Meet Adam Green | Director, Photographer & Firefighter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adam Green and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adam, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Taking risks is a key element of both of my careers. As founder and owner of my commercial video production and photography studio, taking risks is closely linked with entrepreneurship and my success. Risk-taking is essential to growth. It shows confidence in your brand and your business and often can act as a competitive advantage to your competitors. With risk comes failure as well so you have to be able to accept those failures and learn from them to move forward and not be afraid to continue taking them. In my business world, this may look like investing a substantial amount of time and money into new video technology and equipment without knowing for sure if I’ll be able to recover those investments. It also means trying new and creative techniques in film or photography that may result in not winning a bid.

As a professional firefighter, we have something in our SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) called “risk-benefit analysis.” This means at every emergency call we go on, the officer in charge has a very short amount of time to size up the situation and make a decision for how they will handle the emergency. Sometimes, this is only a matter of seconds so experience matters. The risk vs. benefit analysis essentially means a decision has to be weighed against whether any life or property saving efforts will be attempted versus the level of danger. For example, if we pull up to a house fire at 3 am versus one at 3 pm the risk benefit scenario is likely different as people are more likely to be home and asleep at 3 am versus the middle of the afternoon so that means we may take more risk attempting a rescue in a dangerous situation when we anticipate people may actually be in the house.

As you can see, both of my professional careers center very much around taking risks. And, while both were very tough starting out at the beginning, I would not change either of them for anything based on the passion I have for both jobs and the autonomy I enjoy in my life.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The story of how I started my own production company and landed my first big “commercial” client is what most people enjoy hearing whenever I get asked this question. It all ties back to taking risks and not being afraid to “jump off a cliff.” I recently left a full time job at a marketing agency to pursue a freelance route and follow my creative dreams of becoming a either a graphic and digital designer, a photographer or videographer. I purchased an old iMac and began doing logo and web design for family and friends for free or very little money. I had also been interested in photography most of my life so I began taking more and more photos on my own with a small digital camera, which at the time boasted a whopping 3.2 megapixels I think 🙂

Long story short, after about a year of doing that and barely surviving, I got a call from a friend who I worked with at the agency who now worked for another agency. It was a Thursday afternoon and he asked if knew how to shoot video. I remember thinking in my head, “no, I’ve never really shot video before.” I also remember saying the words, “Yeah, sure I can do video!” Turns out, I had agreed to travel to upstate New York the following day to film a bunch of new Cadillacs racing around a private motor club track for the weekend. And, on top of that, I had agreed to edit together a 1-minute sizzle video from what I filmed to be shared with Cadillac Leadership. When I hung up the phone, I went on to Craigslist and bought a decent video camera and easy rig style vest to hold this camera set up – both of which I had know idea how to use – and a ticket to New York and I flew their the following day. I got to my hotel where I had the camera system overnighted to and stayed up all night watching online tutorials on how to use everything I had just bought. The next two days I walked around this large motor club outside and filmed these new Cadillac V’s flying around the race track and being displayed throughout and edited together a sizzle reel that following Monday. The Cadillac clients loved what I had created and the rest, as they say, is history. Cadillac has been a big client ever since that time. I love to tell that story because I think it speaks to the very foundation of what makes my company successful – risk-taking, hustle, calm under pressure and a focus to deliver high end results.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First, I would take them down to my studio in Corktown, which is the oldest and most up-and-coming neighborhoods in Detroit. We would hit some golf balls at my golf simulator I just built inside my studio and listen to music before heading into Southwest Detroit to visit my 110 year old firehouse Engine 33 Ladder 13. After that we would head to small tiki bar called the Mutiny for a drink before walking down to El Club to catch a small venue live music show. That would be the first night. The rest of the week would involve checking out some of Detroit’s most well known and iconic locations. The Motown Museum, the Henry Ford, and the DIA are all amazing must see places. I’m a sport’s fan so depending on the season we would definitely check out a Lions, Tigers, Pistons or Redwings game. Outside of that, we would enjoy some of the area’s best cuisine – especially unique to our area including amazing Middle-eastern from places like Anita’s Kitchen to Detroit-style coney islands and pizza.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First and foremost, my partner and wife, Andrea, deserves the biggest shoutout. Selflessly, she paused her career as an Interior Designer after our first child was born to support raising our family and has been my biggest supporter. She actively provides a soundboard and arm of support on the business side whenever I need it and her creative ideas also provide inspiration and alternative ways to approach new projects that come in to the studio. And, being married to a firefighter, she also has had to be a “single parent” during those 24-hr shifts when I’m at the firehouse so that requires a lot of patience and understanding.

Website: www.greenskydetroit.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_green_sky/ https://www.instagram.com/greenskydetroit/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greenskycreative/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenskydet

Other: https://vimeo.com/greenskycreative