The Freelance Playbook

Is This Industry For You? [Ep188]

• Ariel Martinez

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Every freelancer does a self assessment when navigating their career. We're discussing how we analyze our business growth, and the risk factors of being a freelance filmmaker. It definitely has it's struggles, but what career path doesn't. We're discussing those challenges on this episode and how we asses if this industry is a good fit for you. 

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Ariel Martinez

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 Ariel Martinez (00:00): If you look at my calendar, I don't have anything booked past three weeks. Yeah. Nothing. Mike Hernandez (00:05): It's about average, Ariel Martinez (00:06): Right? Yeah. It's me. Nothing booked yet. I've been like that for the past eight years. That's scary stuff. Welcome back to an another episode of the ifilmmaker podcast. My name's Ariel Martinez, big magic hair. Mike is with us. Mike Hernandez (00:26): That's right. And I'm, I'm working my sexy, like south beach outfit today. Ariel Martinez (00:29): So now I'm the one dressing all black. Yeah. Mike Hernandez (00:31): We just, Ariel Martinez (00:32): And you just went the other way around. Yeah, Mike Hernandez (00:33): Man. I'm having Ariel Martinez (00:34): Fun. You Mike Hernandez (00:34): Didn't get the medal. This is great, man. This is, this is fun. Ariel Martinez (00:38): Have you been good? Mike Hernandez (00:39): Good. Doing really good. Yeah. I'm excited about today's topic cuz I have nothing to say towards I'm just kidding. Ariel Martinez (00:44): I think today's gonna be a good episode. Yeah. So today we're going to assess I've had, um, and I, I actually don't know. I don't know how often ti how often this comes up in your mind or in freelancer's mind in general of how their self assessment in their business, in the industry. How do you assess that? Is there even, I personally don't think there's a right or wrong way to assess it, but there are maybe some indicators that might point in you in different direction of maybe this is not for you. So I wanted to discuss some of those things. Mike Hernandez (01:25): I guess what I would, um, speak to that is like first off, like right off the bat, if you're losing full passion for what you're doing, like you're not excited about it at Ariel Martinez (01:33): All, but how do you assess that? Mike Hernandez (01:35): The lack of wanting to do it? If Ariel Martinez (01:38): You are you saying that there are, and I'm, I'm playing devil's advocate here are you that there have never been a job that you've never wanted that you didn't want to do Mike Hernandez (01:45): Yesterday? You should have talked to my wife about my job yesterday. Uh, I was, I was pretty much moping around the house to leave and like milking every possible second li it got so bad. Okay. And it's a retainer gig. So you don't, you don't Ariel Martinez (02:00): Feel, oh, I see. I Mike Hernandez (02:01): See you don't feel the, the me idiot, you know? Yeah. Here's the reward financial reward for what you're doing. Um, so, um, I got so bad. I was exhausted from the, the previous shoot. It was like 14 hour day. And so this one was like one of those Ugh shoots and it's not even complicated. It's, it's nothing. I had no reason for this, but I just wasn't in it that day. Oh man. Um, so I'm milking everything I could possibly do to just wait till the last second to close and, and gear and batteries, everything. And finally I text even a friend of mine who was like, Hey, if you ever need help with anything, you know, I'll come out for free. And I'm like, I'm thinking about that guy right now. And I'm like, I could really use that guy today. Oh my God. Mike Hernandez (02:40): So I text him, Hey bro, any chance, you know, you could swing by and you know, whatever, help me out if you want whatever night, obviously I'm nice about it, whatever you want. And he ends up texting me. He's like, yeah, I can be there. Maybe like about 15 minutes after you start, I'm like, right, cool. Any help I can get for teared out. I'm just not into it today. So, um, this is a retainer gig and they have all the gear and it's even at the location. So all I gotta do is move it from upstairs to downstairs. By the time I'm finished doing that with what is it like five Pelican cases. C stands everything by myself. No help. I'm sweating. I was already not into the shoot. Right. Oh man. So I'm like, okay, here we go. I'm start setting everything up. Mike Hernandez (03:17): I even did a little pose. My hair's, you know, setting this up. It's so great. Yeah. Yeah. Well the main guy comes. Down's like, Hey, uh, change the plans. We're not gonna do any of this. We're gonna do the very simple shoot, which is fine. Cuz it's a simpler shoot. Not more, you know? Yeah. But I'm just like, man, I did all this by myself, my friend that I said that was gonna come, he's still not there yet. And so I'm like, oh, there's just making matters worse. So they have to kind of just tear everything down, go set up in a different location. It's not a hard setup, but it was, it's one of those things like it's, it's work, it's production. But when it's on a day where you're just like, it's a retainer job and you're just like, you know, it's just hard. Mike Hernandez (03:54): And so I'm not saying that like, that's the lack of passion and I think we're all allowed to have those days where it's. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but on a big shoot, you kind of, you don't have the freedom to not want to work on big shoots where it's like it's a lot on the, on the table. Um, I think you gotta bring your a game every time. This is one of those shoots. It's very simple. So there's not a, this is the washrooms type of deal. Exactly. So there's room for a little bit of like, I don't wanna go, but you still gotta go. Um, but yeah, I wouldn't say that. That's the lack of passion I'm talking about. So I'm talking about, if you are just finding, if you're just finding zero passion in like learning, finding zero passion in looking for work or contacting people, or you're just starting to just hate your career choice. Maybe it's a time you look for something else. Ariel Martinez (04:39): So I would say a I've done passion projects, right? I've done passion projects that even till this day gets me work in the sense that I'm able to showcase that to potential clients and they love it. And that's what they hire me off of like that kind of stuff. So they want the same style. They want a all that, you know, that's Mike Hernandez (05:02): Great. Ariel Martinez (05:03): And I'm able to, to, and, and I'm super happy that I've been able to take that route, but I wouldn't even assess it by that. I would assess it cuz here there's a, there's a couple of factors where people can consider if this is for them or not. Right. Passion absolutely has to be a must, but it, it would showcase in how much you learn. Right? The reason why passion matters is because it would showcase how much you learn, then how much you learn showcases the quality that you're delivering because you're learning so much, right. Um, to this day. Um, it's and I, I don't want this to come across as very high and mighty, but I'm not learning at the rate that I was learning back when I first started. Right. When I first started, everything was new to me, everything. So everything I was observing, uh, everybody working, I was absorbing a lot of stuff, not at the rate that I do now. Ariel Martinez (06:04): And that's not because I lost passion it's because I've already heard that and seen that before, you know? But anytime the opportunity comes where I learned something that I had not heard before. I'm again, it's like I started all over again. You know? So that's great. That drives me. I'm like, oh my God, yes. I love this. So learning new techniques, all that stuff is is, is I love that. So that is sort of what drives me. That's the passion that would drive you now there's the business side of things too. Right? So passion, I would say is what is, what's gonna get you, but it's not, what's gonna keep you there. Mike Hernandez (06:39): Doesn't sustain Ariel Martinez (06:39): You. Cause you could be passionate about this, but you really, there's gonna be a certain point where you have to transition where like, so for example, um, there's people that go to film school, right? And they could be passionate about like Chris, Chris is passionate about narratives, right? He loves that stuff. But how many opportunities out are out there for narrative to, to make a living off of doing that kind of stuff. Now I'm sure they, that there are, but everybody wants to do that. Right. But you start making the big bucks. What, when you get to Hollywood, whatever, to make these really big movies until then you have to do video production work, you have to do commercial work. There's there's companies that are paying for that stuff. Right. You Mike Hernandez (07:28): Gotta pay the bills. Yep. Ariel Martinez (07:29): So maybe I would say, I would say, you know, depending there has to be some sort of year to income ratio where the, the a nor the, a number of years should be reached. And I don't know what this number is, whether it's 2, 3, 4, whatever it is. And if your income is still the same at year five, that it was on year one, maybe start, maybe your practices are, what, what, what are we looking at here? You know? Hmm. Are you still pushing hard as you were? Mike Hernandez (08:01): I think that the range really should always start out. What's your five year plan. Right. And that's, that's in any business, like write out your five year plan. And if you're nowhere near, if you're still in, like where you were in one on, on five, something needs to change. If you're gonna stick with it, you know, I feel like, I feel like a parent where's like your child is like, just choosing to do the same. That's hurting them. It's like, you Mon you wanna say, give up on it and go a different route. That's more secure. Sure. But in this industry, I don't want to necessarily say that, but something has to shift. Something needs to change. And I think sometimes we get so trapped in our passion or something that we aspire to be that we could keep. So like, okay, I'll give you, give you an example. Mike Hernandez (08:41): So when I was a full time video editor at a company, and I decided to start my own business in something that has nothing to do with literally nothing to do with this. And it was, um, sales now I thought, I thought I was pretty good in sales because I sold my wife on me. Hello. All right. So, um, so I got into sales and, um, selling a, a product, you know, like a service selling, a service that don't provide is the whole big thing. And I, and I pushed it and I pushed it hard to be honest. And I made some money, but it was very inconsistent. It got to the point where like my family, almost friends even got to the point where they were like, all right, how long are you gonna let keep writing this train that is not gonna get you where you want, according to the facts of what you've produced. Mike Hernandez (09:26): Not because we don't believe in you or we don't think you're capable of, but let's take a, let's take an inventory, you know, inspect what you expect and take inventory of where you're at today and make quality decisions. And I feel like sometimes, and this sounds harsh, but take your, remove yourself away from the, the passion of it or what your goals are. Step outside as if you're someone else looking at your finances and where you're going and have a more broad view of, of what this is really like and take a reality check and then go, okay. So if I'm still in year one from year five, either if I'm gonna commit and choose, commit something drastically needs to change, I need to invest in myself. I need to do the things I've never thought possible and pretend it's like a video game and you're gonna hit reset. Mike Hernandez (10:10): And you know, it's okay to take the major risks and then just, you know, the resets, not there, you've taken major risks. All you can do is win from that and then go forward from there. But something has to change either you quit and get a steady job, or that's not, we're not even though we're business owners, I'm not against a steady income steady job. It's for everybody, there's being a business minded person. Isn't for everyone. It could be for many people, but something I think for me year, I agree with it. What you're saying year five, year five for me is every five years taking evaluation. Where, where are you going? Where are you at? But what are the what's in the books? Because sometimes we, we wanna, we don't wanna, we don't wanna admit the truth cause we don't wanna look at the numbers. Ariel Martinez (10:52): Yeah. That's something that's extraordinarily important is your numbers. Right. And, um, and I'll be honest. I started, I've said this before in a podcast. When I started my business, I did not have a business mentality. I loved video. I did it for years for my church for a long time, until one of my best friends until said should do it for a business. You never had it occurred to me. Um, I spoke to my pastor, he gave me the blessing and I ran with that right at the time I was still living with my parents. So I didn't have much expenses. Like I, I was able to be, uh, risky like that, Mike Hernandez (11:33): A little bit of a safety net. Right. Ariel Martinez (11:35): That was definitely a safety net. And it was, I, I was subject to whatever I knew, the connections that I had, which weren't much at all. You know, it was a friend of mine from church that knew somebody that had a business that was looking to edit these videos. And that was my first job ever. Right. Nice. It was like seven videos that I had to edit each of 'em like three minutes long each. And it was a total of like $500 for the whole project. Right. Uh, we take jobs like that all the time when we're starting, I'm starting. Yeah. So, uh, but I always had, you know, business people at my church that I can always ask questions to, you know, that's great. And these are things that you have to do, uh, when you're starting a business and really with anything, you know, if there's people that are more skilled than you humble yourself and go ask, go ask questions cuz they might. Ariel Martinez (12:27): They, so here's the thing. The advice that they gave me, not always did it pertain to me cuz sometimes my, my industry's very D but it opens up different avenues of, or a train of thought that I did not think about before factors and variables that I didn't even perceive before. You know? So that in that way it helped out a lot. So anyways, it helped me grow tremendously, you know, and obviously it's, it was in 2013. So it's eight years now into that. Um, and it's, it's been great. It's been, I obviously I know a lot more now than what I did back then. There is a risk that comes with being a freelancer that not everybody can afford to have. Right. My example, if you look at my calendar, I don't have anything booked past three weeks. Yeah. Nothing. Mike Hernandez (13:21): It's about average, Ariel Martinez (13:22): Right? Yeah. That's me. Nothing booked yet. I've been like that for the past eight years. See, that's scary stuff. Mike Hernandez (13:30): Some people, my dad would look at that and wanna commit suicide. He there's, there's no security here. That's not for you. Uh, like that's his reaction? No, I've told my dad like, Hey, this is, this is what I've got. And um, I have nothing past three weeks and honestly have no leads have no nothing, but, but the last three months has been like that. And it's been packed. I mean, by God's grace, right? Yeah. But it's been packed, but he goes, Mike, how do you live like that? You have a three year old. Yeah. You have a wife, you have a family. And I'm like, well, first off God's providing. And second, you know, I'm just, I'm committed to this and I just have to trust that it's gonna work out. But it's, he's like, I could not function like that. He goes, I need consistency. Ariel Martinez (14:14): It's funny because it goes a out into our faith. Right. We, we walk by faith in the industry that we're in. Um, a lot of people that are not Christians, they would call it something else, whatever it is. But that's literally how we have to walk to keep our sanity. Yeah. Because people will go crazy if yes. Nothing comes up. Yeah. You know, Mike Hernandez (14:33): It is a scary time though. I've had that happen. I've um, so my we worst case scenario, um, this is, I don't know, year, maybe three year or four somewhere around there. Yeah. I had one month. Um, I made $10,000 in a month. That's a lot. I mean, you're probably way past that, but Hey, that's, for me, I'm like 10,001 month, that was, I think the first time it happened to me and I was like, holy grail, like I'm in the right place. This is it. Woo. This book of vacation, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. The next month I made $300. Ariel Martinez (15:04): Whoa. Mike Hernandez (15:04): For the entire month. Whoa. Ariel Martinez (15:06): Okay. Mike Hernandez (15:07): So I think another topic in this discussion is budgeting Ariel Martinez (15:11): Because Mike Hernandez (15:12): Yes, we can go through feast. Ariel Martinez (15:13): That's a hard that everybody has to learn. Mike Hernandez (15:17): It's a really hard Ariel Martinez (15:17): One. I had to learn the hard way as well. I was like, maybe I should not have spent that money. That, that I, that I, from that month that I had really good and went and bought a bunch of stuff. Cuz now I'm tight. I'm like, oh man, Mike Hernandez (15:30): Here's the pro 'em in the, um, in the, uh, corporate production or, or studio like studio work. Yeah. With working with clients or like products and stuff like that. Sure, sure. Is that at the end of the year, like November, December, year's fully booked and it's not for Christmas stuff. It's like for the next year, right? Yeah. Why? Because they're they have to spend the annual budget come January, February. Got all those payments coming in April, bro. There's no work sometimes. Yeah. Because the clients, the client, the corporate clients are revamping. What is their budget for the year? By the time they get to the studio, cuz I wasn't charge, they weren't my clients. I was just part of the production. Sure. By the time it gets to studio landing, a new creative project, it would be January, March, maybe April. Yeah. And it's like, so January, very March, if that's your only niche, you, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta budget off of what you made in the last part of the year. Um, and I experienced that for like six years straight and I had to get used to that. So I had to be very careful on my Christmas budget. My wife was like, yeah, but we want this, this, we have, you know, you look bank account. Yeah. And you're Ariel Martinez (16:33): Like, yeah, that's very easy to do Mike Hernandez (16:34): That. Let's do it. You know, we can. Um, but I have to just remind her, Hey listen, you know, keep in mind. Yeah. My income is, is, is Ariel Martinez (16:41): Fluid. It fluctuates a lot. And that's something that you have to consider when buying stuff. That's something that I overlook all the time. I make so many info pulse of purchases. It, it, it definitely gets me in trouble sometimes. Um, but anyways, so like you said, knowing your numbers, looking at your books, right. If you're in year two or three, you should see an increase every single year. Right? The good thing is that you're making clients, You're making clients. And those, I still have clients from year one that I work with. That's great. Uh, every now and then though, even if it's once a year, they still call me. That's great. Right. Um, my prices are completely different, but they, they still call me. But, Mike Hernandez (17:34): But they've, they've probably grown as well in all those years. Ariel Martinez (17:37): Oh, a hundred percent they've grown or check this out. One thing that happens to me is my lo my smaller clients have referred me and now those referrals have turned into some of my biggest clients. Wow. And that came from a small client, you know? Mike Hernandez (17:56): Um, Ariel Martinez (17:57): You never know when that's gonna come. Mike Hernandez (17:58): You here's a tip I would give for, if, if you're near one, two and three, and you're seeing a, a slump, you know, a lot of network marketers do this, but it works real, really good in, in traditional business, go to all of your friends and family and find out from them who are employed in different corporate companies, get a list. Seriously. I'm not kidding. Make things happen for yourself. Get a list out, start writing, sit down with them. Be like, who could, who do you think could possibly need a video? Who could possib of photography? Um, some editing work who works at what, what places get a list and literally create a list of 40 people. You can do that. We all could do that. Even right now. We could do that right now if there's a slump. And even if there isn't and I guarantee you, if you contact every single one of 'em and make them just aware that this is what you do and that you can provide something for their employer, you'd be surprised where it may not even be them. It's through that person who gives you a different referral. And there's just so many avenues and don't Ariel Martinez (18:57): Be afraid of free work, man. Mike Hernandez (18:58): Correct? Ariel Martinez (18:59): Yeah. I, even today I just finished a video for a buddy of mine. He wanted some video and he was seeing some prices and it was almost at his budget and whatnot, but I said, look, don't worry about it. Let me do this. But this was at the time where I had recently purchased the FX nine and some new lighting tubes and some, a bunch of new stuff, Mike Hernandez (19:17): Things you could test, Ariel Martinez (19:18): Right? So I'm like, Hey dude, let me do this. Let me make a video for you on me. No, no charge. I want do this so that I can showcase my stuff. I want to take some nice behind the scenes stuff. I wanna put out as a, as a test for all the new gear that I have. Mike Hernandez (19:33): Did you make kind of like a verbal agreement that you have some creative freedom that maybe you wouldn't Ariel Martinez (19:37): Have? I have all creative freedom. Mike Hernandez (19:38): Perfect. See that's that's great. Free. You're gonna get all this stuff in return. Yeah, Ariel Martinez (19:42): Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I had all creative freedom. I'm not charging you a thing. You have no way to make any demands here. A Mike Hernandez (19:49): Great idea Ariel Martinez (19:49): At at the same time he told me, Hey, I was hoping I can get this. I'm like, all right, cool. I'm gonna make that for you. Not a problem. You know? Mike Hernandez (19:54): Beautiful. That's great. Ariel Martinez (19:55): Not a problem. Mike Hernandez (19:55): Yeah. And other great ideas even come out of pocket and pay someone to come and just do your BTS video and photography. Ariel Martinez (20:01): I was, I was gonna, I didn't end up doing it, but yes, I did consider that for somebody to come out and do, uh, an actual BTS video. Yeah. Yeah. It helps. And I've done that before. Mike Hernandez (20:10): Cause we're in the world of self-promotion the reality is we have to kind of self promote. Ariel Martinez (20:13): Yeah. Yeah. How do you use social media? Mike Hernandez (20:16): Oh, don't even go there bro. I'm the worst at it? You're I'm nothing like you bro. Nothing like you. Ariel Martinez (20:21): Um, so my, my mentality in social media is just remind people. I, I, I'm not a big fan of when people post, uh, whatever a camera or whatever. And they say, if you need video services, call me. Mike Hernandez (20:36): Yeah, no, Ariel Martinez (20:36): I'm not a fan of that. Mike Hernandez (20:37): No Neith Ariel Martinez (20:38): Of that method or that technique. I'm not dogging on anybody that does that. Hey, do whatever you think works for you? In my opinion, I think it's a, given that if they see a camera, you're kind of, sort of related into that world and they know how to contact you. Yeah. Right. I'm just more of a, let's keep reminding everybody that this is what you Mike Hernandez (20:58): Do. It's funny you say that. Cuz uh, in the last, just two weeks I've been posting a little bit more in stories and, and I just gotta two messages from friends of mine. Yeah. Um, saying, wow, you have been so busy and you seem to do so many fun things Ariel Martinez (21:16): That stays in their mind. Mike Hernandez (21:17): Yes. And, and they were saying, you're working with some really cool people, whose house was that? How was it like working with this person? And, and the conversation is, is, is arising because I started posting more now I'm, I'm not that great with social, but I started posting more stories and I'm seeing a reaction from people and that could, that could turn into potential work. Ariel Martinez (21:36): Yeah, absolutely. They'll remember that Mike Hernandez (21:38): Be like, Hey look, I'm busy. Ariel Martinez (21:39): Yeah. One of the, one of the, now it's turning into one of my bigger clients that I've been working with for like the past four years, four or five years. Um, I had them as a client before this person got, it's funny. I had them as a client before this person got on board with them. But you know, this is somebody that I, I used to go to high school with. And she reached out to me about possibly doing videos for the agency. Wow. But she didn't know that I had already been doing video for them, which is hilarious. That's awesome. But assume that I wasn't. Yeah. Right. Assume that I wasn't, um, she would've still reached out to me to do that video because she just sees that I've been posting a lot about cameras and stuff. This is somebody from high school. Wow. I'm 32 years old. High school is long time ago, 2007. So the, that is something that would've been a potential client, you know, it was already a client, but you get the idea, right? Mike Hernandez (22:34): Yeah. But you're showing yourself alive in this industry. So people know that you're, you're working, you know, that Ariel Martinez (22:38): You do something. I had another recent high school guy that came to visit me. He turned into a politician and started this foundation and his foundation needed video. And he's been loving this off that I've been posting. He sees that it's high quality, top notch stuff. And he wants to sort of, he needs video for his stuff. So we got into a meeting, we were able to work something out. We got another client there. You know, it's just reminding people that this is what you do. Mike Hernandez (23:03): So I'm realizing something in what you're saying. And I kind of feel bad about my life right now. I was a, I didn't, I didn't go to high school. I was homes. Oh. So all of that warm market potential work now is killing me. I'm gonna redo, I'm gonna ask God to just redo my life and go to high school just for future clients. Ariel Martinez (23:18): No man. But look, the people that you have currently, man. Yeah. There's so many options. I recommend people use hashtags, hashtags that Mike Hernandez (23:25): Do you get a lot of response from that? I feel like I get a bunch of bots and bunch of stuff. Ariel Martinez (23:29): No. Is that the, the, what the hashtags do is optimize the amount of eyes that see your post. So anybody that just searches the hashtag video production, your post will be in the mix. Mike Hernandez (23:42): Well, I have noticed that when I do something like that, I go to the hashtag and I just take a quick little stroll Ariel Martinez (23:47): And you'll see your post right there. Mike Hernandez (23:48): And, but not only me, I'm talking about like anything else in that genre. So that's a, that's a good point of view too. Yeah, Ariel Martinez (23:54): Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely really good to, to do. Mike Hernandez (23:56): I just always seem to get a, a million, not a million obviously, but I get a lot of likes from just these counts that just look bougie Ariel Martinez (24:03): Bo. I had a buddy of mine that he did a lot of work, whatever. Uh, this was early, early in my career and he did mostly like, and after effects stuff, he had a passion to do narrative stuff and whatnot. He got a job with this company that does a lot of soccer, broadcasting. And next thing I know he's selling all his equipment right now. I've sold my equipment too, but it was to upgrade. Yeah. And then when I asked him, Hey, are you upgrading? Are you, you know, why are you selling your stubs that he said he doesn't need it anymore. That's when I realized, oh man, this guy just threw in the towel. He's happy with his full-time job. You know? Um, and it's not the same thing. Being a freelancer and working in the industry for another company as a full-time person. There's a difference. Mike Hernandez (24:57): It's not the same. Ariel Martinez (24:58): It's not the same. Um, you really don't have that. Freedom Mike Hernandez (25:01): Is his, full-time also in the, in, in the industry. Ariel Martinez (25:03): He does the graphic for these broadcast for these soccer broadcasts. Mike Hernandez (25:09): Oh wow. Yeah. It's in the industry, but it's not being a Ariel Martinez (25:13): Right Mike Hernandez (25:13): Contractor freelancer. Ariel Martinez (25:14): It's right. It's he definitely not as a contractor, he's an employee. Right. Um, I took that in my opinion. I took that as him throwing in the towel as maybe freelancing world life is not for him. It Mike Hernandez (25:27): Would you agree? It's not for Ariel Martinez (25:28): Everyone. It's not, I don't think so because here's the thing you have to hustle. But see, my hustle was so enjoyable and it still is. I'll still come in, stay as late as I need to. I'll come in Saturdays and Sundays to even these days, I come in Saturdays and Sunday I'm editing. I love this stuff and no one's gonna outwork me in my own business. Right. I don't care who I have there. I'm gonna cater to my clients and continue to serve. If I have to go back to working how I used to and what I mean by that is everything. The sets that, that you you've been on my sets all the time, I would be do the same exact thing. If I was by myself, you know, I would set up all the lights. I would set up all the booms. I'd move the lights according I would move the camera. According. Obviously, sometimes there are some things that I just cannot do cuz lack of time. Mike Hernandez (26:22): No. Which you wake, you have kids. Ariel Martinez (26:24): Oh yeah. I bet you have to like, no, I mean like on set, like on set, like if I have to wake up at five in the morning, get set up, go to a shoot, come back prep and put everything back to charge again for the next day. And then I have those seasons just like that. Nothing has changed. That's great. The only thing that's changed is I charge a lot more now so that I can get more help to continue to work that way. Again, the hustle was so enjoyable for me. I loved it. And one thing I've always said, I would come home from a long day shooting. I don't care what production it was, whether I had a good time or a bad time, man. And I had the biggest smile on my face cuz I love what I do. You know? Ariel Martinez (27:07): And then to top it all off the freedom that you have, you know, the freedom that you get when working as a freelancer, of course, listen, if you're married with kids and you're the only source of income, you have to consider that if you're trying to make a decision to take that, dive you, um, the responsibilities and your priorities. Because I wasn't able to, I started my business in 2013. I moved outta my house in 20 for the first time in 2018. Right. It was five years, five years that I had to really also right. To build something and to build something where I felt that it was sustainable and truth be told maybe I could have moved out a year, maybe two before. Um, but I wasn't, you know, I could have probably gone into it like an efficiency or something, a small place, but I only moved out with a couple, a couple things in place. Ariel Martinez (28:05): One, I just did not have enough anymore space in my parents' house for my equipment. It's a good problem to have. Right. But two, I had a one client on retainer. There's that safety net that we talked about earlier, right? Yeah. I had one client on retainer at, uh, what was it? I think it was at the time was like 4,000 a month. Right? Whoa, that's a big retainer. Yeah. So I had one client, one good client on retainer. So I moved out knowing, okay, I know that I'll have this money monthly within a year. They canceled that contract. I freaked out because to me, I had that safety net. Wow. That was my safety can imagine that's tough. But then when I got to take and again, I was having fun, bought everything I needed. Cuz I knew I had that safety in net. Ariel Martinez (28:54): I based all of my expenses on those $4,000 a month. I freaked out, thank God I had my pastors there and everything and slash business, uh, advisors, mentors and stuff. I call them all. I'm like, Hey, this just happened. What do I do? And they're like, relax, first of all, calm down. Um, then I took another look at my numbers. I make more on my own. So the only thing that changed is that I was really paying attention to my numbers cuz I really didn't knowing that I had that coming in every single month. Yeah. But now it's like, now you really have to pay attention to your expenses, what you're spending and all that stuff. So, um, but again, keep pushing forward, keep pushing forward, knowing that man, when you have that fire under your butt, you know that you have to make ends meet. You gotta do it. Yeah. You're gonna make it work somehow. Right. But then it helps that you have the passion for it. It helps that you love it. It helps that you have all that going for you, you know? Uh, but Mike Hernandez (29:55): It's I liked what you said, the priorities and your responsibilities. Ariel Martinez (29:59): Yeah. Yeah. That that's super important. Mike Hernandez (30:01): So I had a friend who was an independent, um, filmmaker and because of his responsibility to his family, he had to leave it. He had to cuz he just wasn't bringing in what he needed. Um, Ariel Martinez (30:11): Sorry, what family was it? A wife and kids or was it and parents? Mike Hernandez (30:15): Sorry. Ariel Martinez (30:16): Cause some people try to help support their parents. Mike Hernandez (30:18): That's different. Yeah. Ariel Martinez (30:19): Yeah. That's a Mike Hernandez (30:21): Responsibility to his wife and two and two kids. Okay. And it just, and uh, you know, it just wasn't, Ariel Martinez (30:26): It's not, it's not, Mike Hernandez (30:27): It just wasn't working out. Right. And so I had to get a job. I had to kinda give that up, you know? Sure. Um, maybe one day he'll come back to it. Um, but he's still in the same industry. So he still gets some of that passion Ariel Martinez (30:37): Doesn't mean it's impossible. It just means that for the time being, you need to have that full-time job, right. Mike Hernandez (30:44): Could be temporary. The Ariel Martinez (30:45): Hustle gonna be harder cuz yeah. You have a wife, you have kids that you have to spend time with. You have a full-time job and you need to work your full-time, your, your, your part-time hustle on the side. How you manage that. Mike Hernandez (30:57): I also think to be honest, this is my personal opinion. I think that everyone with a full-time job or parttime job, that's your main source of income should be looking for a side hustle to create some independence for yourself. Ariel Martinez (31:08): I've always, I've always tried to turn people in a direction to start your own business. Yeah. Not even in video, but like Mike Hernandez (31:15): Yeah, totally. Just something else. Ariel Martinez (31:17): It's been the most liberating thing for me. I've never had a job longer than a year ever in my life. Wow. I'm not a fan of, um, I'm not a fan of, uh, routine. So anytime I have to come to the same place and do the same thing, even when I worked at the creative agency, my last job, I was doing video work. I was working with the red, but it became very routine, you know? And it wasn't mine. It wasn't mine. Yeah. It it's so funny when I say I'm not a fan of routine, my fiance gets nervous. Mike Hernandez (31:51): Uh she's thinking commitment issues. Ariel Martinez (31:53): So I was like, obviously it doesn't apply there, but um, well, so yeah, it's it just, I, I, the, my interest in working at a certain place after X amount of, of, uh, months, I would say, cuz I haven't, again, I haven't been at a job longer than a year. Um, it just goes down and I'm just not interested in that anymore. And while I was at the agency, I was doing that on my side. It was my side hustle. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Until I outgrew the agency in terms of like what they can give me versus what I've gotten for myself. Yeah. You know what I mean? Mike Hernandez (32:27): So my, my 2020 season, where was, it was a complete shakeup for the whole, the whole world in every industry almost. Um, I got the opportunity of being the right place, right time. Yeah. Of being the lead editor for orange dairy fitness now nice with that whole movement of them with a premium membership and having closed down physical brick and mortar, um, gyms, they had to figure out a solution. So we had to come up with, um, we'd rent a studio and we would shoot at, uh, at home workouts and then I would be in charge of editing it and then eventually develop a team. And then now it's moved past me and um, for the entire path of the entire year, that's what I did every single at one point at the very beginning, cuz we were trying to play catch up. I was working seven days a week from home editing seven days a week, I was killing myself. Mike Hernandez (33:10): The money was fantastic, but I was killing myself. Um, eventually became, was a five day a week thing for pretty much like months, great gig financially opened up all sorts of doors and everything got all sorts of new equipment, all those sorts of great things. But the monotony of the same thing every single day, there was a, there was a part of me that enjoyed the, I know I could get this done. I don't have to really think too hard about this. Um, it just takes time. Um, but man right towards that last season, that last month I was just dying to do something different because imagine nine months of the same. Yeah. The same project over and over for me. I, I don't think I can do it as a permanent full-time job, you know? Yeah. Ariel Martinez (33:55): No it's, it's rough. But then you have to, you have to consider what's on the line. Like if you have a wife and kids that's different Mike Hernandez (34:03): And that, that gig came at the absolute perfect time when things were so rough in the world. Yeah. I didn't get, I only got one call in those, I think eight months since March, everything had happened, um, to shoot something. Um, so it was, it was God given or at least I was in the right place. And I wanna, Ariel Martinez (34:18): I kind of wanna mention something that I just out about this, we've been saying wife and kids, if you're a woman that wants to get into the industry and you really want to be a freelancer, that's great. If the income for your family is not solely dependent on you. Yeah. If your husband's providing whatever it is. Great. Go for it. I, I would always say that. Yeah. Um, absolutely. Um, so that's yeah. I, I noticed we kept saying wife and kids Mike Hernandez (34:41): Cuz we're just speaking to our Ariel Martinez (34:42): Situation. Right. We're we're talking about ourselves, but anyways, uh, that's what I would say. So yeah. I mean look when you're assessing your own self and as to whether or not you should continue on in this path, just know that there has to be some improvement. There has to be, if you're still at the same place, making the same money, uh, as you were before and you know what, some people are stagnant, some people are happy with that. Mike Hernandez (35:09): Yeah. That's not an issue. I feel like if it's not, if it can't sustain you, I think that's where the Ariel Martinez (35:14): Be able to sustain you. Otherwise it's a hobby, you know, or a waste of time, Mike Hernandez (35:19): You know, grandpa's speaking now come now preach. Ariel Martinez (35:22): No, it, it has to cuz you have to grow up and make a living and yeah. And support a family at some point. Right. So, uh, and it has to get better. There was a point where I started, uh, and I, I there's always been this cloud around me with certain people in my life that had concerns about my being able to provide for a wife and kids when I started my business in 2013, that grew even bigger. Yeah. Wow. Cause at the time I was a security officer. I was security guard when I started my business. Mm. I would work overnight shifts and in my security car I'd be editing. Oh, you know what I mean? So that's awesome. Ariel Martinez (36:06): It's crazy. But it's hard to, at the time I was 24 years old, how can I give them confidence that I it's something that I started, but listen, I got the blessing for my pastor. It's like, listen, I'm trusting. I don't know what's gonna happen. Right. So it it's been such an amazing ride, an amazing ride, um, to, to be able to, and you know, I've had my own doubts. I've had my own doubts, but I've it's I see improvement every year, every single year. I've seen improvement. Thank God. And uh, you know, I guess I'm dreading the year that I see a decline from one year to the next. I haven't seen that yet. You always want to improve. In my opinion, you should always want to improve. My biggest suggestion is to know your numbers, know your numbers, know what you've made last year. I, I wouldn't even go quarterly. How much did you make the first quarter this year? As opposed to the first quarter last year and go by that, you know, compare you're in competition with yourself. Not with other people. Don't compare yourself to other people that is Mike Hernandez (37:14): Huge. Huge. Ariel Martinez (37:15): Yeah. So I've, I've, Mike Hernandez (37:16): I've been at fault for that, especially in the, the first portion, just comparing to everyone. It's like, Ariel Martinez (37:21): Well, I don't have that comparing this as long as you're going forward and not backward, that's the only thing you need. Cause it's gonna, it's not gonna be overnight. It really isn't. It's gonna take time. Um, and you're not gonna see it. Maybe in two years or three years or four years, you should definitely start seeing it year 5, 5, 6, 7, 8. And that's not set in stone. You could very well see it in two to three years. If you're a savant in this stuff and you learn it significantly faster, if you know all the avenues, it does take time to build relationships and build clientele. Like I said, I still have a client that, so from year one. Right. So incredible again. Uh that's. That's how you would do a self-assessment in my opinion. So that's great, man. Anyways, this was a phenomenal episode. Great. I got to share a lot more than what I expected. I wanna listen to Mike Hernandez (38:14): It again. It was good. Ariel Martinez (38:17): Well, thank you guys for watching this episode. My name's a Martin is Mike Hernandez is big hair magic. Mike handles connections are down below on the show notes. For this episode. You could also follow the podcast on instagram@ifilmmakerpodcastoronourwebsiteatifilmmakerpodcast.com. You can check out all our episodes there. If you're liking it, stop by drop us a comment, let us know how we're doing. And we thank you guys for tuning in until next time. We'll see you on the next episode. 

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