Conversations with Matthew Jones

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Jones.

Hi Matthew, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I got the bug to Produce in college. I remember my mentor at the time, Lisa Swain convinced me I was going to be a Producer. At the time, I was set on being a Director only. She told me that I had a natural talent to get things done. But wanted to be a director! That was after all, the art of creating right? What was interesting is that everything I wanted to Direct – I hired the crew, fundraised, casting, etc…I couldn’t help but to produce.

I started my company, Rainbow Creative, in 2017 to primarily make films and videos with a network of creative professionals working independently, but as a community on a variety of projects. This is the core of our company. I found in 2020, when productions halted, that we had to get curious about other ways to create. I was asked to Produce a Podcast for an Ad Agency and I thought – sure, let’s try this. That first show in March 2020 ended up being a 20 episode Podcast that I produced and co-hosted, with the guests being all my friends and contacts. When I started posting about the show on social media, I started getting contacted by people in my network asking me what I charged to produce a show. What’s wild is that I did my first show out of wanting to try something new and keep busy during the pandemic, and it accidentally turned into a business.

Three months into Podcast Producing, I started Producing three additional shows. My second show, my heart – “From the Future, With Love”, which my Executive Coach Johan Martinez-Khalalian brought me on, really started it all. He introduced me to an all star Podcaster + Podcast Producer Rithu Jagganath and master of audio Hammond Chamberlain. Together, meeting still only virtually spanning two countries, we started making a show together. When I was contacted by two other clients to produce shows, I immediately went to them and all of the sudden we were working on three shows together.

Word started to get around with our clients, and we got contacted to do four additional shows. At that point, I had to grow the team, and also at the same time started a full-time job with a client based on the work I started with them, working on their podcast. Podcasting literally started two careers in a matter of months.

So from March 2020 to September 2021, what started off as a “Sure, I will try this” is not just the core of my business, but a career I absolutely am thrilled to do – in every aspect of the process. It was a ton handling a full-time job and my business, so about a year into it I went full time with the business. We are a fully remote studio who has made both video + audio podcasts for ad agencies, fin techs, executive coaches, and much more. We have eight shows and are looking forward to growing more. Check out more at rainbowcreative.co/podcasts.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a lot – mostly good, but not always smooth. I definitely have made mistakes, but all of them have been learning experiences in creating processes. I learned what it meant to start and run a podcast studio at the same time!. I am constantly learning about technology that is always changing.

My philosophy on problems is not “we can’t do that”, rather it’s “lets find out how to do this”. Sometimes that means making mistakes along the way, but all of them have been learning experience that have made us stronger.

My best advice would be to always be prepared and to have a backup plan. This means extra team members to call on in a pinch, and backup online recording software – you should know all of them. Also, get things done early. It is always better to “stay ready so you don’t have to get ready”. I have found that that concept in itself has brought peace and has consistently helped my company to keep a level of professionalism, with minimal mistakes resulting in repeat business.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What’s the most crazy to me is that we are now an award winning studio! Two of our shows just won awards at the 16th Annual W3 Awards.

Dollars & Sense

2021 W3 AWARDS SILVER
General Series-Interview/Talk Show for Podcasts

Beyond High Performance
2021 W3 AWARDS GOLD
General Series-Professional Services for Podcasts

I am most proud of our commitment to give back through our Give Back program. For our clients and any referral, we provide them with a gift card through our partnership with Charity on Top (charityontop.org) where we return a portion of the client’s fees once a year for them to donate at their choice of over 1 million charities of their choice.

I am also most proud of the short film I made with Arielle Estoria on Black Lives Matter – HUMAN, and my new film filming in early 2022 – Level 12 (rainbowcreative.co/level12)

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I love about our city is its diversity and ability to make almost any dream come true with being able to connect and be a part of a unique community. What I like least is the smog and traffic.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: rainbowcreative.co
• Instagram: instagram.com/rainbowcreative_
• Twitter: twitter.com/mojoadam_

Image Credits:
MyxdMedia