Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gabe Roy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gabe, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Successfully growing a service-based business largely hinges on your ability to build and maintain relationships. Forming partnerships, building referral funnels and, of course, signing new clients are the major components that keeps my business machine running.

Building each of these connections requires an investment of time and care. Regardless of whether I’m trying to ink a partnership deal with a branding agency or land a big client, my goal is always to surprise and delight – leaving each interaction as a positive, memorable impression.

To do this, I strive to exceed expectations and provide as much value as possible in my areas of expertise. My belief is that when I strive to help my clients and partners win, we can all win. Taking this approach has proven to have the power to transform a simple customer transaction into a newly-formed brand ambassador that drives new business for years to come.

This is something I picked up on early in my career. Before I had launched my video production company, Zest Media Productions, I spent a short amount of time as a freelance videographer. Essentially, I was just a kid running around with my camera trying to shoot cool stuff, build a portfolio and hone in on my craft.

Around this time, a hip-hop artist by the name of YBN Cordae was scheduled to perform at a local music festival hosted by the city I was living in at the time. I decided I wanted to find a way to film an ‘After Movie’ of the festival. An After Movie is essentially a short, cinematic recap of the event.

After asking around, I was eventually connected with the City Events Manager by a former colleague. My offer was simple – I would like to shoot the festival for free in return for a great portfolio piece, and ultimately gain a fun experience from filming an artist I was a fan of.

Sure enough, I was given permission to film the event, along with being given a pretty loose leash as far as access goes. I was able to access nearby buildings for different vantage points, VIP sections, and even was able to film on-stage with the headlining artist. Needless to say, I was having a blast and couldn’t wait to upload the footage onto my editing program and get to work.

Within 72 hours of the concert ending I had my first draft of the video ready to go. I sent it off for review, and the email I received back from the City’s Events Manager was “YOU SLAYED THIS GABE!!!” In the days after, we met for coffee and, to my surprise, he had even cut me a cheque for the work I had done. Truthfully, I was satisfied enough with the opportunity, but I wasn’t really in a position to decline the money. It wasn’t a ton of money, but he made it clear that he was impressed and wanted me to know it.

Over the next few years, this one positive interaction blossomed into me finding a lot of success in my video production business. The City became a consistent, recurring client, with projects getting bigger and bigger each time. Also, after having proven that I was someone who was willing to above and beyond, the Events Manager and his colleagues felt confident in referring me to others who required professional video services. And this positive trend continued for years until my somewhat recent relocating to a larger city in 2022.

That relationship taught me a tremendously valuable lesson and something I constantly keep in mind as I continue to build my business.

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.

My name is Gabe Roy and I’m a filmmaker and the founder of Zest Media Productions in Vancouver, BC. My company creates videos for businesses that work to captivate, engage, and inspire online audiences – bringing each brand’s unique stories to life, and igniting connections that drive action.

The business was built on my passion for storytelling and documentary filmmaking. Taking that skillset and applying it to the business world is something that has helped Zest stand out. I believe that effective, empathetic storytelling is the most powerful tool for building an engaged and loyal audience.

One of the common problems I help clients with is driving new business. I often remind clients that one of the key ingredients to making sales is trust. This helps them understand how video can fit into the equation. Video is an powerful trust-building medium because it can appeals to far more of our senses than text or photo. If a picture is worth a 1000 words, a video has to be at least 1,000,000!

Through video, any brand can effectively demonstrate why someone should do business with them. Using video to highlight who you are, what you do, why you do it and how you do it differently is a perfect starting point for a business who hasn’t invested in video before. Our job is to package this information in a way that educates, entertains and engages their target audience – working towards their business goals.

BACKSTORY:

My passion for filmmaking started a young age. I got my first camera for Christmas when I was around 12 or 13 years old. I started using it to bring my crazy imaginative ideas to life. From stop motion car races, to comedy skits and food reviews, I was all in on this creative medium. On a number of occasions, I even recall convincing my parents I was too ill to go to school – giving me the house to myself to use as a private film set. At this age, I really discovered my passion for the craft and loved the excitement I got from the limitless possibilities it offered.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Camera gear isn’t cheap, nor are the editing programs, hard drives for storage space, and other miscellaneous costs need to start a video production production. In the beginning, I decided to start small and move slowly. Rather than take out a loan or seek private investment, I opted to bootstrap my company with what little money I had. As client projects started to trickle in, I would re-invest some of the profits into upgrading my arsenal of gear. This allowed me to deliver higher quality products, thus driving the rates of my services higher. I would repeat this cycle.

This approach is obviously slower, but made me appreciate what I had at each stage. It also allowed me to be more intentional with how I fine tuned my kit, processes and decide what was a worthwhile investment.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Networking, word of mouth and brand partnerships have always been a reliable stream for driving leads to my business. I find I am able to make my best first impression in person and more quickly able to qualify a potential lead. For this reason, I strive to stay quite active in the local networking events scene.

Also, as mentioned earlier, referrals from current and past clients are highly valuable lead generator that drives a lot of new business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.madebyzest.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madebyzest
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madebyzest
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabe-roy/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ZestMediaProductions