How to Change A World: 5 Things We've Learned About the Business of Telling Solution-forward Stories Part 2

Part #2: Inertia

The reality of running a video production company can sometimes feel like a choice between making positive, impactful video and making a living. Part 1 of this series shared a mindset that we’ve found helps us stay both focused and balanced as video producers crafting solution-forward stories. That mindset places our work in a realistic context, recognizing the validity of our dreams as well as some sobering realities. The realities are indeed sobering, yet they hold the power to free us and unlock new possibilities – when we take a certain kind of action.

2) Decide
Since the very beginning, I’ve wanted to use video production to tell uplifting stories about positive change. But back then, we really needed to get our video production business established, so we cast a wide net and worked on the variety of projects that came our way. Then, about five  years into our business, a Rubicon moment sparked a shift. 

I’d spent a day on location at a petroleum refinery, making marketing media for an energy company. That evening, as I unpacked my gear, I discovered that everything, from my sleeves to my socks and cameras to car seats, was slicked with a tacky film. Refinery emissions, especially particulate matter (PM2.5), settle out of the air onto surfaces near and far(1, 2, 5). And there it was, right in front of me. 

Thinking about what that meant to the people who worked there, and those who lived nearby, was a career-defining moment. I started investing time and energy into bringing my vision to fruition.

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If you choose not to decide,
you still have made a choice.
– Neal Peart

The exciting thing is, we don’t need an epiphany – we just need to decide. It actually takes just an instant, barely the blink of an eye. The stuff that takes so long is all the research, emotion and consideration. That tiny moment when we release all of the other possibilities and commit to one chosen goal – that’s the decision.4

Take a look at your goal. Take it seriously. Find out what it will cost to reach it. Decide whether or not it’s worth it. If it is, then pay the price and do it.3

References:
1: Air-Surface Exchange Process Overview | US EPA. (2016, November 10). US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/cmaq/air-surface-exchange-process-overview

2: Blumenfeld, J., Zeise, L., & Director. (2019). Analysis of Refinery Chemical Emissions and Health Effects. https://oehha.ca.gov/sites/default/files/media/downloads/faqs/refinerychemicalsreport032019.pdf

3: Nightingale, E. (1956). The Strangest Secret. Nightingale-Conant Corporation.

4: Robbins, A. (1986). Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement. Simon and Schuster.

5: Tavella, R. A., Júnior, S., Santos, M. A., Georges, S., & Dutra, R. (2025). A Review of Air Pollution from Petroleum Refining and Petrochemical Industrial Complexes: Sources, Key Pollutants, Health Impacts, and Challenges. ChemEngineering, 9(1), 13–13. https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering9010013