Today we’d like to introduce you to Allan Meade.
Hi Allan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Growing up, I aspired to be an architect designing skyscrapers or buildings. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school that I began exploring film and media after I nearly flunked an engineering course my freshman year. What I thought was just going to be taking an elective in my school’s film class ended up becoming the start of my life’s passion in the entertainment field. I went to college at North Carolina A&T State University where I studied Journalism & Mass Communication. In college I explored different career options and chose to pursue a career path in broadcast news. After doing an internship at a major news station, I felt God nudging me in a different direction. As a Christian man my faith is number 1 to me. While I had spent time exploring various career options, God hadn’t forgot the passion he put in my heart for film and media. He was calling me to step out in faith and trust him in following my heart.
During my senior year in college through the first two years post-graduation, I had the opportunity to spearhead various short film projects and creative endeavors. Through this time I explored various crafts including screenwriting and producing. My heart settled on producing, as I love the creative and business blend that producing offers. While producing various independent films I also worked full-time as a college admissions recruiter for various film schools. Having to balance a full-time career and my passion projects taught me to be disciplined and become really good at time management and organization. After living in Miami, FL for about two years, God spoke to me once again telling me to relocate to Atlanta. This came as a bit of a surprise as I hadn’t planned to move anytime soon. I had to step out in faith once again and trust Him to provide, which he indeed did. I moved to Atlanta in late 2019 and began working for the Savannah College of Art & Design as a career adviser for creative arts students. After living in the city for only about two months is when I felt compelled to launch Concept Factory Atlanta. It was my desire to see visual storytellers from various walks of life come together for the purpose of creating content and ideating. Fast forward 12 months later, God has completely blown my mind with the success he’s brought to Concept Factory Atlanta and all that’s ahead!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like most other recent college graduates, one major obstacle I had to face was major student loan debt. This came on top of having to navigate relocation in two new states not knowing a single soul. Through it all, I saw God provide for me in ways that I knew were only Him in addition to the support and help from my parents who have always supported my dreams. Overall, my journey has been a smooth road and I’m even grateful for the challenges I did have to face. Those challenges only made me stronger and actually set me up for greater opportunities later down the road. Trials and tribulations were never meant to break us, but set us up to receive a greater blessing. It’s all a part of the process.
As you know, we’re big fans of Concept Factory Atlanta. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
My company Concept Factory Atlanta will be a smart collaborative hub and co-working space and will serve as a pipeline for visual storytellers to reach production studios and beyond while building community, relationships, and professional connections. Think of us as an incubator or “concept factory” for visual media, creative business ideas, stories, and visual concepts. The space will offer diverse and technologically-advanced amenities and resources for members to work and play. Concept Factory Atlanta was created specifically for visual storytellers. Visual storytellers are the filmmakers, screenwriters, actors, producers, photographers, and visual artists. It’s going to truly groundbreaking to have local Atlanta creatives from these various disciplines of media all come together under one roof to create and collaborate. Next for Concept Factory Atlanta we’ll be launching our “Collab Hub” events in the Summer of this year. Collab Hubs will be a series of monthly “pop up” collaborative hubs featuring a series of workshops and concept-creation activities for ideation, co-working, and networking with fellow visual storytellers. Collab Hubs will take place at a local creative studio or facility and will offer day passes for ticketed guests.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up I was always imaginative and wondered how things worked. As a kid, whenever I got a new toy I wasn’t satisfied until I took the toy completely apart just to see what was inside. Now looking back I realize that I’ve always had an entrepreneurial drive within me, including a strong sense of vision. When it comes to my personality and values, since childhood my faith and beliefs have always strong. I was the kid in school who didn’t mind speaking out and standing up for who I was, which still remains the same today. My interests ranged from a plethora of different things, but if there was a few things I’ve always loved are movies, dogs, and sweets. I also have a small obsession with cranberry juice. I’ve drank it for most my life and I can never get enough.
Contact Info:
- Email: allan@conceptfactoryatl.com
- Website: www.conceptfactoryatl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allanmeade_
Image Credits
Mike D Photography (Kiyah Crittendon; photographer) Daye & Knight Photography