Drone to 1K Podcast by Drone Launch Academy

S6/EP 10 Juan Quinones of LuxyDrone

We're excited to announce that Season 6 Episode 10 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Juan Quinones of LuxyDrone. https://www.instagram.com/juan.c.quinonez/  Juan Quinones, founder of FPV Creator Pro and Luxy Drone, shared his journey, highlighting his transition from videography to FPV drone flying. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Discovering FPV: Juan's fascination with FPV drones began when he witnessed an impressive aerial display at a yacht pa...

S6/EP 9 Guillermo Wenzel of Drone Sky Visuals

We're excited to announce that Season 6 Episode 9 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Guillermo Wenzel of Drone Sky Visuals. Guillermo, founder of Drone Sky Visuals, came back to the podcast to talk about how he's been doing since his last appearance on the podcast in 2019. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Juggling Jobs: At first, he was working both his drone business, Drone Sky Visuals, and a regular job at a construction company. Getting Drones i...

S6/EP 8 Noah Ruiz of Soaring Eagle Technologies

 Season 6 Episode 8 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is out! Our guest for this episode is Noah Ruiz of Soaring Eagle Technologies. Noah Ruiz, founder of Soaring Eagle Technologies, transitioned from capturing photos of houses to specializing in infrastructure inspection with drones. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Inspiration and Early Ventures: Noah started his drone journey after witnessing the profitability of the technology in various industries, initially focusing on capturing ...

S6/EP 7 Zach Pieper of Quantum Land Design and Arrowview Services

Our guest for this episode is Zach Pieper of Quantum Land Design and Arrowview Services. Zach worked for Caterpillar in civil engineering and then ventured into entrepreneurship by establishing Quantum Land Design and Arrowview Services. These companies specialize in services for contractors and civil engineering, respectively. 🚁 Highlights from this episode: Drone Integration in Construction: Zach's utilization of drones in construction and civil engineering, leveraging his dive...

S6/EP 6 Matt Harvey of Edge Drone Services

Our guest for this episode is Matt Harvey of Edge Drone Services.  https://edgedroneservices.com/ Here are the main highlights of this episode: Matt's journey into the drone industry began while he was still in college, sparked by a conversation at a construction company where he was employed. He and his friend formed a partnership and started their own drone services company. Initially, they focused on projects in construction, like replacing bridges and promoting real estate. ...

S6/EP 5 Pedro Silva of Drone By Dro

Welcome back to the Drone to 1K podcast! In Season 6, Episode 5, host David Young catches up with Pedro Silva of Drones by Dro. Pedro shares his journey from part-time drone enthusiast to running a thriving drone business full time. Tune in for valuable insights on starting and growing a drone business, including Pedro's transition to full-time drone work and his success with search engine optimization that boosted his business. https://www.dronebydro.com/  🚁 Highlights: Pedro's ...

S6/EP 4 Blake Skor of CT Aerial Photo

Welcome back to Season Six, Episode Four of the Drone to 1K Podcast! 🚁 In this episode, David Young sits down with  Blake Skor of CT Aerial Photo, LLC. Blake, at just 18 years old, shares his inspiring journey into the world of drone photography and videography. One highlight of the conversation is how Blake fearlessly pursued opportunities, showcasing the power of strategic outreach and overcoming obstacles. 🔍 Topics Covered: Blake's strategic outreach approach: From cold calling ski res...

S6/EP 3 Jeff Hughes of Campfire Video Solutions

Our guest for this week's episode is Jeff Hughes of Campfire Video Solutions. https://campfirevideos.com/  Jeff's journey started from a job where he made videos to promote a home inspection company.Then, during the pandemic, he tried out drones for real estate photos and videos and became a licensed drone pilot. Here's a quick look at what we talked about: From Making Ads to Flying Drones: Jeff started with making ads, and then he got into using drones for even cooler shots. Pan...

S6/EP 2 Cody Retlich of Midwest Aerial Productions and DroneAdair

Join us as we chat with Cody Retlich of Midwest Aerial Productions (MAP) and DroneAdair.  In this episode of Drone To $1K, Cody shares his stories and experiences, giving us a peek into the exciting realm of aerial innovation. 🔍 What to Expect: College Spark: Cody's interest in drones took off during a college project on drones and agriculture, sparking a passion that reshaped his career. Changing the Game: Explore how MAP shifted from local drone services to a successful brokerage model...

S6/EP 1 Brian Koester of Southbay Drone Services

We're excited to announce that Season 6 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is officially here! Our first podcast guest of season 6 is Brian Koester of Southbay Drone Services. Brian's journey began with real estate photography, evolving into a broader range of drone services.  Brian shares insights on: Transitioning from real estate to diverse drone services. The role of digital marketing and websites in his growth. Shifting focus to construction and mapping services. Using photogra...

S5/EP 10 Thomas Wasinski of Aerial Agents

Welcome to the final episode of Drone to $1K, Season 5! In today's episode, we have a special guest, Thomas Wasinski from Ariel Agents. Thomas shares his fascinating journey from starting drones as a side hustle to turning it into a full-time career. He has worked with renowned companies like HBO, the NFL, and even the Cleveland Browns. Thomas's story is truly inspiring, as he went from an unrelated profession to becoming an Emmy award-winning drone pilot. In this episode, Thomas discusses...

S5/EP 9 Robert Nix of RE Drone SC

In this episode of Drone to 1K podcast, David interviews Robert Nix, a drone business owner of RE Drone SC. David and Robert discuss Robert's journey from a hobbyist drone pilot to a full-time drone business owner, offering tips and tricks for those starting from scratch. Robert is from South Carolina and took a drone launch course several years ago. He and David connected and have stayed in touch ever since. Robert has seen his drone business grow over time, starting from taking h...

S5/EP 8 Curtis Kloc of Inspections Over Coffee

This week’s guest is Curtis Kloc from Inspections Over Coffee. Inspections Over Coffee is an inspection company that uses drones to help inspect roofs. The company also sells franchises, and Curtis says that everyone that purchases a franchise also has to get licensed and learn how to use drones to inspect roofs. Curtis also works with real estate agents and agencies and educates them about inspection work, which builds credibility for his company and often leads to more busin...

S5/EP 7 Pedro Silva of Drone By Dro

Our guest this week is Pedro Silva from Drone by Dro. Since getting his Part 107 license, Pedro has worked on a variety of drone photography and videography jobs, including construction work, real estate listing photos and videos, and even a video for a hospital that recently did a huge renovation. (The video he created for the hospital actually won an award!) Pedro's been able to quit his job as a waiter and focus on building Drone by Dro full-time. An interesting thing about...

S5/EP 6 Chris Francescani of Sunset Beach Films

This week's guest is Chris Francescani from Sunset Beach Films. Chris was a journalist and reporter for 25 years. Now, he uses drones to create marketing and promotional videos for local businesses in Eastern Long Island. Chris has been able to find new clients by joining chambers of commerce and networking with business owners who could use social media drone videos to promote their businesses. Be sure to listen to this week's Drone to $1K Podcast episode to hear more about C...

S5/EP 5 Grant Puckrin of 19th UAS Precision

Our guest this week is Grant Puckrin from 19th UAS Precision. Grant's drone business started out doing real estate photography and videography. Now, Grant wants to expand into the agriculture industry. Growing up on a farm, Grant experienced firsthand the hard work and long hours that farmers put into their jobs. He wanted to find a way to use drones to help them save time and resources. Grant bought a multispectral drone AND a spraying drone and is waiting on his paperwork ...

S5/EP 4 Joey Howard of Cascade Stream Solutions

S5/EP 3 Joe Morgan of Eyes Above Texas Imagery

Our guest this week is Joe Morgan from Eyes Above Texas Imagery. Joe's been a Part 107-licensed drone pilot since 2017. Since then, he's gained tons of experience in the drone industry. He's skilled in photography & videography, mapping & photogrammetry, and inspection work. Over the past several years, Joe's built a reputation as a safe and professional drone service provider that always delivers quality work. To hear all about Joe's drone work and his advice for aspiring d...

S5/EP 2 Eric Hellinger of Vivid Flight Media

Eric Hellinger from Vivid Flight Media is our guest for this week's episode. Eric only started flying drones about a year and a half ago, and he's already running a successful drone business that specializes in providing FPV videos. If you're not familiar with FPV, it stands for first person view. Eric has created FPV videos for a variety of businesses and organizations, from schools to laboratories to wineries. To hear more about Eric and the cool FPV drone jobs he's worked...

S5/EP 1 Dusty Jolley of Jolley Works LLC

Season 5 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is here! This week, Dusty Jolley joins us as our first podcast guest of season 5. Since getting his Part 107 license back in 2020, Dusty has been able to quit his job in insurance (which he was miserable at) so he can pursue 2 of his hobbies: flying drones and welding. Over the past couple of years, Dusty's been doing a variety of drone work, including cinematography, mapping, and even FPV. Aaaand, we're excited to announce that Dusty is ...

S4/EP 10 Danny Elassad of Mole Media and Hoverscape

Danny Elassad from Mole Media and Hoverscape joins us this week to talk about his full-time drone job AND his drone side hustle!   Danny is the chief remote pilot at Hoverscape, where he uses drones to create “digital twins” (extremely accurate, high resolution 3D models) of large structures, like telecom towers and warehouses.   With Mole Media (his own drone company), Danny does drone photography and videography. He’s even had the chance to work with Netflix and TV shows! ...

S4/EP 9 Thom Monterville of NexGen Drones

This week, our guest is Thom Monterville from NexGen Drones, LLC.   Currently, Thom’s business is focused on agriculture and mapping drone services.   In this episode, Thom talks about how he started his business, how he landed his first paid job (which happened to be with one of the largest cattle and agriculture companies in Oklahoma!), and his goals for the future.   If you want to learn how drones are being used in the agriculture industry, you don’t want to miss thi...

S4/EP 8 Patrick Whalen of Backstage Aerial

Patrick Whalen of Backstage Aerial joins us this week to talk about how he grew his business from $0 to 6 figures in less than a year.   When Patrick’s job was affected by the pandemic, he decided to invest in a drone and get his Part 107 license.   In no time, he was landing jobs with household name clients like Amazon, Netflix, Hyundai, and Justin Bieber!   Patrick tells us all about how he was able to build such a successful business so quickly in this episode, so be ...

S4/EP 7 Guillermo Wenzel of Drone Sky Visuals

This week, Guillermo Wenzel joins us to talk about how he’s built and scaled his drone business, Drone Sky Visuals.   Since starting his business in 2019, Guillermo has gotten experience working in the real estate, construction, inspection, and event industries.   During this episode, he talks about how he’s used word-of-mouth advertising, Google Ads, social media, and more to successfully grow his drone business.   Listen to this week’s episode to hear all about Guiller...

S4/EP 6 Derek Cameron of 3805 Productions

This week on the Drone to $1K Podcast, you’ll get to hear from Derek Cameron of 3805 Productions.   Derek does photography and videography, as well as 3D mapping and modeling.   Derek first started his business just before the country shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, he’s had to overcome many obstacles to build his business.   Since then, Derek has worked with many different clients, including local business owners, realtors, construction companies...

S4/EP 5 Jeff Carrillo of Tarillo Vue

Our guest on this week’s episode is Jeff Carrillo from Tarillo Vue.   Over the past few years, Jeff has used drones to do creative work and inspection work for clients in many industries. One of the services he specializes in is drone thermography.   During the episode, Jeff talks about how he got started with his business, how he learned how to do thermography, and some of the cool projects he’s worked on.   If you’re interested in learning more about how drones are bei...

S4/EP 4 Merrill McKee of Northern Perspectives

Merrill McKee from Northern Perspectives joins us on this week’s episode of the Drone to $1K Podcast.   Merrill went from listening to the Drone to $1K Podcast and hoping to someday achieve what our guests have accomplished, to now being a D$1K Podcast guest himself – which means that he now owns and operates his own successful drone business!   During this episode, Merrill tells us all about his aerial photography and videography business, which is based in northern New Yor...

S4/EP 3 James Grace of JMG Aerial Imagery

Our guest this week is James Grace of JMG Aerial Imagery. James provides aerial photography and videography services for clients in the construction and real estate industries.   Before starting his own drone business in early 2019, James worked in post-production at Warner Brothers and Sony Pictures. While there, he learned the editing process, and he built a LinkedIn network of 10,000+ connections.   James has used his previous industry knowledge, as well as social media, ...

S4/EP 2 Kevin Olson of Maryland Drone Guy

This week, Kevin Olson of Maryland Drone Guy joins us to talk about his aerial photography and videographer business, which he’s successfully grown over the past year.   Kevin first started flying drones at the beginning of the COVID pandemic and got his Part 107 license last July.   Since then, Kevin has had the opportunity to work with many local businesses, including wineries and breweries, restaurants, gyms, a drive-in movie theater, an engineering company, and more.  ...

S4/EP 1 Jen Allen of Wildwood Media

DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 4 / EPISODE 1 WITH JEN ALLEN   Season 4 of the Drone to $1K Podcast is officially here!   In this week’s episode, Jen Allen of Wildwood Media tells us all about how she’s used drones to capture aerial photos and videos for her real estate and wedding clients.   Jen has been doing wedding photography and videography with her husband for years, but when the coronavirus pandemic started, the majority of their weddings were rescheduled. Jen has be...

S3/EP 10 Caleb Randall of Randall Productions

DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 3 / EPISODE 10 WITH CALEB RANDALL   On this week’s episode, Caleb Randall of Randall Productions joins us to talk about how he’s used drones to grow his business to making 6 figures a year.   Caleb started out doing wedding videography, but eventually shifted to creating marketing and branding films for businesses. He’s worked with big-name companies like Geico, as well as smaller businesses, to tell their stories through the art of video.   C...

S3/EP 9 Jorge Casamiquela of JFC prooductions

DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 3 / EPISODE 9 WITH JORGE CASAMIQUELA   This week, Jorge Casamiquela, our student support manager here at Drone Launch, joins us to talk about how he has successfully built his drone business, all while working part-time for Drone Launch Academy.   In this episode, Jorge tells us all about how he landed his first clients, the lessons he learned along the way, and the advice he has for anyone who’s thinking about starting their own drone business! ...

S3/EP 8 Rut Patel of Voyager Industries

DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 3 / EPISODE 8 WITH RUT PATEL   In this week’s episode, Rut Patel of Voyager Industries tells listeners how he grew his engineering business to the point where it’s making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. A few years ago, Rut quit both of his jobs to pursue his passion for drones and engineering full-time. Now, he has a team of employees and a company that made well over $300,000 in 2020.   How did he do it? Listen to find out!   Don...

S3/EP 7 Philip Hurst from Philip Hurst Media

DRONE TO $1K PODCAST SEASON 3 / EPISODE 7 WITH PHILIP HURST   Philip Hurst is the owner of Philip Hurst Media.   Introduction   Philip got his first drone about a year ago. He was working for an architectural company and had the idea of using a drone for roof inspections. He ended up using his drone to take videos of ongoing construction projects, as well.   Philip felt like he was really onto something with drones.   He pitched the idea of incorporating more dro...

S3/EP 6 Jonathan Stettler from Steady Focus Media

Jonathan Stettler is the owner of Steady Focus Media, a business that specializes in providing photography and videography services for businesses and real estate.   Introduction   Jonathan has always been into drones. The first time he saw a drone, his friend was flying one of the original DJI Mavic Pros. Jonathan thought it was cool, but he didn’t actually buy a drone until years later.   Jonathan’s background is in photography. He had tried wedding photography, but he...

S3/EP 5: Alex Castillo from LA Aerial Image

Alex is the owner of LA Aerial Image. Introduction Alex was the first guest when the podcast came out about a year and a half ago. Alex was an original RC plane flyer. Then when he was older, he was able to afford this stuff. One day at the airfield, he saw some guy with a quad copter and knew he needed to have one. Then he decided that he didn't just want it to be a hobby. So he took his photography background as a hobbyist and then just got into video and just started doing vi...

S3/EP 4: Spencer Boyd from Aerodrone Solutions

Spencer is the owner of Aerodrone Solutions. Introduction: Spencer started Aerodrone early in COVID. He’d been in military, then went to college, found drones and did military contracting in Middle East. Because that work was touch-and-go, when he returned from Afghanistan in April and in May, he decided to start his own company. David: What I want to know first is--are there any similarities to flying drones in Afghanistan to flying your DJI drones? Spencer says it's simila...

S3/EP 3: Chris Dantonio from Chris Dantonio Drone Photography

Chris is the owner of Chris Dantonio Drone Photography Introduction: Chris says he got in a “little late” and “by accident”, because he started about four years ago at 43 years old. His parents bought him a little toy drone that had a small camera. He flew it for a week, broke it and knew he needed something better. He then bought a $100 drone and broke that in about a month. The DJI Phantom 3 Standard was his first real drone. He started taking pictures around Philadelphia just...

S3/EP 2: Nick Frandjian from Open House Foto

Nick is the CEO & Lead Photographer for Open House Foto located in Los Angeles. Introduction: Nick bought his first drone, a Phantom2 with a GoPro in 2015 for $2,500. He’d just left his full-time job at a cable company that he hated working for. He knew that he had some creativity but didn't want to buy a drone because the ones he saw were shaky. He also knew he could do better. Nick would fly the drone over a business, take photos and find out if they would like to buy them. Th...

S3/EP 1: Liam Abrigg from Bentley Studios

Liam is a Photographer/Videographer and Owner with Bentley Studios Introduction: Liam specializes in photography and video, mostly in the wedding industry, averaging about 40 weddings a year, and incorporating the drone. He also takes photos of the transitions of projects for roofing companies. David: Let's go back, let us know how your business started from the beginning... Liam has been an entrepreneur since he was 15. He started in the iPhone repair business, doing that for...

S2/EP 10: Fred Light from Nashua Video Tours

Fred owns and operates Nashua Video Tours, a real estate video and photography company. David: ”Tell us about your company.” Fred has been doing this for 15 years, starting with putting video online. Because the internet didn't support video very well, realtors didn't have computers, or didn't know what the internet was—it didn’t work out too well. When he was just about to quit, the real estate market tanked and people needed ways to sell properties. At that point, flash became...

S2/EP 9: Cody Retlich from Midwest Aerial Productions

Cody Retlich is founder of Midwest Aerial Productions. David: “Why don't you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and how you got into drones?” Cody is from Wisconsin and went to school for entrepreneurship and professional sales, so he knew he wanted to run his own business. He’d always take the leadership role and knew he wanted to have the freedom to work the way he wanted. His interest in drones started when a friend developed software for agricultural use of dron...

S2/EP 8: Jeremiah Oschwald from Beardhouse Media

Jeremiah Oschwald owns and operates Beardhouse Media, a real estate marketing business, and Overland Pioneers, an outdoor lifestyle marketing business. David: “Why don't you tell us who you are and what your company is? How did you get into real estate marketing? When did you first mess around with drones?” Jeremiah has been in the real estate marketing business for 4 ½ years, drones for about 3 ½ yrs. There was a big boom in drone popularity but there weren't a lot of people li...

S2/EP 7: Preston Jensen from Jensen Air LLC

Preston owns Jensen Air in North Dakota, working primarily in a seasonal real estate   David: “Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your business and what you do? Preston started his drone business on the side. He defined himself as different than other drone business owners because his customer base was already in place. His brother—a real estate broker for Remax—needed someone to do commercial drone footage. Preston did a little research, figured he could do it and “pulled...

S2/EP 6: Leo Adams from SkyeLink Aerial Photography

Leo Adams is CEO/Co-Founder of SkyeLink, a professional drone service company with a drone marketplace and pilot network.  David: “Tell us what kind of services SkyeLink provides for drone services and on the pilot network side?” The main services SkyeLink offers are aerial inspections, aerial mapping and aerial photography. They work in construction, solar, real estate, production and typography. Their pilot network allows them to scale and offer flexibility to clients nationwi...

S2/EP 5: Mike Jensen from Sacramento Drone

Mike Jensen, from Sacramento Drone, has been in business for almost 30 years doing wedding and event videos and corporate videography. Mike always offered unique services to clients, such as 8mm film, 360 VR panoramas and aerial shots of wedding venues. In the mid-90s, he did his first aerial by renting an airplane and continued to get aerial footage by renting helicopters. At $400/hr, it was very expensive, but he gathered a reusable library of about 30 to 40 of the most popular ...

S2/EP 5: Mike Jensen from Jensen Films

Mike Jensen, from Jensen Films, has been in business for almost 30 years doing wedding and event videos and corporate videography. Mike always offered unique services to clients, such as 8mm film, 360 VR panoramas and aerial shots of wedding venues. In the mid-90s, he did his first aerial by renting an airplane and continued to get aerial footage by renting helicopters. At $400/hr, it was very expensive, but he gathered a reusable library of about 30 to 40 of the most popular wedding venue...

S2/EP 4: Alex Harris from AZ Corporate Video/Drone Launch Academy

Alex is drone photographer and videographer. He is also the author of two of our Drone Launch Academy courses—Aerial Video A to Z and Aerial Photo Pro. David: “Let’s start with you giving us your background.” Alex already had a videography service. When he’d show up to film a corporate event, he said, it nagged at him that he needed to get a drone and a license to fly it. “I could see how much it helped to diversify between camera work and photography,” he said, “it’s easier to ...

S2/EP 3: Dustin Hunt from Full Scope Inspections

Dustin’s company is Full Scope Inspections, a home inspection company in Citrus, FL specializing in roofs made of metal, tile, slate (or anything that shouldn’t be walked on or is too steep or elevated.) David: “When did you first start getting into drones and when did you fly your first drone?” Dustin was using drone before starting his drone business. He noticed people weren’t using drones for inspections and his residential construction background told him there could be a bi...

S2/EP 2: Sinuhe Montoya of DroneQuote

Sinuhe is Founder of DroneQuote a company that specializes in helping roofing and solar companies better understand what’s happening on a roof through drone survey imagery. Sinuhe started working installing solar panels on new roofs for residential and commercial purposes. He had to get on roofs to take measurements and conduct surveys and was afraid of heights. In thinking there had to be a better way, he bought a small drone with a camera and started seeing potential and benefits such as...