By Katie Kieffer

Katie Kieffer interviews young entrepreneurs: Charles Eide (Forever Films), Grady Newman (MyCore Industries) and Eddie Rymer (Marketplace Commercial). Video by Forever Films.

So you want to achieve the American Dream? I’ve interviewed three young entrepreneurs who are successfully building their own companies and I know you can do the same. With the help of Forever Films, I am proud to showcase my first film that will show you how and why you should be an entrepreneur, despite recession and government expansion.

I guarantee you will be inspired by the entrepreneurs at Forever Films, MyCore Industries and Marketplace Commercial. To watch this video in high definition, please click the horizontal bar and allow the video to fully upload (become a solid gray bar) before you play it. Then, crank up your volume, expand the video full-screen and enjoy:

Katie Kieffer Episode 1 from Forever Films on Vimeo.

I hope you are inspired to start or improve your own small business after watching this video and hearing the advice Charles, Grady and Eddie have to offer. I hope you share this video with a young person you know who has entrepreneurial aspirations but is afraid to start his or her own business. I hope you forward this video to your elected officials to show them what young people really want: Freedom to build their own destinies.

Entrepreneurship, and how this video came to be

I wanted to showcase the value of entrepreneurship, capitalism, limited government and small businesses on my blog. Particularly in the wake of the current Administration’s unconstitutional health care reform bill that will inhibit small business growth, I wanted to showcase the real engine behind our economy: Small business entrepreneurs.

Forever Films agreed to collaborate with me to showcase the value of entrepreneurship. Forever Films took an interesting conversation and turned it into inspirational dynamite in this video.

I could tell Forever Films owners and signature videographers, Charles Eide and Mike Danielson, were creative prodigies before I met them. While other college students were playing beer pong, they were creating a corporation. Eide started an event production business in college and I remember he and Danielson orchestrating dances and large events at the University of St. Thomas, my alma mater.

What I now realize is that Eide and Danielson are two of the most professional, outside-the-box entrepreneurs under the age of 25 in the country. They are absolutely phenomenal to work with, deliver an amazing service, and they are walking proof that limited government combined with free market principles and hard work are the keys to opportunity in America.

Charles Eide is a natural entrepreneur. He’s creative, he thinks big-picture and his passion, confidence and enthusiasm for filming is instantly apparent. His best friend, and business partner, Mike Danielson is equally confident. He brings a sense of calm professionalism to filming, which helps when you have a state-of-the-art HD camera sticking in your face. Both Eide and Danielson are gifted filmmakers who are following their passion.

I am excited to have discovered Forever Films because it is a privately held company with a solid character. While “business” is often portrayed as greedy, selfish and immortal, the truth is that entrepreneurs like Eide and Danielson are some of the most productive and generous people I know. Check out the Forever Films blog and read about the company’s respect for marriage, and how it shares these values with clients.

I think it is amazing that Forever Films is a young company with incredible depth of talent, creativity, passion and customer service. I absolutely cannot think of another company in the Twin Cities or even the country that does what Forever Films does – the way it does it.

Forever Films makes wedding films, not videos, and there’s a difference. To me, a film is about telling a story. A film showcases events in an imaginative way rather than a dull chronology.

If you could tell your corporate product’s story, your brand’s story, your wedding’s story, your life’s story – in a time-proof medium that instantly grabbed your audience – why wouldn’t you? I don’t know anyone who would choose “Blah” over “Aha!” But, many people choose “Blah” because they don’t realize what they are missing: Forever Films.

Here are some questions I asked Forever Films to help you get to know them and to inspire other young entrepreneurs:

When did you start the Forever Films? Summarize briefly how the two of you decided to come together to start this company? How does Forever Films work with its sister company, Epic Events?
We formally launched Forever Films in January of 2009 after much conversation and discernment about the direction and calling of our work. Charlie and I grew up next door to each other in Eden Prairie from the very beginning. Our interests and passions developed together as we grew up and experienced life with parents who were entrepreneurs and passed along similar ways of thinking.

Our entrepreneurial ventures began in 2003 with the forming of Epic Events out of an opportunity to be mentored by a national event firm, Ashley Events, out of Washington D.C. That business grew by double digits every year and peaked in the fall of 2008 when we co-produced over 38 events for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Today, Epic Events has decided to cut the number of clients it serves but maintains a select few. Videos have been a part of virtually every event we did, and that made the transition to Forever Films very easy and mutually profitable.

What is unique about Forever Films? How do you set yourself apart from larger corporations? Do you have a unique target market?
We have spent much time developing their skills and appreciation for capturing the amazing experience of weddings on film forever. Together, we have assembled a hand-picked team of other talented and dedicated videographers who are devoted to capturing your wedding for you perfectly as you desire. We also avoid these common pitfalls of other companies:

• We are professionals, while most “videographers” are shooting on old equipment that can be very unreliable and pose a lot of problems. Also, many “videographers” are older and have been in the broadcast field for years and are doing this as a side gig.
• In the wedding business, because most weddings are on the weekends, many people are weekend “wedding warriors.” They do this as a side job and it shows. They are used to shooting news from 500 feet from the scene on a tripod, not the groom launching the bride into his arms on the dance floor. This style is much different. At Forever Films, we do video all day, every day. So, we are professionals with a vested interest, not weekend amateurs. We at Forever Films believe in what we do and that is why we are committed to serving you.

Have either or both of you always had the dream of doing your own thing?
Entrepreneurshipruns deep in our blood. Neither of us can imagine working for someone else ever again! I am sure this is only the beginning of our entrepreneurial ventures.

Do you think that this recession is a perfect time to create your own opportunities versus relying on large corporations to provide them?
Money is always being made whether the economy is good or bad. The barriers to entry are lower and fewer during a recession. The economic cards are being reshuffled right now.

As young professionals, do you feel like it’s easier to take on the risk of doing your own thing while you’re young?
No doubt about it, having started young has been a huge advantage for us because there we haven’t had a whole lot to lose other than our time. Experience is the greatest teacher and we have had our share of failures thus far.

Where do you see your company a year from now?
A year from now, Forever Films will be one of the top 25 videography groups in the nation leading the wedding and event industry. We project our revenue to double and add two contract videographers.

What’s your website? How can people reach you?
Web: www.foreverfilmstudios.com
Phone: 763-898-3223
Email: forever@foreverfilmstudios.com

Part 3 of 3

By Katie Kieffer

Happy Hour tonight anyone? It’s my final day as Undercover Boss for the GOP, and I need a stiff drink after my GOP shareholder meeting this morning.

The GOP’s shareholders are frustrated with the party’s lack of growth. At first they were patient, but after 20 years of donating money, votes and volunteer hours to a party that seems to be on more birth control than Europe, they are fed up.

These shareholders, loyal Republican donors who have been the GOP’s bread and butter for years, want to know when they are going to get a return on their investment. One gray-haired benefactress raised her hand and asked me, “Is the party going to substantially increase the number of young people in its fold before I die? Otherwise, I’m ready to throw in the towel and give my money to the Tea Party movement.”

The overall consensus by GOP shareholders was that the party needs to focus to have a shot at adding new blood. And, these GOP donors knew exactly what they wanted the party to focus on in 2010: jobs.

Laser focus on jobs

I walked into this shareholder breakfast meeting thinking it was going to be one big brunch of GOP elephant ear pasties. And KT loves her elephant ear pastries. Well, I should have eaten breakfast before I came. These donors were ready to get down to business on straight coffee and bottled water.

One of the shareholders lectured as he passed out large stacks of paper: “President Barack Obama is presiding over the largest expansion of government in history and sixty-six percent youth, ages 18-40, voted for him in 2008. This is why you need to read this new study out of UCLA which shows that young people who live through a recession are more likely to believe that wealth and career success is the result of ‘luck’ rather than ‘effort,’ and they will therefore be more open to supporting more government redistribution of wealth via higher taxes.”

He continued, “Young people need to see the connection between capitalism and prosperity. This same study out of UCLA indicated that young people ‘hit with a negative macroeconomic shock have a significantly lower level of confidence in Congress and the executive branch of the federal government’ Said differently, young people have not yet turned against capitalism, and they have a healthy distrust of big government – but if they become convinced that “luck” and the redistribution of wealth are the only ways to achieve the American Dream, these views will outweigh their distrust of government and stay with them throughout their voting years.”

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

My undercover takeaways for the GOP: Neither “high taxes” nor “wealth through luck” are part of the GOP platform. They are liberal mantras. The time to act is now, if the GOP wants to show young people that the real sources of wealth are thriving free markets coupled with individual hard work and perseverance.

The GOP needs to hunker down and focus on showing young people that their future, and their ability to achieve the American Dream, will depend on reducing the size of government and lowering taxes so that small businesses – the fuel of our economy – can hire and innovate.

If the President succeeds in spending his way to a short-term recovery, the UCLA study suggests that many young Americans will become life-long believers in the liberal mantra that big government and big spending are real solutions. If the GOP lets the President ride his way into a second term on this short-term sugar high of fake job creation, it can kiss young voters and a growth trajectory goodbye.

Distractions that could kill job focus

After this meeting, my assessment is that one way for the GOP to achieve this laser focus on job creation is by avoiding distraction. Yesterday, I showcased a good example of negative distraction in the MN CR’s ‘Frankenstein’ You Tube video. Here’s another good example:

When Sarah Palin dug back into a private meeting held last summer by White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, where he called a proposal to air attack ads on conservative Democrats who opposed Obamacare “f—ing retarded,” she made a mistake that seemed out of character. Her Facebook announcement last week, appeared to be an attempt to pick a petty fight with Emanuel on a misguided statement he made to his peers nearly half-a-year ago that was not even directed at people with intellectual disabilities.

Palin’s call for Emanuel’s firing based on this comment rather than his performance sends the message that conservatives are hypersensitive name-callers who are afraid to tackle real issues and are thirsty for a fight.

No wonder young people vote for liberals. Liberals speak to the “feel-good” emotions, and Palin’s comment speaks to the “feel-bad” emotions. It tells young people that conservatives are angry bullies. Palin is strong, as I’ve blogged before, when she focuses on principle. Palin made a mistake in digging up this petty dirt, and hopefully the GOP will not make similar mistakes in its campaign to attract youth.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Image: REUTERS/Jim Young (U.S.)

Now, the unintended consequences of Palin’s comment include:

• Wasted time and distraction from ending the recession and cutting the deficit.
• An unnecessary opportunity for liberal media outlets like The Huffington Post to make conservatives look like laughingstocks.
• New, anti-American legislation. In this case, it led to increased calls for speech codes and a move to ban the term “mental retardation” from legal and medical terminology in favor of “intellectual disability” to appease PC watchdogs.
  This is dangerous because as Jason Lewis stated on his talk show, “You do not have a right not to be offended in America. Get over it! … The purpose of the First Amendment is to protect speech that offends.” Additionally, the Washington Post reports that some advocates for the intellectually disabled feel, “the long campaign to change the term has been a waste of time, because the lexicon of insults is likely to expand to include any new terms and because it has distracted from more pressing needs.”

GOP’s Undercover Boss recommends

The GOP needs to focus on jobs and minimize petty distraction to grow its base with young professionals. Young people want jobs and job security. They want the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. The GOP has the opportunity to be the party that helps them achieve these goals.