When I met up with Braedy at Akari’s main office, he wasn’t behind a desk. He was offloading a truck—one hand steadying a case while the other pressed a phone to his ear with a client on the line. If “production life” had a brand, it would be chaos. And this job requires the ability to balance it.

Later, as we sat down at the table, there was a visible shift in him—calm, grounded, the look of someone who’s lived this rhythm for years. I asked if it ever gets to be too much, if he ever thinks about leaving it all behind. “Yes,” he said. He could work for another company, sell shows, make great money, live without the stress.

So I asked him, “Well...what’s stopping you?” And with what seemed like automatic speed, he said, “I want to build something.”

At this stage in a career, a lot of us choose to coast. But if legacy is your goal, that’s not an option. Benjamin’s drive has roots. He comes from a large, close family—two sisters, a wife and two kids, cousins and nephews scattered across dirt bike rides, Super Bowl Sundays, and Halloween parties that have become community staples. His friends have always been a part of that circle as well, folded in through jobs and opportunities he created when no one else was offering them.

That’s why Akari won’t coast. What they’re building can’t be built overnight, or in a single show. The work must remain after the lights shut off. This reputation matters not just to clients, but to his family and his crew. It’s what carries over time—from one show to the next. And for Braedy Benjamins, it’s something worth passing on.