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

Jonathan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

yes- i think rest is extremely important for the creative output. the hustle culture is not one that i’m interested in. it leads to burn out and bad work.

being aware of when you’re “redlining” is essential to your overall health and work as a creative.

it’s okay to take a break and reset and reflect on the work and maybe come up with an idea while on the beach :)

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

i started in photography in 2007 and a love for the camera. i didn’t grow up watching a ton of movies and wasn’t surrounded by cameras or even a town that had other creatives in it..

it was all new to me –
i was coming up when DSLRs were becoming a thing. i knew i had to get one and so i did.

i started taking photos of anything i could- even to the point of shooting portraits, weddings (you get it)

eventually photography wasn’t scratching the itch for me and i fell in love with moving pictures (the film side of it all)

i worked my way up in an unconventional way-

i started video in a mega church being a director over a team at a young age- it gave me the tools to fail and learn how to talk to “clients”

through that experience it led me to my final “9-5 job”
i packed up and moved with my wife to nashville, a city we had never been.

i took a job at a record label where i was the lead director of all content.
from music videos, lyric videos, ads, live recordings etc

deep in the back of my soul i always knew i wanted to be on my own and be my own boss. to take on whatever i wanted and to have the power to say no.

i went freelance in 2018
a cinematographer/dp is all i wanted to do. so that’s what i did- i stayed in that lane and have been working every day to get better.

i love where my career is going and wouldn’t change my experiences or jobs, where i live etc

hard work and passion together is a dangerous combo- i feel i’ve had that since i picked up my first camera in 2007.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

My side hustle did turn into my my full time job.

the key moments i remember were:

– getting contacted by different clients / friends etc to be on these jobs.
it showed that wanting to be freelance had merit and that there was a slight demand for me that i could grow and expand upon.

how i scaled that was:

– i stuck to being a craftsman at 1 thing.
i didn’t advertise that i can do this or that. i was narrow – when clients would reach out, they knew what i did and there wasn’t any second guessing.
because of that, it weeded out the low paying clients and weeded out unnecessary reach outs that wasted both our time.

i still stick to this and it’s been a game winner for me.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

recs/word of mouth :)

for me it’s putting my work on social media & keeping my site updated (all the things everyone should do)

and from there it’s about the trust in my work and how i work with others.
in my industry, it’s peer to peer recommendation usually. eventually people might have heard of your name or have seen your work somewhere-

recs and keeping your work updated and in front of people is the best source for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jonmarzolla.com
• Instagram: jonmarzolla
• Other: [email protected]