Latest / The Christian Reeve Podcast / Vanessa The Vivacious (Vanessa Younts) | The Christian Reeve Podcast #193
Transcript
- 0:00Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Christian Reef
- 0:03podcast. Today's guest is a podcast of
- 0:06filmmaker producer, director editor all the way from Texas.
- 0:11Her name is Vanessa units or also go by the name.
- 0:14Vanessa, the vivacious, welcome to the show.
- 0:16How you doing? I am wonderful, how are you?
- 0:19I'm good. It's is 5 p.m. my time.
- 0:22What time is it? Your time?
- 0:24It is eleven ten central standard, cow Farm Texas time.
- 0:29So we We all have cows, we don't all arms but you know, those of
- 0:33you that are we have cows. It's that's what time it is for
- 0:37the cows, right on. So it's more than time for you.
- 0:39It's even in time for me, I've been very, very busy and, and
- 0:45here I am doing this. And, and it's cool because I was
- 0:47actually on your show before and we spoke a little bit
- 0:50off-camera, just about it, but I did want to ask that, what, how
- 0:55come you wanted to be on my show?
- 0:56Let's let's, let's start there. Well I've seen your show because
- 1:03found you through Tick-Tock of course everyone finds everyone
- 1:06through social now, right? And you're constantly looking
- 1:09for guess you're looking for talent you're looking for all
- 1:11sorts of creative resources. So when I first found you what
- 1:15drew me to you was you know just your complexity and the
- 1:18different things that you were going through as far as your
- 1:20content but then after our meeting and it was a fruitful
- 1:24meeting. I thought, I hope you thought
- 1:25too but after that episode I still watched Your show or heard
- 1:31your show, watch your content? Yeah, I'm not one of those like,
- 1:34oh, yes, come on my show or, or, you know, interview a book
- 1:37guest. Yes, I've read your book.
- 1:38It was fabulous. I got actually read the books.
- 1:40I actually learn about the gas, I care, but even afterward if
- 1:45it's if it's someone that I'm just highly interested in and I
- 1:48want to follow their path, I definitely will.
- 1:49So I've followed your path through your content through
- 1:52your show and I thought, you know what wild idea why don't I
- 1:56you know ask him if I can be interviewed by him because I've
- 2:00I've been interviewed in a few Publications now for.
- 2:03Are you happy and happy Productions and I thought, you
- 2:05know, I haven't been interviewed on a podcast, so let's turn the
- 2:08tables and see what happens. Oh, mad your first interview on
- 2:11a podcast. I think so.
- 2:13I there's this is probably this is the first one for sure in the
- 2:17last few years. I think I'll take that.
- 2:19Wanna thank you so much. Thank you so much.
- 2:23Yeah, no, I already dug what you were doing with with that?
- 2:26Let's let's talk about a little bit about that.
- 2:27So you you're representing this brand called Are you happy?
- 2:31And you've set up a podcast off the back of that.
- 2:34But it sort of started as this like online, like, there's quite
- 2:39a series where you just go up to people randomly and just be
- 2:43like, hey, and you'd ask a bunch of questions, but the key
- 2:46question you'd ask him as are you happy, and obviously, you
- 2:49get a mixed sort of bunch of responses, for that.
- 2:52But where did that kind of all start?
- 2:54Where did the idea for that stone?
- 2:57Excellent question. So the whole story in itself is
- 3:01magical but the origin is with a small team who traveled the
- 3:06world. Literally asking people, are you
- 3:08happy? And that initial inspiration
- 3:11came from the film Chronicle of a summer, which is a French
- 3:15film, focuses on Cinema verite, which for film people or
- 3:19production people. They understand Cinema Verde
- 3:21deals with truth, right? Truth on film and capturing real
- 3:25life on film as Too scripted, right?
- 3:29So taking that element and then putting it into a dock, you
- 3:34documentary format because that's how it started was
- 3:37traveling. The world asking people about
- 3:38happiness in the original film, Chronicle of a summer, the
- 3:43sociologist and some other folks they go out and interview people
- 3:46in the streets of France. What the microphone?
- 3:48Very very same setup and this is ages ago so it's not modern.
- 3:52It's an older foam and so they're out on the street with
- 3:55this microphone and they're asking people Are you happy?
- 3:57And they're asking them other questions but then they take it
- 4:00a step further and say what happens when we enter into their
- 4:03life. What happens when we become part
- 4:06of their daily life? And what comes of that?
- 4:08So seeing the interviews in that documentary film, they're just
- 4:12they're so beautiful and they're, they're heartwarming
- 4:15and you connect with them because you're almost walking
- 4:17inside of their house and becoming part of their life,
- 4:20right? And it's so interesting.
- 4:22So I think tripucka and the team.
- 4:24Are you happy at that particular time?
- 4:27This is, you know, prior pre-pandemic, they decided to
- 4:30travel the world asking people are you happy and searching for
- 4:33the happiest person in the world and so yeah.
- 4:37So what a feat right to do that? And you think about it, you're
- 4:41like, okay asking people are you happy?
- 4:42Very simple concept. Yes.
- 4:44But very complex and just like spiritual so many levels so much
- 4:50catharsis so much connection. It just blew up and of course,
- 4:54it would blow up, you know, on social media and pretty much
- 4:57Much anywhere you go. If you mention are you happy and
- 4:59the concept behind it whoever it is you're talking to you just
- 5:02blow their mind because they're like wow you're telling me that
- 5:05you got this amazing response with this like hint of
- 5:09philosophy right? Their philosophical views on
- 5:12life and all of these other complicated conversations all
- 5:16off of one question. All of of are you happy and
- 5:18asking what is your joy or what is the source of your happiness
- 5:22right now and then hearing those things and building follow-up
- 5:25questions that are super thought.
- 5:27Off of their response. So we're actively listening the
- 5:30entire time and we're not going through the form because our
- 5:34interviewers they are, they're like from a pure, you know, pure
- 5:38place. So, they're asking these
- 5:39questions. But then they're also building
- 5:41follow-up questions. During the process of what that
- 5:44person is speaking to their truth, right?
- 5:47And then the final question, the coup de gras, my most favorite
- 5:50favorite of all is the, if you could share a message with the
- 5:53world, what would that be? And that is it gets me every
- 5:57time. Time if you watch the content,
- 5:58whether it's on Tick-Tock, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,
- 6:02even everywhere. If you watch it.
- 6:05And you see the last question you get the coolest responses a
- 6:09all the time, but then be you see them quite literally live
- 6:14their life in a series of seconds and you see it in their
- 6:17face. So if you pay attention to their
- 6:18face, you see what I call, kind of like an, are you happy?
- 6:23Oh no, I want to say scrunched. But that's not the right word,
- 6:25but their face just has like a Frank different shape that
- 6:28happens, right? And so they're thinking about
- 6:31their life, and their thinking, okay, what is my message?
- 6:34You know, what did I just live through?
- 6:36Is there something that I have relevant now?
- 6:38Or is there something I learned 20 years ago that I want to
- 6:41share and whatever they share, it's up to them.
- 6:43We don't we don't guide anything at so outside of the questions
- 6:47and then following up on their response.
- 6:49So for us, it's always been a thing of, you know, sharing the
- 6:53stories of strangers all over the world.
- 6:56However, Whenever we can, we've done it in airports how I've
- 6:59done it on airports. I've done interviews.
- 7:00On a train, identity is everywhere and the experiences
- 7:04are remarkable for both the interviewer and the interviewee
- 7:07and then we in turn, put that out on social media but also
- 7:12there's a documentary, which is in post-production and it's
- 7:14going to be out this March. So here in a couple months.
- 7:18So just craziness craziness and I think for Tick-Tock, we're
- 7:22over 4.1 million followers for Tick-Tock.
- 7:25Growing everyday. We have Ends of views like on a
- 7:28weekly basis easily over 15 million views a week, crazy
- 7:32views. And then, you know, Instagram,
- 7:35we have over 130,000. I want to say, followers, and
- 7:39that grows every week. We started interviewing
- 7:41celebrities about happiness. And that was so successful,
- 7:44recently, re-interviewed Alexander Billings, who's a, an
- 7:48actress, and she's amazing. So yeah, it's just onward and
- 7:51upward, But ultimately, the core of it is believing that everyone
- 7:57Every single person has a story worth sharing and it's on us to
- 8:01to facilitate that and to, you know, let them share their
- 8:04stories because I guarantee you that you're going to receive
- 8:07something from it. Something then matter what it
- 8:09is. But you're going to receive
- 8:10something and during the pandemic, it was everything.
- 8:14So pandemic time, right? We're all indoors.
- 8:16We can't leave, we can't go anywhere.
- 8:18So we wanted to connect with everyone, right?
- 8:22So you saw more content coming out where people are trying to
- 8:25connect with others. We Saw a film festivals where,
- 8:29you know, filmmakers could not go outside or go on location so
- 8:32what did they do? They filmed inside their houses
- 8:34and they used basic things like little I want to say Mone toes
- 8:38in Spanish that's you know the little toys.
- 8:40So they use toys to do like kind of like a, what is it when you
- 8:44record? You take pictures of the item.
- 8:46It's like flash. What is it animation?
- 8:50What is that you don't talk about?
- 8:51Like yeah so they were doing animated videos with little tiny
- 8:55toys and so all of this really cool stuff came creatively.
- 8:59But ultimately you know, everyone was in a place where
- 9:02they were, you know, not doing so well and we needed to connect
- 9:06with other people and I think that are you happy, they still
- 9:09continue during the pandemic time and help to facilitate
- 9:13those connections. So so much Yeah, and there's a
- 9:18lot for me to unpack right now. Got a bunch of questions, this
- 9:21room somewhere and I think the first one I want to sort of
- 9:25focus on those in the beginning of that, you said that the
- 9:28initial journey and the purpose of the journey was to find the
- 9:33the happiest person in the world.
- 9:35And I think the first thing that struck me is like, how do you
- 9:38define happiness and to a larger extent?
- 9:41Like how do you define, who is the happiest of all those
- 9:45people? Excellent questions.
- 9:48Excellent questions. And I believe that that is
- 9:52explored within the documentary and even.
- 9:55So if it isn't, it's an ongoing discussion and ongoing debate
- 9:59and I don't believe that there is yet to be answer or response
- 10:04that can be accurately described nothing.
- 10:07What do you think? What do I think that what that
- 10:11happiness looks like? Is that what you're asking?
- 10:13Yeah. Okay, so personally personally,
- 10:18I don't believe that there is one set response for it.
- 10:21I've seen, I've had the pleasure and the honor to interview
- 10:23thousands of people. Now whether it's her or in
- 10:27person and I, you know, I have the pleasure to, you know,
- 10:31oversee 3,000-plus content creators for.
- 10:34Are you happy? And then on our commercial side
- 10:37with happy Productions. I oversee like a lot of people
- 10:41for for our other content production.
- 10:43So, So I see that happiness looks differently for everyone
- 10:48and I believe it's like, you know, based on their personal
- 10:51experience and their personal views on how their life has
- 10:55come, right? And so we all develop whatever
- 10:58our I guess read on happiness and our own interpretation.
- 11:03And then we just constantly evolve because it changes, we
- 11:06change all the time, our ideas change and our preferences.
- 11:09So it would make sense that it would be a continuous evolving.
- 11:14Description for happiness. I think.
- 11:16But personally, I just, I just believe that we find it in
- 11:23everything and that if we can find happiness, whether it's,
- 11:26you know, a laugh, or a smile, or a moment of just, you know,
- 11:30Joy, whatever it is. If we can find that in
- 11:33everything, then we'll be better for it.
- 11:35And we'll have much, you know, more Rich richer lives are more
- 11:38colorful days so I just yeah. Some people were mark on that in
- 11:42our videos already and those Say, oh, it's the little things
- 11:45totally, true. Some might say, oh it's you
- 11:47know, these specific moments that changed our lives.
- 11:50Totally true. All of that.
- 11:51It's true. So I that's not really an
- 11:53accurate answer for you but continuously evolving, you know.
- 11:58It's it's a yeah. Subjective to the person.
- 12:01Yeah, that's true. That's very true in the
- 12:05thousands of interviews that you that you conducted what was the
- 12:10most memorable. One that stood out to you, that
- 12:14maybe hit you on a personal level for some reason, or that
- 12:17just kind of inspired you in some way.
- 12:20Wow, I talked about this one all the time on our show and I have
- 12:24to kind of stop because I'm you know, how if you listen to an
- 12:26episode multiple times and you're like, oh crap I know.
- 12:30Darn it. I referenced it again and it's
- 12:32in multiple episodes. But I think there's a reason why
- 12:34it's I do that all the time and I'm like, all people must be so
- 12:38sick and tired of hearing my stories.
- 12:39This point Does that story needed tone track to introduce?
- 12:46I just come in with it. I tape recorded bottarga.
- 12:48Hold on play. All right, there you go.
- 12:51I'll just sit and relax. Oh, well I would have to talk
- 12:54the next 15 minutes so my most memorable one is, is on my first
- 13:01day. I was at the mall and I'll
- 13:06preface this by saying that when I came to are you happy?
- 13:09I was a volunteer. Just like all the people that
- 13:11enter the The program. And now I'm second to the head
- 13:15of the entire thing. Yeah, so when I came along, it
- 13:19was 3:00 in the morning that I was on Tick-Tock and I was
- 13:21scrolling through and I saw their videos and I was like,
- 13:25what in the heck is this? I need.
- 13:27This is amazing, you know, and and it said at the very end
- 13:31there's a call to action that says join our team of
- 13:33interviewers, you know. And if you've ever seen that
- 13:36film, what is it with Adam Sandler?
- 13:39And the little boy, Yeah. Oh, Gods could drive me nuts.
- 13:45Yeah, I know what you're about daddy, that's it.
- 13:47Yeah, so if you remember, when they're Scuba Steve and the
- 13:51little boys like I can be a member of this, goof is cloth
- 13:54like that. That's how I found out.
- 13:56I was like, I could be an interviewer on this team.
- 13:58And so I joined and I remember thinking to myself, you know,
- 14:02this could either be a very memorable Story, the cocktail
- 14:05party, or it could be something that's completely life-changing
- 14:08and my whole life has been around doing everything
- 14:11possible. Able to, you know, to just to
- 14:13just grasp whatever it is that's in front of me and just grow
- 14:16with it not even doubting and just go with it cause you never
- 14:18know where it leads and it's led to a ridiculously awesome career
- 14:23in production and all that I do creative wise but going back.
- 14:27So I joined it at three in the morning and then the first day I
- 14:30go out I go to the mall because I'm like people are at the mall.
- 14:33It's do this. It's Christmas time and I
- 14:35approach this balloon maker so you know how people make animals
- 14:39for the kids? Yeah.
- 14:41So he Making animals for the kids and I asked him if I could
- 14:44interview them and he gives this amazing interview and he's
- 14:47probably like the happiest person I've come across in a
- 14:50long time, but the way that he explained, you know, doing what
- 14:54you love and just, and just, you know, not taking life.
- 14:57So seriously and just do whatever it is, you love, and
- 14:59damn, the rest. And just the way that he kind
- 15:01of, like held himself, it was so confident and so pure, but he
- 15:06had like the most pure laughs like a child.
- 15:09He was just so happy. This guy is just radiating
- 15:11happiness. Enos.
- 15:12But whatever it is that was in that particular interview.
- 15:15When it got posted, there was a comment where someone had said,
- 15:20you know, I wasn't planning to be here tomorrow, but then I saw
- 15:23this and I think I'm going to stay Wow.
- 15:27Yeah, like like how do you, how do you read that?
- 15:31And not feel something feel so many things, you know?
- 15:34And, and that, that was when I realized like this is beyond me
- 15:37this is beyond, you know, this is the kind of connections and
- 15:40responses and emotions and the, what they receive from those
- 15:44videos because you know, you're literally interviewing
- 15:47strangers, all over the world. So the ability to facilitate
- 15:50perspectives all over that, we would never see It's beyond us
- 15:55and it helps so many people so seeing that I can never forget
- 15:59that. I can never forget that, you
- 16:01know, someone decided to stick around in this world because of
- 16:04something that I helped facilitate, you know, by just
- 16:06pressing record. So what was the most difficult
- 16:10or challenging interview that you heard?
- 16:14Yeah, I thought of that one, too, when you said most
- 16:16memorable. So at nighttime I was downtown
- 16:19and Dallas interviewing people, and I came across this lady that
- 16:23I thought was going to be. Super happy.
- 16:25And then she asked me a lot of questions, like why was I doing
- 16:29this? What was I doing?
- 16:30And then eventually gave permission and so I was like,
- 16:33okay great like are you happy? And she says, no.
- 16:37And then the whole time, she looks like she's going to cry
- 16:40the whole time and I'm trying to get through these questions.
- 16:43But I'm also trying to kind of facilitate the conversation, and
- 16:46it's just really hard is hard. It's so hard.
- 16:48And I want to ask her like so many things, but I want to be
- 16:51respectful of the same time, right?
- 16:54And not be invasive. And so at the very end, I asked
- 16:58her, you know, if he could share a message, what would it be?
- 17:02And she said you spend so much time wasting On thoughts about,
- 17:09you know, fear and and and what you think that you can't do or
- 17:13shouldn't do. We waste so much time?
- 17:15Worrying about that and she's like and then it never happens.
- 17:19Whatever it is that we fear is going to happen and never
- 17:22freaking happens. And we waste the time thinking
- 17:25about that stuff and that whole time, she just looks like she's
- 17:29gonna bawl her eyes out. Like, you feel it.
- 17:31You can feel it watching the video and it's on Instagram by
- 17:34the way, if for some reason, it didn't make it to tick-tock.
- 17:37Just a technical error but it's on Instagram.
- 17:39This lady with short hair sitting there and it's the
- 17:41shortest interview I'd ever done.
- 17:43I think you know and yeah just it made so much sense though.
- 17:46Like yeah, we totally worried about stuff all the time and
- 17:48then we find out later that it never happened.
- 17:51And she and she basically was conveying that she wasted her
- 17:53whole life worrying about stuff. And so by the end of that, you
- 17:58know, when we when we recap she was you know looking like she
- 18:01was going to cry and she did afterward and all I could do all
- 18:04I could think about doing after that was Be like hey can I give
- 18:08you a hug because you need you need a hug.
- 18:11I need a hug lie to everybody. The whole world needs a hug
- 18:14right now. And so we spent time chatting
- 18:15and talking about, you know, what was going on in her life
- 18:18and how she had just relocated and such.
- 18:20But then what was really weird is that she must have been on a
- 18:24date with her boyfriend because then this guy comes and he has
- 18:27drinks and food and then like the switch flips and she's
- 18:30happy, I was like, what the heck, what does happen here?
- 18:35And it turns out that this guy at the love of this man made her
- 18:38happy and so the minute he comes.
- 18:40Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah.
- 18:42I was like, wait, we wait, like we just spent this like what you
- 18:47see when you said that my mind straight away went to like, oh
- 18:50no this is one of those like sudden and I Stockholm syndrome
- 18:53type deals like you know that she's pretending but then you
- 18:56say no no she's actually really happy and it's because it is
- 19:00question but then it kind of makes you think about how you
- 19:04know. We are carved compartmentalize
- 19:05though and how We might have some really, really awful things
- 19:09that we're going through and then another part of us there's
- 19:13some really good things. And so we have this this, you
- 19:16know, variety of emotions that were facing all the time.
- 19:19So it was really odd to see that happen but the sad portion that
- 19:23was super difficult interview. Is when you're with someone that
- 19:27shares something that is beyond, you know, makes you feel so sad,
- 19:31like they might be homeless and that really hits hard with you
- 19:34and you're like, are you sure you want to do this interview?
- 19:36Because I don't want To take from, you know, your time if
- 19:39you're trying to find somewhere to sleep tonight that's really
- 19:41hard. But you know if they say yes I
- 19:45want to do this interview then we'll proceed.
- 19:47But we're always you know, respectful of their time and we
- 19:51in post-production we don't manipulate anything either.
- 19:53You know, we're not like forcing the story.
- 19:56Like we just are able to facilitate these really
- 19:58beautiful stories. Yeah, it's it's interesting
- 20:03though because like, you do get a lot of I've seen when I
- 20:08originally checked out the brand but you get a lot of negative
- 20:12responses from people say you are.
- 20:15Someone, are you happy? And they say no.
- 20:16And you find out why? And I suppose, the biggest thing
- 20:20that comes to my mind is, is there a lot of recap done?
- 20:23Do you find these people later on and they're doing better?
- 20:26Like, what does the Aftercare look like?
- 20:28How do you help people or do you help people?
- 20:30Like what's what goes on there? And that's a good question
- 20:34because we've been asked that before and and typically like
- 20:37after that interview it's pretty rare that will run into the
- 20:40person again because our creators are either, you know,
- 20:43traveling or maybe they're in a place that they've never been.
- 20:45So they may not go there again, but it has happened where we've
- 20:48come across people. A handful of times, one of our
- 20:52content creators came across somebody at the park and then
- 20:55they saw them again later on with their family and got to do
- 20:58like a you know, a little selfie with Them.
- 21:01And that was really great. But afterward if they're in like
- 21:05a bad place, you know. Like if it's something that's
- 21:07super serious than I'm hoping I know for myself, I can only
- 21:11speak for myself in the field but if it comes to me where I'm
- 21:16interviewing someone in the field, or even maybe on a
- 21:18podcast too because it's just my human nature to help people.
- 21:21But afterward I will have that conversation and be like hey,
- 21:24you know, are you okay? Here's some resources that you
- 21:26may want to check out or let's connect you with someone when we
- 21:30You like really, really difficult comments online.
- 21:33Then, you know, if we can make it happen, will communicate to
- 21:37them and be like, hey are you okay?
- 21:39You know, and kind of check in when we have those interviews
- 21:42where people are like I'm not happy.
- 21:44We give them just as much room to express, why not?
- 21:48Because there are other people that are watching that are going
- 21:51through the same thing, if not something similar, where they
- 21:54can receive some kind of message from that.
- 21:56So I think that there's just as much value in the stories, where
- 22:00they're Not happy versus, you know, thinking that the ones
- 22:03that are happy are far greater, I think they're equal.
- 22:08And it will be interviews that you've done and all the videos
- 22:11that you've edited or seen or experienced.
- 22:14Then under this, are you happy brand?
- 22:17Is there a particular life lesson that you took from all of
- 22:22them or like, one of them, that's particularly stands out
- 22:25that you like. Yeah, that's the one.
- 22:26That's the biggest thing. Biggest take away from this
- 22:29experience. I think it's a combination of
- 22:33all of them. Honestly, the biggest takeaway
- 22:37for me is that nothing is ever what it seems ever.
- 22:41So when we come across someone and we think that they're happy
- 22:45or we think that they're not happy, you know sometimes it's
- 22:48the case but a lot of times it's never what we think it is and by
- 22:52us like initiating conversations with everyone then you know
- 22:56we're able to experience more and learn more and sometimes we
- 22:59come across someone that we may not Not normally approach as a
- 23:02stranger without a camera, right?
- 23:04But then when you do, and you have this interesting
- 23:07conversation with someone that you would have never normally
- 23:09come across or even said, hi to, it's life-changing.
- 23:16Hmm. It's it's one of those ones
- 23:19isn't it? Just makes you sick?
- 23:23Yeah, I do want to point out that I am not all of.
- 23:26Are you happy? Just like ossetra because not
- 23:28only are you happy? Are you?
- 23:29Happy consists of three, thousand-plus creators and we
- 23:33get more every day but that we want to grow, right?
- 23:37But also we have a team of editors.
- 23:39We have a mazing editors and they are wonderful.
- 23:44We have creative directors, we have a strategist who works on
- 23:47our commercial side, we have client managers for our
- 23:50commercial side, which is Happy Productions.
- 23:52So, effectively everything that we do here through.
- 23:55Are you happy and the type of strategy that we've developed to
- 23:58share stories and be effective storytellers, and be really, you
- 24:02know, amazing at putting together content, that's
- 24:05worthwhile entertaining, but also, educating as well.
- 24:09All of these wonderful things that we do.
- 24:10We couldn't do it without the massive teams that we have
- 24:12behind us and especially Specially for our commercial
- 24:15clients with happy production. So in turn all the essence and
- 24:18things that we have here on, are you happy?
- 24:21We have also built that same model into our commercial
- 24:25process where we help our clients to develop their brand,
- 24:29their voice and also tell unique stories about them because it's
- 24:33no longer about the products right now.
- 24:36On Instagram on Tik Tok you see a lot of commercial companies
- 24:40coming in and telling these beautiful stories about them and
- 24:43why. They do what they do.
- 24:45And that's something that is, is, is better at reaching Their
- 24:50audience versus the product. So, I'd love to say to people
- 24:53that it's no longer a store, a conversation about what's in the
- 24:57box, it's about who's behind the box and you can, you can take
- 25:01that to the bank. That's what I tell people all
- 25:02the time. I know it for a fact.
- 25:04I've seen it. But yeah.
- 25:07So happy Productions is super successful at doing short form
- 25:10content for businesses and other commercial.
- 25:14Ends, we work with authors and several different kinds of
- 25:16clients. We work with Burberry Warner,
- 25:17Brothers. So many different people.
- 25:20And actually, right now we're looking for Content creators who
- 25:22are in the UK. So, London and Central Area, we
- 25:25have work for Content creators in the UK.
- 25:27So, I hope that people listening in your UK surrounding areas,
- 25:32will definitely reach out and you're more than welcome to
- 25:35share. My contact information for that,
- 25:36but this whole ride, you know, it's a journey, but it's an
- 25:40amazing journey. We have, we have amazing teams,
- 25:43we have And do amazing work. And then we're just, we're just
- 25:47blessed to be able to work with people and I tell you this,
- 25:51like, not even joking, we have people that are so committed to
- 25:54what they do that. They work hours beyond the
- 25:58normal business hour because they love it.
- 26:00And we have people that are so creative that they can, you
- 26:05know, whip up ideas within seconds and then create like
- 26:08this conversation and come up with various like story plans
- 26:12and it's insane. I'm like, we have like this
- 26:14creative genius in our team and I always tell off a trap card
- 26:19that I don't know how he did it. Like teach me how to do that
- 26:22because, you know, having people around you that are just like
- 26:26superheroes as I call them, it's amazing.
- 26:29But for us, like going to the office Virtual Office on a
- 26:32Monday because all of our people are all over the world.
- 26:35Right? It's not Monday.
- 26:38It's never Monday because because everyone just loves what
- 26:40they do. You mentioned them, we've kind
- 26:43of learned it throughout the course of you speak in there.
- 26:46Like, I can tell, I mean, if you don't have a background in
- 26:49marketing and sales, they'll be very surprised because you're
- 26:52clearly very good at. Yeah, it's selling the product
- 26:56branding it, but seeks, the Deep background in marketing.
- 26:59Know I was, I did sales before, but I've never been classically
- 27:04trained. I'm just naturally good at lots
- 27:06of nature. The furniture, I can read music
- 27:14and such, but I taught myself to play the piano on a whim because
- 27:17I was bored. So, I don't know.
- 27:20I mean, that's amazing. I was laughing because I assumed
- 27:23you were saying, like, in the sense that classically trained
- 27:25in sales and marketing. That's sweet man, right?
- 27:28Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
- 27:31That's very clever. I will say this, I mean I got a
- 27:37degree in marketing and to be honest it I didn't learn really
- 27:42about Out marketing to actually start working in it because it
- 27:45is like a way of looking at certain things and reflecting on
- 27:48things and stuff. But you do it.
- 27:50Well, it's something I picked up a but what I want to focus on is
- 27:53that you mentioned that you're directly underneath the main.
- 27:58Let's say owner CEO. I don't know how you want to put
- 28:00it like the leader of this this situation.
- 28:05You mentioned that. Yeah.
- 28:06So like how long ago did you start with them?
- 28:09Let's start there man. Yeah.
- 28:12I think I'm well they say two years but I feel like it's less
- 28:15than that. So we'll just say two years.
- 28:17Sure, right. Okay, this is incredible.
- 28:19So you started as a volunteer, two years ago and now two years
- 28:23later your right-hand man centrally are you the director,
- 28:28okay. So you're the director.
- 28:29Are you happy Ragtime? I am managing director for, are
- 28:32you happy? So that means everything the
- 28:35whole universe. He gave me the keys.
- 28:37Like, actually way before that first of all, congratulations.
- 28:42Nations. You, secondly, walk us through
- 28:45like how you got to that point? Because I feel like it's
- 28:48probably going to be a combination of many different
- 28:50factors, but I want to kind of hear it in your words because I
- 28:52think this is a quite an expiring thing that people could
- 28:55pick a lot. Oh sure.
- 28:57I mean, there are people in my own family that I like how in
- 28:59the hell did you do that? But you're also talking to
- 29:02someone who talked their way into an internship after a
- 29:0415-year break of working in film and production so well, is that
- 29:07okay? Yeah so for are you happy?
- 29:11I came in as a volunteer And I just hit things full force.
- 29:14This is what I do and I think that that has a great deal of
- 29:18success in anything that you do, right?
- 29:21So I put everything into it and then when I had situations where
- 29:25my phone wasn't working or something, logistically was not
- 29:28happening. I pivoted.
- 29:30And I found a way to do something else to be useful.
- 29:32So I started talking to people in the community and answering
- 29:35questions. Well, I get a DM from off a and
- 29:39he says, I want to meet with you and let's have a meeting and I'm
- 29:41like, okay, Crap. I'm in trouble for overstepping.
- 29:44So now I have this meeting with him and he was like or I said
- 29:47I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, whatever I did.
- 29:50I'm sorry. Five bags, full and he goes I'm
- 29:52not trying to punish you. He's like I'm trying to hire you
- 29:56because who are was statement. He's like first off who are you
- 30:01he's like you just walked into my my company or you just walked
- 30:05into this place. It just started helping people
- 30:08and and operating in such a manner as if you already worked
- 30:11here, I was like this is what I do.
- 30:15If I see a need for for help or something that I just, I don't
- 30:18even think about I just do it. I'm so I did that and he said,
- 30:21would you be our community manager and and we would love to
- 30:24pay you for that. And as I could have been of
- 30:26course this is so much fun and at the time I was a full-time
- 30:29insurance agent and I'm still a license by the way.
- 30:32But yeah yeah I'm licensed in Texas Colorado and New Mexico I
- 30:37think. Yeah.
- 30:38So I decided like okay, I'm gonna You know, I'm going to
- 30:42work and I was going to school to for film and video and
- 30:46production stuff and so I was doing these three things but I
- 30:50was so adamant about doing the work because I loved it and I
- 30:54had passion for it and it involved all the things that I
- 30:57love. So it involved production, it
- 31:00involved video, creativity humanity and and and really,
- 31:04like helping people. So above all.
- 31:06I'm always had like that servant's heart, you know?
- 31:09And the willingness to help people without even thinking
- 31:12about It's just second nature. So, all of these things were in
- 31:15that work and so I was in love with it and committed before I
- 31:19even had this commitment. So, I think that is what led to
- 31:23the quick rise I suppose in my position.
- 31:26But once I became Community manager, I started, you know,
- 31:29working with everyone and then setting up these events and of
- 31:32course you have things at work. Things that don't work.
- 31:34But then you just grow and then attitude you know, what do you
- 31:38do with that when you fail? Well, you know, for some people
- 31:41they fail and they Stew in that. But I don't I can't, I have to
- 31:44keep moving forward. So I have to keep innovating or
- 31:47pivoting rather to make it work or create something new and just
- 31:52continuously be moving and doing something, right?
- 31:55So that that's my thing and and soon after that he said hey we
- 32:01have room on our commercial side with happy Productions.
- 32:04Why don't you come over and also work with us over here?
- 32:07Okay? So I went over there, and I
- 32:10started. What was I doing?
- 32:13I don't recall what I was doing over there but eventually it
- 32:17evolved to being production management eventually that's,
- 32:21that's what it evolve to but I was always helping a lot of
- 32:24people in various other areas, but for are you happy after
- 32:27Community manager, then it was like, okay, we're going to
- 32:30promote you. And you know, you already have
- 32:33keys to the castle as the community manager, but now
- 32:37you're going to be managing director of the whole.
- 32:39Are you happy Universe along with, you know, with with Him.
- 32:42And it was an extreme honor. And and I got to hire a new
- 32:45community manager. And we're currently building,
- 32:48you know, the future for that. So it's insane.
- 32:51There's a so insane. I could never understand how
- 32:54someone put so much trust in me so quickly.
- 32:56I guess I do because I mean, I'm an honest person and stuff and
- 32:59it shows, right? But it was ridiculously fast and
- 33:03I'm a fast-moving person so I was there for it.
- 33:07You know, I embrace it. 100%. What was your first thought when
- 33:12he told you that you were going to become managing director.
- 33:16It's like okay, okay, okay, okay.
- 33:25Of course you have your poker face, right?
- 33:27So you don't let it let out or you don't let anyone see that.
- 33:31You're, like, quaking at the knees, you know, but I'm just
- 33:34like, okay. Okay, okay, so I just, I just
- 33:39ran with it. I knew That and do that,
- 33:41whatever happened. He'd be there to support me and
- 33:43all the various team folks that we have.
- 33:45So I knew that I had like a safety net of people but I just
- 33:49I just took it. I just took it and ran with it
- 33:51because I think that if we're if we're given a gift if we're
- 33:54given something, anything at all, whether we're prepared or
- 33:57not Universe thinks you are so you know that it is what it is.
- 34:03If the universe gives you a gift who are we to question it or
- 34:06question our abilities because, you know, by now now you know
- 34:11what, what you can do and you surprise yourself with what you
- 34:15attempt and succeed at. So why the hell not, why
- 34:18wouldn't we try things that we that were not accustomed to?
- 34:22I was in a managing director before I was an insurance agent.
- 34:26I went to film school for like two years and then I had to
- 34:30leave. This is like 2002 ran out of
- 34:34money. I failed miserably and I was a
- 34:35first-generation college students.
- 34:37It was a big deal. And then I failed like Epic
- 34:40failed. And I spent 15 years figuring
- 34:43out what to do while working in non-profit work.
- 34:46And then also at one point, losing my housing and having to
- 34:49navigate, you know, life in another state, thousands of
- 34:52miles away. So I went through a various
- 34:56amount of difficulties but but I have, I don't know what it is
- 35:00and and I honestly can't pinpoint how but somehow I've
- 35:04been able to come back and you know each and every time and and
- 35:09not be Uh, Jaded by all the things that happened to me
- 35:13somehow I couldn't tell you how but what I can tell you is that
- 35:18I guess I operate in such a way that I don't let what happened
- 35:22to me effect. What what comes afterward or
- 35:26what I do. It's almost like you're
- 35:28happening to the world versus the world happening.
- 35:30You know? I mean that makes sense like
- 35:32your your what's happening to everything else around you
- 35:35versus the other way around. I don't know.
- 35:38That's why I think nice. It's incredible.
- 35:41I mean, I was pretty much just going to ask you like how you
- 35:43got through that because, you know, I go back and forth all
- 35:46the time on how I feel about this and I've Got Friends
- 35:50picnic. You know, it's like I have this
- 35:52friend who I had on the podcast shoutout to James morale is
- 35:57incredible actor. He's really, really talented
- 36:00content creator and he's sort of bouncing between jobs, get to
- 36:07make ends meet just Same as me, same as everyone else, trying to
- 36:09become an actor and where everything else and you can
- 36:15tell, it's kind of getting to him because, you know, he very
- 36:18recently was in a theater production smashed.
- 36:20It did really well. You know and I know that feeling
- 36:23when you you get some work in. Yeah yeah this is this is it.
- 36:26I'm an actor. I'm doing it right?
- 36:29And then you finish Because it's a freelance industry and then
- 36:33you go back to, I don't know, regular life, I guess and I
- 36:37think it's it's bothering him and it's, you know, and he's
- 36:42very open and honest about it. He's the same as me like we both
- 36:45were our hearts and Our Sleeve. We talk about it.
- 36:48Maybe it's not always the greatest thing to talk about it.
- 36:50I don't know. But it's just how we both
- 36:52function and and I totally understand that about him and
- 36:55he's a great guy. He's a really good guy, deserves
- 36:58a break, right? But the reason I bring it up is
- 37:01That. You know, I reached out to him a
- 37:03few times, and I said to him the other day that you got keep
- 37:05going, you'll keep trying. And he is interesting, because
- 37:10my perspective looking at him, is that he's doing way better
- 37:13than me? Like I'm just, you know,
- 37:15plodding along, trying to get a break and it's not really going
- 37:18anywhere, right? And he's killing it like he's
- 37:21absolutely killing it. But I guess he doesn't see that
- 37:23because he's looking at the Hard reality of one working at this
- 37:26place right now. And that's my reality.
- 37:29And I feel that like, it was only a few weeks.
- 37:32Go that I was still working in a bar job and, you know, that
- 37:36ended for various reasons. And here I am now throwing
- 37:41everything Against the Wind, just trying, you know, I got
- 37:45acting this got portfolio. So yeah, I'm working on stuff.
- 37:50I'm throwing myself out there, but it's hard and you do go back
- 37:57and forth. And you have these moments where
- 37:58you're like, Am I kidding myself is my just not good enough, is
- 38:05it not supposed to happen for me?
- 38:07Do I not have a lock? If you know, all these thoughts
- 38:10go back and forth, back and forth, and You mentioned there
- 38:17that you went to film school? That was your passion.
- 38:18That was what you loved. It didn't quite work out and
- 38:21then you were sort of spending the next 15 years like exploring
- 38:25find any. So I feel like now this right
- 38:28here, this you this version of you, it's all been building up
- 38:31to this and this is the best version of you and it will keep
- 38:34moving forward, right? That's how life works, right?
- 38:37But in those harder times, I know you said before, you
- 38:41weren't 100% sure what kept me going, but, is there anything
- 38:44maybe? That you learn.
- 38:47From some of the failures and some of the difficult times that
- 38:51did keep you going or something. That anything that just kept you
- 38:55going and kept you pushing through to this point now.
- 38:59Yeah, yeah. So I mean, I grew up with a lot
- 39:01of a lot of like, really difficult situations because of
- 39:06my surroundings and family life and I guess not having
- 39:11everything and yet you're always short, you're always falling
- 39:14short. So there's a lot of criticism of
- 39:17A lot of like teasing that comes along with that like, in the
- 39:19schoolyards, right? So lots and lots of things that
- 39:21happen to you throughout your life when you're having just a
- 39:24rough go of it. And so, I learned not to listen,
- 39:29so, that's what it was. That is it, that is like, one of
- 39:32two. Things of what it was is that I
- 39:33learned not to, listen, to other people because everyone had and
- 39:36I don't know. Can you curse on the show?
- 39:38Yeah, it was good. Okay.
- 39:40So a lot of people had a lot of crap to say a lot of shit to say
- 39:44and I was like, you know, why in the heck, are we wasting time?
- 39:46Listening to that Just under crap.
- 39:48So what I decided was that, you know, I wasn't going to listen
- 39:51to anybody within reason, right? But when it came to like really
- 39:53harsh criticisms or whether you're telling me something
- 39:56because you're feeling bad about your career or you're feeling
- 39:58bad about your place in Life, or the fact that you didn't make it
- 40:01all the way. So you're going to take it out
- 40:03on me. I was like, why am I listening
- 40:04to that? So I just stopped listening to
- 40:06other people in that regard. And it saved me.
- 40:10I think because I stopped listening to the negativity and
- 40:14taking it. I just you know let it bounced
- 40:15off, what's that? At school age adage that's like
- 40:19you know whatever whatever bounces off me or the what is
- 40:23it? I'm Rubber and you're glue.
- 40:25All right. Yeah whatever.
- 40:28So let's do that. So it was like why do I care?
- 40:37And then think about all the time we waste on caring about
- 40:40that rates. A lot of wasted time I'm going
- 40:42to say that. It's like you're in my head
- 40:44right now like the onus it. This is something I've spoken
- 40:48about on my live streams fairly recently like this, the
- 40:51importance of not giving a flying.
- 40:53Fuck what? Exactly, and it's like and doing
- 40:57what you're doing right now with just just working on whatever,
- 41:01whatever you can get your hands on, whatever you can put out
- 41:04there. That is the key right there.
- 41:06That's the key doing something and not being still, because if
- 41:09you're be still and you way, it's not going to fall in your
- 41:11lap for some, it might, but this is not normally going to happen
- 41:14that way, but if you just do something, NG all the time
- 41:17toward whatever that goal is of being an actor voice actor.
- 41:21Having these deals having people come to you, you know, with with
- 41:24scripts or what have you, you know, it'll happen eventually.
- 41:27Sure. But for now now is time for the
- 41:29hard work and to work every single job that you possibly
- 41:32can. It is what it is.
- 41:34I've interviewed quite a few CEOs in production and other
- 41:37directors and they say, the exact same thing.
- 41:39They're like, I started off as a PA or a production assistant and
- 41:43I, you know, I coiled cables and I got coffee whatever.
- 41:45But eventually They got to spend time with the assistant director
- 41:51or they got to spend time and Shadow the cinematographer, all
- 41:54these things that happen because they just put themselves in the
- 41:57environment and did whatever they possibly could.
- 42:00And then they networks and they got jobs and it's just, it just
- 42:03builds from there. But if we don't do anything, if
- 42:05we stay listening to other people, excuse me that say that
- 42:10it can't happen or that you'll never go far.
- 42:12Well then we're all automatically at a loss or
- 42:16behind but But I think for your friend, I can understand feeling
- 42:20like, okay, where I am now versus where I think, successful
- 42:24me should be or gauging it based off of the job the day job that
- 42:29you have to fulfill versus your success as an actor.
- 42:33I understand the thought process but I honestly believe that it's
- 42:36almost as if you have to put blinders on and say, okay, I'm
- 42:39still going to focus on the task at hand, which is doing this
- 42:42work and getting these me getting those jobs.
- 42:52I was sick recently. Anyway.
- 42:54Oh that's what Texans say. And usually they don't mean it
- 42:58in a good way when they say bless your heart.
- 43:00No, I mean it. I mean it, I hope you are
- 43:02feeling better. Oh, totally totally better.
- 43:05But yeah, so you have to put blinders on and and forget about
- 43:09the fact that you work at, you know, a marketing agency or
- 43:11forget about the fact that you work at a bar who cares, you
- 43:14know, that's just that's just allowing the money to come in
- 43:16to. Rotate.
- 43:17Your basic needs is nothing to do with your success, nothing at
- 43:20all. So just keep on doing what
- 43:23you're doing and work. All the jobs and network and do
- 43:27do whatever you got. You have to do to be active in
- 43:29the field, that's literally it and then everything else will
- 43:31come. I hope you're right man.
- 43:36I believe it hope for his sake because he deserves it, my sake.
- 43:39I because I just I don't know. I believe in it now.
- 43:43I feel like it's possible. I know there's people that
- 43:46believe in me, but he's I think the difficulty with this though
- 43:50is separating the reality that's in front of you versus where you
- 43:55see yourself and where you aspire to be because it's hard.
- 44:00They are is Oh, I believe it, and I see it, you know, I see it
- 44:04was casting and I see it with, you know, with hiring with us
- 44:06hiring, you know, creators and even actors, or whatever, for
- 44:09whatever commercial something that was going on.
- 44:12But you see the casting, right? And the large influx of people
- 44:17that are wanting to have that position in this, you gonna give
- 44:25them to make it through. I'm gonna grab some water real
- 44:29quick. I'll keep talking Well, I just
- 44:32hope that she makes it through so that we can continue their
- 44:35illness and she does, she doesn't die on us.
- 44:40That's what I'm hoping you're okay, you're right?
- 44:45Yeah, yeah, I have a home office, you know, like everybody
- 44:48else does, you know, this reminds me of and I've said this
- 44:51before, but, like, you see, like, I don't know if you had
- 44:54this when you were at school but, you know, like when you're
- 44:56in an assembly and someone the teachers talking, And it's
- 45:00definitely quiet and you just can't stop coughing and you're
- 45:05just like I just don't get anxiety Billy.
- 45:07Yeah, come on please stop please.
- 45:10Come on, it happens. It just it happened to me I was
- 45:13on a on a coach coming back from Manchester to London, and I
- 45:19could not for the life of me, stop myself coughing, I just
- 45:22kept coughing and coughing and coughing it and I I had to
- 45:25apologize to the guy next semester.
- 45:26I'm so sorry like I just I don't know what's wrong with me.
- 45:30There was a stop-off, I got myself water, that didn't help
- 45:34and in the end I just kind of acquiesced and just accepted it.
- 45:37But now there was that there was other people there.
- 45:39I mean it was it was a shit show.
- 45:40There was one point some kid threw up in the aisleway right
- 45:44next to us. And we were like two and a half
- 45:48hours late and Nightmare, I forgot.
- 45:51I forgot about that Journey. That sucked.
- 45:54That's a like. Wow, it's yeah, just yeah.
- 45:58Never a dull moment in my life If but yeah, anyway it's hard
- 46:03it's hard to keep that perspective positive, right?
- 46:06When things aren't working or you're really active and it's
- 46:09just not producing. Yeah, do it.
- 46:12Do it. Anyway.
- 46:12Do it with the exact same intensity that you do it.
- 46:15When things are going right, do it with the exact same intensity
- 46:18when things are not going right? And I promise you, it'll pay
- 46:20off. It totally does I come from a
- 46:23background where, you know, I like I went to I went to film
- 46:26School. When I failed miserably, I said,
- 46:31okay, pivot do something else. So I went to Seattle and I
- 46:37joined Americorps, which is like domestic, Peace Corps, you're
- 46:39helping people serving communities, so I did that.
- 46:43And then, you know, chaos, ensued or whatever, and I had
- 46:46to, you know, figure out my housing situation and eventually
- 46:50got back to Texas. And from there, I said, okay,
- 46:53what do I do now? Well, alright, let's let's find
- 46:56a different job because I wasn't Was it ready to do creative
- 46:59things again yet for many years? Actually, because I was so
- 47:02scarred by the fact that I failed film film school and
- 47:07sorry, I didn't actually fail film school.
- 47:10What it was is that I ran out of money because it was a private
- 47:13school. So I ran out of money and I
- 47:15could no longer attend and so I had to withdraw, I didn't fail.
- 47:18I was doing quite well but just like the experience of that
- 47:23failure. It was unlike anything because I
- 47:25had never failed before that I graduated top of My class with
- 47:28scholarships and so forth, right?
- 47:30I did really well scholastically and and and in my, you know,
- 47:34Hobbies with like marching band and all these activities that
- 47:37you do. But I wasn't used to failure at
- 47:40that level for sure and so it took a long time before I could
- 47:44even do anything creative and the first thing I did do when I
- 47:47decided to get back to being creative was start a podcast and
- 47:51that was 2014. What did you do the podcast on?
- 47:56And originally it's still around its tail around, it's actually.
- 48:00Yeah, it's around its Vanessa, the vivacious show and I did
- 48:05delete the old episodes because they are quite embarrassing and
- 48:09I had them around for years thinking like oh you know what,
- 48:11it's a badge of honor but that's that's not good.
- 48:14When you have perspective, people that want to work with
- 48:16you come and he listened to really bad quality.
- 48:19So I'm like, yeah, that's archive and put it on the
- 48:21website. So mmm.
- 48:23Doing so now it's all kind of current things.
- 48:25But I enjoy talking about whatever is going on whatever is
- 48:30going on in my daily life and it kind of Spurs the conversation
- 48:33on to other topics. So that's pretty much what I do.
- 48:36So it's almost as if you're having like an audio blog right
- 48:39now. So that's yeah.
- 48:41I used to play music in between because I had no idea what to
- 48:45say. So I would talk for a minute and
- 48:47be like, okay now we're going to listen to some music and play
- 48:52music and I would Pirate, the music and then do some kind of
- 48:56like recording because a lot of the software that exists now was
- 49:00it really around back then. So I'd have to figure out a way
- 49:02around it and then you'd have this god-awful quality of music
- 49:07and then I couldn't monetize a course, because it's all
- 49:08copyrighted, this is before I had a copyright, Class 2 years
- 49:12ago. But yeah.
- 49:15So that's what I did. That's first thing I did and
- 49:17then, you know, years later after being, in retail being an
- 49:21insurance, I was like there's more to this There's more to me
- 49:24getting in trouble in the office when they're telling me, not to
- 49:28focus on, you know, the the presentation and the creative
- 49:32outlet that, you know, the creative output of the Flyers
- 49:35that they want me to make. They're like, why actor metrics
- 49:40and your notations for your calls, like, like this creative
- 49:43stuff that you're putting out. We don't want that.
- 49:45We want these numbers, we want you to answer the phone.
- 49:48I was like, I want to do that. So then yeah, when everything
- 49:51started building with with, are you happy?
- 49:53I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna I'm just going to
- 49:56take a pay cut and take a massive pay cut so I could build
- 49:59and do everything I want. And then at that point, this is
- 50:0320/20. I went back to school and a
- 50:08local College even Community College and I had the best
- 50:12education. I could possibly have, like best
- 50:15people working in the industry, but you also had professors who
- 50:17gave a damn because that was the only reason why they were there,
- 50:20right? And a professor at a university
- 50:22normally it's you know, And your they don't care anymore.
- 50:25This one get paid, they want. They want to retire, but
- 50:28Community College level is called Dallas college now, but
- 50:30they used to call it something different.
- 50:32So you have these teachers who care about teaching you how to
- 50:35produce television, how to write a show from start to finish and
- 50:38put it together in a studio down the hall.
- 50:41I did, I did a kind of like a re-imagination of Mister Rogers
- 50:47Neighborhood. And, and I'm actually working to
- 50:50kind of build a documentary around that, but Did that with a
- 50:54team with a group start to finish.
- 50:56We did the scripting, we did the sets, we did everything, the
- 50:58cameras, everything and produced a show.
- 51:01I'll be at the camera execution wasn't on point, but the concept
- 51:04of people and at the end, oh, you cried, why did you cry?
- 51:08Because I made that happen. I'm very intuitive about
- 51:11emotions and, and I enjoy crafting the story where at the
- 51:15end you feel such love for this character and you know why?
- 51:19You know, that's, it's beautiful.
- 51:21So So, all of that to say that it's not, it's not a traditional
- 51:26route whatsoever. But of all the directors and
- 51:30production folks that I've interviewed all of them, say the
- 51:32same thing where they're like, you know what, you can get just
- 51:35as much success out of going to a Traditional School, just as
- 51:39much as you can do it on your own.
- 51:41So, there's so many examples of people who just, you know, they
- 51:45just stayed the course and kept working at it, and then, and
- 51:47then you got there. But the focus the main point is,
- 51:50don't stop. That's the main point is.
- 51:52Don't don't stop. Don't stop for anyone.
- 51:54You know, don't stop. Unless you say stop.
- 51:59That's why I think I'm feeling inspired.
- 52:03I'm gonna flip the script now and turn the tables on you
- 52:10Vanessa. Are you happy?
- 52:15Yeah I love this. Yes, extremely extremely happy.
- 52:22I'm you know somebody asked me hmm not too long ago and it was
- 52:26funny. They asked me this question
- 52:27where they're like if you could do Any job that you want to do,
- 52:31what would you do? You know it was like one of
- 52:33those questions and I was I took a moment.
- 52:35I thought about it cause I wanted to be honest, my answer
- 52:38and I thought holy shit, holy shit.
- 52:40I was like, I'm doing exactly what I want to do.
- 52:43I'm making content. I'm making films.
- 52:46I'm making videos, I'm overseeing know, tons and tons
- 52:50of people and helping them reach their creative potential, you
- 52:53know, while at the same time also you know, doing my own, I'm
- 52:56working with these amazing people wear like It's almost
- 53:00like being Charlie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where
- 53:04you have all of these amazing people with resources to make
- 53:07your dreams, come true. And it's unbelievable.
- 53:10Right. That's that's what I get to do
- 53:11all the time. So I was like, holy crap.
- 53:14I've worked so hard in the last couple years that I didn't look
- 53:18up and notice that. That's always happening.
- 53:20So when they asked me that I was like, holy shit, I'm doing it
- 53:23right now, buddy. So so yeah, I'm extremely happy
- 53:26because I'm doing everything that I could possibly want.
- 53:29To do and at the same time I'm helping a so many people by
- 53:33being able to make that content to share with them to so helping
- 53:37people that's you know it's a must for that is an important
- 53:41point there about self-reflection that's this
- 53:44really important. I've been doing the same lately.
- 53:46I've been very grateful for where I'm at now and I just keep
- 53:52pinching myself every moment I'm like, I'm just so grateful to be
- 53:57in this moment and to be given Opportunity to just try.
- 54:02And I mean, like, even if it never goes anywhere, I'll still
- 54:05be so proud of what I've achieved and the, I tried.
- 54:10Yeah, exactly. Because if you try your darndest
- 54:14or your heart is your thousand percent, then how can you not be
- 54:19happy with that? How can you not be happy with
- 54:21the fact that you gave it your? All, you know, that, that in
- 54:25itself is a victory. And I think when you're talking,
- 54:29Talking about, you know, when you have these jobs or you get
- 54:31this one or that one and then everything stops and then
- 54:34another job comes and then it stops, you know?
- 54:35And it's not kind of like recurring work or what have you.
- 54:38I think that the best thing to do is to focus on the fact that
- 54:42you got a job, right? Just get a job.
- 54:46Someone said, hey, I like this guy.
- 54:48Don't forget that. It's a good way to look at it.
- 54:52Yeah. What's the best advice you've
- 54:56ever received? Hmm.
- 55:04Best advice I've ever received. I'm drawing a blank but you know
- 55:18what? Actually.
- 55:19No. Because I listen to different
- 55:22speakers at times and one of my favorites that I've kind of gone
- 55:27back and forth to is Les Brown and his stories about, you know,
- 55:33his life. But then he had said something
- 55:36about you know make know your vitamin and I'm like okay cool.
- 55:41I really liked that. But then also he said, when you
- 55:45get in your own head and you feel like you're, you know,
- 55:48going through imposter syndrome or you're just like, I can't do
- 55:51that. Or how could they even approach?
- 55:53Blah, blah blah. He was like, tell yourself to
- 55:55shut up and then, and he says it real loud and a bunch of times.
- 56:00And I'm like, heck, yes. So, every time that I feel like
- 56:03that, tell myself to shut the hell up.
- 56:05I can't, I tell myself that that's dumb.
- 56:08That's dumb. Oh, I don't think I can do this
- 56:11project. Because I don't know that that's
- 56:13dumb like just tell yourself that's dumb and then you just
- 56:16move on and you do it and then you show yourself that you can
- 56:18do it. It's good.
- 56:21And stuff. What's the biggest life lesson
- 56:24you've learned so far? Biggest life lesson.
- 56:34I would say. That if if we, if we ask for
- 56:43help more than we probably receive more help and we, you
- 56:47know, I mean, like, I always grew up doing things for myself
- 56:51and I was very self-sufficient and to a point, it becomes, you
- 56:54know, a bad thing because then you don't ask for help.
- 56:57So, I think, and from what I've observed, when people ask for
- 57:00help the people that can help you will help you if they can
- 57:03write, but it, but the point of asking is so important and it's
- 57:08necessary. So I think It's the biggest life
- 57:10lesson for me, that, you know, asking for help isn't a bad
- 57:14thing. And, and, and we should do it
- 57:17more. We should normalize asking for
- 57:19help because we probably get along the little bit quicker.
- 57:22No, I totally agree. Yeah, it's obviously funding a
- 57:25fine balance between, you know, not not using bib or going
- 57:29overboard with it. But at the same time, like,
- 57:30yeah, it's okay to reach out to friends, family, whatever.
- 57:34And just be like, hey, could you help me with this?
- 57:37And yeah, they'll more than likely want to.
- 57:40So, yeah, people will help you surprising that.
- 57:45You A village and we don't even know because we're just like, oh
- 57:48I'm fine. I'm on my own so good, I'm
- 57:50self-sufficient, but we could all use some you some help man,
- 57:57as we draw things to a close for today.
- 57:58Do you have any upcoming projects or some final thoughts?
- 58:01You'd like to share with our listeners?
- 58:04Oh yeah, totally. Thank you for having me.
- 58:09Thank you for listening people. And I really hope that you pull
- 58:13something from this, because Yeah, if I could, if I could
- 58:16help, you know one other person, then that's a life, well-lived,
- 58:19right? But happy Productions and are
- 58:23you happy? I encourage people to check out
- 58:26are you happy and be inspired by strangers but also you know, if
- 58:29you have the creativebug and you like doing content join our
- 58:32team, if you want to be a content creator and you know
- 58:36work on more commercial type kind of work in the UK, let us
- 58:40know, but above everything, you know, dude.
- 58:45It's so imperative now more so than ever because, you know,
- 58:48life has become gets more difficult and challenging what
- 58:53with everything going on around us.
- 58:55So it's become even more imperative to do.
- 58:57What you love and Chase. Chase what you want and not,
- 59:01wait 5-10 years to do it to do it.
- 59:04Now, I think that's, that's what I would give as a parting
- 59:07advice, is whatever it is. That your passion is, you know,
- 59:10find a way whether it's big or small, whatever you can do to
- 59:14implement it, or put your serums Self on that trajectory to do
- 59:16that and then you'll be happier in your everyday to because then
- 59:20you're doing something toward that, end of what you love and
- 59:24be nice to people along the way and spread that happiness.
- 59:27And you know, share, share. Share Good Vibes with people and
- 59:31help make other people's lives life, just as nice.
- 59:33Because the more that you also do that and give of yourself to
- 59:36others, you benefit to and then everything just, you know,
- 59:38builds builds in a positive way and you know, at the end of this
- 59:42life, you know, we have so much that we've done and Hopefully,
- 59:46hopefully we've achieved a lot and hopefully we've we've helped
- 59:49a lot of people along the way but, you know, I guess if you
- 59:52think about it in the long term did you do as much as you
- 59:55possibly could right? Or did you help me people as
- 59:59much as you could and whatever we decide that answer is then
- 1:00:03you know that's that's how we've lived our life but for myself I
- 1:00:07do as much as I possibly can and I help as many people as I
- 1:00:11possibly can. And by the time that you know,
- 1:00:13my end of life If cycle comes I know for a fact that I, you
- 1:00:18know, live the hell out of this life and so that's just how I
- 1:00:21live everyday. Wow, I'm very grateful that you
- 1:00:28have chosen to appear on the show.
- 1:00:30It's been, it's been an absolute pleasure and I've learned a lot
- 1:00:33and I'm sure our listeners will get a lot from this to thank you
- 1:00:36so much for being on the show. It's been a real pleasure.
- 1:00:38Yeah. Thanks so much.
- 1:00:39Find me on social Vanessa, the vivacious have a great day.
- 1:00:43Remember to be vivacious also, absolutely.
- 1:00:46And to the listeners of the Christian re podcast, as always
- 1:00:49be safe. Be well, and I'll see you in the
- 1:00:51next one.