Casey Neistat is an award-winning filmmaker and entrepreneur from New York who has recently started vlogging. His daily videos are giving Casey’s viewers a glimpse into his everyday life of work and family, but mostly work.
It’s no secret that to be successful as an entrepreneur, you need to throw the 9-5 mentality out the door and dedicate your full energy and time to the business that you’re running. Casey is 28 or so videos into his vlog and it’s very obvious he spends the majority of his days working, sunrise to sunset. And that’s not including the time he puts into editing and publishing his daily videos.
When Casey first started making movies, he quickly realized that it was his passion and becoming a filmmaker was what he wanted to do. So he saved up some money, quit his job, moved to New York, and spent most of the cash he had put aside renting an office space, all without really having a plan other than to do whatever it takes to make great movies and get paid to do it. And Casey’s dedication to being best at what he did in a unique way lead to a very successful movie-making business that brought in big clients like HBO and Nike. He admits that it didn’t come without making some really stupid decisions and mistakes throughout his entire career, but overall it has all worked out for the better for Casey and made him the successful person he is today.
Every Tuesday Casey does a Q and A session with his followers. After answering a few questions which included what he eats for breakfast and why he never wants to win the lottery, one of his viewers asked, “Were you scared to quit your job to become a full-time filmmaker?”
The question inspired Casey to talk about risk, and it’s a must see for any entrepreneur, business owner, filmmaker, or anyone really. The good stuff starts around the 4 minute mark.
Here are some notable quotes:
“As a guiding principle, life shrinks and life expands in direct proportion to your willingness to assume risk.”
“Every time I took these bigger risks, the opportunity for a bigger payout was always there.”
“Life is like this super temporary, mega fragile thing…you only get a nugget of time to really pursue the things you care about.”
“The right time is always right now.”
If you look through Casey’s YouTube channel, you can see why he’s been successful at building his advertising business over the last few years. His unique style and the amount of time and effort put into making quality videos has set him apart in the industry. Even Casey’s daily vlogs reflect how important it is to him to create great films.
Despite the crazy amount of work and the dedication to his videos and new venture, Casey takes full advantage of the breaks in the day to catch up with his family, exercise, and enjoy the perks of the city that New York has to offer. His viewers are looking forward to seeing what his new business is but until then, Casey’s vlogs will continue to show them that taking risks in life is something he is willing to do no matter what.
Twitter: @caseyneistat
