Friends Ethan Hobbs and David Wasserman have turned their shared passion for video production and photography into Mitzvah Memories, a media company serving the Kansas City Jewish community.
The two high school students offer a range of services including photography, video editing, graphic design and custom work, catered to the Jewish community.
Hobbs, the son of Chris and Heather Hobbs, and Wasserman, the son of Elizabeth Ellis and Bradley Wasserman, met as kindergarten students at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy (HBHA). They formed a close friendship as children, bonding by watching videos on YouTube together.
As they watched their favorite YouTube content creators, the two gained an interest in video editing and production. They made their own YouTube channel, gaining firsthand experience by directly producing their own videos as early as first grade. Equipped with rudimentary video editing knowledge, Hobbs and Wasserman started making videos for HBHA, gradually gaining a reputation over the years. This led to them being asked to make a video montage and media for a local bar mitzvah.
“As we were doing it, we [thought], ‘Well, we already know all these skills, and we’re already in the perfect community, and we think we can really offer something at a great value that doesn’t exist exactly,’” Hobbs said. “… It’s an untapped market — Jewish students [covering] Jewish events for other Jewish people.”
The two received “a storm” of positive feedback for their first bar mitzvah job and were approached for another gig. They decided to officially form Mitzvah Memories as their own business in early 2023, spending the entire ensuing summer honing skills in video editing, photography, graphic design and drone flying — the two own a remote drone they can use to take photos and videos.
By the time school began, the two had built a website and were ready to fully launch Mitzvah Memories. Although they spent the summer learning and preparing, they faced a “big learning curve” during their first initial gig.
“Something that we could not practice over the summer, just the two of us, was the people skills, the communications, the interactions, the contract-making and signings,” Hobbs said.
The first client was understanding and satisfied with the product, and Hobbs and Wasserman worked to further develop their professional skills.
“There was definitely a lot more pressure going into a more professional setting, especially with people trusting us with these really important events in their lives,” Wasserman said.
Since that initial job, Hobbs and Wasserman have taken on more than 25 gigs. In addition to b’nai mitzvah work, Mitzvah Memories has expanded its coverage to include weddings, family portraits, fundraising campaigns and aerial footage.
“[We work to] make sure we can create professional products that can compete with people who are doing this as their full-time job,” Wasserman said, “...we want to be able to offer that quality of product, if not better, for a better price and a more personal connection.”
Mitzvah Memories is unique in terms of its catering to the local Jewish community. Having both grown up as Jewish Kansas Citians, the two have connections and familiarity with many community members and organizations.
“What really set us apart, and why people were so excited to work with us, was because they know who we are as HBHA students and members of our synagogues — friendly faces in the community. That made it very easy for people to trust us with their jobs,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs and Wasserman cater to a Jewish niche, having the benefit of understanding rituals and traditions that many other media companies wouldn’t.
“It saves the family a lot of stress of having to explain what’s going on, explain what’s important, or say what we can and cannot photograph,” Hobbs said. “Because we’re Jewish students, it makes it a lot easier for the families to work with us, as opposed to somebody outside the community who might not understand what’s going on.”
In alignment with their Jewish upbringings and values, Hobbs and Wasserman have also used Mitzvah Memories for charitable purposes and tzedakah projects, providing pro bono services for various synagogues and Jewish organizations in the area.
“We make an effort to give back to the community that was so welcoming and supportive of us when we got started,” Hobbs said. “[Judaism teaches] that we should give back what we earn, so even if we aren’t doing it necessarily with money, we think it’d be more meaningful to the community to give back with our services and provide them with something that would otherwise cost a lot.”
Hobbs and Wasserman are aware that the experience they’re gaining and the portfolio they’re building are beyond that of most high school students.
“I think Mitzvah Memories as a whole, especially for us as high schoolers, not only teaches us how to use the hardware and software but also teaches us how to have positive, business-level interactions with members of the community, which is something that is not taught in any school,” Hobbs said. “It’s something we’re very blessed to have — an opportunity to really learn communication skills through our company.”
Hobbs and Wasserman are still students with extracurricular passions, and they had to learn time management skills to balance their school obligations with their work. Decisions regarding priorities are often made.
“It’s been really interesting for both of us to juggle everything, and, most importantly, make sure everything is done well,” Hobbs said. “People don’t want sloppy work, and we don’t want sloppy grades.”
Education obligations also play a factor in the long-term plans for Mitzvah Memories — Hobbs and Wasserman will graduate in less than two years. However, they have developed contingency plans for the continuation of Mitzvah Memories, ranging from managing the company remotely to passing the business on to other students so they can “learn by doing,” which Hobbs said was the “recipe to success for Mitzvah Memories.”
“Obviously, this company is by and for the people in the Kansas City Jewish community,” Hobbs said. “...We still want this business to continue, and we still want people to have other Jewish students working affordably for them on events that are important to them.”
As Hobbs and Wasserman continue Mitzvah Memories and their studies at HBHA, they still prioritize maintaining balance and preserving their close friendship.
“We’ve been friends for 12 years now, and I think the biggest thing we want to focus on — with our friendship and actually running the company — is that everything is 50/50. The work is 50/50. The money is 50/50. We never want that to get in the way of our relationship or the quality of our work,” Wasserman said. “In terms of [Mitzvah Memories] affecting our friendship, I think it’s only been positive. We’ve already shared so many experiences together in life, and this is just another great one that we’re really proud to be able to do together.”
“It definitely wouldn’t be the same without both of us doing it,” Hobbs said. “It’s two very different people, different personalities, different styles, but we can come together and make something that’s really unique and really interesting… It only strengthens the friendship.”
More information about Mitzvah Memories and its work is available at mitzvahmemories.com.
