We were lucky to catch up with Princess Miller recently and have shared our conversation below.

Princess, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about one of the craziest things you’ve experienced in your journey so far.

In late 2023 I was asked to do something my company doesn’t offer: 3D Rendering. I was reluctant to accept the project, but the client who I was subcontracting for was working on a major municipal project. Since he and I had a great working relationship, he wanted me to come onboard to complete this part of the deliverables. Now 2 things I didn’t consider when taking on this project 1. I am not an artist, I am a designer 2. I can’t draw at all. Not considering these two things, I had the craziest experience that I have ever had in my career and business. The first obstacle I encountered was the client didn’t want to work with me after she found out I had never done a 3D Rendering before. In fact she stated, “I am not saying you’re not smart, but I would hate for you to start this project and realize you can’t complete it”. Those words gave me the fuel I needed to prove her wrong. Setting reasonable expectations, I informed the team that I had to purchase the software, learn the software, and then do the work. I knew they had a tight deadline and they were bringing me in at the latter end. They needed my rendering within 4 weeks. So accepting the challenge, I closed my business to the public for 30 days and for the first 14 days I immersed myself in the 3d rendering software world. I watched every tutorial I could find day and night and at the end of the 14 days the only thing I could do was use Google to create a white boxed outline of the buildings I had to draw. What I learned is that 3D Rendering is totally different from Graphic Design. The tools were different and the software language was totally different. I reached out to several youtubers but no one got back with me. So I started researching and found a tutor out in Florida. He did several sessions with me and slowly I began to draw the buildings. My immediate project lead wanted to rush the project since I was behind, so he hired my tutor to draw the roads, sidewalks, and the trees and plants and he accepted. My tutor assured us he could do the work in less than a week. Our first reveal turned out pretty good but they complained about the placement of model cars and the first building I drew so we went back to the drawing board. By then I was better at drawing and I spent an entire night drawing almost 15 buildings. I sent my work to my tutor at about 6am and went home to get rest and nothing was turned in. He said he needed more time. Another 2 weeks went by and by this time we were begging him to send us his work. He sent us a video animation of white buildings and cars and pink trees. My immediate project lead was livid and so was I. Essentially my tutor gave up on the project and when we confronted him about it he asked for more money. And then he told me if we fired him my computer wasn’t going to be able to complete the project and his computer could but I made the decision to dismiss him but then I went back to the same problem I had before, I needed someone to draw the hardscape and landscape while I drew the buildings. Even though I only had 4 online lessons I knew enough to draw buildings but I wasn’t adept enough to do the rest. Frustrated, I went to church, (I had stopped going to church to work on this project) my pastor asked me how the project was going and I began to share the issues I was having. One of my church members, Jerald Houston, overheard us talking. He is a college student who said, “3D Rendering is not for the faint of heart”. I asked him, “do you know 3D rendering”? He said, “yes, I am a civil engineer student but we mostly deal with 2D”. I asked him if he would come to the office so I could show him what I was working on and to see if he could help me. He came with one of his friends from college and they decided they could finish the project. They both had to learn the software that I was working with. They agreed to take the project on and started working on it the next day. I was so elated I bought shrimp and salmon with all the fixings and they began working. At around 5pm Jerald said he was going to skip class to keep working while his buddy went to turn in an assignment. What I later found out was that the buddy asked his professor how to do some things in 3D and the professor told him they should quit the project because they were not far along enough in their classes to take on a project of this size. So he quit and he tried to convince Jerald to quit as well. This decision deeply affected their relationship but my church member said he would not leave me hanging. He was in it to the end. So for the next month and a half we drew. When we turned in our 3rd render, the plans had changed but no one told us and the city representative didn’t even want to share the new plans with us but they were holding us responsible for completing the job according to their new plans. Jerald and I went back to the engineer and they kindly gave us the whole 90 plus page final plans. And the client then added to our portion ADA Compliance (Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design), light poles, street signs, parking spaces and drainage. All of which was not originally included. So there were several nights we spent at the office sleeping, working on drawings and passing files back and forth. And then it came time to start the rendering process. That’s when I found out my computer wasn’t compatible with the second software. So I decided to upgrade my graphics card. Then I found out if I upgraded my graphics card then it was recommended to upgrade my power supply and after I upgraded those then I found out my CPU needed to be upgraded to work with the new parts. Once I got them installed, the computer would not come on, it would light up but not actually boot up. Long story short, I ended up replacing all of the internal parts except for the fan and I had to add another fan to keep my pc from melting from all of the heavy processing of those large files. Now you may say it would have been cheaper to buy a new computer but with the type of parts needed, it was actually cheaper to replace them rather than buy a new system that would have cost me double from what I paid. And I had never built a computer before. So with a new system we began the render process. After everything was done the city decided not to use what we worked on. But all in all I still feel like this project was worth the sacrifice. I learned a new skill, I discovered a new level of grit, sacrifice, and determination. I built a new computer. Jerald used what we created to secure his first job working for a great engineering firm. In fact he had 2 firms that were highly impressed with the work we did. And even though my company took a loss last year in profit compared to the year before as a result of that project, I received my FAA Part 107 Certificate and became a licensed drone pilot. This was no easy task. Because of the no quit experience I had on that 3D Render project, I knew there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish if I put my mind to it. Now I am working for some construction firms on some major projects in my city. And later this year I will go back and fully learn 3D rendering and hopefully be able to officially add this skill to my list of services.

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 am the owner Princess Creative Productions, LLC, a full-service creative agency with over 20 years of experience in video production and multimedia services. Driven by a passion to provide small businesses with professional, affordable creative solutions, I expanded my expertise to include graphic design, photography, and social media management. My portfolio includes producing TV commercials and shows for Comcast (Alabama), Mediacom (Florida), Life TV (Chickasaw), Charter Cable (Atlanta and Birmingham), PTWWN (Atlanta), and Destiny Television (Atmore), with some of my footage even featured on CNN. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Alabama (2002) and a Master of Science in Entertainment Business from the prestigious Full Sail University (2012).
I have been nationally and locally recognized for my creative contributions, winning several awards, including an ADDY Award and the Small Business Grind Award. I was also nominated for a CableFaxie Award. Deeply committed to mentorship and business development, I’ve served as a mentor and guest instructor for the University of South Alabama’s Business Minority Development and Minority Business Accelerator Cohorts, and acted as a judge for their Pitch Contest. I also earned 2nd place in that very contest a couple of years ago, with one of my clients taking 1st place for a mobile app I designed. My commitment to education extends to youth as well—I’ve taught video production for the University of South Alabama’s Continuing Education youth summer camps for several years and have trained media teams at churches across the Gulf Coast. I am a graduate of several development programs, including the MAWSS Supplier Diversity Program, USA Business Minority Accelerator, and CoachedUp Masterminds. I use my experience—as a TV producer, account executive, media buyer, photographer, and brand strategist—to help businesses grow.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

When I was eight years old, my uncle asked my cousins and I what we were going to be when we grew up. I answered, “I’m going to be a president of a company”. Looking back I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t even know anyone who owned a business. So I believe I was prophesying to my future self. During my time at the cable advertising company where I worked as a TV producer, the desire to have my own business began to cultivate a passion I didn’t know existed. On Saturdays, I wrote, hosted, shot, and produced a local gospel video show in my area called Gospel Hits 1. This show idea was from my childhood growing up watching music jockeys on MTV, BET, and VH1. On Gospel Hits 1 my co-host, Cory P. and I interviewed and showcased music from national and local recording gospel artists. Our show grew from the local cable access channel in Mobile to the local cable access channel in Baldwin County and a YouTube channel and a website. During this time, I started training video ministry teams along the Gulf Coast. To take this business to the next level, I went back to school and earned a masters in Entertainment Business. This was actually answered prayer because I learned how to set up a business, develop a business plan, and so much more. Through these classes, I gained the confidence to step out on faith. As I prayed about my business at that time, I told the Lord I wanted to work for an agency before I went full time with my business because one day I wanted to open an agency. One evening while at work, I got a call about an account executive position with the local paper and they were changing from a traditional paper model to an agency model. I was so excited because this was the opportunity I had been waiting and praying about. After a year working as an account executive, I left the company I had 3 clients and producing 3 weekly TV shows and commercials. I was exhausted from burning the candles at both ends and was praying about when to leave but I was starting to feel burned out. And since that day September 16th 2016, the work continued to roll in and I am truly grateful for it. That was the day I went full time with my business.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is simple: to offer an affordable and professional creative product to my clients. I strive to bring their visions to life and to see their bottom lines increase from doing business with me. You know there are people who told me when I first got started in business, to pick one or two services and stick with them and not to try to offer so many services. But one thing I learned back in college, there are right-brained people and left-brained people and there are some like me who use their brains almost equally. If I focused on 2 or 3 services I would probably be bored and lose interest. Everyday there is something new and different to do. One day I may be dressed up to meet with a client, the next day I may be dressed casual and sitting at the computer designing or editing all day and the next day I may be on the construction site with my boots and hard hat on flying my drone or I may be working a live event shooting a video or photography or running audio. No two days are the same at Princess Creative Productions and I enjoy every minute of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://princesscreativeproductions.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/princessvideoproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/princessvideoproductions/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/princess-creative-productions/?viewAsMember=true
• Twitter: https://x.com/princessvidpro1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxkUkda3_sisV45mSY-4vDA
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/princess-creative-productions-mobile
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/coloroutsidethebox

Image Credits

Photo of Princess Miller – Photographer Timethy Miller
Photo of Jerald Houston – Photographer Princess Miller
Drone Photo on Construction Site – Photographer Princess Miller
3D Renderings: Princess Miller and Jerald Houston