Ashley Ephraim of Chicagoland on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Ashley Ephraim and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Ashley, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
What I am most proud of building is my family. I have an incredible partner that has been with me since day one of starting my business and my pursuit to be the best filmmaker I can be. My wife has not only supported my dreams, but also encouraged me when challenges and failures have come my way. We’ve also raised an incredible family together. My 3 sons are amazing. I love their personalities and the way they share with me their dreams and goals. I also love that we are adding one more little boy to our mix any day now. Building a family takes intention and a purpose to go outside of yourself to care for others. This is why it is the thing I am most proud of, because it’s allowed me to better understand surrendering myself for the betterment of others.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Well, my name is Ashley Ephraim and I am the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BrightCap Entertainment, a film and video production company in the Chicagoland area that focuses on storytelling rooted in stories of hope. One of the things that I believe is unique about our production company is that with every story we hear and every client we work with, intention and purpose is where we start. We want to share stories that matter, stories that not only entertain, but also stir and shift the audiences minds and hearts towards something better.

As a kid who grew up in Mayaguez Puerto Rico, my introduction to English came in the form of cable tv and the shows I would watch after school. Those shows, those movies that I would watch, shaped me in a lot of ways. Some stories made me more confident, others made me feel like I wasn’t alone. This is what I want to bring to our company. To me, it doesn’t matter if we are creating an Ad for a Real Estate Attorney or a short film for an up and coming writer, we want to bring stories to life that will make people FEEL, REFLECT, and SHIFT.

Currently we are continuing to grow our presence around the Chicagoland market as well as nationally, with having worked on projects in multiple states throughout the U.S. I have an amazing team of people that I work with, including Branding and Design visionary Michael Mims from Mims Creative, photography and creative extraordinaire Mason Runkel, and Aaron Barnett, who is an incredible visionary and designer. I believe that the people that we surround ourselves with will be in direct correlation towards the work we produce. Therefore, we want to be a production company that surrounds itself with the best creatives, strategists, and thinkers in the field of video marketing and film entertainment. We are looking towards big things for the years ahead and can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
I feel that in life what tends to break the bonds between people, as well as restores them is trust. I think that trust is one of the values that all of humanity holds close its heart. Trust is how we form bonds, and the lack of trust is what breaks them. I remember listening to author Brene Brown and she gave an amazing metaphor as to how she defines trust. She said, “…trust is like a marble jar… You share those hard stories and hard things that are happening to you with friends, who over time, you filled up their marble jar. They’ve done thing after thing after thing, where you’re like, ‘I know I can share this with this person’.” Although it takes time to fill that jar, in one moment it can also empty. The equity we build with one another matters, and we should always take care of it.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering is a path we all must take. However, it is our choice to either embrace suffering or be controlled by it. Suffering has taught me that when embraced, it can be a conduit that can lead towards success. Suffering helps amplify the good and the bad inside of us. If part of our character is to persist, then suffering will amplify our persistence. If part of our character is to lean towards apathy, then suffering will amplify our numbness. Success could never teach us how to use suffering as fuel. It is only in suffering when we are able to surrender to something greater than ourselves and allow the exposure of who we really are to show.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
I would hope that my closest friends would say that what really matters to me is relationship. Being a person that is intentional and takes action toward the development, sustenance, and growth of a relationship is who I strive to be. There were times in my life where I felt that taking care of a relationship was something that was only my responsibility if the other person in the relationship put their effort in, and that effort was judged by my standards. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this ideology was wrong in so many ways. We can only control what we can control. There will be ebbs and flows to any relationship. So, I believe that if I can give my best to a relationship, then I will get out of it what is meant for me to get out of it. This will also help me retain the relationships that will continue to grow me as a human and move on from those that have served their purpose.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
In the end, the impact that I make will be correlated with the stories that are told about me. The stories told about me that matter the most, will be the stories told by those closest to me. My wife, my 4 sons, my friends. Those are the stories that matter the most. So, I hope that those stories about me reflect a man that tried to get everything out of life that he could. I hope that they share the love I have for them. I hope that those that know me can say that I was a man that wanted to spread the love of Jesus to anyone I met. I hope and pray every day that people see through me and in me the love that only Jesus can give. Even if folks can’t explain it, I hope that there is such a supernatural feeling when connecting with me, that people have no choice but to point to God as the source of it.

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