Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joe Kovachevich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Joe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

What I do essentially falls under 2 main categories:

1. Professional Photo/Video work and 2. Social Media Content creation

I began my photo and video work years ago (about 2016), but really never considered myself anything more than a hobbyist. I liked taking cityscape and landscape photos, but never really considered it a viable option for a career path. At that time I was actually halfway to wrapping up a B.s. in Exercise Science in the Chicagoland area which I then finished in 2018 and then went to EMT school. After EMT school I moved back to Portland (I grew up in Aloha) and began working as an EMT on ambulances until about 2021 where I then got a job as a Medical Assistant at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital (DCH).

During my time at DCH, I found myself really desiring to create videos. I began making videos on my phone of little trips that I would go on with my friends/coworkers. It was much simpler and faster than making videos on my camera. They loved the videos, because it always had fun clips from a camping trip or skiing trip where they were the stars of the show. Their positive reactions were a huge catalyst in what would come next. One of my coworkers that I had become especially close with encouraged me to start taking my video creation more seriously. She told me that I was talented and that it would be a waste to not share my talents. She encouraged me to create a Tik Tok account. She would also go on to become my girlfriend (and we will soon be celebrating our 3rd anniversary).

I didn’t want to be boxed in with what I could create, because you always hear creators talking about how it’s important to “niche down”. So I picked a broad topic, one that I was passionate about, but wouldn’t limit me: Portland. I posted my first Tik Tok about Coava Coffee on July 17th, 2021. Funny enough, it was actually called “PDXLive” for the first few months until I realized that “LivePDX” just made a lot more sense. After only a few months, the page starting really gaining some traction, a few months later we hit the 10k follower mark on Tik Tok and I decided to start an instagram account for it too. Almost 3 years later and we’re soon to cross the 100k followers marker across all 3 of our accounts (IG, Tik Tok, and YouTube).

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I essentially provide 2 main services: Professional Photo/Video work and Social media management/strategy. I have been in the photo and video world for quite some time, but only as a hobbyist. It wasn’t until early 2022, when LivePDX started gaining an audience, that I realized people actually value the things that I make. It was then that I decided to take my photo and video career to the next level and started investing in professional gear and building a brand; Kovac Media was the result.

Offering high production value photo/video services and social media management services, Kovac Media was created to fulfill a need. The need to replace horrible marketing agencies. They’re everywhere. They charge companies an arm and a leg for creative services and marketing consults and rarely achieve the results they pitched those very companies in the first place.

It’s actually a very bizarre thing to have a foot in both the creative world and the analytical side of marketing, but that’s what makes us special. Most marketing agencies primarily possess the latter of the two and outsource the majority of their creative services. Kovac Media is proud to say that our services are always led by our in house team.

While Kovac Media is technically the same company as LivePDX, it is important to note that the majority of what LivePDX does is showcase small local business for FREE. This is a bit controversial, because as an artist/creative, it is important to get paid. However, I really fucking love lifting up the local community. Of course, we’ve still gotta keep the lights on, so we do take on a limited amount of paid partnerships and other contracted collaborations, but only with local companies/organizations.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Social media has easily been the great equalizer for us. People see the success that LivePDX has seen and it has been a fantastic funnel for even my pro photo and video work. There’s one thing that every single person posting on social media should always remember: YOU NEVER KNOW WHO’S WATCHING.

I started a LinkedIn account to promote my photo/video services and 48 hours later I received what I thought was a scam email (citing my LinkedIn account) from the Director of Regional Marketing of the American Cancer Society. Well it turned out to be real and he liked my portfolio enough that he booked me for 3 full day productions. I had posted maybe 2 things on LinkedIn and somehow he saw it. I have had lots of similar clients find me on all of my social media accounts, so you really never know who’s watching!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Staying positive about Portland. I can’t tell you how many negative comments roll in to my notifications every single day trashing the city. There’s just so much negativity on social media and such an odd stigma surrounding Portland right now, that it can be hard to continue to stay positive. However, I’ve managed to keep that negativity from becoming overwhelming and continue to share only the good things about living in PDX. I’ve had a lot of comments that talk about “show the real Portland” or “now go film the tents”, but that’s just such a low IQ thing to say when the video is about my top 3 favorite pizza shops in town… People aren’t as vocal about the positive stuff, but I can tell by the success of my page that it resonates with a lot of people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joekovachevich.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joekovachevich/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-kovachevich-18539b24a/

Image Credits
All photos of Joe were taken by Sawyer Jolly All other photos taken by Joe Kovachevich