Meet Katie Harmon of HawkDigital in Vail Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Harmon.

Katie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am one of the few percentage of people that do exactly what they studied in school! I attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana to study telecommunications…and loved it. I’d go back in a heartbeat if they’d let me. I left Muncie after graduation and moved to Dallas, TX for a job offer with the Northern Section PGA. At that point, I thought I was on the perfect path to pursue my perfect career in sports media. The only small catch was I had already fallen for this wonderful guy a year before I graduated from college, and we traveled frequently to Colorado to visit his family in the Vail Valley. I think it was about four or five trips later that I told him I never wanted to leave. I’d fallen in love with Colorado and all of its glory. The search for new jobs began in late 2013 (shortly after he put a ring on it). A few months later, the deal was sealed for my fiancé, Tommy, with a construction company in Avon, CO and we had the perfect excuse to make the mountains our new home. I began working for a small advertising agency when I first moved and continued freelancing for a handful of clients as a side business. The freelance work kept building and growing, and I finally got the backbone to quit my full time gig and pursue my own business full time. That was 5.5 years ago. I’m now running HawkDigital, a small multimedia company offering photography, videography and graphic design, serving businesses and organizations primarily in the Vail Valley.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s been all unicorns and butterflies. 😉 Of course, it hasn’t been perfect, but it’s amazing how the stress transforms when you’re doing this for yourself, for your own bank account and for clients that you care about that you want to impress and you want to create a relationship with to keep them coming back for more.

Time management will always be a struggle. Always. As likely any business owner will relate. There are no paid vacation days when you own your own business. With technology today, there’s a stressful feeling of always needing to be “online” and available. At the end of the day, this is a lot of the reason we chose the area we did. Quality of life is valued in the Vail Valley. I didn’t take many vacations at the start of my business, but I’ve gained the confidence to step away from my desk for a few weeks out of the year, and my clients couldn’t be more understanding. It’s all about communication. It might mean that I work 80 hours the week before a vacation to meet deadlines, but it’s so worth it.

Being a one-man-band is also challenging. Especially in an ever-changing industry. I don’t work in a team environment, so I don’t get to bounce ideas off other people. I also don’t get to geek out with anyone in the office and debate the latest and greatest gear on the market. Fortunately, I’ve found a way around this. One day a week, I teach photography and/or videography for one of the local community colleges (Colorado Mountain College). I started doing this four months after I took my business full time. I love teaching the art that is video and photo. I love the relationships that I can make with students. I can only hope that I leave a fraction of the impression that my teachers left on me in college. Not to mention the college has a great stash of gear that I get to test out. It helps me stay in tune with what’s happening in the world of cameras and software and “all the things!”

Please tell us more about your business.
Since I offer such a variety of services from video to photo to graphic design and even some website design, my clients vary from 1-man-band non-profits to a multi-department hospital. I think they appreciate having someone local that can pop by for a meeting, explore ideas, and produce a variety of content for all their marketing needs. Managing eight projects from four different vendors can be overwhelming. It’s just me running HawkDigital. They know who and exactly what they’re getting. I think I’m more known for the quality of work/time/availability/flexibility versus any one thing that I do. The current trend is video, and that’s my personal favorite (I love taking 10 interviews and making a 90 second story out of them).

When I started the business, I went back and forth on being a “personal” photographer and videographer or working only business to business. The thing is we live in the Vail Valley – the ultimate backdrop for personal AND corporate projects. So I just embraced it! I offer a number of “personal” services like wedding videography and family photos. Every day is so different. My to-do-list would drive some people crazy. But I love sitting down at my desk and starting the day editing a maternity photoshoot and end it creating a commercial for the local hardware store.

I think I’m most proud that THIS WORKS! It wouldn’t work just anywhere, but it works here in our small mountain town.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Everyone always thanks their family first, but it’s no doubt they deserve it. My dad is a successful and very intelligent entrepreneur. He started an architectural firm many years ago, and I call him regularly for advice. No doubt, he never lets me down.

My mom’s experience is in bookkeeping. She is retired, and when I first started my business, she took on my bookkeeping and helped me understand profit and loss, cash flow, and how much I could afford to pay myself. The business has changed quite a bit in five years, and I joke that she’s had to come out of retirement to help manage my finances. And she kills it.

I also have a handful of professors from Ball State that I keep in touch with regularly. They like to check-in and see how things are going to post college. And I nag them for advice on the regular.

Pricing:

• Wedding Videography – Starting at $3000
• Wedding Photography – Starting at $2900
• Luxury Real Estate Videography – Starting at $950
• Family Photos – Starting at $450
• Corporate Marketing Videos – Starting at $950
• Architectural Photography – Starting at $750

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hawk-digital.com
• Email: katie@hawk-digital.com
• Instagram: @hawk_digital
• Facebook: @HawkDigital

Image Credit:
Headshot – Larissa Welch: We, The Light Photography
All other images are sample portfolio images from HawkDigital (Architectural, Commercial, Family Photos)

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