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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Peter Meyer
“Networking and supporting can lead to many great new doors opening. Life is about giving, not taking and is a responsibility to help others but certainly the next generation..” – Peter Meyer
Today we feature Peter Meyer, the founder at The Meyer Studios. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
My name is Peter Meyer and I was born in Durban, South Africa, not far from where I grew up on an incredible Game Reserve amongst wild animals, created by my father, a hidden wilderness gem situated in the hilly countryside of Kwa-Zulu Natal.
I grew up in the wild amongst incredible beauty and with a loving father who took animals out of captivity from around the world and back into the wild.
Since then and over my years I have been an international hotelier, an actor, filmmaker, wildlife conservationist, and also recent an entrepreneur.
Since moving to the UK I have become an active wildlife conservationist, using my platform to help inform others of how important respecting and supporting the natural world remains.
Through acting and other work, I have also been involved in commercials representing brands such as BMW, Ford, Argos, Burberry, Oracle and Deutsche Bank. Some of my modelling has been with brands such as Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, GANT & Tommy Hilfiger through El Corte Ingles in Spain and Jacamo & Ben Sherman in the UK.
This was made possible by being in a much more commercial environment such as the UK.
Also, the move to the UK allowed me to write and publish a #1 Bestseller based on my extraordinary childhood called “The Boy From the Wild”. Written with International bestselling author Graham Spence, it’s a true story of my life in the wild of Africa and a tribute to my late father who created the sanctuary and has been named one of the most inspiring African True stories of recent times.
Being in the UK also allowed me to make the documentary around the book which is currently on Google Play and soon to be on Apple TV. I then recently in the last 18 months created The Meyer Studios in London which is a luxury photography studio business that is aimed at everyone but mainly talent wanting to break into the industry with quality portfolios.
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A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
From my understanding and experience in the entertainment industry, I knew there was a gap in the market for high-end photography for models, actors, and others and not just from good images, but creating with a mind set to guide them and help them into the industry or create amazing memories but with great service. I founded the studio to support other creatives in the arts industry basically and was one of them myself ho needed guidance and didn’t get a lot in my early journey.
After having a first-hand perspective on the acting industry, I have always wanted to help young actors, models, musicians, dancers climb their way into the industry. I first did a business plan and presented to my trust fund lawyer who looked after my father’s inheritance to earn their support and funding that my father left me.
I had scouted many locations and properties but when I found the right place it was then time to implement the ideas. I then started by all the equipment, hiring the team, sorting the website and all our media outlets to market. One big factor was sorting out all the covid PPE and making sure we followed regulations as it was important to me my team was safe as well as our clients.
Following that it was creating the correct opening offer and working with the right talent to showcase and test our product and promote what we do. The other thing I did was empower the team and offered the opportunity to sell themselves and earn so not just have a salary but to earn extra and motivate them.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
My business called The Meyer Studios is based in Clapham, London; we are a high-end photography studio that shoots in an exclusive converted luxury penthouse with incredible outdoor locations also.
We specialise in supporting Models & Actors to enter the industry and develop their brand image with exceptional Portfolios by industry professional photographers, make-up artists and stylists.
From stunning Wedding photography to creative shoots for Family’s, Couples, Kids, Mums to Be, New-borns, Sexy Boudoir and even Pets, we capture magical moments that last a lifetime.
We have become a bit of a hot spot for upcoming celebrities, actors, musicians and influencers. It makes a wonderful interactive activity for any occasion – from bridal showers, hen parties, friends’ birthdays, they can host you and your crew, doll you up and make you the star you desire!
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
Above all things, I had loving parents who gave me incredible opportunities, great educations and life experiences to get the confidence to believe in myself, so I owe the most to them.
My experiences in business, working with people, working with teams, different cultures, races and dealing with budgets have given me so many skills to enhance my chances to succeed I feel. Experiences of working within the entertainment industry gave me a want and desire to help others and make a difference and maybe working within the hotel industry gave me a good idea of how to make the service good too.
As for financing my project, I was sadly given an inheritance to start something when my father passed, and I say sadly as I would give it all up to have him back, but I was lucky and grateful to have been given it and some of my savings to finance my studio business.
The other, and why I have been success starting something new during covid, is being calculated with risks and knowing what has a better chance to work and using one of the most important marketing lessons, which is Location, Location, Location.
The last is my team, choosing a good team that is hard working, creative, reliable and ,above all, fun, has made such a difference.
A good team is so important and one of the things I allow them, is freedom, freedom to do what they love and that helps their motivation and bring their creativity into my business model. I naturally have standards and basics we need to follow but after that the team has the freedom to be creative and think outside the box and use their talents and improve themselves as well as me.
This business is about personality which is far more important to me than a CV as working and being friendly with clients is so important to our reputation and success. As a CV would go this team would be screaming excellence off the page.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
In this industry with the Studio, Covid has certainly been tricky to manage but it shows our ability to adapt and manage as best we can. The main lesson, and this is something from all jobs, is that people come and go and again something you need to manage and wish them well on their next journey and hope you have given them skills and strengths to take with them.
The main lesson with being the owner and having full influence on the business is to be patient and not go ahead too quickly as you need to learn how to grow along the way and manage your finances as best possible in to order to grow.
Responsibilities are important but putting the trust in your team is even more key to know they can do it as it is the belief and respect of empowering them to do the job and at times better than I would.
That whatever you plan and however you think it is going to go, may simply not happen for better or for worse.
A business Plan is so key to know how to fund your business, how to structure it, how to sell and market it, but rarely in a business plan can we account for unforeseeable events at that time or impacts of individuals such as your team.
The one great thing that I certainly try plan for but is hard to achieve is creating a family environment with a good reliable team, where we are there for each other, growing and developing each other and knowing when we need work hard and play hard.
That is something I know I can do now but wasn’t sure at the time as running your own business with financial impacts can be very challenging.
Tough decisions are the other. I knew that part of the role with owning and managing a business will naturally come with hard decisions, but I didn’t know how many.
There were times I had to close due to covid of a team member, someone who’d been altered of being in contact by NHS, closed days due to slow business so cut my costs which is tough on the team. Those are a few examples, but they can be tough to handle for both my business and the team when each needs the revenue.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Patience is the first thing I’d say as sometimes when you are young you often want to be the fastest runner, but you haven’t learnt to walk or jog properly yet, meaning learn all your steps first before jumping into business. But patience can also have an impact if your sales are slightly slower or your losing team members, it’s all a part of business and as long as you are ready for difficult days then you can be ready to tackle them.
Understand what `’calculated risk” is as often we can say “yeah go for it” but you haven’t got a backup plan B, C or D and with the current economic environment its important to be ready for anything.
Another very important part is a very good business plan with something that covers all areas vs just the “idea”, as it will give you guidance and clarity. It needs to have a marketing and financial section which it is so important to be water tight in order to potentially get backing and support as well as reminding yourself of how to make the business successful.
For the doubters out there, and there will be, it is important to focus only on you and believe in you, trust your gut. The last and very important factor is however good your idea is trust your team as they can have better ideas, so you must keep your pride aside and keep your focus on the business not yourself. Being smart in business is not about being the smartest but to know how to bring smart people onboard your team who know their sector/skill etc.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
A good operating system to control your bookings and clients, also known as a CRM system, we use Studio Ninja. The next is good lighting and one of the main reasons I picked this penthouse is that it has plenty of natural light that comes in from the glass roof and makes such a difference to the quality and creativity of our shots.
A camera is important but not as important as good lighting, so we have the natural light as well as our photography lights to be creative.
A visual platform is important, so I naturally use most Social Media platforms and Websites to showcase our work and market, but I use a stunning gallery system to showcase the images to our clients, as well as a slideshow software to show them their work once in the studio. That accompanied with a very good editing software that works effectively.
However, I know this is a fourth, and I wouldn’t refer to them as tools, but the people I work with are above all the most important part of my business, their talent and skills bring together the essence and quality of what my business does.
The raw process of our work before we even showcase starts with them. I give them freedom to do what they love, and their best is ultimately my best.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
That whatever you plan and however you think it is going to go, may simply not happen for better or for worse.
A business Plan is so key to know how to fund your business, how to structure it, how to sell and market it, but rarely in a business plan can we account for unforeseeable events at that time or impacts of individuals such as your team.
The one great thing that I certainly try plan for but is hard to achieve is creating a family environment with a good reliable team, where we are there for each other, growing and developing each other and knowing when we need work hard and play hard. That is something I know I can do now but wasn’t sure at the time as running your own business with financial impacts can be very challenging.
Tough decisions are the other. I knew that part of the role with owning and managing a business will naturally come with hard decisions, but I didn’t know how many.
There were times I had to close due to covid of a team member, someone who’d been altered of being in contact by NHS, closed days due to slow business so cut my costs which is tough on the team. Those are a few examples, but they can be tough to handle for both my business and the team when each needs the revenue.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
We managed to open and not just survive but thrive through covid and that was a combination of a great team, preparation, commitment, some luck but above all belief.
It wasn’t easy to make the go ahead with opening this new studio due to costs and the economic climate with covid, but we have achieved it, made some small profits and most importantly built a very strong reputation in the market and got majority 5* throughout.
I am very proud of this and proud of my team and hope my late dad would be proud also. It doesn’t mean I haven’t had to make some tough decisions along the course of the journey but for the better of our success and hopefully longevity.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
I would love to see my team grow and develop as its important I support their futures as they do mine. I would love to expand the business around the UK and ideally internationally in some key locations such as LA, NYC, Dubai also.
Being International is a goal I have had for some time as I have lived and worked in about 8 countries over my years and would love to share our services to all. I would love personally to develop more into the world of acting and build on what I have done over the last few years and possibly use the studio business to support other film projects also.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Absolutely agree with this statement, as it is important to share support as well as your knowledge to others so that they can stand a better chance; that’s always a valuable difference between being a leader and a manager.
It can also help streamline their steps to achieve their goals and to be aware of things they may not have thought of to support their business or even to just start it. Those others may also be able to give in return great ideas, new creative opportunities or revolutionary steps that could help your own business.
Many companies may fear competition but for me, keeping my hotel experience in mind, I enjoy competition as its healthy and can be very good sometimes as they will be marketing and those shoppers might see your brand instead. Competition may doing things worse that makes your brand standout, or do things better that might help improve your brand by adapting or moving with the times.
The other great reason to help others is you never know if there is an opportunity to partner in some ways. Networking and supporting can lead to many great new doors opening. Life is about giving, not taking and is a responsibility to help others but certainly the next generation.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and The Meyer Studios”
To learn more about The Meyer Studios Visit https://www.themeyerstudios.com
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