Can you share with us your journey to founding Meptik?
Sarah: Meptik started initially out of my freelance career. After getting my MFA at SCAD in motion design, I built off my previous experience in live event video and began working primarily on projection mapping projects (i.e., projecting on buildings or scenic elements and making them come to life via custom visuals created specifically for those surfaces). After freelancing a few years, I met my partner, Nick, who was working as a touring video engineer. He decided to get off the road, and we started working on projects together. As those projects grew, we brought on people to help us with them, and Meptik grew from there.
How does it feel to be a woman in the industry and what challenges have you faced?
Sarah: Especially early on, I experienced sexism at times – usually from old male roadies in the events industry. I’ve often found myself fighting against a default assumption from the other party that, because I’m female, I don’t know as much or am not as capable as a male in my position. This led me, at times, to have to work harder to prove my expertise than I might otherwise have had to.
That being said, though, I’ve been very proud Meptik is a female-founded studio, and I’ve been proud of everything we’ve been able to accomplish in our almost ten years of business. Throughout our history, we’ve been able to maintain a gender balance of roughly 50% of our employees being female, and we are always working to continue to bring more diversity to Meptik. We always want to make sure that every employee has a voice and a seat at the table, regardless of gender, race or orientation.
What’s the most rewarding part of your job at Meptik?
Sarah: I really enjoy the strategy side of things and making a plan and seeing it come together. It’s been fun to set goals for Meptik and see us continue to blow them out of the water. I also really enjoy the culture side of things and am proud of the team culture we’ve built here. I love seeing our employees grow and thrive in their roles. We’re also just a really fun group, and I love hanging out with the team.
How do you balance your professional life with your personal life?
Sarah: It’s always a challenge, especially because my business partner is also my husband! But we try our best to set boundaries around our work time and personal time. Having kids has definitely helped us maintain more of a balance than we used to.
Can you tell us about a project you’re particularly proud of at Meptik?
Sarah: One of my favorite projects we’ve done was several years ago for Drunk Elephant. We designed a series of tradeshow booths for them, and they were such a great client. They were always open to our wacky ideas on how to engage their customers, and our booth concepts spanned from an interactive acid trip to animatronic roses.
How do you think being a woman has impacted your approach to leadership and business?
Sarah: I think it’s made me more mindful of bias, and it’s made me really want to ensure that Meptik is a place that gives everyone a fair shot.
What advice would you give to young women who aspire to start their own companies?
Sarah: If you have an idea you feel confident in, do it! I love to see other women entrepreneurs. We are here, and we have great ideas! Aside from general entrepreneurial advice, I would say specifically to women, “You deserve to be here, your ideas are just as valid, and keep going, even when it gets tough.”
How has Meptik contributed to the empowerment of women in the industry?
Sarah: We’ve hired several women in traditionally technical roles, which tend to skew more male. The more women take on roles that tend to be more traditionally male, the more diversity there will be in the industry.
What are your future plans for Meptik and how do you see it evolving in the next few years?
Sarah: Meptik has experienced significant growth over the past few years, especially since joining Disguise. As we continue to grow, we’re focused on being the premier choice for virtual production and immersive entertainment in the industry.
