From high school film sets to high-end commercial shoots, Ravelle founder and creative powerhouse Steven Porter has built a career rooted in curiosity, technical mastery, and a passion his newest venture—Ravelle—is transforming how local businesses approach media production. Based in San Marcos and serving clients across the U.S. and Canada, Ravelle offers top-tier commercial photography, video content, and studio installation services that merge creativity with next-level tech.
How long have you been in business? I’ve been in the professional media field since 2009, but just started Ravelle in 2024
What does your business do? Commercial photography, brand video production, and studio services
What services and/or specialty products do you provide? Our specialties lie in commercial photography (product photos used in e-commerce, packaging, advertising, etc.) and brand video production including advertisements, “meet the team” videos, store tours, and more. We also offer studio services for those interested in adding or upgrading media production capabilities like podcast studios or product photography booths in their business. To date, I’ve personally done design, installation, training, and maintenance for 17 studios in the US and Canada.
What sets you apart from others in your industry? I had a very early start in my career with a wide range of experiences and learning opportunities. I was assisting on a corporate video shoot for Verizon while a student at High Tech High North County, started a long-term business relationship with Hunter Industries while studying at Palomar College, and opened my first business (UDA Media) before graduating from UCSD with a BA in digital media. By the time I had a college degree, I had already worked on everything from everything from podcasts and live events to personal development courses and films. I learned quickly as a jack-of-all-trades and found my specialties only after years of industry experience. While the products I offer have been dramatically focused and I’ve found a niche that I’m well suited for, having such a wide range of experience in other fields helps me offer unique solutions and boost efficiency.
What is your favorite business success story? My favorite experience by far was getting to go back to my old high school and completely renovate their media production studio. 11 years after graduating, I had the honor of leading the process from initial sketches and construction of the studio space all the way to setup and calibration of the new cameras, audio, and lighting gear.
What motivated you to join The San Marcos Chamber? I joined the Chamber with 2 primary goals: Network with other businesses in my hometown and find ways to get more involved in the community. So far, things are going well! I’ve made some really amazing connections and look forward to supporting many businesses and people around North County as a direct result of my involvement with the Chamber.
What’s your best piece of business advice? Fail fast. While I would never advocate for processes that compromises quality or misrepresents current capabilities, the willingness to strategically pursue new markets and offerings without pressure to succeed in all of them has been critical to my success. Exploring new technologies, modernizing forgotten techniques, mixing equipment and processes between disciplines, and many more wild ideas have had only a small handful of successes (including the entire business model behind Ravelle) that wouldn’t have happened without the failures preceding them. Each of those experiences taught me to be a better businessperson, collaborator, friend, and human.
Business website: www.ravellemedia.com
Business Instagram: @ravellemedia
