We recently connected with Carlos Foster and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Carlos, thanks for joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

Becoming a business owner was always a personal goal of mine. My parents have been business owners for most of my life, and watching them build their business, hire people, and establish themselves within their industry was inspiring. Of course, it’s also a lot of work! You don’t really get to “shut off” when you leave the office, and you’re constantly thinking of ways to improve your business, or process, or outreach. It becomes an extension of you in a way. And because of that, you can’t help but think sometimes “what if I worked for someone else?” The responsibilities would be much less, and maybe you really could have a greater separation from your work when the clock strikes five. But the freedom that comes with being a business owner is something that would hard for me to give up. I am fortunate to have two amazing business partners and we all support each other when someone needs a break, or has to come in late. Two of us have little kids, so there’s always something unexpected happening–I can’t imagine having to ask permission from a higher up to deal with family issues. And it’s not just those freedoms that make being a business owner desirable. Knowing that every decision you make is contributing directly to how your business evolves is something that can easily be lost when working in a giant company.

Carlos, 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?

I work in video production, our company Blue Barn Creative has produced branding, commercial, and event videos for a decade out of San Diego, CA. It’s been rewarding to watch the brand evolve, and see our work improve. We’ve created many lasting partnerships with our clients, some collaborations are now going on six or seven years, and to me thats’ the biggest indicator that we’re doing something right. I know that we bring a personal touch to our process (at least, that’s how I like to work), we’re easy to get along with, the crew likes being on set, no one yells–which, believe it or not, is something our clients comment on, and makes me wonder WHO they are hiring…

But going back to the partnerships we’ve developed, that’s what I’m most proud of: that we’ve become the go-to solution for many of these clients. They need a video, and they know we’re in their corner.

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

The height of the pandemic was a really scary time for our business. Being a video production agency, we rely on working in-person with our clients; it’s one of the most people-centric industries you can be part of! I remember our executive producer had lined up a whole series of events across the country we were going to film, as well as some brand work–it was looking to be one of our best years, and then it all came down like a line dominos. It seemed everyday we got notice of a postponement, followed by an eventual cancellation. The calendar just cleared up and the phone stopped ringing. We applied for loans, grants, the PPP, whatever we could, and most turned up empty. But we were able to get some funding to keep the lights on. Mainly though, it was our strong relationships with our clients that pulled us through. We did all kinds of projects, much smaller than usual, and in bulk, converted a lot of our usual event videography work to virtual meetings that we would help direct and later edit remotely. In those times, everyone was just figuring things out, but we found creative ways to keep projects alive.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met my business partners working at the same television network. I won’t mention it’s name because we were drawn to each other like brothers in arms–in that, it was a great opportunity but poorly managed. However, the shared experience of being there made it clear we could work in video, on our own terms, and be successful. At that time, just over ten years ago, boutique video agencies were sort of a novelty. Many independent production houses were still using equipment that was bought off of television studios, or trying to replicate the experience of a movie set. We recognized how, with a trained and honed television background, we could use the newly emerging technologies to film with less cost, less of a footprint, and still achieve amazing results. Now, video technology is so accessible, the market is very saturated, but there really isn’t a substitute for understanding what it takes to tell a story, capture the coverage you need, and pull it all together in the edit. I think we were drawn together because we recognized the opportunity, and all we share a love of making video.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bluebarncreative.com
• Instagram: BlueBarnCreative
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluebarncreative
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-foster-085b7856