Today we’d like to introduce you to Melody Jordan.
Hi Melody, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My path to becoming a creative agency owner has been anything but linear, although creativity and technology have been the thread running through almost all of it.
I’ve been interested in media production, photography, web design and creative direction since I was a kid. I started teaching myself HTML and Photoshop when I was around nine or ten, building websites and experimenting with digital design long before I had any idea those skills could become a career. I was always drawn to creating things and figuring out how visuals, music, technology and storytelling could work together.
My first real taste of entrepreneurship came through fitness. I worked as a personal trainer and created my own online workout programs for moms and moms-to-be. From there, my career took me into nonprofit leadership, eventually serving as Executive Director of the Sweet Home Chamber of Commerce. That role exposed me to marketing, tourism, events, community partnerships and business development, while giving me opportunities to put those lifelong creative interests into practice professionally. Working on events and campaigns and getting real-world production experience showed me what high-quality, story-driven media could do for a business or organization.
At the same time, my personal life was going through a major transition. I had left my executive position in order to try and make things work at home. Ultimately, I found myself leaving an abusive marriage and making the decision to advocate for myself and build a different life. I was also a mom with a school-age daughter, so I was figuring out how to start a business around school hours, be present for her and create some stability for us while our own life was still very much in transition.
There was nothing glamorous about the beginning. For a period of time, we were living in a small motorhome, and I spent a lot of days working from Starbucks with my laptop, an iPhone and an idea for a business. I could have chosen a more traditional career path, but I took the risk of trying to build something of my own that could support us while eventually giving me the kind of freedom and flexibility I wanted for our life.
My first idea was selling premade branding kits. They completely flopped.
But nobody actually knew that. They saw me consistently marketing my offers and I started getting requests for custom designs for their businesses instead. So I just started saying yes. I designed flyers, business cards and websites. Some of my first paid projects were $25 event flyers. As those projects grew, I reinvested what I earned back into the business, gradually purchasing professional camera equipment and expanding what I could offer.
Design grew into photography. Photography grew into video and commercial production. Eventually, what started as one person figuring things out from a motorhome became MJ Media Productions, a creative agency I’m continuing to build with a growing team of designers, editors, operations and marketing professionals, along with a network of photographers, filmmakers and other creatives. Today, we work with businesses and organizations across photography, cinematic video, websites, branding and design, and social content, and we’re continuing to expand both the team and the scale of projects we take on.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting over personally while trying to build something professionally required a lot of resilience and a willingness to keep moving even when I couldn’t see very far ahead.
Once I started the company, there was an entirely different learning curve. I thought simply being good at the work was the business strategy. I had to learn pricing, contracts, sales, client communication, boundaries, project management and how to actually make creative work profitable. I underpriced myself at times, took on too much, made mistakes and spent a lot of time trying to be the designer, photographer, videographer, editor, marketer, salesperson and business owner all at once.
One of my biggest lessons has actually come more recently. I’ve realized that just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should be the person doing it. For a long time, growth meant learning another skill. Now, growth looks more like learning how to lead.
I’m currently in that transition as I build out my team and learn how to delegate more of the production and day-to-day execution while I focus on business development, creative strategy, relationships and the overall direction of the company. Giving other talented people ownership of pieces of something I’ve built from scratch can be uncomfortable, but it’s also what allows the company to become bigger than what I could ever create by myself.
I don’t think entrepreneurship ever really becomes a smooth road. The challenges just change as you grow. I’ve gotten much more comfortable trusting myself to figure out the next version when I get there.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What I love most about my work is that it sits at the intersection of creativity and business. The goal is never just to make something that looks good, but to make things that look good and serve a bigger purpose. I’m always thinking about what we’re trying to communicate, who we’re trying to reach and how the creative work supports the bigger picture.
I think one of the things that sets me apart is the range of my background. I’ve worked in design and web development, photography, video production, marketing and business development, and I’m also a recording and performing artist. I tend to see a project from several angles at once: the story, the visuals, the audience and the business objective behind it.
What I’m most proud of right now is watching MJ Media evolve from something I was running entirely on my own into a growing creative team. I’m still very involved creatively, but I’m also learning how to step into a larger leadership role of setting the vision, understanding what our clients need, collaborating with talented people and making sure the work that leaves our agency meets the standard we’ve built.
Ultimately, I want MJ Media to be known for thoughtful, high-quality creative work that helps our clients tell their stories and grow.
How do you think about luck?
I definitely believe luck plays a role in life and business. I’ve had opportunities come my way that I couldn’t have planned, and I’ve met people at exactly the right time who have opened doors, introduced me to someone or sparked an entirely new direction.
But I also wonder how much of what we call luck is really about being open enough to notice an opportunity when it appears. I’m naturally optimistic, genuinely curious about people and I love making connections. I tend to walk into a room thinking, “Who can I meet? What can I learn? What could come from this?” without needing to know exactly what the outcome will be.
I think I approach bad luck similarly. Some of the hardest circumstances in my life have ultimately pushed me toward something I never would have pursued otherwise. I’m pretty good at looking at a situation that didn’t go the way I wanted and asking, “Okay, what can I do with this now?” I don’t stay discouraged for very long. I’m resilient, I tend to land on my feet, and I genuinely believe things are figureoutable.
I’m also not particularly afraid of failing. I’ve had plenty of ideas that didn’t work, but I don’t view failure as evidence that I should stop. I adjust, try something different and keep moving.
So yes, I think I’ve been lucky, if you want to call it that. But I also think I’ve gotten good at creating opportunities for luck to find me, and at turning some of the things that initially felt like bad luck into something meaningful. I show up, stay curious, make connections, take chances and trust myself to figure things out along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Mjmediaproductions.net
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/musicalcamerachick
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/mjmediaproductionsllc
- Other: https://Melodyjordanmusic.com
