Gavin Sellers Creative
Empire Sky Co
Nina Dunaway and Parker Alexander of Empire Sky Co.
Parker Alexander, owner of Empire Sky Co., a leading real estate media company based in the Golden Isles, wanted something more from life. Living in Atlanta, with graduate and undergraduate degrees in business, he initially worked in development for a software IT company right out of school. “I’m just going to say it – I was cold calling – in a cubicle,” he admits.
The St. Simons native felt stuck and was “miserable.” Parker credits the birth of his son Charlie Mac – three months premature, weighing a slight 2 pounds 10 ounces – with catapulting him into self-action.
“When Charlie Mac was born, it was a transformative point in my life,” Parker shares. “He was in the hospital three months. That changed the direction of my life. I knew I wanted and needed to do something entirely different.”
Parker prioritized flexibility and autonomy, so he could focus on his young son. He started with his longstanding passion for photography and videography and went from there. In 2018, Parker founded Empire Sky Co.
Gavin Sellers Creative
Parker Alexander
“I started playing around with drone, doing some landscapes around the island, and I really enjoyed it.” He says, “Real estate agents started pinging me and asking me to do stuff for them so I kinda fell into it.”
He adds, “I saw an opportunity to do something different here and wanted to take it to the next level with the media and video aspect— to showcase lifestyle that I really didn’t think was being portrayed.”
And the genesis of the name Empire Sky Company? “There was a restaurant in Midtown Atlanta, Empire State South, that I loved. I combined that with the ‘sky’ aspect of flying a drone and just married the two. I thought it was cool.”
Today, Empire Sky Co. is on the rise, averaging 30 shoots a week. Parker hired Nina Dunaway in January 2025 to help assuage the load, “because she had amazing customer service skills and was eager to learn.”
Gavin Sellers Creative
Nina Dunaway
Nina now shoots interiors, exteriors, drone, Matterport 3D tours, Zillow tours, and social reels. (She shot “Architecture Meets Art on East Beach” in the February 2026 Issue of Elegant Island Living.)
It’s a high volume, high production, fast-paced work environment. To keep up with demand, Parker has added a virtual assistant and backend team of post-production editors to the company.
Parker shares. “I never wanted to be a solo photographer. I wanted to put the right pieces together to formulate a winning team.” He adds, “I try to provide the best consumer experience possible. Customer experience is very important to me.”
And about ditching the ATL cube, Parker has zero regrets.
“Every day is different. You never know what you’re going to run into. One day we’re shooting for a local business, or for a real estate agent, an interior designer, contractor, or architect. Every day presents a new setting and new way to shoot – with so many different layers – which is fun.”
