We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erick Durano a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Erick, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Being able to be resilient, regardless of the situation or hardships, was necessary for me growing up. I’m a first-generation Filipino-American, born in Cebu, Philippines, and moved to the United States when I was 7. Being in a totally new country with 5 children, my parents worked hard to afford us a place to stay and a future to look forward to. I credit my work ethic and resilience from the examples they set for us at an early age. I always knew that if things looked bleak, or if my confidence was tested, that I was capable of getting myself back on track and headed in the right direction.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am in the business of telling stories, it’s been my passion since I was young, walking around and shoving a Sony Handicam in the faces of my family and friends. After college I graduated with a degree in Digital Communications and went into a career doing digital marketing and social media management for various industries and corporations. Throughout my various jobs, I always gravitated towards unique stories that I could showcase and implement within our marketing strategies. This grew into a love for film making, which prompted me to go full-time with my video production business, EJD Visuals.
Being a business owner has taken me to so many different places and allowed me to meet people I never would have thought of conversing with. I’ve been to small, gold rush towns to feature an ex-WNBA player turned baker, I’ve gone hunting for chanterelle mushrooms in the forest with a former park ranger, I’ve filmed a shoe release party with top Nike executives, and even been on stage in the Moda Center to film some artists I grew up listening to! The best part of this job is the spontaneity and the people, telling their stories through video and photo excites me every time.
In the future, I want to grow EJD Visuals and branch out to support other creatives within the industry. I didn’t have many mentors when I went on this journey, so I had to learn much of the business the hard way, through trial and error. I created a new branch of my business named “Kasama Creative”, Kasama meaning together in Filipino. The goal of Kasama is to bring together creatives from SE Asian descent and provide a space for us to collaborate, work on projects, and grow together. It is also a chance to start telling the stories of non-profits and small businesses, in the hopes that the stories we create gives the organizations we care about a voice.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three qualities that have helped me the most in my journey have been a willingness to learn, the ability to fail, and proper goal-setting.
Learning is a quality that is easy when you’re first getting started, but a lot of people get in the trap of thinking they know everything. This can lead you and your business in a state of stagnation and alienate you from your peers. Whether you’re just getting started, or you have 30 years of experience, never think you’re above learning something new. Approach new ideas with an open mind, analyze to see if it can help you in your business, and properly implement it if everything looks good to go.
Failure is a natural thing for us humans to stay away from. Failure is something you’ll probably experience a lot of when first getting started. Don’t let failure define you, let yourself learn and grow from it instead. I’ve found myself in a depressed state in the past when I focused too much on failure, rather than the lessons and positives that came out of it.
Running a business means setting goals for yourself. Both personal and professional goals are necessary to keep you and your business going in the right direction. I’ve utilized SMART goal setting to get where I needed to go time and time again:
Specific: The goal should be clear enough that anyone can understand what needs to be done and who will do it.
Measurable: The goal should include how progress will be measured so you can stay on track.
Achievable: The goal should be realistic and within your capabilities.
Relevant: The goal should make sense and align with your overall objectives.
Time-bound: The goal should have a deadline that’s realistic.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I’d love to be able to break into the commercial and advertisement industry. Think of those :30 second ads you see on YouTube or commercials you find on TV. It’s tough since we’re competing with multi-million dollar agencies that have resources that we don’t. To learn as much as I can, I’ve taken courses from small agencies that have done exactly what I want to do. I’m creating “spec-ads”, faux advertisements for brands where I bring a crew together to make a commercial of the same quality and impact like the ones you see on TV. My goal is to build up my portfolio for this industry and have something robust to showcase to potential clients when I start pitching to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ejdvisuals.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/ejdvisuals
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ejdvisuals
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