It’s Been a Wild Ride: My First Year Building Instinctive Media
- Instinctive Media
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
It’s been a wild ride this year.
Instinctive Media officially launched in spring, after months of planning in the background. I went into it expecting a slow build, a lot of outreach that would lead nowhere, and the usual uncertainty that comes with starting from scratch.
Instead, things gathered momentum quickly. The work came in faster than I was ready for, the highs were huge, the lows were real, and I learned some tough lessons about capacity, process, and what it takes to deliver consistently as a one-man operation.
This is just my honest recap of that first year, what I’ve learned, and where Instinctive Media is heading next.
Quick one, for anyone new here: I'm Matt Cowley and I run Instinctive Media. Instinctive Media offers video production, photography and drone content for businesses who want to look credible, show what they actually do, and have content that gets used properly, not posted once and forgotten. I’m based near Beverley and Hull in East Yorkshire, and I work with businesses locally and beyond.
Instinctive Media Year In Review
Q1: Foundations and momentum
The start of the year was all foundations. Planning, admin, building the website, and sorting the boring bits that no one sees but everything relies on.
The website became a big focus early on because it felt like the obvious first step. If I was going to send emails or messages, I wanted people to have somewhere to go that looked professional and explained what Instinctive Media actually is. Website first. Surely you’ve got to have a website.
Once that started coming together, I began reaching out to try and secure work, which is a strange headspace when you’re on your own and you haven’t had your first proper pay cheque yet. You do the outreach expecting most people will delay, ghost, or simply not convert into a project. You still go through the motions because you have to, but there’s always that feeling of not knowing what will stick, or when.
What surprised me was that it did stick. More than I expected.
Towards the end of Q1, I put out a post on LinkedIn and, if I’m honest, it came from a very simple place. I’d been so focused on building the website and getting the business bits in place that my shooting time was at a record low. I just wanted to create something again, so I put the post out hoping just one person might take me up on an offer of a free shoot.
That’s where everything changed.
Work didn’t land all in one neat queue, and it wasn’t a case of saying yes to everything for the sake of it. It happened in layers. A few conversations were about work months down the line. Then someone mentioned a retainer. Then a quick turnaround job. Then another retainer conversation. Then I did a free job for someone.
At some point, without really noticing it happening, the diary started filling in with evenly spaced work. Then the retainers actually happened, and they overlapped with the projects already booked. Suddenly, it became a lot, very quickly.
Takeaway: as a creative, stay creative.
Do not go long periods without making something. If you’ve got admin and business bits on, keep it little and often, but keep it going.
Q2: Launch, overreach, and stability arriving
Q2 was when it became real.
The company was officially set up, and if I’m honest, it felt more like: get incorporated before these jobs start.
Easter weekend was also when I tried to launch FATE.
FATE - is a community idea I started to bring creatives together for meet ups built around adventure, experiences and making content in the real world. The long term vision is brand supported events that keep the community feel and give creators space to shoot their way, not by a strict shot list.
It meant a lot to me and I still believe in the idea, but the timing was brutal. Trying to build a creative meet up brand while the work was ramping up, while I was still figuring out how to run a brand new business, completely washed me out.
Then came a turning point. My first retainer client landed, and a second retainer partnership was also in motion, but not in a sudden way. That conversation had been going on for months longer than the first one.
Both retainers took longer conversations than the one off projects, which makes sense. A retainer is more like a partnership. It needs trust, clarity, and a shared idea of what good looks like. You don’t rush that, and you shouldn’t.
By the end of Q2, I was heading into summer knowing the work was not just coming. It was about to overlap.
Takeaway: partnerships take time, and they only work when both sides align.
The business needs the right creative, but the creative also needs the right brand and the right people. When it clicks, it benefits both, and it keeps the work exciting.
Q3: Systems, experiments, and the first wobble
Q3 exposed the bottleneck, and it wasn’t filming. Filming was never the issue, the bottleneck was editing.
I spend too much mental energy trying to get it 'just right', I take too long, and I end up drained. A big part of that is because I have never been the type of person to shoot something and then edit it as quickly as possible to the lowest passable bar, just to get it out the door. I want to do right by each and every client. I want the work to feel considered, not like “conveyor belt content”.
I’m not interested in lowering the bar just to get things out the door. When the schedule gets tight, I lean on trusted editors in my circle so delivery stays consistent. I still lead the creative direction and I still do the final quality control, so the work meets the standard my clients expect.
That standard is a good thing, but as a one-man operation it affects everything. It affects delivery, it affects the quality of your thinking, and it leaves you with nothing left for the parts of the business that keep things moving forward. That’s why I stopped taking on new work, not because I didn’t want it, but because I didn’t want to keep piling pressure onto a system that couldn’t hold it yet.
Q3 also became a season of experimenting and learning. I started looking for a mentor in the video production world, and I explored AI tools too, but it became clear very quickly that the tool is only part of the equation. The quality you get comes down to direction, and the way you can articulate a thought into a visual actually matters.
There were small wins as well. The website started bringing enquiries in organically, which felt like proof that the foundations were working.
Then came a challenging period. I had a project slip longer than I was comfortable with, and it forced me to take the whole production and delivery strategy seriously. I tightened how I schedule edits, got clearer on expectations, and built a more realistic workflow.
Takeaway: you need a delivery system sooner than you think.
You cannot be an effective creative if you’re burning out and running on fumes. A better workflow protects the quality and it protects you.
Q4: Direction, collaboration, and what I want more of
Q4 had a different energy, and it helped clarify what I want more of going forward.
I started thinking differently about the kind of work I’m chasing. I found myself getting pulled towards service-based companies and more visually interesting graft. That shift was sparked by something as small as a tree surgeon leaflet coming through the door. It made me realise some industries just look better on camera, and I genuinely think strong visuals, videography and photography, can do more for those businesses than another flyer through the door.
I also had reminders of what’s possible through collaboration. I got to work with previous production companies and connections again, assisting on set and filming behind the scenes, and I made new connections as I looked into getting out of offices and buildings for more run and gun shoots. I also started early conversations about working with students through the University of Hull, which feels like something that could grow into a really positive part of the business over time.
On top of that, I was asked to shoot and create for previous clients again. Seeing repeat connections and bigger milestones land felt like a real sign that the work, and the relationships, were building.
Takeaway: do not fill your calendar with only “money” jobs.
Paying the bills matters, but leave space for work you actually find interesting, the kind of thing you’d want to shoot even if you weren’t paid. That creative outlet feeds back into everything else, even if you get it through spec shoots or passion projects alongside the lower-ceiling work.
What I’m taking into 2026
If I had to sum this year up properly, it would be this.
I expected a slow build and a lot of silence when I reached out. Instead, things moved quickly, and the business grew faster than my systems could handle at times.
Getting work is one thing. Delivering it consistently, to a standard you’re proud of, without burning yourself into the ground, is another.
This year made it impossible to ignore the bottlenecks. It also showed me how important foundations are. The website, the process, the legal bits, the boring bits. They matter more than you think until the business is under pressure.
I’m grateful for every client who took a chance on a new company, and for every person who backed me, recommended me, or trusted me with their brand.
Going into 2026, the focus is clear.
Continue to refine a smoother delivery and collaboration system so things don’t bottleneck
Create more space for work that’s visually interesting and genuinely exciting
Keep improving, keep learning, and keep pushing the standard
I’m also actively looking to collaborate more this year.
If you’re a production company, freelancer, or creative who aligns with what Instinctive Media offers (videography, photography, drone video and drone photo), I’d love to connect and see what we could build together.
Creatively, I’m really looking forward to more outdoor shoots too. Hiking, camping, mountain biking, rock climbing, and being in environments where conditions are part of the story. I’m happy to travel anywhere in the UK, and beyond, especially for projects that involve problem solving on the fly and coming back with something real.
I’d also love to do more documentary style work. The kind of projects where you’re not forcing a script, you’re capturing what’s already there, and telling the story properly.
Here's to 2026!
If you want to create something together in 2026, whether that’s video production, photography, drone content, or an ongoing content partnership, drop us a line at contact@instinctive33.com
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