Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Lona.
Joshua, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started shooting video work professionally especially in the wedding industry back in 2016! I worked alongside two friends at first and then eventually, one of them went into the corporate space and then it was down to Parisa and I trying to turn this side hustle into a full-fledged business that we could run together and make enough money from after we graduated from college. I graduated in Spring 2017 and was off to the races with Parisa still attending college for one more year. Time flew by to where we are today – now operating two businesses and often still working together. It’s amazing to have grown with her in this business and to have so many shared memories of our journey. We also still friends with our 3rd partner Esther who has created an amazing career for herself in the corporate world.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The main struggles had to do with marketing – essentially, how to get our name out there. We had no mentors in this area or for our specific business so we learned everything ourselves. I took the lead in marketing back then and am still expanding my education today! I used Facebook/IG ads and SEO to really get our name out there. Over time, as our name in the vendor space began to grow, we also benefitted a lot from word of mouth referrals.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Lona Media and Lona Weddings?
Lona Weddings was where it all began and now I also shoot corporate videos full-time too while managing an editing team and one amazing intern. Lona Weddings shoots all types of weddings including all cultures and backgrounds. We primarily capture weddings in the Greater Austin area and Texas but we do occasionally travel elsewhere for destination weddings like Banff in Canada, San Miguel de Allende, and New Orleans. Lona Media focuses on video strategy to help businesses leverage content into marketing and advertising to gain them both active and passive leads. Then, to nurture those leads. We also produce internal content for companies as well their employee education and training. We establish long-lasting relationships with all of our clients and create content monthly with them.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I would say identifying problems that are well worth solving and then breaking those down into all of the small tasks needed to accomplish the goal we have in mind.
Pricing:
- Weddings: $5500-$9500+
- Corporate: $500-$6000 per month
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@lonaweddings.com
- Website: https://www.lonaweddings.com/
- Instagram: @lonaweddings
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYPX24iH1Xqkj69u5VDmJow
Image Credits
These are all stills from my wedding video work.
