Meet Daniel Shackleford | Video Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Daniel Shackleford and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniel, what do you attribute your success to?
I think the answer to this question is a product of my personality, but I credit so much of the growth I’ve had over the years to the relationships I’ve built with people along the way. I love meeting new people, and I especially love connecting with people that are further along in their careers than I am. There’s so much to learn from the people who have gone before us, and I’m not shy about reaching out to those people and building a relationship with them. I’d also say that when I do that, I’m coming from a place of genuine desire to get to know them too. I never want any of my relationships to be one sided, meaning I’m not contacting these people and peppering them with questions and moving on. I genuinely want to build friendships with people, and my hope is that I’m also positively impacting their lives too. I’ve been blessed with lots of opportunities to meet some extremely talented people over the last few years, and many of those people have become true friends of mine.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business looks very different today than it did 2 years ago, and I expect that it will look a lot different two years from now too. I thrive in an environment where I have the opportunity to regularly experience lots of new things. I also crave new connections/relationships, and working in the video production industry has scratched that itch for me. A valuable piece of advice for most businesses is to find the thing you’re best at and really niche down into that area of focus. Become the best person at doing this one thing and you’ll have a fruitful career. I wholeheartedly believe that this is good advice, but as a person that seeks out variety in life that advice feels more difficult to apply. I get a lot of joy out of working with new types of businesses and industries. It keeps me on my toes and allows me to learn how to tackle different types of challenges that I might not face by drilling down into a singular focus. One of the things that remains consistent across all the work I do is that I want to always have a clear understanding for the ‘why’ behind whatever it is that my clients are doing. For businesses I love to learn more about their industry and what makes them different from their competitors. For individuals or other creatives, the same thing applies. Gaining that deeper understanding of my clients before we ever start shooting a project is crucial to creating great work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My wife and I are based in Athens, GA, and I think everyone has a different picture of what Athens is like which is one of the reasons this town is so special. With the University here, there’s obviously a lot of energy surrounding the students and campus, especially in the fall during football season. There are lots of bars and restaurants that make their living on catering to that demographic. There are so many other sides to the city other than what the school brings too. The art and music scene is incredible here. There are so many venues in town to see some really talented artists. We also have a long list of awesome restaurants and breweries in Athens. There’s a network of super talented chefs that build really amazing menus, and it seems like there’s a new brewery opening every month. Having moved from Atlanta to Athens, we’ve been so happy settling into a smaller town but one that’s full of life and growth.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife definitely deserves the shoutout here. She was in the creative industry for years before I made the leap and joined her in her business full time. In the early days before I split off to do create my own video production company, everything I learned from a creative perspective came from her. She’s an extremely talented photographer, and has a true gift for making people feel comfortable in front of her lens, bringing out the joy inside of people, and capturing that in a beautiful way.

Website: Two: www.shacklefordfilms.com & www.danielshackleford.com

Instagram: @danielshackleford

Image Credits
Family Photo: Matthew Crenshaw