Meet David Hopkins | Instructional Video Creator / DIY Expert

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Hopkins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My decision to start my own brand was founded in our passion of the DIY lifestyle and an effort to document things me and my family were already doing, and hopefully be able to teach others along the way. We are always working on some type of project, or a construction / remodeling project wherever we are living, so it seemed natural to me to point the camera and try to teach other people along the way. A perk of doing this was being able to leverage the success of the YouTube channel and other social accounts, to allow us to collaborate with tool manufacturers or other brands in the same space as us.

Getting started was the hardest part that’s for sure. I started with almost no gear or camera equipment, only using my iPhone for all of that. I even started editing videos on my iPad, before eventually moving to my computer for editing via DaVinci Resolve. I think it’s easy to build yourself a barrier to entry that’s impossible to overcome, because mainly you want to have all the newest or best gear. Even now I’m still using my iPhone alot, but I do use my Sony ZV1 vlogging camera, a modest camera to be honest, and it’s already a few years old. Don’t worry about the gear you have, just point the camera, and start doing your thing!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Professionally, I wear a different hat than my creative endeavors, although for me the two sides of my life are very linked. I think that without having some link between your creativity and professional work life, it’s much more difficult to feel satisfaction and purpose on either end. Currently, ,I am vice president of sales for a construction firm called JNT Construction out of Dallas, TX. I’ve recently returned to JNT after five years working for a private developer in Dallas as well, having been on with JNT before that for about six years. Suffice to say, I’ve been in the construction industry my entire professional career, and have mainly focused on the Pre-Construction / Sales side of thing, although I’ve also spent years on the production side as well.

Construction is a difficult industry to excel in, especially in 2024, not to mention in Texas. It’s a highly competitive field, so you have to be willing to put in the work to reap the rewards of success. I will fill you in on a personal secret though, something that I feel has allowed me to set myself apart from my competition. I work with intention, and I care about my work. That might seem easy enough to say, but actually delivering purposeful, intentional work in the construction industry.. especially in sales and estimating, in this day and age, is harder than you might think.

It’s easy to become incentivized to just do what’s quickest or easiest, only pushing to move from one client or project to the next, but that’s where the competition will leave it all laying on the table. I take that extra time to connect with our clients, and to learn about the projects. I spend the extra hours to understand the real needs and goals for a project or development, and that same intention extends to our subcontractor and vendor relationships. My job is to elevate all of us together, bring good projects and results to not only my direct team, but to my network as well. This mindset has allowed me to excel in a business where many others have failed.

As far as how this links to my creative brand? Well outside of the obvious – tools / construction / projects / etc, it’s the intentional nature of the business. I love being a teacher when I’m making instructional videos for YouTube, that’s what drives me. So, with my work, it scratches that same itch – I’m building systems to teach and assist my team or network to be more successful. I’m working closely with our clients to help them learn along the way, not just working to get a signature so I can move onto the next deal. The two sides of my life are connected by the desire to teach, to learn, to work with purpose, and to be creative.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well my answer here will likely be different from others living in the Dallas area, but my happy place is out here on our 20 acres of land, southeast of the city. I’m about an hour drive from downtown, on a good day, so I don’t get to the city much. When our friends and family come to town to visit, we like to hang out on the land, in the woods, camp out, have a fire and cookout, and just generally enjoy our time together outside in nature as much as possible. We live pretty close to Cedar Creek Lake, which is a great spot for fishing and boating. There’s also Purtis Creek State Park pretty close by, which you can easily spend a whole weekend away. As far as food and drink, same applies here, I’d rather spend my time at home cooking for everyone so we can maximize our time together.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support, love, and dedication my family and friends provide to me on a daily basis. If any shoutout is to be given from me, it would be for them! Now, personally, a large part of my life the last five years has been learning meditation practice. So in order to give a shoutout in that regard, I’d have to direct everyone to Sam Harris and his app called Waking Up. I have no sponsorship or affiliation, just a shoutout to say if you’re finding it hard to focus, find your passion, find your peace / calm / happiness in our busy world.. then I recommend that you give Waking Up a try. It has become a permanent part of my daily routine, and I hope that it can be for you as well.

Website: https://linktr.ee/toughguystv

Instagram: @toughguystv

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ddhopkins/

Facebook: @toughguystv

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheToughGuysTV

Image Credits
All photos are taken by and owned by me.