We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jake Huber. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jake below.

Jake, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Passion. Loving the process of building something on your own.

For me, navigating through life is like a chess game. If you want to win, you must create solid goals for yourself. From there, you need to have a plan, because “a goal without a plan is just a wish.”

I think a lot of people chase the money. The framework needs to change. Chase the things you have the potential to be very good at. Then relentlessly work to get better and better at those things. The money will always follow. You just need to combine your talent with a lot of hard work.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For anyone that doesn’t know me, I’m from St. Louis, born and raised. I grew up in Kirkwood and graduated from Mizzou. Like most people, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a career. At the time I really only had one passion, Basketball.

My brother Adam, who I now have the pleasure of working with at SPLYCEHOUSE, really knew what he wanted for a career. Adam learned early on that he wanted to become a filmmaker. Once I was at Mizzou, he encouraged me to take some creative classes. I ended up taking a class called “Intro to Entertainment Media.” This was the first time I got my hands on a few creative softwares, including Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and After Effects. From there I was hooked. I quickly realized that I really had a strength when it came to the creative arts. I decided that was the path I was going to take.

After graduating I began working with Dave Klutho, a Sports Illustrated staff photographer. I ended up assisting Dave for the better part of 7 years. That was a crucial time in the growth stage of my life. For any young people reading this, seek out a strong mentor in your life. If you can find someone at the pinnacle of their career, especially in an industry that is relatively close in the vicinity of your interest, it can change your life.

As far as what I do now, I am the Creative Director and Partner at SPLYCEHOUSE. We are a startup in the video production landscape with a small but mighty team, so titles can be a bit loose right now. Everyone works extremely hard to support one another as we have been growing rather fast in our first year. We launched January 1st of 2022 and have never looked back. It has been a crazy, hectic, stressful at times, rewarding and fulfilling endeavor all at the same time.

If I had to describe our business, I would say we tackle video production from a more streamlined and nimble approach. I think that is probably the brand we have represented the most, and it definitely fits our strengths. Although, we do see ourselves as capable beyond that. We know that we have the ability to shift gears and take on a much larger commercial production that is less “docu-style” in nature. We have had the chance to prove this on a couple of shoots this year. With all of that said, we have been able to work with some really amazing people and companies and we couldn’t be more grateful for that.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’ve never been much of a reader. Most of the time I would daydream about Basketball while reading, only to realize that I didn’t comprehend an entire chapter. So I only have one book to recommend currently for small business owners. This is the first book that has really gained my attention in a very long time. It’s called “The E-Myth Revisited.”

I was recommended to read this by another fellow small business owner. We have never met in real life but we recently had an hour and 30 minute conversation on the topic of our businesses. A few days later the book showed up on my doorstep.

This book can really speak to any small business in the early growth phase. It has definitely enlightened me on how to proceed as we continue to grow. I would highly recommend other small businesses to pick this up.

Outside of that, I read the “Morning Brew” every morning. This is a short online newsletter that you can sign up to hit your inbox each day. I hate news channels and I don’t have time to watch TV so this is my way to quickly stay up to date on all things happening in the world – Inflation/Crypto/War in Ukraine/Stocks/etc.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I quit my full time job in early 2019. I had zero opportunities on the horizon. I said to myself, “I’ve either got time and no money coming in, or I’m busy as can be and I’m doing just fine.” Well the latter, and the safe option, was the full time job. Once I quit, I immediately had no income stream, but I had time. I made a very conscious decision that I was going to utilize the time to the best of my ability and build a brand.

Only a few months after I quit, the St. Louis Blues made the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 50 years. I knew I had to make a video for it. I had done two spec videos in 2015 and 2016 on the Stanley Cup Final with Dave Klutho for Sports Illustrated. For several reasons, they didn’t amount to much more than a decent portfolio piece.

This time was different. I was going to make a much better video that was solely focused on the Blues. Luckily I had the time to make it happen. I edited the video throughout the Finals and was able to release it the Monday after the parade. I remember the views on Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram just soaring. I had never had a video go viral like that before.

If I look back on it, that was the single best opportunity I could have ever created for myself. It was direct access to several of the clients I still work with today. Dave Klutho always used to say, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”

Well I haven’t been idle since. Even outside of client work, there is always something to be created. No successful person has gotten to that point sitting idly by waiting for life to happen. That’s not how life works.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://splycehouse.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/splycehouse/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SplyceHouseLLC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-huber-443a9b12b/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SplyceHouse
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SPLYCEHOUSE
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@splycehouse

Image Credits
Jake Huber