Today we’d like to introduce you to Sloan Inns.
Hi Sloan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in South Africa and eventually built my life, family, and creative career in Michigan. From early on, I was drawn to story, not just making things look beautiful, but understanding what makes people care, pay attention, and feel something real.
That curiosity led me into directing and cinematography across commercials, documentaries, narrative work, and brand films. Over the years, I have been fortunate to work with artists such as Jared Leto, Scotty McCreery, and Steven Malcolm, along with brands, nonprofits, and organizations with stories worth telling. I also recently Directed my first long-form documentary on Amazon Prime, *Rush: The American Revolution’s Indispensable Doctor*, through Wonder Studios and produced by Noble Story Co.
Over time, I found that the work I cared about most lived at the intersection of strategy and emotion: helping people, companies, and communities tell stories with clarity, honesty, and consequence.
Today, I co-lead SALT with my wife, Jenna. SALT is a woman-owned creative studio in Grand Rapids focused on strategy-first brand films, documentaries, recruitment stories, and culture-driven work. We help organizations uncover what matters most and turn that into films that move people.
Along the way, our projects have been recognized, including a Michigan Emmy nomination, but the deeper reward has been building a life around family, faith, creativity, and service.
Where I am today is the result of curiosity, persistence, and a belief that story is one of the most powerful ways to help people see what matters and care enough to act.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all. It has not been a smooth road.
One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to build something sustainable without losing the creative standards that made me want to do this work in the first place. In creative work, there is always pressure to move faster, make things cheaper, or treat story like a commodity. A lot of the journey has been learning when to adapt and when to hold the line.
There have also been the normal struggles of building a business: inconsistent seasons, wearing too many hats, learning how to sell the value of strategy and story, and figuring things out in real time while raising a family. That combination can stretch you.
But I am grateful for the hard parts. They have clarified what matters most to me: faith, family, service, and doing work with purpose. The obstacles have made me more patient, more focused, and more committed to building something that is not just successful on paper, but meaningful in the way it serves people.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
SALT is a woman-owned creative studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan, led by my wife, Jenna, and me.
We make video work with bite: brand films, documentaries, commercial campaigns, recruitment films, product stories, and culture-driven content for organizations that need people to pay attention. Our work is built for teams that want more than polished footage. They want clarity, emotion, strategy, and a story strong enough to move someone.
What sets SALT apart is that we do not start with, “Let’s make a video.” We start with the real business question: what does your audience need to feel, understand, or trust before they act? From there, we shape the strategy, interviews, visuals, and final assets around that goal.
We are known for work that feels human, cinematic, and intentional, but the deeper value is the thinking behind it. Whether we are helping a company attract the right people, launch a product, document the heart of an organization, or create a campaign that has to survive stakeholder review, our goal is to make work that is both beautiful and useful.
Brand-wise, I am most proud that SALT feels like us. It is bold, thoughtful, a little unexpected, and rooted in service. We care about craft, but we care even more about consequence. We are not trying to make wallpaper content. We want to make stories people remember, share, trust, and act on.
That is what I would want readers to know: SALT is not just a production company. We are a creative partner for organizations that believe story should do something.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
A lot of people deserve credit.
First, my wife, Jenna. SALT would not be what it is without her. She is not just my wife or my biggest supporter. She is my partner in the business and has shaped so much of who we are, what we value, and how we show up for people. Her leadership, taste, steadiness, and care are a huge part of SALT’s story.
I also give a lot of credit to the clients who trusted us, especially in the earlier seasons when we were still growing into the company we are today. When someone invites you into their organization, their story, their mission, or their people, that is a real act of trust. Those clients gave us opportunities to do meaningful work and helped us keep building.
Our creative collaborators and crew deserve a lot of credit too. Film is never really a solo effort. The final work may carry the SALT name, but it is shaped by producers, cinematographers, editors, sound people, designers, makeup artists, assistants, and so many others who bring their own excellence and care to the process.
I have also been helped by mentors, peers, and people in the Grand Rapids business and creative community who offered advice, opened doors, encouraged us, or simply believed there was room for a studio like SALT. Sometimes support looks like a big introduction or opportunity. Other times it is a conversation at the right moment that helps you keep going.
And of course, our family deserves credit. Building a business while raising a family is not separate from the story. It is part of the story. Faith, family, and community have all helped shape what success means to me. I am grateful that SALT has never felt like something we built alone. It has been supported, challenged, sharpened, and carried by a lot of people along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.peoplelovesalt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peoplelovesalt
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sloan-inns-02a5373
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@salt806
