This Year Already Feels SO Good!!
If you’re like me, it always feels like the New Year pops into your life very quickly. This year feels different.
Perhaps it’s because it’s the new decade, or because 2020 means clear vision? In any case, this year already feels so good.
I was editing a promo today for New York Live Arts. It feels so natural to edit by myself. But while I edited in the office solo, I couldn’t help but to reflect on what a beautiful, amazing, brilliant and talented team I have built over the last 18 years. Well, really since 2007 when I hired my very first employee, Ashley Meeder, whom I still hold dear to my heart.
When I first started filming dance in New York, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I knew was that I loved dance, I loved video and I wanted to combine the two.
So, off I went to film my very first show at Symphony Space. I was working out of my one-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side. I remember rearranging my room so when clients came over it looked kind of like an office. (Even though my bed was literally next to my desk! LOL).
I had big dreams and I had big goals, but I never imagined a team larger than myself.
Then, in 2007, I had an intern at Jacob’s Pillow who was out-of-this-world amazing. At the end of the summer, in a squeaky nervous voice, I asked Ashley Meeder if she would consider working with me.
We sat down at a table outside the Ted Shawn Theatre and discussed what was possible. I had butterflies in my stomach and had no idea how I could delegate a few hours of work to her, let alone pay her for it! I took a deep breath, put my fear aside, and we began. Ashley worked out of our one-bedroom home, and little did I know, this was the beginning of a new Nel Shelby Productions – inviting people to work with me.
This is an important time to lift each other up. Our team hopes to do this through video, and most importantly, through kindness. A little kindness goes a long way.
Now, 12 years later, I have a solid team that works with me in NYC, Vail and Jacob’s Pillow.
This same team travels to London for a livestream, films events in New Jersey, performances in Connecticut… I am so grateful. They edit, market, film, project manage, organize, take out the trash, you name it.
These are some amazing people! I hired them because they’re qualified, but also because they are passionate and full of love. Our bond goes deep – we live together in Northampton to film PS DANCE!, we make dinners together in Vail, we jump on trampolines at Jacob’s Pillow, we laugh, we cry, but most of all, we create. It has not been simple, but it has been so very good.
Recently I asked my team to take some online personality / ways of working tests. I took them, too, and learned so much more about myself because of it. At NSP, it has always been more than making videos about dance – it’s about living our purpose, listening and learning, and getting to know ourselves better and better.
As a business owner, I know personal development means better professional work.
I am so happy I have found a crew that wants to go on that ride with me. I truly believe that our work on self awareness will allow us to produce better, more creative and thoughtful work for our clients. I also feel very passionate about creating new roles for members of my team and helping others to live the lives they want. Many of the people that work with me are dancers, moms and artists and want the freedom to dedicate their time to other passions.
We have many amazing projects happening now, and I’m so excited for this year. Please reach out and let me know what you are up to and if there is anything we can help you with. This is an important time to lift each other up. Our team hopes to do this through video, and most importantly, through kindness. A little kindness goes a long way.
XOXOXO,
