WEBVTT
00:00:00.119 --> 00:00:01.122
Hey, what is up?
00:00:01.122 --> 00:00:04.450
Welcome to this episode of the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.
00:00:04.450 --> 00:00:23.823
As always, I'm your host, brian LoFermento, and this is one of those episodes where gosh, I love podcasting, but I wish you could see all of the things that I've seen from today's guest, because her website, her work, the outputs that her company has for their clients they do incredible work and it is so visual.
00:00:23.823 --> 00:00:32.951
Our visual identities as entrepreneurs and as business owners is so important in the way that we show up in the world, the way that others perceive us, and her work is incredible.
00:00:32.951 --> 00:00:39.027
So, even though you can't see it during today's episode, I'm so excited for all of you to hear from and learn from today's guest.
00:00:39.027 --> 00:00:40.506
Her name is Dana Franks.
00:00:40.506 --> 00:00:44.103
Dana is the co-founder of JK Creative NYC.
00:00:44.103 --> 00:00:51.488
She's also a skilled post-production industry leader with over 10 years of experience in high-end retouching.
00:00:51.488 --> 00:01:00.057
She earned a bachelor's degree in visual studies, with a concentration in art practice and technology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences.
00:01:00.057 --> 00:01:04.382
She specializes in post-production workflow, art direction and client service.
00:01:04.382 --> 00:01:13.596
So if you're sitting there thinking to yourself my brand is ugly, my website is ugly, the pictures that I have in all of my business deliverables are not the prettiest.
00:01:13.596 --> 00:01:24.587
Well, dana's going to give us a lot of food for thought from today's episode and a lot of things that we can think about and take action on to make our visual aesthetics so much more pleasing and so much more professional.
00:01:24.587 --> 00:01:26.227
So I'm excited about this one.
00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:27.546
I'm not gonna say anything else.
00:01:27.546 --> 00:01:30.308
Let's dive straight into my interview with Dana Franks.
00:01:30.308 --> 00:01:36.849
All right, dana, I am so very excited that you're here with us today.
00:01:36.849 --> 00:01:37.802
First things first.
00:01:37.802 --> 00:01:38.865
Welcome to the show.
00:01:38.865 --> 00:01:40.189
Thank you so much.
00:01:40.189 --> 00:01:41.003
Thanks for having me.
00:01:41.003 --> 00:01:42.944
Yes, I imagine that.
00:01:42.944 --> 00:01:55.293
Just kind of like what I teased in the intro, it's hard for you to talk about your business because it is so visual intensive, but I'm excited to put you on the spot here today and trying to do justice the great work that you and your team do.
00:01:55.293 --> 00:01:58.206
But before we get to that, take us beyond the bio.
00:01:58.206 --> 00:01:59.028
Who's Dana?
00:01:59.028 --> 00:02:00.540
How'd you start doing all this cool work?
00:02:02.183 --> 00:02:02.986
Well, I guess.
00:02:02.986 --> 00:02:05.671
Rewind to college.
00:02:05.671 --> 00:02:13.867
I've always been creative growing up, but in college I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do after school.
00:02:13.867 --> 00:02:19.706
And when I was a freshman at UPenn there was a new major being offered called visual studies.
00:02:19.706 --> 00:02:22.272
We didn't really know what that meant.
00:02:22.272 --> 00:02:24.323
They didn't really know what that meant.
00:02:24.323 --> 00:02:28.671
We were kind of the guinea pigs and we kind of helped shape the curriculum.
00:02:28.671 --> 00:02:35.712
A lot of it was graphic design, painting, installations kind of made it what you wanted it to be.
00:02:35.712 --> 00:02:42.787
It was pretty cool, but still at graduation I wasn't quite sure where I was going to go with it.
00:02:43.669 --> 00:02:53.151
My first job out of school I was doing marketing at a lead generation company, but my day to day was spreadsheets.
00:02:53.151 --> 00:02:57.786
It was a good first job, but it just wasn't the right fit.
00:02:57.786 --> 00:03:04.149
So about a year of working there doing spreadsheets, I said I need to go find something creative.
00:03:04.149 --> 00:03:10.665
So I landed on this amazing company called Impact Digital in Tribeca.
00:03:10.665 --> 00:03:13.751
I worked there for seven years.
00:03:13.751 --> 00:03:22.480
That's where I met my co-founder, sharon, who is the creative genius behind all of the things that you see on my website.
00:03:22.480 --> 00:03:24.022
I don't want to take credit.
00:03:24.022 --> 00:03:29.789
He's so amazing and we worked together at Impact Digital.
00:03:29.789 --> 00:03:32.894
I started in 2007.
00:03:32.894 --> 00:03:45.212
He joined a few years later and basically I worked my way from the low-level production manager up until, by the end, I was the vice president of the retouching department.
00:03:45.212 --> 00:03:53.552
So I managed about eight to 10 retouchers the production team, the accounts team, the pre-press team.
00:03:53.552 --> 00:03:59.800
That may not mean anything to someone who doesn't know the industry, but I'll describe a little later.
00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:02.145
You know what we, what we, really do.
00:04:02.145 --> 00:04:24.172
But then about seven years in, I got pregnant with my first son, jamie, and I was still working hard, loving it, going full speed ahead, and when I was about eight months pregnant, my doctor said you got to go on bed rest, sorry, dude.
00:04:24.172 --> 00:04:27.980
And then I basically had an identity crisis.
00:04:27.980 --> 00:04:29.425
I was like what am I doing?
00:04:29.425 --> 00:04:31.444
Oh, my gosh, am I a stay-at-home mom now?
00:04:31.444 --> 00:04:36.891
So I took a six-year hiatus from the industry.
00:04:36.891 --> 00:04:39.387
I had two more kids after that.
00:04:39.387 --> 00:04:43.430
So I have three boys now who are 10, 7, and 5.
00:04:43.430 --> 00:04:49.923
Three boys now who are 10, seven and five.
00:04:49.942 --> 00:04:58.649
And during COVID we were, all you know, locked down in the house, going a little stir crazy, and a bunch of my old co workers had started reaching out to me like Dana, we could really use your help on this.
00:04:58.649 --> 00:05:00.040
We could really use your help with that.
00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:00.923
Please come back.
00:05:00.923 --> 00:05:06.060
It's remote and I thought to myself you know I've been out of the game for six years.
00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:11.312
I'm not sure I would be caught up with all the technology, but I really did miss it.
00:05:11.312 --> 00:05:20.764
So it was actually the perfect way to get back into it by working remotely for my old company on a freelance basis.
00:05:20.764 --> 00:05:29.557
So that's how I got back in after having my kids and it was great.
00:05:29.557 --> 00:05:32.100
It was fun to reconnect with everybody.
00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:34.766
It was fun to be productive and creative again.
00:05:36.348 --> 00:05:43.086
And about maybe a year into the freelancing, my husband had the idea.
00:05:43.086 --> 00:05:52.740
One night he said I don't really understand why you're doing this hourly work when you could just be running your own business and taking all the profit.
00:05:52.740 --> 00:05:56.307
And I thought about it and realized he was right.
00:05:56.307 --> 00:06:04.288
When you have three little kids, your hours of work is precious time.
00:06:04.288 --> 00:06:06.834
So I wanted to be making the most out of it.
00:06:07.961 --> 00:06:13.694
Um, and once they were all kind of in preschool, I had the time to do it.
00:06:13.694 --> 00:06:21.086
So I thought who better to do this with than Sharon uh, who's my now co-founder.
00:06:21.086 --> 00:06:42.728
He's talented, so fun to work with, we really just have the best team relationship and I asked him if he would want to start our own business, and it didn't take long to convince him, and I'm the type of person once I set my mind to something, it's got to happen right away.
00:06:42.728 --> 00:07:00.940
So we made it happen pretty quickly and June 1st 2022, it was the official first day of JK Creative and you know, two and a half years later, we're doing awesome, having so much fun working together, and it's been really amazing.
00:07:01.523 --> 00:07:15.985
Yes, I love that overview, dana, and huge shout out to your husband for giving you that entrepreneurial push and for realizing that, because that's the cool thing about entrepreneurial stories is that when we have skills, there's so many different ways to monetize them, and huge kudos to you and Sharon for making it happen.
00:07:15.985 --> 00:07:24.845
And it sounds like your skills complement each other, your working style complements each other, and I really love to hear about these success stories of years into it, dana.
00:07:24.845 --> 00:07:32.872
Most businesses remember year one is so difficult when you're figuring all of those things out, and I know that you still wear many hats, as all of us entrepreneurs do.
00:07:32.872 --> 00:07:42.845
But before we get to that line of discussion here today, I'd love for you to introduce us to the nature of this work, because we're throwing words out there like post-production and retouching.
00:07:42.845 --> 00:07:47.973
A lot of people probably don't realize how much this plays into so many different industries.
00:07:47.973 --> 00:07:51.990
Obviously, you and Sharon work within retail, entertainment, food and beverage.
00:07:51.990 --> 00:07:53.857
But what the heck are you guys doing?
00:07:53.857 --> 00:07:54.841
What does this look like?
00:07:54.841 --> 00:07:56.045
What is it that you're selling?
00:07:56.766 --> 00:08:05.973
So I'll give you a couple of examples of things that we've done that you may not realize were worked on by a post-production house.
00:08:05.973 --> 00:08:11.230
So, for example, say you're walking through the mall and there's stores.
00:08:11.230 --> 00:08:15.490
They have the big windows with art in the windows.
00:08:15.490 --> 00:08:17.877
So, for example, under Armour say.
00:08:17.877 --> 00:08:23.309
You go to the Under Armour store, they have pictures of athletes in their gear.
00:08:23.309 --> 00:08:27.757
So we get photographs from Under Armour.
00:08:27.757 --> 00:08:33.989
They have their own in-house photographers that take pictures of the athletes wearing the clothes.
00:08:33.989 --> 00:08:49.796
But we take the photographs and we use Photoshop to get them to be print ready and you basically take a regular photograph and make it amazing.
00:08:49.796 --> 00:09:03.231
Another cool part of it is, for example, say they shoot the athlete wearing black leggings and then they realize that they want to sell leggings that have a camouflage pattern.
00:09:03.231 --> 00:09:29.600
So instead of reshooting, which costs more money, because they need to sell leggings that have a camouflage pattern so instead of reshooting, which costs more money, because they need to hire the photographer, they need to pay for the athlete's time, they need lighting, set, design, makeup, hair, all that stuff Instead of reshooting for a new product, we can actually in Photoshop, make those pants black to camo and make it look real.
00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:38.083
Um, so we save Under Armour a bunch of money, um, and they're able to sell what they want to sell, um, so that's one example.
00:09:38.083 --> 00:09:48.736
Another thing would be like if you're driving on the highway and you see a advertisement for a TV show and it's a cast of celebrities.
00:09:48.736 --> 00:10:03.227
A lot of times they won't take the picture of all the celebrities actually together, so they'll have them come into the studio one at a time and we have to make it look like they were all hanging out in the same room together.
00:10:03.227 --> 00:10:08.692
So, um, there's those types of things.
00:10:09.254 --> 00:10:12.995
Another thing that we do is packaging for food brands.
00:10:12.995 --> 00:10:30.628
So, um, for example, uh, I recently met somebody who was starting a candy company and she had done the food research and she was working with a food scientist to actually make the candy, but she didn't know how she was going to package it.
00:10:30.628 --> 00:10:33.619
So I said, hey, I can do that for you.
00:10:33.619 --> 00:10:47.123
And now we're doing packaging for this really cool brand that sells healthy date candies, and so her packaging has been a huge hit and she's now making new flavors.
00:10:47.123 --> 00:10:48.716
So now we get to do the new flavors.
00:10:48.716 --> 00:10:57.979
Has been a huge hit and she's now making new flavors, so now we get to do the new flavors, so really anything pretty that you see that was created by somebody could have been made by our company.
00:10:57.999 --> 00:10:59.404
Yeah, I love that overview, dana.
00:10:59.404 --> 00:11:10.701
Especially having lived in Los Angeles, I found that the secrets to Hollywood, the secrets of what we see on our TVs and in magazines it blows my mind what the realities of it.
00:11:10.701 --> 00:11:17.859
And it's people like your company, and both you and Sharon, that make so much of that magic happen behind the scenes.
00:11:17.859 --> 00:11:36.666
And so, with that in mind, obviously it's fun to have you on, because a lot of entrepreneurs I hear it all the time from listeners, from guests, from everybody who owns their own business that, oh, my website's terrible, oh I don't like my brand, my aesthetics are really bad, and, dana, they're comparing it to the finished product of a lot of these enterprise level brands.
00:11:36.687 --> 00:11:44.613
You gave the example of Under Armour that, of course, when they have a post-production team and agency working for them, of course it's really hard to compete on that level.
00:11:44.613 --> 00:11:46.638
What's your take for small businesses?
00:11:46.638 --> 00:11:50.225
I love the fact that you just gave that packaging example for small businesses.
00:11:50.225 --> 00:11:58.832
What are those touch points that we actually can excel in that we can look like those elite, premium products that we all know and love in big box retailers?
00:11:59.313 --> 00:12:03.143
Yeah, it actually doesn't have to be super costly.
00:12:03.143 --> 00:12:17.350
For that same company that we created the packaging for, she had her own website that she wanted to make herself because she wasn't really sure about her budgets, for, you know, website design.
00:12:17.350 --> 00:12:20.900
So she did it herself on Shopify and it did the trick.
00:12:20.900 --> 00:12:29.120
But she realized after she started to grow that the website didn't seem as big as the brand was going to be.
00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:33.152
So she asked hey, do you guys do website design?
00:12:33.152 --> 00:12:36.020
And we hadn't before.
00:12:36.140 --> 00:12:39.910
But because of the way Sharon and I work, we said, of course we can do that.
00:12:39.910 --> 00:12:41.655
We're good at visual things.
00:12:41.655 --> 00:12:50.822
We're going to hire the best web designer we can find and we made her website super awesome and she's getting a lot of compliments.
00:12:50.822 --> 00:12:53.495
We, you know, elevated her brand.
00:12:53.495 --> 00:12:58.975
But it didn't have to cost a lot of money because Sharon and I, you know, we have no overhead.
00:12:58.975 --> 00:13:00.078
We both work from home.
00:13:00.078 --> 00:13:18.456
All we have to pay for is a little bit of software monthly and it's we're able to provide a super high-end result with our years of experience, but we don't have to pay for rent in New York City.
00:13:18.716 --> 00:13:29.440
so yeah, dana, I'm gonna totally put you on the spot here, because so my mom's a hairdresser and what I've learned about hairdressers is that when you're in their presence, they will look at your hair, and I feel this way.
00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:41.121
Ahead of today's episode, I was like, oh man, dana's going to totally judge my setup and I'm sure she's already looked at our website and all of those things, and I know that you see the world through that lens, just like I see the world through an entrepreneurial lens.
00:13:41.121 --> 00:13:43.770
I see most things through the lens of business.
00:13:43.770 --> 00:14:07.202
With that said hopefully not using me as an example here today, but for listeners benefits, dana, what are some of those things that, when you look at most businesses, obviously you've seen the highest of the upper echelons of the way that these companies with big budgets can use post-production and even more.
00:14:07.202 --> 00:14:16.668
But what are the things on a small business level, dana, that you look at and you think, oh, come on, guys, like we could make some simple changes and this could be so much better?
00:14:25.929 --> 00:14:29.676
Yeah, I mean, I started looking at some websites recently where I thought, hey, we could really help those people out.
00:14:29.676 --> 00:14:30.277
And and it doesn't.
00:14:30.277 --> 00:14:32.519
It's not as complicated as one might think.
00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:35.065
I, I think you can use AI.
00:14:35.065 --> 00:14:37.576
Well, we can use AI.
00:14:37.777 --> 00:14:48.498
If you're trained in it, you can make photography look super amazing without too much extra effort.
00:14:48.498 --> 00:14:56.885
And, for example, this woman that we did some retouching her brother had been taking pictures of her product it's like candles and perfumes and that kind of thing.
00:14:56.885 --> 00:15:01.426
Her brother is a photographer and he was doing still life photography for her.
00:15:01.426 --> 00:15:07.061
But the shots were just kind of straightforward and plain tabletop candle.
00:15:07.061 --> 00:15:17.812
So we used AI to make a scene behind her awesome product and just basically take it to the next level.
00:15:17.812 --> 00:15:29.331
And when you go to her website now, you feel like I could spend a lot of money on these candles because they look super high end, instead of going to her website and thinking these don't look that great.
00:15:29.331 --> 00:15:39.956
I'm not sure I want to spend that much money on them, that type of thing, but I don't really go around looking at the world through a lens of like that could be better.
00:15:39.995 --> 00:15:52.019
That could be better unless somebody brings something to me, but yeah, I love that, dana Kudos to you, because sometimes we have to remind my mom we're like stop looking at that person's hair.
00:15:52.019 --> 00:15:54.426
So I love that you can turn that filter off.
00:15:54.426 --> 00:16:01.038
Dana, I want to ask you about the client communications because I know that I would imagine a lot of the work that you do.
00:16:01.038 --> 00:16:03.905
It's fun for both you guys, but also fun on the client side.
00:16:03.905 --> 00:16:10.860
However, my initial question with regards to client communication is how the heck do you extract those ideas from them?
00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:14.508
Or is it very much a hey, we know that you don't know what you don't know.
00:16:14.508 --> 00:16:16.101
Let us whip some magic up.
00:16:16.101 --> 00:16:27.807
Because when I scroll through your portfolio and again, huge shout out to Sharon and the work that he does as well I just think to myself how would anyone even think to come up with these types of visuals?
00:16:27.807 --> 00:16:32.198
Is that stuff that the client is also creative and they're coming up with it?
00:16:32.198 --> 00:16:36.822
Or are you guys really just dreaming up new things behind the scenes and presenting it to them?
00:16:38.024 --> 00:16:44.808
So when we work with an ad agency, there is a creative director, there is an art director.
00:16:44.808 --> 00:16:48.091
They know what they want, they tell us what to do.
00:16:48.091 --> 00:17:03.484
But if it's somebody who comes to us and they don't have an ad agency behind their brand and they're trying to do it on their own and they have some ideas but they don't really know what to do with them, Um, that's kind of where we step in.
00:17:03.484 --> 00:17:08.103
So on our website, I think we have something where it says you plant the seed and we make it flourish.
00:17:08.103 --> 00:17:16.118
Um, so I'll go back to the example of the girl who just created her candy brand and she had this idea for her packaging.
00:17:16.118 --> 00:17:26.864
She wanted to go like vintage diner vibes and she had all of these cool ideas in her head but she didn't quite know like, where to go with it.
00:17:26.864 --> 00:17:40.075
So with that one we did a pitch, you know, we did a presentation, we presented her with a bunch of different options and ideas that we came up with and she was drawn to some more than others.
00:17:40.194 --> 00:17:45.788
And then we kind of have a process where we play around with the images and see what works best.
00:17:45.788 --> 00:17:52.407
Sometimes we're even doing it on screen with the clients so they can see changes in real time.
00:17:52.407 --> 00:17:57.478
It on screen with the clients so they can see changes in real time and we.
00:17:57.478 --> 00:17:58.078
It's a collaborative effort.
00:17:58.078 --> 00:18:08.567
Sharon's super creative, but I also have a good eye for stuff, so if he is stuck somewhere one day which doesn't happen often I can be like, hey, let's do this.
00:18:08.567 --> 00:18:09.958
And then he's like, yes, amazing.
00:18:09.958 --> 00:18:18.005
So it's a team effort, but the client can give us as much or as little input as they want to.
00:18:18.005 --> 00:18:22.858
Some clients are super duper picky and we're happy to give them what they want.
00:18:22.999 --> 00:18:24.743
So yeah, I love that.
00:18:24.743 --> 00:18:30.486
It's really cool to hear some of the creative process behind the scenes between you and Sharon yourselves.
00:18:30.486 --> 00:18:48.278
I want to ask you it feels like a silly question to ask you, but just knowing how much magic can happen in post-production, I have to ask you how much of product photography, how much of these aesthetics, have to happen in real life, versus you can just whip them up using some software and that combination of AI that you kind of teased.
00:18:48.700 --> 00:18:51.653
I mean, these days you don't need to take pictures anymore.
00:18:51.653 --> 00:19:03.508
Unfortunately, there was actually a shift in our industry big time over the last couple years where artists were upset about AI because it's you know, it took away a lot of jobs in my industry.
00:19:03.508 --> 00:19:08.041
We kind of looked at it as another tool to use.
00:19:08.041 --> 00:19:12.308
We like to combine photography with AI when we can.
00:19:12.308 --> 00:19:17.183
Sometimes it's just easier and more cost effective to use it, but you have to know what you're doing.
00:19:17.183 --> 00:19:20.976
Yeah, it depends what the aesthetic is.
00:19:22.018 --> 00:19:27.528
If it's a Victoria's Secret photo shoot, you have these insanely beautiful models.
00:19:27.528 --> 00:19:28.977
They don't need a lot done to them.
00:19:28.977 --> 00:19:34.568
But sometimes, like I said with the Under Armour, the product needs to be different.
00:19:34.568 --> 00:19:48.449
So for Victoria's Secret windows or billboards, they're going to shoot the supermodels in one thing and then you got to we call it a strip in strip in a new product.
00:19:48.449 --> 00:19:52.506
So in that case you know the model is close to perfect.
00:19:52.506 --> 00:19:55.758
Sometimes you got to do a little tweaking to them.
00:19:55.758 --> 00:20:02.519
But these days actually, most models, um, they like to keep them looking natural, like themselves.
00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:16.291
Um, a few years ago, maybe even a decade at this point ago, um, the industry went away from perfection, uh, to see real people in advertising.
00:20:16.291 --> 00:20:28.123
So instead of making everything super duper perfect looking, we're adjusting the lighting and the color, and sometimes the photographs we get don't need a lot.
00:20:28.123 --> 00:20:31.721
Sometimes you know it's several hours of work per image.
00:20:31.721 --> 00:20:33.777
It really just depends on what it is.
00:20:33.777 --> 00:20:36.363
Some have more heavy lifting to do.
00:20:37.064 --> 00:20:56.940
Yeah, it's super interesting hearing your perspective on those trends because I'm thinking I'll confess publicly on the air I love scrolling through TikTok, and you're right, I see so many big brands just going back to someone just having a selfie video and talking directly into the camera, and so it's cool to see the way that these things are cyclical in nature and I'm sure one day the pendulum will swing the other way.
00:20:57.362 --> 00:21:07.681
With that said, dana, I want to switch gears a little bit, because it's always fun for me in these conversations to recognize you're not just a subject matter expert, you're also one of us, you're also a fellow entrepreneur, and I'll tell listeners that.
00:21:07.681 --> 00:21:20.894
One part of your questionnaire that I really liked before you and I got together today is you wrote I wear many hats, and just some of them that you listed out are account manager, producer, creative director, art director, print producer.
00:21:20.894 --> 00:21:23.223
There's so many things that you're managing, dana.
00:21:23.223 --> 00:21:26.925
Take us behind the scenes, into the life of a real life entrepreneur.
00:21:26.925 --> 00:21:32.027
What does that look like for you on this side of the world now that you're also running your own business?
00:21:32.714 --> 00:21:33.476
Right.
00:21:33.476 --> 00:21:40.788
So when I worked at Impact Digital, we had different people doing all of those jobs, but I managed the team.
00:21:40.788 --> 00:21:47.848
So I had a lot of experience with the ins and outs of every little thing that has to happen on these jobs.
00:21:47.848 --> 00:21:53.964
And one thing that we're really good at is always being two steps ahead.
00:21:53.964 --> 00:22:06.739
So we know what to expect most of the time and we know how to make things go smoothly and we don't have to put out any fires because we're always thinking ahead.
00:22:06.818 --> 00:22:28.266
And, for example, if a client say we're talking about a Showtime billboard and they're going to have vertical billboards and horizontal billboards, we need to build our Photoshop file in a way where the layers, the Photoshop layers, can move, so we can move our characters around.
00:22:28.266 --> 00:22:34.275
And if you've never done that type of thing before, it could get extremely complicated.
00:22:34.275 --> 00:22:40.306
But we have the experience and Sharon, my partner, is just phenomenal at planning.
00:22:40.306 --> 00:22:48.115
So the files, you know you look at them in the end as this beautiful artwork, but it's it is very technical as well.
00:22:48.115 --> 00:23:00.684
So he's thinking about the technicality and the layered files and I'm thinking about how do we make our client feel like it was the easiest thing they've ever done?
00:23:00.684 --> 00:23:17.102
And we're just good at communicating and you know, when I pay for a service whether it's a hotel, a restaurant, anything I expect good service and I want to give my clients good service.
00:23:17.102 --> 00:23:23.948
The same way, I want them to come out of the experience being like wow, that was really fun and easy and amazing.
00:23:23.948 --> 00:23:25.298
So that's the goal.
00:23:25.721 --> 00:23:26.604
Yeah, I love that, dana.
00:23:26.604 --> 00:23:34.784
I will say, obviously I interview entrepreneurs for a living and I see a lot of creative agencies that really step into and own the creative side of the world.
00:23:34.784 --> 00:23:44.720
It seems to me from the outside looking in and especially having the chance to talk to you here today, that you also take the business and the operations side just as seriously as the creative side.
00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:50.198
That's a blend that's hard to find and I don't know if it comes from the difference between you and Sharon.
00:23:50.198 --> 00:23:59.029
If it's something that you both jump into and you say, no, let's, operationally and process wise, think about every single step with that same level of intentionality.
00:23:59.029 --> 00:24:00.030
Where's that come from?
00:24:00.030 --> 00:24:01.320
How do you two approach that?
00:24:01.320 --> 00:24:03.255
Is it weekly executive meetings?
00:24:03.255 --> 00:24:07.775
Is it a monthly get together where you say let's map everything out from the client perspective?
00:24:07.775 --> 00:24:09.320
I'd love to get some insights there.
00:24:09.843 --> 00:24:19.769
Sure, I think for me it's very natural to want to do things as efficiently as possible In work and in life.
00:24:19.769 --> 00:24:20.555
I don't like wasting time.
00:24:20.555 --> 00:24:22.181
I want things to be done properly.
00:24:22.181 --> 00:24:32.117
So when I was managing a larger team, I think that's why people liked working with me, because I was always thinking how can we make this easier, how can we make this better?
00:24:32.117 --> 00:24:34.099
It doesn't have to be hard.
00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:35.384
It never has to be hard.
00:24:35.384 --> 00:24:43.529
Um, and with Sharon, we're just so good at working together at this point that we don't even talk about it anymore.
00:24:43.529 --> 00:24:45.297
We just know what to do.
00:24:45.297 --> 00:24:48.519
We're so, um in sync with our process.
00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:50.490
Um, but every client is different.
00:24:50.490 --> 00:25:00.574
So when we get a new job in um, we always have a project kickoff internally between him and I and we decide what's the best way to do this one.
00:25:00.574 --> 00:25:08.865
Kickoff internally between him and I and we decide what's the best way to do this one and it's usually pretty quick, figuring out the best way to plan it out and take care of everything.
00:25:13.170 --> 00:25:13.734
Yeah, I love that.
00:25:13.734 --> 00:25:16.027
Well, I'm going to put you on the spot then, dana, because you're taking all of these questions way too easily.
00:25:16.027 --> 00:25:21.020
So I'm going to ask you to look to the future for us, because obviously there's so many industry disruptions for all of us in our own industries.
00:25:21.020 --> 00:25:25.440
Ai is affecting literally everybody, and, I would imagine, your industry especially.
00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:28.855
So what's your view on where this is all going?
00:25:28.855 --> 00:25:31.402
What are the trends that you and Sharon are staying on top of?
00:25:31.402 --> 00:25:33.055
How are you staying ahead of those?
00:25:33.055 --> 00:25:35.181
Where does your mind go when it comes to the future?
00:25:35.910 --> 00:25:48.583
So, in terms of AI, I think right now it's gotten really good, but I could still tell when something's AI, I look at it right away and I'm like there's something not photographic about that image.
00:25:48.583 --> 00:25:56.044
And the cool part about Sharon's visual abilities is he can take AI and make it look like it's photography.
