This past month has0 been very eventful for Empty Cup. To start, on November 16 I flew to BC to meet Carla in her hometown of Rossland. We stayed there for 5 days and then drove back across Canada in her 2 door Grand Am GT over 6 days. (Feel free to ask a million questions about the trip – we have lots of stories!)
When we arrived back in the grace land of Ontario, we hoped almost immediately in the driver seat of Empty Cup 2.0. Carla and I had our first double angle ‘real time’ shoot the second day we were home – and it went great! The day after we had to throw together a quick slide show for a funeral presentation and it has been non stop ever since. Once the initial flood of shooting and slideshowing had calmed down a bit, Carla and I burnt the midnight oil a few nights in a row and totally re-decorated our office space. It looks great! And it got a great response during our ribbon cutting that happened on December 3 that officially launched Empty Cup’s new status. (Thanks everyone for coming out to support us!)
Now Carla and I have slipped into a good work groove; our responsibilities are slowly being defined and our collective thoughts are helping to move the company along well. I’m very happy that she is here working with me. 2008 was much more successful than I had anticipated and the workload has definitely spilled into the ‘two person business’ area. Without her help, I would have been in way too far – so thanks Carla!
Working with another creative, ambitious and talented mind is very satisfying. I never realized how much more satisfying work could be not only when you’re running your own company, but running it with a best friend. I love having someone else in the office who shares the same love for cameras, computers, editing and running a company as I do. The energy that we create in the office heats the room (sometimes… it can get cold in our office).
This is the step I was waiting for. I’ve been thinking a lot about the size and the direction of my company, and this is the optimal size. The company now has a general manager/shooter (me), an editor/office worker (Carla) and a freelance videographer (Mike). This is the size I wanted, and this is the size it will remain for at least a handful of years. I wanted it, I worked for it and I got it. It’s a satisfying feeling.
