Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Perez.
Natalie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
She TV Media first began in an intense, well-designed, and highly-professional powerpoint presentation by Meredith to myself.
I had arrived at Meredith’s apartment on that chilly January weekday afternoon in 2018 thinking I was just going to catch up with my good friend after she had moved back to Los Angeles. Little did I know that I would enter into a formally-informal presentation about my soon-to-be next career.
Meredith said to me, “I have something I want to show you! But don’t say anything yet. Just think about it.” And she continued to present to me “She TV”, a video production company founded by the two of us, that would focus on empowering women. She explained to me her experience working in the industry as an actress, producer, writer, director. She discussed her frustrations with the lack of representation in the media. And she gave me chills when she said, “In order to change the media, we have to become the media.”
BAM. She did her own version of a mic drop, as she stood up with a fruitful smile. I said, “Yes!” But she wouldn’t take it. She told me to go home and think about it. So I did.
I came back the next day with a presentation of my own: a “Yes, And…” presentation. My presentation confirmed all her original ideas, plus a few more. Mainly, I wanted to propose how we can get men involved. We couldn’t just create an exclusively female company. How could we get men to support and collaborate with us? After all, in my personal experience, most of the career-advancing opportunities I’ve been given were from men. She was on board.
That same day we bought our website domain (www.SheTV.me), secured all the social media handles (@shetvmedia), and posted on our personal social media that we were going into business together. Friends and family filled our social media feed with love and support and excitement. It felt as if we were getting married. We were all in.
Flash forward two and a half years later, here we are: She TV Media, LLC. We are a full-service, female-owned video production company focused on telling inspiring and important stories of empowered women through documentaries, narratives, and branded commercial content.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first broke, we went into survival mode. We’ve made it this far; there was no way we were going to let some life-altering pandemic ruin this masterpiece that we’ve created. We put in too many hours, sweat, tears, & grey hairs for our company to end.
So we pivoted. We went digital. Our live events turned digital. Our in-person film shoots turned into us teaching clients how to film themselves at home.
We helped Non-profits put on Virtual Galas & Fundraisers. We helped Organizations create Virtual Turn-Ups. We helped Local High Schools present Virtual Graduations. And now, we are running a series of Virtual Bootcamps called “Get Going With Video”– all about creating a Video Strategy for your business/non-profit’s growth in the long term.
While we miss being on set, giving high-fives, eating donuts out of a shared Randy’s Donut box, and thriving with our clients in person, we have been making the best of our new way of working together– together, but separate.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Over the last seven months, we’ve faced struggles we never would have imagined. Not only was it challenging for the business to continue running due to the fact that we were unable to film clients in person, but we also struggled personally with motivation, balance, mental health, and optimism.
For two years straight, we had seen each other in person almost every single day. And in the blink of an eye, we were forced to resort to Slack messaging and Zoom calls with each other. We didn’t realize how much we needed each other to keep this business running– both professionally and personally.
After lots of internal Business Meetings (aka Meredith and Natalie catch up sessions), we developed a way to stay connected throughout our work day, we set boundaries for time off to go “live life” with our friends and family (safely, of course), and we began connecting and collaborating with new industries to help us produce content: animators, graphics designers, more non-profits, and so on.
There are still daily and weekly challenges, but as of right now, things are going well. We will continue to take care of ourselves and our business so that we can help other businesses rise during this time as well.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with She TV Media, LLC. – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
She TV Media’s work is two-fold: client-based and entertainment. For our client work, we help businesses grow with video. Recently, our work has consisted of transforming organization’s in-person events (Galas, Fundraisers, Conferences) into engaging, brand-specific, and high-quality Virtual Events.
On the entertainment side, we have a handful of narrative and documentary projects we have produced. One of our most recent projects is called “The Madams”, a show about two sisters who start their own underground escort business in Los Angeles. You can stream it today on Cideshow (www.cideshow.com).
Our upcoming premiere is on a web series called “The Walkers”, about a group of misfit witches entering the realities of adult life; filled with parties, drugs, and the occasional demonic possession. We will be premiering “The Walkers” on our She TV Media YouTube channel in October! So stay tuned for that.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have LOTS of plans for our future as She TV Media. Most excitingly, over the next year, we’ll be developing our very own streaming platform– so more on that soon!
As for our short-term future, we’re focusing on three main projects:
1. Our Get Going with Video Bootcamp, launching Sept 2nd, 2020
2. “The Walkers” Premiere in October
3. “The Madams” Theme Song Music Video Release in October
Contact Info:
- Website: www.SheTV.me
- Phone: 323-388-3289
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/shetvmedia
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/shetvmedia
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/shetvmedia
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/she-tv-media-westchester-2
- Other: https://medium.com/@she_tv_media
Image Credit:
All photos by She TV Media, “The Madams” Movie Poster by Neil Fraser Graphics
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