Creative minds like John Zambrana’s don’t come around every day. So when feeling trapped by the monotony of the system, John didn’t hesitate to break free to go out and discover his true passion. He is such an example of bravery and determination and we can’t wait to share his story with you.

1. Tell us a little bit about your business and what you do.

I’m a video marketer that helps businesses and personal brands create videos with intent that will actually help grow their business instead of just making cool looking videos.

2. What made you aspire to be an entrepreneur?

I just hated being employed and relying on someone else to decide what I do with my time and what kind of income I make. In every job I ever had, I was just a button pusher, nothing ever meaningful.

The last job I had did really well building an environment of entrepreneurs and hard work ethic, but once I broke my leg on a vacation and couldn’t go to work, I realized I was very disposable cog within that company. Being on bed rest for 3 months was very depressing but made me realize who was really there for me. After I was finally able to walk again, I came back to work only to put in my 2 week notice and tell them I was going to go out and do my own thing. They did not take that well. Haha.

It’s almost 9 months later and it’s been the greatest decision of my life. I attribute that to taking full responsibility of my destiny and not leaving it up for someone else to decide how much I make and how much time I owe them.

3. What is the one thing you wish you had known before starting your own business?

So many things!

Your intention is everything. Make sure you’re doing business to improve the lives of others and the money will follow.

Don’t be afraid to let go sometimes. The only way you’re going to scale and have a sustainable business is to start trusting and building up other teammates.

Lastly, the quicker you implement and test, the quicker you learn from the mistakes. Keep it moving.

4. What has been the most successful avenue for building and growing your brand/business (social media, ads, word of mouth, referrals, etc.)?

I would say social media just because my business model wouldn’t even exist without it. But there’s a certain game you have to play when it comes to social media and building a brand so it’s not as easy as “Upload twice a day.” It’s more like “What problem can I solve for my audience today?” And that problem should be related to your goal with your social media. For me, I want to grow a team so I want to put on my social media what good can come from working with me, what the perks are, and what I can do for my team?

After that, word of mouth is the second best avenue. It warms my heart because it means not only did one person love what I did for them, they’re willing to put their own reputation on the line for me and that’s amazing.

5. What are the aspects of your business that you enjoy the most?

I make sure to set a standard for my own business and that is to ensure that whatever brand I am working with can actually improve their customers’ lives. I set that standard to make my life much more fulfilling instead of just making fun, fast paced videos that just look cool but don’t really do anything for the business or the viewer.

I also do a lot of interview work, and I love getting to hear all the stories from my clients.

6. What do you love doing in your free time to refuel and have fun?

I love to work out and it’s such a relief when I do. Besides that, I really love what I do so I hardly need time off. Sometimes I’ll be on the computer too much, but I just step away, read a bit, take a walk, meditate for 10 minutes and then get back to work.