The single best reason to join a mastermind group ever. EP #132 - Derick Pope

Hey, guys. Welcome to this episode of the how to Scale a Video Business Podcast with me, your host, Dan Lenny. Today we have Derek Pope from Hyark Media in Atlanta, Georgia, joining us on the podcast. Now, Derek and I have been working together for about eight months. When he started earlier this year, he started to make some really strong inroads. Then Covid hit and it really decimated his business because most of what he was doing was in live events. But he very quickly pivoted and started offering online and quickly built his business back up. And I'm pleased to say that now, six months on, he's on track to triple his business this year. So I wanted to get Derek on the session with us because we'd actually just finished doing a coaching session, and we decided to do the podcast because so much of his journey, I think, will resonate if you've been affected by Covid and business has been slow. And I think Derek's story is really going to inspire you. He's going to share what he did, how he did it, and where he's on target for now. And what impresses me so much about Derek is he's only 27 years old and is really ambitious and is pushing towards big goals. So I think you're really going to enjoy this chat with Derek and, yeah, enjoy the show.

Hey, Derek, how are you, mate?

I'm doing great, Dan. How about you?

Very well, thank you. Now, we actually just finished a coaching session, and I thought I'd just jump on and create a podcast episode because we've been working together now for about eight, nine months, in fact, January, I think you started this year. And can you, before we get into that, tell people a little bit about. About Hierarch Media, where you're based and what kind of work you do? Yes.

So we are a production company based in Atlanta. So core crew here in Atlanta. We do corporate videos, documentaries, music videos.

And it's all about just helping growing clients take that growth and just scale it to the next level. They're ready to take their brand into the next level, step up their quality, and we're here to help them do that. And we service several different cities and states around the country. So we have crews out in New York, Louisiana, Texas, a lot of different places. So it's been going pretty well.

So let's take it back to when we first had a conversation. I think it was in January of this year. What was. What was life looking like then for Hierarch Media?

Hierarch Media at that point was really just.

Me and a couple contractors figuring it out. You know, I was doing very well. I just came out of another coaching session with another coach who was great, and he showed me how to get to that point, and it was time to take it to the next level. And, you know, at that point, my biggest job might have been like $3,000.

Was just kind of taking stuff as it was and didn't have any systems, any predictability in my business, strategy for marketing or anything like that. So it was very unpredictable. I had five, six, seven thousand months, then like a thousand, $2,000 months. So it was. It was. Yeah, it was a roll.

What would you say you were. You were making a year back then?

Between.

35 and $40,000 a year.

And where are you at today? Sort of nine months after we started kind of, you know, supporting you.

This year, we're on track for hitting a hundred thousand a year. So at 80,000 right now in revenue and already got some jobs lined up to hit that. That hundred thousand mark. So that's. That's tripled that almost tripled that, that revenue. And just. Would you say eight denominators? Yeah.

Congratulations. What, What, What. What changed? What. What do you. Did you. What did you start to do differently in your business, to start scaling. Can you take us through that? Because I think the listeners and the viewers watching this and listening to this will be fascinated to know, you know, maybe they're sitting at that space themselves. How do you double and triple your business in less than a year? What are the steps that you take? What changed for you?

Well, I want to. Honestly, messaging and targeting was the first thing that I needed to change, and that helped me build confidence and knowing that, okay, we really know how to help you and we are an asset to your company. You know.

It was. It was really that and just a combination of adding the marketing pieces once we got the messaging and that confidence of knowing, okay, this is how we. Who we can help, this is how we can do it at a professional level. And just making that consistent across the board.

Honestly, just getting on top of.

Just outreach and just making content, strong content.

It was. It was a combination of things. I'm not gonna lie. It was a journey from the. The website to sales to the priorities was huge.

I can say when we started and we made the annual priorities.

We almost pretty much ticked off everything from the administrative to the production to personal everything. That priorities list was huge as well. Just really setting out true strategic goals instead of just floating along and following those. That helped a lot as well.

I think you mentioned something there about the journey. I think the thing that I want to really help those listening to this show really fully grasp is that it's hard, isn't it? It's not easy growing a business. What have been some of the challenges that you face on a daily basis growing a business? Because I think what's important is to kind of paint a picture of the reality of just how much work is. Because it's not for everyone.

Yeah. So one of the biggest challenges is the discipline that it takes.

Especially during times like, I'm so thankful, but the best months of Hierarch Media were during COVID when the mental was messed up. And, you know, instead of just giving up, instead of just saying, I don't feel like working today, today sucks. I lost these jobs yesterday. Just keeping pushing that. That's a big challenge, the discipline.

Doing the things that you don't love. You know, I love editing passing projects, but I hate client projects. But I do that too, you know, and.

You know, just doing the things that it takes to go to the next level instead of just, oh, yeah, we can shoot a cool video and it'll be, you know, it'll look good on our reel. But doing the things that it takes to really build a business, to work with other people, those are challenges. And just to keep persevering when, you know, those rollercoaster months come.

And you don't know how you're going to handle things, but just. Yeah, I mean, there's some late nights and early mornings for sure. And it gets lonely sometimes, you know, because you have to make a lot of sacrifices.

To really build and get to where you want to, but I wouldn't trade it for anything, so.

And. And you know, you got. You got destroyed by covert. Didn't mean you went to zero, didn't you? I mean, tell me about that, that moment, that Covert hit, because I remember you having a conversation with me saying, look, I can't. I can't continue. I just, I've got nothing coming in.

Yeah. So right before COVID things were looking great, you know, but it was all event based. We were working on really finding a niche and focusing on that. And the niche was events and it was going great.

And then when Covid came, we were. The event industry just crashed and burned and we were just kind of looking like, oh, my God, what are we going to do? Have no live stream experience.

We can't gather. And I had no clue what would be my bread and butter, but just being in the group and just Talking through it and just. It took a while. It took a while to really get back on top of that messaging and that offer and we're still working on it today.

But yeah, it took, it took some time. It took some time to really figure out how to handle that for sure.

And how did being in the group support you during that time? Because I remember that conversation very well, but there was a lot of people going through similar things. What were some of the more practical things that the group was, was helping support you with?

Yeah, I mean, just, just the fact of it's hard to find like minded people within your just general network. So being able to have people on the same level, same work ethic, people who are at a higher level than you, learning from them, talking to them, having that support and knowing that, okay, knowing that where we're a smaller production company, there is larger production companies that are having some same issues and this is how they're handling it. And you know, just talking through it together, we had so many calls about, hey guys, like, I know Tony from the group. He gave up his time and taught everybody about live streaming and we were also grateful. I'm pretty sure a good amount of us are now into live streaming where we might not have been, you know, just sharing ups and downs. That was priceless. So.

And you've also, like, I know you've been working with Pat who was on the podcast a few weeks ago. I know you guys, like there's this kind of extended benefit where you guys are now sharing work, right? Tell me about that.

Yeah, so part of the whole Covid experience was, you know, I started this remote production thing and I've been able to work and do projects with about three or four of the guys in the group, you know, and just been able to help out their clientele. So it's great, you know, just being able to network with people, you know, and knowing that we can work together and that's part of our model is okay, you know, if it's not where we're headquartered, we can get it done. If it's. We're in Atlanta, we can get it done in D.C. and Seattle. And just having, you know, people up in Chicago stocks over in Alabama, just, it's great knowing that there's some talented people we can lean on.

So yeah, it's. It's like an extended crew database, isn't it? But people you really trust. Because on our calls every week we, we bear all. I mean, it's a very vulnerable and open community. Talk to me a bit More about why that's important. You know, the. The levels of trust that exist within, you know, what is essentially a group of competing businesses, Although not in the same space, in the same location. But tell me more about that experience from your perspective.

Yeah, I mean, it is very important to be able to trust your crews, especially as a creative. You want things to be. We're almost perfectionist, you know, I mean, we just want to be able to be reassured that, okay, I know I can go work up with Motion Source up in Chicago. I may not even have to go out there. Like, I know he's going to handle it. And just knowing that there's this.

Just unspoken brother and sisterhood in the group, that we're looking out for each other's best interests because we've shared so many ups and downs. There's a true relationship there.

It's like a family. It's really like a family. So just knowing that we're looking out for each other, that's very important.

Yeah, absolutely. It's something I'm very proud of, is the. Is the integrity of the group. And yes, we have training and yes, we do tackle tough, tough topics and we do kind of, you know, bust your ass and like, you know, I push you, but. But it is. The community is. Has become very, very important. Talk to me about kind of some of the more practical things. So, you know, the community is. Is amazing. And that is. That is fostered by the members. But what about, you know, the sort of the practical side of training and the coaching and that directly benefit your business? How's that tangible?

Yeah, so one of the things there's. There's a lot of different benefits, but one thing that is a great benefit is our calls. We have our calls on Mondays and, you know, we'll have a good variety. So it's okay. This topic, you know, I'm just going to answer a few questions, Then we'll say, I'm answering a few questions, and for the most part, just absorb and take this. So those are helpful. And then we also have the cause where it's like, what are your bottlenecks? What are you struggling with? And, you know, I may come in with a question like, hey, this is what I'm struggling with. But another person comes in with a question and they bring up something I didn't realize that I was really struggling with. So I'm learning from both ends of the things that I'm struggling with. And then other people, it's like, yeah, you know, that is. That is a problem for Me, I could benefit from that as well.

That's a plus. And then just being able to, I mean any topic, you name it, within video production, you can go to the training courses and freshen up on it. So that's a huge plus. Yeah.

No, that's awesome. And we've just had a coaching session now. We were touching base. It was a kind of six month check in. What have been some of the benefits of just the last hour we spent on the phone together? What are some of the things we tackled there?

Yeah, you would think after six months it's like, what can you still learn? What can you still benefit from? But we just had a freaking breakthrough. There's this, there's this levels to every. You never stop growing. Cover things to how we can just make my website better scale up even more with more crew pricing, messaging. And it's just, it's just, it's just a constant cycle of growth and getting to that next stage and getting better from there. Yeah, this, that call we just had was great. I see the future already.

It's funny, isn't it? Because you, we, when you come into a program like this, you think, well, I just want to get to this level of income and this level of clients and then everything will be fine. But what happens of course, is you get there and then your own goal post moves and like you're never ever going to reach the goal you initially set for yourself because as soon as you reach it, you'll set a higher goal. And I think we were talking about this on our call is like.

A client's expectation will be at say 80%, you will always be pushing for 110% and your team might be reaching 75, 80, 85%, but you will always be moving the bar higher. And so I think as a creative, that's something that we need to harness in the right places. But temper in the spaces where, you know, I think we talked about putting an extra 20% into a project may not yield any more return. In actual fact, you might just find yourself spending more time burning more resources to achieve that.

What are some of the other core benefits you've experienced in your business since joining?

Wow. So we had one of the biggest things was proposals. I still remember to this day there was, there was a call that we had where Declan, I think he's up in Ireland, went through one of his proposals and it was just mind blowing for me because I realized I had been doing it completely wrong. I went out and bought this production insurance, all this new equipment and wasn't using it to my benefit, but the way we broke down that call, you know, and the proposals where we're pricing for our pre production, that's an hourly, we're pricing for that equipment, we have that insurance. And not only are you able to charge more for this, but you're also able to give that client that reassurance that, hey, there's not a lot of people that you're working with that are doing this. And this is why we can charge as much and you can have that confidence that we're going to get the job done. So that was a huge breakthrough. And also just going through just all the different channels and networks where we're breaking down, okay, this is exactly what's working for me in Facebook ads, you know, I put out an offer, a call to action for this price. I believe it was Andrew who went through one of his, his whole just Facebook advertising setup, especially during COVID he was like, yeah, we're just, we have a higher end offer and we have a lower end offer where we're offering, you know, a couple hours, shoots for about 50 a thousand. And it's been working really well for us. We got these leads, this is who we're targeting. And just different things like that have been very helpful to really just absorb and implement.

Yeah, totally amazing. And you've done some pretty cool projects recently as well, haven't you? I mean, you've been working with some big names. Tell me about that.

Yeah, and it's interesting because it's something that you don't usually expect. But you know, we've been able to work with CeeLo Green, a lot of other big influencer names, big companies, you know, first was working with smaller companies, but now working with the ACE Healthcare Foundation. They have thousands of employees. We just did a documentary for them, which is going to be amazing once we release it. Just doing just crazy work. Got something coming out up in La Charlotte here soon. So it's been great. It's been some great projects. Things I never thought I would do, honestly.

And. And the other thing that I think I was always very impressed with you, Derek, is you really embraced this idea of expanding and building a team very early on. And when your business was at lower revenues, you didn't have the capacity or the resources to hire people. So you went down the intern route and.

That seemed to work very well for you. Can you tell me a bit more about that and that process of how you find interns and how you train them and how that benefits them and You?

Yes. So pretty much, you know, Covid came and while brainstorming, talking to everybody, I was talking to different people and realized there's a lot of people who were collecting unemployment insurance and they were looking for ways they can position themselves for growth. And I'm like, hey, I'm looking for ways I can position myself for growth too, so let's work together. And there were people, you know, before COVID I ignored like 100% of those emails. But, you know, upon seeing that I'm okay, well, there is room for a couple extra hands with lighting and production and editing. I had some people telling me, hey, I'm a writer. I brought one intern in, he's been doing my blogs. He's been killing it. I can count on him to do my scripts. And one of the benefits of working with interns is that they're young, they don't even know how much they should be making. But I definitely make sure that they're paid. But.

They'Re very cost effective. And one thing that it helps you do is prepare those systems because they require a little bit of more training, a little bit more systems. So it's putting that discipline on me to make better systems. And they've grown quite a quite well. One of my interns came in and, you know, I was always over his shoulder and now I'm like, hey, you can go handle this shoot by yourself. Had one come in, now she's a colorist for me. Another came in and she's a first AD and production assistant, a production manager. She'll send out my call sheets, talk to clients. So working with interns has, has, is a journey, but it is definitely a benefit and it's cost effective. And they've gotten to a point now where I feel comfortable and I will actually pay them full rates. So yeah, it was definitely, definitely a benefit for sure.

It's a great way, isn't it, to. To filter people, to actually find great talent. And, and I think it's helped you sharpen your pencil in terms of how you operate your business. Because when you bring anyone in, be it contractors or crew or interns, like, the biggest challenge I think we have as creatives is getting everything out of our head through our mouth in an articulate way that people understand. And I think when we get stressed, we tend to sort of throw out, drive by instructions. And so how is having interns helped you become a better business owner?

Well, it's, to start, it's helped me be a better communicator, a better leader. We'll have weekly meetings and. And I have to be just more organized. Organization is a thing because it's not like you said, it's not just in my head anymore, but now other people have to understand it. I have to be on a timely manner. I can't just, you know, send things out and do things at 3:00am you know, I mean, it has to be structured, timely and understandable so that anybody can understand it. So it's definitely helped me a lot and shown me where my leadership and where I can still grow and how to encourage people and to build. One of the things I started doing was even though they weren't quite true employees, but I offered them the employee of the month thing and incentives and bonuses when they did different things to just. And I started to see that they were congratulating each other, getting excited.

So just things like that, just like starting to see what it's like to build company culture to. Yeah. To just really be a true leader. So it was definitely great.

Honestly, it's just so. It's so exciting for me as your coach to observe your journey because I can see where you're going. And I think you mentioned in the group there are people who are further down the pathway than you are, which gives you the confidence that you know you're going to get there. What's next for you? What's. What's your next kind of, what's your next three or four months look like?

Yeah. So the, the goal for the next three, three, four months is to.

Pretty much position and scale up the revenue. So right now I, without even really trying, I don't, I don't. I'm at that point where I had a ball neck of. I don't even have time for sales, but I'm still pulling in around 10 to 12,000amonth. So really opening up my time, getting more disciplined with my systems. Bring in production manager on a colorist to help me free up my time so I can do more sales and do the little things that are going to have a big impact for my business. And I know I can easily scale up to 20, 30,000. The confidence is there, the content is there, the clientele is there.

Yeah. And even just.

Before, I know it's a little off topic, but before the group I didn't have any retainer clients. Now I have clients that are consistently just, hey, we love what you're doing. Just give us ideas, take it and run with it. So bringing in more of those clients because they have, they're one of the reasons why I am where I am today because that consistent repeat work. So yeah, definitely bringing in more clients like that and just scaling up and, and keeping it going really so cool, mate.

So where can people find that more about you, Derek?

Yes. So the company is Hyark Media.com and that's H I G H A R C Media.com.

On there you'll see a lot of our work, all different services that we offer. We're on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn. You definitely love the LinkedIn content. Very educational, informational. Every Monday, Tuesday I drop a terminology. If you're not into video production, you can go get some video production terminology and learn just different definitions that you might hear it being tossed around and learn some more things. So yeah, man.

Well, we'll link to all of that on the blog post. Derek. Thanks, man. It's just I get so excited when I see people like you just grow and expand and I have no doubt you'll get to 30, 40 grand a month and really no time at all, really, in the grand scheme of things. And like you're 27, you know, it's like you got so much opportunity ahead of you. Thank you so much, dude.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Hey guys, thanks for watching. I hope you got a huge amount of value from that episode. If you're looking for additional support or resources to support your business journey, then head over to Denlenny.com where you can get a whole heap of other resources, free downloads, and access all the other episodes in this series. Be sure to subscribe and I'll see you next.