August 26, 2019 • 37 mins
FYI!!! Carla Marie is no longer the host of a morning show in Seattle but she is still supporting small businesses in every way possible. She’s even started her own small business with her radio cohost and best friend, Anthony. All of the links below will help you stay up to date!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to side Hustlers. However you found this podcast, appreciate
you being here. If this was not the podcast you
were looking for, give it a chance, please, thank you.
I appreciate it. My name is Carla Marie. I'm from
I Heart Radio. This podcast has essentially become my own
side hustle. My day job is hosting my own morning show,
the Carla Marie and Anthony Show on one or six
(00:21):
point one in Seattle. So if you're in Seattle, you
can listen live on your radio. No matter where you are,
you can listen on your I Heart Radio app. It
is six am to am Pacific time. If you found
this podcast through an ad on iHeart Radio or wherever
you listen to podcasts, appreciate you taking the time of
your day to come over here and listen. I think
(00:41):
you're really gonna appreciate all of the episodes, but this
episode is really gonna head home. If you're someone who
isn't happy with your day job, if you're just not
feeling it at work, You're gonna really, really, really love
Steve's story. Steve's company, Lark Media, is a company that
helps people brand they're so media through video content, and
(01:02):
this episode is super cool because Steve filmed our entire
podcast with cameras, So not only you're gonna get to
listen to it, but I've also got video snippets on
my Instagram at the Carla Murray can also check out
other ones on Steve's Instagram. It's Lark Media and y C.
And Steve's story is pretty incredible. What made him take
(01:23):
the leap is really cool and I think you're gonna
benefit a lot from Steve's episode of Side Hustlers for
a lot of people, you know, why are you way?
Do you know what you want to do? And this
is something you want to do, you do it. I'm
a hustles side side hustle do it. I'm a hustle
side us do it. I'm a hustle side side hustlove.
(01:44):
Come on ask about me, yo yo. It's the Side
Hustless podcast we call the Roof. So I've got a
fellow New Jersey and in studio today. And when I
say New Jersey in is that weird? And we don't
say that in New Jersey though. Okay, so Steve is
out here in Seattle. We're going to get into why
you're out here and how we know each other and
(02:05):
all of that. But Lark Media is your company? Which
is it a video production company? Wou do you describe
it as I describe it as a digital content creation company?
Digital content creation company is very fancy. It's it's definitely fancy.
But I get the point across I think. And it
started as a side hustle how long ago? Actually, I've
(02:28):
been side hustling with it for years, like four, four
or five years in the making of side hustle. I
didn't come up with a company name until that year
and a half ago. And it wasn't until around that
time that you really started thinking about leaving your day
job and making this your full time job. What you've done, correct,
So congratulations on that, because I know a lot of
people who listen are like, Wow, I hate my day job.
(02:50):
I have a side hustler. I want to side hustle
so I can leave my day job. You are one
of those people who were able to do it. Yes,
And what was that day job. My day job was
a branded content producer for a large sports media company.
I don't I can't really say that, but I was
a brand of content producer, which basically meant I made
commercials for the Internet for big brands. But can you
(03:13):
tell us the brands you worked out? Yeah, I worked
with like Adidas, I worked with Nikea or Gatorade. I
worked with like big big brands like I did like
a series for like Laquinta in and Suite like Yeah,
like we did like big stuff, like big productions. So
there's a good chance that someone listening to this podcast
has seen something that you have edited, shot, produced, edited definitely.
(03:36):
So is this what you've always wanted to do? Like
out of college it was video video. It actually started
with movies. I wanted to be like a big movie producer,
like big shot movie producer guy. And then what happened
was I got into I wasn't That's part of it.
That's part of it, And I got punched in the
mouth pretty early, like with the with the real world,
(03:59):
because you have to really grind, like you have to
grind in anything you do. But in that world, you
are basically just working for free until you're like thirty
years It's not everyone can do correct because I went
to college and had loans and I wasn't able to
do that. And then things kind of shifted for me
later on um as I grew out of we I
(04:22):
had made some short films with friends and we had
done you know, like put him in some festivals and
things like that. But it really started to turn for
me with my first job when I had a contact
with a guy who trains NFL athletes and we would
go to his facility. He just he hit me up
(04:43):
on Twitter. He goes, listen, man, I have all these
guys that would love for you to do. Now he
hit you up on Twitter? How the hell they know
who you were? So? I knew him from high school.
I hadn't spoken to him in about I hadn't spoken
him since I was like fifteen. Social media I love
when it has good stories. It's insane, and it's it's
insane because you never, like not never, but like a
lot of times you hear horror stories from from people
(05:05):
on social media. Are good ones out there. And he
just contacted me because he saw one that we did
with somebody that a guy that I played college baseball with.
We just did a piece on him, just a little
mini documentary, and he hit me up. He said, I
have guys in the NFL that will definitely be interested,
like they just wanted for their Instagrams And who would
have thought like that's a that's a thing like someone,
(05:28):
a human NFL player needs to have content for their Instagram.
Exactly what is this world? Because they're still marketing themselves.
It's crazy. And that was when the light went off
and said how much time a day does everybody spend
on their cell phone? A lot? Like pretty much the
entire day is spent. You wake up, you're on your phone.
(05:49):
You anything you do, you're going to the bathroom, you're
on your phone. There's like an add out. It's like
people consume content well there which can video content while
they're in the bathroom. It's so like all my Instagram
videos that I watched are on my pea breaks in
the bathroom here at work. It's crazy, That's what it is.
It's nuts. And I was like, lightbulb, gonna start making
(06:12):
stuff for digital, like digital for social media. Now this
was before you got that day job at that sports
company or while you were there. This was while I
was there the first time. I was actually there twice,
so I was there for two and a half years.
I left to go to another sports company where I
had the opportunity to do a web series. It was
(06:32):
twenty five episodes a year, and it was a lot
of traveling and it was so much fun. It was
a lot, though, and I was doing six different jobs.
And then because I had originally wanted that job at
the original company, they didn't give me the opportunity. I left,
and after two years they called me back and said,
we have a branded content producer opening. We'd have no producers.
Do you want this job now? Did your day job
(06:55):
or at any of these companies know that you were
doing video content on the side. Yes, so they knew.
The second job, especially the first job really didn't because
it wasn't I was just an editor there and we
had a pretty set schedule and they really didn't care
what else I was doing. The second job cared what
I was doing a lot more, and he was kind
(07:16):
of trying to make sure I didn't have time to
do the side stuff. So how did you get around
that then? Because there are definitely people who are in
that position where they either don't want to tell their
main company what they're doing, or they are in that
exact position where they do know, and that company makes
it incredibly difficult for someone to follow their passion, right,
(07:37):
So The way I really got around that was I
just would use my vacation for work. That's like the
only way I was able to really do that, which
sounds crazy because you're like, oh, because I hear people say, oh,
it's a vacation, I want to be on vacation. I
don't want to work when i'm a rat. But that's
what I really wanted to do. So I was like,
you know what if I have to say, hey, i'm
(07:57):
taking off, I'm using my days, he doesn't need know
what I'm saying. You need to know what I'm doing
when I'm when I'm taking those days. But I just
used my vacation for my side job, and I'm assuming
it paid off at this point. Now it's paid off definitely.
So why did you decide, if you were doing somewhat
the same kind of job, why did you decide to
leave corporate America and do this on your own? Which
(08:20):
is very scary, very scary. So I was in a
conference room. First of all, I I didn't love the
the big meetings culture that everybody has. It's it's every
meeting could possibly be an email, and it's yes, And
as a creative, it's very frustrating to sit in these meetings.
I fidget in them. I like draw my paper like
(08:41):
I've got a million other things to do, then sit
here and listen to what a schedule is for the
next week exactly. And as a creative, when you're brought
into not only those types of sales meetings that don't
have anything to do, they're worried about hitting their numbers.
I get it, I'm making the stuff. I don't need
to sit here and listen to the CFO just yell
(09:01):
at the sales team because they were hitting their numbers.
Look at a power point, right, or look at a
power point and stats you're gonna emailed me that power
point because you're just reading it exactly. And I'm like,
we're making the content. This is taking away from us
making the content. But in one of those meetings, what
was like the turning point for me was I looked
around the room and I said, I don't want anybody
(09:23):
in this room's job. Everybody above me, I don't want
their job. Everybody who's at the same level as me,
I don't even want their jobs. This is not what
I want. I was like, everybody's sucked into this. I know,
like company culture and things like that, like that's that's cool.
I like companies. You have to have some type of blueprint,
something that you know people are excited about. I just
(09:44):
wasn't into what they were selling me on a day
to day basis, and I didn't want I wanted nobody's job. Well,
you just probably scared the crap out of a lot
of people because they're probably driving home or to work
right now thinking, Okay, the last meeting I was in,
how did I feel? Who was in that me Or
they're going to go into their next meeting and be like, well,
Steve told me to look around the room and do
(10:06):
I want anyone's job here? Yeah? I mean, and if
you're going to look around the room and you see
that you don't want anybody's job, you have to start
planning an exit strategy. But that feeling, like when you
have that initial moment, it's scary, Like it is so
scary because now it's a instead of you know, having
your job that you go to every day in your mind,
it's like, oh, this path is changing. Oh my god,
(10:27):
that's a scary moment. I'm sure it was for you
when you realized that it was so scary. And the
reason it was so scary is because I had always
told myself, you know, I want to go be a
producer at a high up producer at a big company
like that. And when I was on my way to
going there, I looked around and I said, I don't
want this. This is not what I thought it was
gonna be. And I'm more of the type of person
(10:49):
who wants to get my stuff done and then go
do whatever I have to do afterwards. And that wasn't
the way it was. It was, let's hang around talk
for five minutes about nothing past the day, and I
was stuck staying They're late, exactly, and and you know
you're stuck staying there late. You're on these you're on
these email chains that or all hours of the night,
(11:10):
so you're you're taking work home with you. It's absurd.
So you are now engaged congratulations by day. But you
and your current fiance you lived together, So how does
that work when you were doing that in your relationship,
Like you're taking that work home with you all night long.
That was another huge thing for me. It really like
put it put a lot of strain on us because
(11:34):
it put a strain on me because I'm gone most
of the day. I come home see my fiance and
we start talking, and then my phone's going off, and
then I have an email. And then if I don't
answer an email, if you don't see the email within
an hour, I get a phone call from my boss.
Hell no, And it got to the point where she
wasn't I mean, she works hard to she understands exactly,
(11:55):
but she was also at the point where she was like,
why is this going on. You're not getting paid for
that time. You're on a salary, You're not getting paid
for that at that time. That's what's going on here.
And the more boundaries I tried to set with my work,
the more they would find ways around them, and that
(12:16):
put a strain on the relationship. That was a big
part of it because I was like, she's more important
to me than this job. I don't care about my
boss being mad at me, Like, if everything's not good
at home, that's that affects my life way way more
than making some commercial for the internet. So then life, now,
(12:37):
what is that like? Not having those emails and those
calls Because I'm like dreaming, listen, I love my job.
I wouldn't trade it for the world. But to not
have emails would be great. Yeah, I mean you still
get emails, emails, but they're the only ones that you want.
All my emails are pretty much either I'm setting up
a meeting, I'm setting up a shoot, or you know,
here's your invoice. Like that's great, great emails. Else, it's amazing.
(13:01):
Life now is great because I also I can set
the boundaries because I'm I'm the boss now, so I
could say, I could just set an auto responder. Hey, like,
I'm I'm really busy right now, I'll email you tomorrow. Nothing.
It's rare that something is really important that needs to
get done right now. It's rare. So I first met
you in real life a year ago. We knew each
other on Instagram through your fiance, but we first met
(13:25):
and that was when you said to me, I'm currently
side hustling, and I was asking you about what you
were doing, and you said you were going to try
to leave the corporate world soon. But you were telling
me that you would wake up at five am before
going into work, and what would you do for your
side hustle. I would, Well, when I first started the
business itself, it was I'm putting all this time into
(13:47):
marketing my services, and it was grind. Basically what I
how I started was I went through on my phone
contacts said who here needs my help. I would just
start reaching out to these people just all once. If
I don't get a reason, that's fine, I'm cool with that.
And then once I started getting clients on, I would
edit videos. I would put together marketing plans for their
(14:08):
Facebook account. So you're not just editing video. You are
coming up with plans like digital content plans for people
I need to hire you, digital digital content, strategy, strategies
very bigger words than plans, but strategy. But that's what's
great about this. You're not just like okay, one and done,
(14:28):
I'm shooting boom here. You go like you're giving people
a reason why they need this content. And it's not
just one video for someone. You're actually coming up with
a strategy for them. And it's incredible. Thank you. It's
you know what the thing is, It's like this. Every
business needs customers and the only way you get customers
is by marketing. And yes, we could start with video
(14:51):
because video is the best way for you to get
in the room with the potential customer without having to
be there, which is what which is what you want
as a as a business owner. There's more to that.
Facebook's created the greatest marketing tool ever invented. You can
literally target the exact human that you want exactly, and
you could then target a person that looks like them
(15:13):
with their same interests. It's crazy, like privacy issues aside,
you know, legal legal side, it's sick what you can
do with Facebook ads and the way you build up
that data is with video views. There's more to it
than that. I tell people all the time, like we're
gonna make this video, we're gonna market it, we're gonna
(15:34):
push it to the people that you want to see it,
and then after we're done with that, we're gonna look
at all the data and then we're gonna see who's
really interested, and then we're gonna make another video and
retarget and that's when you're really gonna start seeing the
r o I. It's not like a one step process.
So then what kind of companies do those Lark Media
work with on? Not you know, not the sports world
that you're originally working with. What other kind of clients
(15:56):
do you work with? I do a lot of Fitness
with Seant my boy, that's your boy, dudes. So he's
he's the best, he really is. He's given me a
huge opportunity to do stuff for him. He's one of
my biggest clients. And then I work with smaller businesses
that don't really know what to do with their social
(16:17):
media because a business owner who's mid fifties, maybe they
have no clue what they're doing. They think they they're
like a video, What am I gonna do with the video?
And it's like, let me show you what you can
do with the video. And I'm really so smaller businesses
that really need the marketing because let's face it, if
you're not playing on the phone right now, like with
(16:39):
your company or business or anything, you're gonna lose because
that's where all the customers are. Why would you why
would you not want to be where all your customers
attention is. That's where it is right now. And we've
worked with window companies, We've we still work with window companies.
Wild anything needs more, Everything needs marketing. I'm sorry, just
bumped the mic. And I still work with that old
(17:03):
nine to five job that I left. They are a client.
Wait what, they're a client. You turned your corporate job
into a client of yours. Yes, that's correct. They hate
or do they love? That? Um? I know there are
some people that probably hated. How good does that make you?
It makes me feel it's a it's oh my god,
(17:26):
it's it's amazing to think about it. Because I remember
I was talking with someone who's kind of a mentor,
but he's had his own business for a long time.
This guy is a big he directs commercials, and I
was talking to him about it and he goes out
a question, do they lean on you? And I was like, like,
what do you mean? He's like, do you do a
bulk of the work? I was like, to do a
(17:48):
lot of work there, like everybody who works there with
the team small, So yeah, they lean on him, he
goes He goes, Okay, give you notice and tell them
that if they need if they need help, you you're avail.
So on the Friday of my last day, that was it.
I left. Saturday night. I got a text because I
was going to l A to do something for Sean.
(18:10):
On that Monday, I got a text, Hey, man, um,
you're in l A next week? Yeah, can you do
a shoot? A two hour shoot Monday morning. Yeah, oh,
here's my rate, Like was that? Like were you jumping?
Like what was that actual moment for you in real life?
So to me, when I read the text, I thought like,
yesh and Kutcher was gonna come out behind me like
(18:30):
you just got punk, Like I thought that was gonna happen.
It was surreal. I knew that the possibility of that happening.
I didn't know it was gonna happen like that. The
next day. The next day, twenty four, I was out.
It was Hoboken, it was around holloween. I was dressed
as Waldo and I'd been drinking a little bit and
I got the text and like, look at my fiance
(18:51):
and I'm like do you see this? And she just
looks at me. She's like, she's like, they're gonna give
you a ton of work. I was like, yeah, you're
probably eight. And they actually I was on the phone
with them before I came here today, like wild, it's
I've yeah, they've they're a client. It's absurd. That's cool
that you've been able to do that. Yeah, it's you
don't want to burn bridges? No, no, And that's great,
(19:12):
that's true. Like as much as you said you did
not love that job or you didn't want to grow
in that role. You could have left, like I quit
this bitch and you're out, but you didn't, and you're right.
Not burning bridges, especially when you're side hustling and growing
your own business is huge. It's so smart. So kudos
to you for not being a total pick on that
when you were side hustling. Though. How many hours a
(19:33):
week were you spending on Lark Media or before it
was called Lark Media, spending on your side hustle? Um,
I would say so like seven to eight hours, but
it was broken up because I can only really give
it three in the morning. It was like five to eight,
maybe five to seven thirty, and then like do a
quick like insanity work out and go to work or
then then come home at night, like spend some time
(19:54):
with my fiance and then like do more work. And
that's great and everything, but you're not working. You're not
the Only thing with that is you're not working the
hours that other people are working and the clients are
trying to get in, so your your response times are off,
and honestly, like one thing I've learned is that speed
is key with everything, and if you're not responding proper time,
(20:15):
I'll go to someone else. I mean, so seven to
eight hours a day, so I mean I was putting
in another like forty hours. I guess, Oh wait, I've met.
I thought you said seven eight hours a week. Actually
surs Day, so like three in the morning and then
like four and then like four at night just side hustle,
and then like if I had like edit work, it
would probably run a little later because I was doing
(20:38):
everything at the time. Again, I was taking more pt o.
They kind of knew they didn't like it, so I
had the vibe they knew I was doing it, but
they didn't really like it. But like I wouldn't do
anything about it, right exactly, Like I would take pto
on a Friday, so I'd leave like Thursday night, fly
to a shoot for the weekend, and they like take
a red eyeback on Sunday night to get in from
Monday go straight to work, and they'd just be like,
(21:00):
all right, that's wild, but it's worked out for you.
It's worked out. It's great. It's great. I mean, I
am happy that I did that. I did that, so
if people do want to use lark Media. Then go
to Lark Media and YC dot com correct and Instagram
and Instagram, Lark Media and y see, you'll see we
have a full you have. It's cool what you do.
It's cool that you kind of showcase what you can
(21:21):
do by showcasing your own company. If that makes it,
like you show people, Okay, this is what we can do,
and you're also advertising yourself for this. It's it's wild.
It's like this inception that's happening. It's awesome. It's fun
that they could see that. And then like, I just
feel like every business or needs a spokesperson or a face,
So I feel like I need to be out there
still like educating people on like what we really do
(21:44):
know it's true. And what's cool is that you aren't
afraid to be in front of the camera and explain it.
Because if you're the face of your own company and
then you're the person that these people are dealing with,
I'm sure that makes the relationship with your clients so
much better. Exactly, you want them to know who you are.
You want to gain that trust. That's really that's really
the big thing for me is trust because when you're
first starting out you're not getting clients based off of
(22:05):
your past history. You're getting clients based on right, do
I trust this person? Right? But what does lark media mean?
What does lark? Where does that come from? Because I
realized that, I was like, I don't know what that
even means. So that's that's funny. I get asked that
a lot. So basically, here's what happened. I was in
bed with my fiancee, so I don't know, we were
talking about I was like, I need a name for
(22:26):
this company. She's like, well, let's think about some things,
like what do you do? What do you like? I
was like, well, I wake up early for every I've
always woke up early to do this stuff. And I
was like, let me see google what an early bird is,
and it's a lark lark. A lark is an early bird.
And I was like, that's it, and there is what yeah,
(22:49):
yeah it was. It was a bright logos a bird.
Now everything makes sense, it's all it's all put together,
I mean, clever, but it's fun. It's awesome. How long
were you side hustling for before you officially decided to leave?
Before I officially decided to leave From start of the company. Yeah,
(23:09):
five months. Five months? So what actually made you say Okay,
I am doing this. I am out What exactly was
that moment? Like, so I uh, I was in Seattle
last year, so it was right around when we met.
Right around when we met, I was with Shawn, which
let me people I feel like they were like name
(23:30):
dropping Shunt but like maybe they're not like making the
connection beach body coach and like fitness instructor who has
changed a ton of lives. He's an author, he is
an incredible motivational speaker, at least for me anyway, I
love him. Transformed twenty is his latest program. He's got
in Sanity and Sanity Max thirty, all of them. So
(23:54):
you've probably seen him before. And the reason why you
know Shaunty is because your fiance is a part of
his team, yes, and works for him. Yes, she's his
production and events manager. So anything that he does that's
large scale events, my fiance has put it together, which
is awesome. You guys are like the ultimate power couple.
That's so people tell us that all the time and
(24:14):
we're just like like we sleep like four hours and
I got it. It's all good. So you were here,
uh with Shanty and the whole group, and that's why
and when we met. But what about that trip to
Seattle made you decide peace out? So here's what happened.
We were going to come out here at Sean was
doing events, You were at the event. You were at
(24:36):
the event getting your buck kick and I actually had
just I was finishing up. I never didn't done insanity before,
remember this, And I was finishing it up, and Alex,
I just needed a vacation from my job. I was like,
I gotta I can't do I'm coming to Seattle. I like,
I was like, I'll pay for I was like, I'll
find myself out, pay for my own fight. I'll bring
I'll shoot Sean's event. Like I don't even want to
get paid. I don't care. I just needed a break,
(24:58):
So I came out here. I end up rooting the
event and then I made He didn't know I was
even gonna make him a video. I just was like,
he's seen all my stuff before, but I just made
him like a little thirty second recap video and he
loved it. And like later in the day, he goes,
what time you leave it on Monday? I was like,
I leave Tuesday he's like, all right, Monday morning at
like ten o'clock, like you and me, we're gonna I
(25:19):
just want to meet with you. I said all right,
and I said cool. So we sit down outside and
he looks at me and he goes, let's he goes,
let's just talk about this. He goes, what's it gonna
take for you to leave your job? I was like, well,
He's like, you're clearly not happy there. He goes, like,
I talked to Alex, I see you. He's like, I
know you for three years now, like, I know you're
(25:40):
not happy. What's again, Like, what's stopping you from leaving?
I said, well, you know I need clients like me
and Alex just moved into a place last month. Like
I need clients. I need to make sure I have
enough money coming in for rent, for bills, for everything.
So he goes, well, how many clients do you have
right now? Is like, we'll have a recurring client. I
(26:01):
was like, and then I have you, and then I
have a bunch of reach outs and I'm like one again,
getting one off jobs with people, so I don't have
anything consistent. And he just looks at me and he goes,
if you leave I'll have work for you. And I'm like,
I'm looking at him, and he goes, you know, it
would be really easy for me to tell you, hey,
(26:23):
I want to invest in your company and give you
X amount of dollars. He goes, but you I want
to see you work for it. He goes, I'll have
work for you. He goes, I'm telling you right now,
I'll have work. Like what was that moment like? And
I just was like, what did you feel? Because I'm
getting betterflies I was like, I was almost relieved, but
it was almost like he was. It was almost like
(26:46):
he was saying to me, like, I'm gonna take a bet.
I'm betting on you that you're gonna be able to
do this and you're gonna be successful. You should go
all in. And like I read his book and I
was like getting all like motivated, and I was like looking,
I was like, than you. He's like Steve, He's like
you can. He's like, I know you can do it.
So when I gave my notice, did you go into
(27:07):
work that Tuesday and give your notice? No? No, I
waited a little bit. I waited like a solid month.
I needed to calculate paychecks because I still had to
calculate some paychecks and like make sure just if anything happened.
Then I fell flat on my face. There was money
in the bank so that you know, I can still
pay rent. When I finally gave my notice, I texted
him and I said hey, I said, um, gave my
(27:28):
notice today. He goes, cool, when'd your last day? I
was like, it was like two fridays from now. He's like, cool, Um,
I'm I'm a recording Transformed twenty in l A. The
next week he goes, um, if you come out on Monday,
He's like, I have I have a shoot for you.
Did you film transform? No? No, no, no, no, I
didn't feel Transformed. Twenty was actually like it's actually him
(27:50):
and Scott playing tennis. Is his fiance You're they're clearly married.
It was him and Scott playing tennis, and he's like,
I just want the content like come out. And then
we talked about and then we had another meeting and
he goes, I want to do this online academy called
Relationship Derivation. I want you to do it. Do you
(28:11):
think you could do it? It's like, yes, I can
do it. It was so crazy because like Sean was
like the catalyst for it. And as soon as I
started doing work for him, I would just get like
and then my old company that I left, I'd get
jobs with them, and then all of a sudden, I
was getting calls from people that they were just like, hey,
(28:32):
I need this done. This person referred me to you. Well,
I'm sure they also see the like Shawn ts network
is huge, and if you have that name backing you
and they see the content you're doing for him, I'm
sure that's incredible. Yes, it's it's yeah, it's amazing to
see that. And since then, have I had some slow months? Sure,
(28:52):
but I haven't had a month where I'm like, we're
not doing anything at all, like we like Sean what
he said to me that day, it was like it
just changed everything. That's wild. And since then you've gotten engaged, eged.
So what is it like planning your own wedding while
you're you have your own business and your fiance works
(29:13):
from home. So right, Alex is so yeah, so what
is this process like now when life, I don't want
to say gets in the way, but this is a
big thing in your life now planning a wedding and
you're running a business, Like, what the hell is going on? Yeah,
it's a lot. It's a lot, especially when you know
we we want to have a destination wedding. So we
were like, we don't want to have the same wedding
that everybody has, as you know in New Jersey, the
(29:35):
same venue, I have, the same play And I've talked
about on this podcast when I had the eventus on
their wedding planners out here in Seattle, and I'm trying
to tell them, like, you don't understand what weddings are
like in in New Jersey. They're all the exact same thing, exactly,
same thing, similar DJ, similar, same machine, all of it.
And we were just like, we don't want to have
(29:57):
the same with the same New Jersey wed Like what's us.
We're like, we want to do travel. We want because
we travel a lot, obviously, We're like, we want to
do a wedding that's not on an island though, because
that's not really us. We're not really island people. But
also like the food at island weddings is skeptic. It's
hit or miss, like you could be great or it
could be really terrible. So we're like, all right, we
(30:20):
want to do California. So we found this vineyard, like
it's not a vineyard, but it's on a vineyard in California.
It's been crazy. We went, we flew out there, so
like that's the one thing that's good about having my
own business. I was able to just fly out there
and like we're trying to look at venues and answer
emails and then it's been crazy. But I think we're
in the home stretch where we have a date set,
(30:42):
were set up. So who's going to film your wedding?
I don't know yet. I don't know not that's tough,
but we got lucky. We have some friends. They actually
have a show on on TV called My Wedding Story
The Blue The Blue Kite Boys, Um Blue Kites Centerway
did Shawn's wedding. They live out there. They're coming to
the wedding. So we reached out to them. We said,
(31:04):
we want somebody who's gonna do a wedding like your style,
and they're like, here's a couple of guys, like take
a look, see what you like. So so like we
we're using our contacts for that exactly. And your fiance Alex,
who I adore and love and she is super inspirational
because of the work she I mean, she works her
ass off, Like the stuff she puts together is mind blowing.
(31:26):
But what is it like planning a wedding with someone
who is a planner? And this is completely off topic,
but I just love it so much. This is completely
off topic, but it's it's she here's the thing. She
knows what she wants, so that's the easy part. But
she doesn't want like she wants to be able to
(31:49):
say like, this is what I want done, when I
want it done, and this is how it's going to be.
And like the problem with some of these places are
like we can't do that, and she's like, all right,
well we'll just go to the next one. So planning
with the planner is for me it's actually fun to
see because I'm like, all right, she's just gonna put
(32:10):
these people in their place and like that's gonna be
the end of it. But at the same time, it
took us a wildfi but you got the perfect one,
the perfect so there you go. Um. But we talked
about connections a lot on this podcast. I say that
all the time because it's so important, Like you said,
you've reached out to all the contacts on your phone,
You've been in touch with those people at some point
in your life. That is kind of how you really
(32:31):
launched this side hustle. But how you and I connected
was because of your fiance Alex exactly. But it stems
back god years ago and it's not even me. It
was Alex worked with my co host and friend Anthony
on a Shawnty project and it was two years ago
at this point when I guess Alex said, Hey, we're
gonna be in Seattle, Anthony, do you want to have
(32:51):
Shaunty on the show. And they came in and surprised
me on the air with Shaunty and almost died. You
you are big, Sean. I am so now it's like
wild to me that like, okay, yeah, Shaunty, I'm a
huge fan of him, but because of this relationship, like
now I have you in studio, it's just crazy. Thanks
to Shaunty, you're here, really it really, it's it's so true.
(33:12):
If it wasn't for Shaunty, I would not be here.
And it's crazy and like it's just fun to see
because it's fun. Like when I met you guys, when
I met you and Anthony, it's it's fun to see
like what you guys do on the day to day basis,
and like the work you guys put in, and it's sick,
it's it's just awesome. Back at you. Thank you. So
what is the importance of someone hiring you and not
(33:36):
shooting on their iPhone? Which I can do? For example,
though I will say this, we're in the studio right now.
I've never had this podcast film and you're filming it.
There are two cameras and two lights, so I know
the obvious answer is I can't film this on my iPhone,
but a lot of people think that they can. So
why should someone hire you? Then? First of all, what's
(33:56):
your brand? Like what do you want people to see
in your brand? You want people to see that Like
I look at cell phone footage. It can be great
at times, but it's kind of like a short cut
and cutting corners, and like, yeah, does it look good sometimes?
But I could make your stuff look good all the
time because because but it's it's true, because like if
(34:17):
you take notice when you're on a cell phone, if
you don't have good lighting, it doesn't look good no
matter where you are. You need to have and the
audio is terrible. Basically like, yeah, your camera can shoot
four K on your phone if you really want it.
But I could shoot four K and get like you
could see like the pores in my skin? I do.
(34:40):
You don't want that, but I could make the stuff
look professional. For iPhone footage does not look professional? Does not?
Everyone can do it. Not the difference. It may still
look great, but if my mom can film it, it's
probably not business quality exactly. And like, do you want
your brand to look like it cuts corners? And you
want your brands to look like I really care about
what I'm only people and the details. And I tell
(35:02):
everybody you worry about your business, I'll make you look good.
I like all these taglines and drop That's what I
tell people. I mean, it's just to me. That's the
selling point is like, what do you want your brand
to look like? Do you want it to look like
garbage or not? So Lark Media NYC dot com? To
make your brand not look like there you And I'm
(35:23):
going to call this the side Hustlers Documentary even though
it's not a documentary, but I'm going to pretend like
this is a documentary that's going to be related. Just
throw this up on YouTube and we'll just call it
doc exactly like super film this documentary and studio worked
really hard on it. Side Hustlers Doc behind the scenes. Yeah,
this really is behind the scenes. But hey, thank you
for doing this, like filming this for me, because I've
(35:44):
never had my podcast filmed, and I thought I would
be sweating the whole time and I'm somehow not, so
this is exciting. You've done this before, You're a natural,
maybe a few times and be thank you for coming
in the studio on your vacation. This is technically a vacation.
We work every day. Okay, you Alex need a vacation,
so I'm sending you on one. I'm not paying for it.
I'm just telling you have to go on one. But
(36:04):
thank you, seriously, thank you for having me. I really
appreciate it. Thank you for listening to Steve story on
Side Hustlers Again. I am Carla Marie. You can find
me on Instagram at the Carla Maurie and that is
where you can actually see a lot of the video
that Steve shot. I think it's gonna be really cool
for you to get to see a behind the scenes
of Side Hustlers. Also go follow Steve Lark Media, n
(36:26):
y C on Instagram. He's got a lot of great
insight on why branding for social media and my video
branding for social media is especially important and if you
need him to help you out with your own check
them out again. It's Lark Media NYC. Until next week.
Keep Hustling, the weekly podcast that started it all. They
(36:52):
just wanted to have fun as they dreamt of one
day having their own morning show, and now they do.
But the tradition continue. Use every Friday, My Day Friday
with Carla, Marie and Anthony, available worldwide on the I
Heart Radio kick Off Your Weekend with Carla Marie and
Anthony M.
Welcome to side Hustlers. However you found this podcast, appreciate
you being here. If this was not the podcast you
were looking for, give it a chance, please, thank you.
I appreciate it. My name is Carla Marie. I'm from
I Heart Radio. This podcast has essentially become my own
side hustle. My day job is hosting my own morning show,
the Carla Marie and Anthony Show on one or six
(00:21):
point one in Seattle. So if you're in Seattle, you
can listen live on your radio. No matter where you are,
you can listen on your I Heart Radio app. It
is six am to am Pacific time. If you found
this podcast through an ad on iHeart Radio or wherever
you listen to podcasts, appreciate you taking the time of
your day to come over here and listen. I think
(00:41):
you're really gonna appreciate all of the episodes, but this
episode is really gonna head home. If you're someone who
isn't happy with your day job, if you're just not
feeling it at work, You're gonna really, really, really love
Steve's story. Steve's company, Lark Media, is a company that
helps people brand they're so media through video content, and
(01:02):
this episode is super cool because Steve filmed our entire
podcast with cameras, So not only you're gonna get to
listen to it, but I've also got video snippets on
my Instagram at the Carla Murray can also check out
other ones on Steve's Instagram. It's Lark Media and y C.
And Steve's story is pretty incredible. What made him take
(01:23):
the leap is really cool and I think you're gonna
benefit a lot from Steve's episode of Side Hustlers for
a lot of people, you know, why are you way?
Do you know what you want to do? And this
is something you want to do, you do it. I'm
a hustles side side hustle do it. I'm a hustle
side us do it. I'm a hustle side side hustlove.
(01:44):
Come on ask about me, yo yo. It's the Side
Hustless podcast we call the Roof. So I've got a
fellow New Jersey and in studio today. And when I
say New Jersey in is that weird? And we don't
say that in New Jersey though. Okay, so Steve is
out here in Seattle. We're going to get into why
you're out here and how we know each other and
(02:05):
all of that. But Lark Media is your company? Which
is it a video production company? Wou do you describe
it as I describe it as a digital content creation company?
Digital content creation company is very fancy. It's it's definitely fancy.
But I get the point across I think. And it
started as a side hustle how long ago? Actually, I've
(02:28):
been side hustling with it for years, like four, four
or five years in the making of side hustle. I
didn't come up with a company name until that year
and a half ago. And it wasn't until around that
time that you really started thinking about leaving your day
job and making this your full time job. What you've done, correct,
So congratulations on that, because I know a lot of
people who listen are like, Wow, I hate my day job.
(02:50):
I have a side hustler. I want to side hustle
so I can leave my day job. You are one
of those people who were able to do it. Yes,
And what was that day job. My day job was
a branded content producer for a large sports media company.
I don't I can't really say that, but I was
a brand of content producer, which basically meant I made
commercials for the Internet for big brands. But can you
(03:13):
tell us the brands you worked out? Yeah, I worked
with like Adidas, I worked with Nikea or Gatorade. I
worked with like big big brands like I did like
a series for like Laquinta in and Suite like Yeah,
like we did like big stuff, like big productions. So
there's a good chance that someone listening to this podcast
has seen something that you have edited, shot, produced, edited definitely.
(03:36):
So is this what you've always wanted to do? Like
out of college it was video video. It actually started
with movies. I wanted to be like a big movie producer,
like big shot movie producer guy. And then what happened
was I got into I wasn't That's part of it.
That's part of it, And I got punched in the
mouth pretty early, like with the with the real world,
(03:59):
because you have to really grind, like you have to
grind in anything you do. But in that world, you
are basically just working for free until you're like thirty
years It's not everyone can do correct because I went
to college and had loans and I wasn't able to
do that. And then things kind of shifted for me
later on um as I grew out of we I
(04:22):
had made some short films with friends and we had
done you know, like put him in some festivals and
things like that. But it really started to turn for
me with my first job when I had a contact
with a guy who trains NFL athletes and we would
go to his facility. He just he hit me up
(04:43):
on Twitter. He goes, listen, man, I have all these
guys that would love for you to do. Now he
hit you up on Twitter? How the hell they know
who you were? So? I knew him from high school.
I hadn't spoken to him in about I hadn't spoken
him since I was like fifteen. Social media I love
when it has good stories. It's insane, and it's it's
insane because you never, like not never, but like a
lot of times you hear horror stories from from people
(05:05):
on social media. Are good ones out there. And he
just contacted me because he saw one that we did
with somebody that a guy that I played college baseball with.
We just did a piece on him, just a little
mini documentary, and he hit me up. He said, I
have guys in the NFL that will definitely be interested,
like they just wanted for their Instagrams And who would
have thought like that's a that's a thing like someone,
(05:28):
a human NFL player needs to have content for their Instagram.
Exactly what is this world? Because they're still marketing themselves.
It's crazy. And that was when the light went off
and said how much time a day does everybody spend
on their cell phone? A lot? Like pretty much the
entire day is spent. You wake up, you're on your phone.
(05:49):
You anything you do, you're going to the bathroom, you're
on your phone. There's like an add out. It's like
people consume content well there which can video content while
they're in the bathroom. It's so like all my Instagram
videos that I watched are on my pea breaks in
the bathroom here at work. It's crazy, That's what it is.
It's nuts. And I was like, lightbulb, gonna start making
(06:12):
stuff for digital, like digital for social media. Now this
was before you got that day job at that sports
company or while you were there. This was while I
was there the first time. I was actually there twice,
so I was there for two and a half years.
I left to go to another sports company where I
had the opportunity to do a web series. It was
(06:32):
twenty five episodes a year, and it was a lot
of traveling and it was so much fun. It was
a lot, though, and I was doing six different jobs.
And then because I had originally wanted that job at
the original company, they didn't give me the opportunity. I left,
and after two years they called me back and said,
we have a branded content producer opening. We'd have no producers.
Do you want this job now? Did your day job
(06:55):
or at any of these companies know that you were
doing video content on the side. Yes, so they knew.
The second job, especially the first job really didn't because
it wasn't I was just an editor there and we
had a pretty set schedule and they really didn't care
what else I was doing. The second job cared what
I was doing a lot more, and he was kind
(07:16):
of trying to make sure I didn't have time to
do the side stuff. So how did you get around
that then? Because there are definitely people who are in
that position where they either don't want to tell their
main company what they're doing, or they are in that
exact position where they do know, and that company makes
it incredibly difficult for someone to follow their passion, right,
(07:37):
So The way I really got around that was I
just would use my vacation for work. That's like the
only way I was able to really do that, which
sounds crazy because you're like, oh, because I hear people say, oh,
it's a vacation, I want to be on vacation. I
don't want to work when i'm a rat. But that's
what I really wanted to do. So I was like,
you know what if I have to say, hey, i'm
(07:57):
taking off, I'm using my days, he doesn't need know
what I'm saying. You need to know what I'm doing
when I'm when I'm taking those days. But I just
used my vacation for my side job, and I'm assuming
it paid off at this point. Now it's paid off definitely.
So why did you decide, if you were doing somewhat
the same kind of job, why did you decide to
leave corporate America and do this on your own? Which
(08:20):
is very scary, very scary. So I was in a
conference room. First of all, I I didn't love the
the big meetings culture that everybody has. It's it's every
meeting could possibly be an email, and it's yes, And
as a creative, it's very frustrating to sit in these meetings.
I fidget in them. I like draw my paper like
(08:41):
I've got a million other things to do, then sit
here and listen to what a schedule is for the
next week exactly. And as a creative, when you're brought
into not only those types of sales meetings that don't
have anything to do, they're worried about hitting their numbers.
I get it, I'm making the stuff. I don't need
to sit here and listen to the CFO just yell
(09:01):
at the sales team because they were hitting their numbers.
Look at a power point, right, or look at a
power point and stats you're gonna emailed me that power
point because you're just reading it exactly. And I'm like,
we're making the content. This is taking away from us
making the content. But in one of those meetings, what
was like the turning point for me was I looked
around the room and I said, I don't want anybody
(09:23):
in this room's job. Everybody above me, I don't want
their job. Everybody who's at the same level as me,
I don't even want their jobs. This is not what
I want. I was like, everybody's sucked into this. I know,
like company culture and things like that, like that's that's cool.
I like companies. You have to have some type of blueprint,
something that you know people are excited about. I just
(09:44):
wasn't into what they were selling me on a day
to day basis, and I didn't want I wanted nobody's job. Well,
you just probably scared the crap out of a lot
of people because they're probably driving home or to work
right now thinking, Okay, the last meeting I was in,
how did I feel? Who was in that me Or
they're going to go into their next meeting and be like, well,
Steve told me to look around the room and do
(10:06):
I want anyone's job here? Yeah? I mean, and if
you're going to look around the room and you see
that you don't want anybody's job, you have to start
planning an exit strategy. But that feeling, like when you
have that initial moment, it's scary, Like it is so
scary because now it's a instead of you know, having
your job that you go to every day in your mind,
it's like, oh, this path is changing. Oh my god,
(10:27):
that's a scary moment. I'm sure it was for you
when you realized that it was so scary. And the
reason it was so scary is because I had always
told myself, you know, I want to go be a
producer at a high up producer at a big company
like that. And when I was on my way to
going there, I looked around and I said, I don't
want this. This is not what I thought it was
gonna be. And I'm more of the type of person
(10:49):
who wants to get my stuff done and then go
do whatever I have to do afterwards. And that wasn't
the way it was. It was, let's hang around talk
for five minutes about nothing past the day, and I
was stuck staying They're late, exactly, and and you know
you're stuck staying there late. You're on these you're on
these email chains that or all hours of the night,
(11:10):
so you're you're taking work home with you. It's absurd.
So you are now engaged congratulations by day. But you
and your current fiance you lived together, So how does
that work when you were doing that in your relationship,
Like you're taking that work home with you all night long.
That was another huge thing for me. It really like
put it put a lot of strain on us because
(11:34):
it put a strain on me because I'm gone most
of the day. I come home see my fiance and
we start talking, and then my phone's going off, and
then I have an email. And then if I don't
answer an email, if you don't see the email within
an hour, I get a phone call from my boss.
Hell no, And it got to the point where she
wasn't I mean, she works hard to she understands exactly,
(11:55):
but she was also at the point where she was like,
why is this going on. You're not getting paid for
that time. You're on a salary, You're not getting paid
for that at that time. That's what's going on here.
And the more boundaries I tried to set with my work,
the more they would find ways around them, and that
(12:16):
put a strain on the relationship. That was a big
part of it because I was like, she's more important
to me than this job. I don't care about my
boss being mad at me, Like, if everything's not good
at home, that's that affects my life way way more
than making some commercial for the internet. So then life, now,
(12:37):
what is that like? Not having those emails and those
calls Because I'm like dreaming, listen, I love my job.
I wouldn't trade it for the world. But to not
have emails would be great. Yeah, I mean you still
get emails, emails, but they're the only ones that you want.
All my emails are pretty much either I'm setting up
a meeting, I'm setting up a shoot, or you know,
here's your invoice. Like that's great, great emails. Else, it's amazing.
(13:01):
Life now is great because I also I can set
the boundaries because I'm I'm the boss now, so I
could say, I could just set an auto responder. Hey, like,
I'm I'm really busy right now, I'll email you tomorrow. Nothing.
It's rare that something is really important that needs to
get done right now. It's rare. So I first met
you in real life a year ago. We knew each
other on Instagram through your fiance, but we first met
(13:25):
and that was when you said to me, I'm currently
side hustling, and I was asking you about what you
were doing, and you said you were going to try
to leave the corporate world soon. But you were telling
me that you would wake up at five am before
going into work, and what would you do for your
side hustle. I would, Well, when I first started the
business itself, it was I'm putting all this time into
(13:47):
marketing my services, and it was grind. Basically what I
how I started was I went through on my phone
contacts said who here needs my help. I would just
start reaching out to these people just all once. If
I don't get a reason, that's fine, I'm cool with that.
And then once I started getting clients on, I would
edit videos. I would put together marketing plans for their
(14:08):
Facebook account. So you're not just editing video. You are
coming up with plans like digital content plans for people
I need to hire you, digital digital content, strategy, strategies
very bigger words than plans, but strategy. But that's what's
great about this. You're not just like okay, one and done,
(14:28):
I'm shooting boom here. You go like you're giving people
a reason why they need this content. And it's not
just one video for someone. You're actually coming up with
a strategy for them. And it's incredible. Thank you. It's
you know what the thing is, It's like this. Every
business needs customers and the only way you get customers
is by marketing. And yes, we could start with video
(14:51):
because video is the best way for you to get
in the room with the potential customer without having to
be there, which is what which is what you want
as a as a business owner. There's more to that.
Facebook's created the greatest marketing tool ever invented. You can
literally target the exact human that you want exactly, and
you could then target a person that looks like them
(15:13):
with their same interests. It's crazy, like privacy issues aside,
you know, legal legal side, it's sick what you can
do with Facebook ads and the way you build up
that data is with video views. There's more to it
than that. I tell people all the time, like we're
gonna make this video, we're gonna market it, we're gonna
(15:34):
push it to the people that you want to see it,
and then after we're done with that, we're gonna look
at all the data and then we're gonna see who's
really interested, and then we're gonna make another video and
retarget and that's when you're really gonna start seeing the
r o I. It's not like a one step process.
So then what kind of companies do those Lark Media
work with on? Not you know, not the sports world
that you're originally working with. What other kind of clients
(15:56):
do you work with? I do a lot of Fitness
with Seant my boy, that's your boy, dudes. So he's
he's the best, he really is. He's given me a
huge opportunity to do stuff for him. He's one of
my biggest clients. And then I work with smaller businesses
that don't really know what to do with their social
(16:17):
media because a business owner who's mid fifties, maybe they
have no clue what they're doing. They think they they're
like a video, What am I gonna do with the video?
And it's like, let me show you what you can
do with the video. And I'm really so smaller businesses
that really need the marketing because let's face it, if
you're not playing on the phone right now, like with
(16:39):
your company or business or anything, you're gonna lose because
that's where all the customers are. Why would you why
would you not want to be where all your customers
attention is. That's where it is right now. And we've
worked with window companies, We've we still work with window companies.
Wild anything needs more, Everything needs marketing. I'm sorry, just
bumped the mic. And I still work with that old
(17:03):
nine to five job that I left. They are a client.
Wait what, they're a client. You turned your corporate job
into a client of yours. Yes, that's correct. They hate
or do they love? That? Um? I know there are
some people that probably hated. How good does that make you?
It makes me feel it's a it's oh my god,
(17:26):
it's it's amazing to think about it. Because I remember
I was talking with someone who's kind of a mentor,
but he's had his own business for a long time.
This guy is a big he directs commercials, and I
was talking to him about it and he goes out
a question, do they lean on you? And I was like, like,
what do you mean? He's like, do you do a
bulk of the work? I was like, to do a
(17:48):
lot of work there, like everybody who works there with
the team small, So yeah, they lean on him, he
goes He goes, Okay, give you notice and tell them
that if they need if they need help, you you're avail.
So on the Friday of my last day, that was it.
I left. Saturday night. I got a text because I
was going to l A to do something for Sean.
(18:10):
On that Monday, I got a text, Hey, man, um,
you're in l A next week? Yeah, can you do
a shoot? A two hour shoot Monday morning. Yeah, oh,
here's my rate, Like was that? Like were you jumping?
Like what was that actual moment for you in real life?
So to me, when I read the text, I thought like,
yesh and Kutcher was gonna come out behind me like
(18:30):
you just got punk, Like I thought that was gonna happen.
It was surreal. I knew that the possibility of that happening.
I didn't know it was gonna happen like that. The
next day. The next day, twenty four, I was out.
It was Hoboken, it was around holloween. I was dressed
as Waldo and I'd been drinking a little bit and
I got the text and like, look at my fiance
(18:51):
and I'm like do you see this? And she just
looks at me. She's like, she's like, they're gonna give
you a ton of work. I was like, yeah, you're
probably eight. And they actually I was on the phone
with them before I came here today, like wild, it's
I've yeah, they've they're a client. It's absurd. That's cool
that you've been able to do that. Yeah, it's you
don't want to burn bridges? No, no, And that's great,
(19:12):
that's true. Like as much as you said you did
not love that job or you didn't want to grow
in that role. You could have left, like I quit
this bitch and you're out, but you didn't, and you're right.
Not burning bridges, especially when you're side hustling and growing
your own business is huge. It's so smart. So kudos
to you for not being a total pick on that
when you were side hustling. Though. How many hours a
(19:33):
week were you spending on Lark Media or before it
was called Lark Media, spending on your side hustle? Um,
I would say so like seven to eight hours, but
it was broken up because I can only really give
it three in the morning. It was like five to eight,
maybe five to seven thirty, and then like do a
quick like insanity work out and go to work or
then then come home at night, like spend some time
(19:54):
with my fiance and then like do more work. And
that's great and everything, but you're not working. You're not
the Only thing with that is you're not working the
hours that other people are working and the clients are
trying to get in, so your your response times are off,
and honestly, like one thing I've learned is that speed
is key with everything, and if you're not responding proper time,
(20:15):
I'll go to someone else. I mean, so seven to
eight hours a day, so I mean I was putting
in another like forty hours. I guess, Oh wait, I've met.
I thought you said seven eight hours a week. Actually
surs Day, so like three in the morning and then
like four and then like four at night just side hustle,
and then like if I had like edit work, it
would probably run a little later because I was doing
(20:38):
everything at the time. Again, I was taking more pt o.
They kind of knew they didn't like it, so I
had the vibe they knew I was doing it, but
they didn't really like it. But like I wouldn't do
anything about it, right exactly, Like I would take pto
on a Friday, so I'd leave like Thursday night, fly
to a shoot for the weekend, and they like take
a red eyeback on Sunday night to get in from
Monday go straight to work, and they'd just be like,
(21:00):
all right, that's wild, but it's worked out for you.
It's worked out. It's great. It's great. I mean, I
am happy that I did that. I did that, so
if people do want to use lark Media. Then go
to Lark Media and YC dot com correct and Instagram
and Instagram, Lark Media and y see, you'll see we
have a full you have. It's cool what you do.
It's cool that you kind of showcase what you can
(21:21):
do by showcasing your own company. If that makes it,
like you show people, Okay, this is what we can do,
and you're also advertising yourself for this. It's it's wild.
It's like this inception that's happening. It's awesome. It's fun
that they could see that. And then like, I just
feel like every business or needs a spokesperson or a face,
So I feel like I need to be out there
still like educating people on like what we really do
(21:44):
know it's true. And what's cool is that you aren't
afraid to be in front of the camera and explain it.
Because if you're the face of your own company and
then you're the person that these people are dealing with,
I'm sure that makes the relationship with your clients so
much better. Exactly, you want them to know who you are.
You want to gain that trust. That's really that's really
the big thing for me is trust because when you're
first starting out you're not getting clients based off of
(22:05):
your past history. You're getting clients based on right, do
I trust this person? Right? But what does lark media mean?
What does lark? Where does that come from? Because I
realized that, I was like, I don't know what that
even means. So that's that's funny. I get asked that
a lot. So basically, here's what happened. I was in
bed with my fiancee, so I don't know, we were
talking about I was like, I need a name for
(22:26):
this company. She's like, well, let's think about some things,
like what do you do? What do you like? I
was like, well, I wake up early for every I've
always woke up early to do this stuff. And I
was like, let me see google what an early bird is,
and it's a lark lark. A lark is an early bird.
And I was like, that's it, and there is what yeah,
(22:49):
yeah it was. It was a bright logos a bird.
Now everything makes sense, it's all it's all put together,
I mean, clever, but it's fun. It's awesome. How long
were you side hustling for before you officially decided to leave?
Before I officially decided to leave From start of the company. Yeah,
(23:09):
five months. Five months? So what actually made you say Okay,
I am doing this. I am out What exactly was
that moment? Like, so I uh, I was in Seattle
last year, so it was right around when we met.
Right around when we met, I was with Shawn, which
let me people I feel like they were like name
(23:30):
dropping Shunt but like maybe they're not like making the
connection beach body coach and like fitness instructor who has
changed a ton of lives. He's an author, he is
an incredible motivational speaker, at least for me anyway, I
love him. Transformed twenty is his latest program. He's got
in Sanity and Sanity Max thirty, all of them. So
(23:54):
you've probably seen him before. And the reason why you
know Shaunty is because your fiance is a part of
his team, yes, and works for him. Yes, she's his
production and events manager. So anything that he does that's
large scale events, my fiance has put it together, which
is awesome. You guys are like the ultimate power couple.
That's so people tell us that all the time and
(24:14):
we're just like like we sleep like four hours and
I got it. It's all good. So you were here,
uh with Shanty and the whole group, and that's why
and when we met. But what about that trip to
Seattle made you decide peace out? So here's what happened.
We were going to come out here at Sean was
doing events, You were at the event. You were at
(24:36):
the event getting your buck kick and I actually had
just I was finishing up. I never didn't done insanity before,
remember this, And I was finishing it up, and Alex,
I just needed a vacation from my job. I was like,
I gotta I can't do I'm coming to Seattle. I like,
I was like, I'll pay for I was like, I'll
find myself out, pay for my own fight. I'll bring
I'll shoot Sean's event. Like I don't even want to
get paid. I don't care. I just needed a break,
(24:58):
So I came out here. I end up rooting the
event and then I made He didn't know I was
even gonna make him a video. I just was like,
he's seen all my stuff before, but I just made
him like a little thirty second recap video and he
loved it. And like later in the day, he goes,
what time you leave it on Monday? I was like,
I leave Tuesday he's like, all right, Monday morning at
like ten o'clock, like you and me, we're gonna I
(25:19):
just want to meet with you. I said all right,
and I said cool. So we sit down outside and
he looks at me and he goes, let's he goes,
let's just talk about this. He goes, what's it gonna
take for you to leave your job? I was like, well,
He's like, you're clearly not happy there. He goes, like,
I talked to Alex, I see you. He's like, I
know you for three years now, like, I know you're
(25:40):
not happy. What's again, Like, what's stopping you from leaving?
I said, well, you know I need clients like me
and Alex just moved into a place last month. Like
I need clients. I need to make sure I have
enough money coming in for rent, for bills, for everything.
So he goes, well, how many clients do you have
right now? Is like, we'll have a recurring client. I
(26:01):
was like, and then I have you, and then I
have a bunch of reach outs and I'm like one again,
getting one off jobs with people, so I don't have
anything consistent. And he just looks at me and he goes,
if you leave I'll have work for you. And I'm like,
I'm looking at him, and he goes, you know, it
would be really easy for me to tell you, hey,
(26:23):
I want to invest in your company and give you
X amount of dollars. He goes, but you I want
to see you work for it. He goes, I'll have
work for you. He goes, I'm telling you right now,
I'll have work. Like what was that moment like? And
I just was like, what did you feel? Because I'm
getting betterflies I was like, I was almost relieved, but
it was almost like he was. It was almost like
(26:46):
he was saying to me, like, I'm gonna take a bet.
I'm betting on you that you're gonna be able to
do this and you're gonna be successful. You should go
all in. And like I read his book and I
was like getting all like motivated, and I was like looking,
I was like, than you. He's like Steve, He's like
you can. He's like, I know you can do it.
So when I gave my notice, did you go into
(27:07):
work that Tuesday and give your notice? No? No, I
waited a little bit. I waited like a solid month.
I needed to calculate paychecks because I still had to
calculate some paychecks and like make sure just if anything happened.
Then I fell flat on my face. There was money
in the bank so that you know, I can still
pay rent. When I finally gave my notice, I texted
him and I said hey, I said, um, gave my
(27:28):
notice today. He goes, cool, when'd your last day? I
was like, it was like two fridays from now. He's like, cool, Um,
I'm I'm a recording Transformed twenty in l A. The
next week he goes, um, if you come out on Monday,
He's like, I have I have a shoot for you.
Did you film transform? No? No, no, no, no, I
didn't feel Transformed. Twenty was actually like it's actually him
(27:50):
and Scott playing tennis. Is his fiance You're they're clearly married.
It was him and Scott playing tennis, and he's like,
I just want the content like come out. And then
we talked about and then we had another meeting and
he goes, I want to do this online academy called
Relationship Derivation. I want you to do it. Do you
(28:11):
think you could do it? It's like, yes, I can
do it. It was so crazy because like Sean was
like the catalyst for it. And as soon as I
started doing work for him, I would just get like
and then my old company that I left, I'd get
jobs with them, and then all of a sudden, I
was getting calls from people that they were just like, hey,
(28:32):
I need this done. This person referred me to you. Well,
I'm sure they also see the like Shawn ts network
is huge, and if you have that name backing you
and they see the content you're doing for him, I'm
sure that's incredible. Yes, it's it's yeah, it's amazing to
see that. And since then, have I had some slow months? Sure,
(28:52):
but I haven't had a month where I'm like, we're
not doing anything at all, like we like Sean what
he said to me that day, it was like it
just changed everything. That's wild. And since then you've gotten engaged, eged.
So what is it like planning your own wedding while
you're you have your own business and your fiance works
(29:13):
from home. So right, Alex is so yeah, so what
is this process like now when life, I don't want
to say gets in the way, but this is a
big thing in your life now planning a wedding and
you're running a business, Like, what the hell is going on? Yeah,
it's a lot. It's a lot, especially when you know
we we want to have a destination wedding. So we
were like, we don't want to have the same wedding
that everybody has, as you know in New Jersey, the
(29:35):
same venue, I have, the same play And I've talked
about on this podcast when I had the eventus on
their wedding planners out here in Seattle, and I'm trying
to tell them, like, you don't understand what weddings are
like in in New Jersey. They're all the exact same thing, exactly,
same thing, similar DJ, similar, same machine, all of it.
And we were just like, we don't want to have
(29:57):
the same with the same New Jersey wed Like what's us.
We're like, we want to do travel. We want because
we travel a lot, obviously, We're like, we want to
do a wedding that's not on an island though, because
that's not really us. We're not really island people. But
also like the food at island weddings is skeptic. It's
hit or miss, like you could be great or it
could be really terrible. So we're like, all right, we
(30:20):
want to do California. So we found this vineyard, like
it's not a vineyard, but it's on a vineyard in California.
It's been crazy. We went, we flew out there, so
like that's the one thing that's good about having my
own business. I was able to just fly out there
and like we're trying to look at venues and answer
emails and then it's been crazy. But I think we're
in the home stretch where we have a date set,
(30:42):
were set up. So who's going to film your wedding?
I don't know yet. I don't know not that's tough,
but we got lucky. We have some friends. They actually
have a show on on TV called My Wedding Story
The Blue The Blue Kite Boys, Um Blue Kites Centerway
did Shawn's wedding. They live out there. They're coming to
the wedding. So we reached out to them. We said,
(31:04):
we want somebody who's gonna do a wedding like your style,
and they're like, here's a couple of guys, like take
a look, see what you like. So so like we
we're using our contacts for that exactly. And your fiance Alex,
who I adore and love and she is super inspirational
because of the work she I mean, she works her
ass off, Like the stuff she puts together is mind blowing.
(31:26):
But what is it like planning a wedding with someone
who is a planner? And this is completely off topic,
but I just love it so much. This is completely
off topic, but it's it's she here's the thing. She
knows what she wants, so that's the easy part. But
she doesn't want like she wants to be able to
(31:49):
say like, this is what I want done, when I
want it done, and this is how it's going to be.
And like the problem with some of these places are
like we can't do that, and she's like, all right,
well we'll just go to the next one. So planning
with the planner is for me it's actually fun to
see because I'm like, all right, she's just gonna put
(32:10):
these people in their place and like that's gonna be
the end of it. But at the same time, it
took us a wildfi but you got the perfect one,
the perfect so there you go. Um. But we talked
about connections a lot on this podcast. I say that
all the time because it's so important, Like you said,
you've reached out to all the contacts on your phone,
You've been in touch with those people at some point
in your life. That is kind of how you really
(32:31):
launched this side hustle. But how you and I connected
was because of your fiance Alex exactly. But it stems
back god years ago and it's not even me. It
was Alex worked with my co host and friend Anthony
on a Shawnty project and it was two years ago
at this point when I guess Alex said, Hey, we're
gonna be in Seattle, Anthony, do you want to have
(32:51):
Shaunty on the show. And they came in and surprised
me on the air with Shaunty and almost died. You
you are big, Sean. I am so now it's like
wild to me that like, okay, yeah, Shaunty, I'm a
huge fan of him, but because of this relationship, like
now I have you in studio, it's just crazy. Thanks
to Shaunty, you're here, really it really, it's it's so true.
(33:12):
If it wasn't for Shaunty, I would not be here.
And it's crazy and like it's just fun to see
because it's fun. Like when I met you guys, when
I met you and Anthony, it's it's fun to see
like what you guys do on the day to day basis,
and like the work you guys put in, and it's sick,
it's it's just awesome. Back at you. Thank you. So
what is the importance of someone hiring you and not
(33:36):
shooting on their iPhone? Which I can do? For example,
though I will say this, we're in the studio right now.
I've never had this podcast film and you're filming it.
There are two cameras and two lights, so I know
the obvious answer is I can't film this on my iPhone,
but a lot of people think that they can. So
why should someone hire you? Then? First of all, what's
(33:56):
your brand? Like what do you want people to see
in your brand? You want people to see that Like
I look at cell phone footage. It can be great
at times, but it's kind of like a short cut
and cutting corners, and like, yeah, does it look good sometimes?
But I could make your stuff look good all the
time because because but it's it's true, because like if
(34:17):
you take notice when you're on a cell phone, if
you don't have good lighting, it doesn't look good no
matter where you are. You need to have and the
audio is terrible. Basically like, yeah, your camera can shoot
four K on your phone if you really want it.
But I could shoot four K and get like you
could see like the pores in my skin? I do.
(34:40):
You don't want that, but I could make the stuff
look professional. For iPhone footage does not look professional? Does not?
Everyone can do it. Not the difference. It may still
look great, but if my mom can film it, it's
probably not business quality exactly. And like, do you want
your brand to look like it cuts corners? And you
want your brands to look like I really care about
what I'm only people and the details. And I tell
(35:02):
everybody you worry about your business, I'll make you look good.
I like all these taglines and drop That's what I
tell people. I mean, it's just to me. That's the
selling point is like, what do you want your brand
to look like? Do you want it to look like
garbage or not? So Lark Media NYC dot com? To
make your brand not look like there you And I'm
(35:23):
going to call this the side Hustlers Documentary even though
it's not a documentary, but I'm going to pretend like
this is a documentary that's going to be related. Just
throw this up on YouTube and we'll just call it
doc exactly like super film this documentary and studio worked
really hard on it. Side Hustlers Doc behind the scenes. Yeah,
this really is behind the scenes. But hey, thank you
for doing this, like filming this for me, because I've
(35:44):
never had my podcast filmed, and I thought I would
be sweating the whole time and I'm somehow not, so
this is exciting. You've done this before, You're a natural,
maybe a few times and be thank you for coming
in the studio on your vacation. This is technically a vacation.
We work every day. Okay, you Alex need a vacation,
so I'm sending you on one. I'm not paying for it.
I'm just telling you have to go on one. But
(36:04):
thank you, seriously, thank you for having me. I really
appreciate it. Thank you for listening to Steve story on
Side Hustlers Again. I am Carla Marie. You can find
me on Instagram at the Carla Maurie and that is
where you can actually see a lot of the video
that Steve shot. I think it's gonna be really cool
for you to get to see a behind the scenes
of Side Hustlers. Also go follow Steve Lark Media, n
(36:26):
y C on Instagram. He's got a lot of great
insight on why branding for social media and my video
branding for social media is especially important and if you
need him to help you out with your own check
them out again. It's Lark Media NYC. Until next week.
Keep Hustling, the weekly podcast that started it all. They
(36:52):
just wanted to have fun as they dreamt of one
day having their own morning show, and now they do.
But the tradition continue. Use every Friday, My Day Friday
with Carla, Marie and Anthony, available worldwide on the I
Heart Radio kick Off Your Weekend with Carla Marie and
Anthony M.
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