Harris ended up working for Vivid Images, a local company that does graphic design, photography and printing when he took a flyer he had designed for a local night club to them for printing. He asked for Vivid CEO Jason Gardner's expert opinion on the flyer, and the man offered him a job. Gardner became his mentor. "Jason is great friend and a genius when it comes to art. I was already self-employed in media when I met him, but Jason taught me so much." Harris reluctantly left Vivid; "I was burning the candle at both ends and on the sides with my own business endeavors, a day job and pursuing acting. I needed to adjust my schedule."  (NOTE: as an actor, he's appeared in Mike Epps' Funny Bidness on Comedy Central and most recently in a TV commercial for Madden NFL 10 as a Saints Player at training camp.)

He started Maxx Fx as an extension to Absolute Recording in late 2005 and continues to run both businesses. He says he's throttled back to concentrate on growing Maxx Fx, while music is more of a personal desire. Currently he contracts employees for larger projects such as video productions; "otherwise I am at the helm."  Maxx Fx creates and places media ads (print, digital signage, web and television) for its clients. His clients include Hershey Ice Cream, Acadiana Lanes, and City Club at River Ranch (all in Lafayette) as well as local businesses such as Shear Magic Hair Studios. His five year plan is to grow his business to a Digital Media production agency with 500 local business clients. Long term he hopes to concentrate on "one business at a time."  

One major challenge he deals with is the expense of continually changing technology. Starting his business was a struggle with the financial and technological challenges.  A personal recording studio set up can run around $6,000; a good, professional service rig is going to be a much larger investment -- $20,000 to $60,000 more. "Capital is your life-line," Harris says.  "Consider your business a vehicle; capital is the fuel and it is harder to find than Waldo." He cautions "you will get what you pay for and you have to crawl before you walk. Mariah Carey is not recording in a closet with quilts on the wall like I used to."   Harris says these investments are small compared to professional video production where camera lenses can be $20,000 dollars and professional editing software can be an investment of thousands per program.

He advises people wanting to start a small business to do their homework.  "Go into the business with your eyes wide open, invest in your business to get where you want to be, and advertise to grow your business." Harris goes out and seeks clients rather than waiting for them to come to him.  "You've got to get your business name before the people."    

Starting in February Harris will partner with IDEA Development, LLC on a project involving four 50" High Definition TVs in the Food court at the Mall of Louisiana.  Maxx Fx will produce the media that will air. The screens will display live television and local advertisements in rotation in a partitioned format. He will produce ads for those retailers who do not have their own format-compatible commercials. "Give me six months and I'll know whether this is the biggest coup of my career."