We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brad and Eliza Schweninger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brad and Eliza below.
Brad and Eliza, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?
I think Brad and I both agree that we are beyond happy to be self employed business owners. It comes with its challenges and there has been a lot we’ve had to figure out, however it has proven to be invigorating and a great learning experience. We both are very thankful that we have the opportunity to support promotional game technology at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and do other creative project in between events. There are certainly difficult days but even then we feel fortunate to be in the position we’ve worked so hard to achieve. The biggest obstacle we face is finding other larger projects that don’t interfere with our primary client responsibilities. Also, since servicing these custom promotional games is such a niche industry, the pool of other potential clients is already limited which can be challenging. So far we’ve employed our online presence, social media, and word of mouth to attract clients and serve as our resumes. In addition, we have gained clients from presenting our strong work ethic and efficiency. Despite all of the extra demands of being a business owner, we would love to continue on our current path versus going back to any ‘regular’ jobs.
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 background and context?
We are a couple of energetic, hard-working creatives with a passion to learn and drive to succeed. Brad has a technical background with a propensity for the digital arts, while Eliza excels with traditional creative mediums and client relations. We started off in college as a primarily art-based, content creation small business, doing small murals and graphic design for local restaurants. As Brad worked through his Television & Film Producing degree at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), his focus gravitated more towards camera work and video production; usually serving as Director of Photography or First Assistant Camera on projects. He worked, and continues to work, with local businesses to shoot actor’s headshots and reels, in addition to other camera related gigs.
In 2018 we received a call from an old colleague asking if we would be interested in bidding for a video game based IT role locally. The company he worked for needed on-site administrators to maintain a custom virtual reality experience (a simulation of riding in a Mercedes Benz GTR throughout Atlanta) located at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Since Brad grew up around technology, having even built his own PC from scratch as a kid, it seemed like a great opportunity, so we moved forward with applying for the role. Eliza originally planned to handle the project management, having worked as an event manager for a few years, as well as serving as an assistant to Brad’s videography & design work.
After winning the bid, the company flew representatives in from L.A. and Brazil to provide us with in-depth training. Thanks to such thorough training, we both ended up feeling very confident about our job expectations and were able to dive right into managing these ‘activation’ sites. Since that time, we went from overseeing and maintaining one tech experience to being responsible for five different activations with custom gaming setups throughout MB Stadium.
Since Mercedes-Benz brand is highly recognized for it’s high-tech status, it hosts areas in which guests are able to learn about the cars while taking part in fun team-themed (Atlanta Falcons and United) activities. While these activations are constantly being updated, an example of one we had in the past was guests would have the opportunity to ‘dance’ with Matt Ryan and Calvin Ridley through augmented reality. They would even be given a video to take home of their moves with the players. Every location at the stadium offers a different activity, all based on Mercedes-Benz and the teams themselves.
In addition to maintaining the activations at the stadium, we’ve also periodically helped out clients operating similar activities throughout the Southeast and worked at the New York US Open too. Upon pivoting to this tech-centered job it has opened our eyes to a completely new field of work we didn’t even know existed. Marketing at large scale events has been such an interesting thing to learn about and we’ve loved getting the opportunity to participate in the development of these productions, as well as keeping all the fun tech working too! We feel so fortunate to be able to work for ourselves while also being part of a team, with everyone sharing the same common goal- to set things up by a designated date, ensure things are operating seamlessly, and keep the clients happy.
Since this isn’t an everyday gig we still have plenty of time to continue working on our creative pursuits as well. We definitely prioritize our tech role and do everything in our power to make ourselves available to these clients, but we’ve also really enjoyed the variety of roles we get to play as IT consultants and creative artists. It’s an awesome balance which keeps things fun and helps us maintain enthusiasm for every job we take on. Not to mention, there’s been some times when looking at technical difficulties from a creative perspective has been able to help us solve some complex problems too. Since all of our activation games are custom designed, being able to look at them with a bit of imagination has certainly been beneficial to our work at large.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Throughout his life Brad has always had to adapt his work to fit his physical limitations. From birth he was diagnosed with Severe Hemophilia A, a bleeding disorder that causes damage to his body’s joints and muscles. He also developed a severe complication called an inhibitor that makes treating his Hemophilia very difficult. As a result he is prone to internal bleeding from various activities, and sometimes these events happen spontaneously.
From a young age, Brad couldn’t participate in sports, so he gravitated towards technology, in which he could not only escape the restraints of his physical body in games, but also express himself creatively. Throughout high school he took up digital photography & videography, and began to teach himself Photoshop editing. Thankfully this was something he could always do even within his physical limitations. He started to experiment with technical hardware as well, building computers for himself and friends. These skills would later serve him well in college and beyond as he continued to work with cameras, and ultimately assumed his technical consulting role at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Eliza has played an integral role in Brad’s life, as his wife and often his arms and legs when he is physically disabled. As time went on, medication has made these bleeding episodes less frequent, but the damage that it has left on his joints remains. So together they form a reciprocal team that is able to tackle most technical or creative problems that lay before them.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
When starting our business, we were both young, Brad was still a student in art school. We started off trying to learn about how businesses work in general, and doing small projects here and there. Knowing we were still novices to the business world, we were constantly given advice by other artists telling us to take on projects for free or close to free. This was assumed to gain the experience needed to establish credibility within our up and coming company. We were told to take on any and every job to expand upon this. As Brad was getting closer to finishing SCAD, they required four internships to graduate; so doing free work seemed to make sense to us then. The problem we would end up running into with this approach was that this same low price offering would often be assumed by certain clients as our company grew and our experience and equipment expanded.
A few years into taking on projects we had one instance in which we really learned some tough lessons. We took on a project from an established business and requested a detailed list of shots and expectations. We did so to provide ample time to prepare this extensive video shoot. We all knew we were charging less than ten percent of what most companies would charge for the same project. We tried to be candid and manage their expectations the best that we could. Once the day of filming came, we still had not receive their shot list, but since we had made the commitment to be on-site at a certain day and time, we showed up. This client would then end up giving us a 19 page list upon arrival. Looking back at it, we truly should have walked away right then and there. It was unrealistic and we knew it. Trying to be professional though, or what we thought was professional at the time, we spent fourteen hours that day trying to complete the list that they had abruptly handed us. The biggest mistake we made during that period wasn’t the work we did, but that we did it at all knowing this client had extremely unrealistic expectations for the budget. We should have stuck with our gut feelings, and when we did not receive the pre-production details beforehand, should have kindly expressed our gratitude for the opportunity and declined until we mutually agreed upon a sound plan.
Our advice to other artists: appreciate the insights others volunteer, but also trust your instincts. You can say no, and there will probably be times that you should say no. Taking on an extra job is not always worth it. Don’t shy away from difficult conversations because having those tough talks upfront will save you in the long run. There are, sadly, people who seek out new creatives with the intention of taking advantage of them. With our first proposal for the Mercedes stadium tech role, we were actually encouraged to charge more for our services. After working with the company for a couple of years, we revised our contract with a further increased hourly rate which they accepted without hesitation. If a client truly appreciates your work ethic and job performance they will pay you accordingly. Growing artists shouldn’t feel like they have to significantly discount their work just to make a name for themselves.
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Image Credits
Brad & Eliza Schweninger