Jealousy is a a tricky beast; it’s funny to think how happy you can be for someone else’s successes but still find a way to say something that cuts them down.

When you see talented people, you wish you were as good as them. But rather than improving yourself or focusing on your skills, you may say something that’s dismissive of what they’re doing and can create a resentment towards them that’s really ill focused.

I know even I’ve done it in the past and most of the time I don’t even really mean to do it. I’m typically amazed by how talented people are and I try to be supportive and cheer people on when given the opportunity. But every once in awhile I can be snarky and a mean comment just sort of happens and slips out.

Recently I had someone cut me and the work I do down. I knew when it happened and was sort of taken back but I just laughed it off. Inside I was thinking, so this is how you really feel about what I’m doing… I’ve come to the conclusion that if someone really wants to be jealous and make a snarky comment towards me than I have a feeling I’m doing something right. Haters Gonna Hate.

I know that when I start looking for new freelancers or even another full-time member for the team at LooseKeys, it’s not the money that’s going to get people wanting to work with me. By no means does that mean I’m undervaluing people’s work or trying to get them to cut me a deal. Since we’re working with a lot of early stage startups the margins aren’t really there. My hope is that most people aren’t just looking for pay and vacation time but that it’s more about the work and the environment. I think that’s the reality of many startups and productive studios. They are pulling in the talent not because of the pay but because people want to be apart of the work and culture. I might me hustlin’ over here on every project but it’s not always because the pay is driving me, it’s typically the work and the amazing clients that I’m able to work with. 

Good audio can really make a production shine and bad audio can destroy it. At the same time, good audio can’t make a bad production better but it will make even the best visually impressive video seem unprofessional.  You’d be amazed how big a difference clear, crisp audio will make in your production. If the audio is good, the audience won’t even notice it. But if there are crackles, hums, pops, or if it has bad audio levels, this will distract in some way and the audience will perceive it. Just like great visual effects, the good ones only help to improve the story without making you think twice about them. Now, we all can’t have a Morgan Freeman like golden voice that sounds good reading everything so you’ll need to hire a professional voiceover talent for your video. The site I use most often is voices.com, it’s an online marketplace that connects you with professional voice over talents. You can upload your script to the site and you’ll hear back  and get auditions from a number of talented people in a short amount of time. There is also voice123.com, which is a great resource if you don’t want to use voices.com. With both these options featuring talent at a reasonable rate, there is no reason to not make sure your video sounds as great as it looks. 

It’s said that you are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. I know I’ve experienced this first hand, especially with the people I work with. They have influenced me and I have influenced them, hopefully for the better. We can’t always pick who we work with but we can choose who we spend our time with. So, why not make sure the people you associate with on a regular basis are interesting, talented and successful, because the chances are you will be too. If they’re not, chances are you won’t be either. So be sure to seek out great minds in the field of your passion. You want to find people who demand excellence of themselves and each other. People who will challenge your mind, stimulate good conversation, and get you thinking in realms you don’t normally think in. This will help you rise to the occasion and do the best work you are possible of doing. It might be hard but I recommend finding people that are more knowledgeable and talented than yourself. Many of us struggle in this area because it can be satisfying to hear praise from people and tend to avoid healthy conflict with people that might actually know more than we do. Exceptional people are not threatened by other strong people; they surround themselves with the best and most talented people they can find. If we don’t ask for advice from those who know more we will never learn from from one another, which is a shame.