The Creative Collective Show : Where Business Meets Creative

This is what happens when you say yes to every opportunity that presents itself. AJ Sankofa, born in Brooklyn, did exactly this as he found his way from busboy to studying under Michelin Star chefs in Italy to opening up his own restaurant back in his hometown of Morristown. You'll learn that there isn't some secret sauce to success. 

AJ proves that hard work, dedication, and passion are all you need to live the life you want.  He worked his ass off to position himself as an Italian cuisine connoisseur. Follow his journey and learn exactly how he opened up his own homemade Italian pasta and sauce establishment in Morristown, NJ. 

As we revitalize the podcast, we mix it up with Rob Acocella, a sound designer, production sound recordist, post-production dialogue editor, and re-recording mixer. Rob begins his audio journey by wandering into a record store at an early age and buying his first CD, Metallica, and his first "sound-sample" CD. He doesn't remember what drove him to pick up a CD with a bunch of sound effects on it, but he bought it anyway. Listen in as we follow his journey from childhood to a professional audiophile. 

You'll notice his journey isn't a straight line and actually dabbles in video before returning back to his love and true passion: audio. 

Rob drops a great “hack” he used to secure an extra IMDB credit and increase the overall value of a project. “Everything’s negotiable, you can always find ways of pulling out value from a project even if it’s not always monetary.” This and many more inspiring tips and tricks scattered throughout his journey that you do not want to miss. 

If you're struggling to get in front of the camera and create content, this episode will certainly give you some helpful tips to be more relatable and personable on camera. 

Today we have an awesome opportunity to sit down with Kerry Barrett, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, with over 20 years of experience as a broadcast news anchor, reporter, and producer across many different outlets including NBC, ABC, and Fox. 

Listen in as we unfold the story of how a crippling fear of public speaking became a catalyst to Kerry launching a full-service media training and public speaking boutique, Kerry Barrett Consulting. The firm focuses on helping others bring their stories to life with confidence and personality. 

Kerry drops knowledge on what it takes to make it as a reporter and progress into bigger markets. She also shares tactics on how to have a more impactful Zoom call, and overall become more personable and more relatable on camera. 

If you're a creative looking to take your side hustle to the next level, you're in for a value-packed episode full of tips and tricks to go out on your own.

In this episode, we're joined with Joey Raymundo, owner of Media X Marketing, a video production company based out of Middlesex, NJ. We dive into how Joey got started in the industry and how he pivoted from a comfortable marketing job making 6 figures to starting his own media company. 

Throughout the podcast, we go over how you can leverage your "competition" to be used as an asset to help you grow, how to balance your fulltime job and passion work, how to price yourself in the creative industry, when is the right time to take on free work, and how to scale your business and start hiring people. 

Gercino Soares joins the StrixMedia team for this installment of the Creative Collective Show. Gercino is a successful real estate investor/developer and entrepreneur who shares his passion for Real Estate as well as his inspiring story on this podcast. He talks about his experience coming to America in 1996 when he was just six years old. Gercino is the perfect example of an "American dream" success story. Even if Real Estate isn't your thing, you're bound to find some valuable insight and inspiration from this conversation with Gercino. 

Helen Polise is the director of the production company "Muthership."She sits down with the StrixMedia team to discuss her career, as well as her lifelong passion for production. 

She begins the episode by taking us back to how she got started in the business, explaining that her first job was in advertising as the assistant to the creative director. One day, her boss gave her the opportunity to be the producer of a shoot. Helen was thrown right into the production world with very little experience. Looking back she realizes how this experience jumpstarted the rest of her career, as well as her skills in production. 

Later in the show, Helen describes how she has adapted her company "Muthership" to operate during the quarantine. She started filming her own video content for Facebook and Instagram and soon noticed that this content was an amazing way for her brand to connect with people online. Helen offers some wonderful knowledge and insight in this episode--- even if you aren't into production. Enjoy!

In this episode, we are joined by Walt Blau, a podcaster that we met when StrixMedia was first starting off. Walt is a really down to earth guy who enjoys the creative side of podcasting and loves opportunities to speak with interesting people. We shoot the shit and talk about his podcast Walt's Kitchen Table, a podcast that focuses on the extraordinary stories and lives of the average person. Be sure to tune in to this episode to hear how Walt started his podcast and what he does to maintain a healthy work-life balance. 

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Twitch, Facebook Live, and YouTube. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

Mindy Scheier, Founder, and CEO of Runway of Dreams and Gamut Management chat with StrixMedia about the mission of both companies, the future of inclusive/adaptive clothing, opportunities for the community of people with disabilities, and the small goal of changing the entire fashion industry.

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Facebook Live, YouTube & Twitch. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot on Instagram @strixmedianj, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

Daniel Hill joins the Creative Collective Show via Zoom to talk about how he teaches small business owners how to use Instagram. Daniel is a social media strategist and loves teaching people how to use new technologies that will help improve their business. A few years ago, when Daniel decided to make a business out of being a social media strategist, he chose to focus on Instagram because he felt it was the most interactive and rewarding platform that business owners should learn. Daniel talks with the StrixMedia team about the power of social media along with insight and his own personal story of navigating the world as an entrepreneur. 

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Facebook Live, YouTube & Twitch. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot on Instagram @strixmedianj, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

In this virtual episode of The Creative Collective Show, the StrixMedia team is graced with an amazing creative/production veteran, Abbey LeVine. She has worked in the content creation realm for almost thirty years and currently owns Swirl Studios; a content production company based in New York City. She started her career in production working for television and talk shows such as The Dr. Phil Show and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Abbey decided to take her talent to the crime genre of entertainment and launched the popular show “Beyond Scared Straight”.

During quarantine, her need to create became so overwhelming she decided to pull a remote team together to start producing a new COVID Documentary from the point of view of different people going through this difficult time. Find out exactly how she plans to execute this idea using available resources and rallying a team of female producers nationwide. 

Listen in as Abbey shares great stories about her past experiences in the production industry and how she started her latest content-based company. This episode is full of valuable and interesting information for anyone who loves the creative process, the production industry, and storytelling.

The quarantine can’t stop the content! Hopefully, you’re hungry, because today's guest sure is.  For this quarantine edition of The Creative Collective Show, the StrixMedia team is joined by Randy Santel. Randy is a professional eater & Youtuber. He doesn’t go by the term competitive eater because he mainly focuses on winning food-challenges, and not eating competitions. Randy creates content to show off his pro-eating skills on YouTube and Facebook and has been eating professionally for the past ten years. Randy has 1.02 Million subscribers on YouTube, and 1.09 million subscribers on Facebook. In addition to that, he has 120,000 Instagram followers and 296 Million Youtube views. 

He got into professional eating after competing in (and winning) a national body transformation contest. On March 19th, 2010, Randy started his first eating challenge with a friend from college. They had one hour to finish a twenty-eight inch, eleven-pound pizza. Sure enough, Randy and his buddy won the challenge. It was on this day that Randy discovered what he wanted to do with his life; he wanted to make living eating and working out while traveling around the world while helping others along the way. He has 829 food challenge wins in all 50 states; plus 37 countries. Randy's goals for the future are as big as his appetite. He wants to continue creating content and motivating others to look and feel their best, by becoming a registered dietician. 

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Twitch, Facebook Live, and Instagram Live. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

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For this episode of The Creative Collective Show (Quarantine Edition) the StrixMedia team is joined via video call by Janet Schijns. She leads a technology consulting firm called the JS Group and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to being an entrepreneur and staying on top of the tech market. Janet and her firm work with companies of all sizes, including many early-stage tech startups. She and the StrixMedia team discuss her early life, how she started her own consulting firm, and how technology plays a major role in keeping us all connected. If you're interested in technology and its constantly changing market, then this episode will be right up your alley. In addition to consulting and technology, Janet offers valuable insight into starting a business and gaining a wide variety of clients.

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Facebook Live, YouTube & Twitch. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot on Instagram @strixmedianj, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

This week Rick Martinez the owner and founder of Señor Sangria joins the StrixMedia team via Zoom. Rick kicks off the show by letting the team in on his backstory. He attended Rutgers University as an Accounting major but fell in love with web development and internet space. He had the opportunity to work for some startups, which exposed him to that environment early on. So where did he get the idea to start his own Sangria business?  Well, as Rick says, "it all started on one drunken night." Rick explains that he decided to make a few jugs of sangria to bring to a party. However, Rick didn't have the time or patience to sit down and cut up all the fresh ingredients, so he made the sangria in his own unique way. What originated as a home recipe that he served at a party quickly turned into a hit with his friends–– who started sharing it with their friends and giving it as gifts. Rick realized that there had to be other people like him out there; people who wanted a great tasting sangria that could be served quickly and without any hard work. In the beginning, people told him "you can’t bottle a great tasting sangria, it has to be made fresh." Boy, were they wrong. In 2006 he decided to pursue his passion and focus on making a bottled sangria that really tasted like it was homemade. It took him 3 and ½ years of research and development to find the best quality ingredients to create his first product; Classic Red Sangria. Rick is proof that you don’t have to spend years coming up with the perfect business idea; sometimes it just happens overnight. 

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Twitch, Facebook Live, and YouTube Live. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

Stopping by the StrixMedia studio we have Sydney Prusso. She is the owner of Sydney Prusso Design; a lettering and mural business. She and the StrixMedia team discuss how she got into art at a young age as well as the pivotal point that she decided to make a living out of it. Sydney opens up about her experience running a mural business and describes the highs and lows of her journey. If you're in the art world or just interested in starting a business, this episode is a good one to listen to. See how she goes from full time at an NYC agency to freelance artist, muralist, and graphic designer.

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Facebook Live, YouTube & Twitch. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot on Instagram @strixmedianj, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

You're about to listen to an epic story of a young man who will stop at nothing to pursue his passion to document celebrities. Skit, now signed to the label Infinite Vision, has photographed some of the biggest artists in the music industry from Cardi B, Drake, and Pharrell to Wiz Khalifa, Nipsey Hussle, Missy Elliot, and so many others. He even got a chance to shoot with, NBA Player, Kenneth Faried. Hear how Skit hustled through dead-end jobs at UPS, Discovery Channel, and the Adult Film Industry to literally breaking into the VMA's to capture some epic moments with A-List celebrities. if you're looking for the motivation to keep going, this podcast will certainly light a fire under your ass! 🔥🔥🔥

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Facebook Live, YouTube & Twitch. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot on Instagram @strixmedianj, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

Heather Kell is the content creator & YouTuber for her channel, KellOfAPlan. She is a lifestyle planner and teaches people how to live their best life and find peace through planning in a creative way. Heather joins the StrixMedia team to talk about how she turned her passion into a successful business that changes people's lives. She also talks about why planning is so important to finding peace in life and gives some helpful tips and tricks for anyone looking to get more organized.

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Facebook Live, YouTube & Twitch. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot on Instagram @strixmedianj, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

It's not everyday you get to hear the origin story of a true pioneer, and on this episode... we do just that! We're joined by Rosie Mattio, a cannabis industry leader, and a pioneer in bringing pro-cannabis support to mainstream media. Her firm, Mattio Communications, one of the most influential cannabis-focused marketing companies in the world, is responsible for over 3k placements in 2019 alone, with a total UVM of over 100 billion! Rosie details the story of how she got started in PR, what she’s done in the cannabis industry, and how she’s handling the pandemic as a working mom.

Thanks for listening! Check us out on Twitch, Facebook Live, and Instagram Live. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave us a review! If you leave us a review and DM us a screenshot, we will send you some awesome StrixMedia stickers for free. Thanks for supporting the show!

Caitlin is the founder/owner of Clover Event Co. is a Philadelphia based wedding/event planning company. Clover does wedding planning, styling, and event coordination. She enlightens the StrixMedia team on the world of wedding planning, describes how she got into the industry, started her own business, and gives helpful insight on how she grew her client base from the ground up. Caitlin has a lot to offer–– not just about wedding planning, but about being a small business owner and having a creative mind. 

In this episode, we sit down with Sophie, the woman in charge of Chic-Fil-A Menlo Park. Sophie has been working for Chic-Fil-A since she was in high school. Her manager/mentor saw something special in Sophie and knew that her passion and skillset would map well to a manager position. She moved through the ranks, and after graduating from college entered the professional development program that the company offers which set her up for success to eventually become owner and operator of her own franchise.  Tune in to this episode of The Creative Collective Show to hear how Sophie became the owner of her own Chic-Fil-A after spending years training for her dream position. 

Jamie Lieberman is the owner of Hashtag Legal; a law firm that specializes in working with creatives and small business owners. She has been a practicing lawyer for nearly fifteen years. Jamie joins the Creative Collective Show to discuss how she partners with clients in creative fields to understand their business objectives/obstacles to help them succeed while delivering exceptional legal service that protects their business. We’ll get some helpful legal tips tailored for creative entrepreneurs, as well as hear how Jamie found her calling in this very niche industry, and hear how creativity plays a role in everything; including legal services.