We recently connected with Christopher Jalbert and have shared our conversation below.
Christopher, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I’ll go ahead and say I don’t like taking risks, I take my time and I plan almost everything. This is why when I told my loved ones I was going to go full-time into running a videography business they thought I was a completely different person. They wondered why on earth would I choose something so risky when I could have just gotten a position at a news station or at a marketing company. The comments on why running a business is a bad idea were endless. But the thing is, despite not wanting to take risks, I was willing to go all in for one reason. I wanted to be free. Free to tell stories, and free to be my true self. Having lived a life of caution, I was genuinely miserable and my mental health was not great. I think my turning point was back in 2018 when I had a true dilemma. I was approached to film a wedding several months in advance, and I did what my cautious self would always do. I asked to get the day off from my boss. Unfortunately for me, every time off request was denied, the heat was on. Eventually, D-Day arrived, and either I would have to show up to my first wedding gig ever late, or sneak out the back and ditch work early. I decided upon the latter. Preparing for the inevitable I drafted my two-week notice and went to work. As the hours went by I got more and more nervous about my “great escape” until I had an opening, it was my turn for a break. I immediately clocked out and grabbed my garment bag. At that moment a co-worker walked in and saw what I was doing but luckily, they smiled and had my back. I slid my two-week notice into the manager’s office and peeled out of the parking lot, I was free. Now I don’t recommend ditching work it was personally a risk worth taking. While it’s not all sunshine and rainbows I still enjoy doing what I do.
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 first got into videography when I was 15 years old. I took an elective at a TV station that was affiliated with my high school, from then on I knew I wanted to work in the film/ video industry whatever that looked like. I decided I wanted to pursue film more so I went to North Greenville university to pursue a degree in broadcast communication. I think my time in college prepared me for doing what I do now. I eventually figured out more of what I wanted to do for a living having filmed everything from Indian dance schools to Football for ESPN. I discovered my passion for unique story-driven films through this trial and error process of filming everything I could.
I think one of the things that sets me apart in what I do is I don’t care if I have to spend 8, 10, or 16 hours filming something if there’s a good story to be told. most folks in the industry might think I’m crazy for not charging hourly or that I’ll stay as long as I’m needed. I like to compare it to watching a movie, who wants to watch a movie that’s missing the third act?
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I think of resilience as not just the ability to take hits and keep going. It’s being able to take those hits and heal from them. As I mentioned previously during a significant period of my life my mental health was not the greatest. I have survived four suicide attempts in the past. Those were big hits, it wasn’t until I reached out to get help from others that I learned how to not only survive but heal. Thus, through the help of my friends, and several self-help books I was finally able to gain true resiliency. In recent history, I, unfortunately, lost my apartment recently, but I know that I have the tools I need to get back up again. That’s resiliency.
: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
One of the things that drive me is telling other people’s stories. I used to think that my story had little or no value, but it turns out I was wrong. People found hope in my story. Telling my story and recognizing its value put me in a position to save two of my friends from ending theirs. Now I want to be able to share good stories that might give people hope or encouragement. Every Story has value and who knows? Your story might save someone’s life too. That is why I do what I do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mediacarolinas.com
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