Meet Tedd Johann Weitzman | Advanced Work Packaging Evangelist with a Creative Sprit

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tedd Johann Weitzman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tedd, how do you think about risk?
I have an interesting relationship with risk. I am, without a doubt, risk adverse. I can also recognize and describe the risks —or leaps of faith—I have made both personally and professionally. Most of these leaps were made with great confidence because I believe and am passionate about whatever the desired outcomes have been. These outcomes can vary significantly. They range from a belief that what I do professionally positively impacts supply chains and the environment globally to having the conviction that a personal decision, though fraught with financial challenges, will ultimately lead to positive outcomes.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am not a professional artist, but I am a creative as my now deceased father-in-law once called me. The need to express myself runs as strong as the need to eat or sleep. I am a published poet, an accomplished musician, a popular photographer with four million views and more than 300k photo likes on 500px, amongst other creative pursuits. I hesitate to say I am a professional in any of those pursuits, but the fact is that I have made money doing them, even if they have never been main sources of income. Embedded in my creative drive is an unquestionable need to share. Many things have come hard to me in life, but not sharing my creativity. It is not always appreciated, especially in the socio-sphere, but the positive engagements have far outweighed the negatives.

What I have learned through my actual career is that I am not limited to traditionally creative outlets. I am as creative at work as I am at home, in my studio with a guitar, a camera, a brush, a pen in hand. I am successful because I am creative. There is not any ‘thing’ I want the world to know about me, but I do hope to inspire creativity in others. I seek those specific, individual interactions that lead to personal, spiritual, creative growth within myself and others. This is my fodder, my need.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Atlanta will always be special to me—its energy and spirit are unique. As for favorite spots and recommendations, some of my favorites are the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Piedmont Park, Chastain Park, the High Museum, and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. As for places to eat, we live in Decatur and often shop and eat out there. The Deer and Dove is our go-to date night; Taqueria del Sol or La Fonda Latina for family nights out with our three beautiful children, Asher, Liesel, and Ward; and Opo for coffee.

I would like to riff for a moment about one some of favorite places in the world. My favorite thing to do is travel with my wife, Katherine, who is my best friend. If I could take her anywhere, and I will, it is Rome, Italy—in the off season. I consider Rome, along with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, my spiritual home(s). The two are not so disparate in my mind. The beauty is that there is not a specific thing or place I want to show her. I just want to be there with her following our noses, our stomachs, our heart, our curiosities. We have been to some amazing places together, including the Philly Museo. And a few notes on the Philly Museo. It houses the largest collections of Duchamp pieces in the world. Standing next to Katherine as she peered through the door of the Étant donnés, hearing her ‘oh’ and moment of both surprise and intrigue is a moment that still sits with me as fresh as when it happened over 12 years ago. Sitting amongst the Duchamp collection is a spiritual experience for me, and I got to share that with my best friend. It is this same sense of discovery, awe, connection that I want to share with Katherine in Rome.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
So many kind, talented souls have helped me on my journey which can be divided into three distinct phases:

• Childhood: punctuated by trauma and failure
• Young Adulthood: A frantic search for self-learning to artistic discovery and academic success
• Adulthood: Stability, career building and freedom to express

I will not focus on my childhood, though it is important to note that it culminated in a failure to graduate on time and a GPA well below 2.0. However, I did meet a great influencer while a senior in high school, Michael Coles. He cofounded the Great American Cookie Company amongst many other accomplishments. Michael and his wife, Donna, were very kind and gracious to me. They sprinkled stories and advice in a short period of time that served me well as a young adult. I had the opportunity not too long ago to thank them both for the positive influence they had on my life. I also highly recommend Michael’s book, ‘Time to Get Tough.’

After high school, I struggled. I had no plans to go to college and so I helped run a family business, a franchised food delivery service named TakeOut Taxi. As that business began to fail, I started to panic. I was struggling to make ends meet and had little hope for my future. Simultaneously, I found myself at the public library and began voraciously reading. A friend started suggesting that I go to college. I had no idea how that would work given my high school GPA and that I had never taken the SAT. I soon discovered that junior college was a path for me and started taking part-time classes at what was then called Dekalb Community College. With the support from my professors there, for whom I am truly forever grateful, I was able to excel and eventually found myself at Oglethorpe University. I eventually graduated with Cum Laude with Honors in History and was accepted to the University of London to study for a masters in classics after a post-graduate year at Georgia State to get French and Latin on my transcripts. This would not have been possible without the care and attention of my professors, especially at Dekalb Community. They fully recognized the potential that I had not yet recognized in myself and supported me in learning the skills I needed to reach that full potential.

But then I decided not to go to graduate school. That is a longer story and very much related to my sense of self, my depression, and the realization that another degree was not going to fix certain things that needed my attention. On that journey I was fortunate to find Dr. Doris Gordon who forever has my gratitude. She helped me face those proverbial demons. I would not be who I am today without her. 

Simultaneous to the therapeutic work I was doing, I found myself developing a career in the capital projects industry where I have been for 23 years this spring. Like my academic experience, there are too many people to thank, but I will call out Carl Toner who believed in me and asked me to do the seemingly impossible while at Southern Company building and maintaining power plants. Again, I would not likely be here without his support.

Instagram: @tjweitzman

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tedd-weitzman-0746345a/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tedd.weitzman?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@TeddJW?si=x5F0Yrwt46qWfD21

Other: https://500px.com/tjweitzman

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