Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bobby Reed. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Bobby, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
It probably started fairly young when I played sports. I found success when I practiced something over and over and was able to execute during a game. Beyond that, I really came into my own during college when I was able to meet with and learn from other professionals in a ‘gig worker’ world. It was then that I decided that there was no other option than to be comfortable with not having a salary or benefits. I thought that was going to be easy until I spent all of my savings working through college on finding my first job. I showed up to St. Louis, MO with $500 and a freelance job paying me for baseball and hockey home games. A similar situation happened when I moved to Philadelphia, where I knew nobody and didn’t have a job. I spent my life savings looking for a job and was down to my last $500. If I didn’t get a job in the next couple of weeks I was going to be forced to move back in with my family and become a bank teller (nothing against bank tellers, just not my dream job). So, I took odd jobs and made hundreds of phone calls and wrote thousands of emails. An odd job that I did was tutor video editing and Photoshop to two sons of a family nearby where I lived (more on this later). One real gig finally hit, which was a freelance edit position at the Versus Network (now NBC Sports). On the first day I went to thank the editor that I’d been emailing to get me the job and someone told me he had been fired. Yikes. I did my best not to also find the same fate and eventually I was asked back week after week and was a national editor at NBC Sports. To hedge my bet, I started working sports games on the nights and weekends in the event I would get canned from my day job, this came in handy later on.
Once I got to this point in my life I realized that I could find work anywhere if I was targeted in who I talked to, made promises that I could keep, and created relationships with others in the field in which I wanted to be in. In other words, when I got called on to step into the batter’s box, I was able to hit. The saying could be “ignorance is bliss.” but, I would call it an attention to the present and future. If you spend all of your time thinking about what is going to go wrong, or what bad thing could happen, most of the time those things will actually happen or just as worse, nothing happens. There’s no bigger fear that I have than that of standing still, watching the world go by without me.
This was never more evident when NBC Sports decided to move their operation from Philadelphia to Stamford, Connecticut. This news, in the beginning of 2012 meant that I, along with a lot of others, would be forced to either move to Connecticut for less money, or figure it out. You’ve probably guessed it, that was when Loaded Pixel was born. The parents of the family that I had tutored for decided to mentor me in starting my own business. They had successfully took a company of 25 employees to over 800. With this mentorship and my live event sports gigs to fill in the financial gaps, I departed on my journey of starting a company.
What in the world was I thinking? I knew nothing about starting a company, getting real clients, managing people, leading, accounting, the list is endless. At this point in my life, what did I have to lose? If the company fails, who cares? If I didn’t go for it I would regret it the rest of my life. Risk is simply the opportunity to succeed. It’s how high the diving board is. If you’re too scared to jump off, ask yourself why, and then do the thing that overcomes that fear. If you can’t swim, don’t jump into a pool. Learn to swim, then jump in. Learning the skills you need to succeed will rip away any anxiety you may have towards your goals. Risk is being asked to jump into the deep end of the pool, how good of a swimmer you are at that moment will dictate the amount of risk it truly is. Figure out what it is that you want, learn the skills good enough to be asked to jump in, learn more, swim to glory. You can do this in many ways, but the habit of always learning will be what springboards your success.
Did I know moving halfway across the country was risky, sure I did. But, if I was any good at being an editor I would have failed and needed to reevaluate my life path. I was fortunate enough to have parents that could give me a safety net if I drowned, not all people have that, but I had to find out for myself. Did I know starting a company would be risky, absolutely. But, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, so take the shot, take a thousand shots, one will hit and you’ll be off and running.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m the Executive Producer of Loaded Pixel. We’re a video production company based out of Philadelphia, PA. What I’m most focused on now is growing the business, learning how to be the best leader I can be, and taking care of customers who all have different needs.
I have always been the one doing the work, editing, shooting, producing, etc. but what Loaded Pixel has offered is a chance to be on the other side. Making the decisions, communicating, executing is much more difficult than most believe. My role has offered me a chance to learn a lot about myself and how others view me, as Loaded Pixel is effectively an extension of myself. I feel challenged, I feel excited, I feel scared, everyday.
I’m doing all of this while being married to my beautiful wife Devon, raising our 2 year old son Henley, and expecting our second in November. This, as one can imagine, has changed my life. It is helping shape my work/life balance in a way that I never knew was possible. The selflessness required to raise a child is something most people don’t talk about, but probably should.
I don’t really know how else to answer such a broad question, but I am passionate about people finding meaning in their work. Which, believe it or not, you can find in jobs that you otherwise find to be mundane or non glamorous. Find the meaning and you will find the happiness that you desire.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Effort/Attitude – You can always control the amount of effort you give to any one thing. If it was easy, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it fun. If you’re positive, they will be too. If you’re negative, they will be too. Most of life is out of your control, so while you work, learn, wait for something, be positive about it.
2. Meaning – Find meaning in your work. If you don’t know why you’re there, nobody else will either. Meaning will make the difference in your motivation to show up day after day to work towards the goals for yourself and the company. Meaning will make you proud of whatever it is that you are doing. Meaning answers the big question of ‘why am I here’? Find the meaning and you’ll make better decisions.
3. Goals – Set goals and hold yourself accountable. If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know which road to take. Driving aimlessly might be fun for a while, until you run out of gas or need to eat. Set a goal, find the road(s) to get there, wake up everyday and get on the road. These goals will guide you to make more informed decisions on what to prioritize.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
My business mentors Jeff & Jen Westphal have been the number one reason that I am where I am today. They will tell you otherwise, but without their guidance and mentorship, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Caveat, there’s plenty of other very influential people in my life, but they are by far the top.
I wish I could have put “Find a mentor” on the previous question, so I will scream it here. Find a mentor!!! Someone that you look up to and someone who is a great listener. You can unlock a lot of answers if you find someone to help talk it out with. It also helps to have years of experience as a very successful CEO at a large company, but there are others out there that can help just the same.
The Westphal’s have mentored me on everything from leadership to family. They are people who I respect greatly and I only hope that I can remember and pass on all the words of wisdom that they have given to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.loadedpixelcreative.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loadedpixelcreative/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-reed/
- Twitter: https://x.com/BobbyReedLP
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
