Live events and interactions allow brands to make lasting impressions on consumers. However, it’s not always possible to meet with your target audience in person – especially over the past few years.

Luckily, the right media can convey a similar brand experience. That’s where O Hello Media comes in. The company specializes in photos and videos that truly tell the story of a brand or experience. Read more in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

What the Business Does

Provides photography and videography services.

Founder and CEO Taryn Covrigaru told Small Business Trends, “O Hello Media captures and produces global photography and videography for brands and experiential marketers with creative services that elevate marketing content into visual brand experiences for more brand love and loyalty. We create lasting impressions that spark connection through creativity.”

Business Niche

Offering a consistent experience across the world.

Covrigaru says, “O Hello Media has a curated global network of more than 250 highly experienced and skilled photographers and videographers across the country, and in select international markets, who have been handpicked based on their unique ability to capture brand stories in an impactful way.”

How the Business Got Started

Due to personal experiences at events.

Covrigaru explains, “I was producing events for brands all over the country, which included hiring high-quality photographers and videographers local to these cities. And I struggled to find the right talent. It was really a challenge to find creators who truly understand what it means to capture the story of a brand experience versus a standard event (there are crucial differences).”

Biggest Win

Working with their first client to provide videography and video editing services.

Covrigaru adds, “This project took our already deep passion for elevating visual content through innovation to an entirely new level. Rather than a story that already existed (e.g. a live event), we played an integral role in the development of that story and how to share it through videography in an impactful and compelling way. As a result, opportunities to do similar work with new brand clients and continually ignite our creativity opened up – bringing diversity to our work.”

Biggest Challenge

Pivoting during the pandemic.

Covrigaru says, “As with many other businesses last year, COVID had a direct and immediate impact on my business, as 90% of our work relied on live brand experiences.

“I was committed to coming up with new ways to expand O Hello Media’s offerings. And so I locked myself in the conference room to develop new business solutions that would complement O Hello Media’s current offerings and serve us well in the future. It turns out that locking myself in the conference room to brainstorm new business ideas, resulted in a concept designed around developing ideas…. And thus was born O Hello Ideas; an ideation arm of the business.

“O Hello Ideas creates rapid and simplified creative ideation for brand and experiential marketers to help them level up their marketing game. Brands and agencies can submit their request for ideas (RFI), and the O Hello Ideas team will craft a brief to produce 12 quality ideas generated by vetted creative thinkers who ideate individually.”

Biggest Risk

Hiring the first employee.

Covrigaru adds, “When it became clear that I needed to hire an employee, I took the risk with a bit of blind naivety which enabled me to move forward without fear. If it had gone wrong, I would have lost time and potentially risked the client relationships that I had worked so hard to develop if the employee didn’t represent my company’s core values. The end result, however, was incredibly positive. And it allowed me to scale and grow my business to take O Hello Media to the next level.”

Lesson Learned

Define what you stand for.

Covrigaru explains, “I truly believe that a business can’t have a purpose without first establishing its core values. Core values serve as the foundation from which every decision within the business is made; such as how you hire, what types of clients you want to work with, your company culture, and the type of projects you are going to take on or say no to.”

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

Marketing and creating community.

Covrigaru says, “I would Invest the money in consistent marketing to continue to build even greater awareness for the O Hello Media brand. In addition, I would also invest in a system to manage and create a community among our global network of photographers and videographers, fueling our ability to diversify our network and strengthen culture.”

Working Philosophy

Work like a duck.

Covrigaru explains, “Here at O Hello Media, we refer to ourselves as ducks. This comes from one of our 6 core values: Operate like a duck. Our hustle propels us forward while we glide with grace above water. When you visualize a duck on water – her own power propels her forward with swift paddling underwater. But on the surface moves with ease and fluidity. It’s something most everyone can relate to and just fits our personality and drive so perfectly. Keep it smooth, hustle, but always remain positive whatever you need to do to get from point A to point B.”

Favorite Quote

A unique song lyric.

Covrigaru says, “My favorite quote is a song lyric, from my all-time favorite band, Guster. The song is called “The Captain.” And it says, “It’s simple, so says the captain: Face forward, move slow, forge ahead.”

“This resonates with me because in any form of leadership, we’re in a growth mindset – for ourselves and the people we lead. But it’s easy to get stuck – or to move forward with such speed and intensity that what is important can often be overlooked. Or sometimes, we can’t help but continually look back. This is about resolve but doing so with vision and care.”

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Image: O Hello Media, Taryn Covrigaru