The following article was originally published in the Center for Business and Economic Insight Fall 2020 Report.
by Emma Fisher
CBEI Student Research Assistant
There is something extraordinary happening at the Create Portage County workspaces. Located in the heart of downtown Stevens Point, Thousand Lumens Productions is bringing stories to life through beautiful and refined videos.
In early March 2020, I had the opportunity to sit down for an interview with the owners of Thousand Lumens Productions to learn more about their small business. Co-owned by UW-Stevens Point alumni Zach Strenger ’15 and Jade Arnold ’15, Thousand Lumens Productions focuses on helping businesses tell their stories through beautiful videos that promote a loyal and thriving customer base. Truly a dynamic duo, Zach and Jade combine their expertise in media studies and English to create compelling marketing videos based around bringing company mission statements to life. By focusing on these mission statements as the basis for their content, each Thousand Lumens video is as much for the employee as it is for the customer base.
Thousand Lumens Productions has been producing marketing videos with a cinematic spin for numerous local businesses since its founding in 2017. A few of their customers include Stevens Point Orthopedics, Point Brewery, Great Northern Distillery, Ascension (St. Michael’s), Stevens Point Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and many more. Zach and Jade attribute authenticity as the root of their prosperity and success in their business. The videographer duo states that they “fall into the service of things, not the video wizard side of things.” The fundamental aspect of Thousand Lumens to which makes the business successful is their personability with clients and their interest in helping people tell their stories in an authentic manner. Their mindset is focused on “we” rather than “I” when it comes to creating their art – a mindset that builds their company success through both synergy in their internal production team, and reputation with their customers in the external context.
The ‘we’ mindset contributes directly to the business philosophy of Thousand Lumens. In my interview with the videographer duo, they spoke about the path they took to find their place in the world of the videography profession. A major factor that is present in determining success in the videography is something that duo calls ‘finding your niche.’
“I think one of the things I’ve come to realize through school was that if you have a video production business – or a business of any kind – they always talk about finding your niche,” said Jade Arnold.
A ‘niche’ is where your interests lie and how they are incorporated into your business profession. Thousand Lumens Productions has a unique identification of their niche, which is ‘focusing on people in business.’
Every successful business has not only a business philosophy but must set goals as well. For Thousand Lumens, they believe that “to be successful with goal setting, you must keep it reasonable but don’t be afraid to reach for the stars.” Maintaining achievable goals and viewing them as milestones is a way Zach and Jade set up their projects for success. By vocalizing their action plan with their team, they bring their goals to life by talking about them. This is a great tip for anyone to use in formulating their own goals, especially in business. By vocalizing a goal, it makes it something real, something you want to achieve, and most importantly, something you are willing to work hard to for.
The original interview originally occurred just as COVID-19 became a major news headline in early March. With the immense impact of the pandemic on businesses of all types, I thought it would be interesting to follow up with Zach and Jade on how Thousand Lumens was doing in these uncertain times. From this brief second interview related to COVID-19, the pair spoke about witnessing a change in client demand due to the pandemic. The beginning of the pandemic led to a slow down in projects; but around July, Thousand Lumens started seeing an influx of client demand for digital marketing needs.
“People realized they wanted to use a digital space, and we worked with them to figure out ways they can use digital spaces that worked the best for their needs, so they aren’t using just a Zoom call or a phone call to cover the event,” said Zach Strenger.
Another shift in demand Thousand Lumen experienced was the increase in client request for livestreams. During the summer months, the duo worked as one of the sponsors of the Levitt Amp concert series which usually take place at Pfiffner Park. Due to many large events being held virtually this year, the need for high quality livestreaming is becoming increasingly popular. To meet this demand, Thousand Lumens has been working with different software to meet the needs of their customers.
In terms of a shift in the videography process, much of the filming technique now involves less people and is done outdoors to respect social distancing measures. The duo was well equipped for the shift to working remotely, since before the pandemic, about 40% of their time was working from home. Now, about 90% of their time is spent working at home.
This opportunity to interview Thousand Lumens Productions has provided intriguing insight to their business. Everything from Zach and Jade’s dedication to authenticity to the process they take to set and achieve goals paves the way for their business success. I hope this read has been interesting for you as you learn about one of UW-Stevens Point’s alumni-run businesses. I want to give a special thank you to Zach and Jade from Thousand Lumens Productions for allowing me to feature them in this report.
For more information on Thousand Lumens Productions and their work, please check out their website at thousandlumens.com and on Facebook.