HINDS STEPHEN

from Mobile Bay Real Producers | March 2023

EYE SKY VIDEO, PHOTO & FILM

EARLY INTEREST. GROWING CAREER. EyeSkyVP began with Stephen, who has long had an active interest in photography that dates back to his time in the U.S. Air Force in the 1970s.

“That interest has continued through time. Then in April 2017, my wife, April, gifted me a drone and I started playing around with that,” Stephen remembers. “During that same time, I had a REALTOR® friend who asked if I wanted to do a realty shoot for him.”

At the time, in 2018, Stephen and April lived in Columbia, Tennessee. Stephen decided to develop a business name. That’s when EyeSkyVP (video and photo) was born. In time, they moved to Daphne, Alabama in 2019 — in turn, bringing their new small business with them.

That small veteran-owned business has continued to build ever since.

“It has grown tremendously while we’ve been here. Originally I was the only photographer. Now, we have six, and we’re doing business in both

Growing With A True Family Feel

In addition to Stephen and April, the EyeSkyVP team includes his son, Alan Hinds and his wife, Kristi; Stephen’s daughter Jessica LaPorte and her husband, Kevin LaPorte; and his daughter, Melisa Hajek.

Stephen and Kevin do photography and videography in Alabama, while Alan does the same for the Indiana areas. April and Leslie Brown do photography with clients in Alabama. Jessica edits video in Alabama, while Alan edits video for Indiana. Melisa serves as the company Accountant, while acting as Office Manager in Alabama. Kristi is the Office Manager for the Indiana location.

Stephen speaks with pride when he thinks about the growth of the business and the opportunity to share it with his family and team.

“One of the thrills I get out of this whole effort is involving the family. We’ve done well as a company. We have grown. Most of the team are part-time. I’m the only full-time,” he explains. “Most team members have another full-time job somewhere.

But it’s nice to be able to share this with the family and Leslie. That’s the biggest thrill I get.”

Stephen’s career has been rooted in corporate America in IT. He had always dreamt of having his own small business.

Passionate Pursuit

As Alan says, the team feels a deep passion for what they do with EyeSkyVP.

“I love the relationships we have with the REALTORS® we work with. It’s fun getting to know them and watching them grow through our work. I get a chance to work with new Realtors and seeing them grow.”

Kristi agrees, saying, “I really enjoy talking with our REALTORS® here in Indiana and connecting with them … getting to know who they are. You can tell which package they want when they call to order pictures and also suggesting other things for them to try. I also enjoy creating ads in Real Producers magazine.”

While Jessica doesn’t spend a lot of time on the road as part of her role,

RISING BEYOND she appreciates seeing and working with the material she receives.

No one can predict with certainty what the future holds or the exact path that a business will take. But there is one thing that you can count on … if you do the right things consistently over time, good things will happen for you and those you serve.

That’s the truth and dynamic at work with Stephen Hinds and his team at EyeSky Video, Photo and Film. In a short time, they have proven to be an organization that is definitely on the rise … by providing a much-valued service with outstanding service and value.

“I get a kick out of them bringing the footage home and seeing the properties,” Jessica says. “It’s so cool to put these videos together and see how people decorate their homes and the love they put into it. I like making it representative of what they want to do.”

Kevin really enjoys visiting different properties.

“There is a really big variety of properties that we shoot,” Kevin says. “It’s great to see those places and see what works the best for our partners to sell the properties and the best way to present it visually.”

Expanding Their Expertise

EyeSkyVP provides a full range of photography and videography services. But they continually look forward to chances to expand their expertise.

“Sometimes it’s fun with pushing the edge a little bit with our REALTOR® partners. Sometimes a client or agent asks for a little more than what we typically do,” Stephen explains. “When that happens, we are up front and let them know whether we’ve had experience in that area. At the same time, we are always willing to step out and give new things a shot.”

The result of that attitude and open approach is continued growth and value for EyeSkyVP partners and clients.

“I enjoy the ability to customize our services to what they need for a particular property. We have enough experience to provide recommendations on what may work well for them,” Kevin points out. “We have the expertise to help them tailor what they select as services to make a sale more likely.”

While about 80 percent of EyeSkyVP’s business comes through the real estate sector, the firm also handles a range of other products, including wedding photography and videography, as well as creating short and long-form promotional videos/ films for corporate clients.

Creative And Reliable Resource

Those who have the chance to know and work with the members of the EyeSkyVP team appreciate that they can count on the group to help them reach their goals.

“We are dependable. We show up, do what they ask and we do it well. We are experts,” Kevin says. “We know how to take the photos and video recording and how to present it to the end product to buyers. We are recommending services that are going to work for them. We are partners for them … not just vendors.”

There’s a real satisfaction that the team gets in knowing that their work goes out into the world and has a real, tangible impact for their real estate partners and their clients.

“There has been so much growth in South Alabama, with people moving here from all over the nation. Our pictures and videos go outside of the state and are seen by these potential buyers,” Stephen says. “It makes us feel good when we get comments that a particular property was sold to buyers outside the area who never physically came here … but who made their purchase decision in part based on the imagery and footage we provided.”