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Valencia, CA — October 1st, 2003 — What can you do with eight minutes? Eat a quick lunch? Put gas in your car? Water the lawn? How about inspire every employee of a large company about the work they do? That’s what Joel Miller of Media Soup likes to do with eight minutes. And if you ask the folks at Decore-Ative Specialties in Monrovia, California, nobody does it better. Two years ago, Jack Lansford, Sr., founder of the huge custom cabinet wholesaler, asked Miller to make a video—something to communicate his company’s story. Something to help his employees catch the vision that started it all back in 1956. It was a slam dunk for Miller. “Nothing’s better than when someone who started a successful business asks me to tell their story,” Miller said. “When somebody takes their tiny dream and turns it into a big dream, that’s magical. Those types of stories are gold.” Those types of stories, it turns out, also run close to Miller’s heart. A business owner himself, Miller understands the courage it takes to put your products out there, to offer a product others find valuable. “Starting a business isn’t just about making money. It’s something within the fabric of a person’s life,” Miller said. “It’s about integrity, about wanting to make something that somebody values. That’s the spirit behind what I do and that’s also what drives Decor-Ative Specialties.” Decor-Ative Specialties has a long history, but Miller knew the video’s true power wouldn’t lie in just retelling that history. The true magic of what Miller brings to a project lies in distilling the spirit of a company—in capturing it’s essence and using that to create a company culture. “Hiring new employees is a lot like having a new child in the family. You want to show them your family’s history so they know what you stand for, what you’re about,” Miller said. “You want to give every employee a chance to go, ‘Wow, I’ve become a part of your dream.’ You’re hoping everybody who comes to work is there to get a piece of that dream, not just a paycheck. If you can catch that dream on video, then you have the opportunity to share it with every employee.” The video Miller produced isn’t quite eight minutes long. But in Miller’s hands, eight minutes is enough. The video delivers. Why did you start Decore-Ative Specialties? What was it like for you and your family during those first years working from the garage? What are the things you love about your business now, that are exactly the same as when you started? The video answers those questions and more as the history of Decore-Ative Specialties unfolds: garage to shop, shop to warehouse. Through it all, Decore-Ative employees, including Lansford, Sr., narrate. “I had to do some research, but once you get the storyteller involved—once you get the person who held the first key, in front of a camera, and start asking the right questions—that’s when the story becomes magical,” Miller said. “When you hear people with huge businesses tell how they started from a seed, people who have held their course, that’s unbelievable. Those are the stories I believe in. Those are the stories I love to tell.” It shows—eight minutes at a time. About Media Soup |
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