We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matthew Chung. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matthew below.

Alright, Matthew thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

If I had the opportunity to start everything all over again, the main thing I would do is get into community quicker. I would seek out and surround myself with people that share the same interests and values as me. I’ve found that it’s the quickest and most fulfilling way to learn new skills and grow my network.

The creative field can oftentimes feel isolating. This is something that I really felt when I was starting out. I felt like I had to do everything on my own and when I ran into issues or started to burn out, I had no one to lean on for guidance or seek support from. Now, I can confidently say that the main reason I’ve been able to successfully grow my business and find fulfilment in my journey, is because I’ve had the opportunity to share that journey with others.

The importance of finding your community is something that I constantly speak about in my content. Creativity, business and life is taken to a whole new level once you begin to surround yourself with likeminded people. But, the common question I get from people is “how do you find your community?”

Truthfully, some of my the closest people I have in my life, I connected with on Instagram. So, I often tell people to leverage the power of social media to start making connections with others. It is called SOCIAL media after all.

If I come across someone that inspires me, I’ll give them a follow and shoot them a DM. Oftentimes, that’ll spark some pretty amazing conversations around similar interests and passions. Sometimes those DM chats will then lead to jumping on zoom calls, meeting up for in-person shoots or even planning trips together.

It’s pretty crazy what kind of connections you can make as long as you’re willing to put yourself out there a little bit.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Life as a creative entrepreneur is non-stop and there’s always so many exciting ideas to pursue. Here is a recap of how my business has taken shape over the past 3 years.

My journey as an entrepreneur began when I started my own media production business in 2020. When covid hit, I realized how valuable our time is and how crucial it is to pursue what we love. At the time, I was working as a junior designer in an Architecture firm in Toronto, Canada. I loved the process of design, but the 9-5 life just wasn’t for me. So, I spent as much of my spare time as I could, elevating my craft and learning how to build and operate a business. I watched hours of Youtube, invested in multiple courses and began expanding my network online.

In 2022, I left my job and ended up securing my first big commercial projects when I embarked on a trip to Iceland. Alongside 5 other creators I had met online, we pitched several lifestyle and travel brands to work with on that trip. While there, we completed projects for 4 international companies and 3 local hotels which was crucial in helping us establish our portfolio’s. Since then, I’ve gotten paid to travel to across the world working for dozens of lifestyle brands along the way. I’ve leveraged the creative and problem solving skills I developed in architecture to set me apart from others.

But, the most important thing I’ve discovered throughout my journey, is the power of community.

Some of my most impactful travel and work experiences I’ve had, have been alongside fellow creators I met online. So, in 2023 I chose to host my first ever creator retreat to Indonesia, where I had the opportunity to travel and create with 9 other creators from my community. This trip truly changed my life and even unlocked a part of my purpose.

Now, part of my business is dedicated to helping other creators grow their own businesses, push their creativity and find their community. This involves hosting annual creator retreats like the one in Indonesia, as well doing one-on-one mentoring, where I help creators clarify and grow their brand online.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe that choosing to step in front of the camera and showcase my personality online has helped me stand out from the crowd.

One thing I tell creators all the time is that no matter how saturated this industry gets, our personalities and perceptions of the world are what make us unique, so that in itself is a value proposition. Being forward facing online has helped me land some of my biggest projects to date and has instilled trust in both my colleagues and my clients.

Ultimately, we all want to work with people that we know, like and trust. Showcasing your personality online is one of the best ways to create that connection and establish a strong reputation. My willingness to do that is one of the reasons I’ve achieved success in business and created lasting connections.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the common misconceptions in the creative space is that you need a large following to be successful. This is something that took me years to unlearn and also cost me so much in time and stress.

When it comes to business especially, many creators associate their worth to their social following. In reality, much of the success in business, actually comes down to things like branding, the strength of your offers, the systems you implement and the strategies you use to market yourself. If more people spent as much time on these areas, as they do trying to go viral, I truly believe more creators would see success quicker.

This is something I’ve come to learn after going viral myself, and by simply surrounding myself with other successful people. I thought that if I just went viral and gained thousands of followers, that brand deals would start rolling in.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

What’s worse is that after I went viral a couple times, I got hooked on the gratification that came with it, and wasted even more time trying to replicate it and seeing no return. Instead, what I was left with were a handful of people that were not in my target audience, and that I couldn’t convert into buying customers.

As I spent more time with successful people, I began to realize even more how much followers didn’t matter, and worse, how much time I was spending on the wrong things.

These experiences helped me shift my focus and re-position myself for success.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.unboundcreator.co/ and http://www.mcscreatorcollective.com/ (soon to be www.unboundcreatorcollective.com) www.mattchungstudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chunger_shoots/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG3iGHyO327P8U_o7pLiq5Q
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@chunger_shoots

Image Credits
Roy Lee Danny Zhong Matty Collins Johno Faherty Colleen Logan