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

Hi Tony, thanks for joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

I remember leaving a graphic design role and heading home and on my way a building caught my eye that happened to be the largest gallery in Indianapolis. Called the CCIC I remember walking into one of the front door shop vendors and having a great conversation with her and later finding out the building was connected to a massive gallery.

The timing couldn’t have been any better because I was so inspired to create and show my work.
I ended up being one of the first to show in their new gallery space and I was so excited for the opportunity. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and I think that’s why it’s so important to keep going. you never know what opportunities are right around the corner. ended up showing at the gallery was a great time. A lot of people in my circle came to support and it was awesome.

I remember in preparation for the event doing a lot of marketing in the form of short videos letting people know when the event was in showing me setting up and it just felt so exciting and fresh. at the time I had kind of given up on art and I also remember feeling less hopeful and inspired and the crazy thing is it didn’t take long because my art is digital to get everything ready to go and set up for the event. it was a wild ride, but I was happy to be on it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve been doing art and videography work literally since the beginning of time it feels like. As a young operating commercial grade cameras for live events at church and showing in galleries as early as high school. these experiences branched into more and more opportunities and recommendations and I’ve always had a constant flow of opportunities to create via video or art.

These days I do a lot of videography, Art design & Tech content as well as social media content for clients. I think the problem that I saw for client is clarity. I am always tactical. Am I thinking and very pointed and direct. leading to clear directions for my clients when it comes to connecting the value of their company with a content that they create online to create more visibility for their business.

I have learned that being a creative person and finding creative solutions is something needed in every industry, and I have seen my appetite to create increase when new challenges arise whether it be in the form of video for a client, their business or video for an event a wedding or even a deep talk, unpacking a strategy forward for someone’s business and translating that into content. I don’t know. It’s just something about seeing that aha moment where a spark ignited and the passion is present in the discussion that I seek more and more.

When it comes to Digital Art, I have found an ignited passion for sharing tech that I use in relation to my art to make things easier for artist transitioning to the tech base with art. it has been some thing that honestly helped me to fall in love with creating art again and enjoy the process so much more. it’s kind of like I’ve shifted into an art education role when it comes to my content that I put online and I always wanted to be a resource for an authentic perspective on what makes things easier as an artist.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I really had to unlearn the idea that moving fast is the shortcut. The reality is, moving slow is the shortcut. There were times—whether in the videography space or the digital art space—when my anxiety and stress would completely destroy my creativity. They call it art block. It hindered all the creative juices in my brain from flowing.

I had to learn how to not invite stress into my creative process in a healthier way and find ways to include milestones throughout the process to feel a sense of progress. I do think there’s a healthy level of stress, but I’ve also learned not to obsess over the small details as much.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I remember showing in a gallery in Illinois with RAW Artists. I believe, that’s what it was called and I was so excited. I was networking, talking to people, filming the entire process, and welcoming everyone into everything I was doing to prepare for the show. At the same time, I was also launching a clothing brand. In all honesty, it was really just a T-shirt brand featuring my art, but I had previously found success in college selling my art on mugs, shirts, bags basically everything.

I also remember documenting the experience of the art show, including the painful failure of not selling a single piece. I was so mortified and hurt. I disassociated, staring off into the distance as the show neared its end. I turned on the camera and shared my feelings with my audience. I just felt weird. I had expected things to go differently.

Even then, I encouraged people to check out the website I had just created for my clothing brand. I told myself I wasn’t going to quit. I’ve definitely been through worse experiences, like spending $7,000 on a course that never materialized or losing $3,000 to what I thought was a client but turned out to be a scam. Those experiences hurt in different ways, but they taught me something valuable.

I’ve learned that life will always throw challenges my way, but I refuse to let those challenges dictate how I move forward. That mindset has helped me start over again and again. I keep going because, the end goal is greater than the route I have to take to get there. As long as I get there the disappointments are just memories behind me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyjeffers/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TonyJeffers/videos