We recently connected with Jack Botti and have shared our conversation below.

Jack, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents contributed to a huge part of my success as a creative and business owner. I recently heard the saying “caught not taught.” That resonated with me when looking back at my childhood. Watching my mom juggle 3 kids while my dad worked all day to exceedingly support his family showed me discipline and success. They didn’t have to sit me down and teach me the right/wrong ways of life. I was able to witness it first hand. My dad was up before the sun rose to work out in the room next to my bedroom. He worked all day, then took me to track or football practice in the evening. All while managing to love his wife and have dinner as a family every night. He SHOWED me what it took to be a man. That forced me how to put my head down and succeed.

Jack, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Jack Botti and I’m a videographer/editor currently based in Bend, Oregon. I grew up outside Portland in the suburbs. I was heavily into sports growing up – track in the summer and ski racing all winter long. In high school, my friends and I wanted to document all the fun things we were doing. For some reason we attributed good videos to boarder-line criminal activity. Teenage kid stuff. That got me into a bit of trouble, but i was able to find a passion for video during that time. After high school I took a year off from college to pursue my athletic career as a ski racer. I then bought a camera and started to play around with it in my free time – which i had a lot of. My friends and I started a web series called Keep the Stoke Alive. At this point, we were all heading into college as former ski racers. I would film them on the mountain skiing and started to bring my camera wherever I went. We would wake up for sunrise at the top of Smith Rock, ski in the evening and go to bed tired – all while taking a full schedule of classes. This kept me OUT of trouble.

Fast forward throughout college, I picked up a job with GoPro, Red Bull, and other various clients through the eyes of Keep the Stoke Alive. I went on tour with an artist, traveling all around the world while doing homework in the greenrooms. Graduating with a Business Admin degree, I smoothly transitioned into a full time creative as I already built a business out of it through school.

Today, I’ve found my niche as a live-time editor, quickly piecing together high quality videos in real time for clients like Nike and Toyota. It wasn’t until last year when I dove into a specialized position like this. As a creative, it’s really important to hone in on specific roles that you are passionate/good at. It’s easy to be a generalized “content creator” that can do it all, but it’s way more valuable (financially and professionally) to perfect a specific craft. I’ve learned how to present myself as a competent business man, as well as dial in my prowess as an editor and what people find to be visually appealing. This career gave me incredible experiences and financial success at a young age, and there’s still so much room for growth. I don’t plan on stopping soon.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Lean into what you like and don’t like at a young age. Even if you don’t know yet. For example, if you don’t like country music, drive that home into your head. Be vocal about it, tell your friends you hate it. You’ll be known as the guy who hates country music. Now, assess how that feels for you. If you feel good about that opinion, stick with it, but if something rubs you the wrong way about it, maybe you could be open to changing your opinion on it. This has happened to me several times in school, career, values/beliefs. It helps build you into who YOU want to be and helps you make decisions based of that.

(if that makes sense)

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Making the client happy. If the client is happy, I’m happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jackbotti.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackbotti/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jack.botti
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jackbotti