We were lucky to catch up with Allan Meade recently and have shared our conversation below.

Allan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

Parents – you’ve got to love them! I’m so grateful to say that I in fact love my parents so dearly for all the amazing things they’ve done for me in my life. Ever since I was a child, my parents haven’t been perfect, nor did they come from homes with the best examples of how to be parents. They had their share of mistakes like anyone, yet they stayed committed to two main things that would provide the foundation I needed to grow up and be able to go after my dreams.

The first would have to be how my parents instilled within me my values and faith. I can’t really recall a situation or opportunity growing up where my mother or father emphasized anything less than having an attitude of excellence. Notice that I said an “attitude” of excellence, not being perfect. Hard work, effort, and good quality was celebrated in our household, not striving for perfection or fostering a performance-based environment. Other values my parents instilled were to always express gratitude, treat people well, and to keep Christ first in all things, realizing that without God, I would be nothing.

My faith foundation played, and still plays a tremendous role in who I am today, and how I operate my organization, Concept Factory, Inc. My faith guides my decisions, sets a standard of my ethics and morals, and reminds me that all my work, all my contributions in this life, and all that I will ever do is ultimately meant to please God and advance His Kingdom.

The second thing that my parents did right was knowing the power of support. Support goes far beyond just words and compliments, or likes on photos, although those things aren’t bad in itself. Since I was a child, my parents have always shown support not just by encouraging me to go after my dreams, but backing up their words by being present, showing enthusiasm about the things I was enthusiastic about, and financial support whenever they were able.

As a family, as long as what I was going after in life did not compromise my faith or values, or cause harm to myself or others, there was a 100% guarantee that my parents, my sibling, and my relatives were there to support me, cheer me on, and encourage me to get back into the ring whenever I would take a hit from life and get knocked down.

This amazing environment of faith, values, and consistent support instilled within me a confidence that with an attitude of excellence, hard work, honoring my faith and values, and making smart decisions, I truly could go after whatever I wanted in life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I lead a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called Concept Factory, Inc. Concept Factory is a creative nonprofit committed to advancing underrepresented visual storytellers to reach industry opportunities. We do this through hosting industry programs, workshops, and creating spaces for learning and collaboration.

Concept Factory got its initial start in early 2020, just a couple of months before the pandemic. What began as just an idea of creating a creative coworking space for visual artists to come and mingle has since transformed into a national nonprofit that helps visual artists and creatives reach career opportunities, grow their professional communities and network, and create content amongst so many other initiatives.

I got my start in the visual arts industry after nearly flunking an engineering class in high school. I grew up wanting to be an architect, only to realize that math and complex formulas was not my thing. After nearly flunking that class, I signed up for a multimedia elective where I learned about videography, photography, and script writing. That class won my heart and the rest was history.

I majored in Journalism & Mass Communication in college at North Carolina A&T State University, where I pursued a short-lived journey of wanting to work in news broadcasting. I quickly realized that the news we see on our TV screens every night was made up of really depressing stories, a dog-eat-dog industry, and just was not where I felt God was calling me. The good Lord above used news and journalism to lead me right into where I would find my ultimate passion – filmmaking, producing, and screenwriting.

I spent a few years both in and out of college pursuing filmmaking (or visual storytelling as we call it at Concept Factory). I wrote, produced, and directed a few short films and live productions locally before focusing strictly on producing behind the camera. During this time, I discovered that I had the ability to bring together people, especially creatives and people of diverse backgrounds, along with the ability focus on both the creative side for a project, plus the business and organizational side. I loved both, and these two passions would culminate and work together for starting Concept Factory.

Concept Factory was created to distinctly solve two major problems in the visual arts industry: 1) Lack of access to industry connections, development, spaces, and a collaborative network of like-minded visual storytellers. 2) Glass ceilings encountered by underrepresented visual storytellers in reaching industry opportunities without key connections or “lucky breaks.”

I have encountered first hand both of these problems in trying to enter the visual arts and entertainment industry, and it wasn’t an easy journey. Along with my own personal journey, and the journey of thousands of others pursuing the same dreams, I knew that there needed to be an organization that solved this problem, and hence, Concept Factory was created!

As far as our future at Concept Factory and what we want to be known for, I would have to say the biggest thing is Community! Community is everything, no matter the industry, but is especially important for the visual arts industry. At Concept Factory, we’re all about creating spaces for visual storytellers to find community, grow their community, and leverage their community to reach their goals. As the scripture says, “one can put a thousand to flight, and two ten thousand.” This goes to show that community and UNITY is powerful! We recognize the power in community and incorporate it into everything we do, whether a workshop, an industry advancement program like factoryAdvance, or our city-to-city Community Groups we host across the U.S.

Any advice for managing a team?

I believe that people are both your biggest asset, and sometimes your biggest headache. From times before launching Concept Factory, to now entering my third year on the journey with Concept Factory, I have taken life’s master course in what it means to attract a team, grow a team, and keep a team.

My biggest thing I’ve learned thus far is that you have to first make the vision plain about your business or idea, and you as the founder have to be its biggest cheerleader. People are attracted to two things: a clear vision for where you’re going, and a strong, passionate, and caring leader.

My advice for anyone managing a team and desiring to maintain high morale is to show your people that you care for them as individuals, not just for what they can do for your business or venture. As the saying goes, people won’t care until they know that you do. Be zealous for your team and never keep gratitude silent. Always tell them in different ways how much you appreciate them and how much they mean to both you and the organization or company. Show this appreciation and personal recognition publicly in front of others. Public recognition goes a long way! Don’t just show interest in their involvement with the organization solely, but also show a genuine interest in their lives outside of the business. Show your team that you care and you’ll have trouble making them go.

In addition to showing value and gratitude to your team, challenge them as well. While it was difficult for me in many situations to reprimand or provide harsh feedback to a team member, it had to be done. Holding a team member to a standard of excellence and not letting them slip below their best shows care. While it may be uncomfortable in the moment, a team member that knows you have their best interest at heart and only want to see them succeed in their roles, and as individuals will appreciate your corrective measures and also gain a new level of trust with you as the leader.

Always be sure however that your constructive criticism and/or reprimanding is done in love. Love is the greatest of all, and part of loving people is showing respect, not belittling them, publicly embarrassing them, or making them feel that their ideas or contributions don’t matter.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson I had to unlearn quickly in business (or leading any type of team) is that you as the founder may not always have the best idea and may sometimes have to sacrifice your idea for the sake of supporting someone else’s. While it’s a hard pill to swallow at first, unlearning this lesson has proven to help me become a stronger and more effective leader.

As an “ideas person,” I often have big, bold, creative ideas that I’m convinced is the best for the business or situation at hand. I’ll usually be fired up about the idea and can do a great job at convincing others of its greatness, even when others offer their ideas or concerns, I often would find a way to evangelize my idea and prove that it’s best. The issue with this is in a team setting, if I’m the one that comes up with an idea and only supports my own, then what I’m actually doing is subconsciously creating an environment where others feel their ideas are unwanted or will be rejected, and also communicating to my team that their opinions ultimately don’t matter. This is detrimental to a team and a company’s morale!

In the early stages of leading Concept Factory, I would often come to the table in this manner, advocate for my big, bold idea, and convince the team that my idea was the best route of action. In the weeks and months that followed, I found myself scratching my head wondering why that once big idea had ultimately failed, and why my team members didn’t feel comfortable speaking up during brainstorm meetings.

I had to take corrective measures by first admitting to my team my failures (ouch), asking for correction (ouch), and ultimately fostering an environment where even if I internally felt my idea was best, humbling myself to let me ideas or plans die for the sake of going with someone else’s (ouch). When this became the norm, I found my team coming to the table and meetings with many more ideas, solutions, and enthusiasm! It wasn’t simply because they decided to now speak up, but because they finally knew that their ideas and opinions were valued and that this was a team, not simply a one man show.

Contact Info:

• Website: theconceptfactory.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conceptfactory.us/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/conceptfactory1

Image Credits
Brandon Sang Tyler Basa Corey Lightner