We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lorenzo Jackson II a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lorenzo, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I’m extremely happy as a business owner. You cannot put a price tag on the freedom it allows me to have. I took the entrepreneur route directly out of college. So I’ve been freelance for almost 20 years now. Though there was a time in 2014/15 where business wasn’t going so great. I got tired of penny pinching and not knowing who my next client might be or more importantly, when would the next check come. I was behind on bills and I just felt am immense pressure to relieve myself of the burden. So I put my resume on Indeed and was contacted shortly thereafter by a company in Indiana. They were looking for a photographer/videographer/designer. I told them I could do the first two jobs, the third I could manage, but it was not my strongest attribute. They assured me that graphic design would be a very small part of my job. So I took the job and 90% of the work they had me doing was graphic design. I only stayed two weeks. That short stint as an employee reminded my of why I wanted to go the independent route in the first place, even it if meant continuing to struggle. It turns out, that may have been the final test in my resolve because three months later my phone began ringing non stop. And it hasn’t stopped since.

Lorenzo, 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 tell people that I got into the video side of the arts by accident. My first love is music. I’m a musician and music producer. I played drums, piano and saxophone. When it came time to pick a college, I wanted to go somewhere where I could get straight to the point. I visited Brown Mackie College and they had a full recording studio. I made my mind up right then and there that this was the school for me. I didn’t realize that they teach you audio FOR video. Not necessarily to be an engineer. It turns out that a lot of artists who come to recording studios honestly aren’t very talented. It became unbearable hearing singers who can’t sing or rappers who can’t rap. But while still in college I created a commercial for a gym owner. That was exciting to me. I had created something that would benefit his business and increase his profits. I found myself wanting to do that more than record and produce songs that would go nowhere.

I have a true love and passion for why I do. I speak with my clients and try to get a full understanding of their needs to produce a product that is best suited not for me but for them. I’ve worked with Fortune 500 companies and I’ve worked with mom and pop stores. I’ve done video segments that air on national television and I’ve done segments that will only air on local television. But despite the client, I give them all the same amount of effort. I’ve never chased money. I’ve chased excellence, the money just followed.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

In a world dominated by social media, I’m admittedly way behind the curve. To say I do very little marketing is an over statement. I do zero marketing. I’m not saying it’s a good thing and in fact, every time I have this conversation with someone I promise myself I’ll get on it. And I never do. All of my business is word of mouth.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I pull from everything. If an idea is logical, then I’m on board to try it, despite where the idea comes from. For example; I produce the live stream for my church. This only started when Covid shut everything down. We were live streaming on a Sunday morning to an empty building. Around that time, the WWE was about to air Wrestle Mania. Since they weren’t going to have a live audience, they pre-taped everything and it allowed them to film the matches more creatively. Which made me think, if this billion dollar company can pre-tape their biggest show, surely were can pre-tape Sunday services. Which we did. And instead of filming from the pool-pit every Sunday, we would go on location that best suited the message for that Sunday. Coffee shop, park, Courthouse, Eddie Merlot, etc.

I use the same philosophy when filming for businesses. It does not matter where the idea comes from. All that matters if it will fit and therefore help the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reelvision1.com