We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Steve Neilson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Steve below.
Steve, appreciate you joining us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?
My wife and I had 2 children as she worked on full length feature films in Chicago. It became more difficult by the time we had 3 children because of my job situation with lack of freedom and by the time we had our 4th child it was impossible for her to keep going after her dream. Along came a contest called “Project Green Light” put on by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. We decided to enter it by borrowing a video camera and paying someone to edit the short film and we did really well. The contest was voted on by your peers and out of 26 people giving us feedback 25 were positive and incredibly inspiring. Christmas that year my Mom, God rest her soul, gave my kids a new computer and it changed my life. She told me the boy that sold it to her said there was a free video editing program on it. She said “I remember how much you loved editing when you were younger.” I was always interested in photography and video. And in my youth I ended up buying a video camera just to goof off with. I used to edit analog video archaically with 2 VCR’s and a boom box. So anyway, one day when it was raining outside I decided to open up the program my mom bought, and it changed my life forever. I couldn’t believe how much control I had. Freedom to create!!! No Authority!
Remember at one point I had 0 clients, 0 skill, 0 equipment when I started making little mini movies with our close friends. We became known for our 3 minute shorts and our 15 minute blooper reels. Eventually we started making videos for our church which was great because we had a captive audience of several 1000 people watching our videos every week. This built a higher skill set and led to our very 1st paid gig which was a “this is your life” video for which I was paid $1000. Being a wise entrepreneur I went out and bought a new $1000 video camera.
Well, inevitably somebody asked us “Do you shoot weddings?” The groom was a video editor and had edited over 250 commercials himself but he obviously could not shoot his own wedding so he hired us. I did the best I possibly could and had no real idea on how to pull it all off. I wanted to edit something really beautiful for him but he said no because he wanted to edit it. I put all the footage I’d shot on to 2 DVD’s and the 1st DVD didn’t play for him and the 2nd one did and it was all my crap experimental footage and he told me “he could not be more disappointed.” Little did he know I actually had some really good footage and I insisted that I put something together for him. He told me no don’t worry about it but I did it anyway. 45 hours later I had my 1st masterpiece. I delivered it to them and 2 weeks went by before I got the phone call that changed my life yet again. He told me they had just watched the video and I could hear his wife in the background saying “WE LOVE IT!” They loved it so much he paid us double. At that moment I thought we could make this a business. I officially incorporated my video business in 2003. I continued to stay full time employed as a truck driver because it was a small form of freedom but I was still dealing with jerks every single day and just a reminder, I still hated authority. As a business, we just did just video exclusively for 6 years.
As my video business grew, we would get asked all the time if we did photography as well. In 2009 I took on photography, and since then I’ve studied under the top 6 wedding photographers in the business. I also started speaking on the national stage on the subject of off camera flash.
Business was still growing every year but eventually I got fed up with my truck driving job and thought the grass was greener so I went back to the auto body business and started painting cars. My claim to fame was I painted over 3000 cars in 2 years. This boss was an even bigger jerk than the last one. This job was so stressful that I had to be hospitalized. I hated the fact that I had to work so incredibly hard while the manager and the assistant manager would sit in the office with their feet up never helping at all. They even “fake fired” me to get me to work even harder. Years later I found out that they never expected me to finish my to-do list. They just wanted to challenge my incredibly strong work ethic and see how much money they could get out of me. Because I hated authority so much I decided to have a meeting in the office. I was so proud of myself when I told them that “ I am somebody” and that “they were a chain around my neck”. I wanted my freedom back!! I did eventually go back to driving a truck 4 days a week because I actually liked the hours. I was up at 3:30 a.m. So I could get home by 2:30 p.m. to build my business. I worked 90 hours a week to feed my family and build my dreams. I admit that it was a serious struggle to pull the full time entrepreneur trigger because I was deeply afraid of failure. I swallowed my pride, drove a truck for two more years and dealt with bully A-holes everyday as I built my business. My great attitude became my curse.
My “THAT’S IT MOMENT!” Christmas week 2011, the busiest time of the year in the trucking business that I was in, the workload was, as usual, incredibly heavy. And one of the other truck drivers got into an accident with his truck. Which meant his truck was out of service until It was repaired. That meant I had to take on part of his work load and it was the final straw that broke my back. I got out of the work force like most people dream about, with a huge F-YOU scream match on the mean streets of Chicago in the back of my truck. I Quit my final job with 4 kids, a house payment, business rent and expenses and only $3000 in the bank.
I’ve. never. looked. back
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.
Steve Neilson, Valen Studios’s founder, is a world renowned photographer and speaker, teaching new photographers and amateurs basics in camera knowledge as well as very advanced levels of high fashion photography and Photoshop at numerous seminars around the country. Steve’s charismatic and humorous personality comes alive at weddings, always making full bridal parties and families feel at ease. Steve is globally recognized for producing beautiful pieces of wedding and engagement photography art. His studio’s style is artistic and edgy and he prides himself on the fact that he studied under the top six photographers in the world to bring his craft to the highest level.
We are a boutique studio, so we get to know our clients and our service to them is our number one priority. We want your experience to be like nothing you have ever experienced before! We want you to “feel” valued and special. Whether it’s a family bringing in a newborn, deeply in love soon-to-be-weds, actor/celebs wanting a personal relationship with their photographer or big companies we shoot for because they love the hands-on relationship and customer service, we surely meet a wide variety of needs! A passion of ours is to create images that will become priceless family heirlooms and works of art that will become their most prized possessions.
The Valen Studios team has been so fortunate to work with some amazingly talented people including other photographers, artists, art gallery owners and academy award winners. We have been able to photograph quite a large range of people and professions including radio talk show hosts around the world, comedians from Saturday Night Live, Mrs. USA, reality television winners, state senators and congressman, celebrity models and television & film actresses. We have produced commercials for national companies as well as providing commercial photography for brands such as Lexus, Proctor & Gamble, and Nestlé.
A great way to get to know is is to understand our values, which I teach through my other company, “IGNITE”, a mastermind that inspires greatness.
My top 6 values that I’m most proud of are: Team work:
We work together to accomplish the goal of taking care of our clients needs by utilizing the unique strengths of our team members.
Unparalleled Service:
Our number one priority is to help guide and support you to keep you from being overwhelmed.
Change Lives:
We want your experience to be like nothing you have ever experienced before. We want you to “feel” valued and special.
Reliability:
To consistently bring our best everyday and act with integrity and dignity.
Culture:
To cultivate a community of respect, connection and encouragement.
Passion:
We commit to our craft and deliver our finest work to every client.
Bottom line is our company is super fun, edgy, colorful and vivid! Our personalities really shine and the culture is top notch!
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
Pricing is always a struggle for me. When I look back at the agreements I wrote my first year I cringe. But, you need to get your first gigs out of the way to build experience. Every time it came up, I would argue fiercely with my partner over pricing. They told me I was worth more, but I had a hard time increasing my prices for fear of not getting the business. After much debate I finally decided to raise my prices significantly. The next client I met with I did more normal pitch and then went for it…I shared my new pricing. The clients response was “Thank you, we have other artists to consider and we will be in touch.” BOOM…lost the sale. I was upset. An hour later….the phone rings…It’s the client, and they told me and I quote, “We are not going to meet with anyone else, we want you, and we want your two highest packages.” WOOOOOW!!!! I was floored….I took the phone away from my ear in shock and I couldn’t believe it. My highest booked gig at they time EVER! I got back on the phone and in very smooth fashion I replied…”That’s a great decision, most of my client book those packages.” LOL After then, whenever the time comes, I’m now comfortable raising my prices, which I do every handful of years.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I Have read 100+ books on business leadership, etc. I actually built my 2nd company, IGNITE on the best 13 chapters.
IGNITE is a mastermind that takes those in a “no purpose fog” and transforms their lives into warriors for living an impactful life. I have see the transformation countless times.
I highly recommend the following books…or just take my course.
The magic of thinking big. David Schwartz
No excuses. Brian Tracy
The Compound effect. Daren Hardy
The Aladdin Factor. Jack Canfield
The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster. Daren Hardy
Personality Plus. Florence Littauer
These books changed my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: Valenstudios.com
- Instagram: @valen_studios
- Other: @the_dominators_mastermind
Image Credits
@valenstudios @Steveneilson