Young entrepreneur turns vision into successful business, opens second

Heather Graves

Staff

March 17, 2025

LA CROSSE – Born and raised in Viroqua, Bailey Nelson – owner and founder of BVisions Media and the newly opened Pearl Street Gallery – said he’s always had an appreciation for the beauty of the Driftless Region.

However, it wasn’t until he started exploring the La Crosse area that he discovered that his passion – combined with his interest in cameras – could serve as the foundation for a business.

“I always loved having a camera around,” the 26-year-old said. “Eventually, I turned that passion into a business.”

It started with weddings

Nelson said the roots of BVisions Media started with weddings.

“It started with videoing weddings and just really standing out – being the best at what we do in our area and kind of growing from there,” he said.

That, Nelson said, was in 2018.

“I was still in school,” he said. “I was actually going to school for nursing and also had a serving job.”

At that point, Nelson said wedding videography was his “five-to-nine after his nine-to-five.”

“I was doing things on the side,” he said. “I did it because I loved it, and I was creating really good wedding films.”

Nelson said since then, “I’ve had a really good track record of doing high-quality, good and honest work.”

In 2020, he said he came to a fork in the road – “either get another job or diversify the offerings of BVisions Media.”

“I decided to niche into a few different categories, and everything has kind of grown from there,” he said. “We offer a lot of good services to a lot of different types of clients, a lot of different types of people.”

Nelson said he went full-time in the business about four years ago – at that point still working out of his home.

Today, in addition to wedding videography, Nelson said the services that BVisions Media offers includes: 

• Company films
• Corporate and event video and photography
• Social media management and marketing
• Brand storytelling
• Content creation
• Drone media
• Real estate video and photo marketing
• Branding strategy

Nelson said the BVisions Media team “brings a strong touch of creativity, connectivity and storytelling” to every project it does.

From the ground up

Looking back, Nelson – who was named Entrepreneur of the Year last year by the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce – said he’s proud of the business he’s been able to build from the ground up and the person he’s become along the way.

“What I’ve enjoyed the most about being an entrepreneur is becoming a better version of myself,” he said. “As the business grows, of course, we have to stay above water, but the person that I’ve become and the better that I can be for my clients, for my employees and for the work that we do, is what I’ve enjoyed the most.”

Nelson said he credits BVisions Media’s success over the years to him always residing in what he calls “the driver’s seat mindset.”

“I definitely operate from a business-focused mindset, and it has helped us grow immensely,” he said.

At just 26 years old – starting the business before he was 20 – Nelson said he’s been able to absorb the knowledge of clients and colleagues, many of whom have had years of experience in the business world.

“I think being around that crowd, you learn a lot,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed the entire process of building BVisions Media from scratch.”

As the business has grown, Nelson said he’s been able to hire a full-time employee.

“Everything I’ve learned along the way has made me a better servant leader and a better person so we can continue to drive the business forward,” he said.

As a young entrepreneur, Nelson said he aims to serve as an example to others who may be just starting out or thinking of taking the leap.

“As a young entrepreneur in my community, people respect what I’m doing,” he said. “I want to do well by that and lead by example. I aim to be a young but good business leader in the community and hopefully inspire others.”

Branching out

As a young creative himself, Nelson said he’s always strived to help support other artists.

It’s this passion for just that, he said, that led to the opening of the Pearl Street Gallery.

Nelson said the gallery, which opened on – you guessed it, Pearl Street – in downtown La Crosse in late 2024, was created to help showcase the region’s talent.

First finding the property in early 2024, Nelson said he knew “someone else would snag it if I didn’t.”

“I had a vision and just committed to it,” he said. “Our key focus is to showcase the beauty we have right here in our community, city and region.”

Nelson said the gallery (221 Pearl St.) is an ever-growing gallery and collection of artists. 

“We look to elevate our artists and sell local art – while creating an experience for all who walk through the doors.”

As the gallery continues to find its footing, Nelson said the plan is to host live music and other events in the space.

The gallery is open from noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Details on artists and upcoming events can be found at pearlstreetgallerylacrosse.com.

Nelson said the space also serves as the office for BVisions Media.

“I needed a space to continue to grow my business, because I was working out of my house for a very long time,” he said. “We work out of there, and I am developing both businesses at the same time.”

A snapshot of the future

As BVisions Media settles into its new space, Nelson said his eyes continue to be on the future.

“I see us being a media competitor in the La Crosse market as we continue to create strong, quality work,” he said.

Nelson said he doesn’t envision BVisions Media “becoming a huge company with a bunch of employees,” but instead plans to focus on customer experience.

“The plan is to keep it small and take care of the people that trust in us and continue to get better,” he said.

Five or 10 years from now, Nelson said the plan is to get BVisions Media to a sustainable point – “not monetarily, but in life.”

“Just loving what we do and doing good quality work, while also having some time to live life and take care of my dog and things like that,” he said.

In terms of expanding services, Nelson said he sees growth opportunities in each of the company’s areas of focus.

“Photo and video branding, social media management, real estate, photography, general marketing, digital marketing – I think each of those have small, tangible service lines within them,” he said. “So, I think we’ll just continue to develop those.”

As the media landscape and client needs have grown, Nelson said so, too, has BVisions Media.

“As an entrepreneur, everything is about providing value,” he said. “We’ve had a good clientele base up until this point, so we are focusing on continuing to support them and growing from there.”

For more on BVisions Media, check out bvisionsmedia.com.