Paulette Pantoja is a busy woman. When the Business Journal reached out to her with questions for this special report she was traveling in Europe for work. Her company, Blu Digital Group, recently closed on the acquisition of Copenhagen-based Dicentia Studios, and she was checking in on Blu Digital’s newest European location. Blu Digital creates software and provides services for the digital media and entertainment industry, and in 2011 patented a quality-control management system. It is No. 55 on our List of Minority Owned Businesses.
Please tell us how your business was founded.
I founded the company in my apartment building in December 2007 after working in the media and entertainment industry for a few years. I saw a gap in the market within my industry of home entertainment and took a huge risk leaving a good position. I started the company without investment or partners, but I had determination and support from my family.
What’s the best aspect of having your own business?
Feeling more connected to the wins, as the business is a part of you. Your heart and soul go into your company, so you really feel the ups and downs. The wins are much sweeter, and it feels great to accomplish things knowing that those were a result of the decisions that you made.
And the worst?
Tough decisions are your decisions to make. There is no turning to someone and asking them to make the call. It falls on your shoulders based on assessing situations as best as you can. This part takes a toll as well, as you have so much riding on every decision you make: your employees, the future of the company, your clients, etc.
What advice would you give someone who’s contemplating launching their own business?
Have a solid business plan and focus on the things that need to be focused on. People have a tendency to focus on marketing and the image of the company first, such as the name, etc. While those are important things, the most important is to define what the business exactly is, such as, “What problem is the business solving, what makes the business different from other competitors, and what is the exact business plan”?
What’s the biggest challenge Blu Digital Group has faced? How did you deal with and resolve it?
We pivoted in 2019 from a small start-up to a more mature company. This was tough, because we had to become more “formal” and I focused on building out a leadership team that was compatible with the culture I had built at the company and who believed in our mission and vision.
I spent a lot of time finding the right people based on leadership styles and personality traits, not experience and expertise. This took a bit, but it was well worth it in the end.
Has being a minority professional affected your business?
I haven’t noticed, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t. I have a poster on my wall that reads, “Play the cards you were dealt like it was the hand that you wanted.” So, when hurdles or walls have gotten in my way, I have not allowed those things to take too much of my attention in a negative way. I look at them as opportunities to do something different.
As a business owner, I don’t have time to be upset for something not going as planned or expected.
What are the next five years looking like for Blu Digital Group?
We are expanding globally, and in 2022 we opened up offices in Denmark, Greece and Mexico. We are opening in other parts of Europe in 2023 and looking to share our services and software solutions to more partners and clients worldwide.
How has the pandemic affected your business?
It allowed our cloud-based solutions to gain notice by our industry, and has also allowed our employees to take advantage of a remote-work lifestyle, which isn’t something that was really possible pre-Covid. We have taken this all as an opportunity for us to try new things and really be innovative on how we do things.
— James Brock
