January 9, 2025 • 42 mins
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What if the journey to success meant reinventing yourself in an entirely new industry and a new country? Berti Skenderasi's story begins in Albania and winds through a diverse career path, eventually landing him in the volume photography business in the United States. Through determination, resilience, and a touch of serendipity, Skenderasi shifted from politics and computer repair to discovering his true calling behind the camera. Hear how his time at Lifetouch ignited a passion for school photography, setting him on a path to build his own thriving business.
The conversation takes a closer look at Skenderasi's entrepreneurial journey, where he identified opportunities beyond conventional photography services. With a keen sense for business and leveraging his import-export experience, Skenderasi expanded his offerings to include essential school supplies, even tackling challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. By fostering strong relationships and attending pivotal industry events, Skenderasi not only overcame self-imposed limitations but also created a niche that set him apart in the school photography sector.
Tune in to understand how Skenderasi's story intertwines with the larger narrative of adapting to technological advancements, and connect with him through his platforms for more insights.
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Hosted and produced by Gary Pageau
Edited by Olivia Pageau
Announcer: Erin Manning
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Erin Manning (00:02):
Welcome to the Dead Pixel Society podcast, the
photo imaging industry's leadingnews source.
Here's your host, Gary Pageau.
The Dead Pixel Society podcastis brought to you by Mediaclip,
Advertek Printing andIndependent Photo Imagers.
Gary Pageau (00:18):
Hello again and welcome to the Dead Pixels
Society podcast.
I'm your host, Gary Pageau.
Today we're joined by BertiSkenderasi, who's coming to us
from New Jersey.
He's the owner of Proud Imagesand he's got a great story to
tell.
Hi, Berti, how are you today?
Hi, Gary, I'm good.
You are a prominent personalityin the volume photography
(00:40):
business and you've got a greatstory about how you came to this
country.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhere you came from and how you
got into this business?
Berti Skenderasi (00:50):
So I'm not sure if I'm prominent personnel,
but everyone knows you by yourfirst name.
Gary Pageau (00:56):
So yes, you are prominent.
Berti Skenderasi (00:57):
I came from Albania in 2013 here in the
United States, I joined my wife.
She came here before me throughher parents, she got her
citizenship and then I joinedher Back home.
I had completely differentthoughts and ideas what I wanted
to do in the States, and when Icame here and met with the
(01:21):
reality, I kind of wanted torecreate myself Because, for
anyone that comes in the country, we knew America completely
under the different optics thanwhat it actually is.
Initially I said I want nothingto do with what I've done in
the past.
Uh, you know meaning, I wasinvolved in politics.
(01:45):
Uh, I, I was a middleman ofhelping companies import
products from china and whatnot.
I said you know what?
I kind of want to become aphotographer now, and my thought
process was that I wanted tobecome a wedding slash fashion
photographer.
Thanks god that didn't happen.
Um, because I would haveprobably quit a year after.
(02:11):
In the circumstances where Iwas uh, you know that we just
had our son.
I needed a job and the veryfirst company I found that was
hiring without needing to be aphotographer was Lifetouch.
So I applied.
I got almost accepted directlyover the phone.
(02:34):
Actually, no, I had aninterview.
It blew my mind how theprocesses were handled and how
you could possibly photograph600, 700 students in a day.
A year after, I still decidedthat I came for the American
(02:56):
dream.
I wanted to own my business.
So I decided to jump on theworld of entrepreneurship and
opened a computer repairbusiness Over there.
We pretty much tried the bestwe could, without really being
receptive to what the marketlooked like, and we did fail
(03:23):
successfully.
You've failed successfully.
What does that mean?
Um, well, it meant that for ayear, um, you know, we tried to
without again, we're, we'retrying to offer a service that
it's almost, uh, irrelevant,meaning people can simply return
their, their, you know,electronic purchases for a
replacement right and somethingthat actually in in it's big,
(03:45):
like you know, in Europe, thereare.
You know, most of the peopledon't have the commodity and
luxury we have here to.
You know, six months after, oryou buy a protection plan and a
year after you bought thecomputer, you can simply return
it for replacement Right.
So, and you know, I had somesavings which, you know, I
(04:06):
depleted fast.
And now I'm, you know, I'm, youknow, after, after having a
really chilling conversationwith my wife over the dinner
table, I said what do I want todo now?
Said well, the way I want to donow.
And you know it's, it's not.
I remember it.
You know vividly today whereI'm.
(04:34):
For the first time in my lifeI've I'm finding myself with no
direction.
Like which direction I want togo, because my my college degree
in hospitality that I from mymaster's degree in political
marketing meant nothing.
So I'm between two choices oftrying to find a job, hopefully
still in the photography realm,or try again.
(04:59):
But at the very same moment Iremember having only our last
$400, not even enough for thenext month's rent.
Right.
And I strongly believe thatmost of the successful men have
had an actual successful womanbehind them.
(05:20):
And I was lucky enough where mywife said I'd rather you regret
trying than not trying, right.
So you know, if that's what youwant to pursue, just go for it
Right.
And I remember pulling the listof schools from the Department
of Education website in my areaeducation website in my area.
(05:44):
I feel we're lucky here becausein a five miles radius we have
at least where I am at, it'sprobably 180 schools.
Okay, so I started cold callingand, as you notice, I didn't
have the best accent.
Gary Pageau (06:05):
Has your accent gotten better since then, or was
it pretty bad at that time?
Berti Skenderasi (06:08):
I knew English before I came here.
Gary Pageau (06:10):
Yeah, I was going to say you're pretty fluent.
Berti Skenderasi (06:13):
But I didn't have the American English taught
back home, and it's funnybecause I grew up in communism
I'm a 1980s kid and we had onlythe only language foreign
language we had back in schoolswas Russian Right and at that
(06:35):
time was forbidden to learnEnglish.
Okay, because the English wasthe language of imperialists and
the enemies and you know andwhatnot.
Ironically, my Russian teacher,she knew English, she was
self-taught, so my father hiredher to come privately in our
(06:56):
home to the Russian book, aRussian language book, which
inside of it, the, the englishbook, was hidden.
Okay, so for the public, thiswas, you know, she was coming us
to teach russian yeah whileprivately, she was teaching us
english me and both of mysisters okay.
(07:17):
however, when I came here uh,part of the you know, settling
in the reality I realized that,although I'm speaking English,
nobody understands me, and itwas a process.
The experience of working forLifetouch traveling across
Jersey, connecticut and whatnothelped me progress quite fast on
(07:45):
my english.
Gary Pageau (07:45):
Yeah, in english, and the three into the deep end
right away yeah,
Berti Skenderasi (07:49):
but regardless .
so you know, I start coldcalling schools.
Um, remember I had to set upkind of an office in my bedroom,
in one of my bedrooms.
We're living then in a tinyapartment it was still a
three-bedroom apartment but wasreally tiny, uh, smaller than a
dorm room and that's where Istarted calling, uh, schools
(08:09):
because I really wanted to getserious about you know, I really
wanted to have an office, abusiness line um, in which I
didn't have the money to affordpaying one of these services, uh
, where you have side vr.
So I decided to learn how tobuild my phone system Because I
still realized that many peoplewould want to feel they're
(08:29):
talking to a real company, right, when they, you know, call in
an IVR response and all thatstuff.
And remember calling close to105 schools and I know obviously
I was getting the, you know theflat out, no right, exactly,
(08:49):
photographer, the you know Inever I didn't want to give up,
so I continued calling until the108th school um said, hey, yeah
, we do have a photographer, butyeah, let's, let's meet up and
let's see what you got right Iwent in that meeting with, I
remember, with just a lettersize introduction, what we do.
I still wanted to do what I wastrained working for Lifetouch
(09:12):
senior pictures.
Originally that was the planand as I'm sitting there with
them I realized they alreadyhave a well-established company
serving them, have awell-established company serving
them.
And in my previous life salestraining I always knew that I
had to have the last thingbefore I walked out the door
that I could throw at them asI'm walking out.
(09:36):
They're talking about thecommission.
I said have you guys got anycommission from the company
you're working on?
And said, yeah, we do.
I said did the company everprovide you a detailed report on
what that commission was madeof?
Because a school populationthere were these big charter
schools of 3,000 students Havinga $500 commission.
(09:59):
It just doesn't feel right tome.
That spiked their curiosity.
So they reached out to thecompany they're working with and
the company flat out refused toprovide that information.
So, fast forward, a week afterthis meeting they called me and
said well, you got the business.
And I'm like, okay Now, andthis is the very moment where I
(10:20):
realized that this is quite someundertaking, moment where I
realized that this is quite someundertaking, because they
wanted their service items IDcards and whatnot At the same
(10:41):
time.
This is summer of 2015, wherethe first SPAC that I attended
was happening in.
East Right.
I drive there with a friend ofmine which I met working for
LifeDutch and that's where I sawfirsthand the independent world
of volume photographers Right,how knowledge was dispersed and
(11:02):
how people were.
Initially it felt like a littletight club of people in their
own circles.
But I remember vividly PaulSchultz, one of the veterans in
the industry, took me literallyby hand and made sure I was
introduced to.
You know Tim McCain fromPhotoLinks, marathon Lab,
(11:26):
richmond, pro Lab people, peoplewho I really needed to follow
up and get set up for mybusiness.
Right.
And then I do the very first joband my thought process is if
I'm replacing my income workingfor this company, for LifeTouch,
this will win for me.
And I'll never forget themoment when we did the first
(11:50):
three schools.
Me and Juan were sitting in myliving room and we're opening
the cash envelopes, and that wasit Like when I saw what we were
able to collect in these threepicture days.
I think this is it.
I want to pursue this to allthis extent and pretty much the
(12:10):
rest is kind of history.
The goal was not necessarilybeing just a photographer.
Over time, and I mean in thepast year and a half, I realized
that these schools are having alot of needs.
I probably can helpintermediate, and this was
(12:31):
coming from me being a middleman, where I used to source
products and items andmachineries and whatnot from
China.
Gary Pageau (12:40):
You know I was going to ask about that because
I remember at one of the SPACsit was around COVID, it was
during COVID and you weretalking about how you kind of
opened up this whole other lineof business to provide supplies
to schools, cleaning suppliesand things they need, and I was
going to say that tied directlyinto your import-export
(13:03):
experience.
So talk a little bit about that.
Let's kind of jump ahead alittle bit.
You're in the business only fora few years, four or five years
.
Berti Skenderasi (13:12):
Yeah, not even two years.
And one of the things thatkeeps us from accomplishing
heights is our own fears.
We fit into this like weprecondition ourselves that, oh
no, no, I'm just a car mechanic.
I don't think I can become arealtor or real estate.
(13:34):
Unfortunately, the human mindis conditioned to stay within
the safe boundaries theyperceive.
And yes, I was definitelyhungry.
Uh, not just necessary formoney, but also the idea of
being in the, you know it was.
(13:54):
It was really exciting to bekind of a supermarket, uh
thought process.
And I remember being laughed atwhen I first time, you know I
introduced first time like, asschool photographers, we can
provide more than justphotography.
I I vividly remember a fewfaces you know doing, you know,
uh, you know smirks like whatare these guys talking about?
(14:15):
You know?
right, yeah was this guy with athick accent telling us what to
do in our business.
But, um, regardless, my goal wasto uh be relevant and uh like
kind of be a hero, and this islong before covid right I
remember one day, going to oneof the schools, were about to
(14:37):
set up in a place where they hadand that was the aha moment
they had purchased pallets withpaper which they had placed them
into the location that we'resupposed to set up our lights,
and I asked hey, can we dosomething about this?
Can we move this stuff away sowe can set up?
(15:00):
And they said no, and it struckto me, can set up.
And they said no, and it itstruck to me.
I said so, my service is lessimportant than a palette of uh
paper.
And that's where I said, youknow, I decided you know what I
definitely want to offer more,you know, uh, increase the
amount of important servicesthat now I'm relevant to the
(15:22):
school right you know because?
know because, as photographers,we like to think that what we do
is important.
However, I do believe it's thelast thing in the list of
important things the schoolneeds addressed.
Gary Pageau (15:37):
Right, it's important, but it's certainly
not one of the first 10 they getup in the morning and worry
about.
So I simply ask.
Berti Skenderasi (15:42):
They get up in the morning and worry about it.
So I simply ask hey, do youthink I can?
You know like I started toinquire and this is obviously a
relationship business, right?
So I approached to theprincipal, remembering, I said
do you mind giving me some moreinformation about the paper you
bought and where you bought it?
The paper you bought and whereyou bought it, and I already had
(16:05):
, you know, my printing side ofthe business, you know, lined up
with my wholesaler and that'swhere we, you know, I see that
they overpaid significantly forthe paper.
I said do you mind if I offeryou, you know, a price, a quote
on your next supply?
And the next thing I knew thedistrict went with me and I
(16:29):
remember buying the firsttruckload of paper on their
behalf, like I'm selling themthe paper.
Right.
And then from that point wasokay, I can ask anything.
You know, and janitorialsupplies which are typically in
the wholesaler paper business,there are these.
(16:52):
The companies will also havejanitorial supplies, you know,
wholesale.
And again, this is pre-COVIDwe're talking about and that's
what I remember the first time Imentioned it.
You know we can sell toiletpaper if need to be, and it was
one of the SPAC chats.
I remember and I can neverforget again the smirk of people
(17:16):
on that chat, the very samepeople who you know during COVID
.
They were literally crying,thinking their business would
die In the brink of.
You know, there's a business.
Gary Pageau (17:26):
Exactly, it was a rough time, absolutely.
Berti Skenderasi (17:29):
Now, ironically, I had a supply.
I mean, I had a purchase orderabout to be delivered.
Right when people were freakingout on toilet paper, I reached
out to the school, knowing thatthe school actually would be,
you know, closed, so they wouldnot necessarily be needing the
supply.
(17:49):
And we come to an intoagreement that I could redirect
that purchase order to adifferent, to a different buyer,
obviously providing that supply, that purchase order, at a
later time.
(18:09):
And I will never forget that itwas a bidding war in the
wholesale.
Exactly, that was the veryfirst best money I ever made,
selling that truckload of youknow.
Uh, yes, so, honestly, the thethe thought process was that
(18:31):
we're, at the end of the day,we're a service provider and
what we really want to careabout is how fast, how good, we
provide services to our clientand how and how cheap and how
that affects our, our bottomline right, because certainly
you got to make money right.
Gary Pageau (18:48):
I mean, if you're selling paper, you got to make
money yeah, you know so.
Berti Skenderasi (18:53):
So now we're not even talking about the
photography uh business, likeyou know, okay, because
obviously for a know a goodamount of time, our service was
completely irrelevant and then,right about that time, there was
also election time where allthese local and county elections
(19:15):
were happening.
So now you know, thepoliticians running for the
office are trying to do anoutreach on the community in a
safe manner.
Right, I photographed, wephotographed all the graduation
pictures.
In January, right Right beforeSPAC, I reached out to one of
the campaigns.
I said, hey, I do have theseclose to 1,500 graduation
(19:40):
pictures of middle schoolersthat we photographed.
If you guys want to do anoutreach, maybe you can buy.
Another challenge for thesecampaigns were that they had all
this money raised but theycouldn't spend it because there
was nothing.
Gary Pageau (19:55):
Because they couldn't have events, they
couldn't have gatherings.
Berti Skenderasi (19:58):
They couldn't have all this stuff Yet they
wanted to do some, you know someoutreach right?
I said what if I provided you Imean you buy this in bulk.
By bulk I'm meaning a decentpricing compared to the retail,
yet maybe a very good marginright there.
And you guys do the walkout, asyou're trying to do in the
(20:23):
neighborhood.
They're like well, this soundsexciting, I said.
However, I'm going to provideyou a system in which you will
know the routes you need to goto.
And as you stop by, you offerthis as a gift to your
constituents.
I get a purchase order for allof them for 2,000 times.
(20:47):
And at the same time theschools itself wanted to do
their outreach.
Mind you, schools I meanfortunately and unfortunately at
the same time, because this wasmoney that would have that
effect.
The aftermath we had inflationand stuff, but schools
(21:07):
themselves wanted to do thesevirtual graduation ceremonies
and how to get you know.
So now my tech skills to be ableto put you know quickly, in a
user-friendly manner, softwarethat they can utilize to
outreach to their schoolcommunity was again an extra
(21:31):
step to make myself and mybusiness get out of the.
This is the picture guy to.
This is our guy.
Right.
Gary Pageau (21:43):
Berti's, our guy Right this is our guy.
Berti Skenderasi (21:46):
Right, you know he's our guy.
Yeah, and you know, and in theprocess, like this now allows,
you know we're.
We have a perfect setup because, remember, school trusts us
with the most crucial andimportant information.
Right, they give us the studentrosters that we need to process
the picture day.
Some of the schools willprovide parent contacts and all
(22:08):
that stuff.
So the trust it's already there, right, and if you're trusted
with this critical information,then anything else it's possible
for you to offer and provide,right, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
One of the problems was their delivery for their
capping gowns right because theystill wanted to wear.
Berti Skenderasi (22:31):
The students needed to wear these capping
gowns, although the graduationwas virtual was weird, but yet
you know.
So now the challenge was how dowe efficiently distribute this?
Gary Pageau (22:44):
Right, exactly.
Berti Skenderasi (22:46):
So again, I built a little software which
would give the school the routesthey needed to go to and know
which student was next to dropoff the capping hour.
Right.
So it's a crazy time, scary one, but at the same time I
remember never stopping workingLike I don't remember.
(23:08):
Uh, you know I, you know I.
I kept working throughout thewhole COVID season because
another thing was New Jersey,all the printing business
assigned, uh, made it essential.
Gary Pageau (23:20):
Sure.
Berti Skenderasi (23:21):
So by law I was legally okay to operate the
business, while everybody elsewas shut down.
Gary Pageau (23:29):
Right, because you were a printer.
Berti Skenderasi (23:30):
Yes, yeah, and we're printing here, we're
printing.
This was another asset we'reprinting.
Before they even got homework.
It took close to three months.
Everybody get their laptops.
So in this three months periodI'm printing here and, and you
know, having the help of mygreat friends at district print,
(23:51):
uh, district photo I'm printinghomework for all the districts,
even the districts because,remember, I had only at that
time I only had 15 schools, butI'm serving 40 of them by
selling cap and gowns, diplomacovers.
So I'm printing homework forall of these districts that
(24:14):
they're distributing to theirstudents.
Right.
Hate to say it, butbusiness-wise it was the best
time.
Gary Pageau (24:22):
You know it's tough because you're right.
I mean it was a pandemic, youknow, and there's people getting
sick, people dying.
It was terrible, yeah.
But I've talked to a lot ofpeople, especially in the volume
photography business, where youknow they had the opportunity
to either do something like youdid or they just took the
opportunity to reinvent theirbusiness right.
They went totally digital.
Reinvent their business right,they went totally digital, they
(24:43):
added products, they diddifferent things.
So you don't want to say youknow I had a great pandemic, but
you know the reality is is it's, it was a way for a lot of
people to reinvent theirbusiness, and really that's what
an entrepreneur does.
They see an opportunity andthey have to, you know, jump on
it or take advantage of it insome way.
And you know it's a terrible,terrible thing and we certainly
don't want another one yes buton the other hand you know it
(25:05):
was it it did have a favorableoutcome for some people's uh
businesses.
Look, and this is, and I getgoosebumps because I love this
country.
Berti Skenderasi (25:15):
I'm not afraid to say that I love this country
more than you know.
My previous one right, becausethe previous one I didn't choose
it.
Right.
But I did choose this country.
But this is the soul of America.
You know coming back stronger,innovating.
You know resolving aroundcrisis and whatnot.
(25:41):
Right, right, yeah, and this iswhat makes this country the
greatest on earth.
Like I've seen, I've traveledclose to 37 countries in my life
.
You know I lived in China forsome time.
Nothing resembles what Americadoes from what I've seen.
Right.
And this is the soul, and I getit.
(26:03):
Most people try to stay intheir comfort zones and, um, you
know it's it, they'repreconditioned to think that,
well, this is it, um, we'regonna stay where we are.
I mean, um, mentally,emotionally, uh, you know,
professionally, uh, don't fix itif it ain't broke.
Um kind of mentality which youknow it works for.
(26:24):
Don't fix it if it ain't broke.
Kind of mentality which youknow it works for.
Some people They'll conservewhat they have, but gosh, we're
living in the best times of ourlife.
That's why you know like theaccess to knowledge today is
it's fast and it's cheap.
Gary Pageau (26:41):
And it's you know.
I tell people, when I run intopeople who have that perspective
, I say you know we're living inpeak humanity, right?
I mean this is, you know, it'sonly going to get better in the
future, right?
So let's talk a little bitabout the future, because you've
been dabbling in it, right?
You've actually been doing somethings with technology that are
kind of futuristic, and that'sone of the reasons why I reached
(27:03):
out to you for the podcast wasto talk to you a little bit
about you know how you got here,where you are now, but also
where you're going, and can youtalk a little bit about that
project?
Berti Skenderasi (27:11):
So, yes, I got first introduced to and I've
been always passionate about thecomputers and technology.
Gary Pageau (27:18):
Yeah, obviously you had a computer repair business.
Berti Skenderasi (27:20):
Yeah, yeah, throughout my whole life.
But the very first seriousintroduction I had into tech was
close to four years ago, whereall these big companies, they're
inviting beta testers of anybackground and professional
skill set to join their privategroups and they're talking about
(27:43):
something called machinelearning.
Right.
And honestly, having a littlealso background in industrial
machines, I went to tech school.
I'm an electrician andelectronics repair by trade.
Initially it's funny becausemachine learning to me made me
(28:03):
think this was about a physicalmachine that is capable of
learning which it is.
There's a computer who you putit to start learning right.
Yeah.
And then I joined these groupsand I'm looking at it and
there's a plethora ofbackgrounds and people coming
(28:25):
into space.
There's people from working inmedical offices or you know
people of different trades whokind of want to, you know, start
getting to this.
I remember that one of thecritical sources needed for
machine learning were imageryRight, and at that time the
(28:52):
sourcing of these images was notsomething that was readily
available.
Right, typically a weddingphotographer may not have the
volume we guys have.
I would compare a 15 school ora 10 school volume.
Business size may have close to10 to 20 times more photography
(29:19):
content than a weddingphotographer been working for 10
years photography content thana wedding photographer been
working for 10 years.
Right, and the way, the waytypically these beta tester
groups work, they give youaccess or they give you a
package they call it a sandboxwhere you can locally install it
on your computer and starttraining it for specific tasks
(29:40):
on those images right andthey're only, they're only
exchange.
They don't want your images, butthey want the output.
Gary Pageau (29:47):
Uh, that the model, um the training looked at right
if it was looking for eyes openor eyes closed or whatever they
want the data set, but not theactual image.
Berti Skenderasi (29:56):
Yes, yes, not the I, because you know it
becomes also also storageextensive when you look at that.
So that's where I realized thatthe power of this new tech
emerging, it's just phenomenal.
And at the same time I'm mostlya one man show Right and I've
(30:18):
been a big believer inautomation, because at the time
I said well, being againinspired from my first employer
in the United States, I saidthis company is the largest in
the world.
Photograph is close to 60% atthat time of all schools in the
(30:38):
United States and it's all aboutthe software.
Right the united states, andit's all about the software,
right they're.
They're the idea that theycould operate this uh business
with I with all due respect toall my former colleagues uh, the
fact that they would hiretelling you you don't need to be
a photographer, we'll train you.
Right, this was not aboutphotography, but this was about
(30:59):
efficiency yeah, yeah, it wasabout data and efficiency.
Yeah, like, how do you make asolid and dump-proof system that
is consistent across the board?
Right.
And that was the source ofinspiration, where I said well,
I cannot afford to hire five orsix full-timers for now to do
(31:21):
image processing and data entryand whatnot.
So my sole focus was how do Inow learn to automate processes?
Right.
Doesn't require an actual humanto interact with.
Right.
And as I got along and I got myhands on the machine learning,
I saw the potential was enormous.
(31:42):
Right.
And this is long before chatGPT became public to everyone
else.
Right.
And the.
Its ability to predict resultswas insane and I remember like
you could and that's where Istill you know go back to we're
(32:03):
living in the best time of ourlives, because now my
12-year-old son knows probably alot better than someone who
graduated computer engineeringin the 2000s Right, exactly, and
he's only 12.
Obviously he has the motivationto pursue, but the idea that
(32:27):
now you can feed any data set tothese models and be able to
predict and build a solidfoundational workflow on almost
anything you could think of isjust power so?
Gary Pageau (32:41):
so what is it that you and what was the problem you
were trying to solve by gettinginvolved with this, uh, these
machine models?
Berti Skenderasi (32:50):
uh, my problem was I wanted this was my dream.
Uh, setup.
The minute I take the pictureit's all being edited, first
being selected which pose is thebest, second being edited
meaning skin color, if needed tobe changed I mean color
correction, background removaland then imposed into the
(33:11):
package.
And then come to my print.
Uh, press ready to be printedright without the human touch
right and this was the problemthat I wanted to solve in terms
of shortening the amount of time.
Gary Pageau (33:25):
Aren't there some of the vendors sort of already
offering some of those things?
Your photo links, your gotphotos.
Berti Skenderasi (33:32):
Correct.
Gary Pageau (33:33):
Aren't they offering similar things to this?
Berti Skenderasi (33:35):
Correct and that was you know, with like the
.
But first I wanted to own it,right, okay Right, okay Right.
And I wanted to pipeline itthat I don't have to touch it at
certain points, meaning, withall the great services this
company offers, you still haveto bring your images to another
(34:00):
stage, then be properly vettedand selected and then to the
next stage of being processed sothey feel the human input that
it's needed, right?
My dream scenario was zerohuman input.
Right.
And I own it.
Right okay, Because two thingsI got the inspiration from
(34:25):
Chances of you winning thebattle and this I go really back
in history when Romans went towar with Persians.
Right.
When the Romans lost the firstbattle was because Romans tried
to replicate what Persians weregood at fighting.
So Persians were good fightingstanding while the Romans used
(34:50):
cavalry.
Romans decided to fightstanding with Persians.
Right.
And that's where they lost Right.
So, coming back to our days,how do you win using everyone
else?
Tools?
Right maybe you do, but you'restill dependent on the features
(35:15):
someone else is providing.
Gary Pageau (35:17):
So you're looking at a standpoint of you know if
you're competing against Xcompany, which uses the same
platform.
Which is using the sameplatform.
What is the difference, right,Other than the relationships you
build?
And things like that yes.
Berti Skenderasi (35:31):
So now we're able to when we go and take
pictures at the school.
Um, one of the what again goingback to the logic that were the
last important thing in theimportant list of schools is
they want their admin pictures.
Uh, as soon as possible,because, instead of new jersey,
there is a requirement that theyshould have, at the beginning
(35:52):
of the school year, updated, astudent directory including
images, right, why don't we dothis as our second year?
As we're taking pictures, it'staking close to 20 seconds
between having the picture taken, selected which one, and
locally saved.
So by the time we're done withpicture day, we hand the
(36:15):
download or the USB of the adminfiles the school needs.
That allows me to really focuson what's most important aspect
of it, which is selling.
There is a lot of potential,where we're actually working on
it, to innovate, because itcomes down to selling.
How do you capture payment?
(36:37):
How do you sell?
How do you innovate?
The experience, right.
The experience and the irony ofour business is that our dollar
payer is not the decision maker.
Gary Pageau (36:49):
Right, exactly, exactly Right.
Berti Skenderasi (36:52):
Exactly, exactly.
So now it's quite of aninteresting perspective because
you're the decision maker hascompletely a different set of
needs, right, the person whoactually pays you dollars for
your product.
It is a very unique business inthat extent because your client
(37:16):
is the school, not necessarilymom.
Yeah, and the school say, likeyour only goal is not, like the
school wants you not to mess itup and have almost no friction
with parents, while the parentsare looking for options, instant
deliveries and whatnot, whichis another, you know, challenge
in itself.
Gary Pageau (37:29):
So this is a system that you develop yourself.
You're now using CorrectCorrect and are you integrating
it with other pieces, or can youdo the entire workflow yourself
?
Berti Skenderasi (37:38):
As of now, the only piece we're using is we
have our own shopping cart.
I'm still using one of thegreatest softwares ever created
in our industry PhotoLinks Flowcreated in our industry.
(37:58):
Photolinks Flow to when we do.
Usually, that is a databaseslash image rendering engine for
our local printing.
95% of our production ishands-free.
Right.
Our model now, because we'reable to train, uh over the
archive of the images.
Our model now is getting it's.
(38:21):
It's always in learning modeand always looks for, you know,
image flows that you knowdifferentiates and makes the
process automation.
So from pressing the button onthe camera to having a picture
lined up on our production pressto be printed, it's close to a
minute and 20 seconds, okay,which typically it's a process
(38:45):
that takes days in a traditionalsetting.
Gary Pageau (38:48):
So what's your plan with this?
Is this to you know, keep it inyour own little world, or you
know, use it as a competitiveadvantage, or open source it, or
what's your?
What's your plan with this?
Is this to keep it in your ownlittle world, or use it as a
competitive advantage, or opensource it, or what's your idea?
Berti Skenderasi (38:59):
My plan is to, at some point I want to
monetize on this, in a sense ofnot necessarily being a
traditional software, as aservice model.
The ultimate goal of owning abusiness is to build it and sell
it Right, whenever that timecomes.
I do believe that theintellectual property of any
(39:22):
business it's what the assets,like the most vital and valuable
asset a business can have.
Right.
If I do believe that thesoftware that I've built using
AI, I did like I had a littleminimal background on coding but
(39:43):
over time, using AI to teach mecoding, I, I coded.
I hired developers at somestage to, you know, tidy up the
software.
I hired developers at somestage to tidy up the software.
But the bottom line is mysoftware replaces at least six
full-time workers.
Right.
The goal is to offer this A as acustom-built software to
(40:08):
someone, because you can onlyvalue the importance of this
software when you have a certainamount of volume right.
If you're a 20 plus schoolsbusiness, that's where you see
the value of this software right.
Because you pretty much needhumans to go and have pictures
(40:29):
taken before.
We're going to be able to buyrobots to do our job, which I'm
excited and looking forward to.
Imagine walking to a schoolwith an army of robots too.
Gary Pageau (40:44):
Don't you like people, Berti?
I always thought you were apeople person.
Berti Skenderasi (40:48):
I am, I am and I do believe the people have
the opportunity to realign theskills Because, look, everybody
has this huge expectation aboutAI.
Oh, ai can do this.
Oh, why don't AI do this?
Ai is just your ability toinstruct what to do Right.
(41:09):
It can have a total differentresult for a minor tweak on your
instruction.
Right.
And people will have to getaccommodated to really get onto
this faster.
Specialize and this is fromNVIDIA CEO.
(41:29):
When he had that keynote speechsaid everybody wanted to be a
software programmer 10 years ago.
Scratch that idea now.
Go and specialize yourself intosomething biology or marine or
anything and then leverage AI tobe better at it.
(41:50):
Right yeah.
And that's where us we need toreally focus on now, because we
can be obsolete in a blink of aneye.
Gary Pageau (42:03):
Right, well, this has been a great conversation.
Where can people go to get moreinformation about you, your and
your company, and maybe want tojust chat with you?
Where can people reach out toyou?
Berti Skenderasi (42:16):
I can be reached out on LinkedIn Birdies
Confederacy, my website, I meanI have my proudimagescom website
, in which it's just a customerfacing software as of now, and
also I do haveimagineofficialcom website,
(42:37):
which is kind of a demo of whatthe software that I built can do
.
Gary Pageau (42:41):
Okay, awesome, well great, bernie, it's been great
talking to you, as alwaysLooking forward.
Hopefully I'll see you at SPACin 2025 and we'll talk then.
Yeah, looking forward to it.
Welcome to the Dead Pixel Society podcast, the
photo imaging industry's leadingnews source.
Here's your host, Gary Pageau.
The Dead Pixel Society podcastis brought to you by Mediaclip,
Advertek Printing andIndependent Photo Imagers.
Gary Pageau (00:18):
Hello again and welcome to the Dead Pixels
Society podcast.
I'm your host, Gary Pageau.
Today we're joined by BertiSkenderasi, who's coming to us
from New Jersey.
He's the owner of Proud Imagesand he's got a great story to
tell.
Hi, Berti, how are you today?
Hi, Gary, I'm good.
You are a prominent personalityin the volume photography
(00:40):
business and you've got a greatstory about how you came to this
country.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhere you came from and how you
got into this business?
Berti Skenderasi (00:50):
So I'm not sure if I'm prominent personnel,
but everyone knows you by yourfirst name.
Gary Pageau (00:56):
So yes, you are prominent.
Berti Skenderasi (00:57):
I came from Albania in 2013 here in the
United States, I joined my wife.
She came here before me throughher parents, she got her
citizenship and then I joinedher Back home.
I had completely differentthoughts and ideas what I wanted
to do in the States, and when Icame here and met with the
(01:21):
reality, I kind of wanted torecreate myself Because, for
anyone that comes in the country, we knew America completely
under the different optics thanwhat it actually is.
Initially I said I want nothingto do with what I've done in
the past.
Uh, you know meaning, I wasinvolved in politics.
(01:45):
Uh, I, I was a middleman ofhelping companies import
products from china and whatnot.
I said you know what?
I kind of want to become aphotographer now, and my thought
process was that I wanted tobecome a wedding slash fashion
photographer.
Thanks god that didn't happen.
Um, because I would haveprobably quit a year after.
(02:11):
In the circumstances where Iwas uh, you know that we just
had our son.
I needed a job and the veryfirst company I found that was
hiring without needing to be aphotographer was Lifetouch.
So I applied.
I got almost accepted directlyover the phone.
(02:34):
Actually, no, I had aninterview.
It blew my mind how theprocesses were handled and how
you could possibly photograph600, 700 students in a day.
A year after, I still decidedthat I came for the American
(02:56):
dream.
I wanted to own my business.
So I decided to jump on theworld of entrepreneurship and
opened a computer repairbusiness Over there.
We pretty much tried the bestwe could, without really being
receptive to what the marketlooked like, and we did fail
(03:23):
successfully.
You've failed successfully.
What does that mean?
Um, well, it meant that for ayear, um, you know, we tried to
without again, we're, we'retrying to offer a service that
it's almost, uh, irrelevant,meaning people can simply return
their, their, you know,electronic purchases for a
replacement right and somethingthat actually in in it's big,
(03:45):
like you know, in Europe, thereare.
You know, most of the peopledon't have the commodity and
luxury we have here to.
You know, six months after, oryou buy a protection plan and a
year after you bought thecomputer, you can simply return
it for replacement Right.
So, and you know, I had somesavings which, you know, I
(04:06):
depleted fast.
And now I'm, you know, I'm, youknow, after, after having a
really chilling conversationwith my wife over the dinner
table, I said what do I want todo now?
Said well, the way I want to donow.
And you know it's, it's not.
I remember it.
You know vividly today whereI'm.
(04:34):
For the first time in my lifeI've I'm finding myself with no
direction.
Like which direction I want togo, because my my college degree
in hospitality that I from mymaster's degree in political
marketing meant nothing.
So I'm between two choices oftrying to find a job, hopefully
still in the photography realm,or try again.
(04:59):
But at the very same moment Iremember having only our last
$400, not even enough for thenext month's rent.
Right.
And I strongly believe thatmost of the successful men have
had an actual successful womanbehind them.
(05:20):
And I was lucky enough where mywife said I'd rather you regret
trying than not trying, right.
So you know, if that's what youwant to pursue, just go for it
Right.
And I remember pulling the listof schools from the Department
of Education website in my areaeducation website in my area.
(05:44):
I feel we're lucky here becausein a five miles radius we have
at least where I am at, it'sprobably 180 schools.
Okay, so I started cold callingand, as you notice, I didn't
have the best accent.
Gary Pageau (06:05):
Has your accent gotten better since then, or was
it pretty bad at that time?
Berti Skenderasi (06:08):
I knew English before I came here.
Gary Pageau (06:10):
Yeah, I was going to say you're pretty fluent.
Berti Skenderasi (06:13):
But I didn't have the American English taught
back home, and it's funnybecause I grew up in communism
I'm a 1980s kid and we had onlythe only language foreign
language we had back in schoolswas Russian Right and at that
(06:35):
time was forbidden to learnEnglish.
Okay, because the English wasthe language of imperialists and
the enemies and you know andwhatnot.
Ironically, my Russian teacher,she knew English, she was
self-taught, so my father hiredher to come privately in our
(06:56):
home to the Russian book, aRussian language book, which
inside of it, the, the englishbook, was hidden.
Okay, so for the public, thiswas, you know, she was coming us
to teach russian yeah whileprivately, she was teaching us
english me and both of mysisters okay.
(07:17):
however, when I came here uh,part of the you know, settling
in the reality I realized that,although I'm speaking English,
nobody understands me, and itwas a process.
The experience of working forLifetouch traveling across
Jersey, connecticut and whatnothelped me progress quite fast on
(07:45):
my english.
Gary Pageau (07:45):
Yeah, in english, and the three into the deep end
right away yeah,
Berti Skenderasi (07:49):
but regardless .
so you know, I start coldcalling schools.
Um, remember I had to set upkind of an office in my bedroom,
in one of my bedrooms.
We're living then in a tinyapartment it was still a
three-bedroom apartment but wasreally tiny, uh, smaller than a
dorm room and that's where Istarted calling, uh, schools
(08:09):
because I really wanted to getserious about you know, I really
wanted to have an office, abusiness line um, in which I
didn't have the money to affordpaying one of these services, uh
, where you have side vr.
So I decided to learn how tobuild my phone system Because I
still realized that many peoplewould want to feel they're
(08:29):
talking to a real company, right, when they, you know, call in
an IVR response and all thatstuff.
And remember calling close to105 schools and I know obviously
I was getting the, you know theflat out, no right, exactly,
(08:49):
photographer, the you know Inever I didn't want to give up,
so I continued calling until the108th school um said, hey, yeah
, we do have a photographer, butyeah, let's, let's meet up and
let's see what you got right Iwent in that meeting with, I
remember, with just a lettersize introduction, what we do.
I still wanted to do what I wastrained working for Lifetouch
(09:12):
senior pictures.
Originally that was the planand as I'm sitting there with
them I realized they alreadyhave a well-established company
serving them, have awell-established company serving
them.
And in my previous life salestraining I always knew that I
had to have the last thingbefore I walked out the door
that I could throw at them asI'm walking out.
(09:36):
They're talking about thecommission.
I said have you guys got anycommission from the company
you're working on?
And said, yeah, we do.
I said did the company everprovide you a detailed report on
what that commission was madeof?
Because a school populationthere were these big charter
schools of 3,000 students Havinga $500 commission.
(09:59):
It just doesn't feel right tome.
That spiked their curiosity.
So they reached out to thecompany they're working with and
the company flat out refused toprovide that information.
So, fast forward, a week afterthis meeting they called me and
said well, you got the business.
And I'm like, okay Now, andthis is the very moment where I
(10:20):
realized that this is quite someundertaking, moment where I
realized that this is quite someundertaking, because they
wanted their service items IDcards and whatnot At the same
(10:41):
time.
This is summer of 2015, wherethe first SPAC that I attended
was happening in.
East Right.
I drive there with a friend ofmine which I met working for
LifeDutch and that's where I sawfirsthand the independent world
of volume photographers Right,how knowledge was dispersed and
(11:02):
how people were.
Initially it felt like a littletight club of people in their
own circles.
But I remember vividly PaulSchultz, one of the veterans in
the industry, took me literallyby hand and made sure I was
introduced to.
You know Tim McCain fromPhotoLinks, marathon Lab,
(11:26):
richmond, pro Lab people, peoplewho I really needed to follow
up and get set up for mybusiness.
Right.
And then I do the very first joband my thought process is if
I'm replacing my income workingfor this company, for LifeTouch,
this will win for me.
And I'll never forget themoment when we did the first
(11:50):
three schools.
Me and Juan were sitting in myliving room and we're opening
the cash envelopes, and that wasit Like when I saw what we were
able to collect in these threepicture days.
I think this is it.
I want to pursue this to allthis extent and pretty much the
(12:10):
rest is kind of history.
The goal was not necessarilybeing just a photographer.
Over time, and I mean in thepast year and a half, I realized
that these schools are having alot of needs.
I probably can helpintermediate, and this was
(12:31):
coming from me being a middleman, where I used to source
products and items andmachineries and whatnot from
China.
Gary Pageau (12:40):
You know I was going to ask about that because
I remember at one of the SPACsit was around COVID, it was
during COVID and you weretalking about how you kind of
opened up this whole other lineof business to provide supplies
to schools, cleaning suppliesand things they need, and I was
going to say that tied directlyinto your import-export
(13:03):
experience.
So talk a little bit about that.
Let's kind of jump ahead alittle bit.
You're in the business only fora few years, four or five years
.
Berti Skenderasi (13:12):
Yeah, not even two years.
And one of the things thatkeeps us from accomplishing
heights is our own fears.
We fit into this like weprecondition ourselves that, oh
no, no, I'm just a car mechanic.
I don't think I can become arealtor or real estate.
(13:34):
Unfortunately, the human mindis conditioned to stay within
the safe boundaries theyperceive.
And yes, I was definitelyhungry.
Uh, not just necessary formoney, but also the idea of
being in the, you know it was.
(13:54):
It was really exciting to bekind of a supermarket, uh
thought process.
And I remember being laughed atwhen I first time, you know I
introduced first time like, asschool photographers, we can
provide more than justphotography.
I I vividly remember a fewfaces you know doing, you know,
uh, you know smirks like whatare these guys talking about?
(14:15):
You know?
right, yeah was this guy with athick accent telling us what to
do in our business.
But, um, regardless, my goal wasto uh be relevant and uh like
kind of be a hero, and this islong before covid right I
remember one day, going to oneof the schools, were about to
(14:37):
set up in a place where they hadand that was the aha moment
they had purchased pallets withpaper which they had placed them
into the location that we'resupposed to set up our lights,
and I asked hey, can we dosomething about this?
Can we move this stuff away sowe can set up?
(15:00):
And they said no, and it struckto me, can set up.
And they said no, and it itstruck to me.
I said so, my service is lessimportant than a palette of uh
paper.
And that's where I said, youknow, I decided you know what I
definitely want to offer more,you know, uh, increase the
amount of important servicesthat now I'm relevant to the
(15:22):
school right you know because?
know because, as photographers,we like to think that what we do
is important.
However, I do believe it's thelast thing in the list of
important things the schoolneeds addressed.
Gary Pageau (15:37):
Right, it's important, but it's certainly
not one of the first 10 they getup in the morning and worry
about.
So I simply ask.
Berti Skenderasi (15:42):
They get up in the morning and worry about it.
So I simply ask hey, do youthink I can?
You know like I started toinquire and this is obviously a
relationship business, right?
So I approached to theprincipal, remembering, I said
do you mind giving me some moreinformation about the paper you
bought and where you bought it?
The paper you bought and whereyou bought it, and I already had
(16:05):
, you know, my printing side ofthe business, you know, lined up
with my wholesaler and that'swhere we, you know, I see that
they overpaid significantly forthe paper.
I said do you mind if I offeryou, you know, a price, a quote
on your next supply?
And the next thing I knew thedistrict went with me and I
(16:29):
remember buying the firsttruckload of paper on their
behalf, like I'm selling themthe paper.
Right.
And then from that point wasokay, I can ask anything.
You know, and janitorialsupplies which are typically in
the wholesaler paper business,there are these.
(16:52):
The companies will also havejanitorial supplies, you know,
wholesale.
And again, this is pre-COVIDwe're talking about and that's
what I remember the first time Imentioned it.
You know we can sell toiletpaper if need to be, and it was
one of the SPAC chats.
I remember and I can neverforget again the smirk of people
(17:16):
on that chat, the very samepeople who you know during COVID
.
They were literally crying,thinking their business would
die In the brink of.
You know, there's a business.
Gary Pageau (17:26):
Exactly, it was a rough time, absolutely.
Berti Skenderasi (17:29):
Now, ironically, I had a supply.
I mean, I had a purchase orderabout to be delivered.
Right when people were freakingout on toilet paper, I reached
out to the school, knowing thatthe school actually would be,
you know, closed, so they wouldnot necessarily be needing the
supply.
(17:49):
And we come to an intoagreement that I could redirect
that purchase order to adifferent, to a different buyer,
obviously providing that supply, that purchase order, at a
later time.
(18:09):
And I will never forget that itwas a bidding war in the
wholesale.
Exactly, that was the veryfirst best money I ever made,
selling that truckload of youknow.
Uh, yes, so, honestly, the thethe thought process was that
(18:31):
we're, at the end of the day,we're a service provider and
what we really want to careabout is how fast, how good, we
provide services to our clientand how and how cheap and how
that affects our, our bottomline right, because certainly
you got to make money right.
Gary Pageau (18:48):
I mean, if you're selling paper, you got to make
money yeah, you know so.
Berti Skenderasi (18:53):
So now we're not even talking about the
photography uh business, likeyou know, okay, because
obviously for a know a goodamount of time, our service was
completely irrelevant and then,right about that time, there was
also election time where allthese local and county elections
(19:15):
were happening.
So now you know, thepoliticians running for the
office are trying to do anoutreach on the community in a
safe manner.
Right, I photographed, wephotographed all the graduation
pictures.
In January, right Right beforeSPAC, I reached out to one of
the campaigns.
I said, hey, I do have theseclose to 1,500 graduation
(19:40):
pictures of middle schoolersthat we photographed.
If you guys want to do anoutreach, maybe you can buy.
Another challenge for thesecampaigns were that they had all
this money raised but theycouldn't spend it because there
was nothing.
Gary Pageau (19:55):
Because they couldn't have events, they
couldn't have gatherings.
Berti Skenderasi (19:58):
They couldn't have all this stuff Yet they
wanted to do some, you know someoutreach right?
I said what if I provided you Imean you buy this in bulk.
By bulk I'm meaning a decentpricing compared to the retail,
yet maybe a very good marginright there.
And you guys do the walkout, asyou're trying to do in the
(20:23):
neighborhood.
They're like well, this soundsexciting, I said.
However, I'm going to provideyou a system in which you will
know the routes you need to goto.
And as you stop by, you offerthis as a gift to your
constituents.
I get a purchase order for allof them for 2,000 times.
(20:47):
And at the same time theschools itself wanted to do
their outreach.
Mind you, schools I meanfortunately and unfortunately at
the same time, because this wasmoney that would have that
effect.
The aftermath we had inflationand stuff, but schools
(21:07):
themselves wanted to do thesevirtual graduation ceremonies
and how to get you know.
So now my tech skills to be ableto put you know quickly, in a
user-friendly manner, softwarethat they can utilize to
outreach to their schoolcommunity was again an extra
(21:31):
step to make myself and mybusiness get out of the.
This is the picture guy to.
This is our guy.
Right.
Gary Pageau (21:43):
Berti's, our guy Right this is our guy.
Berti Skenderasi (21:46):
Right, you know he's our guy.
Yeah, and you know, and in theprocess, like this now allows,
you know we're.
We have a perfect setup because, remember, school trusts us
with the most crucial andimportant information.
Right, they give us the studentrosters that we need to process
the picture day.
Some of the schools willprovide parent contacts and all
(22:08):
that stuff.
So the trust it's already there, right, and if you're trusted
with this critical information,then anything else it's possible
for you to offer and provide,right, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
One of the problems was their delivery for their
capping gowns right because theystill wanted to wear.
Berti Skenderasi (22:31):
The students needed to wear these capping
gowns, although the graduationwas virtual was weird, but yet
you know.
So now the challenge was how dowe efficiently distribute this?
Gary Pageau (22:44):
Right, exactly.
Berti Skenderasi (22:46):
So again, I built a little software which
would give the school the routesthey needed to go to and know
which student was next to dropoff the capping hour.
Right.
So it's a crazy time, scary one, but at the same time I
remember never stopping workingLike I don't remember.
(23:08):
Uh, you know I, you know I.
I kept working throughout thewhole COVID season because
another thing was New Jersey,all the printing business
assigned, uh, made it essential.
Gary Pageau (23:20):
Sure.
Berti Skenderasi (23:21):
So by law I was legally okay to operate the
business, while everybody elsewas shut down.
Gary Pageau (23:29):
Right, because you were a printer.
Berti Skenderasi (23:30):
Yes, yeah, and we're printing here, we're
printing.
This was another asset we'reprinting.
Before they even got homework.
It took close to three months.
Everybody get their laptops.
So in this three months periodI'm printing here and, and you
know, having the help of mygreat friends at district print,
(23:51):
uh, district photo I'm printinghomework for all the districts,
even the districts because,remember, I had only at that
time I only had 15 schools, butI'm serving 40 of them by
selling cap and gowns, diplomacovers.
So I'm printing homework forall of these districts that
(24:14):
they're distributing to theirstudents.
Right.
Hate to say it, butbusiness-wise it was the best
time.
Gary Pageau (24:22):
You know it's tough because you're right.
I mean it was a pandemic, youknow, and there's people getting
sick, people dying.
It was terrible, yeah.
But I've talked to a lot ofpeople, especially in the volume
photography business, where youknow they had the opportunity
to either do something like youdid or they just took the
opportunity to reinvent theirbusiness right.
They went totally digital.
Reinvent their business right,they went totally digital, they
(24:43):
added products, they diddifferent things.
So you don't want to say youknow I had a great pandemic, but
you know the reality is is it's, it was a way for a lot of
people to reinvent theirbusiness, and really that's what
an entrepreneur does.
They see an opportunity andthey have to, you know, jump on
it or take advantage of it insome way.
And you know it's a terrible,terrible thing and we certainly
don't want another one yes buton the other hand you know it
(25:05):
was it it did have a favorableoutcome for some people's uh
businesses.
Look, and this is, and I getgoosebumps because I love this
country.
Berti Skenderasi (25:15):
I'm not afraid to say that I love this country
more than you know.
My previous one right, becausethe previous one I didn't choose
it.
Right.
But I did choose this country.
But this is the soul of America.
You know coming back stronger,innovating.
You know resolving aroundcrisis and whatnot.
(25:41):
Right, right, yeah, and this iswhat makes this country the
greatest on earth.
Like I've seen, I've traveledclose to 37 countries in my life
.
You know I lived in China forsome time.
Nothing resembles what Americadoes from what I've seen.
Right.
And this is the soul, and I getit.
(26:03):
Most people try to stay intheir comfort zones and, um, you
know it's it, they'repreconditioned to think that,
well, this is it, um, we'regonna stay where we are.
I mean, um, mentally,emotionally, uh, you know,
professionally, uh, don't fix itif it ain't broke.
Um kind of mentality which youknow it works for.
(26:24):
Don't fix it if it ain't broke.
Kind of mentality which youknow it works for.
Some people They'll conservewhat they have, but gosh, we're
living in the best times of ourlife.
That's why you know like theaccess to knowledge today is
it's fast and it's cheap.
Gary Pageau (26:41):
And it's you know.
I tell people, when I run intopeople who have that perspective
, I say you know we're living inpeak humanity, right?
I mean this is, you know, it'sonly going to get better in the
future, right?
So let's talk a little bitabout the future, because you've
been dabbling in it, right?
You've actually been doing somethings with technology that are
kind of futuristic, and that'sone of the reasons why I reached
(27:03):
out to you for the podcast wasto talk to you a little bit
about you know how you got here,where you are now, but also
where you're going, and can youtalk a little bit about that
project?
Berti Skenderasi (27:11):
So, yes, I got first introduced to and I've
been always passionate about thecomputers and technology.
Gary Pageau (27:18):
Yeah, obviously you had a computer repair business.
Berti Skenderasi (27:20):
Yeah, yeah, throughout my whole life.
But the very first seriousintroduction I had into tech was
close to four years ago, whereall these big companies, they're
inviting beta testers of anybackground and professional
skill set to join their privategroups and they're talking about
(27:43):
something called machinelearning.
Right.
And honestly, having a littlealso background in industrial
machines, I went to tech school.
I'm an electrician andelectronics repair by trade.
Initially it's funny becausemachine learning to me made me
(28:03):
think this was about a physicalmachine that is capable of
learning which it is.
There's a computer who you putit to start learning right.
Yeah.
And then I joined these groupsand I'm looking at it and
there's a plethora ofbackgrounds and people coming
(28:25):
into space.
There's people from working inmedical offices or you know
people of different trades whokind of want to, you know, start
getting to this.
I remember that one of thecritical sources needed for
machine learning were imageryRight, and at that time the
(28:52):
sourcing of these images was notsomething that was readily
available.
Right, typically a weddingphotographer may not have the
volume we guys have.
I would compare a 15 school ora 10 school volume.
Business size may have close to10 to 20 times more photography
(29:19):
content than a weddingphotographer been working for 10
years photography content thana wedding photographer been
working for 10 years.
Right, and the way, the waytypically these beta tester
groups work, they give youaccess or they give you a
package they call it a sandboxwhere you can locally install it
on your computer and starttraining it for specific tasks
(29:40):
on those images right andthey're only, they're only
exchange.
They don't want your images, butthey want the output.
Gary Pageau (29:47):
Uh, that the model, um the training looked at right
if it was looking for eyes openor eyes closed or whatever they
want the data set, but not theactual image.
Berti Skenderasi (29:56):
Yes, yes, not the I, because you know it
becomes also also storageextensive when you look at that.
So that's where I realized thatthe power of this new tech
emerging, it's just phenomenal.
And at the same time I'm mostlya one man show Right and I've
(30:18):
been a big believer inautomation, because at the time
I said well, being againinspired from my first employer
in the United States, I saidthis company is the largest in
the world.
Photograph is close to 60% atthat time of all schools in the
(30:38):
United States and it's all aboutthe software.
Right the united states, andit's all about the software,
right they're.
They're the idea that theycould operate this uh business
with I with all due respect toall my former colleagues uh, the
fact that they would hiretelling you you don't need to be
a photographer, we'll train you.
Right, this was not aboutphotography, but this was about
(30:59):
efficiency yeah, yeah, it wasabout data and efficiency.
Yeah, like, how do you make asolid and dump-proof system that
is consistent across the board?
Right.
And that was the source ofinspiration, where I said well,
I cannot afford to hire five orsix full-timers for now to do
(31:21):
image processing and data entryand whatnot.
So my sole focus was how do Inow learn to automate processes?
Right.
Doesn't require an actual humanto interact with.
Right.
And as I got along and I got myhands on the machine learning,
I saw the potential was enormous.
(31:42):
Right.
And this is long before chatGPT became public to everyone
else.
Right.
And the.
Its ability to predict resultswas insane and I remember like
you could and that's where Istill you know go back to we're
(32:03):
living in the best time of ourlives, because now my
12-year-old son knows probably alot better than someone who
graduated computer engineeringin the 2000s Right, exactly, and
he's only 12.
Obviously he has the motivationto pursue, but the idea that
(32:27):
now you can feed any data set tothese models and be able to
predict and build a solidfoundational workflow on almost
anything you could think of isjust power so?
Gary Pageau (32:41):
so what is it that you and what was the problem you
were trying to solve by gettinginvolved with this, uh, these
machine models?
Berti Skenderasi (32:50):
uh, my problem was I wanted this was my dream.
Uh, setup.
The minute I take the pictureit's all being edited, first
being selected which pose is thebest, second being edited
meaning skin color, if needed tobe changed I mean color
correction, background removaland then imposed into the
(33:11):
package.
And then come to my print.
Uh, press ready to be printedright without the human touch
right and this was the problemthat I wanted to solve in terms
of shortening the amount of time.
Gary Pageau (33:25):
Aren't there some of the vendors sort of already
offering some of those things?
Your photo links, your gotphotos.
Berti Skenderasi (33:32):
Correct.
Gary Pageau (33:33):
Aren't they offering similar things to this?
Berti Skenderasi (33:35):
Correct and that was you know, with like the
.
But first I wanted to own it,right, okay Right, okay Right.
And I wanted to pipeline itthat I don't have to touch it at
certain points, meaning, withall the great services this
company offers, you still haveto bring your images to another
(34:00):
stage, then be properly vettedand selected and then to the
next stage of being processed sothey feel the human input that
it's needed, right?
My dream scenario was zerohuman input.
Right.
And I own it.
Right okay, Because two thingsI got the inspiration from
(34:25):
Chances of you winning thebattle and this I go really back
in history when Romans went towar with Persians.
Right.
When the Romans lost the firstbattle was because Romans tried
to replicate what Persians weregood at fighting.
So Persians were good fightingstanding while the Romans used
(34:50):
cavalry.
Romans decided to fightstanding with Persians.
Right.
And that's where they lost Right.
So, coming back to our days,how do you win using everyone
else?
Tools?
Right maybe you do, but you'restill dependent on the features
(35:15):
someone else is providing.
Gary Pageau (35:17):
So you're looking at a standpoint of you know if
you're competing against Xcompany, which uses the same
platform.
Which is using the sameplatform.
What is the difference, right,Other than the relationships you
build?
And things like that yes.
Berti Skenderasi (35:31):
So now we're able to when we go and take
pictures at the school.
Um, one of the what again goingback to the logic that were the
last important thing in theimportant list of schools is
they want their admin pictures.
Uh, as soon as possible,because, instead of new jersey,
there is a requirement that theyshould have, at the beginning
(35:52):
of the school year, updated, astudent directory including
images, right, why don't we dothis as our second year?
As we're taking pictures, it'staking close to 20 seconds
between having the picture taken, selected which one, and
locally saved.
So by the time we're done withpicture day, we hand the
(36:15):
download or the USB of the adminfiles the school needs.
That allows me to really focuson what's most important aspect
of it, which is selling.
There is a lot of potential,where we're actually working on
it, to innovate, because itcomes down to selling.
How do you capture payment?
(36:37):
How do you sell?
How do you innovate?
The experience, right.
The experience and the irony ofour business is that our dollar
payer is not the decision maker.
Gary Pageau (36:49):
Right, exactly, exactly Right.
Berti Skenderasi (36:52):
Exactly, exactly.
So now it's quite of aninteresting perspective because
you're the decision maker hascompletely a different set of
needs, right, the person whoactually pays you dollars for
your product.
It is a very unique business inthat extent because your client
(37:16):
is the school, not necessarilymom.
Yeah, and the school say, likeyour only goal is not, like the
school wants you not to mess itup and have almost no friction
with parents, while the parentsare looking for options, instant
deliveries and whatnot, whichis another, you know, challenge
in itself.
Gary Pageau (37:29):
So this is a system that you develop yourself.
You're now using CorrectCorrect and are you integrating
it with other pieces, or can youdo the entire workflow yourself
?
Berti Skenderasi (37:38):
As of now, the only piece we're using is we
have our own shopping cart.
I'm still using one of thegreatest softwares ever created
in our industry PhotoLinks Flowcreated in our industry.
(37:58):
Photolinks Flow to when we do.
Usually, that is a databaseslash image rendering engine for
our local printing.
95% of our production ishands-free.
Right.
Our model now, because we'reable to train, uh over the
archive of the images.
Our model now is getting it's.
(38:21):
It's always in learning modeand always looks for, you know,
image flows that you knowdifferentiates and makes the
process automation.
So from pressing the button onthe camera to having a picture
lined up on our production pressto be printed, it's close to a
minute and 20 seconds, okay,which typically it's a process
(38:45):
that takes days in a traditionalsetting.
Gary Pageau (38:48):
So what's your plan with this?
Is this to you know, keep it inyour own little world, or you
know, use it as a competitiveadvantage, or open source it, or
what's your?
What's your plan with this?
Is this to keep it in your ownlittle world, or use it as a
competitive advantage, or opensource it, or what's your idea?
Berti Skenderasi (38:59):
My plan is to, at some point I want to
monetize on this, in a sense ofnot necessarily being a
traditional software, as aservice model.
The ultimate goal of owning abusiness is to build it and sell
it Right, whenever that timecomes.
I do believe that theintellectual property of any
(39:22):
business it's what the assets,like the most vital and valuable
asset a business can have.
Right.
If I do believe that thesoftware that I've built using
AI, I did like I had a littleminimal background on coding but
(39:43):
over time, using AI to teach mecoding, I, I coded.
I hired developers at somestage to, you know, tidy up the
software.
I hired developers at somestage to tidy up the software.
But the bottom line is mysoftware replaces at least six
full-time workers.
Right.
The goal is to offer this A as acustom-built software to
(40:08):
someone, because you can onlyvalue the importance of this
software when you have a certainamount of volume right.
If you're a 20 plus schoolsbusiness, that's where you see
the value of this software right.
Because you pretty much needhumans to go and have pictures
(40:29):
taken before.
We're going to be able to buyrobots to do our job, which I'm
excited and looking forward to.
Imagine walking to a schoolwith an army of robots too.
Gary Pageau (40:44):
Don't you like people, Berti?
I always thought you were apeople person.
Berti Skenderasi (40:48):
I am, I am and I do believe the people have
the opportunity to realign theskills Because, look, everybody
has this huge expectation aboutAI.
Oh, ai can do this.
Oh, why don't AI do this?
Ai is just your ability toinstruct what to do Right.
(41:09):
It can have a total differentresult for a minor tweak on your
instruction.
Right.
And people will have to getaccommodated to really get onto
this faster.
Specialize and this is fromNVIDIA CEO.
(41:29):
When he had that keynote speechsaid everybody wanted to be a
software programmer 10 years ago.
Scratch that idea now.
Go and specialize yourself intosomething biology or marine or
anything and then leverage AI tobe better at it.
(41:50):
Right yeah.
And that's where us we need toreally focus on now, because we
can be obsolete in a blink of aneye.
Gary Pageau (42:03):
Right, well, this has been a great conversation.
Where can people go to get moreinformation about you, your and
your company, and maybe want tojust chat with you?
Where can people reach out toyou?
Berti Skenderasi (42:16):
I can be reached out on LinkedIn Birdies
Confederacy, my website, I meanI have my proudimagescom website
, in which it's just a customerfacing software as of now, and
also I do haveimagineofficialcom website,
(42:37):
which is kind of a demo of whatthe software that I built can do
.
Gary Pageau (42:41):
Okay, awesome, well great, bernie, it's been great
talking to you, as alwaysLooking forward.
Hopefully I'll see you at SPACin 2025 and we'll talk then.
Yeah, looking forward to it.
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