Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jerald David Winston. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Jerald David, thanks for joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken with sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Am I happy as a business owner? Oh hell yes I am! There is nothing like ownership!
I am the owner of PangeaAV, (a boutique video production outfit based in Nashville, TN), and have been for over two decades now. Recently every reason why I became an owner came rushing back to me when I got to be a fly on the wall of an employee meeting at one of our nation’s largest employers.
The stage was set, the room was packed. News had just dropped of a price plunge in the company’s stock so the room’s energy was palpable as employees and managers discussed what moved the ticker and whose fault it was.
The CEO spoke on the issue, as well as several others, then opened the floor to questions.
That’s when it happened. A woman in the third row asked a question with such concern and passion it was undeniable how much she cared, it was also undeniable that the CEO did not like that question. Not at all.
It was right there in that moment that it all came flooding back to me. All the reasons that, for me at least, I wanted to be an owner and not just an employee. All the moments where I would dream of building a brand into a company. The hours of internal debate about what it takes to go out on my own. The days that, as an employee I just felt trapped and unheard. The years of dread at being powerless to build an adequate future, powerless to fund a family, powerless to build a dependable retirement because I was trapped by whatever raise they decided to give me.
I saw it all right there on her face, she asked one honest question and now she was afraid. Afraid she might have to move her family and rearrange her whole life because one single person felt her question was “career limiting”.
It was like looking into a mirror. The look in her eyes was the very same look I used to have on my face everyday when I worked corporate production as a W-2 employee. That’s right an actual W-2 employee, not 1099.
Early on in my production career I was a W-2 employee for a labor company that said all the right things. That we would be able to work solely for them and be able afford healthcare, a family and one day be able to afford to retire. Well after 14 years… those dreams were no closer to being reached and with inflation were actually getting further away.
I sacrificed way too much on their words of ” One Day We Will”. Even after I fought tooth and nail for raises and succeeded mind you, I had great difficulty getting management to hold to their promise. I did the math and it was right there plain as day. We simply could not afford to have a family, healthcare, or a retirement if we continued to work for their promise of “One Day We Will”.
That’s when I realized being an employee is a lot like being in a monarchy. How well or badly you do depends largely on how the monarch, (often just a single person), judges you to have done! If that single entity judges you as not worth it your career can be stopped cold. Everything you have worked for gone. Gone on a whim, because of a spreadsheet, one day after you have a baby, two days after you bought a house, three days before retirement. Gone. Whereas being an owner is like being in a democracy. How I do depends largely on how the majority of my community judges me to have done, allowing my work to be far more marketable and less of a reflection of one solitary individual. This really helps your work dodge personal grudges, office politics and folks with plain bad taste (Fantastic Style is not universal). If one person doesn’t like my work, my work will survive. Everyday clients vote for or against you with their dollars and if you are an owner you have the flexibility and the power to adjust to the needs of those clients, the power to find your tribe. Clients that will truly resonate with your vision, your why! Most importantly, you as the owner almost always get a vote. If you see a problem and you want to change direction or practices you can, which is everything in the fast paced world we live in today. As an employee you can make suggestions all day and no matter how good your data is, if they want to ignore you they can.
Listen, I have seen it work well, I have worn a suit everyday as an “employee” when I worked at Loews Vanderbilt Plaza as one of the many managers of their valet company. Which I loved because we had amazing management like Chris Gravel and Tom Negri.
But… that experience I have found to be far more rare than what most employees go through. Far more often it is an oppressive situation where the employees are powerless to do anything other than leave.
As that meeting wrapped and I recognized that overall feeling of powerlessness floating throughout the eyes in the room I thought about how fortunate I was to have made the decision and the sacrifice all those years ago to be an Owner.
Owners are a lot of things, but powerless is not one of them.
Jerald David, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hi, I am Jerald David Winston and I am the sole proprietor of PangeaAV. When people ask what is PangeaAV I typically respond with PangeaAV is the culmination of all the shows that have helped me become the Camera Operator, the production specialist and the mentor that I am today. I love being able to help people communicate with and educate their audiences around the world whether live and in person or virtual. From being a long lens Camera Operator for Live Events, Broadcasting and Film, to being a Logistics Consultant, to being a Remote Drone Pilot putting my 107a cert. to good use, to being a virtual meeting producer; I am constantly reminded of how big an impact a great production makes on the hearts and minds of our audience. I am dedicated to that impact by leveraging our community and our resources to ensure a great show every single time.
That’s me trying to sum up what PangeaAV is. Part of what makes up PangeaAV is two decades of crack of dawn load-ins, right after 2 a.m. load outs, countless concerts, show calls, corporate meetings, thousands of breakout rooms and miles of exhibit floors worked. On top of that Several film sets, more music videos than I can count, Broadcasts of almost every type, American Idol for ABC, Football for the NFL, Jet ski races for ESPN, Soccer for HBO, Motocross for Monster energy drinks, Drone footage for RedBull and Future I\O and a train full of events that are just too numerous to list here. PangeaAV is also so much more than that, the name alone is a call back to our origins. To the Pangea when every continent was one, every land connected. This subtle call to look back is to remind us that we all share this place no matter how far we have drifted from each other. We are all still citizen of Pangea.
Now more than ever we need understanding, balance and connection as an industry, as a country, and as a people. The name PangeaAV is a constant reminder to my community of what we stand for. A constant reminder that the teams we build are not limited by bias and hate but are propelled by understanding and connection. A constant reminder that the productions we work are our highest priority, not politics, not hate, just us, our productions and our unwavering pursuit of excellence!
I guess, If I really think about it, my career in production began with one lucky pit stop on Gallatin Rd. in the middle of the night. If I had to nail down what got me here to “that moment” that led to where I am now, I would have to say “It was 3am and I was hungry, not go to waffle house hungry but grab a bag of chips hungry.” I found a spot went in and as I stood in line to pay, I heard “Jerald David is that you?” Long story short an old friend from high school owned a company that worked all of the productions at the Ryman, he offered me a gig and I never looked back.
My Love for Operating a Camera began long before that. It is quite a feat how we end up where we do. I was born in Nashville a little after Christmas and when my folks split we moved just outside of San Diego which was an adventure all of its own however short-lived. Not long after, when I was 13, we moved back to Tennessee to Hendersonville (home of Johnny and Taylor), where my best friend was quite the basketball phenom for Hendersonville High School. At one particular game, his mom showed up to cheer him on and with her she brought a brand new camcorder (cue beam of sunlight and gregorian chant) the size of a VCR (showing my age here). This thing was space age, it had more features and options than I had ever seen, and being the awesome person that she was and taking notice of my barely-contained excitement, hands me the camera and says, “Have at it”.
Little did she know how this was going to ignite my love for operating a camera and forever change my life! That moment sparked a fascination within me that for the rest of my life has driven me to embrace and study all of the things involved in creating or capturing a beautiful image. Fast forward years later and I am working production as a floor tech, (still dreaming of being a professional camera op.) at Opryland a.k.a. “The Rock”, and “the call” comes in. “THE” call. The call was a request from Alton Brown to add a camera to his show down the hall and I was the only one on their roster available. To some, it may not seem like a big deal but this was another of those pivotal moments that changed the direction of my life. I was still a Tech/Utility at this point. They would barely let me build a broadcast camera set up, let alone operate one. For I had gotten stuck in the infamous feedback loop of “we can’t give you the gig till you have more camera op. experience and you can’t get experience because you have never had a gig operating a camera” (which I kinda understand because these cameras are not like your best friend’s mom’s!) Yet here I was! Operating a Sony broadcast camera with Canon glass in the ceiling of the delta ballroom filming a world-famous chef using a ladder, rope, a pulley and a camping stove to deep fry a turkey “without blowing up your face” (Alton Brown’s words, not mine) and it was freaking awesome. Alton and the Director loved my work and from that day on I was free from the feedback loop!
My whole journey comes down to the people. So many who along the way that were lifelines to a better life through their education and guidance. People like Buddy Johnson who after a few years at the Ryman pulled me aside and told me “You can go all the way son, you got what it takes.” To Michael Harley who in earnest showed me my worth and gave me the resources to do more than just survive, to Dave Wheeler who taught me the who’s who of Nashville long before I was inducted into Who’s Who. One after the other I was able to connect with people and through my energetic personality and my complete eagerness to help wherever I could, I made great friends that enriched every part of my existence! I will forever be grateful to my mentors and to my community.
I am a Businessman, I have to build relationships, do marketing, lead generation, constant team evaluation but at the heart of it all, I am a Camera Operator, forever in love with this art form. Over the past 17 years, I have been specializing in Long Lens Broadcasting cameras most often used for I-Mag in Live events and I am a 107A Licensed Drone Pilot taking my art to the sky to get an angel’s perspective that is new and cutting edge!
I am known for creating beautiful images with state-of-the-art broadcasting cameras in a Live environment that is usually in the midst of folks having the time of their life. When I was the Camera Op. several years in a row for the Nashville Note drop on New Year’s Eve in the freezing cold with thousands of awesome audience members right beside me celebrating Nashville and the new year, I had to keep focus and use my skills, talent, and smooth, steady hand to keep bringing the audience the shots that make them jump with excitement as the band plays. This is what I thrive on! Whether it’s running camera for Broadways best such as Wicked and Hamilton while keeping pace with Local 1 or if I’m on stage at the Ryman running camera for Shakti, I love creating amazing shots while under the pressure of complex situations. Nowadays I am stepping it up another notch. I am now more than ever creating stunning aerial Images using hyper-advanced aerial videography systems. I love the idea that the combination of my precise use of technology and my artistic eye can make a huge impact on the lives and imaginations of my community. A prime example of my award-winning Aerial Art is easily found in Envision the Future, a short film that went on to win 1st place in America for Red Bull and Future I/O’s Envision a Future contest.
This journey has given me so much to be proud of. I am proud of my wife, my daughter, my events, my art, my YouTube Cooking Show 2Aprons, and my steady hand but what I am most proud of in my work is my ability to bring the best and the brightest of my community together. Years ago I started PangeaAV and with it a Referral Service, where I can introduce the best production companies in the country to the amazing techs and artists in Nashville, Atlanta and Louisville. This empowers small business owners to connect to each other and better use their resources to ensure incredible productions each and every time. As a Logistics Consultant I can take the production needs to my community and have them connect directly with each other and with the most talented people in our city. I am not like everybody else and because I’m not, the production has more money to incentivize and attract a higher level of skilled technical artisan than they could afford previously. This resonates with the community and allows for them to have greater resources to pursue advanced training, certifications and to have access to state-of-the-art technology. I am very proud of this. I believe if we all do our part we will remain at the front of the line in providing high-end technical artisans for live events, broadcasting, and film production for generations to come.
What sets me apart? If you just googled me you might think that what sets me apart is my incredible client list. Working with Big names like ABC, HBO, ESPN, TNT, Jennifer Lawrence, Dan Ackroyd, Tim Tebow, Ed Helm, several Broadway productions, Warner Bro., Luke Bryant, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Bear Grylls, Lainey Wilson, Alan Jackson, The Backstreet Boys, Childish Gambino and the list goes on and on.
If I had to put it into words though… I would actually say that what sets me apart is the combination of my mentors, my community of loving and dedicated technical artists, 2 decades of hands-on experience, and my exacting eye. Each of these I grew and developed over a great amount of time with a great amount of care. This is what led to the huge list of extraodinary clients!
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
When it comes down to doing multiple things at once whether it’s creating content for your marketing, researching new tech, building relationships, managing your calendar, community outreach and giveback or spinning plates, it really, really helps to do so with skills, gear, and people that all support and complement each other. This helps everything resonate. This exact thing is true with your revenue streams in your business. You can get much more bang for your buck if you have multiple services or contact points that your business can build and profit from. PangeaAV uses this very effectively with a couple of our offerings. Our Drone service helps advance our brand by giving us a cutting-edge new area that we can grow in and when combined with our Acting and C.C.O skillset got us back on set way before many others coming off of lockdown, putting PangeaAV in a fantastic position to hit the ground running as we expanded into the film market.
Our PangeaAV Referral Service helps us to have a valid and helpful reason to connect with potential future clients not to mention that it helps us show value from minute one.
Here’s why, typically a freelancer waits to be called to see if they are needed. They do this because even if they have heard a show is coming, they probably are not sure about the production company’s needs. They don’t want to hear a no, so they wait. PangeaAV does not wait, because we reach out not just to introduce ourselves but to introduce the absolute best in our community. Remember our list is not a stagnant list of employees that we hired but an active and ever developing list of technical artisans that take ownership within our community and who are consistent high performers time and time again. No matter what position the client is trying to fill, PangeAV is there to help. We can start a conversation that almost immediately shows the client value while proving that we are dedicated to connecting people to each other not just to us!
This resonated within the community powerfully because they finally saw a non-biased community-driven way to know who’s the best within our industry. PangeaAV doesn’t have one crew that we are stuck with or have to develop their skillset to get to where we need them. No, we have every crew, every single one. If you’re working in production PangeaAV is going deeply out of our way to get to know your craft and the level at which it consistently resides within.
We spend a huge amount of time in person evaluating performance and client response. This is one of our superpowers, we KNOW our community, we did not guess, we did not go off of words, we watched who succeeded time and time again and then went out and made sure clients knew about it. This is our pride and joy. For too long we saw great people get held captive by oppressive situations all because they didn’t know how to market themselves. They were unknowingly trapped in a bubble. PangeaAV proudly popped that bubble, and our community has been grateful ever since.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
PangeaAV’s audience on social media was grown using organic grass roots methods powered by funnel marketing fundamentals. This allows PangeaAV to reach a vast majority of our community and stay consistently top of mind. PangeaAV has a deep love of creating amazing videos and incredible pictures so the idea of using social media to promote our business was a win win from day one! We love the idea that people all over the world can see our art and read our story, these tools empowered our work to get in front of the eyes we needed to see it most. PangeaAV uses the basic funnel marketing concept of using a bunch of often free, social media tools to build a “funnel” that then attracts and empowers us to build a community. At the same time we are telling our story and sharing our art we are also generating leads, connecting our community to one another, tracking our user engagement as well as constantly increasing your Google TRUST score! Social media is like no other tool a business has ever had before, it gets people together across all types of obstacles and logistical boundaries to discuss who’s the best fit for thousands of projects every day. Social media is often the proving grounds for a brand and a community. It is the best place to ask your community what they think, what they like, and exactly how much they like it. It allows you to do this with so many people that you can now finally get out of the gossip loop of personal anecdotes. Now with enough people talking to one another it is easier than ever to verify people’s experiences, to see who is consistently delivering a high-end product equal to the level of awesome we demand. It’s a powerful thing when someone can hear your name, immediately Google it and within minutes they can start getting to know you. Not just your great work by scrolling through hundreds of shows taking in amazing photos and videos, not just your vibe, your why, but your consistency. That is the true gift of social media, when your brand posts often it allows people to see that every gig, every show, every interaction is an intentionally cultivated experience of joy and love! Not just one lucky day. This leads to what I call the “Tie Breaker” effect. Do you have more connections in common with a potential client than the competition does? Social media will tell them if you do. Do you have more years in the industry? Social media will tell them. Do you have more hours in your position than the competition? Social media will tell them if you do. In this way social media will often be what breaks the tie when you and your competition are neck and neck.
When PangeaAV started it did not take long for me to realize that one of the major points of resonance within my industry was that with every corporate camera gig I did I also got an amazing education from some of the world’s greatest thought leaders. Every Keynote I operated Camera for; whether it’s Mel Robins or Brene Brown teaching us about compassionate communication! Whether it’s Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice teaching us international diplomacy. Whether it’s Chris Voss teaching us about negotiation, whether it’s electricians, plumbers, salespeople, Doctors, Bowling Alley owners, Baseball Coaches or Astronauts (p.s. I have worked with Neil Armstrong) I was right there with them paying attention to every word, repeatedly (because of rehearsals, mainly I see the content way more times than any one audience.) All of this has created a working environment that makes me smarter every single gig! Including the funnel marketing gig where I learned how to take charge of my social media!
The absolute best advice I can give someone just starting out is DON’T WAIT! Don’t wait for the prefect picture or the perfect company name, just start building your profiles right now. Build many of them. The strength of your internet presence is partly based on something called the “Google TRUST Score” which will trust you more the longer your profiles on the trusted platforms they list have existed. Even if it’s just a start, get your name, your logo, your why, and some examples of your work up there. This also protects your brand from others who may have the same name even if you are operating under the name your mother gave you. The sooner you build your profiles the sooner they can start working to differentiate you from all the others. You will also want to eventually create a name and a logo for your brand, sooner rather than later, especially if you have a personal name that is common in your community. Your name when combined with your company name and logo will work hard to ensure that clients who are looking to spend their money with you, can. After that, post consistently and often. This is what will empower social media to demonstrate your consistency of performance over the years. Every gig is an opportunity to show the world not only what you can do and why you do it, day in and day out, but also show them how often! This last part is key because it is what demonstrates consistency and consistency is one of the most powerful factors in what makes a business great.
This has been fun! Thank you for taking the time to get to know PangeaAV
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.createtn.com/directory/view/jeralddavid-winston-13926
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pangeaav/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeralddwinston/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerald-david-winston-71202266/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdcGnytBI4acXSO5Y4i_cwQ
- Other: https://youtu.be/D1_IGyAG2pg (Envision A Future (Red Bull Future/IO 1st place American Winner, 2nd place International Winner) https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release-service/504069 Induction into the Who’s Who of 2024 https://www.facebook.com/PangeaAV PangeaAV Facebook Business page https://www.linkedin.com/company/PangeaAV PangeaAV Linkedin Business page
Image Credits
Jerald David Winston Zachary Clevenger