Jason Latimer, a magician and entertainer, developed his company WonderFirst to build his speaking and content creation career. In conjunction with Sony Pictures Global Relief Fund for COVID-19, he recently launched the Impossible Science YouTube channel to bring his videos to life and convert STEM illusions, experiments and lessons from museums into an online video series to help educators with distance learning. Impossible Science recently announced its partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District and the L.A. County Office of Education to provide resources for free to more than 80 public schools, 350 charter schools, 150 private schools and all of their STEM affiliates in Southern California. And starting this month, Impossible Science will be featured on SoCal PBS to make it accessible to students who do not have access to the internet.
Question: What inspired you to start your business?Answer: It’s a combination of passion and experience. My love for science has always been my secret weapon in illusion design and I used my education to help me win the World Championships of Magic. After years of performing around the world and on TV, I set out to create an academic platform designed for children to really inspire innovation. I wanted to inspire curiosity about what is possible, so I stopped everything to create Impossible Science. It’s a STEM platform in museums, science centers, online videos, written lesson plans, kits, live events, exhibitions, stage shows, and more all designed to inspire curiosity and wonder in a child by uniting science and magic. I studied science to be the best magician; now I’m using magic design to reformat science lessons to be more engaging and entertaining.
Do you like being your own boss? Do you ever think about trading it for a steady paycheck?My goal is to globally change education and bring awareness to the growing illusion of knowledge in society. For me, being my own boss allows me to use my time the best way I can to really make an impact. If I was being told what to do and when to do it, I don’t believe my employer would have my personal goal at heart. To me, a steady paycheck would mean giving up what I really want to do with my life. And so I don’t really think about it.
What’s the best aspect of running your own business?I could not be happier knowing that my team and I pursued this idea from nothing. We are just getting started and Impossible Science has already made an impact on hundreds of thousands of kids. In that respect, it gives me great joy in watching something we created make a difference.
And the worst?The hours. It takes a ton of work to do something that has never been done before. Running a business, especially one you are passionate about, requires constant thought, endurance and dedication. It’s hard for others to relate. There is no 9-to-5, there is no time off. Yes, there always needs to be a balance but I am sure the individuals that are running their own business will agree – it’s a constant “always on” feeling that you have to be passionate about. Otherwise, the grind will get to you.
What’s the biggest challenge your business has faced? And how did you deal with it?COVID-19 was the biggest change we have ever had to go through. Our events, festivals, museums and shows are all live gatherings and not being able to open a location for our visitors was definitely a hard blow to our business model. However, there is a silver lining – COVID-19 cleared our schedule to pursue Impossible Science on a digital media and online level.What’s your favorite story about running your business?We are in it right now. Learning to never let a catastrophe go to waste really taught us how to turn a global downturn into a positive and to keep moving forward. It’s been a ton of work converting to working from home while maintaining a production schedule, but we have made such great leaps and bounds to reach even more individuals. It has been really exciting.
Has being Asian affected your business?I am Chinese and my heart goes out to all Asians that have to go through any type of discrimination. I personally have been fortunate to say it has never affected my business.
Has the pandemic affected you and your business? Yes, for the better. Shutting down all of our live events was difficult but we will come out of this stronger than we were before. I don’t think we would have worked this hard and achieved so much in such a short period of time if we were still operating all of our other Impossible Science events. It has been a lot of work, but pressure makes diamonds.
What advice would you give someone who wanted to start their own business?Even though something looks impossible, even though it may have never been done before, that doesn’t mean it is impossible. You were born with the ability to ask questions, and always remember the right question changes everything.
– Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
Magician Turns to Impossible Science
