Meet Paul Schmidt of UnoDeuce Multimedia

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Schmidt

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by stories. To this day, I am an avid reader, listener of podcasts and audiobooks, and a consistent television viewer and cinephile. The latter aspects of those mediums, television, and film, sparked my interest in becoming a video storyteller. My earliest memory is of seeing Star Wars, and I was hooked from there. However, due to where I grew up and the opportunities available, the thought of creating anything like that didn’t connect until I was selected to be one of 30 high school-aged youth from around the nation to attend a television camp in Seattle. At this time, my interest was in being in front of the camera, but I had the opportunity to learn it all there.

When I went to college, being in front of the camera was still my goal, so I chose the best theatre school in the state, Western Michigan University. However, I learned quickly that being on stage or in front of a camera was outside the cards. When I received a letter that one of the Public Service Announcements I co-produced received a significant award, I instantly changed my major and continued into broadcasting. I instantly found opportunities that contributed to my immediate advancement and allowed me to continue working in television with a locally based Sterling Heights Television after graduation from college. I worked there for almost two years, racking up over 120 credits in both live and produced television programming, and received an opportunity to work full-time with that summer camp I went to in Seattle.

My career opened up in this instance as I learned how to run an organization, manage a team and projects, and get to what I wanted to do: tell stories of unsung heroes and organizations making positive impacts in their communities. After 2 years of honing my skills with that company, I moved back to Michigan and branched out independently. At first, I wanted just to set something up so that I was working while I looked for another full-time job. I found that being independent was a better calling and that a full-time job never materialized, and I started a business, UnoDeuce Multimedia.

However, that business had two sides. During the day, I focused exclusively on my non-profit clients. In the evening, I worked with three municipalities to cover high school sports and a cable-based traditional cooking show titled “Cooking with Cathy.” I did this for about nine years and then moved to Lansing, Michigan, to be closer to family. Due to that move, I had to pursue the sports end of my business no longer and completely pivoted to client work, developing stories that positively impacted the community.

That brings me to today, where that shift taught me a lot and helped me grow beyond myself. I now have a small team about the same size as I led in Seattle, and we all get to do the work and tell the stories that make us feel fulfilled every day.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Most of the obstacles and challenges I faced professionally occurred after deciding to go out alone.

I had yet to learn about running a business. The only person in my family with substantial business experience was my grandmother, who owned a brunch cafe and retired when I was six. Therefore, I had to learn how owning a video production business was far from my mind flying. The idea was in college, so I took no business courses. I quickly realized that you continuously learn and evolve, so never stop.

During the recession, when non-profit work dried up, I branched out into small business work and worked with companies to develop storytelling before it was a thing.

When I moved to Lansing, MI, I had to figure out how to get business when I could no longer play high school sports. When I saw that things were getting tight, I found a networking group to pitch my services—one of the most significant and intelligent decisions I’ve ever made.

In 2019, I suffered an ischemic stroke that put me in the hospital for 10 days, and recovery took another month and a half. I’m glad I had a strong team and community to help me through that.

In 2020, a global pandemic shut everything down, so I went back into start-up mode to make up the losses, increase our services, and become a massive resource in the non-profit community. It increased our revenue and visibility exponentially.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about UnoDeuce Multimedia?
UnoDeuce Multimedia is a storytelling agency that uses video to document the why of non-profit organizations and share how they positively impact their communities. We do that by being a creative and technical resource in video production, event-based multicamera recording, live streaming, and podcast development. Our projects are typically created for branding, marketing, training, fundraising, and donor retention. They are generally seen on our clients’ websites, YouTube Channels, events, email marketing, and social media.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I was excited to start my business, and I had a plan for what I would do that day to start. So, I started creating this identity very early that day. The day that I’m talking about? September 11, 2001. My day was interrupted a few hours in, and since my sister lived in New York City, my house became phone call central. What did I learn that day? That day foretold my business life: You’ll never know how your day will go. So, be adaptable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.unodeuce.com
• Instagram: @pauldeuce
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.schmidt
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2CmuOHd09wvMFNoGqNR76g