Today we’d like to introduce you to Doug Black.
Hi Doug, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Summer 2017 I walked down the south Spanish coast, perplexed. I was there to help Syrian refugees in Jerez De La Frontera, a Spanish city between Sevilla and Gibralter, but Spain had quietly kicked out the refugees that had been assigned to them by the EU, so I had no one to help. That’s when my brother told me on the phone about a grant funded drone class being taught by NASA. I told him right then, “I’m leaving Spain and coming back to the USA. I’m getting into that class, and I’m going to start a business.” I flew home, figured out housing, bought a $30 drone and practiced an hour a day for six months. I interviewed into the NASA class, and out of 66 applicants I was one of the 18 that got in. The class was being taught near Wallops Island on the eastern shore of Maryland. I had no place to stay there, so I bought a tent, and I slept in that tent for a month while I went to class. I graduated at the top of the class and passed my FAA part 107 drone license test July 2018. Over the next 80 days I taught myself how to start an LLC and build a website, and I found my first repeat client, a Real Estate Photographer, named Cindy James of Cynthia James Photography LLC. We worked together over the next eight years, and she taught me luxury real estate photography. I taught myself how to build editing computers and edit videos, how to handle business finance, and how to make real estate videos look cinematic. My first year I made $1200 from my business. I did odd jobs. I lived with next to nothing, I drove an old car with high mileage, and every day my mind told me to give up, that if I gave up then I wouldn’t be so disappointed when it ultimately failed. Every hour I fought my mind that year. The next year I made over $30,000. The year after that, $50,000, last year I made over $80,000, and this year I expect to make over $100,000. I have become one of the most important parts of her business strategy, and I have many other return clients who hire me because I am honest, prompt, and do the best job. I’ve filmed real estate, businesses, weddings and events. I’ve even had the honor of helping to film a feature-length movie and act in it.
I lived in unfinished basements and attics and even spent one night in the woods cause I had nowhere to be, but I kept my appearance professional and pushed forward. Now I live in a nice house on the shores of the Rappahannock river and have a beautiful and admirable wife. We’re starting a family together, and she’s proud of me. Spain was not my first failure, but I have forged myself into the guarantee that it was my last. I built this business from nothing but a lot of determination and some timely placed focus and years of hard work. This business is called Victory Drone Photography. I’m not selling photos. I’m selling victory.
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?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, but it has been a productive one.
I have struggled with, doubt, poverty, homelessness, and the unknown.
I wasn’t already established, so I had to start from the ground up.
I didn’t already have a job, so I had no cash flow to support getting the business goIng.
I didn’t have any credit, so I couldn’t take out a loan to get the business going.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
From up in the sky, to across the water, to even under the ground, if you build it, fix it, make it, or sell it, I photograph it and I film it.
I have a reputation for consistently producing cinematic quality marketing media for some of the top sellers and businesses in Virginia.
What sets me apart from others is that there is nothing I cannot learn to do well and learn it quickly, and I am more adaptable and resilient than most, having gained mastery over photography, videography, 3d capture, and aerial media. I can do it all.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
At work I am most happy when I take on a challenge I have never faced before and produce something excellent. When I sit back and review what I made and see that it is excellent I get a huge smile on my face, knowing it is going to make my customers happy.
At home I’m happy when I see that my wife trusts me and respects me, and it makes me smile thinking about how we both are equals, building our life together.
Pricing:
- Real Estate Photography $300-$900
- Drone media $300-$1200
- Real Estate Videos/Reels $400-$1200
- 1/2 day rate $1000, day rate $2000
- Special projects/commercial ask me!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thevictorydrone.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevictorydrone?igsh=YjE1cm83c3V4eDhi&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BCintTcX8/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@victorydrone1361
