On this episode of the Candid Creative podcast, Antonio talks with Michael Aubry, creator and founder of Story Creator, an “After Effects for Dummies.” Michael talks about how he came up with the idea and shares how all of his previous experiences have led him to where he is today.

Michael started hacking on things when he was 17-18. Bored with pirating video games in his youth, Michael started pirating $500 Adobe editing software that gave him a technical edge over his peers. He used his access to this software to learn how to code and make money online. Kicked out of his mother’s house and living in his friend’s basement, he started work at Verizon.

Eventually making his way to the incubator at Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, CA, Michael networked and met the people he needed to grow his vision. He met the founder of XY Gaming and started hanging out with people who understood the art of building businesses. Michael was 23 when he moved to San Francisco, and in that time, he worked at three startups and gained the experience he needed to build his own platform. He would not trade in that time for anything.

Discussing the conception of the Story Creator idea, Michael thought that this was the coolest tool (with the biggest market gap) available. After talking to people about the project and listening to their problems, he started to get customers. April is really when things started to kick off. Juggling all of the sides of the business has been Michael’s most difficult challenge.

At the end of the day, you need to make a decision and execute it. It’s okay if it doesn’t work, Michael says. When talking about feedback, you want higher-level, not specific. You really just need to be able to face the truth, which is going to get the results you want in your life. If you can put in the due diligence, it will play out well for you to not take feedback personally. It’s just something you have to work on.

He thinks the best thing you can do is follow-through. Decide what you’re going to do and do it. If you really want to do it as a career, you need to determine why you’re doing this in the first place. Establish it early on and be committed.

Interested in exploring Story Creator App?

Click here to get started

Follow Antonio on IG: @candidcreativela

Follow Michael on Twitter: @michaelaubry. He’ll give you a follow!

Email Michael: michael@storycreator.com

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