We were lucky to catch up with Jessie Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Being successful means so much more than a good income. For me, it means creating quality videos, building relationships with clients, vendors and colleagues, receiving positive 5 star reviews, maintaining a presence on social media, and most importantly LOVING what I do. After 12 years of owning my two video production companies, Palmetto Coast Media and Palmetto Wedding Films, I can safely say that they have become successful businesses and I feel incredibly fortunate to have chosen this career.

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

I’m a videographer, producer and editor and I own two video production companies – Palmetto Coast Media and Palmetto Wedding Films. From a young age growing up in Boston, I always loved to document life by creating home videos of my family and friends with my dad’s camcorder. It was so much fun being able to capture little moments and find ways to bring them back to life. After earning degrees in Media Communications and Spanish from NC State University, I followed a group of college friends and moved to Charleston in 2005 to be close to the beach. I fell in love with this city and knew this was where I would be for the rest of my life. Soon after moving to Charleston I began working as an editor and producer for Litton Entertainment (now known as Hearst Media). Over the course of several years, I worked on a variety of nationally televised docu-reality TV series, including Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan: Family Edition, Calling Dr. Pol, The Brady Barr Experience, The Great Doctor Scott, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Hidden Heroes, Exploration with Richard Weise, Animal Exploration with Jarod Miller, and Hometeam. In 2011, I founded Palmetto Coast Media and began creating videos for businesses, weddings and events all over Charleston. In 2012, we co-created, co-produced, directed, filmed and edited a docu-reality TV series called “Give Me Shelter,” featuring the Charleston-based animal shelter Pet Helpers. The series aired on Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, Hulu and Animal Planet in over 100 countries. In 2020, after filming dozens of weddings, I rebranded and created a second entity dedicated to wedding videography – Palmetto Wedding Films. Since filming our first wedding in 2011, we have served over 160 couples in SC, NC, GA and beyond. It has been an incredible journey connecting with so many amazing and unique clients over the past 12 years and I can’t wait to see where the next 12 leads us!

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

I remember when Covid started and we had clients canceling shoots left and right. It was scary and overwhelming at first, but I just knew that it would all work out eventually. Some people suggested I go back to school and look into a new career since I wouldn’t be able to film anything for who knows how long, but instead, I chose to put even more energy into my businesses. I did a full audit of my websites and social media pages and dove into a major rebrand. I found ways to create videos during my down time and engaged in podcasts and other educational resources. By the time the quarantine was lifted in Charleston and weddings and events were back on, I felt much more confident as a business owner. Despite the hard times and a lack of work for 4 months, it was a blessing having that down time to focus my energy on the businesses and find ways to make them even more successful.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Podcasts! I have learned SO much from a variety of videography related podcasts and can not recommend them enough!

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Kate Dye Photography, Jay Dee Photography, Emma Lili Photography, Philip Casey Photography, Sloan Photography