We recently connected with Alyssa Moss and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alyssa, thanks for joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I started creating videos when I was 10 years old. It was always my favorite thing to do. I spent my youth posting on YouTube, far before it was cool! (Ha!) I continued creating videos about myself or my life until I was about 20 years old, where I decided to switch the subject of my videos to something outside of myself. I found shooting weddings was a great outlet, consistent work, and I found success with it very quickly. My first full year in business I filmed around 46 weddings… And also edited them all. I have always enjoyed finding success and fulfillment in my work. But finding success so quickly in my early 20’s came with learning those hard lessons you learn in your early 20’s that much more stressful. Not only was I growing into a young adult, but I had accumulated a great amount of responsibility at a young age. A lot of my friends would spend their days in the Summer lounging by a pool, when I had to stay inside catching up on the Spring wedding season. I was always grateful to be in my position, but I really struggled sometimes with feeling like I may have rushed into things. My business held contracts for each client, so I was 20 years old filling up my calendar for my 22 year old self. Who in their early 20’s knew what they would be doing in the next 2-3 years?

Although the financial aspect of things really opened my door up to experiences, I often found myself feeling like I didn’t have anyone in my life that could relate to me. It made me feel alone and isolated. All of my friends had switched college majors, career paths, etc 2-3 times at this point in life and I’m still shooting weddings! I found I like the consistency after all of the years. I know where my busy season ends, and my slow season begins.

The wedding business has really kept me on track. The contracts really motivate me to stay on my grind! It is a big advantage to have so much stability through such a life changing decade in your life. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I waited a little later to start it up, but there’s no point in looking back now. I don’t think I would do anything differently if I had the option. I have also added in a lot of different services like marketing, social media management, commercial photo/video, web design, etc as I’ve gotten older. I also started a retail business that I thought would be fun, turns out your plate can only be so full before things start to fall off.

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

My name is Alyssa Moss. I am 28 years old.

I started my company, Moss Videography in 2016. By started my company, I mean started a FaceBook page. All I knew was that I knew how to use social media and a camera. My original goal was to teach small businesses how to engage their customers online with video. However I shot one wedding for free and I could tell that was a path I was meant to go down. I posted my first wedding video on FaceBook and it got a ton of hits causing dozens of couples to reach out to me about shooting their wedding the following year.

When I started shooting weddings it was Fall 2016. There were not very many wedding videographers around the Charlotte, North Carolina area. And videography for weddings wasn’t really the industry it is today. The other thing I think helped my business to stand out was that I’m a woman. A majority of the wedding videographers even around Charlotte, NC today are men. Brides are typically the ones looking for who will capture their perfect day. And I think there is just something special about women working with women! I spend most of the planning process and even the wedding day with the bride, so it’s important that there is a personal connection.

After I got comfortable with weddings, I started adding in more of my original goal… commercial work. I’m now excited to offer full service social media management, web design, and commercial photo/video! I really love creating social media content for small businesses. I go in and shoot the photos, videos, and even create the content strategy. I work one-on-one with my clients to develop a personalized marketing strategy that is unique to them! I love it!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A hard lesson learned… You can’t trust anyone but yourself with your business.

I’ve tried having partners, employees, independent contractors… It’s hard. The truth is, no one cares about your business/idea as much as you do. And at the end of the day, you have to count on yourself. It took me years to find second shooters and an assistant that I could trust.

I once tried associate shooters for wedding videography… Thinking I could book 2-3 weddings in one day and handle the editing projects. I didn’t know this was a bad idea until I tried to edit the projects they filmed. Keep in mind this is a day, you’ll never have the chance to reshoot… The pressure is on.

The biggest lesson is you can’t scale without trusting others, but you can’t expand and grow until it’s ready. Trying to rush to the next step will only knock you back three more.

Also, do not go into debt. Don’t let anyone convince you debt is healthy. Figure out how to get the capital you need. One of the worst ideas I’ve ever agreed to is to rack up credit card debt to pay a monthly payment that the business wasn’t consistently earning enough yet to cover. Spending money doesn’t equate to earning money. Spending money and a lot of hard work equates to MAYBE earning money. The retail business, that I have since closed, taught me this lesson.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

2020 – Before 2020 I was shooting 30-45 weddings per year, in 2020 I filmed 7 total. The pandemic really changed everything for the wedding industry, and I don’t feel like my business has been the same since. However 2020, was the perfect opportunity for me to take my business in a different direction that I always wanted to go in, commercial!

I took on a ton of commercial work that year and met so many new clients. I got my first consistent monthly media client. We adapted new marketing strategies based on the current state of the world, and it really gave my clients a boost, digitally! I created several documentaries and I even produced my first television commercial.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.MossVideography.com | www.MossMedia.co
• Instagram: @MossVideography | @MossMedia.co
• Facebook: @MossVideography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/mossvideography