At twelve years old I wandered up to the sound booth at my childhood church, and I never looked back. Today I get to lead a team of production professionals in what I see as the most hard-working industry in the world. There’s no place I’d rather be.

Not long after I learned how to run a soundboard I began asking myself, “how can I do this more?” While my friends were getting part-time jobs in fast food I started asking myself, “if events are people’s biggest days of the year, and A/V is always an issue, surely there’s a need…” And there was. Of course, in a small town in Arkansas with my Mom driving me as my only means of transportation, I was pretty limited. But I didn’t let that stop me. I believed even than that on people’s biggest days of the year, distractions were not an option. From weddings to student events to concerts, I loved helping people, serving in the background to make their big day shine.

While I was in college I formed what we know today as avad3 from my dorm room. I had bounced around as a freelancer and was convinced there wasn’t a production company out there that I wanted to work at. We work in a tough industry, and often the hard work seen on-site isn’t reciprocated with caring for those production people in the downtime. I believe production people are the coolest, most hard-working people on the planet, and I see it now as my life’s work to build a place we all want to work. Winning for clients does not have to come at the expense of not caring for ourselves.

Today you can find me managing our team, serving on-site at events, and planning for our future ahead in-between. We’ve done the impossible. When I look back at the past of how far we’ve come, building a national production company in a tiny corner of Arkansas, there’s no stopping us. It’s all thanks to the hard work of the team that’s been here, building this incredible place brick by brick. I am proud of how far we’ve come, and even more proud of the future ahead.