We were lucky to catch up with Alexandra Madison Bouffard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexandra Madison, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

From the moment that my Dad let me get my hands on his over-the-shoulder camcorder in the 90s, I’ve been interested in filmmaking. I dreamt about having a career in the creative field and was determined to make it happen. After graduating college, I was living in Raleigh, North Carolina (not really known for it’s booming film scene); I continued to serve tables at a restaurant while I practiced my filming/editing skills and applied for every job involving videography that I could find!

Finally, I landed an interview at a production company specializing in technology, and I got the job! While I was SO excited to officially have the “big girl job” doing what I loved, within just a few weeks, I started to feel restless. I found that it didn’t live up to my expectations, rather it was dull and uninspiring. My love for videography and editing slowly seemed to be slipping away, and I began questioning everything I was doing. I wasn’t ready to give up a career in filmmaking, so I decided to leave the technology field and go into something completely different – Wedding Films.

I always thought of wedding videos as something filmed by a creepy uncle, including cheesy shots, guest interviews, and embarrassing dance floor clips with a blinding bright light. When I saw my first “cinematic” wedding film, I immediately knew that this was what I wanted to pivot my career into. I was so determined, that I filmed my first wedding for free, and shortly after, I got a job as an editor at a local wedding film company. As the months went by, I took on more roles and ultimately became the lead cinematographer and lead editor at the firm.

After two years of working for someone else, I was ready to start my own business. With the help and encouragement of my now husband, Jon, we packed our bags and moved to New York where we started our own film company, now known as Madison Grey Media. We didn’t waste any time and hit the ground running as soon as we could, filming 15 weddings in our first year in business, 25 weddings in our second year, and 30 new weddings scheduled for the 2020, the year the pandemic struck.

Like many small business owners, I wasn’t sure how we would survive the pandemic! We relied on social gatherings and events to make a living, and brides started to cancel weddings one by one. Jon and I had to get creative fast. Thankfully, we used our filming and editing skills to help other small businesses move their events online to virtual gatherings; we worked with real-estate companies to create virtual tours, and we continued to film micro-weddings where guests could watch their loved ones say “I do” safely from the comfort of their homes.

We continued to stretch our creative muscles to make ends meet and keep doing what we loved – and just like many people during the pandemic, we had time on our hands and decided to join TikTok. What started out as a hobby “just for fun” and something out of “boredom” during the pandemic quickly became much more than that. We were able to use our cinematography and editing knowledge in a completely new and different way to capitalize on this platform’s popularity. It wasn’t long until we had our first viral hit. It’s been both personally and professionally rewarding to see all of the positive comments on our content. We’re still at the beginning of our journey as online content creators, and we’re so excited to see where this road will take us!

We continue to feel so blessed to be able to put a roof over our heads and food on our table solely based on our creative work and entrepreneurship.

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

We knew we wanted to be in the couple in comedy genre, but we wanted to stand out from what other couples on the app were already creating. I’ll be honest; I’ve tried to do trending or fun “couple pranks” on Jon and I failed miserably because I just cannot keep a straight face. We wrote out some original ideas and quickly realized that scripted content was right up our alley!

We do not consider our growth an “overnight” success like some content creators might experience. Our audience was growing at a more steady pace over time. We continued to try out new skits, improve our videos, and learn what both performed best based and what we loved to create! Our goal from the beginning was to make people laugh and create real, relatable videos that someone could watch and think, “oh my gosh, that is SO us!”.

We work hard to make our videos both high-quality while also still feeling authentic to the app. As professional filmmakers, we have a closet full of cameras, lenses, and lighting, but we always opt to shoot videos on our iPhones! As an online creator, you quickly learn that it is about the content of the video, not necessarily having the best or most expensive gear to film one. Subtle things like the camera movements and the sound design can make all the difference towards the end result!

Reflecting on where Jon and I now are in our content-creating careers, I’m proud of our ability to continue to learn and grow every day. We’re consistently brainstorming new ways to improve our content, to think outside the box, and to try new formats while always staying true to who we are.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

While the number of women who work in filmmaking is slowly rising, when I first graduated college and began a career in this field, I was often the only female on set. When I finally landed a job as a cinematographer, I was frequently handed the responsibilities of things like fixing hair/makeup, helping with wardrobe, etc. I was happy to help where necessary, but I noticed my male counterparts were never being asked to assist in such roles. I often heard, “you should consider a different industry,” or “maybe filmmaking isn’t for you.” When I finally let my boss at the time know that I was leaving to start my own company, I remember him saying, “being a business owner isn’t for everyone.”

Thankfully, I didn’t listen to the voice in my head telling me that I shouldn’t go for it. I pushed the self-doubt aside, and I kept moving forward. I was blindly confident in my ability to succeed, regardless of what I heard from people in my past. Of course there were some moments when I would doubt myself and think, “what if I fail? What if they are right?” but I knew deep down that true “failure” was giving up, and any detour from my goal would be a lesson to help me grow. I learned that worrying about the opinions of others who don’t know your story serves no purpose in writing your next chapter.

With the encouragement and support of my now husband, Jon, I started my own production company in New York and built it from the ground up. We got to a place where he eventually joined me full-time as a co-founder. I think back to the younger version of myself who was told to find a different career path, and I couldn’t be more proud of her for not listening to the naysayers.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We weren’t sure exactly what “niche” we were going to fit into, so we tried everything and anything —from voiceovers to tutorials, jumping on the latest trends, and finally writing out scripts and exploring original content; we knew we loved creating content and entertaining people, but we also wanted to make videos that WE enjoyed filming.

Over time, we found that the videos with our original take on audio, editing, and scripting gained the most traction! People love to use TikTok to connect with other people, and the more they feel they know you and they could relate to you, the more likely you are to build up a loyal audience who wants to support you and come along for the ride.

Every time we create new content, we ask ourselves, “does this inspire people? Does this entertain others? Does this educate them?”. We want our audience to watch our videos and feel as though they have gained something, whether it’s laughter or a sense of community.

Many people are now starting to create content on social apps, and you might feel it’s a saturated space for you to stand out, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! Everyone has something unique to offer on these platforms and if you are willing to put yourself out there, you too could have something unique to share with the world. If you continue to show up as yourself and be authentically YOU, then other people will naturally be attracted to that. They will relate on a deeper level and want to engage and connect with you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alexjon.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandramadisonn/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexandraandjon/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexandraandjon
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@alexandramadison_?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Image Credits
Feature photo by Rachel Rodgers