Johnny Jarnagin was a University of Iowa junior studying journalism and mass communications, the photographer for the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education, and Isaac’s cousin. They recorded in person in Iowa City, where Johnny was wrapping up the semester, actively forming his first LLC, and had just signed his first wedding contract as the lead photographer. The episode covered the Hulu commercial he’d produced for the Center, what six years of photography had built, the philosophy behind doing work you actually care about, and all the business infrastructure he was finally putting in place.
The Belin-Blank Center and the Hulu Commercial
Johnny had landed the Belin-Blank Center job almost by accident. He’d heard the name but didn’t know much about what they did going in — he applied, the interview went well, and he spent his first weeks learning what the Center actually was. The Belin-Blank Center is a University of Iowa program serving “twice exceptional” students: kids who have some form of cognitive difference like ADHD or autism and are also academically gifted. The Center runs classes and resources for third grade through high school, plus a college-level component.
He’d been hired primarily as a photographer, but the role kept expanding. His backup plan if he hadn’t gotten the job had been driving for Cambus, the university’s campus transit system — which made it feel all the more fortunate when his boss confirmed the interview was still available after a scheduling scramble. Within a year, his bosses brought up producing a commercial that would run on Hulu.
“I’ve never done a commercial before… I don’t really do video, that’s not my primary thing. I was like, you know what, let’s give it a shot.”
He built it around b-roll from actual classes — students engaged in work they genuinely wanted to be doing. The goal was simple brand awareness: a lot of people didn’t know the Belin-Blank Center existed. He hadn’t studied other commercials to reverse-engineer the look. He visualized it and went to work.
“I really just went to town — I didn’t consume any other commercials. I figured I’m going to produce something that I like and we can talk about it.”
The commercial was close to live when they recorded, held up by a few Hulu platform guidelines that were still being worked through.
How Johnny Jarnagin Found Photography
Isaac had picked up his first camera years earlier, and Johnny had been watching. When Isaac got one, something shifted for Johnny too — though he’d made it entirely his own from there.
“I credit you — you buying your first camera, it took a spark in me.”
Six years later, photography was still the one thing he’d never wanted to walk away from. He’d come to the University of Iowa specifically to become a photojournalist. That path felt less fixed by the time they recorded, but what the skill had given him went beyond any single job title. Photography had been his reason to operate professionally — to communicate with clients, to learn how to show up in rooms he hadn’t been in before.
“It’s really the one thing that has allowed me to express how I want to conduct myself. When I talk to clients I’m much more of a professional. It gives me an excuse to do that.”
The jobs along the way told that story in contrast. A local grocery store, Goodwill, McDonald’s in Ankeny for the pay bump, Taco John’s, Scooters, the university dining hall — a string of positions he’d worked hard at but never loved. He left each one when it stopped making sense. The Belin-Blank Center was the first job he’d ever worked a 40-hour week at without dreading it.
“I don’t see a sense in working a job you hate. It brings the morale down. You dread going to work every day — I hated that feeling.”
Setting Up the Business
Johnny was in the middle of forming his LLC when they recorded — waiting on approval from the Iowa Secretary of State and a sales tax permit in the mail. He’d held off longer than he probably should have, not quite feeling ready, until it finally made sense to just do it.
“The biggest jump is just doing it — that’s the hardest part. Everything else is just going to come on its own.”
The process turned out to be simpler than the mental weight around it suggested. A few YouTube videos, the right forms filled out in the right order. The harder part had been the years of dancing around it — telling himself it wasn’t time yet. Isaac had been nudging him toward it for a while. The structure was worth having even if the work stayed light: a separate business account, clean records, and none of the ambiguity that comes from mixing personal and client payments.
One thing Johnny flagged directly: if a contract gets signed before the LLC is fully approved, make sure it’s under the LLC’s name — not your personal one. He’d done it the other way on his first wedding booking. A small thing to fix going forward, but worth knowing before you’re in that situation.
The Mindset Behind the Work
The throughline of the episode was attention to detail — and why it mattered to Johnny. His answer wasn’t about perfectionism. It was simpler.
“If you’re not going to do it right, don’t do it at all.”
Part of that had come from growing up in a small town where ambition could feel like a liability. The mentality wasn’t malicious — it was just the ceiling people around him accepted. He’d felt it pushing back against him and used it as fuel.
“A lot of people were trashing on me wanting to do better things. That small town mentality was bringing me down — but it’s also what propelled me forward.”
The content grind was part of the same orientation. Isaac had been posting multiple times a day for a stretch, a pace that left almost no room for anything else — and both of them traced the impulse back to Gary Vaynerchuk’s framework they’d each encountered around 16. The sacrifice was real, but so was the commitment behind it.
“The only thing I spend my money on, Isaac, is camera gear — I kid you not.”
Landing the First Wedding
Johnny had been second shooting weddings for a while, building reps, learning how days moved. When they recorded, he’d just signed his first contract as the lead photographer — an October wedding, second shooter already locked in, deposit due within 14 days.
He’d used ChatGPT to draft the contract, then shaped it into something that said what he actually needed it to say. The contract wasn’t just formality — it committed him to delivering by a specific date and gave the couple something concrete to rely on.
“I much prefer contract work — there’s an obligation then, it’s not just a handshake deal. I want them to get what they want and I want to cover their special day.”
His journalism background made the day itself feel less daunting than it might have otherwise. He’d covered political figures, sports, live events — the skill of reading a scene and knowing what to capture before it was gone translated directly to a wedding floor.
“I think it’s where my journalistic side kind of takes over and covers the events as I see them.”
What’s Next
Three semesters left after the current one. Johnny planned to keep working at the Belin-Blank Center through graduation. A potential opportunity with the Iowa Heartlanders hockey team was in the picture on the sports side. His journalism and mass communications degree, combined with an entrepreneurial management certificate, left the field deliberately wide.
He’d arrived at the same conclusion Chay Nott and others had reached: you don’t have to know exactly where the skill takes you. You just have to keep building it.
“Really when I graduate, my thing is going to span a lot of different industries — which is interesting because that wasn’t necessarily the plan.”
Key Takeaways
- The hardest part of starting a business is just starting. Forming an LLC takes a few forms and a YouTube tutorial — the barrier is mostly psychological.
- Sign contracts under your business entity, not your name. The legal protection only works when the structure is actually being used.
- Use AI to draft contracts, not finalize them. ChatGPT builds the framework; a lawyer handles the specifics.
- Do work you can actually care about. A 40-hour week feels completely different when it’s work you chose on purpose.
- Leave jobs that aren’t working. If the schedule is flexible somewhere else and the environment is better, go — especially when you’re young and the cost of switching is low.
- Your skill set will take you further than your plan. Photography opened doors across journalism, content, events, and sports — none of which were in the original blueprint.
Visit Johnny’s work at johnnyjarnagin.com. Connect with Isaac at isaacjarnagin.com.
