By Joshua Noel | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Against the wall

Starting a business requires hours of headaches, long nights and venturing into the unknown. When pursing entrepreneurship there are many tasks that must be accomplished: the development of services or products, the creation of the website, incorporation of the brand name, marketing, investments, business store front, equipment, and the list goes on. For CEO and Executive Producer Marc Rice, that list was the least of his worries. As founder of Digital Fury, a nationally recognized video production firm located in Ocala, Florida, Rice has established his business in the horse capital of the world producing journalistic commercials for his clients. Though the small town of Ocala is known for its horses, Rice said, “I have never done a horse video. It’s just not my style.”

Before Rice became a successful business owner, he was an established video journalist that worked for WESH TV, CBS, and Fox in Orlando. During his 8 years of working across the stations, Rice won two Emmy’s and countless other awards through his day-to-day news stories. Despite all of the success, Rice was becoming weary of his career. Rice said, “Honestly, I was becoming sick of the news business.” So teaching became a mindset for Rice who wanted to give back to students of broadcast journalism. In 2007, Rice started his career as a high school television production teacher.

After a few years teaching students and turning the high school’s TV program around, his job became very uncertain after hearing rumors of losing his job. With a family to support, Rice needed to find a way to have better job security. During the summer of 2011, Digital Fury came alive. Running a start-up was not the toughest challenge Rice faced. Two personal obstacles barred Rice’s path. As an introvert, Rice had to find ways to publicize his company and talk with clients in a professional manner. Rice easily learned that “you grow the most when you put yourself out of your comfort zone,” he said. Talking to Rice now, no one would ever realize his introverted personality. Being an introvert might be a tough challenge, but nothing was more difficult than finding a work/life balance. Rice had to find a way to mange being a husband, a teacher, and an entrepreneur. When school fired back up, Rice would teach until school was out and then drive to his office at the local business incubator. Up until he quit his teaching job in 2013, finding time for his family was very limited, but he was able to make it work. There is no doubt that during the first couple of years, “Balancing everything was the toughest thing,” Rice said.

How Marc Rice started his business

With Ocala being a small town and several video production companies already on the market, Rice had to operate his business just right to make it work. From the start, Rice had support through minor investments and marketing. Rice was able to obtain micro investments from friends who believed in him. As far as marketing and building client list goes, Rice is a strong believer that it “comes down to your work. No matter the task you have to give everything you got,” he said. With a strong background in broadcast journalism, Rice quickly took charge of the Ocala video market with his unmatched style and his mindset of creating the best work that he can.

Housing his company in the Ocala Power Plant Business Incubator, Rice was able to grow his business with other start-ups and had access to advice from other business professionals. With a cost-effective office, marc had a place to work with his employees and had a bit of working room for a studio setup.

After two years of establishing himself in the community, Rice was working with big organizations around Florida such as Community Bank and Trust of Florida, University of Florida, Florida Department of Education, and many others. In 2013, Digital Fury moved out of the Ocala Incubator and into the enterprise center of College of Central Florida. Moving out of a start-up incubator without failing is a sign of great achievement for any business.

What can be learned from Marc Rice?

Perhaps the most profitable moral that can be picked up from Rice’s story is that you have to overcome your fear of being an introvert or any other prohibiting trait and just do it. There were instances when Rice had low points in his business, “there would be times when I wouldn’t get paid for months and I thought about quitting,” he said. However Rice pushed through and is now looking to expand his company to bigger cities.

It’s important for every entrepreneur to have self-confidence and never give up on their dreams.

If you would like to learn more about Marc Rice and Digital Fury, visit digitalfurytv.com.

Photos by Digital Fury, LLC.