Business Spotlight 1 - All Pro Media

City of Burlington

Economic Development Office

August 30, 2021

Business Spotlight: All Pro Media

It is not every day that you find established business owners with over 30 years of experience willing to make time to speak with young professionals. Luckily for me, Alan Kirby of All Pro Media, Inc. enthusiastically volunteered to be my first interview in our new Burlington Business Spotlight series. With great excitement, I bring to you an exclusive look into a local business owners’ journey down the path of entrepreneurship, secrets to success, and a closer look at the splendor of All Pro Media!

Background

In the early 80s, Alan Kirby worked at American Multimedia in Burlington, where he was involved with video production. Within a three-year span, he was promoted to manager of the video department, and managed over a million dollars of new equipment. In his new role, he sharpened his video editing skills and became a renowned editor. Ten years later, the company began to drift away from videography, but Alan felt called to expand his knowledge and reach.

Thus, he started working as an independent contractor and formed his own business in the basement of his home. In just five years, he grew out of his space and found an office in downtown Burlington, where All Pro Media stands today! The company name was originally All Pro Video, focusing on the videography aspect of his business. In 1998, he added website design and advertising to his services, and changed the name to All Pro Media.

All Pro Media has stood the test of time and technological advances for over 30 years. It made me wonder, who helped propel him toward his success? Were there any influential mentors? According to Alan, there were a plethora of people that contributed to his success. Even though Alan was unable to complete his high school career, he persevered and adopted his former high school’s philosophy stating: “the city is your learning environment.” Alan travelled across the nation as a musician for seven years. Undoubtedly, this experience must have contributed to his creativity and ability to inspire through art.

Secrets to Success

Speaking of inspiration, Alan encourages aspiring business owners to recognize that “you are not an expert in everything. Invest in yourself and in your craft to establish yourself as an expert. Become skillful at what you do, where you have the confidence to know that you can produce greatness. Once you have achieved that level, you can consider pursuing your own business. Don’t rush into it and make sure you are ready on a number of levels.” Even with an expansive resume and successful business, Alan is still working to improve his public speaking skills in front of massive audiences. No matter what age or experience level, we all have room to grow!

Services

Alan has continued to develop his company, where they originally started with Super VHS equipment. Now, they have accumulated a stable of equipment and cinema quality lenses, multicamera productions with live switching on site, live streaming, teleprompters, drones, and extensive selection of lighting and sound. All Pro Media is so unique because they have a vast combination of services that they provide, like combining video production and website design or tv and digital advertising. All Pro Media is able to offer quality media productions and value for a price that most other competitors or agencies are unable to match.

All Pro Media employs four people and Elon University interns in the summer, spring, and fall. Their mission is to provide effective communication services and advertising campaigns to enhance their clients’ businesses. If you are looking for video services, check out All Media Pro’s website by clicking here.

Business in Burlington

Even if you are not looking for media services, you can gain great wisdom from talking with Alan about conducting business in Burlington. Alan fondly reflects on the benefits of being a business owner in Burlington. He says “Burlington is very well situated. I like having Burlington as a base because it is connected to 8 lanes of highway that brings Greensboro, High Point, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh together, which puts everything easily in our sphere of influence. Because we are drawing on the second and third largest markets as our client base, we have worked to take advantage of our proximity to those markets.” Plus, he loves Downtown Burlington because you can walk to local shops and the post office.

All Pro Media is just one of the many gems that the Burlington business community has to offer! Be sure to stop by and say hello if you are on Spring Street in downtown Burlington.

Chandler Vaughan

Project Manager, EYOS Fellow

Business Contact

Alan Kirby

422 S Spring St, Burlington, NC 27215

(336) 229-7700

Home Feature | All Pro Media

City Contact

Chandler Vaughan

425 S. Lexington Ave.

Burlington, NC27215

cvaughan@burlingtonnc.gov