Conversations with Matt Lenagh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Lenagh.

Hi Matt, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
So, I started my career after college by moving into a leadership development program for an industrial automation company. For two years, I moved around the country working in different facets of the business before moving into a territory sales role. I decided that after a year in that role that I wanted to pursue a new opportunity that was completely unrelated. Content creation.

I had a friend who was in the realm of content and convinced me to buy a camera and start doing my own photos and videos. After creating for a while I had an opportunity to travel off and on with him and try to learn more about the craft while also seeing the world. So, I decided to leave my corporate job and headed out on the road. Through many hours of YouTube, unpaid jobs, and trial and error, I got to the point where I was able to actually start bringing in paid clients and helping them tell their story. I also expanded beyond just photos and videos on land and moved underwater by completing my divemaster while living in Indonesia.

Then Covid struck and things slowed down a lot for me as the world was coming to a hault. As the world began to open back up and things picked up again, I had an opportunity to join an agency to help start up their video program. I now have been with them for 1.5 years helping them create new content for both paid ads and corporate marketing while also balancing some freelance work. I also picked up the paid media side of things for them on the Google platform and have helped them expand and diversify the agency. So, long story short… YouTube has taught an immense amount from cameras to media and my career has been a testament to diving headfirst into opportunities. You can learn and adapt and always have an opportunity to change and grow from whatever place you’re currently at!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not! Things are never linear. Covid was a big one, learning something completely new that you’ve never done before, or even just moving to a new country and facing challenges there. This is what life is though. I’m a big believer in the ebb and flow or Yin and Yang of life. Struggle and difficulty will always be present and the goal is not to avoid them but to learn and grow from them. There will be ups and downs all along your journey, but how you handle adversity and difficulty is something you can control because no matter how hard you try to avoid it it will come and you will be tested!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
On the photo and video side, I have worked with a broad variety of clients. I mostly specialize in the hospitality and underwater work! So as hostels, hotels, restaurants, bars, and lifestyle-type shoots. I would love to work more in the outdoors industry and more in sports. I have been working a lot in the trail running community to get my name out there and would love to continue expanding.

I am most proud of being a self-taught photographer/videographer. Learning a new craft and making a ton of mistakes along the way! I think what sets me apart from others is my diversity and flexibility. I think it’s important as a creative to try new things, but also new styles and verticals. It’s good to stick to your strengths, but being able to step outside that, especially to make a client happy, is important!

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Denver is awesome! It is definitely a melting pot of many people from all over the country/world. I love the access to the mountains and the balance and availability of both city life and nature living. Cons is that everyone loves that and there’s a lot of people haha. Being a transplant though, I get it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thehitechhippie.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehitechhippie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHitechHippieProductions
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIPLxmOAKEuGxwImxmNPMrA 

Image Credits
Matt Lenagh