OnPath Credit Union

Matt and Amber have been the owners of Fat Happy Media, a full-service production company located in New Orleans for over a year now. The business owners were first introduced to the credit union in 2019, as they were hired to work on a video for the 2018 annual meeting. During this time, they interviewed two members and were impressed to hear how highly they spoke of the credit union, leading them to become members. In September of 2019 they joined the credit union and obtained a line of credit for their business. “lt can be a stressful thing dealing with money and loans,” says Amber, “but Shasta was so nice and easy to talk to, everyone was very responsive.” In November, they began their search for a new location, and in March of 2020 they put their line of credit to use and constructed the perfect space for their team, just to be told days later, that all unessential businesses had to shut down due to COVID-19. For almost 2 months no one really came into the new office and half the team worked remotely. The couple was a little nervous during the first few months of shutdown as they lost a lot of work upfront. “We had cash to continue paying our employees and rent, and we could have dipped into that for other purposes, but we did not. Without the line of credit, it would have been a lot more stressful to manage,” says Matt. Although the business owners kept majority of their business, COVID-19 delayed their plans of having their team work at the new location and put a dent in their first-year expectations. There were a lot of projects that would have brought in a substantial amount of income to the business that was canceled, like conferences.

As business begins to pick up, the owners continue to adjust to the new normal, wearing masks daily, and have further extended their focus on making their video productions even better. “Things have changed. Some clients have different opinions on what is safe and what is not. Some people want video, some do not. We also do animations so people can also use that without touching or seeing anyone. It’s been slightly difficult working with other businesses, but we are very lucky to be in the industry we are in at this time,” says Amber. As far as their future, they plan to keep growing their business and ultimately partnering with local high schools and universities to bring in new talents.

We asked the couple what advice they would give to another creative entrepreneur that is thinking about starting a business like theirs.

Matt: I think a lot of the business side of things is easy, it is just paper, you can figure that out. The tricky thing from my perspective is taking care of people you work with. If you are in the creative industry and want to build and expand and take on more work you have to have a team that supports that work and you have to empower that team to be equal decision-makers; giving them the ability to have just as much in stake of the business as you, the owner. It requires a team of people that must be supportive, empowered, and feel like they have rights and safety within the company. This is one of the things we have put a strong focus on. You cannot just have a good product you have to be able to communicate with people. have fun and enjoy it. 

We also asked the couple what advice or recommendation they would give to a business owner looking for a new financial institution. What would be somethings they should have?

Amber: Everyone values something different but having a personal relationship where you can easily contact your financial institution and get good rates for a small business is key.

To learn more about the services provided at Fat Happy Media, please visit, fathappymedia.com.