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Trevonte Diggs graduated from GVU in December 2021. Diggs served as Photographer and Social Media Editor for Viewfinder Magazine during his time at GVU.   

Prior to that, Diggs was looking to become a professional basketball player after playing for Southwestern Iowa Community College where he won an NJCAA national championship. During his time at SWICC, he was getting looks from the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia. He ended up suffering an injury in 2020 and, compounded with the events of COVID-19, Diggs decided to change gears and find another direction.   

Originally, Diggs grew up in North Carolina and was offered to play basketball at SWICC. After graduating, he moved back to North Carolina because of COVID-19 but then decided to move back to Iowa as he transferred to GVU.   

“My plan was just to continue my Kinesiology degree and play basketball and continue that route,” Diggs said.    

Diggs came to see his girlfriend, now fiancé, Taylor Damewood, and he listened to a Communications and Media Practice major give a speech.  

“By that time I was getting into like YouTube and dealing with social media and cameras,” Diggs said. “I looked into the Communications and Media Practice degree, and I looked into all the details. I’m like, ‘oh, this seems more fun and more attractive than what I was going for before.’ Then I just got enrolled and got involved in all the classes,” Diggs said.    

Diggs got connected with Viewfinder Magazine through KC McGinnis, the head of the Communications department at GVU. Diggs’ biggest lesson that he took away from his time at GVU was that there is always another level when it comes to video production. This thinking allowed him to level up what kind of content he could make, such as becoming drone certified so that he could fly a drone to shoot footage.   

Diggs thanks Viewfinder Media for giving him that creative spark to lead to his career in video production. He was able to shadow Videographer at GVU Todd Bailey, and gained a passion to pursue videography. This, combined with his experience with Viewfinder Media, showed him that he can be a storyteller in his own unique and creative way.   

Diggs’ reasons for pursuing a career in video production come from his creative mindset.   

“Storytelling, I think creatively,” Diggs said. “I sometimes in my head, almost like I play a music video, for myself or other people.”  

About a year ago, Diggs decided to go freelance and create his own video production services called Imani Visuals. Diggs will film content for the community and surrounding areas and recently got to film for the 2024 Hy-Vee Indy Car Race Weekend this past summer. He got to film the races and a special performance by Post Malone.   

Diggs explained why he started his own freelance services.   

“I’m very ambitious and I aspire to start my own company and be able to teach other people,” Diggs said.  

Diggs’ dream goal for Imani Visuals is clear.  

“My ultimate goal is to one day be able to have my own video production company and have employees, but also have internship opportunities and teach other people how you can utilize that as a career, and it can be helpful and impactful in major ways,” Diggs said.   

Along with going freelance, Diggs also works as the head of video production at Tero International. Tero is an executive coaching and professional development company that specializes in training individuals on how to improve in multiple facets of their professional lives. Diggs recently put together a trailer highlighting GVU theater majors to help promote one of Tero’s clinics. Diggs is the sole individual responsible for the social media content creation at Tero through testimonials and corporate videos.  

Quickly after starting at Tero International, it became evident that Diggs was the man for the job.  

Rowena Crosbie is the President of Tero International and Diggs’ employer. When asked why Diggs was the right person to be their Video Producer, Crosbie said,   

“His videographer technical expertise is very impressive,” she said. “He’s also got a good set of interpersonal skills, and he is a pleasure to interact with and to work with.”  

Diggs shared that ones problems and worries will only resolve themselves over time. 

“You will not figure everything out all at once,” Diggs said.    

Disclaimer: Huff worked with Diggs as a video production intern at Tero International in the summer of 2024.