Detours

“Me? Video editing? That sounds too hard.” That was my first reaction. Then I gave it a try—and spent the next five years making videos. I’m Angie Norris, and this is Side Hustle GPS. Today, we’re stopping in Creator Coast to explore Short Video Editing—and why your first draft isn’t final. Back in my corporate career, our team had an idea. What if we created a two-minute video every week and shared it with employees through a mobile app? We started looking for people to produce them. I contacted internal marketing teams and outside agencies. The quotes we received ranged from five thousand to fifteen thousand dollars per video for the work we were requesting. My boss looked at the numbers and said, “We don’t have that budget. What are our options?” Then he looked at me. “Angie, you’ve built websites. You’re creative. You can work your way through Photoshop. What if you gave it a try?” I hadn’t thought of myself as a video editor. But I was up for a challenge. So in 2013, I started learning. I used Camtasia to edit and other tools to add motion graphics and animation. At first, I had to figure things out as I went. How do I cut this? How do I move that? Why doesn’t this part feel right? But I kept making videos. Over the next five years, I created roughly fifty-two to a hundred videos a year, working on projects involving companies like Microsoft, Citrix, Jabra, and others. Eventually, other parts of our company wanted my help, too. The skill I thought was too hard became something people sought me out for. That experience changed how I looked at learning something new. Sometimes you decide a skill isn’t for you before you’ve even tried it. And sometimes the first tool you try makes it feel harder than it needs to be. I tried Adobe Premiere, but it never really clicked for me. I could work my way through a project, then come back later and struggle to remember the process. Camtasia made more sense to me. These days, I also use CapCut for videos I share on social media. That’s my experience. You might find a different tool that fits the way you work. Give yourself a chance to find it. Because editing is about more than knowing which button to push. You’re shaping a story. What should the viewer see first? Where does the video drag? What can you remove so the message becomes clearer? Sometimes a better video comes from cutting something out. A long pause. A repeated sentence. An introduction that takes too long to reach the point. A few thoughtful changes can make a real difference. And that gives you a service to explore. A business owner might have footage but no time to edit it. Someone might know exactly what they want to say but need help turning their recording into a finished short video. You could help with that. Start with a small project you can deliver well. One video. A clear scope. An agreed deadline. You can build your skills and your portfolio as you go. So here’s your first money move: Take a short recording you own or have permission to edit. Trim the pauses. Remove repetition. Put the most useful moment near the beginning. Add accurate captions if they help, and use music only when you have permission to use it. Then compare your first version with your finished edit. What became clearer? What became more interesting? That’s the skill you’re practicing. So here’s your question today: What have you decided you’re “not good at” before giving yourself a chance to learn? I didn’t see myself as a video editor until someone asked me to try. Explore Short Video Editing in Creator Coast at SideHustleGPS.com. Your first draft isn’t final. And neither is your idea of what you’re capable of.