Time With The Boss: Angela Ridenour - New Mint Media

Angela Ridenour
New Mint Media

Website: www.newmintmedia.com

Industry: video production and family legacy

Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Indiana University

Family: husband, Roger, and two daughters, Rachael, 27, and Charlotte, 25 (son-in-law, P.J. Gretter)

What is your mission?
To use my creative talents to help people record and celebrate their lives and the legacy of their families.

What was your first job?
I delivered newspapers on my yellow 10-speed bicycle.

What was your worst job?
Working as a maid at the Anaheim Convention Center.

What led you to your industry?
I interviewed my mother’s family after her death and heard stories about her upbringing that were a revelation to me. I was shocked to learn how much I did not know about my own family and saddened that she was not around to tell her story in her own voice. That’s about the time I began to put down my still camera and pick up a video camera.

What was the smartest thing your company did in the past year?
I let go of commercial videos and portrait photography and focused on my niche of creating legacy videos for individuals and families. I am happy at work again.

Who is your industry role model?
Aron Ranen. He taught me the best interviewing techniques.

How do you try to differentiate your business from others in your industry?
I believe my service is for an underserved market. Not many videographers specialize in the creation of legacy video biographies.

What’s the hottest trend in your industry, and are you going to jump on board?
Getting a DNA sample to find out your ancestry. It’s fascinating for sure to find out your heritage, but for me, it’s still just words on paper. I specialize in personal video interviews to tell the family story in a way that keeps the memory alive.

What’s the hardest part of your job?
Time management.

What’s the best part?
Creating that sacred space with a client that allows their story to unfold. It’s a little like magic.

What best advice would you share with new entrepreneurs?
Join your local BNI chapter and/or chamber of commerce. You need to be around people who will support you and your business.

What’s your favorite place in St. Louis?
The Arch; it’s such a cool structure. Plus, I went to see Tom Jones perform under the Arch one Fourth of July and had a blast!

What book is on your nightstand?
“Lead With a Story,” by Paul Smith.

What has made you successful in your industry and in St. Louis?
My clients trust me with their memories. They also appreciate that I can take their snippets of memories, vintage photos and old videos and tell their life story back to them in a coherent narrative that they can then share with family and friends.

What do you like to do in your free time?
I teach a group fitness class at my local YMCA, and I run about 25 miles a week.