Storytelling has been in Alex Kushneir’s blood since birth. After studying film and television (and playing football) at Baylor University, Alex cut his teeth in the production world working for companies like CNBC, Huffington Post, Cheddar, and more. After just eight years in the industry, Alex and colleague Jay Shetty co-founded Icon Media, a full-service content studio that helps brands create purpose-driven content and emotionally connect with their audiences.

In this episode of Building While Flying, Alex joins Mickey to talk about Icon Media’s origin, the differences between television and digital-first production, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more. He discusses the challenges he faced in the early days of Icon Media—like learning the business side of things and managing a wide variety of clients and asks. Most importantly, Alex emphasizes the need for purpose-driven content, and how brands aligning with a cause leads to deeper, more impactful storytelling.

Other in-flight topics:

• Alex’s background in storytelling, film, and production 
• The birth of Icon Media
• Differences between television production and digital-first
• Working with Arianna Huffington
• Building a startup production company
• How COVID-19 impacted productions and content
• ...and more!