Meet Jake Before

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jake Before. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jake below.

Jake, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I credit my work ethic to when I was a teenager working and volunteering at a summer camp. It was a camp for kids to come to for a week to get outside and enjoy the summer instead of being inside at home. I started out on staff which was mostly maintenance of the grounds and came back as a counselor the following year. At that time it was even good for me to get outside instead of playing video games all summer. Working in the heat definitely helped me develop resilience. After a few years of counseling I became head of tech where I ran front of house sound for the shows, took photos, and edited a video of the campers having fun and playing games throughout the week. We would show them the video at the end of the week and they always enjoyed watching it. We would also use the videos for promotional purposes. Head of tech was especially challenging for me because I hadn’t done any video editing prior to that. I had a week of practice in final cut before the first week of campers and had to learn it very quickly. I really had no choice but to become passionate about what I was doing to have the drive to get the job done. I would wake up at 6 AM to start my job and by 9PM I would still be watching youtube videos of how to edit. Thinking back it almost seems unrealistic how much I got done, but I was 18 and had more energy to do that kind of thing. I still had the weekends to recover but during the weeks I was constantly working. The thing that really gave me energy to do it was that I was surrounded by my best friends who were also working just as hard as I was. It was definitely a different chapter of my life because I don’t speak to any of them anymore but it’s still a time I look back on fondly. It’s also where I met my wife.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Professionally I’m a legal videographer so I go to depositions where attorneys ask witnesses questions to learn more about a case. I also still do freelance photo and video work as well as make music. Legal video is interesting because I get to hear all kinds of things and I’ve learned a lot just listening to different cases. My photo and video work is mostly music videos which I really enjoy but I also take wedding photos, senior photos, and event photos. I’ve been doing freelance work since my work at the summer camp which I got done with in 2019. I started drumming when I was 8 and playing shows when I was 12 and have always loved metal and other alternative genres, so thats what I make now. In 2020 I had to move to a small apartment so I started making alternative pop songs instead of playing drums because I had to sell my kit. I had been singing for a while and I wanted to try songwriting. It’s a craft I’m still working on and I don’t think I’ll ever stop working on it. My songs are in the genres of emo rap, hip-hop, pop punk, and pop. I’m working on a few different projects at the moment so it takes me some time to finish things because of the other work I’m doing. Recently I’ve found a much better balance of work and even though it takes longer I’m much happier and healthy. I’m excited to release more music and start playing shows. Shows are something I very much miss doing because I haven’t been in a band since 2020. I don’t know if I’ll find people to form a band so I’m working on a solo act that I have 1 show booked for so far. I release music under my real name Jake Before which is on most streaming platforms.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I’d have to say my most impactful quality has been my amiability. I tend to work well with most people and try to fit the role I need to play to get things done. High school and college helped with that a lot because you’re not always on groups with people who naturally work well together. Sometimes I had to be a leader and sometimes I just had to go with the flow. My most important skill is troubleshooting, and computer science being an area of expertise that helps with that. Most of the work and creative things I do involve audio and video so when something doesn’t work I need to fix it quickly. If I’m on a legal job and trial or a deposition needs to start, I’ve got to fix things fast if there is a problem. I started developing that skill when I was about 12 but really got faster in college after learning about audio and video routing. For someone wanting to learn troubleshooting I’d recommend learning a digital audio workstation. Even for someone who exclusively works with video, DAWs really help to visualize patching and the flow of electricity. Building computers is also a great way to build troubleshooting skills.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

One of the most impactful things my parents did for me was always give me a space to play music. No matter where we lived my dad always had a music room. I learned how to play music with my dad and they never told me I needed to stop playing even if I was playing very loudly on drums. Of course I wasn’t usually playing super late but even to have the freedom to do that whenever I needed to was awesome. We had a pretty loud house between me and my parents practicing pretty much every day.

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