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

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

I think success looks and feels different to everyone and is a very personal and moving target. But in general I think to be successful – being organized, transparent and having your heart in the work you do are some of the most important things. When your heart is in the project, your work, or your clients, it shows, and it allows you to be more creative with it. I think clients recognize this even if it’s in subtle ways and is what leads to continued relationships and referrals.

Organization is key for me. I’ve always been a list maker even as a little kid and that’s been really helpful for me now as a business owner. I have lists and spreadsheets for tracking time and project schedules, finances, hard drives and just about everything.

And I think transparency with clients is extremely important. I’ve learned some things the hard way for sure, but I’m always as transparent as possible at the beginning and throughout projects when it comes to schedules, deadlines, quotes and any other expectations along the way.

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

I’ve always used the tagline “Designer, videographer and/or photographer depending on the day” for myself. I got into the creative field in high school yearbook and newspaper class, and then later the student newspaper at Oakland University. These gave me the opportunity to freely explore all three creative outlets, and also blended the importance of stories into my work, which have all carried through my career. Throughout my career I’ve worked in marketing for Oakland University, as a designer for The Detroit News, as a media production director at a digital agency and built a wedding video and photo business.

Today I work with small to medium sized businesses and non-profit organizations in Southeast Michigan through my company JMW Creative to tell stories through design, video and photo. I work on projects ranging from 30 second ads to 50 page annual reports, but at the core of everything I do are businesses and organizations that want to tell stories to connect with their audiences and customers. On the design side of my business I work with clients on event branding, annual reports, digital graphics and print communications. On the video side I work with clients on storytelling pieces and product or service marketing videos. And on the photo side I work with clients to document or promote events and services.

The biggest thing I’m able to help clients with is how to take a message that’s in their head or written on a piece of paper and turn it into a reality. A lot of my projects start from a list of ideas or content to fit into a video or design, so knowing the questions to ask and how to organize the information is very important for me to get to the end product. Some of the projects I’m most proud of are the ones that are able to help non-profit organizations. I work with organizations like the American Heart Association and Gift Of Life to help them raise awareness for causes or fundraise, and when I see their success or see them reach their goals, it makes it all come together for me.

I’ve always seen myself and my business as a partner to my clients. Relationships are very important to me and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. I don’t ever want to be seen as just a service, so I value my clients where I can be a true partner to their marketing or communication efforts.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I used to work as a designer and videographer in Oakland University’s communications and marketing department in Rochester, Michigan. While working there full time I slowly built up a freelance business and a wedding business. As they both grew, I really felt like I was working two, and sometimes, three jobs.

My freelance side hustle started in a variety of different ways, but at the end of the day it all came down to relationships and putting in the work. I met a lot of wonderful people at Oakland University who connected me with many of the clients still in my network today. Most of the projects started out small – such as a flyer for Downtown Detroit Partnership and a short video for the American Heart Association – and slowly grew into more projects and stronger relationships.

There were several times where I think the “fake it til’ you make it” mindset was really important for me. I was referred to several clients where I hadn’t done similar projects to what they were looking for, and I think those experiences are where I really grew creatively and built my confidence. I’ve always been really grateful for some of my early clients who trusted me to take on projects knowing that it was a relatively new direction for me.

My side hustle continued to scale up over the years, and now I am just about at the 5 year mark of being independent. I left Oakland University in January 2018 to work at a startup digital agency. In August 2018 though I finally decided to go fully freelance. I think going from a secure job like I had at OU to a startup where things weren’t as secure, made me realize that I could put the faith into myself and make things work. Over the past few years I have mostly phased out my wedding video and photo business to focus on the design and video work through JMW Creative.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being a creative is when I see my work out in the world. For so long I look at my work on my computer from my own office so when I get to see it out there it’s a really awesome experience. A lot of the work I do is for events so seeing my designs make up the look of the event or watching a video I made from the audience’s perspective is really exciting. Or even if I’m scrolling through Instagram and I see a video or graphic I made it feels different because it’s in the context of the brand and its intended purpose. It’s also interesting because I become my own critic a lot more when I see my work this way. I might look at something a hundred times on my computer screen but then I see it printed and I think “Oh I should have done that differently.” But I think that’s part of what helps me grow is seeing my work out there and seeing things from the audience or customer’s perspective.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jmwcreative.com
• Instagram: @jmw.creative