Meet Brandon Stevenson | Owner/Found – Moment At Home, Inc.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brandon Stevenson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brandon, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Effort combined with the willingness to listen and learn from others.

When I was just starting out in the professional world, I was pretty quiet and felt a little out of place. I would hear people around me answer questions with authority and because of this, I thought that they were seasoned veterans that had the answers to everything. I felt that I needed to listen and learn it all!

Years later and after a successful career in production, working primarily as a Producer and later Executive Producer at many post-production houses and advertising agencies, I’ve learned that none of us have all of the answers. We simply apply our experience combined with some critical thinking and make the best decision we can. The rest is putting forth effort, believing in yourself and your team and being open to new ideas. Because of this, I’m not fearful of what I don’t know yet. Instead I’m eager to continue to learn. Luckily, people are also eager to provide information to a willing ear.

Many people give up at the first hint of resistance. Instead, I continue to put in the work while adjusting my strategy to cater to the successes and leave the failures behind. This has paid off for me in the past and with the launch of my new brand, Moment At Home, I’m confident and hopeful that my next success is just ahead.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My career has been interesting to say the least.

I moved to Los Angeles in 2008 and spend some time working odd jobs and working on some film projects, attempting to figure out exactly what I was going to pursue. A bit of time in front of the camera, a bit of time behind the camera all while working another full-time job, like most, to pay the bills.

At the time I was working in hospitality and ended up moving up within my company, which managed valet, bell and concierge services within hotels. In 2010 I was offered a position that would allow me to manage my own location. I was now in charge of an entire department at a hotel. But it didn’t take long for me to feel very strongly that this wasn’t what I wanted to do.

As luck would have it, a friend that I’d previously worked with at another hotel reached out and told me that he knew of a Production Company that was looking for a Production Coordinator. I didn’t know exactly what I would be doing, but I looked up the company and they made cool stuff, so I emailed them with a note that we had a friend in common who’d referred me to them.

After an interview, they offered me a job. I was going to be working in production making content that friends and family would see all across the country. I only had a couple of problems. First, I didn’t really know what they did, how they did it or what they were talking about during most of the interview. Second, I was going to be taking a 10k annual pay cut to take this job that may very well fire me because I don’t know what I’m doing!

The next couple of years were hard work. Production is no joke. I didn’t have the early start times that I’d become used to in hotels, but I also wasn’t out the door at 3pm. A good day had me leaving at 7pm, but I was in my 20’s so this wasn’t a problem. It was the long days before a major client review or delivery that were tough. The days where we would arrive into the office at 10am and leave at midnight, 2am or even in what I remember to be my longest ‘work day’ 10am one morning to 1pm the following day. I did sleep on a couch in the office for about an hour that night.

While I don’t approve of these work conditions anymore and I don’t think many would, it was the only value that I had to offer at the time. Since I didn’t really know what I was doing, I made up for it by always being there when needed. By always being there, I learned a lot and climbed the ranks quickly. I moved into a Producer role within a year, Head of Production a couple of years later and then soon after hit the road and worked freelance for many years. This allowed me to take bookings with studios and agencies that I had some control over. It also allowed me to determine when I wanted to (and could afford to) take time off. Finally I took a position as an Executive Producer which kept me busy for a few years.

But how did I end up launching a candle brand? Well, it all starts with COVID19. During lockdown I was working from home and everything was closed. After work in the evenings, there wasn’t a lot to do and at a certain point starting at a computer or TV screen has to stop! That’s when random hobbies began. At some point I decided to try to make a candle that I could only remember from a party at a downtown loft back in 2009. That’s when everything started to click. It took a few tries to make a candle that burned nicely, but when I did it was pretty amazing. Here I was using a physical product that I’d made in my own apartment!

Fast forward four years and several thousand dollars invested into product testing, development and free products given to friends and family and I finally decided to dive into yet another career, leaving production behind to build a high-quality home brand with a purpose.

The idea was simple. That scent from a party in 2009 stuck with me. Many other scents over the years had become tied to a memory, an emotion, an event. It was perfect and this led me to a revelation: I could launch this brand and create custom fragrances that are based on experiences in life. These scents could inspire others as they have done for me over the years. They could ignite memories, spark imagination, and inspire the pursuit of extraordinary moments in life.

Moment At Home was born.

Now with every candle that we release, we require that must be more more than just a great smelling candle made with high quality ingredients. It must also fulfill that initial purpose to ignite memories of special moments in life or inspire the pursuit of new and extraordinary moments.

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?
Oh wow. This question feels like a trap. There are so many possibilities that I know I’m going to forget something important!

First thing from the airport would be to get some drinks and food in our stomachs. One of my favorite places in the city is the Original Farmers Market. I would head there and maybe grab a beer at Bar 326. They generally have a nice selection and it’s a great place to people watch and get in tune with the city. After that we would probably walk over to Monsieur Marcel and have a top notch meal and a drink while catching up. We could extend the evening in the same area by walking across the street to Blue Collar for a cocktail before wrapping it up.

We would have to have one day with a ton of activity and a big challenge so that would probably be covered with a hiking day trip to San Jacinto or Mt Baldy. We would definitely visit the Getty, the Griffith Observatory and spend a day at the ocean. Maybe even rent some surfboards!

As for additional eats and drinks, we would definitely hit some Hollywood staples like Formosa Cafe and Jones. No LA trip is complete without some great Mexican food. There are a ton of options but I think I would stick to Hollywood again and grab some El Compadre. There’s something special about the vibe of that place especially when you add in live music and flaming margaritas!

Last but not least, a tour of downtown that would likely include a trip to Grand Central Market, a visit to The Broad, dinner at Bottega Louie and a final drink at Seven Grand.

That oughta do it. Now tell me all of the great things that I missed!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This may sound a bit over the top, but I honestly dedicate a lot of my success to my parents and the way I was raised.

Of course, I could credit a ton of people here. Those who gave me opportunities, advice, mentorship, were there for me when I wasn’t feeling confident, etc. We all have those who have supported us at various stages and while I believe that they deserve recognition, I think the one thing that has gotten me the furthest is my work ethic.

For better or worse it was drilled into me over and over again while I was growing up in rural Kentucky. My father worked hard as a mechanic his entire life and even opened his own motorcycle shop while I was in high school and my mother was an administrative assistant who would later work her way through the ranks to become the Human Resource Business Partner for a global corporation while overseeing multiple locations in the US and abroad.

They both worked very hard and often worked long hours to make a better life for themselves and for my brother and me. I couldn’t begin to count the times that I heard variations of, “You’ve gotta get out there and work, no one is going to do it for ya.” or similar statements about putting in the hard work or not shying away from putting in the time. So I guess I should say, thanks Mom & Dad!

Website: momentathome.com

Instagram: @momentathome

Facebook: facebook.com/momentathome