We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jon Hambacker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jon, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?
As someone who has experienced the traditional educational system in America, and also someone who has done a significant amount of self learning through free, online resources, and experiential learning, I believe that our educational system has to do a better job of assisting students in developing their ability to learn conceptually and explore alternative learning routes that may not completely conform to the way our educational system has been structured in the past.
I received a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri, which is traditionally rated as one of the best journalism schools in the country. Despite this standardized education, I felt as though I did not have the technical skills I needed to compete in the job market when it was time for me to leave college. For that reason, I began exploring free online resources that would help me develop and expand upon my technical skill set in professional imagery and filmmaking
Jon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I come from a family of public school educators, and always believed that I would pursue a career in academia, but my creative side pushed me to look for career opportunities that would allow me to expand on these creative tendencies. When leaving college, I was very uncertain about what career would adequately satiate the combination of my creative and technical interests.
After some soul-searching and global travel to South Korea, I felt that a career in filmmaking and storytelling would help scratch this itch. While abroad in South Korea, I began pinching my pennies to save up for video production equipment and upon returning to the United States, launched my own video production company, which has steadily grown since that time.
I like to work with clients who need to communicate their concepts in creative ways to their target audiences. Finding these connection points is not always easy at first, but with the right approach, questions, and communication, you can craft something truly beautiful.
I think video and filmmaking is the most powerful medium for documenting human history and sharing voices of people who would otherwise be unheard. That’s why I have launched my storytelling podcast, The Wealth of Self, which combines all of these interests into one space. My work as a Director of Photography for the American Veterans Center is also a point of pride as it is the largest veterans documentation project in the world with a combined viewership of over 100 million. While I am simply a small piece in the puzzle for this great non-profit it is always a joy to contribute to a mission of that nature.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Business ownership is not for the faint of heart. While it certainly has many incredible benefits with regard to freedom of time and flexibility, there is also a great deal of uncertainty and frustration that comes with working outside of the normal job structure that most people are familiar with.
Resilience is certainly a key element in long-term business ownership and growth. When moving back to Washington DC in 2020, I unfortunately was faced with a difficult timeline. I actually settled back into the city on the day that the Covid pandemic started in mid March 2020.
This global event completely disrupted my aspirations for growth in the first year of business, and I was forced to take on a variety of odd jobs from construction to cleaning swimming pools in order to pay the rent. Gradually as more online work opportunities began to present themselves. I was able to get everything back on track and things have grown since then. I am greatly appreciative of the people who kept me working during this time.
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
As many business owners and freelancers know, there are a plethora of opportunities to make client connections and the more clients you build into your network the more inroads and connections you find. One of my favorite clients to work with is the American Veterans Center, which is a Washington DC based nonprofit that documents veteran stories for the Library of Congress and other media resources.
My connection to this organization was completely random and quite surprisingly tied into my very first living experience in Washington DC.
A well-known job listings market called ProductionHub is a frequent stop on the Internet for those looking to post and acquire video production and professional photography related jobs. One day I saw a post for an interview with a veteran in the DMV area. The individual who posted the job had the same name as a former roommate that I had years prior.
After some communication back-and-forth with this individual, it turned out that we were, in fact, roommates all those years ago and this complete coincidence has set us on a path of great video creation and historical documentation. It was a chance encounter, but a very interesting one at that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pinnaclephoto.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/pinnaclephoto
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pinnaclecvs/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pinnacle-creative-visual-strategies
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/pinnaclecvs
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQElVb-FjYPEoB15BgSDtFg?sub_confirmation=1
- Other: Wealth of Self Podcast Links: Website: https://www.wealthofself.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wealthofself/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewealthofself Twitter: https://twitter.com/wealthofself Patreon: http://patreon.com/wealthofself Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7fPItWypNGrQhTdS1hoZ9R?si=12f0d4af3e704a4c Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2VhbHRob2ZzZWxmLmNvbS9wb2RjYXN0P2Zvcm1hdD1yc3M Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wealth-of-self/id1669945415 Amazon Podcast: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d88a98c9-542f-4d81-8570-19e551812c80/the-wealth-of-self
Image Credits
The Portrait with the Yellow Background and the one of me holding the camera over my back were taken by my good friend Paul Quay