Have you ever wondered what happens when a traditional, behind-the-scenes industry decides to go completely transparent?
What if showing the raw, unpolished side of your business could actually build connections instead of hurting your brand?
That’s the question Mazzella, a 70-year-old family-run company in the lifting and rigging industry, decided to answer for themselves. And the results have been remarkable.
In this episode, I sat down with Mike Close, who leads Corporate Marketing & Communications, and Ben Hengst, Video Producer, from Mazzella to explore how video helped them do exactly that: turn honesty and courage into a marketing advantage. What started as a few simple videos about safety and equipment has grown into one of the most trusted and recognizable voices in their field.
But it’s not just about the videos. It’s about the mindset behind them. Mazzella used the Endless Customers System™ (formerly They Ask, You Answer) to completely rethink how they communicate with their audience. They stopped chasing polished, corporate messaging and replaced it with something far more powerful: transparency.
By opening their doors, showing their people, and talking openly about the hard stuff (the mistakes, the process, the reality), they didn’t just change how customers saw them. They changed how their entire industry thinks about marketing.
The beauty of Mazzella’s story is that nothing about it feels forced. There was no big rebrand or marketing overhaul. No expensive agency campaign. They didn’t wake up one morning and decide to “start doing video.” It began much simpler than that, by listening.
They realized people in their industry were asking the same questions over and over again. How do I inspect a sling? What happens if a shackle fails? What does “load testing” actually mean? Instead of treating those questions like customer service tasks, Mazzella saw them as opportunities to teach.
As Mike put it, “We realized people were searching for answers, and we had the experience and they just needed us to share it.”
That mindset shift changed everything. They stopped thinking like a manufacturer and started thinking like a teacher. And that’s when the magic started to happen.
This wasn’t about slick production or flashy editing. It was about being willing to show what others in their space preferred to keep hidden: the factory floor, the noise, the sweat, and the people behind the machines. “If we wanted to help people understand what we do,” Ben explained, “we had to actually show them what we do.”
One of Ben’s favorite examples was a video filmed inside their shackle manufacturing process. It wasn’t glamorous. The lighting wasn’t perfect. Machines were roaring in the background, steel dust hung in the air, and every surface looked like it had seen decades of hard work. But viewers loved it.
Why? Because it was real.
“People don’t want the polished version,” Ben said. “They want to know what’s actually going on.”
That video didn’t just perform well; it built credibility in a way no brochure ever could. It showed that Mazzella wasn’t afraid to lift the curtain. It proved they were confident enough in their process to let the world see it, flaws and all.
Transparency doesn’t need a marketing plan; it needs courage. And that courage is what sets Mazzella apart.
They weren’t trying to be perfect. They were trying to be honest. And that’s what buyers remember.
Of course, getting to that level didn’t happen overnight. When Ben first started at Mazzella, he was a one-person video team. “It was me, a camera, and a tripod,” he joked. “Sometimes I’d get someone to hold the mic if I was lucky.”
But consistency turned that small effort into a movement. One video led to another, then to a YouTube channel, and eventually into what’s now known as the Lifting & Rigging Channel, a massive content hub helping thousands of professionals around the world. “It snowballed,” Mike said. “Every time we answered a question, we found three more we needed to tackle.”
They didn’t wait for perfect lighting or a new camera. They just started. “Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress,” Ben said. “You’ll get better by doing.”
That’s the secret no one talks about. You don’t find momentum; you build it, one imperfect video at a time. Now we’re talking.
Let’s be honest, lifting and rigging isn’t exactly dinner-table conversation. There aren’t many people out there saying, “Tell me more about that synthetic sling inspection procedure.” But somehow, Mazzella makes it interesting. Actually, more than interesting, they make it engaging.
Their videos walk that fine line between education and entertainment. They’ve found a way to make industrial topics feel alive by infusing them with personality, humor, and a genuine sense of care for their audience. It’s not forced or gimmicky. It’s just people who love what they do, sharing it in a way that others can understand.
Ben laughed as he described their approach. “We’re not making viral videos,” he said. “We’re helping someone lift a beam safely or choose the right shackle. That matters.”
And that’s the secret: focus on helping, not performing. Each video feels like a conversation with a trusted coworker, not a sales pitch or safety lecture. You can almost picture the viewer watching on their lunch break, nodding along, thinking, Finally, someone who explains this stuff in plain English.
The Mazzella team knows their audience. These are people who work with their hands, who deal with real risks every day, and who care deeply about doing things the right way. So, when the team adds a little humor, a quick quip, or even a splash of rock music to keep things moving, it works. It feels authentic because that’s who they are.
You’ll see moments of lighthearted banter, inside jokes, and genuine laughter between team members. That human touch turns what could be a dry technical tutorial into something approachable, even fun. “We always say, if we’re bored making it, people will be bored watching it,” Mike said.
That single line says it all. The videos work because the people behind them care about how they make others feel. They don’t chase trends or copy competitors. They just show up as themselves and teach what they know in a way that keeps people watching.
They’re proof that you don’t need to be flashy to be engaging, you just need to be human.
How transparency built buyer trust
Transparency isn’t just a talking point for Mazzella; it’s the backbone of how they operate. It shows up in every video, every topic they cover, and every conversation they have with their audience. They don’t just talk about honesty; they live it.
One of the best examples came during a particularly tense moment for their industry: the steel tariffs. Prices were fluctuating, customers were nervous, and many companies were avoiding the topic altogether. Talking about costs publicly? That’s something most manufacturers would never do.
But Mazzella didn’t hesitate. They turned on the cameras and hit record.
In the video, Mike and the team broke down what the tariffs meant in plain language; no spin, no jargon. They explained how it could affect pricing, why it was happening, and what customers needed to know to plan ahead. They didn’t sugarcoat it, and they didn’t try to hide behind corporate statements. They simply told the truth.
“It wasn’t comfortable,” Mike admitted. “But people appreciated it. They trusted us more for being upfront.”
That single moment showed their audience something rare: leadership through transparency. While competitors stayed quiet, Mazzella stepped forward and said, Here’s what’s happening. Here’s what it means. We’re in this with you.
As Mike and Ben explained, they started hearing the same misinformation over and over again. Ideas had been passed around job sites for decades. Things like, “You can use this piece of rigging in that situation,” or “Everyone does it this way, so it must be fine.” Instead of letting those misconceptions go unchallenged, they decided to address them head-on.
“One of them was about lifting and rigging myths that just keep getting repeated,” Ben told me. “We knew it would probably be successful because we were saying things that were unpopular. We were basically telling people, hey, you’re not actually allowed to do this, even though everyone thinks you are.”
And they didn’t do it alone. Mazzella brought in a subject matter expert from one of their vendors, a manufacturer of the very products they were discussing. This wasn’t marketing spin. It was education from the source. “He sat there on camera and explained, here’s why you can’t do this. These are the rules and the reasons behind them,” Ben said.
The response was massive. The comments section became a real conversation. People debated, argued, questioned, and shared their own experiences. “There was a ton of engagement,” Mike said. “People were battling back and forth in the comments. But that’s what we wanted. People were thinking differently.”
By sparking that debate, Mazzella did more than create viral content. They made their industry safer. They educated people on best practices straight from the experts. In doing so, they built a level of credibility that only comes from telling hard truths.
What struck me most about that series was how unpolished it felt in the best possible way. No overthinking. No overproduction. Just a camera, an expert, and a willingness to say what others would not. And that is what buyers, and viewers, want.
Transparency isn’t about showing off. It’s about showing up. Every time Mazzella turns on a camera, they’re proving that honesty isn’t a marketing strategy. It’s a habit.
The importance of coaching, leadership, and consistency
Behind every successful company story is leadership that doesn’t just approve the vision; they live it. Mazzella’s success with video didn’t come from a clever campaign or a lucky viral hit. It came from leaders who believed so deeply in the mission that they made it part of the company’s DNA.
As Mike shared, the turning point came when leadership gave their full support to video. “They didn’t just say, ‘Go make content.’ They said, ‘Let’s make this who we are.’ That made all the difference.”
That kind of buy-in changes everything. When leadership treats marketing as a priority instead of a side project, it gives the whole team permission to go all in. Suddenly, video isn’t just a “marketing thing”; it’s a company-wide initiative. It becomes something everyone participates in, from engineers and safety trainers to the folks on the shop floor.
And that alignment is exactly what fuels Mazzella’s consistency.
Of course, consistency doesn’t just happen on its own. It’s built through structure, clarity, and accountability. That’s where coaching came in. Working with Marcus Sheridan and the IMPACT team, Mazzella adopted the Endless Customers System™ to create a clear framework for their marketing and sales alignment.
It was about creating a culture grounded in transparency, education, and ownership. They learned how to plan, how to measure success, and how to keep the entire company focused on the same goal: showing their buyers everything they needed to see to feel confident in their decisions.
When you pair the right mindset with the right structure, that’s when transformation happens. Endless Customers gave Mazzella a roadmap they could follow, even when things got messy or momentum slowed. It kept everyone pointed in the same direction.
And what’s remarkable is how far that consistency has taken them. What started as one videographer with a camera has grown into a 20-person marketing and communications operation producing hundreds of videos, managing multiple channels, and driving measurable revenue growth.
But if you ask Mike what the secret is, he won’t talk about software or production value. He’ll just say, “We kept showing up.”
That’s it. That’s the magic formula.
It’s easy to start. It’s hard to stay consistent. But when you make consistency part of your culture, that’s when everything starts to change.
And that’s exactly what Mazzella has done; day after day, video after video, year after year. They didn’t just commit to transparency. They built it into who they are.
Radical transparency through video isn’t reserved for manufacturing giants or companies with huge budgets. It’s possible for every business, in every industry, at any stage. You don’t need a film crew or a massive marketing department to make it happen; you just need a willingness to start.
That’s the real story behind Mazzella’s success. They didn’t wait until they had the perfect setup or the right equipment. They grabbed a camera, hit record, and started answering questions. Over time, that small act became a movement inside their company, a commitment to showing the truth, no matter how unpolished it looked.
And that’s something any business can do.
If you’re standing on the edge of starting your own video journey, here’s what we would tell you:
Mazzella didn’t wait for permission to start. They just started, and they never stopped.
That line might sound small, but it carries weight. Because the truth is, most companies don’t struggle with knowing what to do—they struggle with doing it consistently. Mazzella proves that the secret to growth isn’t talent or technology. It’s discipline. It’s showing up, week after week, even when you don’t feel ready or confident or creative.
At IMPACT, we talk a lot about Endless Customers, and the idea that when you educate, empower, and show your audience what they really want to see, you’ll never run out of the right customers. Mazzella is living proof of that philosophy in action. Their videos don’t just sell products. They build relationships. They earn loyalty. They create what every business leader dreams of: customers who trust them before the first sales conversation even happens.
And that’s the heart of it. This isn’t just about video. It’s about a mindset shift—from hiding to showing, from controlling to teaching, from selling to serving.
It’s easy to think transparency is risky. But once you see what happens when you lead with honesty, you realize it’s not a risk at all, it’s a responsibility.
That’s not just good marketing. That’s leadership in action. That’s what happens when a company decides to stop hiding behind polish and start showing the truth.
If you’re wondering how to bring this level of transparency and consistency to your own business, our team at IMPACT can help.
We’ll walk you through the Endless Customers System™, the same framework Mazzella used to align sales and marketing, build trust through video, and create a library of content that generates leads 24/7.
Talk to our team today to see how Endless Customers can work for your business.
Mike Close leads Corporate Marketing & Communications at Mazzella, guiding a multi-channel content program that serves the lifting and rigging community with practical, safety-focused education. From the Lifting & Rigging Channel on YouTube to in-depth articles in the Mazzella Learning Center, Mike partners with engineers, trainers, and product teams to translate complex processes into plain-language resources that pros can use on the job. His work emphasizes transparency, hands-on demonstrations, and real-world application, helping customers understand inspections, gear selection, standards, and safe practices. Mike’s byline appears throughout Mazzella’s educational library, and he plays a key role in shaping video, podcast, and written content that the industry relies on every week.
As a Video Producer at Mazzella, Ben Hengst brings the factory floor to viewers with transparent, step-by-step education on lifting and rigging. He plans, scripts, shoots, and hosts videos for the Lifting & Rigging Channel, focusing on practical demonstrations and clear language that demystifies inspections, hardware selection, and safety procedures. Ben also co-hosts The Safety Factor podcast, where he interviews practitioners and leaders about standards, training, and real-world lessons that keep crews safe and projects on schedule. His work champions authenticity over polish so buyers and technicians can see what good practice looks like in the field.
How long does it take to see results from video marketing?
Most companies start seeing measurable engagement within 6 to 12 months. Consistency and clear messaging help results accelerate over time.
Do I need a full marketing team to start using video?
No. Mazzella began with one person and a camera. What matters most is consistency and a commitment to transparency.
What if our industry isn’t exciting?
Buyers in every industry have questions. If you answer them honestly, they’ll listen, especially when your competitors stay silent.
How often should we publish?
Aim for at least three high-quality videos or articles per week. Regular publishing builds authority, brand recall, and organic search visibility.