Meet The Disruptors: Joey DeAngelo Of Visiontech On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
When I was younger I worked for the town as a landscaper. I worked my way up into a higher position over the years. There were guys that I was put in charge of twice my age. Let’s say that they were not my biggest fans. I took it personally and it stressed me out. My foreman was a great guy. He told me “You’ll get your loving at home.” That has always stuck with me.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joey DeAngelo of Visiontech.
Joey DeAngelo is an accomplished photographer, musician, creative director, and is currently the president of NJ/NY based multi-media company Visiontech Inc. DeAngelo blends his experience as a creative and entrepreneur as he grows the school yearbook and creative agency to current levels of success. With his newest role as president of the company, he looks forward to expanding an already impressive clientele of high schools around New York and New Jersey.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Thank you for having me. I have always been interested in the arts. I am a musician who has been playing in bands since I was 10 years old. I found a love for photography back in 2010. From there I got more involved with all the different aspects of the multimedia business. When I began working with Visiontech, I first learned all the aspects of our industry, which rests heavily on our expertise in video production and photography for schools. As the years went by I began to inject new ideas into the company. We listened to the preferences of both the schools and students, and ramped up additional services that could take the typical “yearbook” experience to new heights. I credit my long term interest in the arts and being a musician to getting creative with the business.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Visiontech offers services that other yearbook and school photography companies do not. Where a typical yearbook company focused on print and photography for that asset, Visiontech gets fully involved with the school year round to collect both video and photo memories and presents it both in print/digital formats. Think of Visiontech as a media agency for high schools that is so much more than the prized yearbook. This not only adds extra value for the schools, but the students love the digital content and engagement that is created year round. I believe our business is disruptive as we offer an all-inclusive service that most typical yearbook companies simply do not.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
There are plenty of mistakes that I have made. One would be when I was shooting a Moore Catholic High School football game (in Staten Island, NY). I was on the sidelines looking through my zoom lens, I did not realize how close the play was to me. I got tackled by two huge seniors! Luckily, I was able to hold on to the camera the whole time. Pretty sure we still have that footage. Although that was not a major mistake in the grand scheme of our business, it did remind me to always pay attention to crucial details “on and off the field’’ haha. The details truly matter, when running your business and with the product that you offer your clients.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
So many mentors. In regards to business, this would all not be possible without the training and guidance from my father-in-law. Tony Tudda, started Visiontech in 1992 and has built the company into a very successful yearbook company for high schools around New York and New Jersey. He gave me a shot and took me under his wing and I have worked my way up in the company over the years. I’ve learned so much from him and continue to do so every day. I’ll always be grateful for what he taught me and now it is exciting to inject my ideas into the business and help scale things to new levels.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
That’s a great question, and to keep this in the context of my industry and business I do have thoughts. While media in general is dominated in the digital realm, we do hold tradition in keeping printed yearbooks as a front and center offering. The last thing we would want to do is completely digitize the experience, as having a printed yearbook is amazing to receive and creates a social experience for the students. An example of negative disruption would be fully removing the printed version altogether, where something positive (which we are doing) is creating an expanded “hybrid” version of that traditional yearbook moment.
Can you share five or six of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
When I was younger I worked for the town as a landscaper. I worked my way up into a higher position over the years. There were guys that I was put in charge of twice my age. Let’s say that they were not my biggest fans. I took it personally and it stressed me out. My foreman was a great guy. He told me “You’ll get your loving at home.” That has always stuck with me.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
Visiontech has some really cool new ideas we’re working on. You’ll have to follow us on our social media platforms to see! We are always coming up with new services and ideas to keep our yearbook and other services “fresh” for the client and student. One thing we implemented recently was putting QR codes inside yearbooks that link to unique video content for the students (think sports, theater, clubs etc).
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
I love music and am a bit of a health freak. I am constantly listening to interviews of musicians, health industry people, and successful business entrepreneurs. It’s one of my favorite things to do when I am editing. A few of my favorites are Dave Grohl, Jay Cutler, and Mark Cuban.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal — a commitment to excellence — that will enable you to attain the success you seek”. Mario Andretti
That quote has always resonated with me. It reminds me to constantly push myself and never give up.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Thank you. So often, people think that changing the world is an impossible task. While big changes can make lasting impacts, small series of repeated actions can do the same. We should all pay it forward. Donate your time, energy, love, whatever it may be, to improving someone’s life. It doesn’t have to be big, but it has to be intentional.
How can our readers follow you online?
Visiontech.tv and our Instagram account visiontech_inc.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Joey DeAngelo Of Visiontech On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
