Men In Business, Essence Magazine
From The Rigs To An Established North Canterbury Brand
In a few short years, Ryan McDonald has turned his hobby into a business, and his business into a brand.
Ryan is the creative director of MoMac Social – a full-service creative agency that specialises in videography, photography, web design, graphic design, branding, and social media. Established in 2017, the Rangiora-based business has grown from a one-man band to a team of seven and is now one of North Canterbury’s most recognised brands.
“We’re North Canterbury and proud. We’re proud to be these little guys based in Rangiora rather than Christchurch, and punching above our weight.”
A mechanic by trade, Ryan’s interest in videography began when he was a pupil at Rangiora Borough Primary School. Over time this interest grew into a serious passion, with Ryan regularly creating video content for family and friends.
“The idea [for MoMac] popped into my head one evening after doing a lot of videos and seeing what was popular, I saw there was a bit of a gap in the market for businesses and advertising, and at the time people weren’t really making cool videos for businesses.”
The idea coincided with several advances in visual media technology, including the introduction of GoPro and drones which made videography more accessible, Ryan said.
When he originally established MoMac, the idea was to work for free for six months to build up his portfolio while travelling back and forth to Brisbane for work.
“The plan was to work on the rigs for two weeks and come back and make videos for two weeks. But on that first week back we started getting enquiries straight away. There was only one way to find out if it was a goer, and that was to quit my job and move back to New Zealand.
“What started as just video evolved into a little bit of social media. Then we started doing a couple of websites, and that just kept growing. The business is now split into two divisions, one side doing photo and video and the other side is web, social and graphic design.”
Ryan said the evolution of MoMac had been underpinned by the idea of bootstrapping – the process of reinvesting income into a business for the purpose of growth. An example of this is the story behind the company’s Blake Street office.
“The office was a house that I bought when I was in Australia. When I moved back to New Zealand, I was working out of my parent’s lounge to keep costs down. We moved in about two and half years ago, but I could only afford to do one section of it. And as I could afford it we did another part and another. We have finally finished the very last bit of the renovation so now the entire house is a fully dedicated HQ.”
Despite his success, Ryan has not lost sight of the initial idea behind MoMac. “We’re going to keep doing good work, and providing value for our clients.”
Publication Date – September 2022
Publisher– Essence Magazine
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