Today we’d like to introduce you to Julian Simons.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a hard-of-hearing cinematographer and photographer. I am currently based in Austin, TX. Growing up, I wanted to be a doctor for general surgery. I was taking some pre-med classes in high school which I was good at and my friends were like, “I noticed you enjoy photographing people and filming more than the medical field. Why don’t you shift into the media field?” That has been in my head for a while. So I deiced to change my field and I never looked back.
I started doing with my friends shooting on an old fashion film camera in making stupid videos/pictures for fun when I was young. Once I got older, I started taking some media classes at my first high school. I instantly fell in love with telling stories.
Fast forward to 2014 in my freshman year of college at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC where I studied Media, my uncle Rene mailed me the camera equipment he had never used and I started doing freelance gigs during college. I have found my passion for cinematography/photography and started working with brands to make their idea comes to life. I am just a filmmaker nerd who enjoys creating and developing various content.
I’ve been doing self-taught taking self-paced online courses such as Full-Time Filmmaker created by Parker Walbeck, Youtube learning from well-known filmmakers, and on set. My skills have grown. After a few years of doing freelance gigs, I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So I founded a company called Mighty Wolf Media LLC. As of May 23, 2022, I am now doing full-time with my company after quitting my 9-5 job and I really enjoy being my own boss.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road hasn’t been smooth my whole life as a hard-of-hearing person. The only struggle is the communication barriers. I am not the only one. I also wear a hearing aid because it helps me understand clearly and can hear pretty much everything but not always 100%. exactly. Only when I talk face to face. But I like to look at my hearing loss as “Deaf Gain”. What does Deaf Gain mean, you might ask? Deaf Gain is defined as reframing “deaf” as a form of sensory and cognitive diversity that has the potential to contribute to the greater good of humanity. (Bauman & Murray, 2009) I have to thank the technology that allows me to break the communication barrier by email, text, facetime, or phone using video relay services (VRS) with an ASL interpreter to talk with hearing people.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Mighty Wolf Media LLC?
My video production company is a full-scale production house servicing brands & people. Our passion is creating a sense of story in everything we do. We tell the stories of amazing individuals, local businesses, established companies & everyone in between. We know that creating captivating content that distinguishes a brand can be challenging for businesses of all sizes. Our aim is to prove how straightforward and fun the process can be! We specialize in commercials and documentaries.
I am most proud of myself for how much I have overcome the obstacles as a hard-of-hearing person and as a filmmaker. I have made tons of connections in the film industry. What sets me apart is that I have 7+ years of experience in video production/photography, my knowledge, my skills, and my fun personality. I am very easy to work with and I make the job more fun. I also teach the crew on set some basic film-related sign language.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is my family and my small circle of friends. Without them, I wouldn’t be here where I am today. They have been supporting me and believing in me tremendously which I am very grateful for. Now that I am being my own boss, I get to spend more time with them whether they are far or near. Especially my great-grandmother is turning 99 on June 27th and her health is declining. I want to spend as much quality time with them as I can.
The other thing that matters to me most as a business person is creating value rather than making money. I value my clients, their projects, and their experiences using our services that will be worth their time and money. I don’t want the clients to feel like they are just clients at the end of the day. I want the clients to know that I genuinely care about them and their goals. I want the clients to be able to feel comfortable working with me as a hard-of-hearing person. Value your work, value your clients, and value yourself. Great things will come your way.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@mightywolfmedia.com,
- Website: www.mightywolfmedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mightywolfmedia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mightywolfmedia
Image Credits
Logo designed by Daniel Moreno (https://danielmorenodesign.com/) Photos credit to Andres “Flash” Otalora
