Community Highlights: Meet Reisha & Andy Rhodenbaugh of The East Atlanta Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Reisha & Andy Rhodenbaugh.

Hi Reisha & Andy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We are Reisha and Andy Rhodenbaugh, owners and hosts of the East Atlanta Studio, a 460-square-foot production space in the heart of East Atlanta Village. We have called Atlanta home since 2013 and East Atlanta specifically since 2018. At the foundation of who we are as a family is a belief that everyone is full of inherent dignity and value and that everyone ought to have the opportunity to flourish and contribute creative beauty to the world in its multifaceted and various forms. This foundational belief informs our vision of helping creatives bring beauty to the world.

In late 2017, with the encouragement of our entrepreneurial-minded brother (co-owner of Aquatots Swim Schools in metro Atlanta), we took a risk and purchased our home in East Atlanta with the intention to rent the basement guest unit on Airbnb. It was a risk because, in order to make the financial numbers work long-term, our Airbnb experiment had to work.

Thankfully, in the first two years, it was successful enough: In 2018 and 2019, we hosted over 300 guests from six countries, earning Superhost status eight quarters in a row and gaining us entry into Airbnb’s Plus program which features spaces with thoughtful design, exceptional hosting, and are verified by Airbnb for quality. Unfortunately, as with many businesses, especially short-term rentals, in early 2020 the pandemic forced us to temporarily close our doors.

In early 2022 we re-opened our doors but also pivoted our business model to something more dynamic and fluid, allowing for more creative income generation. We made the investment to upgrade the decor and reconfigured the spacial layout of our 460 square foot space. In addition to continuing to operate the guest studio for overnights via Airbnb, we added in the production studio aspect as well, serving creatives on an hourly basis via Peerspace.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Overall we have enjoyed the journey of utilizing our home as a place of business. We are grateful to serve others and for how the income has served our family’s needs and goals. With this, it has not always been a smooth road. As with many entrepreneurs, there is inherent risk involved in starting something new. Doubts, questions, and wondering if the finances will work out are par for the course.

With our doors open for just over two and a half years, we have now hosted over 400 guests in our space, whether overnight or hourly. The vast majority of our guests have been phenomenal to work with. Again, par for the course is the reality that every now and then, we host guests who do not respect our home and property and that makes for difficult learning experiences.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We love helping creative people do what they were created to do. We do this by providing a phenomenal space from which they can create beauty for the world. Our studio includes a spacious living area, a bathroom for makeup and wardrobe changes, and a king-size bedroom with a 6.5-foot-long built-in wardrobe rack. Our studio is unique to Atlanta, particularly the Eastside, for several reasons.

The studio is located on the bottom floor of the home we live in, in a quiet residential neighborhood just off the Moreland Exit on I-20. Our space is warm, unique, quiet, and customized with artwork we’ve created ourselves and can be photographed and filmed with no concern of paying royalties to us for including it in any commercial content. When clients arrive, they get full access to off-street parking in our driveway which can fit up to four vehicles. Our space is both an overnight guest studio and a content production studio.

As a production studio, we have been recognized by clients as a rare find in that we offer a three-in-one space: Offering seamless lifestyle and nature backdrops all in one location. Clients can shoot content on one of our multiple seamless photography backdrop colors, utilize our various lifestyle spaces, or shoot in nature in our large bi-level and fenced backyard. One client, a stock photo model, noted that when looking for a space to shoot content, she often has to choose between studios with seamless backdrops or spaces with lifestyle backdrops. Finding a space with both (plus nature space) was a rare gem for her. We also offer free 10-minute scouting trips for prospective clients.

We are most proud of getting to work with our phenomenal clients. The creativity they bring to the world is off the charts! We are thrilled and honored to have hosted a wide variety of projects and creatives including brand shoots, music videos, album covers, book clubs, movie script readings, team retreats, journalists and writers, fashion models, live music recordings, podcasts, interviews, therapists, documentaries, influencers, business owners, clothiers, and graphic designers. Getting to witness the creative energy and vision that people have is inspiring!

We want the creative community of Atlanta to know we are open for business and want to help creatives thrive in bringing beauty to the world. Right now, we are offering new subscribers to our website a discount of 20% off their next booking, so come check us out.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Throughout our business journey, a truth we have believed for a long time continues to be affirmed in new and surprising ways. We believe everyone ought to have the opportunity to flourish and contribute creative beauty to the world. In a world full of division, suffering, and pain, we all need to taste and see more beauty.

Yet, so often beauty is sidelined as something we earn and can only delight in after we’ve proven we deserve it. We hear things like, “I’ve worked hard, so now I deserve to delight in life.” We don’t believe that enjoying beauty is something to be earned, but that it is core to being human. Without it, we become less than we were created to be. We believe everyone deserves to work from beauty, not for it. Only then will we bless the world with our creativity.

Each client we serve is seeking to bring beauty to the world in some form or fashion and getting to serve them in this endeavor, helping them do their best work, has reaffirmed our need and desire to receive beauty and bless the world with it.

Pricing:

• Rates fluctuate. Subscribe on our website for 20% off your next booking.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eastatlantastudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/east_atl_studio/ 

Image Credits
@rivergwest @isuan.ayo