It was just a regular day for UNT senior and business major Davian Serna, until he got a call from a representative of the Texas Business Hall of Fame.

"I wasn't expecting anything," Serna says. "And he was like, 'Congratulations, Davian.'"

Serna received a $15,000 Future Texas Business Legend Directors' Award for his business, CDTV Media Productions LLC, which provides videography and photography services. He says he was overwhelmed by the news.

"I started crying, it was very emotional," Serna says. "Other people are starting to recognize the hard work that not a lot of people see."

Passion Turned Into Profit

Growing up in Keller, Serna says he came from "humble beginnings" as his mom was only 17 years old when she gave birth to him, while his dad was in and out of his life and is currently in prison.

"None of my family was entrepreneurial," Serna says. "I was one of the first people in my family to start my own business."

His motive for becoming an entrepreneur stemmed from his passion for filmmaking.

"I had like a small YouTube channel, and I would just do little dumb videos here and there," Serna says.

Around that time at Timberview Middle School in north Fort Worth, he met his friend and business partner Jose-Carlo Martinez. They would film YouTube videos together and take filmmaking classes at Timbercreek High School.

Eventually, they started to compete in film competitions, getting first place in district, state and national levels.

"We could probably turn this into a business," Serna thought. "That's where the entrepreneurial spirit came about."

Serna and Martinez started CDTV in 2015. Back then, it was photo shoots for students at school. Nowadays, they have increased their production, specializing in professional high-quality commercials, social media content, music videos, weddings, graduations and more.

"We're hitting $10,000-20,000 a month, but all of it's going back into the business," Serna says. "We're actually taking super small pay for ourselves in order to grow the business."

One of Serna's biggest goals for CDTV is to impact his community. He wants to offer beginner film and photo classes and has started with one-on-one lessons with a curriculum at their current studio in Keller.

"We're helping them elevate themselves," Serna says. "We're going to soon launch that online and create a full in-person school curriculum at our location."

Coming Back Home

Both Serna and Martinez went on to attend the University of New Mexico to study film. Martinez went on to graduate from UNM, while Serna came back to Texas to study business.

"It was a hard change, but I'm ultimately glad that I did it because I am surrounded by the entrepreneurial and business mindset of my professors and people around me."

Serna came to UNT to be closer to family and says that his uncle also went there. He switched majors to better help CDTV grow.

"UNT taught me how to think. That's the biggest thing that I can really, really hone down."

Serna credits Michael Sexton, principal lecturer, as the person who helped him the most, saying Sexton taught him how to orchestrate a business plan to propose to investors.

Although Serna graduates in May, there was a time when he was uncertain if it was worth finishing college. Balancing school, CDTV and his social life is challenging but, one thing keeps him going. He made a promise to his grandma before she passed away from COVID-19, that he would finish school.

"The number one thing in my head is just like, 'Just do it for my Grandma, just do it for my Grandma,'" Serna says. "It's just worth it because I'm almost at the finish line."

Serna believes that the Texas Business Hall of Fame should be marketed more throughout the school because it is a great opportunity that not many students know about, as they recognize 40 individuals and they each receive $15,000 to $20,000 cash prizes.

"I didn't hear about this until my junior year," Serna says. "If anything, I would love to represent the Texas Business Hall of Fame anyway I can within UNT if that's any possibility."

Serna's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is to find their passion, be a good person and simply take time to take in the moment.

"I'm super, super goal-oriented and sometimes that can just suck the joy out of the fruits that God's given me," Serna said. "Just stop stressing and just smile more."