IAM1052- Owner Provides Video Services to Preserve Memories

Home Video Studio specializes in video editing, video to DVA – Digital Video Archive™, video to DVD transfer, DVD and CD duplication, photo/video montages, Super 8mm, 8mm & 16mm home movie transfers, 35mm slide transfers, smartphone and smart TV transfer, web videos, videotape repair and much more.

• CEO Hack: Lopped App
• CEO Nugget: Put your dream through and do what you like
• CEO Defined: Freedom

Website: https://mydigital-memories.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreykay1/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HomeVideoStudioJeffCtyWV

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:11 – 00:37 Intro:

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:38 – 00:49 Gresham Harkless:

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the IMCEO Podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Jeff K. Of Home Video Studio in Charleston, West Virginia. Jeff, it's great to have you on the show.

00:49 – 00:52 Jeff Kay:

Thank you very much. I've been looking forward to this.

00:52 – 01:27 Gresham Harkless:

Been looking forward to it as well. And what I want to do before we jump into the interview is read a little bit more about Jeff so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Home Video Studio of Charleston, West Virginia specializes in video editing, video to DVA, digital video archive, video to DVD transfer, DVD and CD duplication, photo slash video montages, super 8-millimeter, 8-millimeter, and 16-millimeter home video transfers, 35-millimeter slide transfers, smartphone and smart tv transfers, web videos, videotape repair, and much much more. Jeff, great to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:28 – 01:29 Jeff Kay:

Absolutely.

01:30 – 01:48 Gresham Harkless:

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well you take everything, sounds like it might be kind of a little bit more old and make it a lot more new, it sounds like. So yeah, I read a little bit, you know, about what you do and how you do it. Could you take us through a little bit more on what led you there and what you like to call it, what I like to call your CEO story?

01:49 – 04:20 Jeff Kay:

Sure. I had a passion for video and sound and all that back in, I'll date myself here a little bit, about 25 years ago. But my parents were like, no, you can't do that. We prefer it if you went the corporate route. So I went the corporate route for about 30 years. After being laid off 5 times, yes, you heard me right, 5 times, I decided to pursue my passion. Well, there was a step before then. My parents passed away about 3 years ago. My sister and I were left with film, CDs, 16-millimeter, 8-millimeter, tons of photo albums, and I mean, moving boxes full. And she's like, well, we better divide all this stuff up to see who wants what.

And I'm like, I've got a better idea. Let's digitize it and everybody can have a copy. In addition, it preserves the memories themselves because as I'm looking through all these older pictures, they fade, and you can't get them out of the photo books and things of that nature. So I worked to restore the luster of memory in the image. And with that being said, 1 of the things that I found interesting is, that after my parents died, I was going to my grandfather's wallet. Within his wallet, I found a picture of his mother, which goes back to the late 1800s.

And that memory is just price-hooked. I mean, I can't get another picture of it. And it's something I want to preserve from my kids and my grandkids. I mean, I've never seen a picture of my great-great-great-grandmother. So it's been a very interesting journey and very exciting.

04:21 – 04:49 Gresham Harkless:

Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate you sharing that. Obviously, sorry to hear about your parents, but I think you captured it. I think that sometimes we forget about these memories that we have, especially if they're not digital already, just how can we capture them? Because we can't get another 1 of those pictures back. We can't get another time of that memory back. So to be able to kind of restore that for maybe for lack of a better term and have that so that it's not just for you, but potentially for so many family members is huge.

04:50 – 05:29 Jeff Kay:

Yeah, because 1 of the things I tell my clients and my customers is that you have home insurance, you have car insurance, You potentially have club insurance, fire insurance, but what do you do if 1 of those affects your home and you lose all your memories? You don't have photo insurance. So that's kind of what I think of myself as. I kind of provide photo insurance so people can provide their lifelong memories and pass them down to future generations.

05:31 – 06:01 Gresham Harkless:

Yeah, absolutely. The opportunity to preserve those things. And I think even if you had quote-unquote photo insurance, I don't even know if that exists. But even so, you're not going to be able to get that image back. So even if there was something like that, it doesn't come back as it was. So that's why I love the work that you do because it preserves those things, it creates it so that it's digital and you can take those images and have those digitally so that they can be across different platforms, be used by different people.

So definitely appreciate that. So I know I read a little bit, you know, on how you work with your clients and how you kind of convert those different types of media. Could you take us through a little bit more about that and how that process goes? And what you feel is maybe what I have to call your secret sauce and what sets you apart and makes you unique?

06:20 – 07:13 Jeff Kay:

Well, a lot of my clients, I'll take you to my most recent client, who just came by today. He brought me 800 slides from the Vietnam-Korea War. I scanned those slides, digitized them, and now I'm in the process of color restoration. And when he came by, I told him what I was doing. His eyes just lit up. Which is why I do what I do. But given the fact that everybody is worried about COVID-19 and I know this exists. I know people are afraid of dropping, or afraid of going out and all these things. So I offer a few services, 1 UPS, And for those who are afraid of shipping their memories because they are priceless, I do use UPS so I can write a track number and I can track it. Nothing has ever been lost. I also offer pick up and drop off and I'm going to meet my clients.

So, I mean, I think it's important in this day and age to adapt, and Concerning my secret sauce, it's funny, I've been thinking about that because it's not an easy question. There are a lot of companies, and I shouldn't say a lot, several companies that do similar things to what I do. But 1 of the things that I think of my secret sauce is me. When somebody picks up the phone I'm not looking to bash any of the companies here. When somebody picks up the phone, you get me, you get the owner and you aren't handed off to somebody else for 1, maybe 1 department for slides, maybe another department for photos, maybe another department for something else, you get me. And I work with you to make sure I understand exactly what you want. Because I wanna make sure my customers are happy with my services.

08:51 – 09:04 Gresham Harkless:

Absolutely. That makes perfect sense. Well, I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

09:04 – 09:48 Jeff Kay:

More effective and efficient. There are a couple of hacks that I use. There's a tool out there called, what's it called, a loop deck, I believe. And it works with interfaces like Adobe products. So it provides you with a bunch of shortcuts, you don't have to go through the menu and find out, oh, what's this for this? And what's this for this? You've got a keyboard sitting right in front of you. And I know I mentioned the fact that, oh, I was doing 800 slides. Well, I didn't go through and snap 800 slides individually.

09:49 – 10:22 Jeff Kay:

I have what's called a SlideSnap Pro, which you attach a camera to it, and it's a slide projector, and it goes through the slides, and it takes photos about 1, 500 a minute. And once that's done, then that's brought into Adobe Lightroom where I can use my loop decks and touch up the photos as needed. Drop them, write them up, things of that nature.

10:23 – 10:34 Gresham Harkless:

Yeah, so I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget, which could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client or if you have to do a time machine you might tell your younger business self.

10:34 – 11:15 Jeff Kay:

You know being in the corporate world for 25 years having a lot of education mind you which I'm not going to get into But the thought of working for somebody, they tell you how much you can make, what your worth is, when you can take vacation, when you're eligible for a raise, how much sick leave you have or if you're not feeling well. These are things, well, they're great if you wanna work for a company and you don't wanna maybe take the risk and take the plunge to own your own business.

But when working for somebody, I don't wanna say it's easier, but working for yourself, you put in a lot more hours. But the nice side of that is the fact that any mistake you make, it's on you. You don't have a boss, like we're managing you. You don't have to answer to anybody except yourself. If I was going to go back in time, I know I mentioned before that, oh, my parents didn't support it. Well, you know what? I would tell myself to step up to my parents. It's your life. You did what you wanted to do. Now it's my life. I wanna pursue my dream and my passion. That being said, I mean, A lot of people go to work, but the question that I would have for them is, you go to work, but do you like what you do? Because if you like what you do, then it's not work.

12:12 – 12:23 Gresham Harkless:

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, Jeff, truly appreciate that. And I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Jeff, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:23 – 13:00 Jeff Kay: 

Freedom, freedom or, then I'll say I'm a corporate rebel is how I like to put it. Corporations and they didn't mix, given my, given my, my gift. So I'm using my gifts to benefit others. So I might not have fit in over here in the corporate world, but I did find a better fit for me in this world in what I'm doing now.

13:01 – 13:26 Gresham Harkless:

Yeah, that's extremely powerful. It's so funny. I was reading something or listening to something. I want to say it was a couple of weeks ago and it says a lot of times you may not fit in because you're not supposed to be there. You're fitting, you're fitting, you're not fitting in because you're supposed to be standing out. And I think if we often find those other opportunities that might be starting a business, might be leaning into our passions or whatever that might be, that allows you that opportunity to kind of stand out. So I love that corporate rebel. I love that freedom piece because I think they go hand in hand because when you are being and staying in alignment, then you do feel that freedom, you do often not fit in with the way everything else should be. So I love that definition because it speaks so much to just creating your path and creating your own life.

13:49 – 13:51 Jeff Kay:

It provides you an inner peace.

13:52 – 14:11 Gresham Harkless:

Yeah. And there's no better freedom than that. So definitely appreciate that. Well Jeff, truly appreciate that again and appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

14:11 – 14:59 Jeff Kay:

Sure. You can get a hold of me. My phone number is 304-933-3375. Or I'll give you my website, which is mydigital-memories.com. Don't forget the hyphen. And you know, for those who have seen Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, if you remember the very last part of the movie where he gets ready to step out onto an invisible bridge because he doesn't know what's there and you have to believe. That's what I wanna leave with you. Use your gift and believe. And take that step, because you don't know where that path might take you.

14:59 – 15:23 Gresham Harkless:

I love that, Jeff. And we will have the links and information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can get ahold of you and contact you. But I love that visual. I love that reminder because I think a lot of times we want to have all the steps laid out before we take that first step. And sometimes that doesn't happen. But that's part of being able to lean into your gift and sometimes create your path, be the corporate rebel, as you defined as well too, is not sometimes knowing all the steps of being confident enough and having enough faith and belief to be able to take those steps. So appreciate you for reminding us of that and doing that. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

15:35 – 16:04 Outro:

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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