Don’t forget to enjoy the journey. The end goal is great but the journey is the fun part.
Rising social media star who earned over 300,000 Vine followers before the app was shut down. His unique use of humor in combination with modern trends helped make his videos on Vine and YouTube so popular. CEO Wundr Media a content creation company that focuses its efforts on creating content in exotic locations around the world for their clients.
Where did the idea for the company come from?
The idea kinda started when my now business partner Kona and I were working on another project together. We had discussed taking a company to Iceland to create content for them and then we later decided why not do that full time!
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
Typical day for me personally deals with a few phone calls usually from really big brands (super fortunate to be able to say that) but every other week we are preparing for a trip and traveling to create content for a brand or multiple brands in an exotic location. In that case I am directing the photographers videographers and models!
How do you bring ideas to life?
short answer is lots and lots of planning every single details from the itinerary to flights to what shots we’ll get and who will take them and edit them!
What’s one trend that really excites you?
That’s a super hard question to answer. Coming from making vines according to popular trends, I love every trend that comes along because it is just another chance to grow even more.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Persistance in everything I do. No matter what time of day I’m working harder and harder getting closer to my goal.
What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
Don’t pay so much attention to what people were saying about me, especially when I was making vines. There was a period of time shortly after I gained a following on vine that I cared way too much about the negative comments and tweets I would get.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
Probably that someone else’s opinion doesn’t need to dictate your decisions. I find that a lot of people take what other people think way too seriously and it’s super damaging.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Work out. I couldn’t function with out the heart rate getting up at least once a day. Also, take time to travel. That’s good advice for anyone.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.
Networking. Network wherever you are. For example, my last flight to Vegas I met another man that had a business in Las Vegas and I just started talking with him. We got to talking about business and now he is a big client for our drone side of things. Talk to anyone and you’ll find that your time is much better spent doing that versus sending emails or equivalent.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
Wundr Media (my current business) failed at first because we didn’t get all of the logistics set. We rushed into it. We overcame by reevaluating every single aspect of our company before continuing which is one thing some people are afraid of. They don’t want stop and take a step back because ey are worried about losing productivity but at some point you have to take a step backwards to leap forward.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Custom t shirt business on shopify.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
$100 on a last minute plane ticket to San Francisco to meet with some reps at Twitter. Can’t talk about a lot due to legal obligations but it was a life changing experience.
What software and web services do you use? What do you love about them?
Adobe Suite/Premiere Pro/Photoshop etc. everyone on our team uses it every day to create content and make our content better!
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
AskGaryVee by Gary Vaynerchuk honestly because his way of speaking is incredibly motivating and a his story is a great read.
What is your favorite quote?
“Ideas are cheap. Ideas are easy. Ideas are common. Everybody has ideas. Ideas are highly, highly, overvalued. Execution is all that matters.” -Casey Neistat
Key learnings:
- Don’t ever give up on a dream regardless of how far fetched it is
- Persistence is key
- Think out and plan for every situation
- Don’t forget to enjoy the journey. The end goal is great but the journey is the fun part.
- Create, create, create.
Connect:
Mikehammontree.com
Michael Hammontree on Twitter: @mike_hammontree
Michael Hammontree on Instagram: Instagram.com/mike_hammontree
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Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.