Nearly 10 years into her career in the film industry, Meagan Skerchock was looking for a change.
Skerchock, 34, liked what she did. She worked in the art department as a set dresser on tentpole films for much of her career, including two installments in the “Avengers” franchise and “Suicide Squad.” But she realized it wasn’t what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
The Senoia resident started thinking about a career she considered pursuing in high school: aerospace engineering. To see if it was a good fit, Skerchock called one to learn about their experiences in the field. To her surprise, the engineer said she was miserable because she wasn’t doing any of the work she thought she would do. Instead of being out in the field, she was sitting behind a desk.
The conversation inspired Skerchock to found an education technology startup to help students explore different career paths before making a commitment. Perspectiv, as she’s named it, is like a virtual career day — a platform filled with taped interviews of professionals giving life and career advice, as well as curriculum based off the videos.
Skerchock sees Perspectiv as a solution to unhappiness in the workplace, a resource she could’ve used when figuring out her next career pivot. About 16% of the North American workforce is comprised of employees who are unhappy and resentful that their needs are not being met at their jobs, according to a 2024 survey from analytics firm Gallup. About 51% are unattached and not putting time or effort into their work.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
On Perspectiv, students can watch videos of a pharmacist or an aircraft technician discuss the education required to pursue their roles, a retired hostage negotiator with the FBI detail the challenges of working in such a high-intensity job or a freelance videographer talk about how their job affects their family life. Athletes, funeral directors, librarians and software engineers, among dozens of others, also provide glimpses into their day-to-day responsibilities.
“I want to live in a world where people are not mad about going to work,” Skerchock said. “I want people who are more motivated to work hard and give it their all when they love what they’re doing.”
Skerchock is a one-woman show. Using the skills she learned in the film industry, she books, films and edits all of her interviews. She’s her own marketing and HR departments, only relying on outside help for branding services and to transform the beta version of Perspectiv into a fully-fledged website.
After four years of building out Perspectiv, Skerchock’s work is starting to pay off. She’s inked partnerships with school systems in Catoosa and Muscogee counties and the Charter System Foundation, which oversees charter schools in Georgia, to get Perspectiv inside of classrooms. She’s also partnered with schools in Arkansas, Massachusetts and Florida.
Turn and face the strange
The film industry today is a different beast from what it was when Skerchock began her career more than a decade ago. Streaming services have exploded, disrupting the ways consumers watch television and movies. The resulting boom in production from streamers led to employment growth in the film industry.
Now, production is declining to pre-pandemic levels, leaving many people out of work in Georgia. The disruption has led to deep unhappiness in the workforce.
Skerchock felt uneasy leaving film entirely. She started building the company while she was still working as a set dresser.
“It’s the pressure of thinking that I’ve spent all these years working toward this career,” Skerchock said. “There’s all this pressure that society puts on you and external expectations that others have. Trying to balance that with how I was feeling internally was hard to navigate, but so worth it.”
Skerchock doesn’t come from a business or education background. So launching Perspectiv was just as much of an effort in figuring out how to scale a startup as it was learning how to develop curriculum.
“It feels like you’re walking in the dark barefoot. And every once in a while, you stub your toe on something,” Skerchock said.
Credit: Jason Halcombe
Credit: Jason Halcombe
Skerchock figured out early on that she wanted Perspectiv to be an independent operation, at least for now. If she had investors, she said she’d feel like the priority of Perspectiv would become making money, not helping kids. So instead of raising capital, she turned toward the nest egg of savings she’d squirreled away to buy a home to fund the platform’s first iteration.
She initially built a beta version on web builder Wix, and used that to connect with homeschooling parents at conventions, and asking them to try it. She’d sometimes travel to other states to film interviews, like an ice farmer — which is someone who creates man-made ice for ice climbing — in Colorado or a window tinter in Orlando.
Perspectiv is also a way to show students that there are career opportunities in their backyards, particularly within rural communities, Skerchock said. Students want to go into careers they’ve seen, said Marissa Brower, the CEO of the Catoosa County College & Career Academy, a charter school in Ringgold, in the northwest corner of Georgia.
“They’ve seen doctors, nurses, police officers, teachers, attorneys,” Brower said. “We just need to be able to expose them to more.”
Skerchock eventually reconnected with the aerospace engineer who sparked the idea for Perspectiv. She recently changed positions in the same company and is much happier now.
“The big goal is helping people reach their potential in life,” Skerchock said. “I think the world would be totally different if more people were maximizing their potential, and that starts with finding something you’re excited about doing.”
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