Week 2 Exploration: Storyboard

RANDY SAVARESE

I was serving in the Navy before I started the Media Communications Bachelor of Science degree program at Full Sail University. It was the answer to the doldrums I found myself in after years of working in the industry with the sense I was in the right place, but off by just a few feet from where I really wanted to be.

Let’s rewind a little bit first and I’ll explain how I got here.

When I graduated from Full Sail in 2003 with an associates degree in Digital Media, I began working in post production as an editor and eventually worked in production as well.

I wanted to be a part of the films and music videos I loved, and I felt I could add a lot to the industry.

I worked with some amazing people, and even though some of the companies I helped build eventually folded, I was still growing professionally with every new opportunity.

However, as the years dragged on, I found myself less interested in the technical aspects of the job and more interested in the business and strategy components.

I moved from production to digital strategy and built a successful production platform for an internet marketing company that was eventually replicated by others in the automotive advertising industry, but this still wasn’t enough.

I knew I had to do something drastic, I knew I had to raise the stakes if I was ever going to break free from the feeling I was not operating at my full potential.

I had kicked around the idea of joining the Navy at different points in my life and in 2010, just before I would have been ineligible due to my age, I went for it.

Little did I know how much of an impact my public service, and providing public affairs support for the US Navy, would have on my life.

I spent nearly a year deployed with the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and humanitarian outreach missions by providing documentary photography and writing press releases.

Every year news outlets compile a list of the most stressful jobs, and every year the list contains enlisted military personnel, public relations professionals, and reporters. I was all of those things operating in some of the harshest and most dangerous conditions a human being can experience.

I hated it just as much as I loved it, a feeling I’m not sure anyone can accurately convey in words.

I sacrificed a lot, I missed the birth of my first child, something I will never get back, but I took a lot away from it as well. It was the perfect reset button.

At the end of deployment the Enterprise was being decommissioned and I needed someplace to go before I was eligible for new orders. As luck would have it, which is often the case for me, I had the unique opportunity to help develop a public affairs department for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 and I jumped on it.

Everything from the equipment to the workflow and social accounts down to the letterhead and door signs was my design. I took an organization with virtually no media impressions, no infrastructure, and a digital camera way past its prime, and turned it into a model for what media departments could be in the Navy.

My role in cofounding this department solidified my love for strategy and building businesses and I found myself invigorated with a new sense of purpose, everything started to come together like it was carefully orchestrated all along.

My time in the military, and the addition of a wonderful wife and two amazing little girls, filled me with the sense I needed to use my gifts for more than lining my pockets. I needed to do something that gave something back to the world as well as providing the life I wanted my family to enjoy.

When an unfortunate series of events led to my medical retirement from the Navy I found myself at a crossroads, I knew it would be insane not to use my 9/11 bill so when I saw Full Sail had a media communications program I knew I had my answer.

I was on the fence about launching my own business before I came back to Full Sail, but since I’ve been here my vision has never been clearer.

With every new faculty member and student I network with I inch that much closer to my goals.

I gravitated to startup companies throughout my career because of the amazing energy and unique challenges they pose. Starting my own business is the logical next step, and I couldn’t be more excited.