We were lucky to catch up with Dana Michell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

My company Salt and Lime Media was a risk waiting to happen! I was a Reality TV & News Producer for 2 decades before I finally turned a regular ol’ daydream into true reality to go out on my own and start my business. As a TV Producer, the hours are insane. 100 hour weeks are the normal during production weeks and long drives or long stints away from home come with the territory. Don’t get me wrong, I love nothing more than packing a suitcase for the next big paid adventure to exotic locales.. but once you have a family, those work trips get harder and harder, so it was time for me to make a change and take a gamble on doing things a different way.
I always loved real people stories. Whether that be as a journalist or a tv producer or even a publicist for a while between gigs.. but one thing that I kept noticing is that big brands and big social media campaigns were all still using actors. I kept thinking to myself “why don’t they use real people and real content to showcase using their brands or services?” And this is why Salt and Lime was born.
I thought there must be a need for these brands to showcase their products using genuine consumers. Albeit, done in a Reality TV showbizzy kinda away. So i pitched myself to everyone I could and finally got the call up to join the Facebook family of apps back in 2019.
I knew it was a risk starting my own company to do this.. how could i compete with all the big advertising agencies and production houses out there? But I just knew that the services I offered – global real people stories, casting, talent producing – could be done so well by someone like me, my fellow work colleagues and real people talent connections I had made all around the world. We just had to get these people in front of the big decision makers so they could see what was possible.
And we did. And they were so impressed that we quickly grew in the first year of operations from just me to more than 40 full time staff worldwide a year later!
I think the secret to Salt and Lime’s success is that we ALWAYS over deliver. if the client says they want 50 stories, we’ll give them 150. If the client says they want us to send out contracts, we don’t just send them, we explain them to get them signed fast. We don’t just pay talent, we give them options in the form of cash, store cards or we can even make donations to the chosen charity of their choice in their name.
I also think that Salt & LIme is just a good time. Everybody who works here loves real people stories. Loves to have a chat. Loves to not just follow but like, comment, engage with their talent they meet along the way.
We also feel very comfortable in people’s homes after years hiding behind beds and doorways on shows like The Bachelor and Big Brother! So having to cast, shoot, produce, direct real people in their homes virtually or in person is a piece of cake to us which allows us to deliver high volume content in a fast turnaround.
I think that while I took a risk to start my own business offering real people casting and content creation, it was 20 years in the business that made me feel confident that this was a business that was needed and not currently being offered.
7 years later, we have gone truly global and can guarantee stories and talent in any part of the world in a one week turnaround.
We get it done.. because we love it and we’re not afraid to take risks to get what we want.

Dana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a journalist by trade but moved into documentary and reality tv producing once the genres all took off. Salt & Lime’s team of producers, directors and casting managers worldwide find authentic stories, talent and content to help brands and corporations with their marketing and media campaigns or media networks with their next productions. Using real people brings a relatability and an authenticity that actors and models, as talented as they are, just can’t deliver. On the other hand, real people are not professional talent and often are nervous in front of a camera, so they come with their challenges plus you have to think about their own jobs/kids/pets/inexperience and that’s where Salt and Lime comes in. We hold these people’s hands through their production requests but handle all the information, assets and communication to make the project shine in record time.
What sets us apart from our competitors is that we are the world’s first truly global real people casting and content creation agency. We have a leadership team based in each of the world’s key markets and then alongside them are the creatives who cast, research, write, produce, direct and edit cast and content as needed for our clients.
“Salt and Lime is a good time” is our catch phrase to make sure that real people know when they work with us on, let’s say, their first ever commercial, we’ll make it easy, fun.. and of course pay them for their time or content, which everybody loves!
We are most proud of the fact that we give people in the community a voice. We shine a spotlight on them. We sing their praises. We are their agent, their coach, their mentor, their partner and we love seeing them stand out from the pack just for being their authentic self.
www.saltandlimemedia.com

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Placing an importance on being kind to everyone along the way. Reputation is everything in business. Always be nice to everyone and enjoy what you do. If you enjoy yourself at work or with clients or colleagues, it has a knock on affect. If people like to work with you, they’ll spend money with you. Or recommend you to others. A good reputation leads to good contacts. A thumbs up or nice word from a previous client to a potential new client means so much more than paid advertising that goes out to the never-never.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Salt and Lime’s name is also our mission. We landed on the name as it we knew we were going to be worldwide. We knew we wanted to be inclusive and we tried to think of something the whole world enjoys no matter whether they are rich, poor, skinny, cuddly, funny, boring etc.. and the only 2 things we could come up with (aside from air and water) was Salt and Lime! Everybody uses it..everybody needs it, wants it. Being a global company with bilingual staff, being inclusive is so important to us. It’s something we are always aware of. Every time we pitch a story, we pitch 10 others that demonstrate we value inclusiveness, variety and celebrate the rich tapestry of people.
It is this ethos that keeps our clients coming back because they know we care about that.. and for any other global brand, I believe it’s becoming a priority now too, which is wonderful to see.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.saltandlimemedia.com
• Instagram: @saltandlimemedia
• Facebook: @saltandlimemedia