A pair of Lloydminster entrepreneurs are getting a chance to showcase their media talents with the local junior A hockey team.
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Mind Grain Media Co-founders Lucas Feeley and Hannah Campbell-Barnes have been building their business for nearly a year. For the pair, it started out in high school when they were inspired to start the business seeing their teacher, Skye Ferguson, juggle teaching and owning and operating a business.
“We were watching our teacher work her full-time teaching job and work a full-time photography gig as well,” said Feeley.
He and Campbell-Barnes met in high school through a media class.
“I would see her short film project, she would see our short film project,” he said, explaining the two first started chatting in math class.
They began exercising their video production skills making short films.
“My friends and I did a Romeo and Juliet adaptation,” said Campbell-Barnes.
“Me and my friends did one as well the next semester,” Feeley explained. “It was premiered at the theatre and it was a really cool event.”
The two decided to take the leap into media.
“We were thinking about what our next year was going to look like,” said Feeley. “I was working at a gym in town here doing the video production side of things. I started to realize like, man, this could be pretty successful. Going on my own as my own business.”
“Media has always been a love in my life, photography, videography,” Campbell-Barnes explained. “We were just kind of brainstorming how can we combine our love for media and create something awesome.”
That’s when Mind Grain Media hit the ground running. The two quickly learned how to run their business and get their name out there.
“Package it into an offer, start doing cold outreaching, start making content, advertisements, the whole nine yards,” said Feeley. “Get our name out there and raise awareness.”
It started with free videos for businesses to help build their brand.
“We were doing a lot of free videos for businesses here in town,” said Campbell-Barnes.
The videos, while free, helped the business build good relationships and show off their skills to the community. When it comes to the workflow, Mind Grain Media prides itself on having a high level of attention to detail.
“We like to sit down with the client, really get to know them, build our foundation of knowledge,” said Feeley, noting they want to help the businesses stand out. “Showcase their business, everything from their logos to colours, to different things that make them unique and stand out from competitors.
“Then, with all that information, we go back and brainstorm all of the video ideas and how we’re going to position them.”
The videos they make are specific to their clients, tailoring the ideas to fit their brand and personality.
“If we can involve their personalities and showcase who they are throughout the video, most of their audience can connect with it,” said Campbell-Barnes.
The pair shares the workload, delving into every aspect of the business and bringing their own personal flair to the product.
“I do a lot of the social media side of things and the management, making sure client’s videos are still on brand,” she said. “Lucas definitely takes the lead on the videography.”
Mind Grain Media was so busy over the summer they hired a third person to help get some of the work done.
Now, the next big chapter of the business is set to open with a local hockey team coming on board.
“We were surprised to find out the (Lloydminster junior A) Bobcats had actually heard about us through their kids on social media,” said Feeley.
“So, from there, the lead came in,” he said. “Through Instagram DM’s,” added Campbell-Barnes.
They didn’t waste any time once discussions began.
“We just officially launched them at the end of August,” said Feeley. “We are currently doing their second month of content showcasing their players and their season.”
He says the first few posts from Mind Grain for the Bobcats have seen some big success.
“Those three launch posts, they blew up in terms of the scale of their followers,” said Campbell-Barnes. “With that one post we got like 15,000 views in 24 hours, it was received so well.
“There’s so much excitement right now with the hockey season coming up, people are excited.”
Feeley clarified those views were only on one platform. He says it’s been fun to work with the Bobcats, getting a chance to showcase the players and events.
“The Bobcats have been awesome,” he said. “It’s been really cool to see at surface levels, players in games, behind the scenes. We got to see more of the community behind them and the people willing to be billet families.
“There’s lots of volunteer work within the Bobcats. That’s been really cool to see.”
Feeley says they’re excited to showcase what they can do for the Lloydminster community.
“We are a new business, but, (it’s an opportunity to) really showcase our work and create really good content for the Bobcats,” he said.
The pair has been busy and you can keep up with their posts across the Mind Grain Media social medias and their website.
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