Latest / Reframe / 21: Nick Diomis - Capturing the Essence of Spaces & business

Transcript

21: Nick Diomis - Capturing the Essence of Spaces & business · Reframe

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever wondered what truly fuels a creative mind?
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: What ignites their passions and drives their creativity?
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Today, I'm Tim McGuire, an Australian fine art photographer.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: From the moment I stepped into the world of photography, I have been captivated by the community and the stories behind the lens.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Join me as we delve into humble beginnings, explore artistic visions, and discover how we as a collective reframe our minds through the power of creativity.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Before we dive into this episode, I'd like to give a quick shout-out to the incredible team at Missy Filters Australia.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Missy offer world-class products, like high-quality filters with minimal colour casts, an impressive range of cinematic lenses, and various other accessories to fuel your creative endeavours.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Missy Australia actively supports the greater photography community through workshops, educational events, and live streaming webinars on YouTube and other social media channels.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: As a special treat, Missy Australia are offering all reframe listeners a top discount of 5% off.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: You can even combine this with other promotions for further discounts by using the code reframe podcast.com.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you and welcome to Reframe.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: He discusses how he transitioned from wedding to architecture and interior photography and the importance of natural light in his work.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Nick also talks about the early days of building his portfolio and the hustle required to make his business successful, building trust and respect in the industry.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Nick also advises aspiring creatives to find their strengths, tell a good story, and be willing to do the hard work.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: G'day, Nick.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: How are you going today, mate?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Good, thanks.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: How are you, mate?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, good.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Just finished up a shoot for you, actually.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: So full of mud and uh got swooped by magpies, but that was fun.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the old drone attack.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, mate.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: What have you been up to?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you've been busy, I see.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, I mean, I look to be honest, I just came off a one and a half week break um from being up in Noosa, so I can't complain.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely a bit warmer up there than down here in Camden.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: It was zero degrees yesterday morning when I went to get a coffee with Brad.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, so I just took some time off and um as I do sort of trying to make it a bit more of a regular thing this time of the year, halfway through, pretty much bang halfway in the middle of the year.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, I'm back ready to go.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: Got some ideas.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: I found uh five or six days in the ideas started to cook, which is nice.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I mean, yeah, things were still busy here.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, when I go away, um the team still keeps moving, keeps things going here, which is exciting.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's good to go away and know that um business is still the business wheels are still turning.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: Perks of being a boss, right?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's it.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: There's pros and cons, but that is one of the perks.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I remember a few years ago, the first time I took time off and I had stuff working, because usually I would stop and the work would stop when it was just myself.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it was like one of the most profitable weeks I've had.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: Fantastic.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: And that was just coincidence because of the way work lined up.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: But I was like, oh, I might just go away all the time.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, why not?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you can manage your that's it.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Before we get too far into chatting, because we can get carried away here.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'd like to know a little bit more about you outside of uh Bolt Media.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, sounds good.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, I mean, I'm um I grew up in the Camden area.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I guess um I always loved sport.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: And um I remember I was um about 12, 11, 12.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I grew up playing soccer and my dad loved soccer.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: My dad was actually a um, he ran a swim school business.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: Always grew up by the water, that kind of stuff.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but when I was uh 12 or 13, um I picked up skateboard, had a few um friends at at my church, and they all started skateboarding.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: And um I was like, oh, this looks fun.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: And just being the sports lover I was off I wanna and I started to actually ditched, I was playing AFL at the time.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: I skipped my Saturday sports and went into skateboarding, um, which one thing led to the other, and I guess we'll go through this soon, but that actually led to to photography and getting interested in in that.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, I guess that's some of the things I love.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: But where I'm at now, um, I'm married, been married for um for five years now to my wife Denise, and we've got an 18-month-old son, Jesse.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's gone quick, hasn't it?
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's it flies.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you would know that better than me.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it definitely flies.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I mean, that's that's family.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh got aboard a collie, my dog Banjo, love him.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: He um keeps me active up early, uh, which is good.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, I just uh started this business five and a half years ago, and um pretty, you know, pretty blessed to be where I am today, where it is.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, I guess that's it a little bit about me.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Anything else you want to know?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: So you're skateboarding.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: So how did that spark your creativity?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it was a really um important part of my journey.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I loved skating and and hanging out with mates and all that kind of stuff.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I remember um some of my mates started to get pretty good at skating.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember we used to travel into uh the city all the time.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: So we used to get the train, first train out, um, or first reasonable train out, like sort of 6:30, 7 a.m.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: on a Saturday morning, traveling with a whole group of mates, and we'd go to uh Waterloo Skate Park near Redfern.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: And we hit a few different ones over the time, but um, I think before that, actually, I remember um one of my um one of my youth leaders actually at my church, he took us on a few skate trips and he started filming all of us.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, we were crap at skating, we were shocking, but he used to make those really fun edits and put this mad music on it, and we were into like rock music at the time, and um, he'd mash up these these edits of our trips and everything, and I started to go, oh, this this is fun.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: And and I um I guess I really looked up to him at the time and I started to take some videos on my phone, um, make sort of little what are now called reels, just little video edits.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and yeah, I just started putting edits together, and that slowly evolved into me purchasing my first camera, um, which was a Canon 550D.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: I'll never forget it.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: Have you still got it?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: I it's a good question, actually.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'll have to get back to that one.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: I I think it's somewhere in a way, tucked in the corner.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but I remember I bought a fisheye lens because in skateboarding that was the thing.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: To follow people around really close with a little um horseshoe looking handle.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, so I I bought that and away I went.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I remember going the day I went, I picked up the camera, um, saved up the money, and my parents gave me a bit of money, and I just started shooting down at the skate park, and um one thing led to another.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: And that led into your wedding career.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: It did.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: So you're 16 years old when you shot your first wedding.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: 16 years old, I shot my first wedding.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: Never, I'd never been to a wedding before.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I shot my first wedding, believe it or not.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: Funny enough, I actually shot that wedding with my wife.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we weren't we weren't dating yet.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: I was only 16.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but um I she was a photographer already.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: She studied at TAFE when she was 16, and she's actually a few years older than me.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: So she was about 20 at the time, and um, we were sort of mutual friends, and I said, Hey, I don't know what I'm doing.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Can you help me shoot this wedding?
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: I literally remember having the conversation as we priced this wedding off.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, I need your help.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: Never been to a wedding, I've been asked to shoot one.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: And um, the guy who I was shooting for, he um he was sort of uh slightly older than me and he was um in sort of our skate group.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and yeah, he just realized, I guess, that I had a natural eye.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: And um off I went, photographed to my first wedding.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: And um How'd you go?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think it went pretty well.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh look, I I mean, probably used more of Denise's photos than mine.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: She was more the expert, but no, I think it went well.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: I remember actually in um we were just down the road at Camden Valley Inn, they got married there, and this was before the the new development happened.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: When they were still full of snakes?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: We didn't encounter a snake that day, but I have seen some out there.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, they uh there used to be these open fields just behind, and I never forget it.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, being grown up in skateboarding, um, myself and and Dave, who who's the name of the guy who got married, we were just rebels, I guess.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, being a skateboarder, you're always looking for something um a little bit edgy or a little bit uh adrenaline rush, so to speak.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: You're looking for that adrenaline rush.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: So we spotted some cows down in the field, and I was like, hey, let's go get some photos.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: If you and the boys are keen, and he he was so keen.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh off we went, and then all of a sudden, golden hour just cracked open.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: Never forget it.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I was able to get some pretty special photos that day.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, shot it on my little Canon 550D.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I guess that was that was really the first paid um job I did, but also the first moment where I guess someone saw potential in my um creativity and my photography.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but skateboarding does that because I grew up skateboarding and bike riding and stuff like that, and I can kind of just say that that's where my passion for videography and photography, I don't do so much video now.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, starting to get it back into it, but that's where that creativity came from, watching all the awesome videos coming from the States.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was amazing.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: I remember Antonio Hawks and Chad Muskers and all those guys back though.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: I was a little bit after that.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I grew up watching um like the Baker guys.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, um, who do we have?
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: We had um Andrew Reynolds, um The Otis Beasley, and they they um they had uh was a Beagle that was filming, he did the shake junt stuff, and then um the Berracks opened.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: And so um for those who aren't familiar that are listening, the berracks was this online platform, it was like a YouTube for skateboarding.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: And this was very early days of video production online, and they pioneered this website where you would go online and have a constant um have constant access to skateboarding videos.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, my mates and I, we would just like that's what we would do.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: We would go skate all day.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: Once the sun went down, we'd grab a pack of Doritos and Salsa, two minute noodles, bunk in someone's room, and just watch these skate videos.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's those moments where I just sort of immersed myself in someone else creating.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it just started to inspire me.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I started to think, oh, what if, you know, what if I could do something like this?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I started a YouTube channel, actually.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: It was called Another Iced Water.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Is it you still got it live?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: I'm pretty sure it's still live.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: And that name, the weird one, it all stemmed.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I had a a Scottish friend.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: And um, he he went up and uh we used to just get free water from hackers as we skated.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: And he said, I remember in this thick Scottish accent, uh, can I get another iced water?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: And my mates and I are like, that's the name for our YouTube channel.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Just little bur bursts of creativity like that.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: But that's where the best names come from, right?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: 100%, just random stuff like that.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: How long did you shoot weddings for before you moved into where you are now?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so um I so as you said, I was 16.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's 2014 when I shot my first wedding.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I was in year 11 at school.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I um I did a couple um of weddings in my year 11 and 12 year.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then I think probably for I'm gonna say the next three years I shot weddings.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um I remember one particular year I did close to 20 in a year.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think I was I was like I was about 19 at the time, which was like I was I was pretty stoked with that.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um things started moving really quickly.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: And um, but yeah, so it's I think it was for about if you if you count it from 16 to sort of 20, um, then it was yeah, close to four years.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, nice.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's not a bad stand, but 20 at 20 weddings at 19 years old is pretty crazy because I know a few guys that that do 20 weddings a year and they're stoked and we're in our 30s.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: So it's massive.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: I was pretty blessed just to um to sort of be in uh the right friendship circles.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, I'm pretty extroverted person.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: I've changed a bit as you you do over the years.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, I was um yeah, I guess I had some friendship groups all over Sydney, different interests and things, and um, yeah, like it just things snowboard, and I shot one wedding and someone, you know, said, Oh, you shot my friend's wedding, can you do mine?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: And shot someone's brother's wedding, you know, this I did the sister's wedding or the whatever, it just snowboarded.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: Were you use utilizing um social media at that point as well for your weddings?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I was, no.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think I ever social media, um I don't think I ever really used it for the wedding side of things.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I actually um I built a website um for my business, which was called Nick Diomus Photography at the time.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: And um I built that in U 12 as part of my major design project.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: And so I had a website going, but I don't think at that time that I think I did a bit on Facebook, but at that time I don't really recall Instagram being very big yet.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: It was more of a photo sharing app still.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't um, yeah, really for for building a platform as of yet.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I remember the first skate trip I went on, Instagram came out, and we would you'd take a photo on Instagram and you'd put a filter on it.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what Instagram was.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I sort of, I guess that was my understanding going into that time.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: So um, no, I actually didn't, but I what I was doing though is slowly as it as social started to evolve and I moved out of weddings into doing more commercial things.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and as I shot weddings, I was doing a bit of hospitality and um a few different bits and pieces, events.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: I think I started to use it a bit more.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, cool.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: So what was the next step after your wedding photography?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Where'd you move from there?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, so wedding photography, I um I sort of there's a lot of editing time.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: Editing weddings and they're big days.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, so I and they're always weekends too.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um coming out of COVID, actually things changed a lot.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: There's weddings on every day of the week now, but back when I was shooting weddings, it was really only Saturday, Sunday, and I sort of was still young at the time and sort of was starting to miss, you know, hanging out with friends on the weekend, and you know, they were all working during the week.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I decided I wanted to pivot from that.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: I sort of finished out my last contracts and I was getting a bit over being stuck editing, you know, for so long.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I remembered, you know, with thousands of images, just so many images.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember editing, I did a few wedding videos as well at that time.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I remember one took me four full days to edit, and um, I don't know, I was just wasn't where I wanted to be.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, it sort of I shifted gears a bit.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: I I actually used to go and do some editing in a in a cafe, literally just up the road from where we are now.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I started to, as you do when you're in a cafe, like I met you at our cafe when we had that.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you meet people, you run into different people.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: And uh the I'm pretty sure it was the owner of this cafe.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he found out somehow that I was a photographer, and I might have even reached out to him and he said, Oh, let's let's give it a shot.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, why don't you take some photos?
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I remember actually wasn't getting paid.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: I was on a tab.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so like he said, oh, you know, put how much, just never pay for coffees or food or whatever.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, as a 19 year old at the time, I was like, this is amazing.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm getting free coffee.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'd be stoked with that now, how much food and coffee is.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: I know, right?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: If I could go back in time, I would say that we continue that to now.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I think I slightly pivoted because he gave me an opportunity to shoot coffee, and I shifted from doing these long days, shooting weddings, and having to capture the moment, um, and really being on your toes to being able to start to style things and um, I guess create in a different way.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I started shooting coffee and food, and he had three cafes, so I started shooting a few of those, and eventually that turned into paid work and um that sort of started to again snowball.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: I met a few people and that kind of gave me the first steps into where I am now with um architecture, interiors, and building.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and so with the food and the cafe sort of scene, were you lighting these uh your scenes or were you just trying to use ambient light at this point?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I always have been and always will be the biggest fan of natural light.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Agreed.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's um there's just something special about walking into a space, whether that be inside or whether that be outside shooting somewhere, and that beautiful this beautiful window of natural light comes.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I I don't actually work a lot.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: To be honest, I struggle working in um in what would you call it?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: Just set up light.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Having to set something up, yeah, staged staged lighting, yeah.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's it, that's the right word.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, uh I I struggle working with that um because I I find um yeah, I just love natural light.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like for me, I love spaces, so I love working in nice spaces.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: I love um yeah, I just I'm a big fan of it.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's how I've always shot.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: And although, you know, we do have certain projects here um at Bolt that we we use stage lighting for, uh, definitely where possible, I'm always natural light first.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: When you do use um stage lighting, are you using a flash or are you using just setup key lots?
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh often continuous lighting for shooting video.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we do a bit of flash work, um, but we tend to try and use continuous lighting.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: We're actually looking into some new lighting at the moment and um, you know, just looking at studio spaces and different things and and how you can create because I I do love it.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, I look at some other media agencies out there who are creating some really cool content.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, you look at the the area you work in with sports, and even you look at some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that gets done in the lead up to seasons and things, and it is it's pretty cool.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: So um for me, I'd like to explore it more.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: And um, but I think hands down always uh I will I'm always be a much bigger fan of natural light.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I know a few lighting directors, so that work in broadcast television.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm sure I could send them your way to be a sort of few things.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um yeah, you can definitely tell through your work and um your team's work that you do like that natural light and having work with you myself.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's something I totally agree with.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it is nice.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about um your transition into bolt media.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, where did it start and how did that um name come about?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, good question.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: So um the origin story of Bolt, it all um began there back talking about this cafe down the road.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um one of the the owners of um this cat this particular cafe, um he co-owned a restaurant with a guy who actually also um own who owned an interior design business um and a landscape architecture business.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: And um I still work with them um now, but essentially he um he saw the photos I was taking for this c cafe and the detailed shots of coffee and and the space, and he said, I'd love to see you shoot um a home that we've designed some landscape architecture.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: And he gave me a crack, he saw something in me and said, Hey, let's I've got this beautiful home, why don't you come shoot it?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll pay you for it.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: And um yeah, I'm actually so thankful for for him seeing something in me back then because at that time I loved spaces, so I actually started buying um Houses Magazine.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: Still to this day, I buy it from time to time.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I just I am really productive in a well-designed space, and so I've always loved design, architecture, interiors.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: Long story short, um I I shot that and I started to develop a bit more of a passion for it.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I thought, you know what, I think there's something here.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'd love to shoot homes.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I remember going away with my family, and uh I th I think Denise and I were a few months out from getting married.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, we were we got married in May 2019.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: This was January 2019, and I had this idea to reframe the business from Nick Domer's photography um to basically something different.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: And we were staying, I remember, on the Central Coast.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, this beautiful we stayed in this beautiful house with my family, architecturally designed, right on the water at Cobacabana.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: And um, we sat down and I I've actually I found a film photo a couple weeks ago.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we took a photo, I got it developed recently, and it's of us sitting on this sort of picnic bench outside the house.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that was when we actually came up with the name and the idea to go into Bolt Media.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so what got you to that idea?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like what was the pivotal moment that made it go?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, bolt bolt is the name.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I wanted to there's this idea that I wanted to capture um content that stood out and content that caught people's attention.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so for me, a lightning bolt, you know, when you say lightning, right?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: You turn around, everyone's like, oh, there's lightning, that's this happened really fast, it captures your attention.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so for me, it was actually designed off a lightning bolt.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: So my original branding, um, I personally think it's corny now, but some people like it.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: I had a lightning bolt on the back of our shirts.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so that's actually where the name was derived from from a lightning bolt in this idea that captures your attention.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: But that sort of stuff's coming back in now, the that minimalist sort of yeah, because it's a it's a stop talking piece now.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: If you put that lightning bolt back on your shirts, people are like, I wonder what this is.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's it, it grabs their attention.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it might stop you and just go, oh, and someone will approach you and go, yeah, then you can talk about it, and that's where the next relationship comes from.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly right, 100%.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely sparks conversation.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: I um yeah, people loved it.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like when I was in my early days of and it was just me in the business, I used to, you know, go around with this lighting bolt on my shirt, and it always was a conversation starter.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know where to go now.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: One second.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: All right, we'll cut back here after my stuff up in five, four, three, two, one.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: So once you came up with the name of Bolt, where was the next step?
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like, did you jump straight in head first or did you ease in?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I had I had um a few sort of hospitality um places I was working with, but honestly, though we're paying pinons, like I was um yeah, not um not making much, not enough to make this as a full-time thing.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: And um, so what I had to do is I had to shift and build a portfolio in in this industry.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I really built it around um at the time it was building an architecture.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so I actually I reached out to some builders in the area, um, one of them actually being EST building, who I currently sublase an office with, share a space with.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I reached out to to Simon and Stacy and I saw that they were building some really nice homes and they never had them photographed.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, Hey, should she start this business?
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: Would you um be happy for me to come in and shoot one of your homes?
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I do it for free, I don't want anything for it.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just trying to build my portfolio.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: And um Stacy came back to me and she actually said, Look, we were actually handing over a house on Friday.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, do you want to come down and shoot it?
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_02: Off I went and um had a ball.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they loved the photos.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then that just sort of snowballed.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: So the portfolio was still slim, but I had a friend actually at the same time he went out on his own um as a carpenter and he started design, um, started working and building, um, working on some quiet, beautiful homes.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so what I was doing actually is because this wasn't full-time yet, I was um working for him a couple of days a week, working for another builder, just doing labor work.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, I guess one thing I want to mention actually is um it was a hustle at the start.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, I think a lot of people think this comes easy.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: It does not, I can tell you.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: Well, they they look at the the success of where you are now and they go, oh, you know, you've had it given to you.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: And it could not be further from the truth.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: By um, I've been very blessed and and I'm very thankful for the positions I've been put in.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I've I've had to put a lot of long hours of work into it.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so I remember I was working for a family friend as a labourer, he was a builder, and a lot of his um jobs were in Chatswood and Lane Cove area.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, for our listeners that's in morning traffic, that's about a two-hour drive to a lovely part of Sydney and congested part of Sydney, very congested part of Sydney, and you get all bits of traffic on the way out there, and so you know, we would obviously be in a builder, he would kick off at seven and in the morning, and um, I was starting bold at this point, and so what I did was I would go out, I would would leave home um 4 45 in the morning because you'd you'd miss the traffic if you went that early.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: Get there by six, there'd be a cafe around the corner.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'd find a cafe wherever the job was.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, fortunately, he worked on jobs that were on for sort of four or five, six months.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'd find a local cafe and I would be from six to six fifty, I would be just going hard at some stuff in the business, go over, work a day um for the builder, head back home and then get get into it again.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'd be working these massive days.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I had to like, you know, I was um uh I was getting married that year and starting this business.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, I did I did Uber H driving to keep the money coming in so that I didn't have to rely on this dream because it was a passion project.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I wanted it to become full-time, but it it was a passion project and and that requires time.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was juggling these different um sources of income.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I was hustling.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like I said, I was up really early in the morning, I was up to late at night editing, um, sending invoices, reaching out to people, um, you know, putting together content, doing whatever I needed to do to put my best foot forward.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: I can definitely relate with that because I'm kind of in that spot now.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the pioneering stage.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Just that part because I'm now moving from that uh landscape stuff to go like, I want to move away from what my full-time job is.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I can definitely relate, and it is a grind.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: And anyone who thinks that they can just walk into it, it's ridiculous.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna be able to do that unless, unless you're gifted and you know that many people to get you off the ground.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's rare.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Very rare.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: You have to build trust.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, people are paying, paying you to market their their work, you know, for us out the builders we work for, the landscapers, the pool builders, these guys um are paying us to market it.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: So you've got to build trust over time.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, you've got to you've got to earn respect in the industry.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't just come.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and for me, luckily enough, I think we hit the nail on the head with a niche early on.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: And so I knew that um, because I actually uh sort of part of the journey that we probably missed a little bit was um between that um transition from wedding photography, um, I then went into to doing um I said hospitality and stuff, but I was I was really broad.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: So the brand of Nick Diamond's photography was like, I'll do anything.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: Jack of all, yeah.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: Literally do whatever.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like I've got a camera, I'll shoot whatever.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: And it was too broad.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: And so I went, you know what?
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: I actually want to niche, I think, I think there's an opportunity to niche down.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so that's what we did with Bolt from an early stage is we went after, like I said, architecture and building.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's where very quickly after that initial hustling stage, once we got a bit of momentum, people started going, Oh, I've seen you doing it for this person.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_02: Can we can we do something similar?
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: For word of mouth, and it just snowboarded.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's um vision from then with was it you and Denise first starting, or was it just you and Denise was just doing her?
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we we're um we've people ask me this question all the time.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: What's it like working with your wife?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna say, I'm gonna ask because I'll You're gonna stay away from that one.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: We our like relationship um was they should build on working together.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: So um we uh the way I knew Denise was we went to church together and we um we kind of uh I guess um were on the same photography and creative teams together.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: So we were working together on that.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then that first wedding came about, a few other job opportunities came about, we were we were working together.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, as you know, like a few years ago we had a cafe as well.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: We've always worked together.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: Very good coffee, I must say.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, appreciate that.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: And um, well, I didn't make it, she did.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: So the crazy right, you won't want me doing that.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I think um look, it's both of us.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: She's um, yeah, we we balance each other out, you know.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: My my strengths, um, you know, I help her in the weaknesses, she helps me in my weaknesses, she carries strengths that I need.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: And um yeah, uh that their name bolt was um was her idea, and um we worked together on that initial concept.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, she's behind the scenes, and she's actually a really vital part of this business.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, she's here a couple of days a week working with our clients now, now that we've had our uh she's off maternity leave.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, in terms of vision, we work um, you know, a fair bit behind the scenes together, and she was a huge part of that initial concept.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: How do your visions differ?
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like your what you see versus what what she sees?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: How do they differ?
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_02: Great question.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, look, um, we're both dreamers.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we're both visionaries, we both have this pioneering spirit about us.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the the thing about Denise Um is she's more discerning than I am.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um so you know, I'll get really excited about something and she'll sort of in it in a good way and a healthy way that I need, we'll bring it back down to earth.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but sometimes I'll do that for her as well.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um one of the things I'm gifted with is aside from the creativity running a creative agency, um, I've spent a lot of time um, you know, researching business and making sure that this actually is something um that is, you know, sustainable, that supports my family, um, employs my staff, they've got a stable job.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: As you know, in the creative industry, that's that's actually quite rare.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so I really wanted to make sure that I was equipped from the business side of things.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_02: So very quickly, I got the right people in my corner, um, you know, the right accountant, I got the right business mentor, all these people that would help me make sure that I keep this thing sustainable.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: So that um, yeah, because we're just we're dreamers as creatives.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: We love dreaming.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: And we suck at selling.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: You need it, you can't put that aside.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: But I knew that part of my role was actually to do the um the business side of things as well.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's I think she's she actually takes on the role of creative director here.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: So, in terms of how our roles are split um in vision, like she's actually great creatively.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, she comes up with these amazing things, she's got a really nice design eye for things.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I I trust her on a lot of that stuff.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, and the business side of things, I sort of take the lead there.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, cool.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: Did you do any um tertiary education, like once you got the ball rolling in terms of your business and marketing and things like that, or you just you just read books and and looked on YouTube and things like that?
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I I mean, long story short, I didn't.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't go and study.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I was at a crossroads in year 10 at school.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, by then I had I had picked up a camera and um I I knew I loved it.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know if it was the thing I wanted to do long term, but I knew it was a high possibility.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: I just didn't like school.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: I struggled in a classroom um big time, which is interesting because people tell me sort of in my early years from like kindergarten to year six, I was like top of the class in things.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_02: But I think, yeah, I just the side of my brain started to switch up a little bit and I really struggled at school.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I struggled to apply myself anyway.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I weighed up this decision of leaving in year 10 to go to um a design school um in the city.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh long story short, I didn't.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um my teachers helped me put my best foot forward for my business.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_02: I actually went to them and said, Hey, what can you do for me in these last two years if this is something I'm looking at doing?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I knew that there was a possibility of having my own business.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: So my um, there were three teachers, um, and they all they're doing different subjects, and they all helped me.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and my design and technology teacher, he said, Well, let's let's make your major works for your HSC, yeah, um, your business.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so let's let's do it, let's build a portfolio, build a website, have printed collateral, go, go shoot some stuff, get creative.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's funny because I ended up getting a band six in that.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: I got a band six in my multimedia class and a band five in business, um, which I didn't need because I was never gonna go study.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I didn't need the ATAR, but they really helped me uh do some things.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: And actually, I remember um there was an editing app that still is today called VSCO.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you've heard of it.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: And um I was quite big on it in the early stages.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they had these trending filters, and um, I remember submitting some photos from skateboarding that I took in the city, um, and they got flagged as um, they got put on like their blogs and all those different things.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: And part of that was I won um a scholarship to this sort of um online video platform for creative for for creatives.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so in part of my my studying in year 12, um I spent a bit of time on this video platform just learning um about photography and and different things, but most of it is self-taught.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um I um I was fortunate enough um to to know someone who was working for one of the biggest wedding um photography firms in Sydney at the time, um, in when I was in year 11 and 12.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so he taught me a fair bit.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I think uh I like learning off others, I like reading.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I struggle in a classroom.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, that while there might be great courses out there, um I just knew it wasn't for me.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, fair enough.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm in the same boat.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I've thought about doing like marketing and business courses and things like that just to help me with my own personal photography, but then I just go, I can't I'll switch off after 10 minutes and it's just gonna be a waste of money.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: So 100%.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: Maximal trial and error and see how you go.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: We just we struggle, and that's why this is why, you know, I said before I love spaces.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_02: So like I I um I'm always looking for a well-designed cafe, good coffee to go to, natural light pouring in, somewhere I can sit and work and get into a good flow.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I struggle with the white walls and the desks and the whiteboards, it's just yeah, it doesn't work for me.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: A few of my friends are like that too.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: They'll go and do their work, they'll just get a coffee, sit on the computer, start doing some content and switching it out.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I love doing that.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_01: So from the early days of uh you and Denise starting Bolt.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, how long was it until you had a crew of six?
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, good question.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so it was so Denise was working at a cafe at the time when we got married.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: She was doing four or five days a week there.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so she uh actually wasn't, I guess, working for Bolt.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_02: She was part of the vision behind the scenes.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, started out as May um 2020.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_02: As you know, we started a cafe, and uh that didn't go all too planned with COVID.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but one of the things that I was really lucky with, and again, it was a blessing that I niched into the construction and architecture industry, was that kept going.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_02: Down in Sydney, there was one two-week period where that stopped.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but other than that, we kept working.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: We actually started to grow as a business.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_02: So I um well, I took on my first subcontractor.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I promised her a day a week editing.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: That was um June 2020.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I still remember she would come out to the cafe um where you live, and she would sit there and edit on our tiny little desks.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, it's hilarious because half that was shutter um because of COVID was takeaway only.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_02: So we were sitting in there editing behind, and people were ordering takeaway clips.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's how, yeah, sorry to interrupt, but that's how I first what's he doing behind there?
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like put his computer out of the headphones on.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, usually someone in that scene's not just putting headphones on to listen to music, not those ones.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: He's cooking something up, he's got yeah, yeah.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, kid.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, no, that's that's true.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, that's that was when I um brought my first subcontractor on.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_02: And um that year actually, so I was doing work with a uh um a good friend of mine who has a another agency, and we started doing um school orientation videos.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: So for a two-year period in Sydney, um, you know, kindergarten people like parents couldn't go in to schools.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we started filming these videos about the school, and it was a it was a cracking market.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: So he did um, we did about half of them for him, but he did close to 40 videos um in sort of an eight, eight month period in COVID where we would go in and and film content for schools.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: So that kept us busy um amongst the the building industry kept going.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_02: And because the government poured money into it, um we were getting new client after new client.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we were very fortunate in that period.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_02: Cafe, not so much, but bolts started to grow.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_02: So that was when I got Riley on.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um again, he was just a subcontractor.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it was 2022.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh was 2022, we got our first office space um over in Relin, subleased these two tiny little dingy offices upstairs.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: Just start, you're gonna do something.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_02: Just starting off, I knew we needed a space where we could all meet, store our gear and uh get on the same page.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_02: And um, we did that at my account upstairs in my accountant's office.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we very quickly outgrew that um and knew we needed a new space.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_02: So we decided to um come over to where we are now in Camden, and that was um 2023, and I'll never forget um we started moving things in on the um the 2nd of December.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_02: And um my son was born the 3rd of December.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I didn't see this space for about six weeks.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: That was a good present.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: It was great, it was really good.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_02: Would have been a hectic time of year.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it was it was crazy, you know.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: We were trying to finish, we were moving office trying to finish things for the year.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_02: I was off, had the little one, and um, yeah, so that was hectic, but you know, that got us to where we are um now in this in this space, and pretty quickly um Harmony and Brad then came on, which took us to five.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_02: Denise came back, took us to six.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, it's it's sort of um it was a slow build um for probably 2019 to 2023, um, and then come sort of uh sorry, the end of 22 and then 23, things really started to pick up steam.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_02: I had to put on two more staff.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, reached out to you, started doing some work as well for us, um, which was great.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that was good fun.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: You got my hooked.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um I don't know if my wife was happy or annoyed at that one.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you never know.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to read, isn't it?
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's another, it's another addiction.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like you go from to a landscape photography and and fine art stuff, and then yeah, now it's like it's a whole different different type of kit as well.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's crazy.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_01: So looking back, you you started with photography and videography in your business.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, how long then, and what was the decision making behind bringing in like things like social media managing, yeah, design and and web design and things like that?
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like what was your train of thought behind that?
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and what was the pivotal moment you're going, yes, this is what I've got to do?
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_02: So back um when Denise and I used to work together in the church space, we used to do like everything.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, we were doing graphic design, we were doing video stuff, photo stuff, um website.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_02: I was playing around, I built my own website um back in year 12, and so I was always playing around with different mediums.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: And um, long story short, I had a few clients start to ask me, hey, um, you know, would you recommend anyone doing website or would you recommend anyone doing social media management?
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I um just I've just learned over the years to seize every opportunity.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so I just went, you know what, I'm gonna say, you know, let me do it, I'll give it a crack.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, because it was my first paid job in that sort of medium, I, you know, wouldn't charge a lot for it because I'd, you know, recognized that I wasn't an expert at it yet.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was like, I just learned to say yes um and figure it out after they'd asked me, hey, can you do this?
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I'd be like, Yep.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know if I could do it, I'd just figure it out.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but being in the building industry, we I work with a lot of time poor people.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_02: And so they don't want to have to go to five different people for five different services.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_02: I noticed that they really enjoyed working with us.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so they will they were happy for us um to figure it out.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I I knew somewhat what I was doing because I did, I did play around with it when I was younger.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, I guess for me, I just wanted to trial it, see if it was worth my time, see if it was beneficial for them ultimately as my client, if it grew their business.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I guess I just started to say yes.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: And then slowly things started to work out.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_02: And it was in February this year when we officially relaunched as a creative agency.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_02: So prior to that, we were purely just content.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_02: But February this year, we um to the public officially became a creative agency.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: When you first started the creative agency and moving on and started just adding other dynamics to your channel to your business.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: Did you already have those six people or that you already had a crew behind you at that time, or was it just you and Denise?
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_02: No, I did.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: So we, I mean, look, it was a bit of both.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_02: So when we launched to the public in February this year, as you know, all those services, um, I had everyone ready to go.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because we'd been trialing it.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_02: So behind the scenes with our current clients, we were starting to develop websites, we were starting to do brand identities and social media.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_02: Because I wanted to know before I put it out there, is it actually going to be worth it?
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and because we had, you know, some really good clients in in the content space and they wanted to do other things, um, yeah, we we we had a good um clientele to work off.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_02: So, but back in the early days when I said yes to a couple of things, I would do most of it.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I realized that you know, I wanted to build a sustainable business and I love being on the tools, and maybe we can get to soon, I guess, what I'm most passionate about capturing.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_01: But that'll come out.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um I realized that if this was going to be sustainable for me and my family, I wanted to build something that didn't require me to always be around.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I had to bite the bullet a little bit um and take a bit of a risk in finding the right people.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_02: And finding the right people isn't always best for the bottom line of the business at the start, but it's great long term because something becomes sustainable because you've got the right people who are passionate, who are working in their purpose, working in their giftings.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: And that's one of the things, aside from the shooting, that I'm really passionate about.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I knew look, I can do it, but I'm not the best at it.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, why don't I find someone that is great, bring them into a great culture, team culture?
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_02: Let's build this thing together.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, even back day one when we launched Bolt Media five and a half years ago, we branded ourselves as a team of specialists in the architecture and building industry.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_02: That team was Denise and I.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_02: Really, it was just me at the front.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: So there was no one needs to know.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly right.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but I knew that was the vision going forward.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I didn't know that I would get to where it is now.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, that was always the vision to I I wanted a space where creatives could create.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um I've got, you know, big dreams um of I don't want to grow this into an empire.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's definitely not about that, but I want to continue to create a space where creatives can create.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_02: They can have a stable income, do what they love Monday to Friday.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm really passionate about that.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it's pretty much you're you're not building a business, you're building a community and a family.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_02: 100%, definitely.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: I know you got your crew sitting behind a next door.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_01: So be careful what you say to this question.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_02: Look out.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_01: Do you could have you and Denise done what you're doing now as two people?
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_02: No, definitely not.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_02: The reality for us, um, you know, we wear multiple hats in our life.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, being a dad, Denise being a mum, and being a husband, myself, like it's there's times when family, uh family always comes first, but there's times when I do have to drop things.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I can't do that if I don't have a team behind me.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it looks a lot more clunky.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_02: And um, my team are just as important as I am to the business.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I'm really passionate about finding out what people are gifted at.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_02: They know this because they hear this from me all the time.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I want people to um to be working in their purpose.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I believe, like, you know, we all have this question, um, you know, what are we here for?
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_02: What, you know, what ultimately is the meaning of life?
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_02: These big questions, right?
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I I believe that if we are working in our purpose, um we're gonna be able to answer that that question.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because we're we're content, we're satisfied.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think a big part of what, you know, what I can bring to Bolt Media is that community like you mentioned.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_01: So team are really important.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_01: Good answer.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_01: So they're not, I think I just heard someone yell out pay rise.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, Brad.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: Just want to just want to circle back to when you first started, you said you did a couple of free jobs for people.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_01: How important do you think that is for people trying to get into this sort of world?
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_01: Personally, I know it is pretty important.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_01: I've done it.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just to get you a couple of content for you, whether they book you later or not.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, how from your point of view, how important do you think that is?
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's I get asked this question all the time, and it's um it's so important.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_02: You cannot expect to get paid for something that you're not an expert at.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_02: You need to do your time building, and you know, like it's great if you've spent 10, 15 years um doing it as a hobby and you've refined it to be this really beautiful thing.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_02: And you might be one of the best photographers in Australia or in the world, but if you've never shot something in a certain industry that you're marketing towards and you're, you know, charging these crazy figures, like people just aren't gonna, they're not gonna trust it.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you, whilst you might be good and know you're good, like I think there needs to be a bit of humility there as well.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so um, I'm I'll answer it in two points.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like, firstly, I think you've got to do it.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_02: You need to be able to reach out and be willing to do something um not paid or cheap at the start.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I hate that word cheap, but you have to be willing to sort of hustle at the start to build that trust and respect, and then go into sort of charging, you know, what you think your services are worth.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I've seen too many young people sort of go in and try and charge this crazy money, and they haven't sort of earned their way into the industry yet.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's just, yeah, I don't, I don't love seeing that.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_02: I think you've got to at the same time though, and and I um this is one thing I would change.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_02: I probably kept my fees too low for too long.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_02: I probably I care too much, and I I was probably a bit too, I didn't have this business side to me yet, and I sort of probably let a few people take advantage of me.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I wish I was probably a bit more um, yeah, realize what I was worth, um, what my my creativity was.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_01: But that doesn't come until and until with age, like honestly, as you would have known, like it comes with age, the whole pricing thing.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly right.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_02: And it's a it's people, you know, it's awkward.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_01: People think it's awkward asking the question, but you have to, like if you're building a creative business, like it's not like you gotta do it.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_01: You have to, otherwise, you know, you fall apart then, or you either you don't get booked because you're too expensive, or people go, why are you that cheap?
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's exactly right.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_01: You have to find that balance.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, what is um the direction for you from now?
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like I know you're forever building, like what where are you looking forward to building the most?
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, 100%.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_02: I look we're um we're sort of um getting our processes really tight here now that we're a team of six.
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_02: There's probably a few things that live up in my head um that haven't got down on paper yet.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um so we're building a lot of processes, which sounds like a boring thing, but I think that all creatives should learn to be organized as well.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think that's um one of our natural weaknesses is organization as creatives.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_02: I've had to grow that.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_02: I've had to figure that out.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_02: And um, so we're we're building, it sounds like a boring word, but we're building processes here at the moment that's gonna set the business up.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_02: But when it does continue to grow for new people to come in um and for it to be sustainable, for it to have longevity.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, look, I've um I don't want to spill the beans too much, but I've got some exciting things in the works and um yeah, we're looking at growing as an agency.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I I think the the culture we have here um is is pretty special.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um I say that with awk humility.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think that what we can bring to the table for people is is special and unique.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_02: And so I want us to continue to create.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and ultimately for me, I want to help other people grow their businesses.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_02: So when they win, we win.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's not just about us turning over our bottom line.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's there's no purpose in that.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we spoke about that before.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's just it's not the way it's meant to be, it's not the way creativity is designed.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_02: And um so yeah, I want to create continue to create this culture.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, it's I said I always fill the beans, but I've got some exciting things.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna talk about this off off off camera, but um, yeah, you know, I'm dreaming up spaces and and different things.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, um, but the the future looks bright, and I really believe we're at a critical point for multi media.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_01: I have a question for you now that can be taken the wrong way.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm offended already.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, it's not gonna be from it's what you might say.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_01: What would you say to the person that wants to do commercial work simply to make money with a camera?
• 53:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that there's no passion, there's nothing just to make money.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_01: What would you say to someone like that?
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because there is a bit of that around, yeah, 100%.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, I think that's the wrong place to start always.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, we touched it before.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_02: We need to provide for our families, and you know, that that has to turn over, but you can't do it just for the money.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's a dangerous place to be in because you start chasing it.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um and yeah, it's just chasing money is never a great thing.
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'm happy to go on the record and say that, you know, and and you got these guys um online, you've got all these these influencers.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_02: Heard a certain guy recently and won't name drop him, but um, he's quite a large influencer online who's built some really successful things, but he was talking about six-hour work week and working these long hours just to and like there's a hustle period, right?
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about that before, but you also got to enjoy life, and and so I think there's a balance there.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I think chasing money is never a good start.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you're kind of laying the wrong foundation for your business.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I think you know, not everyone gets the the blessing to work in a job they love, grind of five.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, you've spoken about that.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um so, but I think if you're gonna start something like this, you've got to love it and you have to be willing to know that it's gonna be a grind at the start, particularly as a business owner, there are gonna be days where you want to tear your hair out.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you you have to jump on a call at a silly hour at night or a silly hour in the morning to to fix something that needs to be fixed.
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you don't necessarily get paid for that stuff.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_02: But what you do do is you build relationship and rapport and respect with people.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_02: And and that gets the next booking.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly right.
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_02: Because people, and I think this is one of our strengths, people want to work with us because we we really care about the relationship.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I mentioned it before, like we genuinely care that that business we're working with succeeds.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if if we're creating content and and they're not seeing wins out of it, I'll have a conversation with them and say, hey, what we're doing isn't working.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_02: That money you're spending is not providing you results.
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_02: So do we need to shift something?
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_02: Do we need to change something?
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_02: Because I don't want them to spend all this money if it's not actually helping them.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_01: Do you liaise with your clients um about their vision before you jump in and start capturing things your way?
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 56:17
  SPEAKER_02: We um we're fortunate enough to work with a lot of clients who give us creative control.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, however, what's always important is the original brief.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'll give you an example just this morning.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I've got a new staff member who just um started two weeks ago and we met and went, we went and met one of our existing clients for coffee and then did a content shoot.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and for two hours straight on coffee and then the content shoot, we just quizzed him.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what are you, what, what are you passionate about in your business?
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_02: What what makes you different to someone else?
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what are you looking for?
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_02: What do you want to market?
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_02: And then we go away and then we he he gives us full creative control from that moment.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think, yeah, they're the the best type of clients.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um they're not always, that doesn't always happen.
• 57:02
  SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, you sometimes have some prickly ones, but um, and that's part of the journey too.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_02: However, yeah, I think it's important to to work um within a brief um and have creative control.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_02: And and that's where it gets hard.
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's where a lot of creative struggle actually is with the business side, because we just want to have we want to have full freedom as creatives.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but we have to understand that there is a brief um for someone who knows that business better than we do.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so I always say two are better than one.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and so if you can collaborate on something really well, and we can bring our best to the table and they bring their knowledge and we meet in the middle to create something special, that's amazing.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_01: Is that how you select your team as well?
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like they all have a different vision because then you can that it brings different things to a table to a shoot.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh definitely.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_02: So Brad, um, he so Brad and Riley are my main content creators um in the team at the moment.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I say at the moment because Riley's um leaving in a few months to go to Europe.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um Lucky bugger.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_02: Lucky bugger.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_02: So he's gonna be on the mouthy coast, yeah um sipping sipping espresso.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_02: Just try not to think about it.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_02: I know, I'll I'll definitely he'll send me photos and I'll I'll send him the middle finger back.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's fine.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you know, so Riley, um Riley and Brad are so different in the way they create.
• 58:25
  SPEAKER_02: So different.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_02: And that's I I need that in this business um because you've got Brad who's exceptional at short form content, um, creating these really creative, short, fast, sharp reels that certain clients need that it works for certain content.
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_02: And then you've got Riley who loves creating these beautiful cinematic films.
• 58:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he'll spend, you know, so much time perfecting an edit.
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm happy for those two different um almost styles to come in because they suit different clients and they all fit into the bolt style um as well.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, great question.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, definitely.
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I can tell you, I asked that because I have seen both those two guys now of Brad today.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_01: And you can tell just the way that they shoot on a job.
• 59:11
  SPEAKER_01: So different, hey.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_01: One's yeah, it's that one's looking around and the other one's like banging the camera, off they go.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and so I think that's what makes us special.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_02: And that's that's the team I want to build here.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone have brings something unique to the table.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, what is your favorite subject to shoot?
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and what what really drives you?
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, 100%.
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_02: So look, I I I mentioned it a few times already, but I love spaces, and um, so for me, I'm actually really passionate about shooting architecture and interiors.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I um I love high-end architecture.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and um, you know, I guess you went when trying to explain like you guys, um publications like the local project houses magazine, um, the type of houses you see featured there.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I love good design um in both branding and the way a space is put together.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I really love shooting spaces.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so whether that be a beautiful commercial space, like a hospitality fit out, um, or whether that's a architecturally designed home on the coast somewhere.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_02: There's beautiful, you know, it's modern mid-century um Australian, and so there's beautiful timbers.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_02: And um I love going into a space um and shooting it.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_02: So that's moving forward.
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_02: You asked me before what does the future look like for Bolt?
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I've probably done um the least amount of shooting I've done in the past year so that I could step out and build the team.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but sort of, you know, as Riley finishes up in a few months, um, I'll step back into that.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I've made the decision I want to do that because I'm passionate about it.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_02: And um there's a few admin things that I'm gonna palm off.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, find someone else to handle so that I can get back to doing what I do best and shooting spaces.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_01: Modern or historic architecture?
• 1:01:04
  SPEAKER_02: I love them, uh look.
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mentioned just it's hard because they're both it's they're both great.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um and uh I do love both of them, but I would go um, I like them in century.
• 1:01:15
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:01:16
  SPEAKER_02: So not not ancient, not modern, like somewhere in between.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_02: So you're sort of um 60s, 70s Australian coastal homes.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_02: And we were just away in Noosa, as I mentioned before, and we found this beautiful store.
• 1:01:30
  SPEAKER_02: And Denise and I walked in and we were like, this is like the style that we sort of see and love.
• 1:01:36
  SPEAKER_02: And um, so yeah, I mean, I look at uh photographers like Slim Harris, and I love his that style of classy, elegant photography that tells a story.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there's beautiful pools by the coastline, and um, you know, you got people in there, and that's a thing I should mention too.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_02: I actually enjoy shooting people in a space.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_02: So whether that's you know, that could be a dog running into a space, it adds a homely feel to a space, or um, whether that's someone, you know, walking around in the kitchen and there's a bit of blur.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, I like that as well.
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think that um adds a bit more of a connection for the viewer?
• 1:02:16
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 1:02:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:02:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because they can see themselves in the in the space, and I think it's important.
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_01: How long do you wait for someone?
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think there's a photo you've got where you've got a lady walking past the front end of the house.
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_01: Is that is that is that planned?
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_01: Is that, or are you just waiting for someone to walk past?
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's a bit of both.
• 1:02:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like depends on where it's located.
• 1:02:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, I know some photographers stage it.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I saw the other day actually, I walked past a shoot happening and it was fully staged, like they had someone um to do it.
• 1:02:44
  SPEAKER_02: But um I try and let it happen naturally and uh as much as I can.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, sometimes it's it's pure luck.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_02: Someone's walking past, and I'm like, oh, that's perfect.
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm set up, I'm ready to go, and I'm capturing the moment.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, it's it's actually I I set up and think it'd be so good if someone walked past right now with you know walking their dog, and then all of a sudden, here they come.
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_01: What what does it look like for you when you when you do get those moments?
• 1:03:11
  SPEAKER_01: Is it like a yes, uh you jump up in the air, hit fist pump in the air, or is it just like a little quiet one?
• 1:03:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I do a little fist pump and um, yeah, I I love, I'll crack a smile for sure.
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'll probably tell someone like if I'm shooting with one of the guys, or even if the client's there, I'll be like, hey, look at this.
• 1:03:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, this is what I was hoping to capture for you guys.
• 1:03:31
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think?
• 1:03:32
  SPEAKER_02: Get their feedback and um, yeah, you know, hopefully they love it.
• 1:03:36
  SPEAKER_01: When you're on site with a supervisor or a homeowner or some a builder landscaper, do you take them aside and show them a little bit of the work that you've done along the way just to see that so they feel comfortable with your work?
• 1:03:48
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 1:03:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's a really important part of it's an important part of business, but as creatives is an important part of the feedback process.
• 1:03:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so different people always want to capture different things.
• 1:04:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that's what makes what they do unique.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think it's important that we have our style, we have our strengths, we shoot something the way that we see it.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's ultimately what they're paying us for.
• 1:04:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, our eye, our creative eye.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_02: But at the same time, ask them, hey, is this how you wanted it to be photographed?
• 1:04:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, is there anything else you want captured?
• 1:04:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think, yeah, that's a the feedback process is good because they might see something and you're like, oh, I missed that.
• 1:04:29
  SPEAKER_02: Off you go, you capture it.
• 1:04:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they're happier, they love it.
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_02: You're like, oh, I probably should have got that.
• 1:04:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, definitely I involve them in that that process.
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a little bit of a kit question?
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's not in specifics or anything like that.
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_01: But if someone was trying to get into this sort of world, into commercial, uh, real estate, so that sort of stuff.
• 1:04:51
  SPEAKER_01: And when it regards kit, people tend to believe that they need to have everything right at once.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_01: Do you feel that you should or wait to like buy the kit as you go or as you need it, or buy it or like buy a kit?
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_02: Buy everything.
• 1:05:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then or buy a thing.
• 1:05:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I definitely take the time to build it.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I, you know, bought a couple pieces of kit um, you know, early on, and I thought, you know, that'd be the right lens, and it turned out it wasn't.
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_02: I you've got to get into a space, and um, we spoke about this off camera before, but sometimes when you're shooting architecture and interiors, there's small spaces that you've got to work around.
• 1:05:27
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, you it's not until you get into those environments that you realise, oh, actually, I think this lens would be really good.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so for me, I've always gradually built my kit.
• 1:05:37
  SPEAKER_02: I've never just gone out and bought a whole bunch of stuff, still do that today.
• 1:05:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I've I've got right now like a kit that I'm pretty happy with um that works well, but I definitely had to trial and error for sure.
• 1:05:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's good because that's something I've been looking at as well.
• 1:05:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because I have slowly been building kit, but I'm like, I want this, I want this, I want this.
• 1:05:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, oh, do you need more?
• 1:05:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, not everyone has 50 grand just to out this day and age, really.
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_01: What's that?
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_01: Does anyone this day and age have that much?
• 1:06:06
  SPEAKER_02: Not in this environment, no, definitely not.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, before we wrap up and get you off to dinner so we both don't get in trouble here.
• 1:06:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just um what is your biggest advice that you could give somebody trying to break in?
• 1:06:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um apart from yes, we've spoken about having the passion firstly, not doing it for the money, yeah.
• 1:06:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um having the creativeness, but what would the next best bit of advice you could give somebody?
• 1:06:32
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely I think show people why you do it.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's really important.
• 1:06:39
  SPEAKER_02: People love a good story.
• 1:06:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that's really important.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_02: Figure out what you're best at, but that takes time, you won't figure that out straight away.
• 1:06:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that you can start to niche into things.
• 1:06:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because again, that that helps you find your purpose.
• 1:06:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I started shooting everything and I had to do that as a trial and error and realized, oh, I like doing this, I like doing this.
• 1:07:05
  SPEAKER_02: I don't like doing I like doing one and two, I don't like doing three, four, five, six, seven.
• 1:07:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and slowly I pivoted to focus on those things.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_02: So find what you're best at.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, tell a good story, and I think be willing to do the hard yards early on.
• 1:07:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so reach out to people, um, tell them, yeah, tell them why you're doing it.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that that goes a long way.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's gonna, that's your point of difference.
• 1:07:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's what you know, the reason you do it is slightly different to the reason why I do it.
• 1:07:34
  SPEAKER_02: What you're best at is slightly different to what I'm best at.
• 1:07:37
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what's unique.
• 1:07:39
  SPEAKER_02: That flavor you bring to the table um is really important, I believe.
• 1:07:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, we don't want to just emulate.
• 1:07:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's great to have inspiration.
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_02: We need that.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_02: And we we spoke about that before.
• 1:07:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's why we are where we are today.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_02: But you don't want to just um just copy, you want to really figure out what your strengths are and what you love capturing the most.
• 1:07:59
  SPEAKER_02: Well said, mate.
• 1:08:00
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, mate.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, thanks again for having me out on on job today, and and thanks for joining me on the show.
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_02: My pleasure.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's um been great to be on the podcast, and yeah, can't wait to keep listening and um yeah, good times.
• 1:08:13
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you everyone for listening.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_01: And until next time, keep reframing, keep creating.