一本道

Adam Goldberg wants to give shelter pets a chance to showcase their true personalities.

His company, AGoldPhoto Pet Photography, a recent Spartan Incubator company, runs Second Shot, a program that helps shelter pets get a second chance.

Think about the typical animal shelter intake process: Animals might be scared, confused and full of nervous energy. A volunteer quickly snaps a photo of the animal for the website, often capturing them at their not-so-best moment by no fault of their own, and maybe not capitalizing on flattering features that could make an adopter fall in love.

That problem is solved by Goldberg鈥檚 Second Shot. In Goldberg鈥檚 in-shelter photography studio, animals may still be curious, but that curiosity might result in an adorable head tilt or a perk of the ears. Goldberg uses silly noises or harmonica sounds and an ample number of treats to encourage potential pets to look at the camera, paying particular attention to any unique features.

At a recent shoot, he noted one dog, Jimmy, was particularly food motivated. While Goldberg tried to photograph Jimmy with an interactive dog toy that contained a treat inside, Jimmy repeatedly tried to walk off the photo set with the toy to play without risk of the toy being taken away.

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"We鈥檝e seen firsthand how a single Second Shot photo can completely transform a pet鈥檚 future,鈥� said Regan Blessinger,听marketing and public relations manager at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, said.

鈥淭hrough Adam鈥檚 work, dogs who were overlooked for weeks or even months suddenly begin getting attention 鈥� more views online, more inquiries and more people coming in to meet them. That visibility is everything. In many cases, it鈥檚 the difference between being passed by and finally finding a home.鈥�

Goldberg has been doing this kind of work since 2016, but it wasn鈥檛 until he completed the Incubator program in the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center last year that he was able to scale his business from focusing on animals at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay to include four additional shelters throughout the country and add three photographers to his team.

The Spartan Incubator is a program for recent graduates and early-stage community business founders. The program blends expert-led workshops, weekly cohort meetings and access to mentorship to help participants grow both their ventures and their leadership skills.

鈥淗e embodies the entrepreneurial characteristics we try to develop in every founder who comes through the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center 鈥� initiative, coachability and disciplined execution,鈥� said Bert Seither, lecturer of management and entrepreneurship.

鈥淗e鈥檚 resourceful, resilient and driven by impact, not just growth for growth鈥檚 sake, but growth that creates real value for customers and the community,鈥� he said.

He鈥檚 also paying the success forward by employing two 一本道ampa interns, one being Ella Eldredge 鈥�26, an advertising and public relations major.

Eldredge records behind-the-scenes videos of the photoshoots, helps brainstorm ideas for the company鈥檚 Instagram page and assists with social media management.

She used to foster animals, and she missed them, so she had an immediate interest in working with Goldberg.

鈥淚 felt like this would be such good internship, not just for experience that would fall under my major, but also to fill that void of not fostering anymore. I get to hang out with dogs again,鈥� she said.

It鈥檚 been exciting to see Goldberg鈥檚 vision come to life, Eldredge said, as he used to solely focus on boutique pet photography. His goal was to transition to Second Shot full-time, and he did it.

Goldberg credits the Incubator.

The value of the program was 鈥渢remendous,鈥� Goldberg said.听鈥淚f it wasn't for the Incubator, I鈥檇 still just be running through the motions,鈥� he said.

The next round of applications for the Spartan Incubator open May 15. For more information, visit Spartan Accelerator and Incubator Program.

As of this publishing, Jimmy is still available for adoption at the .