You've got to start somewhere, right? We started not as a video company, but as a clothing boutique.
Huh?
So...due to the changing landscape of mom and pop retail (re: the recession) in 2010, we decided to shift away from an inventory based business and get back to our roots in the creative and marketing world. Video was a natural pivot for us because Shine's director Drury Bynum was already gaining traction with his work as an independent production company and he needed a powerhouse female duo (me and Melissa) to build his marketing and sales departments .
In my shameless google search for all things Shine, I stumbled across this article about us from seven years ago. Reading this now and looking back, I observed a few things. One, we looked so young seven years ago! (wah!) Two, I can see clearly just how far we've come since then. Three, our creative vision for Shine has remained true and four, our projection for video's success came to fruition. Wow!
How fortunate to be able to see one's hopes and dreams of the past written down so eloquently by a total stranger, only to be found years later and reconciled like a time capsule.
Dru, Jamie & Melissa looking young and profesh.
It's pretty fun (and incredibly insightful) to look back and read how honest and hopeful we were and to remember that very moment when we grabbed a hold and said, yes—let's take this giant leap of faith together. We're still in mid-air, but we can see where we want to land and that's what's most important at this point of entrepreneurship.
From the article: "Just being able to get to the root of what someone's passion is, what drives them, what motivates them," Bynum said. "That's kind of what people respond to in our work, that sort of element of clarity and passion that comes through, and authenticity. That's what we sell." This still rings true today.
Read the original article in Bmore Media here.
Me at my desk which looks much more cluttered with papers than art these days. Photos by Arianne Teeple