Inspiring Conversations with Darnell McKenzie of Visual Dynasty Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Darnell McKenzie.

Hi Darnell, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
When I started my journey officially in the business realm, we went under the name of Quarantine Enterprise, LLC back in 2011. At the time, we were doing music and had a podcast named Quarantine Radio. The main focus of the show was to help the independent artists and rising entrepreneurs expand their market and reach people they might not have been able to reach before.

At the time, the podcast market was freshly new, and we were just learning on the fly. The biggest issue was we were not bringing in any revenue and personally, I was stretching myself thin wearing multiple hats. After I hit a brick wall in 2019, I decided to sit down and reevaluate everything that was going on, decided to change the name, and focus on one thing to build the company’s foundation on and solely focus on that thing.

Well, 2020 comes, and the world gets turned upside down with Covid. Worst timing to change your company name from Quarantine Enterprise and no longer have a podcast called Quarantine Radio. Well, we all know someone else felt that was a perfect name and ran with it. My personal life also took a hit in 2020, and someone said something to me that really made me reanalyze everything about myself.

I was thinking how much I had done over the years and had basically nothing to show for it. I started thinking, you are doing something totally wrong, there is no way a person is doing something like this for this many years and have nothing to show for it. Not to go into details about what the person said to me, but they were right about me.

This set me on a journey to get closer to God as well as really restructure my business. The biggest thing that has helped my business plans is I ask myself these questions, is this thing helping my ultimate goal, is this aligned with what God’s mission is for me, and am I giving back to help someone else dreams come true.

With these thoughts, I have been at peace with everything I do in life, I enjoy what I do more without feeling I am just going through the motions to run a business. Along with everything I am doing, I was also able to use my gift to serve God in a local church. That was really important to me.

I honestly feel, if you cannot give back your gift to spread God’s message, you are not truly honoring what he has given you. I also learned a lot by working with the church as well, I can honestly say it has enhanced some of my skills. I hope that answers your question, I know at times I start rambling when I speak on something I am passionate about.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has been rough, they say ignorance is bliss. Me being ignorant to the stuff was needed to properly be where I needed to be in the past, I can honestly say has helped me in the present. When I say that, it helped me help others, which was an ultimate goal.

I have seen people do exactly what I was doing after I started, and they are comfortable living off their business. That was the biggest frustration of my life, was to witness that. It did put me in a depressive state of mind. That might be the biggest bump in the road, just being a denial of being depressed.

I pride myself on not being content with being comfortable in your current status. While verbally saying that out loud, I actually was living that. I was making all kinds of excuses why this wasn’t working and why that wasn’t working, and not really finding a solution to make it work anymore.

That ex-friend that was the first mirror to my reality, helped me open a door that I was afraid to open. When they say, people cross your path for a reason. I am glad that person did because I don’t think I will be on the path I am on now. The only downfall is, me and that person is no longer speaking. In life that happens though.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
So earlier when I said I wanted to focus on one thing and build a foundation of it, Visual Dynasty Productions, LLC basically is a company that looks to enhance our client’s visuals. Our main focus at the moment is Cinematography and photography.

Last year alone, we built a very versatile portfolio that displays our ability to shoot branding commercials, music videos, event photography, live stream events, conduct interviews, and this year we are working on shooting a web series.

The thing that sets us apart is we don’t follow the standards. We mainly go off the feel of everything we do, along with the vision that our clients advise us they are trying to create. So we combine what our client wants and structure and combine that with our creativity.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
If someone wants to work with us, the easiest way is to email us at DMcKenzie@VisualDynastyProductions.com. To support us, just follow us on all social media platforms and share our work.

We are very open to working with people. We have a couple of affiliate companies we actually work with. That goes along with how I wanted to help people not fall into the same void I did. It is very important to me to help those who have the same drive as me not make the same mistakes as me.

I do not wish anyone to go through what I went through to get where I am today. That was my journey, and my journey was walked to assure I could pay it forward my way.

Pricing:

• Music videos start at $800
• Photography starts at $175
• Cinematography starts at 1000
• Events start at $95 an hour, not including editing

Contact Info:

• Email: DMckenzie@VisualDynastyProductions.com
• Website: https://VisualDynastyProductions.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/The_Visual_Dynasty
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/VisualDynasty
• Youtube: https://Youtube.com/VisualDynasty

Image Credits
Visual Dynasty Productions