Make An Impact Podcast
Make An Impact Podcast
Beyond the Lens: Building a Community-Driven Media Enterprise
Robert Campbell shares the journey of Aspire Media, a creative social enterprise based in Northern Ireland that specialises in photography, videography, and social media services to fund their community TV channel.
• Launched in November 2022 after three years of development following a local charity project
• Created as a response to negative media portrayals of the local Ballysally estate
• Self-sustains through selling services rather than relying on grants
• Robert maintains a full-time job alongside running the social enterprise
• Named operations director while his business partner Andy serves as creative director
• Received "highly commended young person of the year" at the 2023 NI Social Enterprise Awards
• Reinvests personal income back into the company rather than taking a wage
• Achieved significant success with client social media campaigns, including a TikTok video generating 100k+ views
• Accredited as an Open College Network Northern Ireland centre to provide training
• Planning to expand training offerings to include social media and digital marketing courses
• Future focus includes developing consultancy services alongside their training academy
You can find out more about Aspire Media NI at aspiremedia.studio and Aspire Media TV at aspiremedia.tv.
If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with others who want to create positive change. Connect with Heidi on LinkedIn and learn more about her work at makeanimpactcic.co.uk.
Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast. I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.
I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.
I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.
You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.
Welcome to Make an Impact podcast, where we dive deep into the stories, strategies and solutions that drive real change. I'm Heidi Fisher and I work with organizations on a mission to tackle poverty, reduce health inequalities and create lasting social impact. In each episode, I bring you inspiring conversations with changemakers, social entrepreneurs and thought leaders who are making a difference. Whether you're looking to boost your impact measurement, learn from innovative projects or find fresh ideas to transform your work, you're in the right place. Welcome to today's episode of the Make an Impact podcast. Today, I'm joined by Robert. Robert, would you like to introduce yourself to the guests?
Speaker 2:Thank you, heidi, joined by Robert. Robert, would you like to introduce yourself to the guests? Thank you, heidi. I'm Robert Campbell, the operations director of Aspire Media NI CIC, a creative social enterprise that's based here in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.
Speaker 1:Lovely, so thanks for joining me today. I'm really looking forward to talking to you, because I know, despite how you've just described your social enterprise, there's a lot more to it than just creative media, and so my first question to you is what do you actually mean by creative media?
Speaker 2:We specialize in three divisional points. So there's a photography, videography and social media servicing, and then we all the generated profits then would go back into the business to fund our community tv channel that we have, which is also known as aspire media tv which one is your favorite thing today? There'd be the social media aspect. I'm very creative when it comes to doing a design or going on to canva or InDesign to create something for one of our clients or even our own brand, which is a bonus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, brilliant. So how did you get into this work?
Speaker 2:About 2021, during the height of the pandemic, unfortunately, I was approached by a local charity to work on a project that they were planning to create a generic TV channel online that would be driven for the community. I then took it on. It was granted for a year bibliography to then put that money into the business and create a social enterprise that can help the community raise their own voice. As some of the guests may or may not know where I'm located, there was a BBC TV show called the Estate which was done back in 20, probably 2011-ish, 2011-2012 don't quote me, I can't remember off the top of my head, but it is on YouTube.
Speaker 2:But the Ballysally estate got a lot of negative interaction against that, because they were BBC, was typical BBC filming of their negative side, like drugs, alcohol, you name it not showing the positive side, like the community groups, the local charities areas. That wasn't great. So I sat down with the project manager of the charity and I said what do you think of this idea? I'll take control of the community, I call it CTV community TV channel, and we rebrand it instead of the Aspire Media media project, we just call it aspire media tv. And he says but you'll look for grants. And I went no, we won't. We'll self-sustain ourselves what I'm going to sell the services, bring people in, get clients in the door and just grow it from there. And we officially launched the CIC in November 22. So three years almost in the making. That sums it more or less up.
Speaker 1:Brilliant. It's a really interesting story in how you came to want to set it up. I love that you just saw that opportunity and went with it. I love when people do that they're just like I'm going to just get on and do it. I'm not going to wait for someone else to come along and do it. So you've got your social enterprise set up nearly three years ago. What would you say has been the toughest moment so far?
Speaker 2:The toughest moment is more the paperwork, because it's my first ever time running a CIC so I didn't realize how much of a biggest mountain of paperwork that not only companies house want but the regulator wants behind it. So thankfully, with a network of support from social enterprises that are linked within a community and a membership group called social enterprise northern Ireland, I was able to tap into their area and say, hey, I need a wee bit of extra support here, can you help? And they guided me in the right direction. So the first year's accounts was a breeze. So now the second year's accounts is due in later this year so I'll be able to now do the 2024 25 report without having to ask questions or silly answer a silly question and think why did I answer it that way?
Speaker 1:brilliant. Yeah, social enterprise northern ireland are great. I love them all. They're a great team there as well, so I'm glad you're able to get some help from them. So you talked about the, the different types of work you do. What kinds of organizations are you supporting and what does it? What would it, like a typical project, look like?
Speaker 2:the the two main divisions, which is the Aspire Media Studios, which conducts all the photography and videography, and then Inspire Social. It's a bit of a play on it Inspire Aspire to try and keep them separate away from each other. Inspire Social looks after all social media clientele and then Aspire Media Studios and keep them separate away from each other. Inspire Social looks after all social media clientele and then Aspire Media Studios looks after all the photography clients. So a typical project for them we would be more SMEs to small businesses, to even the community, as well as schools. My business partner is actually currently at the moment at a local school filming a production of Matilda, and that was just close connections through the charity.
Speaker 2:That principal came and spoke to me and said hey, we've got a couple of days work here if you want to do a filming job, and it just. It's now borrowed two years in a row. He's came back and said, hey, can a spire look after this for me? He's done a fantastic job last year. We had no queries, no issues and no disagreements with the parents, so it was a bonus. So I just took it from there, just drifted along for two years, and he's away this morning at the time of this recording, he is currently doing Matilda and he's away this. Actually, this morning, at the time of this recording, he is currently doing Matilda and he's regretting it because that's two years in a row at two different schools my daughter would be very happy.
Speaker 1:She is a little bit Matilda obsessed and makes me watch the film regularly well, I love the original film.
Speaker 2:Trust me, I that. And Lilo and stitch oh yeah, my stuff is all my area. But when he said that about matilda, I was like I'm doing this for two different schools. I'm gonna hear that song again for another six months yeah, it'd be comparing them now.
Speaker 1:Which school was better? Yeah yeah, definitely. The other thing I wanted to ask you about was the community TV or Aspire TV. What does that look like? So who is that just available in the local community? Could I go online and watch it? What? Kind of things would I expect to see.
Speaker 2:It's. Basically it was open to the community. It was part of the project, the community TV channel, when it initially was launched through the charity. We created different little segments, so going out to the schools that had no budget for promoting themselves. We opened the door to any volunteer that wanted to bring any videos out themselves, which in this area, some people weren't really wanting to do it, but we're still continuing to try and push that through. We directed it mostly at the schools.
Speaker 2:My business partner, he got his music video made from it, which was one of our very first videos, and you can go on to it. Aspiremediatv is the website and it's linked up through a bit of coding back onto another platform that holds all the videos for us, rather than storing them on the website. It slows everything down and, as I say, it's open to the community. Anyone can come and ask to film a piece for it. We're open to suggestions. And then we also created and launched our own podcast. But it's all for more of the businesses and the community organizations to come in and voice themselves, give them a platform to open up, and it's hosted by Andy, my business partner. So credit where credit's due. The first video went well, all things considered, and I'm sitting in the background just making sure everything went well.
Speaker 1:So my next question as everyone will know who regularly listens to the podcast, my work is about measuring impact, so my next question to you is around how do you go about measuring the impact that you have as a social enterprise?
Speaker 2:Measuring the impact is in two sides. We have it. So our impact on the community, through the TV channel and through our entire community, is supporting them. So whether they're asking us to come and do a video but they haven't got the money to do it, or they've very little budget that we would support them, compared to a bigger company coming in and expecting thousands, compared to a bigger company coming in and expecting thousands, we would maybe come in at a lower price but we would turn out probably a better quality potentially.
Speaker 2:I'm not slating anybody. Our quality is our own standard. We wouldn't release a video out or do a photography shoot unless my OCD, my business partner's OCD, and everything is perfect, because I'm a very perfectionist and I will admit that myself. If I don't like a certain thing, I will delete it or I'll change it very quickly. The other side of the impact is how we benefit that community. So we know if we're doing a great job on Aspire Media TV or the social enterprise as a general, we know that's a good impact on our brand and our name.
Speaker 1:Perfect. My next question to you is we talked about what was your toughest challenge. What would you say has been your biggest highlight so far?
Speaker 2:been your biggest highlight so far Slightly outside of the social enterprise, and it's more me. When back in 2023, the social enterprise Northern Ireland awards or NI social enterprise awards, they call it that was hosted by Sene, that I was actually nominated and shortlisted as a young person of the year. So I attended the event, thinking Aspire Media didn't even think about myself, didn't worry about myself, and Aspire didn't. Unfortunately, it was just retained as a finalist in the best new startup and I was actually highly commend it young person of the year for 2023. And I was in shock. I there is a video on our social media that one of my team videoed it. As I was coming back down off the stage, I had a wee bit of adrenaline. I decided I heard a lot of cheering and shouting and I raised the actual, the certificate, the actual award above my head and fair play to everybody. The whole room erupted. Just I could barely hear my own self oh my gosh, that's amazing entire room just erupted in a load of cheers and applause.
Speaker 2:And kate from radio ulster. She was hosting and you could barely hear her so she was talking into an absolute dead crowd because everybody was shouting so you are like a superhero.
Speaker 1:So I really feel like we should perhaps go back to the beginning of the podcast again. And we're part way through the podcast. You can now start to share, like all the brilliant stuff, that and how brilliant you are, heidi.
Speaker 2:I never really say too much about myself. Even at that awards night, I literally told the team in front of me my business partner was standing beside me. When I got up, they gave me a big hug and he says well done, you deserve this. And I went no Aspire this. I put my heart and soul into this company that I'm maintaining a full-time job on the sidelines of running this social enterprise. I didn't take a wage from this company yet. I have yet no plans to take a wage from the company that I reinvest my own personal wage back into the company and I won't elsewhere to supplement myself myself. So it's being a nice director and a nice owner to reinvest my own funds, my own wages, back into the company I love to bits and we work brilliantly as a team. Doesn't matter how many times I was finalist or I was awarded anything. It's all the company, because the company is below my name.
Speaker 1:That's a big commitment to work full-time. Alongside this, there's me thinking you're doing this full-time. How do you fit it all in?
Speaker 2:Basically, we split the role in 2024. Me and Andy sat down. We decided to division ourselves because there's some strengths he is better at than I am, and vice versa. I was then made as the operations director, so I oversee all the day-to-day operations making sure bookings are right, invoices going out on time and ensuring our clients are happy before they join in to go to Andy to do all the photography or the video work, hence why he is now known as the creative director and Mr Matilda from now on. He's happy, he loves it. He's an actor by trade.
Speaker 2:I'm a previous automotive photographer, so my keen eye for detail and a car transpired over and I love social media for a massive reason. So we created Inspire as a new brand this year, in 2025, to not only help our clients, but it's a full circle, as I call it. You know, because if someone's going to take a photograph or do a video in a business, where's it going to end up? If someone's going to take a photograph or do a video in a business, where's it going to end up? It's not going to end up on their website anymore. They're going to advertise it on their social media. So we have that full circle approach. So we can manage your photography, we can manage your videos, we can manage your socials and it just streamlines everything they can focus on their business. I can focus on their socials and it just streamlines everything they can focus on their business. I can focus on their socials yeah, sounds perfect.
Speaker 1:A lot of people don't like social media or getting on social media and being visible, do they? So they need someone like you to do it for them yeah, because I've noticed that.
Speaker 2:We took a brand on there about three months ago and we just executed their three-month project. We went from having a TikTok video developed with them and an influencer that raised over 100,000 views and that impacted their store massively. Overnight the owner was coming to me and going that video. You got done with the influencer even though I was cameoing in it without even noticing. I was blaming the influencer for it because I didn't realize she was filming me. But holly done an amazing video. She edited it perfectly. She didn't need my help on it and we had that about 100k within a couple of days.
Speaker 1:But the first two to four hours after the video was released it was just the store was getting mailed that's what you want, though that's the kind of success you want, so there's me thinking that social media is dead and that certain platforms, heidi.
Speaker 2:I will admit certain platforms are on their way out, but some are still relevant. So the likes of Facebook, instagram and Threads. Now, which has took on ex-Twitter and then Twitter's former management, they have created Twitter 2.0 under Blue Sky. So, it's up and coming, so you'll notice the decrease of Twitter versus. Facebook and Instagram.
Speaker 1:It's a bit of a hate space, isn't it at the moment? X.
Speaker 2:Yeah, A lot of people have. Like, we work with one of the local football teams here in Northern Ireland, Coleraine Football Club, and I was speaking to their media officer this morning and he said he'd done his review on social media and he's pulling out of X because last season he was barely getting any interaction compared to the posts he was putting out on social media on Facebook and Instagram, and he was tweeting live tweets of every score or every angle per match and he was getting less views and interactions there than putting four posts up on Facebook and Instagram saying starting line-up, half-time, full-time, match day day. What posts?
Speaker 1:I think a lot of people experience similar. Definitely so you. Obviously you decided to be a social enterprise. Do you regret that choice? Do you wish you'd been a charity or a business instead?
Speaker 2:nope not one bit, not one bit, not one bit. Social enterprise was the perfect, just the perfect area for Aspire Media and I.
Speaker 2:It was because we are community driven, social impact we give to the community and, most of all, it's my way of giving back into my own community, to area, spending 30 years of my entire life since the day I was born in this actual root cul-de-sac estate and, at 29 years of age, creating a beautiful business that technically I was creating this business that can help and support everyone, and giving back into the local community from my own personal school that I was attending in primary right through to the other schools in the local area who were struggling to help to get their even image right there. And I've had numerous times of people asking me questions going. Can I do a testimonial for you because you've done a fantastic job for me, brilliant.
Speaker 1:I think. Do you find it's easier because you grew up in that community that it's been easier, or has that been a barrier because there's different expectations on you?
Speaker 2:it's 50 50, I would admit. I admit it's 50 50 because it wouldn't be On one side. Yes, it was a barrier because, coming out of COVID, a lot of people didn't really want to be involved in face-to-face interaction. They were all Zoom or Teams and remote working, whereas Aspire was a hands-on volunteer job and they didn't notice the brand until after I get the award in 23. Then it just grew from there. Everybody just started going oh, aspire, we put a volunteer request out recently and basically we've had about five or six people asking to come and join us. One actually said he was notified because of university.
Speaker 1:His tutors apparently were talking about us amazing which was a surprise for me, because I didn't realize the brand went that far you never know who's talking about you, do you when people come and volunteer with you? Is that that you teaching them, and training them in the social media, photography and videography?
Speaker 2:It's split out. If they're wanting to do videography or photography, they would sit in and be under Andy's mentorship. If they want to learn, yes, we have the Open College Network Northern Ireland accreditation of a centre Open College Network Northern Ireland accreditation of a centre so we can train them and have them out with a Level 2 award in photography as and when they want, and it is a great course. I've seen it happening a couple of times throughout other places and we were about to run one, unfortunately, and the numbers just wasn't strong enough to take the job, so there were no point running a course that wasn't going to impact anybody unless it was one person, which was a bit of a downer for me. I have requested with ocn at the time of this recording, I've requested I'm waiting on their approval to initiate the social media entity, which I've already went through myself, and digital marketing levels two and four, which will then allow people to learn how to use social media for a brand or a business of their own.
Speaker 1:That's brilliant. That's brilliant, so there's loads of opportunities there for people as well. Definitely. My last couple of questions for you, then. The first one is if you were talking to another social entrepreneur or someone that's thinking about setting up a social enterprise, what's the one piece of advice that you would give them?
Speaker 2:If I was giving the advice to someone else, I would say go for it. If they've got the heart, they've got the passion behind it, do it. They'll not regret it. As I always say to a lot of my friends or my family that if they have the heart to do it, why not take the risk? In my case, I had friends, fellow entrepreneurs in private businesses, and they said, oh great, aspire's running well, isn't it? And I went, yeah, and they see me usually as the face of the brand. He comes with a lot of wisdom and he said to me one day I am the baby face of the company because people come and approach me and they talk to me because they know they can work with me on it. My advice would be stick to your guns, always do it and take the risk. If you're unsure, do it like I've done. Go and stay at your full-time job and build the business slowly. I've took three years to see the success I see now and do I regret that?
Speaker 1:no, never in terms of future plans. Obviously you've got quite a lot of different projects and initiatives. Are there any future plans that you want to share, or is it all secret and confidential?
Speaker 2:just the new social media arm at the moment. There is a couple of little projects that's behind the scenes that are being worked on. I can't really disclose too much on them because nobody knows at the minute. Bar me and andy the social media and say it's now growing to the point I'm happy with it that we're doing more consultancy rather than management, so we're helping businesses develop and grow their own enterprise in their own social media and maybe don't want to give up their management control. But whereas I can step and say, oh, hold on a minute, there's an issue you're missing. Not, you're not focused on this. Can you focus on that? And they maybe turn around and go yep, good shout.
Speaker 2:And then the development of our training academy, which will be one to one and group training, specifically in photography at the moment, along with creative arts, and then the social media to follow. Hopefully and I'll do it in video, but for everybody else, it's us move across, subject to OCN's approval and guidance. If they say yes, we'll release it and if they say no, back to the drawing board. Talk to them nicely, plead with them, because we see the market for a community social media entity that can give back to a local business to help them. So not only we're wanting to train and develop the business owners, social media entity that can give back to a local business to help them. So not only we're wanting to train and develop the business owners, such as herself, heidi, coming in that maybe doesn't understand certain parts of social media.
Speaker 1:I can switch a computer in. I just refuse to acknowledge TikTok. That exists in the world.
Speaker 2:Tiktok is its own niche. We have our own one and we, just every now and again we stick is its own niche. We have our own one and we, just every now and again we stick something funny up. We have maybe got elsewhere. There's a video we pinned on our top social media and TikTok of Andy bouncing on a space hopper, and it was just off chance, probably got 3 million hits or something no surprisingly not, there isn't something hits on it.
Speaker 2:It was just the most funniest video that one of the team captured while we were filming another job on that site and it was just so funny him sitting playing with the space hopper at 50 something years of age. And I'm sitting there going mate yo, you a big kid at heart, but hey ho definitely sounds hilarious.
Speaker 1:Final question, then, is where can people find out more? What are the websites or social media places? Where can we find you? This is a test of your memory that is as good as the ones.
Speaker 2:It's easy one in my head because I normally look at it all the time. So for the social enterprise itself is aspire media dot studio, and then the tv channel is, instead of dot studio, it's dot tv. And then we have the social media of Aspire Media NI, so Northern Ireland initialed, and that's across Facebook, instagram and TikTok, and we also have LinkedIn as well under the company name Aspire Media NI and then Inspire, which is the social media entity. It's got its own Facebook and Instagram. At the moment under we Are Inspire Social, because I thought it was a bit more of a play on its own facebook and instagram. At the moment under we are inspire social, because I thought it was a bit more of a play on its own word. There is a live chat feature on there. So if any time you need to quickly drop us a message, all our contact details is there and it's easy.
Speaker 1:Most of the time I'm social, so I usually just answer by social media rather than the website perfect, so loads of ways to get in touch with you if anyone's interested in getting more help or support with any of the things that you mentioned today. Robert, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been really nice talking to you and finding out more about Aspire and Inspire. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Make an Impact podcast. I hope you found today's conversation as inspiring and thought provoking as I did. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with others who want to create positive change. You can connect with me on LinkedIn and learn more about my work at makeanimpactciccouk. Until next time, let's keep making an impact in the world.