Hi, I’m Rory and I’m Sophie. We’re a husband and wife team talking about the ups and downs of running a production company. While navigating the media world and working together, sometimes with a little chaos. Welcome you’re listening to... The Media Couple This is the fourth time we are recording this. Fourth time. Feel like the world is telling us don't record a podcast. It's either the world is telling us don't record it or episode one is cursed. It's totally cursed Episode one is cursed. Oh, yeah. Let's go with that. Yeah. I'll take. Oh, I'll take that. Oh, God. That could be a good name. Episode one is cursed. Are we cursed question mark? Yeah, are we cursed? Yes is the answer. I don't think I can do another one after this. If we have to do another one after this, I give up. Yeah, true. I also back that. Yeah. We're going to take the well. So if you're seeing this, it worked. We made it here guys If you’re not seeing this It didn't. and you'll never know about it anyway. So...yeah. So, yeah, hopefully. Who knows. I guess we should probably tell people who we are. And why we're here. Yeah, we have a video production company called A Few Good Productions. AFGP for short, AFGP for short and we started it five years ago. and have been kind of running it on and off ever since. Yeah. Neither one of us has ever been working in the business at the same time, it's either been you or me or you or me. Yeah, we've swapped. We swapped on and off, and neither one of us has ever really had the time. Well, neither one of us has had the opportunity to work in it exclusively. Exactly. And we are now finding a place where we are both doing that. Yep. And that is where we are now. Yeah, that's where we are now. But we feel like it's important to actually talk about where we've been. Yeah...and also like I would really like to see people more people talk about this kind of scary imposter, kind of element of the business and running a business. And I have seen so many successful business owners talk about how they've achieved and attained their success, and that's great, and I love that for them. And I love that they've managed to do that. However, I also really crave an element of listening to somebody who is just trying to figure it out as they go. yeah, that's a fair point. Feel like I'm on the same plane as them and almost feel like I'm not comparing myself, Yeah. Yeah, 100%. I mean, to sort of back that up. I feel exactly the same way. And I feel like you've you've put it across really, really well. And also like people have to get lucky in life. Like, I mean, you have to get really lucky in business. There's tons of really hardworking people out there. There's tons of people who are really intelligent, who are doing the exact same thing as me and you, who are so much better at it than me and you. It's like fifty percent work fifty percent luck. Yeah. And that's the thing. Like, I can honestly sit here and admit some of the best work we've ever done have come through luck. Like, we've just been lucky in that instance. We've been lucky in that pitch meeting. There was hundred people in front of us who were just as good. We've had someone email us. We responded to it in the right time. They were at their desk. They hadn't gone for their lunch yet, like it just happened. But that doesn't happen enough at the moment for us to be doing this full time. So we need more luck. So we need more luck. Oh. Oh. That's here. Hello, this is Daphne. Hello Daph. She's the best dog. She's best girl. Girl. Oh, yeah. That's the microphone. That is. Are you right? Oh, she's on the move. Oh, careful. She's wrapped herself up. She wants to come back to her bed in the middle. I know, but now she's stuck in my headphones right there you go. Good girl. Oh, she's oh. So much better down here. She's like looking at me. Giving me the side eye out right now. Shes like that was the worst. She's like, don't do that again. oh, there you go. Well that was a nice little distraction. Yeah. Well, I mean, we started the business when we were really young. I was 23. You were 25 Yeah, we didn't know what we were doing. No not at all. And I still feel like that in a way. sometimes I feel like I've done the right thing and a lot of the times in making this business, I feel like I've done the complete wrong thing and had no idea what I've been doing the whole time. Yeah, I agree with you feels a bit like a shot in the dark most of the time. Yeah, and like, throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks. Yeah, definitely. In a sense, yeah. Which is a bit intimidating and daunting. And I also feel there's this element where you have to, like, look like, you know what you're doing. You know what I mean. Like the outward the I don't know the hustle culture I suppose you could say that sort of very pervasive online is puts you in a position where you're like you have to be like I'm so good and most of the time. I'm not that good. Most of the time I'm pretty okay. And, you know, get getting through the day. But You're being a very jokey today. On this take, last take you were very sad. I cried in the last take. You did? I thought that was a bit much for episode one though so that’s why we did it again. We didn't immediately want people to leave. We're like, stick around, at least. For a few times. This isn’t too intense. Right we’re going cringy again. But yeah, like I think let's get back to the business stuff. Right Back to biz. I don't know about you, but I feel like I have had a massive imposter syndrome at so many points in the business whilst trying to grow over the last five years. And in a weird way, I still feel. I still feel like I relate a lot to the 25 year old version of me. Yeah. To what I am now. Yeah, the 30 year old version of you. The 30 year old. That's five. That's five. Years old. Old man. Yeah, I know, I get I get what you're saying. Because I definitely still feel that way. It's a bit I sometimes feel embarrassed posting about our business online and talking about it, and I feel like I need to make myself smaller in certain rooms and conversations when I'm talking about myself because I feel like I'm not necessarily, worthy of talking about it, as if it's a real business. Because I think I tell myself that it's not because it doesn't feel like one. You know, I kind of censor myself, yeah, you know, and I think that comes from a place of fear, probably, and a little bit of imposter syndrome and self-doubt and also not wanting to look stupid. Yeah. Because if I don't do it, if I don't try, right, then no one can make fun of me. But if I try, people can make fun of me. But the problem is with the business, you have to try. You do, you do. And, our whole business and our whole careers. All we've ever done is make content for other people. So now having to turn the camera on ourselves. Is really difficult. Like. And I also what the thing that I'm feeling is I don't want to put something out there that feels inauthentic. No, I feel like we're having an existential crisis. With this podcast. Send help. Please. This podcast is having an existential crisis. I mean, I don't know about you, but our business has failed so much more times than it's been successful. Yeah, and that's really hard to admit. because you don't want to admit that you can't do it because it's being. Then it will be seen as failure. And you can't admit that you might not be doing as well as how everybody. And I think that that also is a symptom of social media. Right. And the way that social media puts out the best of everybody else around you. So you compare yourself. Yeah, exactly and I also feel like I don't know about you, but I find it much easier for someone to be like, this is what I want. Go do that or give me your opinion on it. Like I want to make like a really fast paced, like edgy edit and you know, that's with like some cool music and stuff. I feel like I can be like, yeah, okay, cool. Give me like a day and I'll think about it and like, I'll, I'll, I'll have a look at some references like, yeah, that's great. You then asked me to do that for my business. I'm lost. I'm so lost. But that that's that's like world over, isn't it? You look at, you know, a lot of people who, you know, an accountant might be an amazing accountant for other people, might be awful for themselves. And it tends to be. Yeah. Or like or like, yeah. Or like, Oh, yeah. I'm a chef by trade. But what do you cook? Oh, I have a freezer dinner when I get it. Exactly like, I just, I can't, I can't face, like, thinking of cooking a dish. Exactly. The thought of actually having to do it for yourself after you've done it all day in your job and then have to come home and do it again. You're just like, I can't do it. I can’t be bothered. What's the point. Yeah. It's really, really hard to find that drive to do it for yourself. It's not even necessarily drive. I think it's also just you kind of run out of steam. Yeah. Like I run out of ideas and creativity. And so you just make a podcast. Yeah. Yeah. No, fully. When you're on someone else's time. This is the other thing I want to touch on. When you're on someone else's time, you're a bit more like. You're more honoring to that, I feel. Whereas when it's your business, I kind of feel like you can be like, oh, and so I'll, I'll sort that on Friday. Like on Friday, I'll record another podcast or I'll, I'll do the social media planning for a month or I'll, I'll, I'll action that I'll, I'll get the website updated. But then if Friday comes in, you're suddenly like, oh, you know, I will. I just don't have to I've run out of time. I'll, I'll push it to Monday, Tuesday. And it goes on and on and on. And you can push it because it's you. It depends on you. Whereas if someone else is like, you know, if someone's paying you for it, or someone else is expecting you to do it you deliver, you deliver on time and you find something. You find the determination to do it. Yeah, fully. And and I think there's I mean, at least for me, when I have worked for other people, I have found it easier to motivate myself because I'm scared of losing my job. Yeah, right. When I've worked for myself, I found it hard to motivate myself for fear of failing. That's really interesting, right? Yeah, that's really interesting. I would rather do nothing because it feels safer than doing something when it's for me, and when it's for somebody else. I would rather do something than do nothing because it feels safer. Yeah. That's great. Isn't that interesting though. That is really interesting. Yeah, and it's weird how that works. Yeah. It's so weird how that works. Which is why we have rerecorded and rerecorded this podcast. So many times. Yeah. Yeah, because I find it easier. We don't have to put this out in the world. We are under no obligation to put this out. With choosing to put it out. We’re choosing to put it out right now, if we were making this podcast and somebody else was paying us to do this. We would have had one go. I think I've exactly. And I think it would have been a whole different ballgame. I honestly think it would have been a whole different ballgame. Yeah. And it's like how. But that's all mental. It's all about mental shift and trying to get out of that mental space where I feel like what I'm doing for myself is not as worthy as what I'm doing for somebody else. Yeah, yeah. I definitely get what I mean. Yeah, yeah, yeah. and I feel like us doing this sort of podcast right, like us creating this and doing this, is the hope that it benefits A Few Good Productions as well. That it benefits AFGP. Yeah. Because we're like, look, if we're building this and doing well, we hope that AFGP does well. Yeah, you know what I mean? And it's like another thing that we've never tried before. So we're going to try it again because we've tried so many other things to take AFGP to where it actually needs to get to, to give both of us a wage. Yeah, exactly. And I mean, that's the goal, right? That's literally the only goal. Yeah, is to get us to a point where we can both live off of it. Yeah. That's the dream, yeah. It’s not that big of a dream It feels like an absolute mountain, doesn't it? It does? Yeah. It feels like we're climbing a mountain and, every so often, we just lose a little bit more, like we lose a bit more of our footing. Sort of thing, you know what I mean. And then we slip and then we have to try and find a way to climb, you know, climb back up a bit. Well I think, powerful quote that. Powerful quote. I am a mountain. I agree with you I agree with you, and Yeah. I agree with you. I agree with you. Well, thank you for agreeing with me. It’s okay, It's okay. Happy to be of service mate. Gooday mate, happy to be of service. Dont know why, I've gone delirious now. On that note yeah. So thank you all for watching. As I say, I'm Rory, and this is Sophie, and that's Sophie. And if you want to listen to more of, ramblings about, you know, what it's like to run a very small business, the media landscape in the UK or, you know, running a business with your husband wife as a married couple. Then this is definitely the podcast for you. We appreciate you guys for listening so far. And we will be putting these out weekly. So keep your eyes peeled for all the new podcasts. Absolutely. Yeah. As Sophie said, thank you so much for watching. And please follow us on all our socials as well guys. Thank you. Thanks, guys. See you next time, bye.