Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joshua Lona. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Joshua, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Has Covid resulted in any major changes to your business model?
Covid made me realize that for my business to truly thrive that it had to grow beyond just me. I learned this because I took on so many weddings in 2021 that I became overwhelmed. I did not know how many reschedules from 2020 and the first half of 2021 would pour into the Fall of 2021. We are still catching up on some wedding highlight edits from 2021 and I wish that I hired an editor ahead of time. Now we have an amazing team of editors and it’s been so rewarding to watch them grow!
Joshua, 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 started my business in college back in 2016 when I captured my first wedding! I worked hard over the next few years to really figure out how to do one thing – marketing! I made great videos with my former business partner and still friend today but as young adults we were stuck on how to get our name out there. Luckily, we eventually figured it out with great SEO and a beautifully curated Instagram as 2 of our main sources. Also, working with awesome vendors like weddings planners who would refer us to other awesome couples. I’m most proud that due to all the hard work I put into both the technical and creative parts of my work that I get to shoot some of the best weddings in the city every year. Knowing where I started at to where I am now is just a dream and I genuinely LOVE what I do!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
So back in 2019 I had been shooting weddings full-time for 1.5 years. Business was good but not quite where I needed it to be to justify the time I was putting into it with the money I was getting out of it, because let’s be real financials matter as much as I love creating beautiful artwork. I had to be real with myself – am I equipped right now to figure out the marketing needed to turn this small business that made me good money into great money? So I actually raised my pricing and said I’m going to edit my butt off and try to learn anything I can to make myself better. I stopped looking outside of me for solutions and looked inwards to improve my own skills. It worked!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Other than creating films, being a joy to work with under strenuous circumstances. When people can turn to you to rely on or see you thrive when they know others wouldn’t – they know you have something special.
Contact Info:
- Website: lonaweddings.com
- Instagram: lonaweddings
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lonaweddings
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYPX24iH1Xqkj69u5VDmJow