Meet Chloe Wittry | Videographer, Producer and Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chloe Wittry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chloe, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
My work life balance completely changed when I had a kid, as it does for all parents. Suddenly I related very differently to time. I was working a full time corporate job when I had my daughter, and when I went back to work after three months off, I couldn’t rationalize all the time I was spending away from her. I thought, there’s no work that I’m going to enjoy enough to pay someone else to take care of her during these precious early years, so I quit my job! That was my first step toward finding better work life balance.

I had always side hustled while working corporate jobs, so when the time came to jump ship I had a few people that became my first regular clients. The juggle of working and trying to take care of a baby isn’t easy by any means, but it’s always felt right. I take on just enough work to help support my family, and have developed a beautiful, close relationship with my daughter in the last three years, which is a bond we’ll have forever. I’ve learned time is a currency, but you can’t buy time back, so you have to be intentional with how you spend it.
Another key part of this story is having help. I think it’s hard to find support you really need as a parent. I am lucky enough to have both my parents and my in laws interested in taking care of my daughter and helping me make the freelance life work. We also enrolled in part time daycare so I could have freedom to schedule shoots and edit. It often feels as a mom that your two options are to quit your job, or put your kid in full time daycare from six weeks old. Neither of those felt right to me, but I wouldn’t have been able to choose a middle ground without the support network I have.

What should our readers know about your business?
My video production business is all about telling real stories and partnering with small to medium businesses. While I do a variety of productions from small documentary work to larger brand storytelling and advertising, the throughline of it all is that I build strong relationships with the people I’m working with. I like to build and maintain relationships with individuals, businesses and brands over years to really understand what they do in their niche and be a trusted media/content creator for them.

My background is in journalism, so my strength lies in seeking out honest and real stories in all the projects I work on, whether it’s for social doc projects or marketing materials.

The road to this state of my business was winding, and still is, and maybe will forever be? Haha. I crave all the experiences, I’m someone who has to try everything. So over the years I’ve worked for corporations, medium-sized organizations, and small mom and pop shops, as a producer, writer, editor, social media manager, videographer, etc. Because of my variety of experiences I have a scrappy approach to my work, which suits working with smaller brands or individuals that are trying to create things from scratch or don’t necessarily have strong process behind everything they do yet. I like partnering in the early stages and growing with an organization.

I have a friendly and laid-back approach to working that I am proud of! I like to put people at ease. The video production field is mostly male dominated, and it can come across as intimidating and inaccessible. I don’t believe it has to be that way, and my approach attempts to change that narrative.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Denver is all about the neighborhoods. Here’s a day in Denver with me if I could plan us a fun adventure (warning, I can be a lush and a glutton). We go to La Filet in east Denver in the morning to get the best French breakfast sandwiches of all time with some iced cold brews of course. Then we rent some bikes and ride down to Cheeseman Park and people watch for a bit. Then it’s time to treat ourselves, so we hike over to V Spa off Federal Blvd for a full body massage. After that we’ll be hungry again so we dive into a buffet of dim sum brunch at The Empress. Then we grab a liquid desert at Kutea who has the best boba tea in town. Then we need to get our buzz on and experience the Sun Valley neighborhood so we head to Raices to hang on the patio and have some beers. Maybe we get a snack after a couple hours at one of their food trucks, and then head to South Broadway to tour the grungy art walls and do some vintage/thrift shopping. We of course have to get a slice of Pizza at Pie Hole, and then play some skeeball at Barry’s. Maybe we’re feeling fancy so we go to Sputnik’s for some craft cocktails and close down the night grooving away at their mixtape dance party! (We’ll probably end up at Taco Bell on the way home for cheesy gordita crunches, if no one’s judging).

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 have to shoutout my parents, who are both entrepreneurs. I watched them go after what they wanted my whole life, and it became a backbone for me when I dreamed of working for myself. My mom encouraged me to enter the video world when I was studying journalism in college, and that started my whole career. My parents are both very gentle nudgers, and very intuitive. I appreciate the ways that they see my strengths and talk me through a path that might seem scary to me but is so right.

Second I have to shoutout my filming partner, Eric Gehringer, who I’ve worked closely with over the years at both corporate and freelance jobs in the video production world. He was the first entrepreneur in my age group in the production industry that I saw successfully balancing early parenthood and work. I was always nervous that one would overtake the other, or that choosing to start a family so close to entering the freelance world was too risky a decision. He showed me it was possible to raise a little being and still pursue freelance work, and gave me a lot of encouragement along the way! We work together a lot now and I love it.

Then of course there’s my steadfast husband, holding down the fort, holding down the steady “normal” job, parenting alone while mom runs to another shoot or is editing at night. He’s my yes man. 🙂

Again, so many of my stories of success come back to my support network. It’s essential to seek that out no matter the life you’re living.

Website: https://chloewittry.com

Instagram: ___by_chloe (I am getting more into photography, so sharing that mostly on IG!)

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-wittry-6b179524