Over the past 6 months I've had over 50 virtual coffees with freelancers in the film industry. Directors, editors, cinematographers, composers, sound designers, colorists. I went into those conversations genuinely curious to understand where people were stuck.

Two things kept coming up. Either they had plenty of work but the wrong work — wrong clients, wrong budgets, wrong creative fit. Or they were earlier in the journey and had no idea how to talk about themselves without feeling like a salesperson.

I recognized both of those people immediately. Because I was both of them.

What changed for me wasn't a course or a strategy or a brand overhaul. It was learning how to have genuine conversations with people I actually wanted to work with. Knowing how to talk about my work in a way that was honest, specific, and human. I call it Relational Marketing™.

Don't think of this as a system. It's actually the complete opposite. No cold pitching. No fake urgency. No performing a version of yourself you don't recognize. It's about learning how to show up as the most authentic, positioned version of who you already are. It's about making it easy for the right people to find you. It's about understanding the difference between a cold DM and a genuine conversation that leads to a booked project 3 months later.

I'm going to be straight up with you. At the start of this year I was working full-time at a production company, freelancing on the side. In early Spring, I made the jump into full-time freelancing and in three months I've more than tripled my monthly income. From $6500 to $20,000+. Sure, that is nice, but more importantly I've positioned myself as a premium feature film and documentary editor with aggressive rates who is selective about every project I take on. This allows me to live my life, be creative, spend more time with my family, and coach my son's teeball team.

These are the exact tools I used to get here.

I didn't set out to be THAT guy on LinkedIn always talking about 10x-ing your business (and I will never be), and I am not some guru coach that is really good at selling a dream but never gives you the actual tools needed. I'm an entrepreneur. I see a gap in a market, and I find where my skillset meets that gap.

That's why I'm starting The Craft House™.

Thanks for being here. Let's get building.