We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gary Faust a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Gary, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

Running a family business is an emotionally demanding, albeit very rewarding way to make a living. It’s a unique path to take. A special path that is not for everyone. I would not trade it for anything in the world and I mean that whole-heartedly.

I run a media production company with my mother who drives me absolutely fucking nuts. We’re opposites. Different lifestyles, different methods of communication, different thought process, different everything. She’s analytical, socially reserved, and takes time to make a well thought out decision. We used to call her “Mother Teresa” in high school because she would bake cakes for when me and all my stoner buddies would hang at the house. I mean, she had no idea we were smoking pot, but you get the point. On the other hand, I’m more of a wild man. I’m charismatic, outgoing, quick on my feet, creative. Some would say I shoot from the hip. But I always make sure the job gets done.

Going into business with someone soooo polar opposite from yourself sounds like entrepreneurial suicide, right? Well, I didn’t think so. We share some key values that I felt would bring us success no matter our personal differences: grit, loyalty, hard work, reliability. These are the reasons why I decided to pitch my business idea to her. In a business setting, I thoguht our differences could complement one another and our similarities will keep us from catastrophic disagreements. And I was right. We’ve experienced a lot of success.

I will admit, at times, I have almost regretted it. Almost. But like I said, there’s nothing I would trade the experience for. Here’s why: my mother and I have never gotten along, and while we still butt heads from time-to-time, running a business alongside her has brought me to understand who she is and how she operates more than any other experience we’ve ever shared. We’ve never been able to get along, we’ve never been able to understand each other, and we’ve never really spent a lot of time together. Honestly, I don’t think we ever actually tried. But running a business together essentially forced us to make the relationship work, otherwise the business fails.

In simple terms, creating a business from the ground up brought my mother and I closer than we had ever been in the past. It’s a function of working and communicating together on a near-daily basis for months on end (of course we need breaks occasionally). I’ve learned more about how my mother operates, what her values are, and who she really is at her core. We would never have had this opportunity without diving headfirst into business together.

It’s worth mentioning that we’ve made a decent amount of money together and we enjoy the work we do, but the biggest take away that I’ve received from starting and running a family business is this: it has rewarded my soul by bringing my mother and I closer than we have ever been in our life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s all been worth it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

A friend of mine had me as a guest on his podcast in college and I had a good time so I decided to start one as a hobby. A semester or two later I had to write a business plan for a class assignment, and I was still doing the podcast, so I made a business plan for my podcast to make money. The closer I got to graduation, I realized more and more that I could apply this business plan to a full-blown podcast production company and make a living podcasting. I graduated during the pandemic and pitched the idea to my mother who had always talked about starting her own business. I convinced her it was a good idea, so we bought a house, built a studio, and started a podcast business.

That was almost three years ago. Nowadays, we do a bit more than just podcasts although that still is our bread and butter. We provide media services such as shooting and editing comedy specials, social media ads, producing documentaries, among other things.

What sets us apart from our competitors is our style. Our production style is raw, even gritty at times and that makes for relatable, digestible content for the layman in a market that is saturated with over-polished, expensive products that oftentimes are not worth the cost to the artist or business. Our brand of production is something that we wish to keep because it not only sets us apart, it also is accessible to those in the industry who can’t afford a top dollar production company.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My personality is what has set the tone for my reputation as a producer.

Media is in a transitional period. Convention means nothing now. Big production companies aren’t as important as they used to be. Independent production is in. Our clients know that we do not work in a conventional manner and that works well for them because many of our clients don’t work conventional jobs and or have conventional ideas. They want someone who operates outside of the media orthodoxy and that exactly what I do.

I have a reputation as thinking outside the box and that I will get the job done no matter what. Even if it means sacrificing my own personal time to ensure that their dreams become a reality.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for us has been and for the foreseeable future will be word of mouth.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/garyrfaust
• Facebook: facebook.com/fausttvproductions
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/gary-faust-58715a1b8
• Twitter: twitter.com/garyrfaust
• Youtube: youtube.com/garyfaust

Image Credits
Faust Media Productions