Meet Kalani Smith of Kalani Studios

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kalani Smith. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story ventures back to my early childhood years. I would help my mom clean office buildings from the ages of three to seventeen. I was able to gain so much perspective and understanding of work ethic from those many years of work. We were far from wealthy, but I was able to grasp the need of a work ethic from an early age. 

My father was a minority business owner. A Hawaiian Locksmith that worked all over Middle Tennessee. I learned that being a business owner was one of the most challenging yet rewarding endeavors someone could jump into. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do in life, but I knew that I was addicted to success. Failure was never an option for me, and I learned to rejoice in rejection. The moment I was able to tune out the negative noise, I was able to skyrocket into progress. 

I was a Mr. Football Semi-Finalist at Mount Juliet High School in 2015, an Eagle Scout at the age of 13, and a business owner at 18. I am always going 100% in every facet of my life, and I accredit all of that to my work ethic learned at an early age. I learned that my failures were stepping stones to successful paths right around the corner. I am someone who deeply cares about constantly improving. 

I started my entrepreneurial journey in e-commerce. Flipping thousands of items on eBay, Amazon, and Facebook was the name of the game. I was able to pay for my first car and paid for my opportunity to attend college. I went to college to play football at Cumberland University and suffered a back injury that took me out of football. I took a semester off from school to rehab my back, and to get a new game plan to get back on the football field. I decided that I was going to try and walk on to the University of Tennessee to play football. I had been training, dieting, and setting myself up to succeed on the field. I make it into the school and thought everything was looking up. I then go to tryouts and end up not even making the first cut. 

I was devastated, and in a dark place mentally. It was a wake-up call. I normally could work my way into success, and it just didn’t work out. The failure found there led to some of the best decisions of my life. I decided that I wanted to focus on my businesses but also wanted to get my degree work done. I decided to finish the rest of my undergraduate online. I was able to travel all over the United States, and even as far as China while doing my coursework online. I gained so much perspective from being able to travel. I also graduated from college Magna Cum Laude while growing my e-commerce business as well as opening my videography/photography business. 

I continually leaned on my ability to have perspective, confidence, outlook, and that work ethic that I gained as a child. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
NO WAY! It’s never a smooth road, but that’s the beauty of the journey. If you take words like no and can’t out of your vocabulary, you’re on the right path. 

The biggest struggles to overcome initially were friendships. People will always judge. People will always have opinions. People will always encourage and discourage you. I learned the importance of cutting off toxicity in my life. It was not an easy route because many people I had to cut off had been in my life for over a decade. It comes down to being able to choose the journey over the comfort. It is a hard choice, but necessary for true success. 

I would recommend finding a circle of friends that share ambitions and dreams. It only helps when everyone in your circle is constantly looking to improve and get better. 

I would also say that it is just as important to tune out the positive noise. It is easy to fall into an ego nightmare by buying into people’s opinions of you. I have learned that all noise is bad noise, and the best advice is to focus on you. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My business initially focused on general content creation but has shifted to wedding cinematography. I opened a separate entity called Kalani Media Co. to deal with business and marketing videos. 

My passion for videography led me to wedding films. I love being able to tell a story. I travel all over the world capturing wedding films for all sorts of couples. 

I focus on producing a high-quality product, but I am especially known for going above and beyond the role of “videographer”. I build lasting relationships with my clients, and I make it a point of emphasis to arrive a stranger and leave as family. 

I am most proud of the work ethic that my employees have exemplified. It is a very difficult task to work with me because of how demanding I am. I strive for perfection, and it takes the right mentality to work up to my expectations. They have done a great job at handling those expectations, and understand that it is my requirement to go above and beyond for every client we ever work for. 

I am someone who loves to make social media shorts, wedding films, photos/videos for advertisements, and even TV commercials. I have had a few musicians reach out about music videos, and see myself getting into that field very soon. I would just encourage readers to reach out with any photo/video needs, and I would be ecstatic to work with them. 

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson is that all good things require hard work. I think we sometimes fall into traps of entitlement or just pure laziness. We believe that we should have something without putting in the time and dedication to achieving that particular desire. Time is one of the most valuable things we all have, and wasting it is one of the most horrific things we can do. I find myself working 75-80 hours a week so that one day I can be financially free. 

Pricing:

• Wedding Films Starts at $2000
• Social Media Content Starts at $350
• TV Commercials Start at $1500

Contact Info:

• Email: kalani@kalanistudios.com
• Website: kalanistudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwaynekalani
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kalanistudios