Chase Price is on a Professional and Creative Adventure
Written by Meg Seitz · Photography by Julia Fay
Chase Price never considered himself creative. He did, however, consider himself an entrepreneur.
“I had the entrepreneurial bug early on because my dad was an entrepreneur,” the 24-year-old videographer recalls from Hygge’s Third Ward. “So, I thought I’d channel that into the event management industry.”
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After graduating from East Carolina University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Entrepreneurship, Price took a Banquets and Events Externship with the well-respected and glamorous Biltmore Estate. He quit after just a couple of months.
“I was about two weeks into the internship, and I just knew that this wasn’t what I wanted,” he recalls. “I had a pit in my stomach, and I was stressed – and it wasn’t positive stress. I just knew that I wasn’t someone you can put in a box to work from this time to this time.”
“I had a pit in my stomach, and I was stressed – and it wasn’t positive stress. I just knew that I wasn’t someone you can put in a box to work from this time to this time.”
Price also knew he wanted to build something. As a street-smart and open-minded free spirit, he is someone who you can tell has a million ideas running through his head all at once. He just wasn’t entirely clear what that something would be. He knew he could probably build websites. Ironically – he needed a website of his own.
“I went online, and I thought, ‘I’m going to find a bad ass domain name,’” he remembers. “I came across RedefineU, and I thought that’s it – that’s what we’d do with a website; so I bought it.”
Price went on to build several websites for clients until he realized that it was work he wasn’t passionate about. It was an important realization that served as a catalyst for the next career adventure.
To design and build websites, Price started taking photographs and shooting video. And he was hearing positive responses to both. He put his freelance video editing skills on Upwork; he started to build not only his portfolio, but also traction with clients. He was also starting to figure out that this kind of work meant he could work remotely from anywhere in the world.
Price moved home to Indian Beach, North Carolina to figure out the next step. With skills in photography and video and a desire to see the world, he knew that if he was going to travel, now would be the time to do it.
“I really just wanted to travel, learn, gain experience, and break even,” he shares.
He bought a one-way ticket to Vietnam.
“I really just wanted to travel, learn, gain experience, and break even.”
What unfolded was a true career adventure. He shot freelance videography in countries including Vietnam, Bali, and Thailand before a client then hired him and flew him to Copenhagen to shoot video through Europe.
The whirlwind of travel and beautiful landscapes provided work and perspective – but left him missing home.
“I was stupid homesick,” he confides. “I got to a point where I was in these amazing cities like Paris and London, and I just wasn’t enjoying them. I wasn’t taking my camera out as much. I missed my family; I missed my dog.”
Price returned home to the North Carolina beach. He was at a crossroads – happy to be home and ready for a new adventure. With videographers a dime a dozen in cities like New York and L.A., Price wanted to find a place where he could showcase his talent and continue to hone his craft.
He moved to Charlotte in November 2017. He hit the ground running. Price was one of the first to present at Hygge’s Zero Day. As one of the newest members at the time, he put himself out there, introducing his skills to a crowd of new faces in order to to start connecting.
Today, he focuses on corporate videography. His non-traditional, cool style with sleek transitions and motion graphics makes Price’s approach to editing dynamic, engaging, and aesthetically-pleasing. His laidback, California cool vibe is warm and open; you can still tell he’s always working out an idea in his head. He sees something the rest of us don’t see.
And he thrives with wide, open space and the ability to make the work an adventure all its own.
“The most exciting thing for me to hear from a client is, ‘here’s our general concept, now take it and run with it,’” he shares candidly.
Because he’s a young guy who’s seen the world and knows how to speak about it articulately, you can’t help but ask him about the most memorable place he’s experienced thus far.
“Bali was the best,” he says. “It was just a magical place; everyone who comes there is just so creative and open-minded.”
Himself included.
Meet the Author: Meg Seitz is the Founder and Managing Creative Partner of toth shop, an agency with one goal: Elevate your brand’s content through powerful writing, creativity, and strategy. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor with Queens University and Founding Partner of the children’s book series, “Bea is for Business”.
She’s an English major with an MBA, so she can talk Homer’s “The Odyssey” just as well as she can talk sunk costs – though she’d much prefer the former.
Meet the photographer: Julia Murray, owner of Julia Fay Photography, feels most at home behind a camera with a story to tell on the other side. Her business began during her sophomore year of college, while majoring in radio and tv broadcasting. Now residing in Charlotte NC, she primarily shoots weddings and other local small businesses like her own. Her favorite part about her job is the connection it brings between art and people.
