A World of Pure Imagination - How Creation Changes Lives with Geff Zamor founder of GMS Media
Geff Zamor, Founder and Creative Director of GMS Media & Advertising, shares how he treats every day on the job like it's his first day on the job.
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Our Host
Ari O’Donovan
Links & Resources:
GMS Media Website: https://gmsmediaco.com/
GMS Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gmsmediapdx/?hl=en
Transcript:
Ari O'Donovan: (00:00)
Thank you so much for listening to boosting our Voices. This program has been brought to you by Boost, Oregon. You can find them online@boostoregon.org.
Geff Zamor: (00:14)
And for me, that ability to stay humble, it allows me to enjoy everything. And I would've never thought that, like thinking that way wouldn't make me love every job, but instead of like chasing the next big thing, I think to myself, what is the next fun thing?
Ari O'Donovan: (00:32)
Welcome back y'all, to boosting our voices. I am your host and Boost Oregon's diversity program manager Ira O'Donovan. And before we have even begun the episode, Jeff and I are already laughing. , we're already, that's right. This is gonna be a great episode. You already know that Jeff, you and I have worked together for years just like we were talking about, but listeners don't know a lot about who you are, what you do. So can you introduce yourself and share a little bit about what you do?
Geff Zamor: (01:02)
First of all, thank you very much for having me on the show. Ira. We have been doing this for a couple of years now. My name's Jeff Moore and I am the owner and creative director of GMs Media. It is a media company in Portland, Oregon. I started off in Los Angeles actually 24 years ago and brought my operation up to the Pacific Northwest. Ooh, December 1st, 2010. So I've been doing it here in Portland since then. I guess that's 13 years now. And we service a wide array of clients. We do everything from like internal corporate communications, brand videos, still photography, live streaming. So we're a full service media production company, really focusing in on nonprofits, small business and B2B
Ari O'Donovan: (01:47)
Man, 24 years, right? Like I gotta stop you right there. That is insane,
Geff Zamor: (01:53)
Right? There's kids in the office. Insane. There's kids in the office that are younger. Then I've been having my career .
Ari O'Donovan: (02:00)
Oh my god, that is insane. That's one of the reasons why when I knew I was gonna start this podcast in this new project, you're one of the very first people that I wanted to interview. That is such a long time to be in this
Geff Zamor: (02:15)
Episode. I was stoked when you said that you were doing this because I think, you know, we wanna make sure we capture, uh, these special voices. Not to say that I have a special voice, but you know, the, the other voices that you get are special. I dunno what I'm, but um, you know, having the opportunity to reflect on a career like this and just to kind of talk and wrap a little bit about what it means to, you know, be here so many years later from having a dream. You know, it's kind of really awesome that I can take the time today to do that.
Ari O'Donovan: (02:44)
First of all, you do have a special voice. This ain't the time to start being shy. So
Geff Zamor: (02:49)
Not on
Ari O'Donovan: (02:49)
The podcast. Let's not get going down that road. I wanna know not on a lot of things. Everybody that I interview on here is a special voice and yours is very special. What you do is really extraordinary. And I know you told me you've been doing this for 24 years. So I would like to know, would you like to share a little bit about your professional journey and how did GMs Media get started?
Geff Zamor: (03:14)
Yeah, so you know, always love movies. When I was a kid, my father was in the service and we used to live abroad a lot and we'd go to the VHS store on base, it was called the px, the postal exchange. They'd have a little video store and he would let me pick out whatever movies I wanted. I mean in some movies that a little kid shouldn't be watching so he lemme pick out and he was like, ah, it'll be good. So I fell in love with film there and went to University of Miami for creative writing and philosophy. My mother was scared to death. She was like, what are you gonna do with those degrees? Why don't you do computers? That was the thing, do computers, why aren't you doing computers? So 21 years old, graduate from the University of Miami and get all my stuff in a truck and just head to Los Angeles, go west young man.
Geff Zamor: (04:03)
So get to LA it's 2001 and nobody knew me and I could not get a job to save my life. It was uh, my father-in-law at the time. I was faxing out my resume and so I was faxing out resumes and I tell called him, I was like, Hey, can I send you a text fax? I wanna make sure my fax is working. So I sent them a text fax, he's like, oh no, the fax machine's working. So I'm like, ok, so that's not it. It's not the fax machine . So you know, I didn't know anybody and you know, eventually I started working for free on whatever job I could find. So another buddy that I had met in Los Angeles, we were both on the come up. So anything that was available, student film, low budget, no budget, we did it. And that kind of got my mini foot in the mini door.
Geff Zamor: (04:53)
And I remember Carl's junior commercial, I was the hamburger spit bucket boy. And what that means is on a commercial where there's like this big juicy hamburger that someone takes a bite into, that hamburger is actually ice cold. It has to be for it to look that good. So off camera there's a person holding the bucket. That was me. So someone would take a bite of that juicy burger, they'd spit into the bucket off camera and that bucket would get full of chunks and then when it got full of chunks I would go dump it and get another bucket. And I remember that night I drove the truck back to LA from the shoot cleaning it out with a water hose. It's like two o'clock in the morning the hose falls. I get water all over myself. So I'm in this hamburger truck water all over me and I said, look at me mom, I'm in the movies .
Geff Zamor: (05:44)
And that's kind of how it was for a little while, you know, and that was a great way to come up in the industry. You learn from the bottom. And eventually I got really lucky because there was a guy named Greg Noodles Johnson who was a legend in the industry and he was starting this new wireless camera company and he needed people who were just like Johnny on the spot could figure out tech and just could do this wireless camera technology that he had put together. So I went from like Hamburger Spit Bucket Boy to working on Sea Biscuits aviator, spider-Man two Guess who Reno 9 1 1 Cool commercials cool TV shows. And I did that for a good long while and I really got a chance to learn the industry from the pros. You know, on Cbis my boss Noodles turns to me and goes, please remember this experience because you will never work on the show this good again.
Geff Zamor: (06:37)
And what he meant by that was it was the best of the best. It was the best crew, the best catering people who cared, the people who managed the horses were amazing. The executive producers were the top. Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. Steven Spielberg was a producer Heat Stop by Set. So it was a really great opportunity to learn from the masters, especially being a wireless camera guy, I had responsibility but like nothing I did could hurt the project. You know, like if I failed at something it would like ruin things for a minute, but it wasn't like make or break. And so I was able to really watch and learn how the pros did it. So I think a lot of who I am and where I am in the industry comes from that experience of being a wireless camera tech for RF film for so many years.
Geff Zamor: (07:28)
And eventually the way LA works, like if you don't break out and do your own thing, then no one's gonna really give you that shot. So I took too much of my family's money and I made an independent feature films called O J T on the job training and it was a passion project, labor, love, all the friends, all the family, everybody jumped in on it and feature length, 90 minutes long, shot it in three weeks. Really proud of it didn't sell. But what it did do is it was the beginning of video on the internet and one of the investors in the project was a guy who goes, huh, I guess you do know how to do this. And he ran a media agency right at the dawn of putting commercials on the web. So he goes, can you do this at my company?
Geff Zamor: (08:16)
I said, oh let's try. So we were there at the beginning when the internet was in short pants, we were putting commercials on the web and I remember the camera houses, they would've asked us like, why are you using such a nice camera for the internet? We were like, so it's funny to look back on a career and some of my stuff is still on the internet, like super small video. But that's what it was back then. Like you didn't have to worry about music licensing cause they couldn't catch you. So you'd be like, you'd be using songs from artists, you know, you weren't allowed to use, but nobody had the technology yet to like, you know, stop you. But then obviously we grew with the industry as it grew up and uh, that was really nice. So eventually I left Los Angeles, came to Portland and I just wanted to restart the best things from that experience. You know, the best parts of my LA upbringing, I wanted to bring them to Portland. So I got here December 1st, 2010 and my first client was touro.com, it was a horoscope company in Hillsboro. I did a horoscope video once a day every day for about three years. And I'm gonna tell you something, people don't play with their horoscope, those horoscope videos
Geff Zamor: (09:29)
And they, you late, if you late somebody's gonna call you about that video.
Ari O'Donovan: (09:39)
, I believe that ,
Geff Zamor: (09:42)
Yeah, like one of the joys of my career was with terro.com. There was this guy in Australia or something who wanted that video up on YouTube because I guess he kinda like planned his day around it. So he knew that video was gonna come out and if something happened on my side here in Portland, like you know, got backed up, there was a mistake and there was no video, he would email the company. He was like, Hey, where is today's horse going,
Ari O'Donovan: (10:08)
,
Geff Zamor: (10:08)
Where is Saturn? Where is Mercury? Oh in retrograde. And so I was like, I really liked that there was a guy who was making sure that his day would get started when he saw that video. So I, I had a responsibility even to him.
Ari O'Donovan: (10:23)
You gotta keep that up. Yeah,
Geff Zamor: (10:25)
. So you know, GMs Media, our first kind of client in town was ter.com and just really focused on practicing good business. You know, focusing on nonprofits and small business advertising, figuring out what message that company needed to tell, how to spin it, how to honor it, how to tell a story that hadn't been told yet. And that's what we've been doing. You know, we just, and your, you know, boost, boost is another one of those awesome clients where, you know, you guys came to us and said we wanna make vaccination videos that are a little bit better than the traditional not vaccination immunization videos. You know, we listened to you, we listened to Nadine and we said, you know, how do we elevate this a little bit more so that a family sitting in a waiting room of a pediatrician's office can feel comfortable to know that you know, their kids need these shots and there are no small projects, there are no small jobs, you know, so every job presents a unique set of variables for you to like figure out. And that was one where we like kind of had to figure out the English to Spanish thing. We were talking to three different populations and I love it, you know, I love trying to make sure we check all those boxes and do it in style.
Ari O'Donovan: (11:45)
You guys paid so much attention to detail and you made people feel so comfortable. It was such a fun experience and I had never seen the behind the scenes work that goes into creating ads or commercials or videos or anything like that. And to see all that's a lot of hard work. It really is
Geff Zamor: (12:04)
The circus . But you know, when it all comes together it's really satisfying. And I look back at that work and I go, oh, it still holds up. You know, always wanna do more, always wanna do better. But I look back and I go, oh that's some good stuff.
Ari O'Donovan: (12:16)
Absolutely. And hearing your whole journey and where you started and how far you've come, it just, it's one of the reasons why I love doing this podcast because I get to talk to people and learn so much more about them on an individual level when I get to focus on them in their own specific episode. And I'm just super proud of you. I'm proud of you and all,
Geff Zamor: (12:39)
You know what Ira? Thank you. I'm, you know, I've learned in therapy to just take the compliment instead of say something like, I wanna say something like, oh no, no
Ari O'Donovan: (12:47)
This is your episode Jeff, you take that compliment.
Geff Zamor: (12:52)
Hey, I'm doing some personal work so I'll take it. Good, I'll take it. Thank you so much.
Ari O'Donovan: (12:58)
Good. I wouldn't wanna no other way take that compliment. You really have come so far and I can't believe you worked on Cbis and Reno 9 1 1. I love that show ,
Geff Zamor: (13:10)
You know, you watch Reno 9 1 1 and you think this is an insane show. So to have the ability to work on that show and you're seeing dangle and you're seeing all of the officers and you're like, this is a trip and they're blowing up police cars and you're like okay. And you know the industry back then, I don't, you know, it was trial by fire, I loved it. You know, I was uh, part of the camera team and I had never shot footage on a show. I did wireless camera stuff. So the DP hands me the camera and he goes, Hey pointed at the sky and get B-roll of those birds and it's just B-roll of birds. But you know, Reno 9 1 1 would transition from a scene to the scene with like some nature shot or just um, some landscape. And so I was nervous but the DP was like, Hey lemme see what you got kid. I probably messed it up but he gave me a shot.
Ari O'Donovan: (14:03)
, that's what you need in life. Just those opportunities take him every time they
Geff Zamor: (14:08)
Come around opportunity. That's right, definitely. Absolutely.
Ari O'Donovan: (14:11)
Definitely. And it, I've seen you guys do a variety of different projects working with you guys. Like I said, you pay a lot of attention to detail, you work very closely with the group that you're working with. You take all these ideas and then you just do it yourself and you never interact with the people you're collaborating with. You find the most amazing talent and people to be a part. Thank you . Yeah, part of your commercials or whatever you're making. And I have a lot of of appreciation for that. I feel like G m s media and advertising is doing something that a lot of other similar businesses aren't doing. A lot of people might only wanna focus on the big fish, the, you know, big businesses that have a lot of money and don't really care about nonprofit work or diversity or anything like that. We just have a product and we want you to get it out there. There's nothing wrong with taking those jobs too, but I'm glad that you guys can focus on other people as well that still need services too.
Geff Zamor: (15:15)
And you know, that's not just a talking point that we have at dinner parties, it's part of our mission and it's what we really believe in because you know, I have no problems doing an ad campaign for Caesars Palace. It was one of the most fun things I've ever done. You know, great crew, great organization and just really had a lot of fun telling like a really big story. But hands of God I have just as much fun going to the Providence Black and White Ball for their heart health nonprofit and figuring out how do we tell this story. I have just as much fun with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society on a fun run because you know, this is the only job I've ever wanted to have and I treat every day on the job. Like it was my first day on the job. That's what a rapper said a long time ago.
Geff Zamor: (16:10)
Treat every day on the job like it was your first day on the job, like how it was when you were an intern. And for me that ability to stay humble, it allows me to enjoy everything. And I would've never thought that, like thinking that way would make me love every job. But instead of like chasing the next big thing, I think to myself, what is the next fun thing? As long as our bills are paid and everyone's happy and the client treats us with respect, I'm gonna give you everything I have because there are no small jobs and that's a lot of fun for me. And in that way, hunting out those clients, you know, I love Boost and Boost. Oregon has been a wonderful client for us over the years and when I look back at the steel photography and the Metro Peds videos and the Covid 19 campaign, it's really great to see the company grow along with an organization that is growing. And I'm looking forward to what is the next story? What is the next still shoot, what's the next campaign? What's the next idea that you guys have that we're gonna take and say, Ooh, awesome idea, but let's put a little bit of pepper on it. We can make a little spice.
Ari O'Donovan: (17:24)
I love that we have so many ideas in the works and I can't imagine working with another media company but y'all, so
Geff Zamor: (17:34)
Yeah, I'm gonna tell you something. If I see you and you are working with somebody else, it's gonna be uncomfortable for you guys . Cause I also have no shame .
Ari O'Donovan: (17:46)
Well you ain't gotta worry about that because we can't. Where else are we gonna go? Who else is gonna provide the best service and be as fun as y'all to work with and is caring and in interested in the job you're doing and nobody else is gonna be doing that out there. That's, that's the thing I think is really unique about GMs media and advertising. Is there anything else you'd want listeners to know specifically about what you guys do that no one else is doing?
Geff Zamor: (18:13)
Ooh, that is a good one. You know, wow, that is a great one. I would say we want people to know that we care about the community and we try to put that in our work. You know, we care about the town that we are in and that is something that I think sets us a little bit apart. You know, I have been working in this industry when there were not a lot of black people in it and there's a little bit more black people in it, but still not a lot. And in Portland right now, I am really pivoting my business to focusing on marginalized populations in the community and finding ways for GMs Media to support those communities. Because a lot of people are talking about diversity, equity, inclusion and it's, it's a fun thing to say and if you're actually doing the work, that's even better.
Geff Zamor: (19:16)
But I care about this town, I care about this community and I wanna move the needle forward. I want our company to move the needle forward. So I'm always looking for an opportunity to bring in authentic, marginalized voice. And that doesn't mean you have to be a person of color. You could also be poor. I'm looking for someone who doesn't have the shot. I'm looking for a company who maybe doesn't have the resources and I'm gonna say, well I can't give you everything, but what can I give you that helps move your company's agenda forward? I think that's what I want people to know, that we come to that from a place of authenticity. We are like, okay, what can we do to help this community? And we're, our company is getting bigger and we're getting a bigger name for ourselves, but we want to help when you're not getting to help other places.
Ari O'Donovan: (20:10)
I really love to hear that. And it's just like we were talking about earlier, you'll take the big jobs from massive businesses and that's great. You should, but it's also good to focus on smaller groups and smaller organizations. That's just as important.
Geff Zamor: (20:26)
Yeah, I said I love Bruce Rosen women's shelter and I'm just gonna shout out one of my favorite nonprofits. This is an organization of scrappy, mostly women doing really authentic work for battered women. And what I love about Haven is it's a no nonsense group of people there. They're like, we're gonna provide services, we're gonna help people. And they were doing it from like the basement of a church and then they finally got this new big business, but it's the same idea that they had in that basement of that church as they do now. And it's an honor for me to serve that community. And if somebody at this company was like, oh hey, I dunno if I wanna do that shoot, like they're gonna pay a lot. I'm like, you better get outta here. Because they are helping women in need and they're doing it authentically and they're doing it tough. And if all I can do to help is to turn a camera on and make sure it's in focus and make sure the sound is crispy so that maybe that video gets them more donor dollars or new volunteers, I better do that work because I can't just let them be out there in northwest Portland doing all this without
Ari O'Donovan: (21:38)
Support. That's dope. And I agree that's a topic that a lot of people don't ever wanna touch. They don't ever wanna be getting any deeper off into learning about it, talking about it, showcasing it at all. Cuz it's a hard thing to talk about. And I think that we should focus on that more groups like the one that you just talked about, other organizations too. They need the support of the public and other people to help them amplify their own message and help other women who really are in need. I love the no nonsense that you talked about too when it comes to something like that. There's no room for any nonsense. You just gotta get in there and help people.
Geff Zamor: (22:16)
Oh yeah, . Yeah.
Ari O'Donovan: (22:17)
Yeah. Like there's no room for anything else.
Geff Zamor: (22:19)
It's not like a touchy, it's like okay, what do you need? What's going on? How do we help you with your situation? Do you need to be living somewhere else? Do your kids need school supplies? Can we get you into a center? I mean, and it's really great to see them roll up their sleeves and just kinda, they ask for what they need and they give what they have.
Ari O'Donovan: (22:38)
I have a lot of respect for that. That was gonna be the next question I asked you. What project that you are currently working on or a past project would you say would be one of your favorites and sounds like that might be a favorite or is there another one?
Geff Zamor: (22:52)
It is a favorite, but right now I am working on a project with a woman named Esther Gadoy. She is the creative leader of, Butch is not a dirty word, it is a Instagram channel focusing on the experiences of masculine presenting butch lesbians. And we are doing an eight part docu-series about successful butch lesbians who are killing it in America. These are women who are making great money in their careers, who know exactly where they wanna be. And we have been documenting for about a year and a half their story and we're in post production now. And what's really great about this project, it's called Inward Out and Esther's executive producer is we have a W N B A star Angel Magore. We got Lisa Conden, the graphic designer, we got Stony Michelle Love, which is a fashion designer in Los Angeles. And it's really great to learn. And that's what I love about this job is as a creative director, if I open myself up to it, I'm gonna learn a couple of things. Uh, so we're inter, so I'm gonna tell some cheats the the series so Stony, you know, she's lesbian masculine presenting and she's like, yeah, I remember the last time I had sex with a man. It was horrible and it sucks that the last time I had sex with a man is gonna be a horrible experience. And I thought to myself, wow, must suck to be that guy. .
Geff Zamor: (24:30)
You know, I don't think like that, you know, like for me to hear a butch lesbian go man that last time when that guy was horrible and that mad be part of the reason why I'm a butch lesbian. And I was like, ok, I like that. I like that. Another one was, uh, we're interviewing someone else on the channel and the woman goes, you know who I feel sorry for heterosexuals. I think we have it easier than you guys. And I thought to myself, I don't think like that. You know, you're always like, oh my god you're a marginalized population but there could be a lesbian going, I feel so sorry for you.
Ari O'Donovan: (25:03)
Right. New perspective.
Geff Zamor: (25:06)
So it's been really great to kind of open my mind up to another portion of society and say, how do I tell this story authentically? And that was brave of Esther to have me as the director on this thing. I mean I'm a this black male, you know, what do I know about the butch lesbian experience? . I, I have open mind and I like to learn and I'm a storyteller . And I think when you watch it, you're gonna go, you did have a great decent job.
Ari O'Donovan: (25:36)
Really that's, those are the only three qualities you need to be able to, to do a good job. And in my opinion, as long as you're open to doing a good job in all that it takes to do that and put in the work and be interested in the group you're working with, I think a lot of magic can happen.
Geff Zamor: (25:53)
A hundred percent. That's the goal.
Ari O'Donovan: (25:56)
Well I definitely wanna know when that's done so I can check
Geff Zamor: (25:59)
It out. Oh, oh you, you will. Oh you will for sure. You'll get a little sneak peek too.
Ari O'Donovan: (26:02)
And I know y'all gonna put that in your blog. I'll be reading that. Oh
Geff Zamor: (26:06)
It's ill. Oh it's gonna be on Hit the gonna be plastered everywhere.
Ari O'Donovan: (26:10)
Good. I'll be reading that too. . I love all these new perspectives cuz that's my whole thing too. I feel like I can only tell you about my lived experience as a black woman in America that I can tell you about that I am a personal expert on. But I am an expert on nothing else. I can't live everybody else's life. But I feel like it adds to my quality of person and my ability to walk out into the world and be somebody that's going to live and learn and add something to the world. If people are willing to share their lived experience with me and their perspective with me and you allow me to learn, I add those pieces to my life and it just makes me a better quality person and then I can be a better quality person to other people when I interact with other people because no, I don't know what it's like to be you, but I know that your lived experience exists and I respect that and I wanna know about that. I take that opportunity
Geff Zamor: (27:16)
Everywhere. Preach, preach. Don't stop, don't
Ari O'Donovan: (27:18)
Stop. That's a good one.
Geff Zamor: (27:20)
Aid I'm gonna start interviewing you, I'm gonna start interviewing you on this
Ari O'Donovan: (27:23)
Podcast. I've thought about that. I've thought about that Jeff. I put a lot of thought into that over the years and I'm like, yep, yep. Somebody should put that on a quote somewhere.
Geff Zamor: (27:32)
, yeah it's, it's too big for a t-shirt but it should be on a t-shirt. You know, it's, I think how we get to more peace and understanding, which is to say I have a unique perspective and I don't know anybody else's unique perspective, but let me at least open my eyes to look at their unique perspective and go, okay, I see how you're doing it and it's okay if you don't understand it, but at least to open your eyes and go, I see that you have a different way of looking at the world. Let me take a second and honor that and doesn't matter what it is. And sometimes that perspective might be a hard one to look at, but I think you have to
Ari O'Donovan: (28:07)
Try. Right? Right. Absolutely. You really do have to try. It's just like you said, it's how we make this world a better place. It's how we live here together as an entire community in a better way.
Geff Zamor: (28:21)
Yeah, it's, it's very easy to talk about how you do it or how you were raised or how like other people don't get it. That's the easiest thing in the world to say, you know, what's harder is to go, okay, I see you coming out this from like a different place. Let me see if I can get there a little bit. Let me see if I can understand how you came up to say that. That is the hard work and if you do that, I think someone else is gonna see you doing that and now you guys can have an honest conversation. Well you know, like we don't agree on anything, but I at least see that you're trying to understand where I got to that statement that I just said, that weird thing I said an hour ago at the bar. Now you can kind of get a vibe on where that came from.
Ari O'Donovan: (29:05)
Right, right, exactly. You learn something and maybe you're not even learning in the right way. Maybe you're not getting all the information and getting it into your head and your heart and your soul the right way. But at least you're trying and people respect that try.
Geff Zamor: (29:21)
Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean if I see anybody trying, I give them a lot of credit and I give them a lot of love for that because so many people don't try, people aren't trying, people are trying to be like, this is how it's, and anybody who's trying, I'm like okay, I see you trying so let me work hard too. Mm-hmm Let me figure out if I can say this a different way or let me shut up a little bit and not say the three things that I was ready to say to you cause I had those three things ready. But lemme just not say, let me let you tell me about how you saw what just happened.
Ari O'Donovan: (29:53)
Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm . Exactly right. I can't sleep at night and not do that hard work . If I just walk through the world and like I'm not gonna try to understand anybody else's perspective. Mine is the only one that matters. I can't live like that.
Geff Zamor: (30:09)
No, no. Nope, nope, nope. And I don't wanna be one of those people and I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't like those people
Ari O'Donovan: (30:15)
. It's just better when you are dealing with people that don't do that. .
Geff Zamor: (30:23)
Yes, a hundred percent.
Ari O'Donovan: (30:24)
Now I know cuz I keep up with y'all's blog that you have recently moved to a new space and you're expanding. Yes. And doing all this dope stuff. So tell me more about your new space. How do you like it?
Geff Zamor: (30:38)
Well, love it. We were in downtown Portland to all the listeners and we loved it and it was awesome. But first of all, Portland is not on fire. Everybody. So there's no fire in Portland. Portland is not destroyed. But downtown was getting a little rough and you know, there's a lot of socioeconomic and political strike still downtown and it just didn't make it, it was not sustainable for us to be downtown anymore even though we love it. So we were on Third and Alder, which was basically the epicenter of a lot of the mischief. The federal building was on our street. So we moved to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Southeast, which is funny because I'm born in Brooklyn, New York, so you know, from Brooklyn, Brooklyn to Brooklyn. And as anyone from New York knows that if anybody's from New York, they gotta tell you that they're from New York. So I just paid my Brooklyn dues. Now I'm from Brooklyn and I live in Brooklyn now. ,
Ari O'Donovan: (31:33)
Brooklyn, Portland. Put it on out there,
Geff Zamor: (31:36)
Paid my Brooklyn dues and it's really great. You know, our expansion has gotten us to this new studio space, which is about 5,000 square feet. We're gonna have a huge cyclorama so we can do huge performances, huge photo shoots, you know, we can build sets here. We have two post-production rooms and it's really great to see the company grow, not just in the quality of the people we're hiring, but in the physical space that we occupy. So, you know, when we first met Boost Oregon, we were in our humble, scrappy, downtown Oregon eighth floor office, which was the size of a shoebox. We had people working in an office with like boxes, a pile to the sky, like one box on the top falls, everybody's out, everyone's gonna get hit with boxes. , you had to make it happen. So you know, now we have a little bit more space and the building is called the Iron Fireman and it's a really great vibe, cool businesses here. And just really excited to see what the year has in store. We have about three more months of construction left before it's perfect. And then we're gonna have a little party and you are invited but you
Ari O'Donovan: (32:40)
Gotta dance. I'll be there. I'll be there.
Geff Zamor: (32:42)
You gotta dance
Ari O'Donovan: (32:42)
Though Jeff. Don't even, don't even get started. Don't get started.
Geff Zamor: (32:46)
Your husband has to come, your husband has to come and you have to dance.
Ari O'Donovan: (32:49)
, I'm gonna be dancing. I'm encourage him to dance with me. He, he ain't gonna be right away. I'm gonna get about there anyway.
Geff Zamor: (32:58)
, get 'em out
Ari O'Donovan: (32:59)
. We're always down for a good time. We'll be there.
Geff Zamor: (33:03)
Good, good.
Ari O'Donovan: (33:06)
That's so exciting. I just, I've seen you guys come so far and it's so thank you. Amazing. Yeah, it really is.
Geff Zamor: (33:15)
It's really great that like, you know, you as a client, you've watched, you've watched us grow and you know, I've watched your organization grow so it's really great perspective that we both have on each other kind of just watching and you know, neither of us are going anywhere. You know, we're still building, we're still growing and you know, as I'm starting to get older it's important to reflect on those years where you're like, whew, that was a lot to get here but I still got a little bit more gas in my tank and I think I can do it again. I think I can come up with another idea. I think I'm willing to risk a little bit more for this next level. And that's where I am right now. I'm figuring out, okay, where do I wanna risk it? Where do I want to take GMs media so that we're knowing even on a larger scale, you know, I love the work we do, but I always want more and bigger and that doesn't mean bigger clients, it means bigger stories to tell bigger opportunities and you know, I wanna flex a little bit.
Ari O'Donovan: (34:09)
Definitely. I feel like that self-reflection too helps to drive you to be able to come up with those ideas and come up with the energy for the ideas and the thoughts and all the effort and the work. It's knowing where you come. Yes ma'am. From and all that. Yep.
Geff Zamor: (34:23)
Yes
Ari O'Donovan: (34:24)
Ma'am. Yep. You've shared a lot with us so far. Are there any upcoming events or projects that you want listeners to be on the lookout for that you haven't already talked about?
Geff Zamor: (34:36)
So obviously it is the inward out, the
Ari O'Donovan: (34:40)
Definitely
Geff Zamor: (34:41)
You know, eight part series that we're working on. That's one I would say we are actually doing a super fun project with an internet personality called Crazy Aunt Lindsay. What she is is a woman of color who does science videos with children and breaking some paradigms, making sure that science is a little bit more of an interactive experience and less of a top-down experience. So she's in the partnership with Ley and a couple other entities as well. We're helping her finish up that series. It's gonna be a lot of fun. So think Mr. Rogers meets the Magic School bus meets. Ooh. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Ooh I forgot what that story. Oh it's like connection or something. I cannot remember the name of the kid
Ari O'Donovan: (35:28)
Show. I wish I could help you
Geff Zamor: (35:29)
. It was a kid show. It was a kid show with some spice. So Mr. Rogers Magic School bus and the Kid Show with spices coming out. It's the first episode we'll be out in April and it's gonna be a lot of fun. The Fab Lab with Crazy Aunt Lindsay.
Ari O'Donovan: (35:42)
Oh that sounds so fun. I love that. That sounds super fun. And I love that she doesn't focus on a top down type of experience for kids. They need something more than that.
Geff Zamor: (35:54)
Yeah. So you know, she takes these complicated, you know, scientific ideas and she breaks them down into experiments that kids can do with things that are in the fridge. So kind of demystifying science by going okay, what do we have around the house that we can use to describe this scientific principle or this process?
Ari O'Donovan: (36:16)
Nice. I look forward
Geff Zamor: (36:18)
To that. So inward out the Fab lab and you know, yeah those are the two big ones that I wanna make sure people have on their radar.
Ari O'Donovan: (36:27)
Awesome hearing about it now. And if you ever got anything you want us to share on social media, we are proud to do it. So
Geff Zamor: (36:35)
Done. Will do Looking
Ari O'Donovan: (36:36)
Out, we'll be looking out for that. And where can people find you? I know you have a website, but tell us more about your website. Are you on social media? We'll put all those links in the description. Tell people where they reach
Geff Zamor: (36:46)
You. You know, someone who does media and advertising, like I don't do a good job of advertising myself because I'm doing it for everybody else. The last thing I have any time for or want to do is advertise myself. So I'm gonna say this in a really weird way. So we have our website, GMs mediaco.com, we need to build another one. We've been too tired, didn't have too much going on, but we gotta build a new website. We have an Instagram GMs Mediaco pdx. It's okay. Thank goodness someone else is taking over for it from me. So someone's taking it and saying Jeff, we gotta step this up a not. So if you wanna see my lame attempt at social media marketing, you can go to the Instagram but Emmy woo is taking that over. You can go to our Facebook page, which is less impressive than our Instagram. And that's Jeremy's media. And funny enough, Gabe at the office, he's the young guy who is the associate creative director here. You know we're talking about revamping our Facebook and he goes, Jeff, if we're gonna revamp the Facebook, can we make sure that we remove your personal life from the Facebook because like your ex-girlfriends have like messaged the dm.
Ari O'Donovan: (37:59)
Love that. So my water, I can hear him tell telling you that I love Gabe
Geff Zamor: (38:03)
. So my wife is obviously loves Gabe and I'm like, yeah, lemme make sure like I have a separate account that's separate from the companies. So you can find us on Facebook, GMs Media PX Getting Better. You can find us on Instagram. Who's making that better? GMs and our website, which needs to get redone this year. GMs media code com. So we're coming and if you wanna check out a Twitter that doesn't have a lot of posts, GMs Media Code PX on Twitter, it's fantastic. There's like eight posts.
Ari O'Donovan: (38:35)
Perfect. We will get that info in a description too. And people can learn more about y'all. They're learning a lot already in this podcast episode. And I know that all of us at Boost have an outstanding appointment with y'all in March. Yes. For some new photos. Yes, Jeff, you promise
Geff Zamor: (38:54)
Some new corporate headshot.
Ari O'Donovan: (38:56)
You promise you're gonna make me look good.
Geff Zamor: (38:58)
You one, you always look good. You know that. Two, you're just fishing for a compliment. Cause you already know I'm gorgeous . So this is your show, but I am gonna put you on blast. You already know you look good and you just want me to say it on camera while you listen.
Ari O'Donovan: (39:11)
Put me on blast. You hear That's too, he done put me on Blast and he would be the one who,
Geff Zamor: (39:16)
Number three. Number three. We got you covered . We, we got a, the whole pampering session. We're gonna take care of the ad and we're gonna take care of you. We're gonna take care of everybody. It's gonna be Glam Central.
Ari O'Donovan: (39:27)
We are so excited every time we work with y'all, we're super excited. And then I'll have new head shots, new everything. Eight by 10 glossy
Geff Zamor: (39:36)
. Yeah. And I'm gonna make sure that you update your LinkedIn. I wanna make sure those photos are on your LinkedIn. I will change photos are on the Boost website.
Ari O'Donovan: (39:44)
Perfect. I will change my LinkedIn photo. It's been there for years now. I can't wait to update that one with a new photo from y'all. That'll be exciting. Done
Geff Zamor: (39:51)
. Done and done. Yeah. That's gonna be a good time. You know, and it'll be really great to have you in the new space and
Ari O'Donovan: (39:57)
Oh, I can't wait to check it out.
Geff Zamor: (39:59)
Yeah, and really kind of like give you guys a great customer service experience. That's the goal is to have you walk into the studio and be like, Ooh, I'm not going anywhere else. I'm gonna shoot all my photos here.
Ari O'Donovan: (40:09)
Show me, show me. I wanna see it. . Y'all do that so well anyway, so I know it's just
Geff Zamor: (40:15)
Hear that listeners, IRA likes to be pampered. That's what it was. It was the pampering that got her attention.
Ari O'Donovan: (40:20)
I'm not gonna lie. That's a fact. That is a natural fact.
Speaker 3: (40:24)
. ,
Geff Zamor: (40:26)
We got you. How
Ari O'Donovan: (40:28)
Do you like your coffee? Excited. Oh, I gotta have definitely coffee. Make sure you add two creams and a little bit of sugar.
Geff Zamor: (40:35)
Two creams. All right. Done. All right. You don't want oat milk.
Ari O'Donovan: (40:39)
Wow, y'all getting fancy.
Geff Zamor: (40:42)
If we're gonna do it, we have to
Ari O'Donovan: (40:44)
Do it then throw that in there. Cause hell yeah. Don't get you
Geff Zamor: (40:47)
Hell yet. That's a, that's an additional charger though,
Ari O'Donovan: (40:50)
Jeff, don't you even,
Geff Zamor: (40:53)
It's upsell. It's hard out there.
Ari O'Donovan: (40:55)
Hey, you know I'm the one who's gonna pay it for that fancy lifestyle, especially when I'm getting caught on. Done.
Speaker 3: (41:01)
You know, ,
Ari O'Donovan: (41:04)
This is gonna be a party. This is gonna be a real party. Yeah. I am excited.
Geff Zamor: (41:09)
We have to make your
Speaker 3: (41:09)
One .
Ari O'Donovan: (41:11)
Jeff, it has been amazing talking to you. I'm excited to get together with y'all in March. It's really will be a real party. All of us are excited at Boost. And is there anything else that you'd like listeners to know about you or g m s media and advertising?
Geff Zamor: (41:27)
Thank you for having me on the show and I look forward to being on again, if I didn't embarrass myself, you'll have to, to listen to the recording and go Okay. You did good.
Ari O'Donovan: (41:34)
Update, update episode coming
Geff Zamor: (41:37)
. Yeah, let's do it. I think, you know, if I, if I take the energy level down a little bit, the one of the things that I want the listeners to know is, you know, if you and your company or your organization has an opportunity to support someone who it's hard for them to get their foot into the door of whatever it is you do, take a second and give that person a shot. I think that's where my mission and my energy is gonna be this year. And you're asking me about like final thoughts. That's the thing that I want everyone to think about, which is all the people who don't have access. And it doesn't mean that are born black, it doesn't mean you're born Latino. It might mean that you're poor. It might mean that you come from a disadvantaged population. Give them a shot cuz you couldn't say to yourself it might be hard for them to get their foot in the door if I don't help them.
Geff Zamor: (42:34)
There's plenty of people who have access and I consider myself lucky. You know, my father was in the US military when I was born. So I went to military school my entire life. And for lots of ways I can say I love led a very privileged life. And you know, when I got to the States and I started going to public schools, I was like, hmm, this is a different experience. And a lot of the kids around me did not have the same upbringing I did. They did not have the same nuclear family and advantages as I did. And I see that difference. So I'm trying to make it my mission this year for GMs Media to identify marginalized populations and to say to myself, what can I do to put you on as a pa, to let you be a story editor, to give you an opportunity to be a creative. It doesn't mean that you're gonna stay, it doesn't mean that you're gonna automatically get a job, but I wanna see if I can give you a leg up. So what I wanna leave everybody with is if your organization has an opportunity to bring someone on, even for a month, someone who would've been really hard for them to get their foot in the door, give 'em a shot. It's only a month and you'll be doing wonders for their personal career.
Ari O'Donovan: (43:47)
I can't think of a better way to end this episode than with that statement. That's perfect.
Geff Zamor: (43:52)
Well thank you for giving the platform, you know, I was like, woo, what am I gonna say? You know, I'm, I'm such a jokester , but I feel like that's the real message ,
Ari O'Donovan: (44:01)
That's the real message. That's an important message. And people need to know that. And I'm glad that I could give you a platform to be able to speak it and have other people hear it when they listen.
Geff Zamor: (44:13)
Thank you. Thank you for this and I'm gonna come on again. Definitely. I have no shame. I have no shame. So if I'm not invited within the next year again, there'll be a formal shaming .
Ari O'Donovan: (44:26)
You better nag me. I'm gonna be coming to you for another episode.
Geff Zamor: (44:30)
Hey, I saw you've had a lot of guests on the show and you said I'd be on again, ,
Ari O'Donovan: (44:37)
You'll definitely be back. Uh, people are gonna wanna know more. I'm gonna wanna hear some updates about what you guys are doing. There will definitely be an episode two GMs, median Advertising.
Geff Zamor: (44:48)
Thank you so much for this and enjoy the rest of your day. And I, uh, can't wait to see what's next for all of us. You know, I'm excited.
Ari O'Donovan: (44:56)
Definitely. So am I. Thank you for being an out CME guest.
Geff Zamor: (45:01)
Thank you for your energy Ira.
Ari O'Donovan: (45:06)
Don't be a stranger. Email us or send us a voice memo at boosting our voices gmail.com with your health related questions. Your questions may even be featured on an upcoming podcast episode. Follow Boost Oregon on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. You can find all of our social media and our website information in the show description below. Until next time, thank you for listening and be well.