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Meet Irina Hall of Creative Muscle Studios in Alpharetta

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Irina Hall.

Irina, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Russia where I was a ballet dancer. I couldn’t continue my ballet career because my family didn’t support my passion for dance and was too worried about me not being able to support myself by dancing. Everyone around me felt like it was their obligation to advise on what I should do in life. Some were telling me to become an engineer or physicist; others were trying to convince me to study languages or economics.

I moved to Pittsburgh, PA in 2010 and went to school for acting. I started acting in theatre and film as well as directing. I got connected with many creative people in the industry and learned all about the behind-the-scenes part of filmmaking. Very soon I started producing my own short films. Around the same time, I was hired to work in a marketing department of an IT company to produce all of their marketing videos. After working with them for 3 years, I moved to Atlanta and started my own video production company called Creative Muscle Studios.

I’ve always been fascinated by people with talents and passions especially those who didn’t listen to other people’s advice and kept pursuing their passions no matter what. The stories of such fearless and courageous people have always inspired me, and I decided to create a documentary series to be able tell these people’s stories. That’s how Brave & Passionate got started. I released the first episode of the show in the spring of 2017 and am currently working on the 2nd episode. I have met many amazing people who deserve to have their stories told, and I’m raising funds to be able to produce more Brave & Passionate episodes more often on regular basis.

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’s never been a smooth road. There’re always a lot of struggles and challenges along the way. I’m a lifetime learner, and I tend to go out of my comfort zone every day. That means there’re always new things that need to learn. I had spent countless hours learning and perfecting my English before I moved to the U.S. Once I moved, I had to work hard on my accent, because people couldn’t understand what I was saying. I had to start everything from scratch many times and learn new skills. I learned how to be a caregiver for elderly to support myself. There were financial struggles when I had to learn how to survive with no money left after the major bills were paid. There were emotional struggles when I kept going after my passion, but no one around cared about it, and I had no support.

There was an emotional exhaustion from working in the corporate world and feeling like I was undervalued and off track with pursuing my passion which was lost forever. There was a failed marriage when I had to run from abuse and start my life from scratch again. There were counseling sessions and emotional healing. There were sleepless nights of trying to find yourself again, rediscover your talents, rebuild your confidence, and start living again. There were and still are many things to learn about business, sales, marketing, production, etc. that are not taught at schools. The learning process never stops as well as challenges.

Creative Muscle Studios – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Creative Muscle Studios specializes in commercial videos for businesses. We produce marketing videos for companies to use on their websites and social media as well as TV commercials. We love telling stories and help businesses visually bring their stories to life to connect with their audience on a deeper level and gain more of their trust. We strive to always be creative and help businesses present themselves to their audience in a fun and engaging way.

Our documentary series Brave & Passionate is a unique opportunity for businesses to tell their story in a long form with all the details. Most of the time, behind every business there’s always this one person, the passionate pioneer who started the whole thing as a way to either solve a problem or express themselves and realize their dream and passion. The show is a chance for such people to inspire and affect more lives around them by telling a story of their successes and failures. These stories also help companies create a deeper bond with their audience making them a part of their journey.

What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
I honestly think the all the proudest moments of my career are still ahead of me. However, I’m happy and honored to be able to tell amazing and inspiring stories with my show Brave & Passionate. I’m thrilled to be able to connect with so many incredible people, show how they change lives around them, celebrate these people’s talents and courage, make them feel like stars and see smiles on their faces. If these stories can motivate someone else to believe in themselves and start pursuing their passions, it makes Brave & Passionate worth it.

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