Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb Butler.
Caleb, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My journey as a storyteller and entrepreneur began back when I was a child. I grew up in Detroit Michigan, the fourth child of out of five siblings. As a young boy, I was always a bit artistic. I enjoyed reading, writing and creating short stories. I also had a tendency to be a bit stubborn; as I was trying to figure out “better” or more “simplistic” ways of doing whatever my parents or teachers would ask of me. Most of all, even at a young age, I was a person of great faith and fostered a strong belief in God. All of these attributes played a huge part in who I am today and played a significant role in directing my entrepreneurial path.
I graduated from high school back in 2001. As I was preparing to go to college, I remember thinking that I would love to pursue a career in acting. At that time I didn’t know much about college, and if I’m being honest, I did just enough to get by in high school. My mother encouraged me to pursue a degree that would provide me with some financial stability and if I was serious about acting to pursue that on the side. I decided to pursue an education degree at Eastern Michigan University and to make a long story short I spent four years taking random classes with little to no structure or direction and making no real progress towards a degree. I ultimately left Eastern Michigan back, started working some odd jobs and taking one or two classes at community college to pass the time. The time I spent working and going to community college taught me a lot about myself. I matured a lot and at that time I rediscovered my passion for storytelling and met the woman I would ultimately marry.
It wasn’t until 2010 that decided to take my education seriously but this time, I would pursue a degree in Film Production at Wayne State University in Detroit. In 2011, I took my first official step at starting my own business. I’ll admit I didn’t know much about business then. I researched as much as I could and In February 2011 I started Theophilus Productions. While I was in school, as I was learning about the film I would check out the school equipment and go do odd jobs for different clients (I know what you’re thinking and no, I wasn’t supposed to do that, lol). I had a few odd jobs come through here and there but struggled with any real business growth. This went on for about two years. As graduation was approaching I knew then that my time in Michigan was coming to an end and I wanted to go somewhere where I could grow not just in my field but as a businessman also. After doing quite a bit of research and spending a great deal of time in prayer, I felt lead to make the move to Atlanta, Georgia.
Shortly after graduating from college, I married my queen and that next year she, I and our oldest daughter moved down to Atlanta, Georgia. That first year in Atlanta was a combination of both heaven and hell on earth. My wife was pregnant with our first child, I had no job and the money we had saved was running low. I got a bit down on myself as I watched my pregnant wife go to a job that she hated while I struggled to find work. One day as I was sitting at home in front of the computer, I cried out to God asking why would He lead me down here just to leave me hanging. At that moment, God spoke to me and encouraged me to use what I have. At the time, I didn’t own any equipment. All I had was the 2011 MacBook that I used in college. I began reaching out to clients I had served in the past, and using some online resources and encouraged people to send me their content and I would edit it. I wasn’t making much money but I was able to pull in something. I was finally, able to land a job with Apple, early 2015.
That year, my wife gave birth to our second daughter. I remember feeling more proud at that moment than ever before. I was still working at Apple and attempting to grow my business on the side. We still weren’t making everything we needed but things were looking up. We were finally paying most of our bills on time. Best of all my best friend blessed me with roughly $10,000 worth of equipment! I was finally ready (or so I thought). Unfortunately, that season of sunshine would come to a halt after the end of the holiday season. While Apple was an amazing company to work for it was still a retail store and like all retail stores hours tend to dry up after the holiday season for a while. Once again I was struggling to make money for my family and in my frustration, I made a terrible to decision to leave my job. I felt at that moment that I would be better off making money myself that wasting time at a job. Unfortunately, that decision caused a huge rift in my marriage and in our finances. It soon became necessary for us to move in with a family member in order to make ends meet. In 2016, I realized Theophilus Productions was failing. I was down on myself at the time and felt like I had failed my family but I didn’t give up. I decided to rebrand and restructure under the name Theophilus Media Productions LLC (TheoMediaPro).
The time we spent at my aunt’s house was very difficult. My wife was pregnant with our third daughter and she and I were not on good terms. My mother-in-law eventually moved out to Atlanta and helped us out tremendously. Once again, I found myself crying out to God in anger and frustration. It took some time before I actually listened but eventually, I realized that the only thing truly holding me was my pride. I needed to go through a process. I needed to learn structure, true professionalism. I needed to learn how to follow before I could lead. I decided to jump back into the corporate world. I got myself a business mentor, life coach and took the advice of a good friend who encouraged me to put the needs of my family first before anything, including the business. In my mind, I felt like having a successful business was the best way to take care of my family when really I just needed to take care of them by any means necessary. I decided to listen and learn from my job, mentors, coaches, my wife, and God. I learned how to properly operate as a business and not just as an individual.
In the last year, I can thankfully say TheoMediaPro is no longer one man trying to make ends meet but it is powered by a team of creative individuals who have of love for telling other people’s stories. TheoMediaPro is growing every day and we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to film and photograph great business, entrepreneurs and events all across the Atlanta area and even some out of state. Our focus now is simply continued growth and sharing great and inspirational stories of entrepreneurs and business in the Atlanta area and beyond. Our desire is to be a light in the industry and help people share their story with the world!
Great, 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?
It has certainly not been a smooth road. One huge struggle I had along the way was a lack of knowledge and understanding of how business really works and, of course, financial struggles. No one in my family has ever started a business (not that I am aware of at least). So, a lot of what I went through was really trial and error. I made a lot of mistakes and quite honestly just some really bad decisions. I had to surround myself with people who are more experienced than me, read books, humble myself and really learn from the. Another challenge I had was that I wasn’t doing this journey alone. I have a wife and three kids who I need to take care of in the process so there isn’t really any room for selfishness (which I had to learn the hard way). I had to learn how to prioritize my wife’s needs. Finally, the biggest struggle of all was learning how to trust me. I had to learn how to make decisions and be comfortable with the decisions I made even if they weren’t popular. I had to learn to be okay with making mistakes just so long as I know my intentions were good. Overall, I just had to learn how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable so that I could grow.
Please tell us about THEOMEDIAPRO.
TheoMediaPro is a video production company that specializes in creating content for businesses in the Atlanta area and beyond. We are known for telling inspirational and creative stories that help motivate and inspire others and call people to action. As a company, we are most proud of our team and the impact our work has on our clientele. In truth, there’s a lot of video production companies our there and some of the real great at what they do. We realize a lot of people can make great videos, but what sets us apart is our ability to take the images we shoot and create content that will not only help a business increase its bottom line but allow their clientele connect with them on an emotional level. Our desire is to be a light in the industry and tell compelling stories that are entertaining, educational and inspirational.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
A child my favorite memory was actually attempting to ride my bike off of the roof of our house. I remember watching some BMX bike show or something like that and I thought it would be awesome to ride off the roof. I remember kicking out the screen of my sister’s window and putting my bike on the roof. Thankfully, my mom was walking past and all I heard was, “CALEB!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” I simply replied, “‘Bout to ride my bike off the roof.” I’m not exactly sure how she did it, but I swear she teleported from the door to the window and pulled me and my bike back into the house lol. Of course, looking back at it, I could have really hurt myself. One thing I learned from that experience was that kids really have no fear. I never once thought about what could go wrong, all I was thinking was how awesome it was going to be once I landed. In this world of business, it takes a leap of faith. You have to go out and just do it! But maybe not be as reckless as to that, lol.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theomediapro.com
- Phone: (404) 919-7348
- Email: info@theomediapro.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/theomediapro
- Facebook: facebook.com/theomediapro
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user14692747
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