April 21, 2025 • 22 mins
What happens when a musician's frustration transforms into a thriving video production business? Ben's transition to filmmaking began when he noticed videographers missing key musical moments during performances. Taking matters into his own hands, he started directing his own music videos, discovering that his musical background translated perfectly to visual storytelling. Beyond technical skills, Ben credits his success to two key elements: following his passion and cultivating genuine relationships.
Whether you're considering a creative career pivot, struggling with work-life balance, or simply fascinated by the intersection of art and business, Ben's story offers valuable insights into building a sustainable creative enterprise while staying true to your personal values. Visit benfonstudios.com to learn more about his work and approach to visual storytelling.
About Ben:
Ben Phan is a filmmaker, cinematographer, editor, licensed drone pilot, musician, world traveler, and long-distance hiker. His work carries a strong message of hope and resilience; his mission is to tell stories that heal and create community. His projects have screened at film festivals all over the world, including Amsterdam, Florence, Austria, London, Montreal, and Atlanta. With a professional understanding of both video and music, the willingness to take creative risks, and an intuitive ability to connect, Ben is uniquely skilled at creating meaningful, story-driven art.
Official Website: benphanstudios.com
Instagram: @benphanstudios
Facebook: @benphanstudios
ben@benphanstudios.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I am super excited I've got Benfrom Ben Fon Audio on with us.
I'm sorry I got that wrong,didn't I?
It's Ben Fon Studios, myapologies.
So Ben Fon Studios, he doesaudio and video, obviously.
So, ben, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thanks, bill, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Ben, tell us a little bit about your business and how
you came to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Sure.
Thanks, bill.
Well, I run a video productioncompany, so we do a wide range
of productions, fromdocumentaries, music videos,
commercials, and our specialtyis really telling stories.
That's what I care most aboutAll right.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So tell us a little bit about the stories.
I mean, that's obviously a hottopic and you know we, as
communicators and as consumersof communication, we resonate
with stories.
So tell us a little bit aboutthat, the whole story thing.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Sure.
So you know, for me, a bigtheme in my life is resilience.
So stories of resilience,stories of people overcoming
great odds, you know, difficultsituations, overcoming that,
stories of resilience, that'swhat I really really find
inspiring, really really findinspiring.
(01:26):
And you know, even within othercontexts, I think there's still
always a human message andthat's at the core of what we
try to do with our video work.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
So tell us about the resilience part.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Sure.
So my, my dad came over fromVietnam in 1975.
He escaped the war, came here,you know, became, eventually
became a citizen, worked reallyhard to give me the life that I
had.
So that's something that I'vealways appreciated and not taken
for granted.
So, you know, I try to tell,use my skills in a way that can
(01:59):
help support and help shinelight on people who you know
might not otherwise have thatsupport and help shine light on
people who you know might nototherwise have that.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, no, I love that .
I love that.
I think resilience is I mean, Idon't know persistence,
resilience, whatever you want tocall it has definitely been a
theme in my life, that's, youknow, when I first started in
business, it was all aboutpersistence and just hanging in
there and just showing up anddoing those kind of things.
So about persistence and justhanging in there and just
showing up and doing those kindof things, so, um, all right, so
(02:27):
I got that.
So you tell stories and you dothat a lot of ways, it sounds
like.
So how'd you get in thisbusiness in the first place?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, so actually I was a professional musician for
10 years before I got into videoproduction and the the story
behind that is I was hiringvideographers, to you know film
bands I was in and you know,sometimes they'd be filming the
bass player while the guitarplayer was taking a solo and,
you know, not understanding themusic, and I thought, let me
learn a little bit about this,and I ended up starting by
(02:57):
writing and directing my ownmusic videos and then eventually
I just realized that what Ireally loved was the whole
process of, you know, audiovisual storytelling, and and I
also kind of grew out to where Ididn't really want that
attention on myself anymore andand to be on stage.
I wanted to help, you know,bring others to to the stage.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
That's super interesting.
I have another client that was10 years doing it, being a
professional musician as well.
He's actually in the financialplanning space now, but he still
plays.
He still gets out there andplays some stuff and joins some
bands.
He's in a band now, so I don'tknow if it ever leaves you, do
you still play at all?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I do a little bit, mainly private events.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Okay, so what's your instruments?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Guitar and voice.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I got it, okay.
Yeah, that's awesome, that isawesome.
So it's interesting how onecareer can lead to figuring out
what you really are supposed tobe doing, absolutely, and how
you can.
Yeah, I love that.
You just said, hey, I can dothis better, and that was.
(04:08):
I mean, that's what you justsaid, right?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Editing a video is very similar to like composing
music and recording music.
It's all about tension andrelease and build up, and so
there's a lot of skills thattransfer.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Cool.
So let's switch gears and talka little bit about business here
.
If you had to start over inbusiness, what would you do
differently?
Speaker 2 (04:43):
That's a good question.
What would you do differently?
Hmm, that's a good question.
I guess I don't really know howto answer that, and maybe
that's a good thing.
You know, I I think that thingshave evolved, you know, really
naturally for me, and duringtimes when I felt like things
were difficult, it was becauseyou know I needed to make a
shift in the direction that Iwas focused on.
(05:04):
And you know, I'm still and I'mstill learning a lot.
But ultimately, I think puttingthe relationships first and
putting the people first andfollowing my passion is how I
continue to thrive.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, I love that theme.
I love the relationships firstand following the passion.
Yeah, so maybe you wouldn'thave done anything differently
because there's no way you couldhave.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
And gotten to where you were.
Maybe it was just the path thatwas meant to be all along.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Sure, I'm not somebody who says no regrets.
I definitely have a lot ofregrets, but also I love where
I'm at now, so I wouldn't changeanything if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
No, I understand.
I think a lot of peoplewouldn't change anything.
But if they had to do it overagain, maybe there was a
shortcut or an easier way orsomething, Right?
But I don't know in your casethat there is.
It doesn't sound like it.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
There probably is, but for some reason I'm drawing
a blank.
No, it's all right, it thereprobably is, but for some reason
I'm drawing a blank.
No, it's all right, it's allright.
So what have been some of yourbiggest learnings in business?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Well, being an artist and a creative, you know, I've
had to look over my contractsthat I'm sending and you know,
doing my tax payments, estimatedtax payments throughout the
year, things like that that youknow I would not call say I'm
passionate about, but thingsthat you have to do to, you know
, to function.
I understand, no, I understand.
So what are some commonmisconceptions about running a
business?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Hmm, okay, I'm not sure.
Well, okay, I'll say one youknow for being self-employed.
I think people think if you'reself-employed, you don't have a
boss, you're your own boss.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's so true.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, it's true to a certain extent, but the reality
is, every one of my clients ismy boss, you know, at the end of
the day, so I can, I can, youknow, create my own schedule and
say when I'm available or not.
But you know, if I have adifferent creative opinion than
one of my clients and they'reyou know, they're hiring me to
make a video for them.
(07:25):
Ultimately they're going to,they're going to get the say,
the final, say so.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Yeah, Everybody thinks they'regoing to like a lot of people go
into business because theydon't want to work for somebody
else, but you end up working foryour clients and your team and
your whoever I mean you're goingto.
There's always accountability.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
I think, a combination of things, one
pursuing what I'm interested in,and I think that that is one of
the biggest ways for me toprevent burnout following my
passion.
And and to you know I think I'mI'm scrappy to a certain extent
, like I told you about my dadcoming here and, you know,
didn't not speaking any Englishand just figuring out how to
(08:13):
make it work.
I think that some of that'sbeen passed on to me.
So, you know, didn't notspeaking any English and just
figuring out how to make it work.
I think that some of that'sbeen passed on to me.
So, you know, throughout someof the hard times, like COVID,
or coming through the hurricane,when a lot of the work dried up
, you know I just I have a bignetwork because I believe in
having a lot of relationshipsand you know, I really reached
out to my network and figuredout some ways to drum up new
(08:33):
work and to work with some otherpeople and collaborate.
So I would say that scrappinessis a big part of it.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I love that Scrappiness and relationships.
Now there's a lesson yeah, bescrappy and make sure you got
plenty of good relationships.
I you know that seems to be atheme on a lot of podcasts here
in Western North Carolina atleast my podcast People are very
(09:03):
focused on relationships andbuilding those relationships so
that rather than you know, hey,how can you help me?
You know, or if you're not aprospect or you're not a client,
then you know, I think thenthey don't.
You know, in some I was justtalking to New York you probably
wouldn't get.
That You're like, well, I can't, you know, you're not a
(09:23):
prospect for me, so I'll justmove on to the next one.
And but in Western NorthCarolina you get, you get that
relationship thing.
Hey, there's probably a way wecan help each other.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, I'm not sure it might be more difficult in
other areas, but yeah, I just Ilove people.
You know, I care about peopleand and um, even if it's people
who are doing totally different,that may not have any need, I'm
still, you know, if they, ifthey have a spark, if they're
excited about what they're doing, and um, I think there's value
in just connecting and hearingwhat's going on for them, you
know 100% yeah, because younever know how you can help.
(09:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I mean, I think all of us are here to help serve.
So how do you?
It seems like you've got apretty good grip on it, but let
me see if that's right, Do you?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
how do you balance?
I'm not so sure sometimes.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well, everybody's like that.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
So how do you balance your personal life with running
a business?
That's a good question.
It's something that is kind ofa balancing act.
You know, I think people tendto think of balance as a fixed
thing, but I think it's muchmore like we're continuing to
balance and as things change,you have to adjust the balance
in real time.
You know, for example, I gotmarried about a year and a half
ago.
Congratulations time, you knowfor example, I got married about
(10:36):
a year and a half ago.
Oh, congratulations, thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah, my wife moved in and youknow, so that changed the
equation a little bit, balancingsome different things.
And you know, beingself-employed, there's no normal
work hours and I'm kind ofalways thinking about the
projects that I'm working on,and I noticed, like, laying in
bed at night, I tend to come upwith a lot of ideas.
So, you know, I found thatsometimes it really benefits me
(10:59):
to work outside of normal hoursor to stay up late, but at other
times it's important to youknow like, my wife and I have a
date tonight we're going out todinner and going to see one of
our favorite artists and it'slike that's time not to work
tonight.
You know, so it's a balancingthing and I often do it wrong,
but I continue to just try totry to balance in real time.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Well, I can tell you, if there was one thing well
done on that, by the way, thedate and all the wedding and I
would if there's one thing Iwould do differently for sure
would be to have a regular datenight.
You know cause, when I I mean Istarted in business not long
after we were married and I was,you know, we both worked hard
(11:41):
and we it wasn't that we neverhad dates, but a regular date
night.
I would recommend that toanyone.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
And that's good advice.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yeah, that's, that's that.
That would that would help it.
So well done on enjoying it,and there's plenty of that to do
around here.
So so I don't know, do you haveregular employees or is it more
like people that youcollaborate with, or how does
(12:12):
that work?
I?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
have a kind of a secondary and maybe tertiary,
you know, a network of people.
So, for example, you know, whenI'm talking with a potential
client, it's always like youknow what's your budget and then
within that we figure out okay,you know, with that budget it's
(12:35):
going to be just me and here's,you know, here are the
sacrifices we're going to make.
And if the budget's higher,we're able to hire a sound, a
location sound mixer.
We're able to have to hire agaffer to do the lighting and be
able to hire a second camera,op or another producer, and
that's just going to make yourproject so much better.
You know set, design, artdepartment, that kind of thing.
So it really depends.
(12:57):
And you know, sometimes people,people just want, you know, to
tell a story and they're not asconcerned with the production
value, and other times peoplereally want their stuff to look,
you know, high end.
So, um, I'm always, I'm alwaysexcited to work with a team, but
at the same time I never wantto take somebody's money if it's
not going to return, if it'snot going to be a good return on
(13:18):
investment for them, so I'llleave.
I'll tell people sometimes likeyou don't need to.
You know this doesn't need tolook like a certain way.
You know you can spend less onthis and even though I don't get
to have my my crew on it, youknow.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
I love that.
So what do you look for?
I mean, whether they'reoutsourced or full-time
employees, what?
What do you look for in in ateam member?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, it's it always.
It comes back to therelationships again.
It's like, how are we going towork under stress?
Are you the kind of personthat's able to take feedback in
real time and if somebody saysthis isn't working, can we
adjust it?
Not take that personally andthen just being you know being
(14:02):
good energy?
You know, I would rather havesomebody who is a little bit
less skilled but a little bithungrier and, you know, more
excited, and you know that muchbetter of a person to be in
relationship with.
You know, I've definitelyencountered some people who are
very good at what they do butwho I would not hire for a job,
you know, based on personalityyeah, yeah, no, if it's not a
(14:26):
good fit, it's not a good fit,Right?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
I think that's.
I think that's the same for anyteam.
That's a great answer, though.
I love the.
I love that you're looking forthe good energy and people that
show up and can handle stressand and can take feedback and
are not.
They're not going to beoffended by the fact.
We're just doing the work.
We're still trying to get thejob done.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Totally, and it's, you know, I think probably this
is probably true in any field,but in the creative field, you
know, there's always so muchlearning and I'm learning new
things every day and learningnew gear.
And you know, and I've got somepeople who I'm learning from,
who have been so good to me overthe years to answer my
questions and bring me on jobs,and I'm actually kind of hoping
that some, a person or two, willpop up like that who's kind of
(15:07):
younger, not as experienced, butlike really hungry and excited,
and they can start helping meout and learn some things.
That will be great.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, it would be great for everybody.
It's a win-win.
I mean, they get to learn fromyou and they you, you get, you
get to teach.
And, as we all know that, whenyou, when you get to teach, and
as we all know, when you get toteach something, you become more
expert.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Totally, and even just to have some help on those
projects where there isn'treally the budget to hire
another professional.
But you know, maybe there's acouple hundred dollars for
somebody to come out for a halfday and help carry stuff and
learn some things yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, you just hang around and you're going to learn
.
You hang around, you learn somestuff, right.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yep, and some gear is heavy, so yeah, yes, it is, yes
it is.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Studio gear is heavy, all right.
So this is a little bit of aquick fire round.
We do.
Epic is an acronym, and so whatI'd like is your.
You know your quick one or twowords or sentences about each
letter in the acronym.
So the E is EPIC, I meaneducation, the E in EPIC is
(16:13):
education.
So what are your thoughts oneducation?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Always learning.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I love that.
How about P for planning?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
This will be a few more words.
I apologize for that.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
No, take your time.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
It's good we got time what you don't prepare for, you
pay for in production.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I'm gonna write that down, hang on.
Yeah, what?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
say that again, what you don't prepare for you pay
for in production, whoa, and Icannot take credit for that
quote yeah but it's true, meanthe majority of of the hours
before a shoot or of a projecthappened, before you actually
pull out the camera, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I love that.
What you don't prepare for youpay for.
You could just leave it at that.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah, because I love that.
I love that.
Well, I'm sure you've proventhat a few times.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I've paid for things, plenty of times.
Yeah, I'm sure you've proventhat a few times.
I've paid for things plenty oftimes when I'm not preparing?
Yeah, of course, especially thefirst couple of years.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, you were talking earlier about I, which
is inspiration.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, I guess you know passion driven.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I love that.
And how about C for commitment?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Hmm, yeah, I think resilience, you know, um,
there's two steps forward, onestep back.
I think is a lot, of, a lot ofhow things work in my life and
you know, not letting thosemistakes, you know, throw you
off course, or or or giving up.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I love that.
I love that.
That's really, that's reallyimpactful.
So what do you wish someone hadtold you before you went into
business that you know now?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
in my early twenties, you know, with stars in my eyes
, thinking I was going to be afamous rock star, and, um, you
know, having unrealisticexpectations, and I think I mean
people probably did tell mewhat I wish I knew.
You know, I just wasn't in aplace to hear it.
You know, and I think in thoseearly years, kind of having big
dreams, but not the um, thetechnical skills, uh, to really,
you know, follow that up.
(18:26):
I think I think I'm glad that Ilearned some things the hard
way you know what I mean and andtried some things and and got
burned out, and you know.
So, um, I I don't really have astraight answer for that and I
apologize but no, no, no, no, no, apologies.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I mean what?
What?
What I heard was that you knowyour advice would be that, you
know, try some stuff.
It isn't all going to work out.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, I mean, that's what I heard, which was great
advice.
Yeah, so, and maybe that's theadvice you got somehow and
nobody told you.
But you know, try some stuffand it's not all going to work
out.
So, on the rock star scene, howclose did you get to being a
rock star?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Not close at all.
I developed a, you know, adecent local following and, you
know, sold out some venues likethe Altamont Theater, if you
remember that.
Yeah, gray Eagle ISIS, you knowit did well here, um, but it
never took off.
You know more than more thanthe ashville area yeah, but it
(19:31):
was fun it was fun.
It was fun until it wasn't funanymore and I kind of outgrew it
and outgrew the lifestyle andthe late nights.
And you know um wanted to domore variety of things, you, you
know.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
So yeah, yeah, that's , that's awesome.
So if someone wants to getahold of you they want to.
They want to take advantage ofyour skills and arts and all of
that how should they reach outto you?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Sure Um, they can hop on my website, which is
benfonstudioscom.
Contact me through there, or myemail is ben at
benfonstudioscom.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Perfect, I love it.
I love it.
Well, I've looked at some ofyour stuff.
You're super talented.
I think that there's a lot ofcool things, and I love that
you're out there telling theworld stories.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I appreciate it.
Thanks, Bill.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Thanks for being on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Thanks for having me, bill, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
And until next time, all the best.
Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I am super excited I've got Benfrom Ben Fon Audio on with us.
I'm sorry I got that wrong,didn't I?
It's Ben Fon Studios, myapologies.
So Ben Fon Studios, he doesaudio and video, obviously.
So, ben, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thanks, bill, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Ben, tell us a little bit about your business and how
you came to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Sure.
Thanks, bill.
Well, I run a video productioncompany, so we do a wide range
of productions, fromdocumentaries, music videos,
commercials, and our specialtyis really telling stories.
That's what I care most aboutAll right.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So tell us a little bit about the stories.
I mean, that's obviously a hottopic and you know we, as
communicators and as consumersof communication, we resonate
with stories.
So tell us a little bit aboutthat, the whole story thing.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Sure.
So you know, for me, a bigtheme in my life is resilience.
So stories of resilience,stories of people overcoming
great odds, you know, difficultsituations, overcoming that,
stories of resilience, that'swhat I really really find
inspiring, really really findinspiring.
(01:26):
And you know, even within othercontexts, I think there's still
always a human message andthat's at the core of what we
try to do with our video work.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
So tell us about the resilience part.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Sure.
So my, my dad came over fromVietnam in 1975.
He escaped the war, came here,you know, became, eventually
became a citizen, worked reallyhard to give me the life that I
had.
So that's something that I'vealways appreciated and not taken
for granted.
So, you know, I try to tell,use my skills in a way that can
(01:59):
help support and help shinelight on people who you know
might not otherwise have thatsupport and help shine light on
people who you know might nototherwise have that.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, no, I love that .
I love that.
I think resilience is I mean, Idon't know persistence,
resilience, whatever you want tocall it has definitely been a
theme in my life, that's, youknow, when I first started in
business, it was all aboutpersistence and just hanging in
there and just showing up anddoing those kind of things.
So about persistence and justhanging in there and just
showing up and doing those kindof things, so, um, all right, so
(02:27):
I got that.
So you tell stories and you dothat a lot of ways, it sounds
like.
So how'd you get in thisbusiness in the first place?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, so actually I was a professional musician for
10 years before I got into videoproduction and the the story
behind that is I was hiringvideographers, to you know film
bands I was in and you know,sometimes they'd be filming the
bass player while the guitarplayer was taking a solo and,
you know, not understanding themusic, and I thought, let me
learn a little bit about this,and I ended up starting by
(02:57):
writing and directing my ownmusic videos and then eventually
I just realized that what Ireally loved was the whole
process of, you know, audiovisual storytelling, and and I
also kind of grew out to where Ididn't really want that
attention on myself anymore andand to be on stage.
I wanted to help, you know,bring others to to the stage.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
That's super interesting.
I have another client that was10 years doing it, being a
professional musician as well.
He's actually in the financialplanning space now, but he still
plays.
He still gets out there andplays some stuff and joins some
bands.
He's in a band now, so I don'tknow if it ever leaves you, do
you still play at all?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I do a little bit, mainly private events.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Okay, so what's your instruments?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Guitar and voice.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I got it, okay.
Yeah, that's awesome, that isawesome.
So it's interesting how onecareer can lead to figuring out
what you really are supposed tobe doing, absolutely, and how
you can.
Yeah, I love that.
You just said, hey, I can dothis better, and that was.
(04:08):
I mean, that's what you justsaid, right?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Editing a video is very similar to like composing
music and recording music.
It's all about tension andrelease and build up, and so
there's a lot of skills thattransfer.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Cool.
So let's switch gears and talka little bit about business here
.
If you had to start over inbusiness, what would you do
differently?
Speaker 2 (04:43):
That's a good question.
What would you do differently?
Hmm, that's a good question.
I guess I don't really know howto answer that, and maybe
that's a good thing.
You know, I I think that thingshave evolved, you know, really
naturally for me, and duringtimes when I felt like things
were difficult, it was becauseyou know I needed to make a
shift in the direction that Iwas focused on.
(05:04):
And you know, I'm still and I'mstill learning a lot.
But ultimately, I think puttingthe relationships first and
putting the people first andfollowing my passion is how I
continue to thrive.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, I love that theme.
I love the relationships firstand following the passion.
Yeah, so maybe you wouldn'thave done anything differently
because there's no way you couldhave.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
And gotten to where you were.
Maybe it was just the path thatwas meant to be all along.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Sure, I'm not somebody who says no regrets.
I definitely have a lot ofregrets, but also I love where
I'm at now, so I wouldn't changeanything if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
No, I understand.
I think a lot of peoplewouldn't change anything.
But if they had to do it overagain, maybe there was a
shortcut or an easier way orsomething, Right?
But I don't know in your casethat there is.
It doesn't sound like it.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
There probably is, but for some reason I'm drawing
a blank.
No, it's all right, it thereprobably is, but for some reason
I'm drawing a blank.
No, it's all right, it's allright.
So what have been some of yourbiggest learnings in business?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Well, being an artist and a creative, you know, I've
had to look over my contractsthat I'm sending and you know,
doing my tax payments, estimatedtax payments throughout the
year, things like that that youknow I would not call say I'm
passionate about, but thingsthat you have to do to, you know
, to function.
I understand, no, I understand.
So what are some commonmisconceptions about running a
business?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Hmm, okay, I'm not sure.
Well, okay, I'll say one youknow for being self-employed.
I think people think if you'reself-employed, you don't have a
boss, you're your own boss.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's so true.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, it's true to a certain extent, but the reality
is, every one of my clients ismy boss, you know, at the end of
the day, so I can, I can, youknow, create my own schedule and
say when I'm available or not.
But you know, if I have adifferent creative opinion than
one of my clients and they'reyou know, they're hiring me to
make a video for them.
(07:25):
Ultimately they're going to,they're going to get the say,
the final, say so.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Yeah, Everybody thinks they'regoing to like a lot of people go
into business because theydon't want to work for somebody
else, but you end up working foryour clients and your team and
your whoever I mean you're goingto.
There's always accountability.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
I think, a combination of things, one
pursuing what I'm interested in,and I think that that is one of
the biggest ways for me toprevent burnout following my
passion.
And and to you know I think I'mI'm scrappy to a certain extent
, like I told you about my dadcoming here and, you know,
didn't not speaking any Englishand just figuring out how to
(08:13):
make it work.
I think that some of that'sbeen passed on to me.
So, you know, didn't notspeaking any English and just
figuring out how to make it work.
I think that some of that'sbeen passed on to me.
So, you know, throughout someof the hard times, like COVID,
or coming through the hurricane,when a lot of the work dried up
, you know I just I have a bignetwork because I believe in
having a lot of relationshipsand you know, I really reached
out to my network and figuredout some ways to drum up new
(08:33):
work and to work with some otherpeople and collaborate.
So I would say that scrappinessis a big part of it.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I love that Scrappiness and relationships.
Now there's a lesson yeah, bescrappy and make sure you got
plenty of good relationships.
I you know that seems to be atheme on a lot of podcasts here
in Western North Carolina atleast my podcast People are very
(09:03):
focused on relationships andbuilding those relationships so
that rather than you know, hey,how can you help me?
You know, or if you're not aprospect or you're not a client,
then you know, I think thenthey don't.
You know, in some I was justtalking to New York you probably
wouldn't get.
That You're like, well, I can't, you know, you're not a
(09:23):
prospect for me, so I'll justmove on to the next one.
And but in Western NorthCarolina you get, you get that
relationship thing.
Hey, there's probably a way wecan help each other.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, I'm not sure it might be more difficult in
other areas, but yeah, I just Ilove people.
You know, I care about peopleand and um, even if it's people
who are doing totally different,that may not have any need, I'm
still, you know, if they, ifthey have a spark, if they're
excited about what they're doing, and um, I think there's value
in just connecting and hearingwhat's going on for them, you
know 100% yeah, because younever know how you can help.
(09:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I mean, I think all of us are here to help serve.
So how do you?
It seems like you've got apretty good grip on it, but let
me see if that's right, Do you?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
how do you balance?
I'm not so sure sometimes.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well, everybody's like that.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
So how do you balance your personal life with running
a business?
That's a good question.
It's something that is kind ofa balancing act.
You know, I think people tendto think of balance as a fixed
thing, but I think it's muchmore like we're continuing to
balance and as things change,you have to adjust the balance
in real time.
You know, for example, I gotmarried about a year and a half
ago.
Congratulations time, you knowfor example, I got married about
(10:36):
a year and a half ago.
Oh, congratulations, thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah, my wife moved in and youknow, so that changed the
equation a little bit, balancingsome different things.
And you know, beingself-employed, there's no normal
work hours and I'm kind ofalways thinking about the
projects that I'm working on,and I noticed, like, laying in
bed at night, I tend to come upwith a lot of ideas.
So, you know, I found thatsometimes it really benefits me
(10:59):
to work outside of normal hoursor to stay up late, but at other
times it's important to youknow like, my wife and I have a
date tonight we're going out todinner and going to see one of
our favorite artists and it'slike that's time not to work
tonight.
You know, so it's a balancingthing and I often do it wrong,
but I continue to just try totry to balance in real time.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Well, I can tell you, if there was one thing well
done on that, by the way, thedate and all the wedding and I
would if there's one thing Iwould do differently for sure
would be to have a regular datenight.
You know cause, when I I mean Istarted in business not long
after we were married and I was,you know, we both worked hard
(11:41):
and we it wasn't that we neverhad dates, but a regular date
night.
I would recommend that toanyone.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
And that's good advice.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yeah, that's, that's that.
That would that would help it.
So well done on enjoying it,and there's plenty of that to do
around here.
So so I don't know, do you haveregular employees or is it more
like people that youcollaborate with, or how does
(12:12):
that work?
I?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
have a kind of a secondary and maybe tertiary,
you know, a network of people.
So, for example, you know, whenI'm talking with a potential
client, it's always like youknow what's your budget and then
within that we figure out okay,you know, with that budget it's
(12:35):
going to be just me and here's,you know, here are the
sacrifices we're going to make.
And if the budget's higher,we're able to hire a sound, a
location sound mixer.
We're able to have to hire agaffer to do the lighting and be
able to hire a second camera,op or another producer, and
that's just going to make yourproject so much better.
You know set, design, artdepartment, that kind of thing.
So it really depends.
(12:57):
And you know, sometimes people,people just want, you know, to
tell a story and they're not asconcerned with the production
value, and other times peoplereally want their stuff to look,
you know, high end.
So, um, I'm always, I'm alwaysexcited to work with a team, but
at the same time I never wantto take somebody's money if it's
not going to return, if it'snot going to be a good return on
(13:18):
investment for them, so I'llleave.
I'll tell people sometimes likeyou don't need to.
You know this doesn't need tolook like a certain way.
You know you can spend less onthis and even though I don't get
to have my my crew on it, youknow.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
I love that.
So what do you look for?
I mean, whether they'reoutsourced or full-time
employees, what?
What do you look for in in ateam member?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, it's it always.
It comes back to therelationships again.
It's like, how are we going towork under stress?
Are you the kind of personthat's able to take feedback in
real time and if somebody saysthis isn't working, can we
adjust it?
Not take that personally andthen just being you know being
(14:02):
good energy?
You know, I would rather havesomebody who is a little bit
less skilled but a little bithungrier and, you know, more
excited, and you know that muchbetter of a person to be in
relationship with.
You know, I've definitelyencountered some people who are
very good at what they do butwho I would not hire for a job,
you know, based on personalityyeah, yeah, no, if it's not a
(14:26):
good fit, it's not a good fit,Right?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
I think that's.
I think that's the same for anyteam.
That's a great answer, though.
I love the.
I love that you're looking forthe good energy and people that
show up and can handle stressand and can take feedback and
are not.
They're not going to beoffended by the fact.
We're just doing the work.
We're still trying to get thejob done.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Totally, and it's, you know, I think probably this
is probably true in any field,but in the creative field, you
know, there's always so muchlearning and I'm learning new
things every day and learningnew gear.
And you know, and I've got somepeople who I'm learning from,
who have been so good to me overthe years to answer my
questions and bring me on jobs,and I'm actually kind of hoping
that some, a person or two, willpop up like that who's kind of
(15:07):
younger, not as experienced, butlike really hungry and excited,
and they can start helping meout and learn some things.
That will be great.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, it would be great for everybody.
It's a win-win.
I mean, they get to learn fromyou and they you, you get, you
get to teach.
And, as we all know that, whenyou, when you get to teach, and
as we all know, when you get toteach something, you become more
expert.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Totally, and even just to have some help on those
projects where there isn'treally the budget to hire
another professional.
But you know, maybe there's acouple hundred dollars for
somebody to come out for a halfday and help carry stuff and
learn some things yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, you just hang around and you're going to learn
.
You hang around, you learn somestuff, right.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yep, and some gear is heavy, so yeah, yes, it is, yes
it is.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Studio gear is heavy, all right.
So this is a little bit of aquick fire round.
We do.
Epic is an acronym, and so whatI'd like is your.
You know your quick one or twowords or sentences about each
letter in the acronym.
So the E is EPIC, I meaneducation, the E in EPIC is
(16:13):
education.
So what are your thoughts oneducation?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Always learning.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I love that.
How about P for planning?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
This will be a few more words.
I apologize for that.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
No, take your time.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
It's good we got time what you don't prepare for, you
pay for in production.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I'm gonna write that down, hang on.
Yeah, what?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
say that again, what you don't prepare for you pay
for in production, whoa, and Icannot take credit for that
quote yeah but it's true, meanthe majority of of the hours
before a shoot or of a projecthappened, before you actually
pull out the camera, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I love that.
What you don't prepare for youpay for.
You could just leave it at that.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah, because I love that.
I love that.
Well, I'm sure you've proventhat a few times.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I've paid for things, plenty of times.
Yeah, I'm sure you've proventhat a few times.
I've paid for things plenty oftimes when I'm not preparing?
Yeah, of course, especially thefirst couple of years.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, you were talking earlier about I, which
is inspiration.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, I guess you know passion driven.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I love that.
And how about C for commitment?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Hmm, yeah, I think resilience, you know, um,
there's two steps forward, onestep back.
I think is a lot, of, a lot ofhow things work in my life and
you know, not letting thosemistakes, you know, throw you
off course, or or or giving up.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I love that.
I love that.
That's really, that's reallyimpactful.
So what do you wish someone hadtold you before you went into
business that you know now?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
in my early twenties, you know, with stars in my eyes
, thinking I was going to be afamous rock star, and, um, you
know, having unrealisticexpectations, and I think I mean
people probably did tell mewhat I wish I knew.
You know, I just wasn't in aplace to hear it.
You know, and I think in thoseearly years, kind of having big
dreams, but not the um, thetechnical skills, uh, to really,
you know, follow that up.
(18:26):
I think I think I'm glad that Ilearned some things the hard
way you know what I mean and andtried some things and and got
burned out, and you know.
So, um, I I don't really have astraight answer for that and I
apologize but no, no, no, no, no, apologies.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I mean what?
What?
What I heard was that you knowyour advice would be that, you
know, try some stuff.
It isn't all going to work out.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, I mean, that's what I heard, which was great
advice.
Yeah, so, and maybe that's theadvice you got somehow and
nobody told you.
But you know, try some stuffand it's not all going to work
out.
So, on the rock star scene, howclose did you get to being a
rock star?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Not close at all.
I developed a, you know, adecent local following and, you
know, sold out some venues likethe Altamont Theater, if you
remember that.
Yeah, gray Eagle ISIS, you knowit did well here, um, but it
never took off.
You know more than more thanthe ashville area yeah, but it
(19:31):
was fun it was fun.
It was fun until it wasn't funanymore and I kind of outgrew it
and outgrew the lifestyle andthe late nights.
And you know um wanted to domore variety of things, you, you
know.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
So yeah, yeah, that's , that's awesome.
So if someone wants to getahold of you they want to.
They want to take advantage ofyour skills and arts and all of
that how should they reach outto you?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Sure Um, they can hop on my website, which is
benfonstudioscom.
Contact me through there, or myemail is ben at
benfonstudioscom.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Perfect, I love it.
I love it.
Well, I've looked at some ofyour stuff.
You're super talented.
I think that there's a lot ofcool things, and I love that
you're out there telling theworld stories.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I appreciate it.
Thanks, Bill.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Thanks for being on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Thanks for having me, bill, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
And until next time, all the best.
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