Today we’d like to introduce you to David Wahlman.
Thanks for sharing your story with us David. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
With my educational background in Photography and Graphic Design, I always knew I wanted to have my own company one day, but I always assumed it would be years down the road. After spending a few years on the Graphic Design path and in the print and signage industry, I came to a gradual conclusion that I didn’t want to settle for ‘someday’. Someday I’ll get there. Someday I’ll be good enough. Someday I’ll have enough money. Someday I’ll start my business. Instead, I was tired of living a life that wasn’t true to me and who I am. So I left my previous job and chose to do something crazy; step out in faith, become the man of courage I want to be, and start my own photo and video production business. No more waiting around for ‘someday’. As someone wiser than me has said, “The way you live your days is the way you live your life.” Thus, if I have a picture of the way I want to live my life, then I’m going to live my present days in pursuit of that starting now.
Great, 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?
I haven’t heard of many business startups that are perfectly smooth, so it is to be expected that there are struggles and steep learning curves when starting a business. Sadly, I don’t think I’m in the clear yet as I still have much to learn. However, some of the big struggles thus far though have do with learning the hard way about how to properly set contracts and expectations. Thankfully, I’m learning and it’s becoming more smooth sailing and natural.
Wahlman Productions – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I do more than just photography. I focus on photo and video production for outdoor and active lifestyle. This is everything from backpacking, camping, kayaking, etc. to active industries like sports, yoga, and athletic industries. My projects are most commonly commercial, advertising, or editorial related.
The best part of my company, based off the feedback of my clients, is that you actually get to work with me and not just a team I send out. People love working with me specifically due to my fun and positive personality, yet with the ability to be a clear communicator, extremely reliable and responsible, and very detail driven in my quality. This should seem like the standard for all businesses, but I’ve heard from others and seen myself that it isn’t always the case that companies are especially easy to build relationships with and work with.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
One of the proudest moments to me comes from a relational aspect. I had a recent video project that I flew out to Louisiana for and worked with a large team there. In the project terms the client and I had set, I was only going to be there for half the week even though the whole team was going to be continuing on for the rest of the week. When it came time for me to leave, I found myself extremely sad to be leaving the team that I had bonded so well with. To make these emotions worse, and the reason it’s a proud moment, is that nearly the whole team (roughly 20 people) were also sad I had to leave and they wished I could have stayed.
Not only was this touching and were new relationships formed, but I don’t ever want my business to become more about the product than about the people. Relationships are always more important to me than the images and videos I create. This specific project was the manifestation of that goal and a confirmation to me of how important it is to keep that as a focus in my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wahlmanproductions.com
- Phone: 530-355-7576
- Email: david@wahlmanproductions.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/
WahlmanProductions - Twitter: www.twitter.com/DavidWahlman
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI730-37uIX36fbTFbZWn2w
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