Meet Colin.
He may kill me for posting this picture from high school – but this is the lovable, goofy guy I remember.
Not only did Colin and I spend many Saturday mornings together on a school bus (traveling to speech meets across Minnesota), but we also spent hours together rehearsing for multiple high school drama productions. We were “those” geeky chic kids and we loved every minute of it.
Sadly, I hung up my drama hat at the end of high school to move into the (equally dramatic) world of fashion design, but Colin continued to hone his acting skills, eventually moving to London post-drama school to pursue his dreams of becoming a writer, actor and producer.
I was nothing short of delighted when I received a Facebook message from Colin six months ago, catching me up on his life and letting me know that, along with a few friends, he was launching his own production company – Untethered Films.
Impressed that he’d turned his high school passion into a full-fledged career, I sent Colin some questions. I think you’ll find his answers both inspiring and motivational!
What is Untethered Films?
We are a film production company based in London, UK. Our specialty is stories with a cross-Atlantic sensibility – i.e. principal characters are from both the UK and North America. We’ve also recently started producing music videos.
What first inspired you to start the company?
The four of us that founded Untethered went to drama school together. None of us trained as filmmakers. We began by making shorts mostly so that we could act when we were out of work, but we quickly realized that we enjoyed the process of filming itself. There’s nothing like being on a film set – whether it’s acting, directing, holding a boom microphone, or getting everyone’s teas and coffees. It’s a really exciting and pressurized environment.
Once we agreed that we wanted to form a production company, it was a matter of figuring out how we would separate ourselves from other budding film companies. Half of us were American, half were British so it seemed logical to produce material that featured characters from both countries. The added bonus is it’s helped us develop audiences on both sides of the pond who relate to the stories in different ways.
How many people are working on this project full time (aka have no other job)?
There are currently five of us on the producing board. We all work for Untethered full-time, but it’s notoriously hard to begin making money as a film company when you’re still a start-up, so we all have other full-time jobs. It’s a bit insane having the energy to do both, and it often feels like we’re juggling about 12 balls each. Thankfully nothing’s come crashing down yet, and we love it. We wouldn’t put in this much time and energy if we didn’t.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since launching?
Plan to spend a lot of time planning.
Since we’d all been on film sets as actors previously, we knew the many ways in which your time can feel wasted and abused. I find it really surprising the number of young filmmakers who aren’t prepared for what can go wrong, and it’s really damaging to their reputations. Nobody wants to work with someone they can’t trust to deliver.
From the start, we agreed that we’d make every effort to have our sets run as efficiently as possible, while still being fun to work on. This has meant mountains of preparation. You basically have to think of all the possible problems that could arise and plan accordingly. The result has been that our sets generally wrap on time (a rare commodity in the film industry) and people comment that it feels like we’re a family on set. There’s a nice rhythm to the way we get things done, and when people say they enjoyed working with us, we’re over-the-moon.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome since launching?
Having people take us seriously. The arts are a funny place. No one’s really interested in you until you’re a sure-thing.
I’m sure the same can be said of most businesses, but people are very afraid to take a risk with new talent when it comes to film. Who can blame them? So much money goes into making one that the potential for financial loss is massive. We’ve always taken ourselves and our work seriously, even when we just starting out with bad equipment and didn’t have the strongest sense of what we were doing. Friends, families, and industry professionals are now on our side, but we first had to prove that we weren’t just a group of kids messing around with a camera.
It’s been earned; we’re still earning it.
What’s been your biggest accomplishment since launching?
During the summer we made five short films with a shoe-string budget. With our additional full-time jobs, it was an incredible amount of work.
We pulled in more people than we’d ever worked with before and had locations throughout London. Along with a focus on creating amazing films, we were also determined to make sure that our sets were run effectively and that people had a positive experience working with us.
We had our screening night in October, and it was standing room only. It was deeply satisfying to have the fruits of everyone’s labor being viewed by an eager audience. At the end of the screening, I got to go up to do the ‘thanks for coming’ speech. It took a while to quiet everyone down. The applause and cheers for what we’d done were overwhelming. It was one of the most gratifying experiences of my life.
What advice do you have for other aspiring entrepreneurs?
Know that you’re not going to be an overnight success.
When someone seems to emerge from nowhere as ‘the next big thing,’ they’ve probably been working on developing their ideas for a long time. Thanks to the Internet we feel like if something doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye, something’s wrong. In reality, it’s an uphill battle.
Success, no matter how you define it, takes time. If it’s something you love, it’s worth the work.
Colin – the above picture pretty much sums up my feelings on your new venture. I was proud to know you then and I’m proud to know you now. We can’t wait to see what amaing adventures and accomplishments are in store for you and your team!
For more information on Untethered Films visit www.untetheredfilms.com. You can also follow Colin on Twitter and like Untethered Films on Facebook.
Dream Bigger,
Five Fabulous Posts Worth Reading
There is never a shortage of valuable content and posts worth reading these days. If we had it our way, we’d be sharing links left and right, 24/7, but since one might argue against the productivity of such a task, we’ll settle for sharing five especially fabulous insights with you today.
- The Power of Asking the Right Question. Michael Hyatt’s posts are always worth a read, but this one in particular got us thinking as it relates to job searching and knowing your worth.
- The Greater Good (Or What Passion Is Really All About). Our friend Matt Chevy provides great food for thought that is best summed up in his last line: “Define yourself not by your own pursuit of happiness,but by the happiness you bring and the contributions you offer to others.”
- “Embrace your good fears.” We look forward to every post from Amber Rae and the team at revolution.is, but this one in particular resonated with us because Kristin and Shannon’s story felt so similar to our own. Not to mention their business, {r}evolution apparel, sounds amazing!
- How to manage a career in 2012. The ever insightful Penelope Trunk provides three great pieces of advice for making 2012 a year focused on planning for the future, setting boundaries and constantly learning new things.
- Good Culture Is In, Inflated Salaries Are Out. This post from Alexandra Levit made us do fist pumps. It provides a ton of statistical credibility to what we promote with DreamChamps – the idea that a company that focuses on keeping its employees happy is viewed as more important and favorable than a company who simply provides a high base salary.
We hope you’ll check out the links above and find them as inspiring and helpful as we did. If one (or more) particularly strike you, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Happy reading!
Dream Bigger,
We’ll be the first to admit that 2011 (our second year as entrepreneurs) was more difficult than our first. That said, it’s undeniable that we walked away from it with thicker skins and some great lessons. They say that mistakes are golden if you can learn from them. We certainly did.
1. Customer Needs Change – You Need To Change With Them
When we launched our first business – POP! Social Media – in 201o, we didn’t fully understand how great the market was for our services. It took us only one month to find and land our first big client. Social media was still relatively new, but was also the shiny market that every business wanted to get into. What benefitted us most (although we didn’t fully comprehend it at the time) was the large business need for outside social media consultants. In 2010, digital media was still new enough that no one had hired anyone in-house. Instead, they tested the waters by seeking outside help.
Fast forward to the present day, where this is no longer the case. Our market has changed, as large businesses have hired in-house help for most of their social media needs. While small business are still seeking outside help, they often do not have the budgets needed to hire someone and often hand the responsibility over to an intern. As I’m sure you can guess, this shift has caused us to re-think our offerings and target customers. It’s been a challenge, but has also taught an invaluable lesson – just because a market exists, does not mean it will exist forever.
2. Feast or Famine
This is a concept we’ve talked about with many entrepreneurs, but one that never seems to be blogged about. As you can guess from our above learning, there were certainly times in 2011 where income wasn’t coming in as easily as it had in 2010. We consider ourselves lucky to have budgeted as we did. Without it, we would have been in trouble some months.
While it’s true that entrepreneurs are notorious for finding creative ways to bring in funds, there are just some months that it’s not going to happen due to a lack of client needs, late payments or other uncontrollable factors. You need to plan for this. Every entrepreneur does. Be grateful for good months, but remember that there will be bad months ahead and that a padded savings account is the best gift you can give yourself.
3. Talk To Your Potential Customers Before Building a Full Product
We blogged about this back in June, but it was an important (ahem, expensive) enough mistake that we wanted to touch on it again. As many of you know, DreamChamps has come through quite a few business models to get us where we are today. At one point, we spent quite a chunk of money building a full site that we thought would be a huge hit with potential customers. Since our market is so niche, we didn’t want to pitch anything before it was perfect.
Turns out, we should have done the exact opposite. While there were aspects of the site that our potential customers loved, there were even more aspects that they didn’t. We learned a ton about what problems they were looking to solve and what they would spend money on – all valuable information that we used to build our most current site. The moral of the story? You don’t need a perfect product to get feedback. Start lean with a mock up and only build what you know people will buy.
4. The Difference Between Running a Consulting-Based and Product-Based Business
Now the owners of two companies, we learned a lot about the differences between running a consulting-based and product-based business over the last year. Here are the biggest differences we’ve found to date.
Consulting-Based Business (POP! Social Media):
- There is much less overhead involved with a consulting-based business. You can likely work from home, which negates the need for office space. Your product is your brain, so besides continued learning, you don’t have to fund something before you can offer it to clients.
- Growth is limited to the number of bodies you have consulting. Your time is your business and one person can only handle so much. To scale this type of business, you need to hire a bigger team.
- You always need to be selling. It doesn’t matter if you currently have a full client load, as they could go away tomorrow. On-boarding clients is a long process and one you should strive to always be in the middle of.
- While there are service-based aspects of DreamChamps, the site itself is a product. With anything product-based there is an initial investment that must be made before anything can be sold. For us, it was the cost of building the DreamChamps site.
- Scaling is possible and the goal of many product-based businesses. While additional team members will eventually need to be added (a point we’re excited to reach!) we are no longer only constrained to the hours we can personally give.
- You always need to be selling. We find this true for any business model. Relationships and sales take time – and it is one business aspect you always need to be investing time and resources into.
5. How To Ask For Help
This is one we’re still working on, but have gotten better at over the last year. The truth is, you can’t go it alone. We all need help – and it’s especially true of entrepreneurs. Personally, we give out a lot of it, as we love lending our expertise where we can. Why is it, then, that help is still so hard for us to ask for? We have yet to figure out the answer, but it’s something we’ve always struggled with and are continuing to work on as we dive into 2012.
The biggest thing we are asking for help with currently? Spreading the word about DreamChamps. If you or someone you know writes a blog, sends out a newsletter or just loves spreading cool ideas, we’d love to chat with you (or them) about fun ways we could collaborate.
We’ve embraced last year’s lessons as we move into the new year and hope you have, as well. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger – and smarter! Hopefully, you can learn from a few of our mistakes and save yourself the trouble of learning them firsthand.
That said, we’d love to learn from you too! What was the biggest lesson you learned in 2011?
Dream Bigger,
Happy Holidays! We’ll See You Next Year!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for good reason! The warm glow of the holidays is upon us!
We are looking forward to spending the rest of 2011 with family, friends and, most importantly, ourselves (for some of that all too rare, quality “me” time). In a word, it will be glorious.
It’s going to be an opportunity to decompress, disconnect and reflect on all we have accomplished this past year, as well as refocus on the goals and dreams we hope to achieve in 2012.
We hope you are looking forward to doing the same. Thanks for being supporters and readers of Pursuing Our Passion. We love writing this blog every week, and you’re the main reason why we get excited about every post! If you’re interested in looking back through some of our content from this year, you can click any of the monthly archive links below.
2011: A Year’s Worth Of Passionate Posts
Happy holidays and best wishes for an enjoyable and successful 2012. “See” you next year!
Dream Bigger,
Why An Elementary School Mantra Remains Relevant Today
Work. Cooperate. Respect. Belong. WCRB. This acronym was ingrained into the curriculum during my first four years of grade school education at Cedar Ridge Elementary School.
The hallways were peppered with WCRB flyers, posters and construction paper cutouts. When my brother began attending Cedar Ridge six years later, they were still there. Clearly, this was a message with staying power.
And why shouldn’t it be? Even when the words stand alone, the concepts of work, cooperation, respect and belonging each have their own significance in society. Together, they achieve an even greater purpose: teaching young children to be kind to one another regardless of their differences, whether they be cultural, regional, philosophical – or, more simply, which game is more fun to play at recess.
Adults could stand to be reminded of this every once in a while, too.
We are all human. We all make mistakes and we all have bad days. But we all also possess an immense capacity to love and respect one another. To lift one another up on those bad days – to give praise when praise is needed.
In the words of J.K. Rowling (can you tell she’s a favorite of mine?), sometimes “we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.”
It’s easy to let our egos get in the way. It’s right not to let them overpower us and hinder our success.
If we can find a common ground, if we can work together, cooperate and respect one another without losing respect for ourselves…if we can do all of that, then we’ve certainly created a world where we all belong. A world where there is no such thing as a bad idea.
I’m not saying that all our problems and differences can be solved with a game of paper, rock, scissors or tether ball. But sometimes, when an issue seems insurmountable, it’s best to go back to the basics. WCRB. The Golden Rule.
Treat everyone the way you’d like to be treated and the world is a happier place.
Who’s with me?
Dream Bigger,
My Life In Lists This Holiday Season
I LOVE lists. Seriously, like love ‘em.
One of the best things Jenn and I have done since quitting our jobs was create a shared Google Word doc that is an ongoing list of what we need to do, plus who’s tackling what item on which day. Not only does it keep us organized and on track, it also eliminates some of the need for back-and-forth emailing about projects – not that we don’t still do a lot of that!
I’m not sure what it is about December, but I always feel a greater need for lists this time of year. Maybe it’s all the chaos of the holiday season that turns my mind to mush. Or my dedication to goal setting around my birthday each year. Or that Santa and I have more in common than I know.
Whatever it is, I’m all about lists right now – and thought it’d be fun to share some with you.
The Top 5 Reasons I’m Excited For A Holiday Break From Work
5. I find myself formulating my thoughts into 140 character Twitter soundbites or witty Facebook updates. If that’s not a clear sign I need a break from social media, I don’t know what is.
4. I have a list of personal errands and things I need to get done for like ever – and will finally have time to tackle over the holiday. (A list inside a list? That’s right. I’m that list-y.)
3. Three words: Mad. Men. Marathon.
2. Get togethers with good friends I haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time with lately!
1. Transformation. Sometimes stepping away from work is the best way to re-spark creativity. Something tells me unplugging for a bit is going to be just the push Jenn and I need to kick off 2012 with a bang!
The Six Chicago Startups I’m Currently In Love With
1. Topics Co-Working Space and Coffee Shop (Client – but a really great, list-worthy client!)
4. Dabble.co
Books That Are Sitting On My Bookshelf Dying – Seriously, Dying – To Be Read
- Divergent by Veronica Roth
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Practical Genius by Gina Rudan
- Small is the New Big by Seth Godin
- Zilch by Nancy Lublin
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Things I’m Looking Forward To In 2012
- Spending time with my godson Carson and attending his baptism
- Growing DreamChamps and helping more people find work they love
- Landing my first paid speaking gig
- Attending Summit Basecamp, where I’ll get to meet dozens of passionate smarties
- More travel outside the U.S.
- Being open to really falling in love – and seeing what comes of it
Are you a list maker? Whats lists are you creating this month?
Dream Bigger,
26 Reasons Why I Love Jill Felska
Today is Jill’s 26th birthday! Since she was sweet enough to create a list for me on my birthday last May, I thought it would be fitting to return the favor. Not surprisingly, it’s easy to come up with 26 reasons to love this lady – she is an inspiration to many and, as I’m sure you all would attest, brings an energy and enthusiasm to life and conversation that is unparalleled. Plus a cute pair of shoes.
It seems crazy that I’ve only known this girl for only two and a half years. In many ways, the things we’ve experienced together feel as though they have spanned across lifetimes. She has improved me as a friend, as a business owner and as a person. I could not be more grateful for the time we’ve spent learning and growing together…and how much more time there is still to come!
Below are just a few of the many ways she impacts my everyday life – 26, to be exact!
- She lights up a room whenever she enters it. Guaranteed.
- When she speaks on a topic she is passionate about, you feel compelled to listen. It’s like a magnet. You’re literally drawn in and hanging on to every word.
- She likes books as much as I do.
- We complement each other in the best possible ways…
- …but are similar in the best possible ways, too. (Just call us the Bobbsey twins.)
- Whenever I’m having a bad day, she finds a way to lift my spirits.
- She is open and friendly toward everyone, and in turn, everyone is open and friendly toward her.
- She claims she talks a lot, but what she doesn’t realize is that she is also a great listener who is always there to lend an ear.
- Her ability to wear heels for hours and not end up looking like she’s walking on stilts, unlike someone else I know well (ahem).
- Her passion for business (including business books) and love of entrepreneurship.
- Her instinctual need to take care of others.
- The way life is simply better when she’s around.
- The way we help each other find laughter in everything, even when life is stressful.
- Her love of fashion and ability to dress herself far better than I.
- Her appreciation for good food and, more importantly, wine, candy, chocolate and Craisins.
- Our shared secret crush on Chumlee.
- The fact that she lives up to her nickname, the human sparkler, every single day.
- Her belief that everything happens for a reason.
- Her ability to speak in front of any audience. She never ceases to motivate and inspire, and I have no doubt that she will be sought after around the world sooner rather than later.
- Her ability to help me break out of my comfort zone and take on new risks.
- She is the sister I never had, but better because we also happen to run two businesses together.
- Her never-ending, glass half-full optimism.
- Her integrity. She is one of the world’s most honest, reliable and trustworthy people.
- Her friendship. It goes without saying that when it comes to “friendability,” Jill is the very best.
- Her ability to make me smile with an email signature.
- The fact that she is essentially my second spouse. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
There’s so much more that could be said, but I’ll leave that to all of you! Leave your favorite thing about Jill in the comments below.
Wishing you an absolutely amazing birthday, Jill! I love you and can’t wait to celebrate!
Dream Bigger,
What We Learned At Technori Pitch
It’s not often that you have the chance to share your story in front of more than 500 people. Last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to do just that in front of a room full of impressive entrepreneurs and professionals, pitching the DreamChamps mission and concept at Technori Pitch.
Jill did an incredible job with our presentation, bringing our company to life and inspiring many conversations with new organizations and job seekers in Chicago who resonated with our message and were interested in learning more about the job happiness revolution.
We are so grateful to our friend and DreamChamps videographer, Ryan of DietzMedia. He captured our presentation via flip cam – though if we would have let him, we’re sure he would have brought in all of his professional equipment. We’re excited for you to watch and give us your feedback. It was a wonderfully nerve wracking experience, and we are grateful to Seth Kravitz for the opportunity!
Check out the video below:
We learned a great deal at the pitch. We learned how important it is to share why you do what you do as concisely as possible, to make people intrigued enough to want to follow up and learn more. We learned that our mission is one that resonates with people of all ages. We learned (after the presentation) what exactly a triple bottom line means.
(By the way, we weren’t alone in that last one.)
We’re excited about the new contacts and opportunities that the pitch has provided us. There is so much left to do and accomplish, and we accept the challenge.
What have you done lately that “scared” you in the best possible way?
Dream Bigger,
Where We’ll Be Tonight: Technori Pitch and DreamChamps
We’re thrilled to announce that we will be sharing DreamChamps with the Chicago startup community at tonight’s Technori Pitch! This is an absolutely fantastic event put on by Seth Kravitz and the team at Technori - a monthly showcase of new companies doing amazing things.
We count ourselves lucky to be among this month’s presenters, and will be sure to write a full recap of the event for you this Thursday, complete with a video of our pitch. In the meantime, check out the other great organizations set to present their missions:
It promises to be an exciting and nerve wracking evening. Wish us luck!
Dream Bigger,
I’d Like To Propose A Toast…
I was a big fan of the show Brothers & Sisters. There were several reasons to love this television series that sadly came to an end last season. It covered many different topics of importance to me, not the least of which were family, business, relationships and…wine.
Wine jokes aside, I enjoyed the fact that the majority of the episodes ended with the entire Walker family seated around a dinner table, completely present in the moment and putting outside (or within family) stressors on the back burner for that hour of time where they simply enjoyed one another’s company.
For many of us, the Walker family dinner is best exemplified on Thanksgiving, a holiday whose very name brings to mind gratitude and giving thanks for our lives. We put the work issues, relationship battles and family feuds on hold (or try to, anyway) in order to travel around the country to be with the ones we love and reflect on what the past year has brought us.
Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, today I want to propose a toast. It’s a toast that was given by Kevin Walker (pictured above) during one of my favorite Brothers & Sisters episodes. I loved it so much that I immediately copied it down and have kept it within reach on days where I get sidetracked by problems, big or small. Are you ready?
::Raises imaginary wine glass::
“To trusting that the end is worth it, and never letting go of its promise.”
No matter what you are going through or experiencing in your life right now, every decision you’ve made for yourself has been worth it. We all make mistakes that we learn and grow from, and we all make great choices that bring us success and happiness. We need the bad in order to fully appreciate the good. We need the good to keep us strong and motivated during the bad.
I’d like to thank Kevin Walker – and the writers who came up with the line – for communicating this idea in 15 words. I hope you are able to take some time this week, and every week, to reflect on what you are grateful for here and now. The people, opportunities and things that are in your present who are helping you reach your dreams for the future, whether they know it or not.
And if they don’t know it…well, I can’t think of a better week to tell them how you feel.
Happy Thanksgiving week!
Dream Bigger,
