Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ty Cunningham. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ty, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I’m certainly far from living luxuriously, but I live comfortably and that’s honestly all I ever really wanted. I definitely would like to make more but for now, it is okay. It wasn’t like this for quite a while. I remember working 50+ hours a week for numerous weeks, only to MAYBE make $400. Starting in this industry is honestly very intimidating. The will power to work through extremely demanding weeks is very hard to keep consistent. This is a grind like I’ve not quite experienced in other jobs. I spent years scraping by and only recently, (as in the last couple of years) have I been able to make a decent living from this career. COVID certainly made it worse. When your entire life is shut down and you’re told you don’t know when the next event will be, that will make you reconsider your choices. I know a lot of people who left live events all together and just never came back. I honestly don’t know how I’ve managed to make this career sustainable. I truly feel like it’s just been 1 lucky break after another. I got lucky knowing a buddy who worked for the theater that I’m still at today as the resident lighting designer. I’ve been there for almost 5 years now and it just doesn’t feel real. Then I ran into some old friends back from high school that got me a job working with their company and the work with them is the most consistent while still paying well. I don’t think I really could have sped anything up faster than I already have. Not that I think it would have been beneficial to anyone to get bigger breaks earlier on. There is a lot to remember that you really only get with experience and if I got a really good opportunity too early, I could have muffed it. I have gotten extremely lucky and I just take it day by day and bigger and better jobs will come just as they always have.

Ty, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I guess to start, my name is Ty. I am currently 27 years old, and I’ve been a professional live event technician and designer for the last 5+ years. I got into this field by chance. I did acting in high school, but that was the closest to technician work I got back then. I went to school to the University of North Texas in Denton, and got my undergraduate degree in Theatre Design Technologies with an emphasis in Lighting and Sound in May of 2020 (class of COVID). I can provide as much or as little to any and all events that your budget will allow. I’ve worked multi-million dollar events, and I’ve also worked shoe string budget shows. I can provide gear (lighting, audio, staging, video, etc…) technicians and design work, depending on what your needs are and the style of the show. What I believe sets me apart from everyone else is my want to please every single client to the fullest of my potential. If the money is there, I can most likely get it done, depending on other factors such as time. I don’t think I have a singular moment that I am most proud of, but more so my work ethic in general. If there’s something I don’t know (and there will be) I will research whatever that thing is until I know it backwards and forwards, before getting onto the site, if at all possible. I will never walk into a space that I am not at least vaguely familiar with. If its a lighting desk I’ve never worked on, I will watch every tutorial they have and at least have a starting point on site. If I can pre-program anything I usually will just to make everyone’s life easier. I strive for perfection, but I am also a realist, and know problems will come up. I will do everything in my power to have potential back up plans just in case the original idea/concept can’t happen.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect would have to be, bringing your creation to life. You can spend countless hours prepping for a load in/install. It’s honestly quite draining how much prep you should be doing before you can just start turning lights on. But all those hours on your laptop/desktop really are worth it once you have all of your lights on and you can start playing with colors and effects. I always take before and after photos just because I love seeing what we can do to a space once we have lights on. It’s truly one of the best feelings seeing that work in real time and not some 3D renderings.

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

Performers will always get the credit for a job well done. 9/10 times no one will ever care what you do. Unless you screw something up. You could have the most beautiful set up for a wedding but not a single person will come up to you either before, during, or after, to tell you that you did some amazing work. The band will be showered in compliments all night saying how awesome they were and how beautiful the venue is, but you will not hear any of it. It honestly used to affect me a lot more than it does now. I’ve grown to appreciate my art for myself and to not worry about what everyone else thinks. Because unless you royally screw it up, no one will notice. This is definitely a career where you do what you do for yourself at the end of the day. If you’re looking for accolades and appreciation, you probably won’t find it in this career.

Contact Info:

• Website: TyCunninghamTech.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tycunninghamtech/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TyCunninghamTech