projects that were anything game related or flashy. It was great. During this time, I met a good friend who was an editor and compositor at the same company. Through him I learned the importance of attention to detail and giving every project your all. I put everything I had into this job and learned a lot from being there. I quickly became obsessed with motion graphic design and animation. I had found a way to create content and release my creativity without needing anyone else but myself and some computer software. I would work into the early hours of the morning learning programs like Adobe After Effects and teaching myself design and animation on top of my daily editing jobs.

Fast forward a few years later I found myself in the freelance market. I was deep into design, animation, and editing at a number of places in the San Francisco Bay Area. I really enjoyed it and was giving that effort all I had but it was slowly starting to wear on me. I would sometimes only get an hour of sleep after working on 3 different jobs. I think back and wonder how I was still able to produce anything to an acceptable degree, but I did. It obviously isn’t sustainable but when you’re young, you can do these things more easily. A few years into that race, I started to think to the future. What was next? Do I look for someone I can pay to help me? Do I start my own company?

The answer sort of fell in my lap not long after those thoughts started to cross my mind. After returning from Japan on a video production I was shooting for Playstation, some very close friends of mine that I was freelancing for came to me with a proposal. They asked if I wanted to start my own business and gave me the opportunity to just say “yes.” The timeline was very short for me to make a decision. What did I know about running a business? Is this the right thing to do?

I decided the answer was “yes” and that was the beginning of ALCHEMYcreative. I set out on this new adventure not really knowing what was ahead and here we are today. ALCHEMY has evolved tremendously over the last 5 years, with our main focus on story-driven authentic content for brands. I feel this is a very powerful medium for brands to speak to the new consumer. People are too smart and don’t like to be advertised to. Do you? No. So let’s start thinking of brands as being content creators and give their consumers something they care about or relate to. Look at Redbull and GoPro. We have been fortunate enough to have worked in a wide range of industries including gaming, automotive, lifestyle and technology. We are lucky to have built a great client list and to have produced many creatively fulfilling projects while making new friendships along the way.

Caprino: Obviously, the journey to success leveraging your creativity isn’t all fun and games. What challenges have you faced and overcome?

Gavin: There are many challenges in running a business that don’t mesh too well with the creative mind. Things like balancing finances, management, business development, being creative on the fly, inside a rapidly shifting industry. I feel the key is to surround yourself with people you trust. Be true to yourself and work hard. Good things will come your way if you are passionate and put your all into it. We are all in this business because we love it. Be open to new opportunities and be sure to collaborate. You can’t do it all yourself. Your best work comes from collaboration.

In the end, run the business you yourself would want to work for. For me that means creating lasting relationships and having fun with co-workers and clients. How lucky are we to work in this sort of industry? We tell stories for brands that otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to tell. We’ve met a lot of great people and traveled to many places worldwide. They are some of my best memories and friendships that wouldn’t have happened any other way. Stay inspired!

Top five tips: 

• Surround yourself with people you trust
• Collaboration is key
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help
• Be true to yourself
• Strike a balance between work and your personal creativity to keep inspired

* * * * * * * * *

When I review Trevor’s story, I see a number of critical elements that have contributed to his success:

1) Having “tried on” the professional endeavor of video production and successfully living it before he launched his business

2) An intense passion for the work itself (because again, this is work, not play)

3) A true willingness to risk it all to pursue – and embrace – his love of developing story-driven content

4) An unwavering commitment to making his business work

5)  Surrounding himself with talented people he can trust and rely on (and have fun with)

6) Making the right business and creative decisions to propel his work forward

Are you ready to go out on your own, and leverage your amazing creative talents? Why not make 2016 your year to take the plunge?

For more information, visit Trevor Gavin and ALCHEMYcreative.

To build a successful business leveraging your creativity, visit kathycaprino.com, The Amazing Career Project, and my new free video series 6 Steps To Building Your Six-Figure Coaching Business Fast.