Jumpstart: The Alumni Speak

Owners at Creative Mammals and MassFX discuss their Jumpstart experience.

Q: If your friend was running a small studio and struggling, what would you say about Jumpstart?

 Masha Rastatourova: Jumpstart is a worthy investment and a valuable network of peers plus mentors, all who answer your questions. They help you peel back the curtain of uncertainty to see your creative business in a new, strategic way.

Robert Burroughs: Jumpstart is a place where creative entrepreneurs learn all the steps you missed out on while you were busy honing your craft. The things you are struggling against have causes; those struggles also have solutions. You’ll also be glad to learn you’re not the only one roaming about the creative landscape without a compass!

‘Jumpstart is a place where creative entrepreneurs learn all the steps you missed out on while you were busy honing your craft.’ – Robert Burroughs

 Shawna Schultz: If you’re really ready to learn and push yourself and your company,Jumpstart is a great resource to do some soul-searching and get answers to what’s next for you.Jumpstart offers additional experience which accelerates your knowledge past those painful situations where otherwise you would be stuck learning the hard way.

Q: Looking back to where your studio was before Jumpstart, what is the biggest change between then and now?

Masha: Before Jumpstart we mainly focused on creative, a.k.a. “do good work and the rest will come.” The biggest change is that we now have an actionable plan and a clear vision of where we want to be as a business.

Shawna: The biggest change in our studio from before Jumpstart to now is that we’ve been given permission to be the experts. We’ve shifted our mentality from being servants to being leaders, and simply that paradigm shift has affected our budgets for the better, our client relationships for the better, and our team morale for the better. We’re no longer victims of our client’s whims but rather partners leading them to be successful, thanks to our expertise.

Q: How has Jumpstart opened you up to a larger perspective and community of fellow creative entrepreneurs?

Masha:  I believe that surrounding ourselves with like-minded people and people who have achieved certain goals puts us in an advantageous position. We can problem solve as a group. We are able to expedite and gain years of experience in a span of a few months.

Robert: It’s nice to know we’re not alone, and hearing the advice given to other folks was a hug.

Shawna: It’s been helpful to have a community of other shops around the world, but more importantly, it made me realize our “local competition” is actually a great resource, and we started reaching out to them to make friends and talk shop.

Q: Considering the investment involved in Jumpstart – and compared to the limited alternatives out there available for our industry – was it a good decision?

Shawna: We made our money back in the first 2 weeks. Having the confidence to boldly charge what you’re worth gave me enough of a boost to double a budget ask, and the client didn’t blink. What we do as media producers and storytellers is immensely valuable to our clients, so Jumpstart helped me realize I’m not just counting the hours of my team but rather providing a valuable asset worth more than just butt-in-chair time.

‘We made our money back in the first 2 weeks.’ – Shawna Schultz

Robert:  It’s a priceless paradigm shift! How’s that for alliteration? I’ve listened to all the entrepreneur podcasts, the blogs, and nothing else seems to fit our creative world.

Masha:  It’s all in the way you think about it. Knowledge is power and the knowledge we gained with (RevThink mentors) Joel and Tim is well worth the cost. Implementing what we’ve been taught, we can make that money back on the very next job.

Q: At RevThink, we call our courses like Jumpstart accelerators. As a creative entrepreneur, why is it important to accelerate your knowledge?

Masha:  Time is valuable when running a studio. It’s tricky juggling so many responsibilities. Jumpstart gave us a leg up in positioning our studio for success with succinct and relevant lessons, group discussions and industry-specific insights.

‘We’ve spent countless hours honing our creative craft, why wouldn’t we do the same honing our business?’ – Robert Burroughs

Shawna: As a creative entrepreneur, it’s easy to get stuck in the work… because I’m so passionate about what I do. But if I truly want to grow my team and be successful, I need not only to hone my craft, but also my business acumen.

Robert: We’ve spent countless hours honing our creative craft, why wouldn’t we do the same honing our business?