Inspiring Conversations with Tyrel Johnson of PixelPass

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyrel Johnson.

Hi Tyrel, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At the age of 18, I got started on the path of entrepreneurship when I randomly discovered a business forum online. I quickly made connections, learned a lot, and started my first business – a kitchenware products company. I was also just getting started writing and producing electronic music. At the time, electronic music was not popular in the US, so most of my connections in the music space were in Europe.

In 2010, I started uploading music to Youtube, and in 2012 I got an email from someone named Brad Thomas, who was also based in Scottsdale, which changed my career trajectory. We collaborated on music projects for years after.

In 2013, I was allowed to join CREATIV, a social networking startup co-founded by Brad. I spent 2 years at CREATIV, helping them with various initiatives, mainly focused on social media marketing.

Between 2015 and now, I’ve built multiple companies, FitCliq (a social app for meeting people through shared fitness interests), SavvySumo (a marketing platform for restaurants), and ShotCrew (a platform to find/hire photographers and models).

In 2019, I joined Evercast, another company co-founded by Brad, as employee #1. Evercast quickly became Hollywood’s leading remote collaboration platform for creative professionals. I helped spearhead product design and CX and led performance marketing. I was in the front seat of growth from early startup to professional adoption by the highest level movie and TV studios – including Netflix, Apple, Disney, HBOMax, Sony, and nearly every renowned studio and production company in the world.

I am the co-founder of PixelPass (full-stack design and Webflow development service subscriptions by senior-level talent) and Free Spirit Nation (a community-driven NFT project bringing back the spirit of 1969). I was also co-founded by Artie Kornfeld, co-founder of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair).

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been more like a roller coaster ride. I’ve had periods where everything was working out for me, my businesses were growing, and my income was high, but I’ve also had just as many periods where it felt like nothing was going my way. Whether working for a startup or building one of my own, I’ve been working in that space, which is unpredictable and full of long hours and hustle. The list of struggles I’ve had to overcome is long. I’ve had my income drop to zero in a matter of days, dealing with angry clients or crazy technology issues and starting from zero (in terms of starting new companies) multiple times. However, despite these valid struggles, I know there are people worldwide with far less opportunity to deal with far more hardship. So I try to maintain perspective and practice being grateful for my position, no matter what.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I believe PixelPass is entering this market at a great time. We see layoffs across the board, many companies tightening their budgets, and putting a stop to hiring. The reality is that companies still have design needs, whether with their website, marketing collateral, social media content, etc. With PixelPass, companies can access a team of US-based senior designers, with month-to-month flexibility, for 1/2 the cost of hiring full-time. We’re helping companies get the expert design help that they need without the downsides of committing to work with an agency or hiring employees. You get access to a team (not a single designer) that provides a broad scope of capabilities: web design, product (UI) design, branding, graphic design, and Webflow development. If you’re looking for design help and need senior-level talent/experience, you can learn more at pixelpass.co

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The number one lesson I learned was that humans adapt quickly. We’re resilient creatures, and when a solution doesn’t exist, we create it. I saw this first hand at Evercast. Hundreds of TV shows and movies were in production, and those teams had to pivot and build new distributed, remote workflows quickly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pixelpass.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoftyrel/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TyrelJohnson