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

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

In the film industry as of 2022, there are only 23% of women that comprise the industry as a whole.

As a female filmmaker, I want to change that percentage.

I want young women to know that you can sustain yourself and make your dreams come true with just one thing –

a camera.

The world is changing and there are so many ways to sustain yourself in this craft.

There are millions of things to capture; places that are around the corner that you drive by every day that you think are boring places, you have to remind yourself you’re living in the present that will soon be history.

Things come and go in a blink of an eye.

Isn’t it wonderful to be able to capture a moment that will never cease to exist again, but only in a visual representation?

When I was growing up, I was always told how I would be able to compete against all of the other photographers and videographers of the world.

How was a little girl with a big dream supposed to make a living off of just taking pictures?

So, I felt I had to compromise. At the time, I didn’t think of compromising as a bad thing.

You make realistic choices in life to appease other people instead of yourself to prove that you can sustain yourself.

You work for other people because you expect the days ahead.

I went to school, got my degree in Cosmetology, and was a Hairstylist for 4 years.

Going to hair school, at the time, seemed reasonable because it was fast.

After 9 months, you take your tests, do a thousand perms, get your degree and bam! Here’s your license.

The thing they don’t teach you is how to market yourself, so working when you had no clients meant you had no money.

My husband always had a passion for film and started to pursue it full time.

Seeing the process of getting everything going was a bit overwhelming, so he would ask me to help on shoots even though I only knew the basics of photography.

As things progressed, I was being thrown in the fire.

Learning, watching, and doing all at the same time – sometimes all within the middle of a shoot.

By then, I was tired of the salon life, and it made me realize that I couldn’t do it anymore.

I was tired of reliving the same day.

We took a leap of faith, got everything legitimized in 2020 and haven’t looked back.

Of course, we had our struggles in the beginning, and still do as entrepreneurs because it’s not easy when you don’t have someone else telling you what to do.

We’ve learned everything ourselves online and anything I don’t understand, my husband helps out tremendously.

In a way, we are each other’s mentors, and I honestly wouldn’t be able to do this without him.

The thing about my husband is he dreams big.

Through finding faith in God and having a husband that always sets his mind to something, no matter how big,

I’ve learned that anything is attainable as long as you try.

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.

Being self-taught in the film industry has been an exciting experience because technology is always changing and learning from other creators definitely keeps you on your toes.

Learning the discipline and the craft is not an overnight thing especially if you’re used to working a 9-5.

Finding our niche came naturally in the process and as we progressed, we now specialize in capturing different events (auto shows, sport events, special occasions), music videos, interviews, and promotional videos (ad campaigns, highlight reels).

At Alverio Productions, we cater to brands, individuals, as well as other entrepreneurs at an affordable price.

Since we are a minority and woman owned business, we always try to help others like us that want their brand to be shown in the best light.

We always walk through our clients in the creative process, so they know their ideas are being brought to life.

I’m most proud of how much work we have gotten the past few years and I’m excited for the opportunities that are to come.

Thank you to all friends and family for the amazing love and support thus far and I can’t wait to see where our business takes us.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Since my husband is my business partner, we always go back to the story of how we met to remind ourselves why we started our business in the first place.

You would think it would be so romantic – it was but in a modern way.

Back in fall of 2016, I was going through a rough break up and this dude sends me a DM saying:

“Hey, ur cute.”

Usually, I would act like I didn’t read it and delete the message, but he caught my eye.

“Do I know this guy?”

I realized we have been friends on FB for about 8 years, so I was like – huh?

He was living in a small town I grew up in and thought I had gone to school with him since we had a good bit of mutual friends.

(Turns out we went to elementary school together, just never met ’til later.)

Long story short, we got to talking then we met up at a nearby park.

He told me he was hungry, and I had just bought a sandwich from QT, so I gave him half of my turkey club sandwich.

His eyes lit up and he thanked me so much I couldn’t hear the end of it.

It was so refreshing for someone to be thankful for what I thought was a small gesture.

He still talks about this till this day and said he knew right then he was going to marry me.

We remind ourselves these stories because marriage is not a fairytale.

There are ups and downs, the bad, the ugly.

Through it all we have to remind ourselves why we fell in love in the first place and why we do what we do.

In doing so, we take care of ourselves and our family mentally, spiritually, and physically first.

Otherwise, there would be no us and there would be no family business.

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

A lesson that I had to unlearn was that people will always be there for you.

A friend is like a dollar in your pocket, and unfortunately this term can be the same thing for family.

You will always have someone in your corner, but just know not everyone will be there when you need them the most.

This was a very important lesson to me growing up because I was always afraid of making friends as well as losing them.

I always wished that I had a lot of friends growing up, but I’ve learned that your trusted circle, no matter how small, is more important than wishing you had 10 friends that secretly pray for your downfall.

Sometimes life can throw curveballs at you, and I’ve learned to appreciate not only the good things in life but bad things as well because each moment in life is a lesson that you have to go through in order to come out stronger and better than before.

My advice is to always keep your head up, don’t listen to the naysayers, always stay in tune with yourself and God, and always remind yourself of what YOU want out of life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alverioproductions.com
• Instagram: svrvskyee
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT-IS2n11ASD7u7NJrRT50g
• Other: Gaijin Films: https://www.youtube.com/user/Rfreestyle38 Instagram: @gvijinfilms

Image Credits
Ramon Alverio (Gaijin Films)