Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Lopes.
Matthew, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My career actually started just as I graduated college. I was offered a job in marketing for a hospital network in Florida. I was a young man, suddenly making lots of money and it was good. The work, the travel, the promotions.
I quickly began chasing the next big role at the next big company. I always had it in me; the drive for entrepreneurial and leadership roles. At one point an opportunity presented itself to create an organization that would build PPO networks for insurance companies. So I started M. Lopes & Associates, a company dedicated to the building of PPO networks in the 90’s. Within 18 months the company had garnered the title of the 4th largest Managed Care PPO network in the State of Florida. Upon gaining much success I sold the company to PHN, a subsidiary of American Medical Security.
My last corporate job was a leadership role for the international company Fortis, at the time the 64th largest company in the world, where I managed the southeast region of the US until 1998.
All of that went on for 10 years until one day I decided that enough was enough. It was time to leave corporate America. It wasn’t all about chasing the money. It was about feeding my constant craving for creative expression. So I quit my job, cashed in my stock options and headed to the west coast. I learned the craft of filmmaking and editing. Next it was time to do something with all this new knowledge. I had an inkling that digital video and the internet were going to be huge.
I headed back to Atlanta and in 1999 I founded what would become The DVI Group. I started calling all of the companies I had done business with in my managed healthcare days. It made sense to tie my business knowledge to my creative skills and it worked! Slowly but surely DVI was born. We did all kinds things to get started and I picked up a few partners along the way.
Over the last 17+ years, The DVI Group has become an award-winning, full service, video agency. The company has been rated among the top three worldwide by CLUTCH.
It’s really been an amazing journey. We’ve been able to build an organization that produces amazing video content for some of the biggest brands in the world. Our corporate culture is unique and our people are exceptional!
One of my favorite jobs before starting DVI was as a camp counselor when I was 17 and 18 years old. The job was over the summer for close to 3 months and we lived day and night at the camp. I always remember how we could do the impossible because we we’re like a big family, we cared for and respected each other, we enjoyed working together. That’s what we’ve built here at DVI, a place where talented artists can come together, be part of a creative family, have fun and produce amazing work. That’s really what makes me most proud.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Starting and running a business is never a smooth road. We’ve faced many challenges along the way like every other business out there. The great recession, the occasional crazy employee or client to name a few. But all of those things aside, for me the biggest struggle is trying to find the work/life balance. When you love what you do so much… working doesn’t seem like work. I have to remind myself to take a break, to leave before 8PM and sleep in a little longer in the morning. I just love being around the process and the people so much that even when I’m away my heart and mind are still at DVI.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The DVI Group story. Tell us more about the business.
The DVI Group at its core is an idea company. We love developing creative ways for companies to tell their story, sell a product, inspire or educate. We just happen to have chosen video as the medium to bring our ideas to life.
It is our ideas that consistently push our productions to new levels of success; it is our knowledge and experience that continue to drive sales and performance for our clients and it is through our ideas, knowledge and experience that DVI is recognized as a leading creative video agency worldwide. That being said, it’s not just the “cool idea” or the “this looks good idea”. Our creative is supported by a process-driven, creative workflow.
Our main point of difference in this swirling, busy industry, besides the sheer quality of our portfolio, is the ability to handle all aspects of production from start to finish, in-house.
We have strategists, a creative team, a production department and a post-production department with the most brilliant motion design and animation team anywhere, which gives us the capability to handle large and complex integrated campaigns as well as self-contained animation projects or high-end broadcast commercial production work.
There are a lot of companies who can make video, but The DVI Group is the only company that can offer the perfect storm of award-winning creative talent, industry leading expertise in video and strategic, goal-oriented thinking. We approach every aspect of every job with the intention to MAKE IT BETTER, and we have built a reputation on doing just that.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Life happens and it’s all about how you position yourself to take advantage of the moment. That moment could be a great new opportunity or problem so huge you don’t know if you’ll ever recover. But no matter what life throws your way you have to work it.
I’ve had friends over the years say “oh you’re so lucky”. I immediately call them on that and say “No, I’ve been working my ass off and that’s why I’m where I am”.
So I don’t believe in luck. I believe that hard work pays off, whether your presented with something positive or negative.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1486 Mecaslin St NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
- Website: www.thedvigroup.com
- Phone: 404-873-6283 x111
- Email: makeitbetter@thedvigroup.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/thedvigroup
- Twitter: twitter.com/THEDVIGROUP
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