Tyrone: I’d say we kind of fell into this, Bily would you agree? So, I started out dabbling in social media a little. Ultimately, I love fashion and was leaning into starting my own brand. I was working a hospitality job at the time, and my parents were restaurant owners (it’s in the bloodline, hahaha). This opened an opportunity to do some social media content creation for a retail business as well. It was all quite fun to me. I’ve always loved the psychology behind marketing, I enjoy being the brains behind the screen.

Bily: I moved to Australia in September 2018 and worked in hospitality, but I found my passion for photography five years before making the move from Lebanon. Post-move, the camera became a comforting source of familiarity in an unfamiliar place, which led me to work within the wedding industry. Also, I should note, I’ve worked in many industries extending to sports, fashion, and brands, so being behind a camera and capturing life’s stills has always been something I’ve loved.

Now for the Big Bang

COVID hit. On a positive note, everything fell into place shortly after this—that’s what cosmologists think happened after the Big Bang anyway, so we're rolling with the analogy.

Tell us what happened; give us the cascade of events.

Tyrone: While working in hospitality, my fashion brand came to a halt. I encountered many supply chain issues and couldn’t have any of my clothing stock shipped out to me, which threw a massive spanner in the works.

Bily: Simultaneously, as the Covid climate worsened, I lost my job as a wedding videographer, so I decided to pursue my own thing. I found myself working back in hospitality and approached a friend of mine who happens to be a restaurant owner and proposed the idea of being their content creator. Tyrone then approached that same restaurant owner and suggested he work on their socials and the rest is history.

Tyrone: I suppose that very question I proposed to the business owner about revamping their socials is what truly led to Heart Media. We both found ourselves working for the same restaurant. Unbeknownst to us, we had to work together. Within a week, we clicked, and our brainchild Heart Media was born. It took no time to determine that we shared the same passion but wanted to deliver results through different conduits, which made us a perfect pair.

Bily: We envisioned a creative agency driven by understanding and highlighting the unique qualities of each business. We didn’t want to box restaurants into the same pigeonhole and approach brands with a one-size-fits-all mindset, especially not in such a saturated market.