A born entrepreneur
It’s safe to say, Andy Landgraf was born an entrepreneur.
From selling parking on the fly at his uncle’s house during Wisconsin Badger football game days to pocket some cash, starting College Pro Painters in college at UW-Eau Claire and more, that creative and entrepreneurial mindset has led him to his work today – the proud owner of 360 Productions. 360 Productions is a full service photography, video production and marketing company that specializes in showcasing real estate and lifestyle related productions.
Andy began 360 Productions in Hawaii in 2013 after he and his wife Katie moved to the Aloha State so she could pursue her teaching career at the University of Hawaii West Oahu. While the puzzle came together for Andy’s business in Hawaii, the pieces were formed years earlier while he was still in college.
“I was always drawn to real estate,” said Andy. “When I was in an entrepreneur program at Eau-Claire, the whole second semester involved working on a business plan that connected landlords with students targeted toward student rentals – almost like an Airbnb for college students.”
Post-college, Andy worked in real-estate development in Wisconsin and Ohio. While he was working with a developer out of Milwaukee, he began to market properties using social media and video. Keep in mind, this was a time when social media wasn’t popular and iPhones didn’t exist. Instead, Andy would shoot clips of properties on a point-and-shoot camera, and then create videos and send it off to clients.
“That was an eye-opening experience for me,” said Andy. “By marketing properties that way, I saw its effectiveness and how efficient it was. It was effective because people were able to make decisions based on what I sent them, which generated interest. It was efficient because people could see things right away – you could send it anywhere. That wasn’t being done at the time in real estate.”
Andy saw the same need for properties in Hawaii and discussed it with people there. In particular, there was one interaction he will never forget from a former director of the University of Hawaii, where Andy began taking MBA classes part-time.
“She didn’t think my plan had potential,” said Andy. “Even after explaining how I had seen this work in other markets. I don’t hold it against her, but I had a passion for it and I knew it could be successful, so I stuck with it.”
Stuck with it meant turning a photo and video hobby into fully committing to learning and understanding cinematography and marketing. “I told myself I would give it a year to make it [with 360 Productions] and if not, I would look and do something else,” said Andy. “I would say within six months, I knew this was going to be possible.”
Today, Andy’s vision has blossomed into a resume that includes resorts and hotels like the Royal Hawaiian, a $70 million beach front property in Kauai, a $40 million dollar estate in Colorado, features in the Wall Street Journal, NBC, CNBC and more. In 2020, the company expanded to Vail, Colorado – yes, during the pandemic - where they also shoot multimillion dollar homes, events and more
With six employees, 360 Productions is centered around values that include treating others the way you want to be treated, always trying your best and working toward achieving excellence to be the best. They are values that have formed strong and long-lasting relationships with each client and business – from luxury hotels, lifestyle shoots, to homeowners who own multimillion dollar homes on the Hawaiian oceanfront and ski mountains in Vail.
“We have worked with some of nicest and most down-to-earth property owners out there,” said Andy. “You would never know how much money they have because they are so humble. I’ve learned that people who have truly made it, meaning that they have worked hard to create their wealth, they don’t need to prove to others how much money they have. They just want to live their life.”
For Hawaii in particular, those trusted relationships are key. As Andy notes, the islands are a step-back from the mainland when it comes to having the advancements and tools in business and marketing. You’re also dealing with specific sectors of work – hospitality, government, banking, healthcare, insurance and real estate. With 360 Production’s line of work falling in the hospitality and real estate sector, industries that stereotypically can involve one-time projects, events or shoots, it was a goal of Andy’s to never have that “one-time” attitude.
“Our intention is to always work with that client again, which has worked in our favor,” said Andy. “It’s not about results or statistics [in Hawaii], it’s old school. Business as a whole is communal, you work collectively to make decisions and have a team-minded focus. The island is small and you can’t burn bridges or rip people off because it will show over time if you do that.”
It’s 360 Production’s focus on relationships coupled with their specialized market that Andy plans to maintain and grow – not into a franchise or multi-state run operation, but one that is selective and perfected with every shoot, project and client they meet and work with.
“In everything we do, we’re always trying to learn from a project and make ourselves better,” said Andy. “You don’t have to look at the bottom line to justify results. As long as you’re learning on the job and are honest, that’s more valuable than a paycheck. Make sure you have a long-term vision for what you want to do, but no matter what you do, as long as you’re learning and making yourself better, that’s always something worth doing.”
Want to see more of 360 Productions work? Or, want to get in touch? Check out their website here.