We were lucky to catch up with Carlos Leon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carlos, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

What truly takes to be successful is to commit and sacrifice as much as possible ,when you are first starting in business. You must be willing to work harder than anyone else you know and learn delayed gratification. Denying yourself that extended vacation or luxury item that others in your circle are buying, to save, get focused and concentrate on your goals and business will results in a better life and experiences later on.

I personally experienced this when I was first starting out in my 20”s. Starting without any investment, partners or mentors, I told myself that I needed to go above and beyond and put as many hours in as possible to succeed. While most people of my age where out socializing and partying on weekends, I was putting in the work growing my business.

Ultimately these early steps in my business career have resulted in the life I live now of having a streamlined business in two cities that I run remote even when I do a good amount of traveling.

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?

I was born in Havana, Cuba and emigrated with my parents to the United States in the 80’s, seeking a better life and future. From a very young age, I had an interest in cameras, electronic media and the arts. As a teen I self-taught myself to build websites and edit videos, starting a business from a small room in my parent’s modest mobile home in Orange County, CA.

My educational background is an Associates Degree in Film and Video Production from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. I always knew traditional college wasn’t for me, so I enrolled in an accelerated program and started my business right away after graduating.

After a couple years of working as a web designer and event videographer, I opened my first office in a major boulevard in my hometown of Whittier, CA. After just a year, I saved enough money to rent a warehouse in the industrial part of Los Angeles. This is where I started my first production studio in 2006, called CML Studios.

My goal when building my business was to provide a “one-stop shop” type facility where clients could create all sorts of media and digital content, under one roof. This includes commercials, music videos, social media content, and much more. We have worked with some the biggest names in media, music and entertainment and have been in business in Los Angeles for almost 20 years. Companies like Warner Brothers, Sony and MTV.

in 2022, we expanded our operations to the East Coast by opening up another production studio in Miami. This particular studio has a full television studio as well, with the goal of launching an online Spanish-language channel.

One of my proudest achievements, besides being self-made, was being named one of BusinessWeek’s Top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25 in 2008. I was then voted Top 5 on the list by the readers of Businessweek.com. Mark Zuckerberg was on this list just the prior year in 2007. This was just a couple years after I had started my production studio and it is definitely an achievement I am very proud of.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

2019 was a year of change and transition and it ended up being the most difficult year in my business and personal life. After leasing my own building in 2010, my landlord decided to sell the building. At the moment, I wasn’t financially solvent enough to buy it and I was hoping the new owner would just keep me as a tenant, but that wasn’t the case.

I had to start everything from scratch in a new location and the entire process was a nightmare. Everything went wrong, with everything going over-budget, contractors taking 3 times as long as promised to finish the main parts of the location and workers stealing material and money from me. When we were just close to finishing the project, the city shut me down.

I was just weeks away from losing everything and without being able to finish the location, it was going to be impossible to stay afloat. I went into a deep depression and it was the darkest point so far in my life.

I received a call from a client that was looking for a space for a large project. I had kept up the website for my old location and we had been in business for more than a decade. My new location was unfinished and not a location that 99% of projects could use.

Nevertheless, I showed up in the middle of a rain storm to show them the space. Turns out, their project had almost the exact needs of what my unfinished location had. For the next several months, they rented my location, allowing me to finish the original space and building a secondary one, allowing me a second source of revenue.

When Covid hit, the project allowed us to financially float as business was totally shut down. Ultimately, the client saved my entire company and many years of work. After this, the location flourished allowing me enough revenue to expand the operation to the East Coast.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I am fully self-funded and simply saved as much as I could, with lots of sacrifice, as I was starting out. I lived below my means and for 4 years I lived in the warehouse where I started my first studio. Without a proper bed, shower or central AC and heating. This extreme sacrifice allowed me to saved a good amount of money to lease my own building 4 years later.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.cmlstudios.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlos.manuelleon
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlosmleon
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosleoncml/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cmlstudiosla
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cml-studios-burbank
• Other: http://www.cmlstudiosla.com
  http://www.cmlmiami.com
  https://www.cmlproductions.com