These videos are part of my broader work on the Starting Over website and program materials, where I’ve also designed the site, helped update the textbook, and created and maintained a Facebook page.

The Voices of Starting Over videos began with a single 15-minute recording for the Starting Over program. The founding pastor interviewed two participants, and they shared their thoughts loosely and conversationally. There wasn’t a script, and the comments ranged from brief observations to more in-depth reflections. My challenge was to take that raw material and turn it into short, watchable clips that could highlight the heart of their experiences.

I don’t have a big background in video production, but I do have tools, and I do regularly make tutorials and demo videos. I’m working with Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva Pro, and have experience in Camtasia and Captivate. From there, I pieced together a workflow:

Rough Cuts in Premiere

• Splicing together the strongest parts of each testimony
• Using a Gaussian blur to soften backgrounds and keep the focus on the speaker
• Testing audio cleanup tools, even though this is still an area I want to improve

Polish in Canva Pro

• Adding title and closing slides
• Layering in background music
• Dropping in some b-roll to give the visuals more variety

Distribution

• Launching a new Facebook page for the program
• Scheduling posts a month in advance. It’s early days, and right now the page has single-digit followers, but it’s a starting point

What worked

• Finding soundbites that carried the heart of each story
• Keeping the videos short (30–45 seconds)
• Creating a consistent, branded style with limited resources

What I’d change next time

• Explore more of the audio editing tools in Premiere and Audition
• Pace social posting based on actual engagement data, not just the calendar
• Experiment with cross-posting on other platforms

The biggest lesson is that it doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful. The videos are circulating, and the process itself provided me with a roadmap to build on.

This project wasn’t about chasing trends. I just wanted to create something authentic for a grassroots recovery program and prove that without a studio setup, you can produce something that resonates.