Every business starts with an idea. For Melvin Hope, an FAU senior math major, that idea came in between coding sessions.

After a few missteps in starting other businesses, Hope’s videography agency, Cre8 Hope, has taken off after only recently being launched last October and he is confident that his early success is only the beginning.

In a four-month span, Hope has done photo and video shoots for over 40 different Miami-based clients and has made over $13,000 this past January alone. He believes he is capitalizing on a market where businesses are hungry for quality, original marketing content.

“I knew content was becoming a currency,” Hope said. “A lot of people were flashing money just to get new content.”

Hope describes himself as a “hustler” who, before dabbling in photography and videography, was making his money as a math tutor.

His Cre8 Hope business partner, Geo Gallegos, reminisced about how far Hope has come since the two decided to join forces.

“When I met him, we were both struggling,” said Gallegos. “Whatever way he could, he found a way to put money in his pocket and just really survive.”

Before his agency, Hope’s passion for tutoring and entrepreneurship carried him to a place where he was teaching himself coding every day in an attempt to bring to life a tutoring app he named Tudor.

The app specialized in identifying the type of learner a user was through a personality test. Using that information, Tudor could pair a user with either an online or in-person tutor to best accommodate a student.

Tudor hasn’t garnered the traction Hope had envisioned. Despite this, he hasn’t abandoned the idea and believes it could be something he returns to in the future.

“I love teaching, I love inspiring, I love the whole idea of being able to help in an educational way where you can give somebody knowledge. A person can never really lose something like that,” said Hope.

While watching YouTube videos about how to code for Tudor, he would sometimes get sidetracked, spending hours watching his favorite videographers Peter McKinnen and Daniel Schiffer on the site instead. Hope credits creators like these for inspiring him to pick up a camera and develop his skills.

“I knew if I just did [videography] I would pick it up…” he said. “The more you get under your belt, the better you become.”

Initially, Hope offered his services to businesses for free to both hone his skills and promote his brand. This strategy allowed for Hope to make quality connections early on and showcase his passion for videography.

Brand growth strategist and business consultant from Miami Andrew Loranger discovered some of Hope’s videos online and was impressed by his professionalism.

“He had the ends in mind before we even began… Every shot was planned,” Loranger said.

Find Hope’s work on his Instagram page cre8.hope and on his website www.cre8hope.co.

Brad Casson is a contributing writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].