We recently connected with Monique Hutson and have shared our conversation below.

Monique, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

At Dom Productions, we are committed to saving small businesses time by producing high quality content for marketing purposes in a way that aligns with your business goals. And internally, we want to give other women and women-of-colour the opportunity to upgrade their skills in the media production field and have a say in forming corporate culture and inclusive content marketing strategies.

This mission stems from my time in university and the first few years in my career. This was a pivotal time as I was still trying to find my place in society, as many are in their early 20s.

While in journalism school at TMU (Ryerson at the time), I was one of maybe five or six Black women in my program year. Yes, it was awkward at times when people didn’t understand my interests, references or jokes, but that was fine. Not everyone had Caribbean immigrant parents and grew up in a predominantly Black neighbourhood in Brampton.

When speaking about who would anchor the daily student newscast, a well-known prof told a group of us that blonde hair and blue eyes looked better on camera, but that was fine. It’s just colour-theory, right?

It wasn’t until I interned in the newsroom for a CTV morning show that something felt… off. I had worked on local TV news in the past, but this was the first time I noticed that most of the production positions on the studio floor were held by older white men. I’d hear the casual misogynistic or racist joke here and there, but that was fine. That was just boy talk. Meanwhile, the women were either hosts or producers. And other than the host at the time, I was the only other Black woman in the room every morning.

I graduated from TMU in 2015, and briefly worked for a TV station. I was the only woman with an interest in camera work. I then spent four years working as a content producer for a corporation, and for all four years, I was the only Black woman on the team. We briefly had another Black person join us for a few months, and we would trade looks whenever an offhand comment would fly.

“Your parents didn’t give you a credit card in high school?”

“How often do Black people wash their hair?”

And as I was working full-time, I was also freelancing, creating visual content for other small businesses and local artists. Cue the sexist remarks from other production crews about how good I looked on set and how I “should be the one in front of the camera.”

Fast forward to summer of 2019, I decided to start this business because I realized there was a lack of women representation behind the camera and a lack of diversity in the marketing industry as a whole.

In June of that year, I quit my full-time job and registered for a government-funded program that taught young aspiring entrepreneurs how to build a business plan and launch strategy. Shortly after starting in the program, I registered the business… and that’s how Dom Productions started!

Monique, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Have you ever imagined a bird and then tried to draw it?
How did that work out for you? Probably didn’t come out exactly how you pictured it, huh?

As an entrepreneur or marketing professional, you know your business, and you know how you want to portray the brand to the world, but sometimes expressing that in words or in photographs or in video can be tough.

Here at Dom Productions, we are committed to saving businesses time by producing high quality content for marketing purposes that aligns with your business goals – exactly how you envisioned it (or pretty darn close!).

We work with businesses that need content production but don’t have the time or resources to do it themselves.

We offer photography and video production services. This means headshots, branding photography, event coverage, course production, and general promo videos for your site or social media. And we mainly service those in the Greater Toronto Area.

Clients come to us because of our attention to detail and our commitment to brand authenticity.

We’ve been privileged to work with companies like Intuit, Scouts Canada, F45 Fitness, and Bayer. We recently even shot a national billboard campaign for a client, and we’re opening our first studio location in Toronto next month!

We have the distinct market advantage of offering both photography and video production, while a lot of companies only focus on one or the other.

And unlike other agencies or freelancers that produce projects with no real understanding of the client, we take the time to know our clients, their audience, and their business goals to ensure we’re providing them with authentic content that stays true to their brand.

My motto in life is, if it’s not true to you, then what’s the point?

It’s time to Show Up and Show Out with visuals by Dom Productions.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Building a community has been crucial in growing our clientele and overall business. Simply put, organic interactions have led to more sales.

We don’t just network to meet potential clients. We network to meet collaborators, partners, connections and cheerleaders.

What I mean by “cheerleader” is someone who isn’t really a friend but follows your work and your journey and refers you whenever they can.

I’ve had friends that have become clients and clients who have become friends.

And it all stems from NETWORKING.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m an introvert and I hate the idea of networking. It gives me what the kids call “the ick.”

But when you do it from a place of authenticity and remove the pressure of trying to make a sale, it becomes so much easier. If I’m not genuinely connecting with someone, I’m not going to push the conversation.

I connect with people who are open to having honest and candid conversations about anything, from business to mental health to hair.

And you don’t have to go to an explicit networking event to network either. If you’re an entrepreneur, you can network at the rock climbing gym, the club or the airport. All you have to do is start talking, find some common ground, and don’t forget to plug your business if it feels natural!

Joining communities and networking groups like Business in the Streets, Make Lemonade, and Women Who Freelance has also helped me a lot.

And we’ve implemented a comprehensive social media strategy that prioritizes organic engagement and relationship building. Daily content is planned and posted, including a mixture of work samples from our portfolio and behind-the-scenes exclusives. We also make it a point to comment and chat with anyone who pops up on our feed every day.

Our online community is ridiculously supportive. We’ve met so many amazing people just through Instagram and LinkedIn and they are awesome at referring new clients, sending opportunities, and sharing memes!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Spoke about this in the previous question regarding mission :) But just to elaborate a bit more…

One of our “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” at DP is to reach seven figures in revenue by 2030. Additionally, I’m aiming to build a team including, but not limited to, 10 women of colour (WOC). I want to use Dom Productions to give more WOC opportunities as I’ve experienced the imbalances in race and gender in the media and marketing industry.

Our team currently consists of five women, though they’re all independent contractors. The goal is to have at least two full-time employees and two part-time employees.

And now that we have a central studio space, I can’t wait to expand and keep working towards this big goal. We also have plans to host events, workshops and more to invite more women and WOC professionals to our community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.domproductions.ca/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/domproductions.ca/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquehutson/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@domproductions.ca

Image Credits
All images were shot by Dom Productions