Youth Lens 360 is helping youth discover their passions and turn them into a solid career path. Founder Dario Otero says he created Youth Lens 360 because he saw a need for young people to figure out their next step after school.
“I led a successful program at the High School for Recording Arts. Young people loved it, they had access to high end equipment," said Otero. "But what I noticed was after the program they still wanted to do this work and they were passionate about it. Technology is expensive and there's not a lot of ways to get started. And so I was like, 'How do I connect with business people outside of this school and allow for young people to step into that next opportunity to do any type of video production or storytelling service?'”
Otero says Youth Lens 360 helps organizations grow their brand with its video production services, while simultaneously launching young people’s careers.
“We are really doubling down on helping young people figure out what they want to do in life. Getting the youth networking, having them interview CEOs or people that run companies, trying to get them as much exposure as we can," he explained. "I call it failing forward. You can fail in our environment and still succeed.”
Otero says having youth involved is actually a huge asset for the marketing company.
“When a young person comes to our door, they have different ideas, when they tell us about something new on social media, when they tell us what's hot and what's not. I think they bring an enormous amount of social capital wealth, when it comes to how they think about things so that we stay fresh and new.”
Chief Operations Officer Norman Westberry III started out as one of those young people.
“I was always around, I was always helping in any way. I'd never picked up a camera, but he knew I had some type of gift that I could bring to the table to help with productions," said Westberry. "I'm kinda doing everything now, Whether that's with equipment or training youth, or just working together as a team to get the job done.”
Westberry says one of his proudest moments was landing his first client without Otero’s help.
The team is now focused on creating a full-fledged marketing company, but Otero says they will have to overcome obstacles in the process.
“You're gonna have ups and downs, it's about finding the even place. You can't panic, you have to think of different ways to maneuver the situation. That's the key and that's what business is like. You're gonna have great years then ones where you scramble. Times will change. Now we have AI and everybody uses it so they don't need certain things from you. As you see those things you can take it as a blow and sit down or you can run straight into it. There is a saying that buffalos run into the storm because they know it'll end quicker for them that way - we run straight into our challenges.”
Otero says one of his biggest challenges is running an ambitious company while also respecting that his people have lives outside of work.
“They say running a company, you need to be cutthroat and you need to be able to just keep business separate from relationships, right? I believe that you can be a human, that what's going on in your personal life comes first, when it comes to your family and everything else. So sometimes we might have to just not work for three days, and know that we're gonna put in the midnight oil for the other two days.”
Otero says he wants young people to go on to start their own companies, but to still think of Youth Lens 360 as a home they can always come back to. He encourages young people to step out of their comfort zone to pursue their dream job.
“I think that what young people need to do is just step out. Call up a company and say. Hey, can I just come down here and help out in the office just to learn more about what you do? Can I jump on a Zoom call with you and be able to understand how you do a sales call? Most people will give you an opportunity or a chance - they'll see something in you that they don't see in other young people, right? I think most CEOs, or most people, running businesses or small nonprofits would love that type of attitude from young people.”
Westberry says when businesses hire Youth Lens 360 for quality storytelling and marketing production, they can do so knowing that they’re also investing in the future of their youth.
“If you're looking for storytelling, if you're looking for somebody to help push a message or cover an event or anything video wise that you're needing in your business, reach out, let these youth come in and show you what they can do. Because we've got them here and they're ready to work.”
(This story was reported as part of the Center for Broadcast Journalism's Summer Journalism Intensive, a training program for young aspiring reporters from diverse communities.)
Comments