My name is Hilaria Heredia and I started my videography business in 2020. All throughout my life, I've been around storytellers, which taught me at a very young age how to bring a vision into reality. Being raised by a grandfather who loved to document his life, we grew up watching his videos which included us as kids. I began my video production journey in high school where I learned what it takes to full-on build a story and capture the vision. I believe those two years of school were my most crucial stages on learning what I liked, what I didn't, and how I could be different.
I've always taken this passion seriously, even entering competitions and joining as many after school projects to help me soak up knowledge in this field. After high school, I started to lose interest but in 2015 I picked up a camera and started my YouTube channel which lead me here. Many friends and mentors believed I should start shooting again, so I did. I started with the smallest of jobs, but I was starting to build confidence once customers kept returning for more work. In my first year of business, I was featured in Input Fort Wayne which made a lot of things shake for me. I was offered a documentary job with a non-for-profit organization in Wabash, which gave me more perspective on how I want to run my business and what kind of business I want to bring in.
Truly, I think that's a huge entrepreneurial key, figuring out how your passion can serve you, and if there are no opportunities being offered, go out and find some. Learn the business, how to run it correctly, and make it your own. There are many people who do what I do but no one does work the way I do and no one does business as I do. Find a way to stand out and do things differently and if possible, do it better.
I entered the RISE program for that reason--to get more clarity on what entrepreneurship looked like. I needed the keys on how I could be and stay successful in the industry. After my first day of seeing the curriculum, I knew I was in the right place. In just the first semester of this class, I definitely learned more about business, but more importantly, I started getting clarity on what my business was going to look like.
During the pandemic, I took a lot of time to reevaluate what I want my life to look like and what I want to spend my time doing. One of my favorite parts of the class is the focus on mindset. Being an entrepreneur is honestly a mindset. In general we tend to stay content and comfortable, but when we don't let our fears control us, we can learn so much about ourselves that can open doors we had no idea were there. I’ve come to the conclusion that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. My passion is directing and as I grow my knowledge and skills, I plan to pass it down to the next generation, just like my grandpa did.
