Meet Jose “Jay” Pineda: Creative Director & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jose “Jay” Pineda and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jose “Jay”, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
There wasn’t actual “thought process” at first. I was broke, I needed to make a money fast, so I figured if I could learn how to help people through content creation then that could help me with my bills and get ahead. It was a snowball effect. I went from one client to two, then more people started seeing my work and started reaching out to me. I envisioned myself being this video production powerhouse so I took the steps necessary to get to there. Still not there, but at least I got started and I’m working towards that goal. That’s the main thing, you need to execute.

What should our readers know about your business?
My company’s name is Video Cartel. The thought behind my business started by meeting people throughout my life and career who I felt needed to be heard. What’s the one way people can be heard? Through video content. Where would their content be displayed? YouTube! Not everyone knows how to film. Not everyone knows how to edit. Not everyone has time to learn, but they have a message to share with the world, that is where I come in. I’ve been able to take my knowledge and expertise, and help others create their brand online through video content. I pre-produce the content that will be filmed. In most cases shoot and edit, then I come up with a thumbnail and description for the video to go up on YouTube. Make the social media pieces to help drive traffic to the channel. Video Cartel does it all. My biggest challenge coming up was the pricing. I’m not money hungry, I want to be fair. So to really come up with a fair price for these services was tough but I think I got it now. Took some time and some learning experiences to do it but I got it taken care of. The business side of things has really been a learning curve. I had to register my business with the state and do all the fancy business stuff. When you get started you don’t need all that, you just need to hustle but when you start to grow and get bigger, then you need to put money away for taxes and get all the legal side of things taken care of. One of the lessons I’ve learned in business is CYA: Cover Your A**! I’m really proud of the fact that I made a name for myself and people come to me. I don’t need to spend money on marketing, all the business I have has been word of mouth. I’m really excited for the future of Video Cartel because once I start to scale, there’s really no telling how big we can really get.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The beach! The first thing to do on my list would be going day drinking down on Main St in Huntington Beach, CA. That’s one of my favorite places to go to. You can’t go wrong there. We would need to stay at The Hilton on PCH and get a room with a view of the beach. Rent some bikes and ride alongside the beach, stop and day drink of course at the local bars there. From there, we’d go down south to San Diego. I really like the Gas Lamp District. Many fun restaurants and bars in that area. And we’d spend the night there in one of the hotels nearby or Airbnb. In the morning we’d go to Little Italy and grab some brunch with unlimited Mimosas at Morning Glory. It’s a very popular place in San Diego. I’m imagining all this without covid restrictions. It’s hard to actually do anything now with this pandemic going on. There is the train that goes from San Diego to DTLA, we’d take that back up and head over to the Grand Central Market. in DTLA and get something to eat there then hit one of the many museums LA has in the area. There is more that we could do in a week long trip but I’m gonna choose that for now.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First and foremost, I’d like to thank ME. Lol I’m kidding, there are a lot of people that helped me along this journey. The people who gave me a chance. It’s hard to give a shoutout to people because there are so many. I’m not self made, I had help along the way. As far as getting me started on the right track, my longtime friend Joel Nevarez was the first person to give me work. He’s handed me many opportunities and continues to do so. Chris Loos gave me my first shot at content creation. His channel was the first YouTube channel I worked on and continue to work on. Stevie and Valentina gave me a shot at creating a real YouTube series for a big company. It was a little rocky at first but that’s what helped me get to where I am now. The many friends and family that supported me, including my girlfriend that’s been really patient with me in growing this business. Like I said, it’s hard to write out a list of people who’ve helped me along the way because there are just so many.

Website: https://taplink.cc/cant_stop_jay

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cant_stop_jay/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cantstopjay/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cant_stop_jay

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaybeatspro

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CantStopProductions/featured

Image Credits
Michael Pineda