We were lucky to catch up with Mason Dauphin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mason, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The mission that created Dauphin Media, LLC was to fulfill the digital media needs of the community around me. It had started out with being asked to create short form campaign videos, marketing photography, and analog media conversion. It was difficult to spread myself so thin, but there was no saying no whenever I knew that I could help. It wasn’t until multiple weekends in a row were being booked, and it became more than just a job or two on the side that I decided to start Dauphin Media, LLC. We’ve grown almost completely organically, letting our work speak for itself. It went from being asked to help friends and family, to strangers from across the country contracting out our services.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Mason Dauphin. I’ve been practicing videography and photography since my teens and would have guessed that I would not only to to work full time in the field, but also to be nominated for an Emmy, and I’ve strived to get better, with each project that I work on. In college, I was fortunate enough to work at the Southeastern Channel, allowing me to hone my skills in editing, videography, and video animation alongside my course work. I have Rick Settoon to thank for pushing me into field as a profession. I was debating between many different majors when he offered to hire me as a first semester freshmen, something unheard of for the channel. I was able to build up my demo reel until I was confident that this was the career path I wanted to pursue. After college, I followed the love of my life, Jordan Reid, to lafayette and got a job at KLFY News-10. I was tasked with marketing the station as well as local businesses alongside my team. Not only was i exposed to new equipment, filming techniques, and editing styles, but we were also tasked with working as fast as the news around us was happening. Once i got my bearings, I was able to start accepting filming jobs alongside my full time work, exposing me to various industries in which my skills would soon be crucial.

After my time in Lafayette came to a close, I was fortunate enough to be able to come home and use my skills to help tell the story of St. Charles Parish Public Schools. I was lucky enough to be raised in the school system, and it was where I was originally able to discover my passion of digital media creation. My days since have been fantastic, being able to put our amazing students and educators in the spotlight.

Years into the job, I was able to create the documentary that I am the most proud of, Trailblazers. Through the project, we were able to tell the stories of the first students of color to be integrated into our previously all-white schools. This project was oringianlyl brought up by our of our Trailblazers, Ulysses Frontha. He had gone through such hardships as a child, we knew that his story, and the story of his classmates, needed to be memorialized. I was able to capture hours and hours of amazing stories, so much so that we released the full interviews, as it felt like an injustice to cut them down to just 10 minutes. To the surprise of the district, we were fortunate enough to be nominated for an Emmy, and further spread the word of these brave students.

I continue to work alongside the district, my wonderful coworkers, in the Public Information Department under the direction of the 2025 Louisiana School Communicator of the Year, Regina McMillan, as well as my beautiful wife, Jordan Dauphin, who is a video professional as well and has been a motivator and partner throughout my entire journey.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met my wife, business partner, and my best friend Jordan Reid (now Jordan Dauphin) in middle school. When we took the Advance Television Broadcasting course, which she now teachers, we quickly became best friends. As we headed off to college, we quickly realized we were meant for each other and have been together for 12 years ever since. We both attended Southeastern, taking communication classes alongside each other, worked together at the Southeastern Channel, and actually worked for rival news stations in Lafayette, Louisiana. Through my journey working full time for St. Charles Parish Public schools as well as founding Dauphin Media, LLC, she has supported me in her words, knowledge, and assistance with videography. I am beyond lucky, and wouldn’t be able to juggle the many hats put on us without her!

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

As Dauphin Media, LLC has grown, it quickly became a large source of my income. It’s hourly rate squandered any job I’ve held, and it has always been tempting to take it full time. However, the further I pushed it, the more I was taking jobs that didn’t fit my passion, and were only taken out of obligation. As the business has grown, I’ve become more picky with the clients that I take on, even it means minimizing income. It allows me to have quality time with my family, and have the peace of mind that comes with working a full time job that you are truly passionate about, while taking the time out of weekends, week nights, and any time there is to spare to help organizations that have a lasting impact on both my life and the lives of my friends and family.

The organization that was one of my first clients, and quickly became integral to the passion I have for my craft has been the United Way of St. Charles. I was initially hired to create the yearly campaign video for them in order to raise funds for their partner agencies that help alleviate the burdens of my neighbors here in our Parish. As I worked with them year after year, I have had the fortune of seeing their work firsthand handling the basic needs for community members going through natural disasters, financial uncertainty, medical needs, food insecurity, and other various needs. It’s been eye opening, and being able to help them from a digital media perspective has shown me that what I am doing is more than just camera operating and hours of editing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://masondauphin.wixsite.com/dauphinmedia
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dauphin_media_llc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dauphinmediascp/