Midlothian’s Q Barbeque experienced a similar explosion when the fourth episode from TLC’s “Pitmasters” focused on their owner, Tuffy Stone. (You can watch it here).
“We weren’t featured that much in the first three episodes, but in the fourth we got a lot of airtime. They filmed the restaurant and the catering business, and that weekend we got absolutely slammed,” said Stone. “People were coming in from out of state and other cities. January was a record month for us, even though the weather hasn’t been that good.”
Q Barbeque opened Oct. 3, 2008. “It was just about as bad of an economic setting as you could open in,” Stone said. Compared with those first few months, he says they now do about three times as much business at the restaurant. Stone said his business has grown 20 percent since the Dec. 3 episode.
Matt Paxton is more of a regular cast member on the A&E show “Hoarders,” and it has taken his business, Clutter Cleaner, in a new direction. Before appearing on the show, Paxton and his crew of 10 mostly cleaned out foreclosed homes in the area. Since the show, he has consolidated his team to four members and traveled across the country, organizing and cleaning out homes.
“We have less guys, but we do a lot more work,” said Paxton. “I would say since I started appearing on the show the business has picked up fourfold.”
Sara Bereika, who owns Neat Organizing, has also appeared on “Hoarders,” but she is in the early stages of feeling its effects. Bereika has only filmed three episodes for the show but has noticed an increase in interest already.
“Something is happening,” she said. “I get most of my business from referrals and the Internet, but I’m getting a lot more calls lately.” Bereika hadn’t planned for this type of exposure, saying she was content with doing minimal advertising and relying on advice from friends in the marketing industry.
“I would have probably just done my best to sustain on my own, but the show has brought me to another level of business, and I want to make the most of this opportunity,” she said. “It has made me see the need to get more serious about my business.”
Most offices aren’t equipped with a camera crew or a team of producers, not to mention the millions of potential viewers, but Paxton said it wasn’t that much of a departure from the regular 9 to 5.
“It doesn’t really change the way we work,” said Paxton. “If anything, they camera crews slow us down.”
Bereika said her experiences with “Hoarders” have been much faster paced than her previous organizing work. She said that the show required her to help people move out of their homes in two days, a job that she typically would have spent more than a week on.
“This way of working is not something I regularly do,” said Bereika. “The timeline we work on is insane and unfortunately gives me very little time to get to know the client or learn about their needs.”
As for the Barnetts and Stone, they knew that a good showing on TV would take their businesses into new and exciting directions, while a poor showing could set them back years.
“For us it was a risk worth taking,” said Barnett. “We were concerned, but confident, and so far it has been a turning point for us. We’re growing, and this publicity has allowed continued growth.”
But the greatest risk in reality TV is exploitation. Anyone who has ever tuned into MTV or VH1 knows that the genre is rarely fair, and creative editing can make the most docile personality appear like a powder keg of drama.
“For ‘Pitmasters,’ 150 hours of filming becomes 42 minutes on TV,” said Stone. “The producers are looking for the drama, and someone that’s otherwise very composed can have a 10-minute outburst, and if those 10 minutes make the show, then that person seems out of control. There have been moments when I’ve thought, ‘I can’t believe I did that’ or ‘I can’t believe I said that,’ but for the most part it’s been pretty fair.”
All four Richmond business owners say there are no negative consequences from appearing on TV.
Well, almost. Paxton said the size of his body is exaggerated.
“I thought I looked pretty fat,” he said.
Drew Patterson is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].
Midlothian’s Q Barbeque experienced a similar explosion when the fourth episode from TLC’s “Pitmasters” focused on their owner, Tuffy Stone. (You can watch it here).
“We weren’t featured that much in the first three episodes, but in the fourth we got a lot of airtime. They filmed the restaurant and the catering business, and that weekend we got absolutely slammed,” said Stone. “People were coming in from out of state and other cities. January was a record month for us, even though the weather hasn’t been that good.”
Q Barbeque opened Oct. 3, 2008. “It was just about as bad of an economic setting as you could open in,” Stone said. Compared with those first few months, he says they now do about three times as much business at the restaurant. Stone said his business has grown 20 percent since the Dec. 3 episode.
Matt Paxton is more of a regular cast member on the A&E show “Hoarders,” and it has taken his business, Clutter Cleaner, in a new direction. Before appearing on the show, Paxton and his crew of 10 mostly cleaned out foreclosed homes in the area. Since the show, he has consolidated his team to four members and traveled across the country, organizing and cleaning out homes.
“We have less guys, but we do a lot more work,” said Paxton. “I would say since I started appearing on the show the business has picked up fourfold.”
Sara Bereika, who owns Neat Organizing, has also appeared on “Hoarders,” but she is in the early stages of feeling its effects. Bereika has only filmed three episodes for the show but has noticed an increase in interest already.
“Something is happening,” she said. “I get most of my business from referrals and the Internet, but I’m getting a lot more calls lately.” Bereika hadn’t planned for this type of exposure, saying she was content with doing minimal advertising and relying on advice from friends in the marketing industry.
“I would have probably just done my best to sustain on my own, but the show has brought me to another level of business, and I want to make the most of this opportunity,” she said. “It has made me see the need to get more serious about my business.”
Most offices aren’t equipped with a camera crew or a team of producers, not to mention the millions of potential viewers, but Paxton said it wasn’t that much of a departure from the regular 9 to 5.
“It doesn’t really change the way we work,” said Paxton. “If anything, they camera crews slow us down.”
Bereika said her experiences with “Hoarders” have been much faster paced than her previous organizing work. She said that the show required her to help people move out of their homes in two days, a job that she typically would have spent more than a week on.
“This way of working is not something I regularly do,” said Bereika. “The timeline we work on is insane and unfortunately gives me very little time to get to know the client or learn about their needs.”
As for the Barnetts and Stone, they knew that a good showing on TV would take their businesses into new and exciting directions, while a poor showing could set them back years.
“For us it was a risk worth taking,” said Barnett. “We were concerned, but confident, and so far it has been a turning point for us. We’re growing, and this publicity has allowed continued growth.”
But the greatest risk in reality TV is exploitation. Anyone who has ever tuned into MTV or VH1 knows that the genre is rarely fair, and creative editing can make the most docile personality appear like a powder keg of drama.
“For ‘Pitmasters,’ 150 hours of filming becomes 42 minutes on TV,” said Stone. “The producers are looking for the drama, and someone that’s otherwise very composed can have a 10-minute outburst, and if those 10 minutes make the show, then that person seems out of control. There have been moments when I’ve thought, ‘I can’t believe I did that’ or ‘I can’t believe I said that,’ but for the most part it’s been pretty fair.”
All four Richmond business owners say there are no negative consequences from appearing on TV.
Well, almost. Paxton said the size of his body is exaggerated.
“I thought I looked pretty fat,” he said.
Drew Patterson is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].