Meet Teresa and Joe Bacal of JTGrey Unlimited and Arizona Stunt Drivers in Anthem

Today we’d like to introduce you to Teresa and Joe Bacal.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
We started our company back in 2007. I had already been working in the event planning business for 15 years and Joe had been working at the Toyota Arizona Proving Ground for 10 years. What prompted the creation of our own company was Joe being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in December of 2006. Joe went through 6 months of chemo, radiation and surgery for treatment of the lymphoma. After being declared cancer free, Joe wanted to pursue his dream of racing and couldn’t do that working for Toyota. We decided it was time to create our own company to provide event planning for the automotive industry, which would also allow Joe to pursue racing. We both had years of experience working with the automotive industry so it was a natural fit to partner with automotive companies. Once JTGrey Unlimited was off the ground and doing well, we added Arizona Stunt Drivers to fill the specific requests for the film, commercial and video industry.

Has it been a smooth road?
Starting and running a small business is challenging and is certainly not for everyone. We funded our company with our own money and there were times when we had to dip into our savings. We were fortunate we already had relationships with some automotive companies as getting a foot in the door can be the biggest hurdle. Even with existing relationships, we had to be persistent and contact possible clients multiple times before we were awarded a project with them. There were definitely times when we were running on fumes but we hung in there as we knew we had the experience and knowledge to be successful. A big challenge is that automotive events lack consistency. In the automotive industry, events are based around new product releases. If a manufacturer has a number of new cars coming out, there are multiple events taking place. If a manufacturer only has one new car coming out, events are minimal. There is a lot of up and down and we have to hope we have planned correctly for the slow periods. Part of our plan has been creating relationships with non-automotive companies as event planning in any industry is the same basic premise. We have been fortunate to work with the same clients for many years, some for over 20 years, which I believe is a testament to our work ethic.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with JTGrey Unlimited and Arizona Stunt Drivers – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
JTGrey Unlimited is a meeting and event planning company. Our main industry is automotive but we also coordinate events for non-automotive companies. We coordinate and oversee all logistics involved in a meeting or event. That means securing venues, contracting hotels, overseeing all transportation needs, coordinating meeting and general session inclusions, securing speakers, handling all food and beverage for an event, creating print and promotional items and any other event needs. Part of our team includes professional drivers so we have drivers for auto show reveals, ride and drives, demos, videos, commercials, print and more. An extension of our driving team is our Arizona Stunt Drivers company. This company supports the film, commercial and video industry with precision SAG/AFTRA drivers. Since we are a small company, we are only as good as our last project or event so take immense pride in providing clients service that is above and beyond their expectations. Joe and I are involved in every project and integrity is the cornerstone of our company. One of the projects we are most proud of is the Lexus Through the Lens event that took place last year. It was a one day event split between Miami and Palm Beach. The event included securing the exclusive Faena hotel, transporting the media via helicopter from Miami to Palm Beach, renting a mansion for the product introduction, using a camera car and giving hot laps at the Palm Beach International Raceway all while overseeing a multimillion dollar budget for the one day event.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What we like best about Phoenix is that there is such a variety of activities, restaurants and sites to see. You can have breakfast in the city, spend the afternoon up in Sedona and be at the Grand Canyon that night. What we like the least is the heat in the summer, but just getting out of town a few times in the summer gives us the break we need.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.JTGrey.com
• Phone: 602-738-8678
• Email: Teresa@JTGrey.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JTGreyUnlimited/

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