We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jacob Harrison a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jacob, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses

Family business has been on my heart a lot lately. Growing up as a pastor’s kid, it wasn’t technically a business—but it still meant pitching in as a family. We helped get the church ready for services, community events, and outreach, all of us working together toward something bigger than ourselves.

That same spirit carries into what my wife and I are building now. We run Harrison Creative Company, a small media business that produces photo and video content. We never set out to build a huge agency or media empire—we simply wanted to serve others with our skills, do excellent work, and provide for our family in a meaningful way.

Both our parents were incredibly supportive of our creative and entrepreneurial dreams, and we want to pass that same encouragement on to our kids. They’re still young, but they’ve already been part of the journey. When we have low-key shoots and last-minute babysitting challenges, they sometimes tag along. Our boys love playing with our gear—snapping lens caps on and off, plugging in audio cables—but we’ve noticed the creative spark really come alive in our daughter. She’s constantly asking to take photos “so we don’t forget,” and has even talked about starting a podcast to help other kids learn.

The best (and funniest) part? She doesn’t call us the Harrison family—she calls us “The Harrison Creative Company.”

So, would we want our kids to join the business someday? Only if they want to. We would love to welcome them into it—but we’ll support them 100% if they choose their own path. At the end of the day, our business exists to serve others and provide for our family. It’s not about legacy, ego, or scaling up—it’s about living a mission-driven life, and inviting our family into that in whatever way makes sense for them.

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 Jacob Harrison, and I’m the Creative Director of Harrison Creative Company — a photo and video production business I run with my wife, Sarah.
I’ve always been creative, but not in the traditional “artistic” sense. I’ve never been the type to sit and sketch or obsess over color palettes. For me, creativity shows up as problem-solving — looking at a challenge and figuring out the clearest, most effective way to solve it.

I studied film in college and minored in entrepreneurship, which ended up being the perfect combination. I learned how to tell stories visually, but also how to think strategically about building a business that serves real people with real needs.

That’s the heart behind what we do at Harrison Creative Company. We don’t just make content — we help clients reach goals through intentional storytelling. That might mean producing a brand film that connects with new customers, creating testimonial videos to build trust, or capturing event coverage that communicates value to sponsors or stakeholders.

When we start a project, the first thing I ask is: “What’s your goal?” From there, we reverse-engineer a creative strategy to help them get there. I’m not interested in pushing services they don’t need — I want to solve real problems with photo and video content that’s actually useful.

We work with a wide range of clients — from small business owners to nonprofits to educators — but they all have one thing in common: they care about what they do and want to communicate that clearly. Our job is to come alongside them, capture their message, and help them show up professionally and authentically.

What sets us apart is that we’re a small, family-run company, and we plan to stay that way. We’re not trying to build a big agency. We value relationships, clarity, and consistency. When you work with us, you get us — not just a camera crew, but a team that genuinely cares about your success.

That’s what I’m proud of — not just the work we’ve produced, but the way we’ve been able to support and amplify our clients’ missions through photo and video. At the end of the day, if our content helps someone take a next step, grow their business, or feel more confident in what they’re doing, then we’ve done our job.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

A satisfied client. My business has mostly been built on referrals so building a good reputation with current clients is crucial! Dont get me wrong, we have had diss-satisfied clients, some times you do everything you can but it is still not enough. My biggest advice on that is to always figure out the businesses goals, specifically for the campaign you are working on, be honest about the scope, land solid due dates for all portions of the project, and then when possible try and over deliver.

If a client comes to you with an unclear scope or goal, it is going to be hard to turn them into a satisfied client.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I live in an area where there are not a ton of creatives, it’s a lot of family businesses passed down through generations, a lot of trades and manufacturing plants. That being said when I do meet someone new they really dont understand what I do. Most assume “Oh you’re a videographer, do you film weddings?” or the extreme like Hollywood movies.. I land somewhere in the middle of all of that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://harrisoncreativeco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harrisoncreativeco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harrisoncreativeco
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HarrisonCreativeCompany

Image Credits

Harrison Creative Company @harrisoncreativeco
Matt Oliphant @indieelephantphoto
Sarah Harrison @oakhoneyco