Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Taylor.
Hi Marcus, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
So basically my story started with I was 9 years old. I would make youtube videos and small little movies in my room. I enjoyed video editing so much that I taught myself at an earlier age. Fast forward about 10 years and I was in college playing soccer.
I still loved video editing but that since was pushed aside for sports. But my sophomore year in college I picked up my camera (iPhone) again and started making videos. In the summer of 2017, I landed my first professional gig filming a small promotional video for a coffee shop. I was paid $400 for this video, and from that moment on I realized I had a future in video creation, but more importantly business!
From there, I dropped out of college to pursue my dream of traveling the world and country creating for brands, individuals, and companies. When I dropped out, I moved back in with my parents, I’m the second of nine children so as you can imagine they weren’t thrilled with this arrangement. I worked construction from 8 am-3 pm each day and when I got off I would edit for my small clientele.
I was on the grind starting from absolute zero. On May 1st, 2018, I was able to successfully go full-time in video creation as I grew my business and started getting bigger projects. Around this time I met my future business partner Hunter Franklin who was also at the time starting his own creative company. As the years went by, we both grew separate creative companies in the southern IL region but worked with each other very often on projects.
Hunter decided to move to Nashville and attend Lipscomb University for 2 years. As he did this we continued to work together on some huge projects such as filming a TV show, traveling the country for brands, and finally launching our very own Company named Brotherdale based out of Nashville TN! In April of 2021 Brotherdale was officially an LLC and we were off to the races. That year Hunter and I were able to Travel to the US, Turkey, and Costa Rica for some of the biggest brands in the world working on social media content.
Our company specializes in creating engaging social media content which includes Tiktoks, Reels, Product Photography, Lifestyle Photography, and Full-Scale Video Production. We have been blessed to work with brands such as Reign Body Fuel, Monster Energy, Celebrity Sweat, and The Bachelor just to name a few.
A few of the celebrities we have also worked with are Tory Lanez, Jason Tartick, Diplo, Kaitlyn Bristowe, the Gronk Bros, Tracy McGrady, Megan Fox, and Kelly Clarkson, and our good friend Colin Wayne of Red Line Steel, and many many more. We are located in the Nations and are always looking for new ways to make a dent in the creative industry.
Our team is quickly growing with our newest addition, Perry Petersen our head video editor. We are a very young company but we have a lot of knowledge in the space and believe we really bring a whole new approach to marketing in the digital world!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has NOT been a smooth road. I’ve failed so many times. As an entrepreneur, you have to constantly be creating opportunities for yourself. This is a challenge every day, especially with I was first starting out. I’m from a small 4,000 person town called Anna, IL.
Nobody in this town makes it out, and definitely doesn’t become in video creator. When I started this everybody thought I was insane. I had friends whose parents told them not to hang out with me anymore because I was “a washed-up soccer player”.
The odds are never in your favor when you want to do something big in life, but your work ethic is the only variable you can 100% control, so that’s what I did. I worked my butt off every day for 4 years to get to where I am today. When I say everyday I mean every single day. I didn’t have friends, I didn’t have vacations, and I focused on my business because I knew it was the only way to guarantee success.
The biggest struggles I experienced personally were balancing reinvesting in my business and also being able to pay bills for the first few years. It was hard, If I didn’t land jobs I couldn’t eat, and I also had to buy expensive camera equipment.
The second biggest struggle was breaking into the market and becoming dominant. This process took a while, but I realized I had to do the things nobody else was willing to do. For example, when I was filming a wedding I would make a next-day 1-minute highlight video.
It was extra work, and It meant having to edit after a 10-hour workday, but It made me as a creative stand out from the rest.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I own a creative company named Brotherdale. We specialize in social media content creation for brands, celebrities, and Universities.
Basically, we do everything from conceptualizing the creative, planning it out, scheduling models, the production, post-production, and active management of the accounts as well. We also do full-scale video production, lifestyle photography, product photography, and consulting.
I’m most known for making amazing videos that capture people’s attention.
I’m most proud of transitioning from a single videographer working on small local projects, to building a team of kick-butt creatives who work with some of the biggest brands in the world. Getting to watch my team have these huge opportunities makes me so happy.
What sets us apart from the other companies is that Brotherdale isn’t just a company name, it’s a full brand. Every project we do is documented and turned into a vlog series on our Instagram and youtube channels so people get to know us and how we work.
Another trait that makes us stand out is when you work with Brotherdale we as the creatives take a deep dive into how your company works. We figure out how you generate sales, what’s your biggest audience, and what are your goals with the campaign you hired us to create.
These questions and answers help us create the most effective creative ads possible.
What makes you happy?
Freedom makes me happy. Being able to work for me and actively work to give others opportunities is quite possibly the best thing in my life.
Contact Info:
- Email: marcus@brotherdalecreative.com
- Website: https://brotherdale.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brotherdalecreative/?utm_medium=copy_link
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brotherdalecreative
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuREaCpGGNPigL2pZy78kdQ
