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

Brian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

As with any career there can be setbacks and difficult situations and the entertainment industry is no exception; however, the pace, the level of pressure, and almost zero tolerance to failure is an environment in which I thrive. The access alone, coupled with some of the amazing figures in the world I meet on a weekly basis is difficult to explain to those outside the sphere, but among colleagues it’s almost become commonplace to work with celebrities, sports figures, and influential individuals. All of us are surrounded by friends with careers that place restrictions on their lives, with the trade off being security, and the ability to still draw pay during the dark times that a freelance career can bring, in the beginning of my days in the industry this weighed heavily upon me, but as I progressed in the field, the options widened, and taking a 9-5 seemed like a death sentence. Finding friends and more importantly a partner that runs at this speed then becomes this biggest challenge, you’re rarely available for the weddings, birthdays, concerts, dinners, and none of them can travel to Positano next Tuesday, regardless of what you’re filming, so with that being said, the grass isn’t always greener, but I wouldn’t change a thing about 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?

The adage is 100$% true that it’s all in who you know, the difference is more of a timing thing, because what at the time may seems to be the most insignificant person can launch you into a career changing gig, all because they were in the room when the desire to fill a position was addressed, so if you’re wise, you’ll treat everyone with kindness and respect, because the caterer might be an executive in two years and change your life. A strong work ethic is critical, accountability, and mainly just responding immediately to an inquiry is more valuable than you can imagine, the industry is rife with individuals with one foot out the door, so to encounter true commitment gets attention, staying motivated and believing in your skills, and above all patience can produce results.
Myself and my team have a broad range of projects from narrative, foley, commercial, and lately reality programming with the strikes weighing upon us it was necessary to find other projects.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

While this is effective – the risk vs reward is quite high, and you’re essentially giving yourself just enough room to either fail or succeed entirely with the first few jobs. In the beginning of my career it was often necessary to work with the equipment of other production companies or sound mixers, as this is a stream of revenue for both, while this may seem responsibility free, and a way to simply hone your craft with a variety of different equipment, it was actually quite difficult, and while these gigs may introduce you to several others in the industry, and even travel you all over the world, the pay was marginal, and the equipment often supplied was damaged, missing critical pieces, or just poor equipment in general, and once the ensuing result was poor, it was the mixer held responsible, not the equipment. I had to buy my own equipment if I ever wanted to get anywhere. Again, not recommended, but it did work, I secured a job which assured me they’d rent everything through me, I then took several cash advances and balance transfer advances on credit cards to raise several thousands quickly – these funds were issued with mafia level interest, but only if the balance were not paid within 90 days, I managed the funds well, seeked advice from others about how best to proceed, and I slowly built everything from these initial funds.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

It all starts at the top, this cannot be said enough, toxic work environments always start with the boss, if there’s a subordinate within a company that seems to be the impetus, don’t forget they were appointed and allowed to perform in this manner, so it always begins at #1. Nobody can teach you how to be a better person, but I find treating people fairly, being direct with any issues you may encounter, showing respect to them as individuals, their families, and their interests simply makes them want to be around you and help your company flourish.
Above all managing your own life and well being should take precedent, providing for your family socially, financially, and spending quality time with your loved ones will make others see how you’ve taken control of your life, and they’ll want some of that for themselves, so they’ll want to work with you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Lahiere.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianlahiere/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-lahiere-4ab48416/