Erik Piisila

My relationship with Erik has changed from being his hiring boss to collaborator and good friend. In short, Erik is the type of person around which you could start a company. His is an old-fashioned work ethic mixed with the latest technological tools. He is a perfectionist, a problem solver and a great designer, too. So Erik brings many, many things to a given project. Erik is honest, direct and deferential. I recommend Erik to all of my clients who could use him – and I do so without reservation. He works as part of a team as adeptly as he works unsupervised. Resources like Erik don’t happen along nearly often enough. He’s a rare and valuable find.

Erik possesses that rare balance of approaching problems and projects from the big picture outlook to the details that can make or break a project. As a storyteller, he strives to finds the core human emotion that will connect the audience to the subject and uses his arsenal of striking footage, perfect editing and carefully chosen music tracks to create a compelling video narrative. Erik will also be sure to set realistic goals and expectations — a must when working within the limited of time and budget. Erik is an experienced world traveler, with more than a decade of his career working for an international relief and development organization. I strongly recommend Erik for his professionalism, work ethic and talent for storytelling and video production.

I worked with Erik at Lutheran World Relief for more than a decade, as both his colleague and his supervisor. He is supremely talented, highly creative, detail oriented, and a joy to work with. Erik’s multitude of talents — graphic design, photography, web development, shooting and editing video — make him enormously valuable to any organization looking to bring a new level of professionalism to their communications. He has experience managing freelancers and vendors, ensuring quality work, on-time, at competitive prices. He also participated in several hiring panels with me during our time working together, and his insight and advice contributed to hiring some of the most valuable members of our team. When supervising others, Erik strikes a great balance between mentoring and encouraging the employee’s own creativity and growth. In short, I would very highly recommend Erik!

Few people have the ability to navigate a complex project that Erik has. I have worked with Erik for over five years, both as a colleague and supervisor. Erik’s video production skills are unmatched, but it’s his ability to see the potential roadblocks ahead and help find solution that makes him invaluable on a team. Erik is trustworthy, loyal and thoughtful. I highly recommend him.