Meet Logan Harding

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Logan Harding.

Hi Logan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ll start with where I was in 2019. Raleigh, NC, working in corporate as a creative.

The last three years had been soul-sucking work mixed with the politics of corporate work. I never cared much for politics and didn’t keep my head down well. I ended up being fired, and my wife and two kids and I lost everything. We couldn’t afford an apartment anymore, so we had to move in with friends. I had to cash out our 401K so we could put food on the table. It was one of our lowest points.

During the next ten months, I tried to start my dream job—running Shadowpoint Media as a production company. Nothing took. I didn’t know how to market or sell my business or services. I ended up with a part-time gig doing real estate photography and learned the whole business side of that. It was so simple and clear to me, and I’m incredibly grateful to Woody, the owner, for sharing so much knowledge.

We moved to Tucson, AZ, to bring our kids closer to family and start over. As we were driving across the country, the pandemic hit, and the whole scare of borders potentially closing and gas stations and restaurants closing fueled the rest of our drive here. By the time we arrived, businesses were closing, people were being laid off, and NOBODY was hiring—a great start to a new place with no connections but some family.

At this point, I gave myself one month to try and start a real estate photography business based on everything I learned from Woody in NC. I cold-called and emailed agents eight to nine hours a day, five to six days a week for that month. By the end, I had landed three shots, which wasn’t enough to pay for my family’s needs. The next day, I started applying for jobs online. The day after, I started getting callbacks from people wanting shoots, and they never stopped.

The next two years were a whirlwind. I worked 90+ hour weeks, shooting photos and videos for home or cold-calling again when I didn’t have a shoot. We found our first rental in Marana a year and a half after moving to Tucson. The business was working! We moved back to the East Side again to be closer to family, and the business didn’t stop growing.

Over the last two years, God has blessed the business and grown our team with incredibly talented people. We’ve become a full-service digital marketing agency while still running the real estate media business, and the vision for where we’re headed is enormous. We aim to be a nationwide brand (already licensed in Alabama and doing work there) and to serve even more commercial brands and real estate agents.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Smooth has NEVER been a word to describe our journey. Every step of the way has been stressful, hard, and so rewarding. Learning to pivot has been our superpower.

Starting a company with NO network is hard. So you learn to network. And you learn to network HARD and FAST. Tucson blew me away with how tight-knit the community is, and because of that, we succeeded so fast.

Start a business with NO money is hard. We started with NOTHING to our name. The EIDL loans during COVID helped a lot, and working hard to bring in more work helped a lot. Learning to manage money very tightly helped a lot.

Honestly, though, we’ve succeeded only because God willed it. He gave me the direction to move, the drive to work, and the favor in people’s eyes.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are known for our cinematic film work and photography in the luxury real estate space. This includes our creative work with drones (stable and FPV).

When I was in NC, I had the chance to freelance with a creative team that did film marketing for a NASCAR team and high-end weddings. They taught me SO MUCH in the creative filming space. Bringing that level of work to Tucson really helped us stand out. And we’re still the ones on the cutting edge of high-end media creation here.

I’m always looking at other places in the nation that are producing high-level content and pulling ideas and techniques that we can use to push Tucson into the future with creative media.

Networking and finding a mentor can positively impact one’s life and career. Any advice?
Finding a business mentor was one of the best things that has happened. I’m unsure how you should do it, but I found three that changed our trajectory.

Joining a local networking group was one of the best things I’ve done for the company, and that’s where I found one of my business mentors. Someone who’s been there, done that, and knows how to succeed and where to watch out for failure.

Networking will be one of the BEST things for your business growth. Find people there you respect and ask them ALL the questions. When you have a hard choice, run it past a mentor! Get advice on everything you know you’re not the best at. It will save you years of headaches and trouble.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shadowpointmedia.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/shadowpointmedia
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/shadowpointmedia