Today we’d like to introduce you to Cory Englehardt.
Hi Cory, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve been creating videos since I was about ten years old. My passion started with creating ski and surf videos on a GoPro and ultimately led into creating other pranks and skits with my friends. I always knew that I wanted to do something with videos, but I wasn’t sure if it was animation, acting, writing, or directing.
The interesting videos led to me hosting my morning announcements in high school and taking video production class for 4 times (the most anybody had ever taken it). When looking for colleges, I sought out a university with a good media program and ended up going to Monmouth University to study communications as well as play football at the Division I level.
While in college, I did live sports broadcasts for ESPN and Flow Sports with the Athletic Communications Department. My interest in media brought me to create an online brand centered around spirituality, health & wellness which quickly grew an audience to 75,000+ followers and millions of views every month by posting two to three times a day on TikTok.
When I graduated college, I thought I wanted to go all in on this brand that I built, but Monetizing the brand was much harder than it seemed, and we struggled to even sell t-shirts. I realized that knack for social media would help local businesses, so I basically bought $15,000+ worth of camera equipment and education to learn how to run my own business. Ultimately, I went into my business by emptying my savings account and betting on myself with credit debt, thankfully, I had my parents’ support and a roof over my head if all else failed, and I figured I would just get a “real job”.
Now, over two years later, I’m so glad that I made the decision to start that business in March 2024. We three person team, including myself, and work with wonderful creatives in the Monmouth and Ocean County area to bring together commercial-level productions for our clients. There’s been many ups and downs; uncertainty and failure has all been a part of the journey .
Fortunately, I set ambitious goals and hold myself to achieving them, which has opened up so many doors for me along the way. I’ve been paid to travel outside of the US to Mexico and Europe, as well as fly across the United States, for various different jobs. At Quantum Creations have have begun to build a name for ourselves and created a distinct style in our strategic campaigns; now people aspire to have us tell their story and help grow their business, and we are honored to do so!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road. Ultimately, I’ve neared failure quite a few times (especially starting my business with so much risk). I haven’t had any wiggle room or cushion to fall back on, so it’s been high stakes where success is not negotiable.
I invested in a business development community specifically for video companies when I started my business and followed everything they said to a tee and scaled quickly to $10,000+ every month. However, I realized that the way I grew was not sustainable, and everything came crashing down. I lost focus as I was getting complacent from the money that I had so quickly gained and also so quickly spent away.
My business suffered in early 2025, as I had so many different projects on my plate. I was working on becoming an influencer/working with brands. I wrote a book. I was posting daily YouTube videos, running my business, and attempting to take my music career all simultaneously. The quickest realization that I had was that when you’re focused on too many things, it’s just as bad as not being focused on any.
As my business suffered, I decided the only thing that I could do was give myself some space and decided to spend the summer traveling across Europe. My partner Deanna and I decided to bring some brands along the journey with us and ended up receiving over $4,200 worth of sponsorships and free products along our travels, which helped a lot. When I returned from Europe, I had absolutely no money but a clear direction that I was done just selling “videos” and rather than selling outcomes through the form of strategic video campaigns
Since September 2025, the business has grown dramatically. We’ve onboarded two team members and have a clear and predictable path to continue scaling and providing more impact for our clients, bringing community together and opening up opportunity for ourselves and those around us.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I categorize myself as a creative entrepreneur. There are many “starving artists”, and that was the opposite of what I wanted to be. There are so many creative mediums that I’m passionate about putting my time and energy into, but right now my focus has been on growing my video business, Quantum Creations.
We’ve come to be known for our storytelling-based video campaigns and creative advertisements that we do with our clients. I take a lot of pride in the dedication to our creative process and the intention that goes into each project. Even as a small creative agency, our clients receive a tremendous amount of value any time they work with us. We ensure that they leave happy with a clear plan on how it’s actually going to help their business.
My work with Quantum Creations is a form of art but this is a form of art that creates significant value and impact within people’s lives and businesses.
My other creative outlets include writing, poetry, songwriting, podcasting, and movement (jiu jitsu, surfing, skiing, yoga, etc.)
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Since 2022, I’ve been very involved with artificial intelligence. I had the realization in my senior year of college that as a creative with infinite creativity and imagination, by pairing that with super intelligence of AI, really anything will be possible in our lifetime. I work deeply with Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, and other LLMs and agents to expand and maximize the impact of our work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://quantum-creations.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coryenglehardt
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-englehardt-63121618b/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@coryenglehardt
