We recently connected with Derrick and Stephanie Nguyen and have shared our conversation below.
Derrick and Stephanie, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
We have an enormous love for traveling, the outdoors, and music. These three things allow us to expand our mindsets and go deeper into our creative brains to truly keep the creativity alive. When we travel across the country and abroad, we observe what’s around us, hear the ambience, and let every detail we see and feel to enhance our minds. Traveling helps us to see different cultures and what they all have to offer. The many aspects of different cultures around the world can broaden our understanding of what we think we know, to experiencing what we need to know.
Living a healthy, outdoorsy, and active lifestyle, it helps to create a balance with our professional and personal lives. We step out into the unknown of the mountains, forests, and other landscapes that can help bring a new creative outlet to our work. If there’s something about us you should know about, it’s that if we can be outside doing something, we will. Our brains aren’t wired to sit in front of a computer and work 24/7, we need to be out exploring the beautiful world we live in to truly experience life.
And finally, music. Music connects the world. It connects the people around us. The rhythm of the instruments that allow our free spirited minds and souls to dance to the music around us is what keeps us alive. It’s what drives the story in our wedding films. Nothing else matters without music, and this is something we are truly passionate about. Music festivals and live music concerts are our lives; we dance until we can’t feel our legs, we sing until our voices are gone, and we get lost into the abyss of serenity as we listen to our favorite musician play their beautiful art. Music gives us emotions to feel and an outlet to be ourselves, and we truly feel music is the most important aspect of keeping our creativity alive.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
We have a passion for three things: 1) Music; 2) Capturing special moments between our loved ones; and 3) Art. When we first dabbled into Videography, we were simply doing it as an outlet for our creativity and imagination. We thought nothing of it as a professional career until one of our friends who was getting married and asked us and another one of our videography friends to film it. Not knowing what to expect from it, we absolutely fell in love with capturing the love between two people and creating a memorable video for them and their families to cherish forever. Being able to combine our passions of music to lift up the wedding films we create as well as our love for art is truly a blessing. There’s nothing better than doing what you love with the person you love for the people you love (our couples).
This gave us purpose. The rewarding and fulfilling feeling we get when our couples react to the video with such appreciation, love, and awe. This is why we do what we do. Because the priceless memories that can be rewatched for generations to come are greater than anything we could ever ask for. After losing so many of our closest friends and family at such a young age, it’s important that we continue to document not just our lives, but the lives of others in one of the biggest events in their lives. We have truly found our purpose with Wedding Videography.
Diamond Peak Films is truly unique, as we create a cinematic masterpiece that captivates our couples’ love for one another while adding in our artistic flare to it. Our storytelling and music selections are two of our most important aspects in our films, and this is what makes Diamond Peak Films stand out. Our art is a never-ending cycle of improvement, but this gives us more reason to be better everyday.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Being open to taking constructive criticism from others 2) Knowing when to step away from a project and coming back to it with a clear mind
3) Be honest and have open communication with your clients
Have an open mind on what others have to say about your work. Allow others that are more experienced to give you advice. Find a mentor or someone you can reach out to to discuss your weak and strong points. To discuss ways you can get better, because there will always be someone better than you.
When you continuously work on projects for a prolonged period, you typically burn out. Knowing when to stop on project is important so you don’t have the creative burn out most creatives have. Go outside, do something active, take a break. Letting your creative juices recharge is imperative to your journey.
We’ve always been open and honest with our clients. We let them know everything they need to to decide whether or not we’re a good fit. We also tell them any honest feedback or suggestions that can help make the entire process with them easier.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
Being able to balance personal and professional life. It was a constant struggle a year ago when we first started our business on when we needed to work and when we needed to relax. We always felt we were always on the go and never stopped. Our family ended up deteriorating over time, and it jeopardized our mental health because of it. The last 12 months we learned what was most important, how to prioritize things, and taking a break when we needed it. Now, the balance is the best we’ve had in a while, as we stop work when it needs to be stopped, and relax when we need to relax. Mental, emotional, and physical health are all very important when it comes to this type of work, but being able to balance them will allow you to prosper in your business and life even more.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.diamondpeakfilms.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diamondpeakfilms/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diamondpeakfilms
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUyf0jM6PdjC49ymzQclMrw
- Other: https://linktr.ee/diamondpeakfilms
Image Credits
Sam Sansudsavat Kriztelle Halili Kristina Lorraine Bailey Hill
