Latest / Story Scaling / Behind the Scenes in Entertainment: Samantha's Unique Perspective

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Behind the Scenes in Entertainment: Samantha's Unique Perspective · Story Scaling

• 0:12
  Speaker 1: All right, friends and family.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I am Jeremiah Pickett, also known as Bang, and I am here with our newest member of the team, my friend Samantha Lewandowski.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for having me Thanks for being here.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Of course you are how many days in.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: This is day five.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Brand new.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Brand new Week one.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: And you came back.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: I did, thank you.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Thanks for honoring me.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: I'm glad you guys wanted to be back.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we did we did Sam tell us a little bit about yourself?
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: I think you're cool.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: I think you're very intelligent and knowledgeable.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Thank you yeah.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: And so just let the people know a little bit about Samantha.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I grew up in Northwest Arkansas.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: I'm from here, right down the road tight little town called Springdale, don't know if you've heard of it.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I grew up there, went to school in Nashvilleville, moved back um and was just looking to work in entertainment, media and stuff.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: So, uh, really glad that I found podcast videos.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Kind of randomly, believe it or not, family friend introduced me.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: I was like hey, you should reach out to them.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Have you heard about them?
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: And I was like no, who are these people?
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: and I heard, like in that one week I heard about it like five times really yeah, and I was like, yeah, I feel like maybe I should just send an email and be like hey, here's me.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, fast forward here we are no way, yeah, so so you said you moved to nashville yeah entertainment, especially in nashville, is such a broad you know what I mean spectrum from performing musicians to lighting technicians, I mean they get the whole gambit right.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: So when you went to school, what was kind of your focus, Like what were you trying to do?
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I studied business and entertainment.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: My technical major was creative entertainment industries, which I say is just jargon for absolutely nothing.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: It really doesn't mean anything.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: And I, specifically am studying, or I studied, still from doing that switch I'm studying for forever, uh, film and television is yeah, so video based media is really where I live.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Um, yeah, my degree kind of covered music, live events, uh, publishing like a little bit into hospitality with theme parks and like rides, video games, all of that.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: We could a really broad overview of all of it and then you had the ability you know, with electives and whatnot, to really specialize in one particular field if you wanted to, yeah.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: So what was your biggest takeaway from the entire experience of your higher education?
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: I really think the biggest one was being in nashville and being exposed to entertainment.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: It's different than northwest arkansas, like there's a lot going on here in that field, like a lot more than you would think with arkansas when you know people don't know what's going on, sure, but it's way more nashville and it's a lot more music focused, which I wasn't super excited for when I got there, sure, but I was like dang music is like so cool and there's so much to learn that can be applied to video and film and television and there's so much that intersects between the two.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Um, so yeah, the experiences I got, just working with like actual entertainment professionals, getting here, learn from them, was probably the biggest takeaway what's the most underrated position in entertainment work?
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: oh, that's a good question, like something that's essential, is necessary, but people always just seem to not even understand how important it is.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I can give a story.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I remember when I was performing at the Format Festival.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: It was a thing here.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: So I was performing at Format and I'm looking at the sound guys and just how you know, they were out there 10 hours before the event.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: They're working on sound the majority of the time, up until just making sure every single detail.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: And you know, I'm like man, these guys are the unsung heroes.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: And then you got your lighting technicians and your people.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: That's like.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean Totally.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, your experience like what would you say?
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: And I know your expertise is much broader than mine, so you've probably seen so much more and you know, you probably know some positions I don't even know about oh, I was gonna say like, because there's totally.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: There's like the technical hands-on, like day of event or not even day of like, because they're there days before, like that's something.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: I would agree with you on that.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Like your, your techies are like where it's at, yeah, but on the business side of things, man, I took some law classes and I think, like those legal representatives have it, you know they're the unsung heroes because they are drafting and just doing putting in the work to protect you and like think about things that you never would have thought of.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Like contracts are reading through and you know they'd be like, hey, make sure you have this clause and this clause and this clause and what I mean stuff that would not even yeah never and you're like but thank you, because if I hadn't, you know, if you hadn't included that in my contract, and then I'd be screwed, I'd be out of money, it could be the end of the career for some people.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: So yeah, the legal side of things.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: I think those people are man, they're different, so that's all the lawyers, all you know legal's out there, all that good stuff, exactly, okay, so you come back with all of this business experience and ready to change the world of mobile soccer?
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, kind of.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, mm-hmm.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: What actually happened.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: I really, really wanted to move, like you know, la, atlanta like a really big hub.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: I loved Nashville but it was music, yeah, and then you know, but I was like I'm not doing that move without a job.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: I gotta have a job.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: And I don't know if anybody knows this or not, but a lot of people aren't hiring.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Right, yeah, for real, especially if you don't know anybody Did y'all hire yeah, did you know that?
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: And if you don't know anybody, you know.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Especially at the big companies, it's hard to get in, and so I was like you know what my parents are going to?
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Let me live with them, it doesn't matter.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I've been away from home for three years.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: I miss being around family.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: It's not the end of the world if I have to do that.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: At all yeah.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: And luckily, like thankfully, my parents were like, yeah, come live with us, it'll be great.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: And so I was really just able to come home, reconnect with people that I knew from high school and connections I had, and just like invest in here, and very quickly I realized this is where I was supposed to be and what I wanted to be doing.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: I love Northwest Arkansas.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Can we pause right there, because I think you brought in an amazing point.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: You went to school, you got your degree, you're building your portfolio and now you're I mean you have a level of experience, expertise and establishment that you had, I mean, that you didn't have before.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: You went to Nashville, right, but you said, if I gotta go back and live at the house, it's cool, it's just part of the journey.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Like, speaking to that a little bit, because I think sometimes we have this mentality that it's like once you go to college, you can't go back.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Or you know, like my journey isn't what it's supposed to be.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: If I have to go and take this job, that's not going to.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: So, like even you in this, in your experience, like, explain the mindset and just explain.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: You know what would you say to somebody that's like, oh, shoot, I went to college and I gotta go back and live back home, like I'm not successful.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, oh, totally, what would you say to that man.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: I, when I started my senior year of college, I was like my main mindset was, if I have to like move at home, I'm a failure.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Like I left, I was gonna go do these big things, I was gonna be this great person and maybe down the road I come back when I'm super successful.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: And I was like I'm just gonna come back and be living in the same bedroom that I was when I was in high school and virtually nothing's gonna have changed because I still won't have a job.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: And like why would I move?
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: And I was like man, that is so depressing and like I know so many people that moved home after they graduated, that are so successful now.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: And so I was like it was a, it was like conscious decision to be like do not think about it like that.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: And I was still hopeful at that time that I wasn't going to have to, but I was like it is a very large possibility.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: So let's make it a positive thing.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Let's make it like what are the opportunities?
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: What is the blessing there?
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Right, because sometimes living at home is great, and I agree and I know like some people's, like you know, living with your parents would be really hard, and I'm lucky enough that living with them is great and they're awesome.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: But yeah, it is that big challenge of like you're not a failure if you go home because, honestly, it's a smarter decision.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: I would say it's better to do that than to try and like jump somewhere and throw a bunch of money in it and not be able to get a job and then have to move home anyway.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like, make the smarter choice, just stay, save money, you know.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Invest, do what you can, yeah, make the smarter choice.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: You guys, you're not a failure if you gotta move exactly and if you can, it's a blessing.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Exactly okay, fast forward podcast videos.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you get here.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: How?
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: How do you even hear about it?
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: yeah, my sister-in-law's dad is a teacher in springdale right and he teaches media classes and he came over one day and was like oh man, have you heard podcastvideoscom?
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: And he came and he took his students up.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Yes, my god, david, my boys, oh, yeah.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Sorry to mr david oakley out there, yeah, yeah he was like I took my students up there it's really cool, and I'd literally never heard of it before.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: And so I like googled.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: I was like, okay, it seems legit.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Um, and then I actually worked with, uh, our editors kyle and will um at fellowship bible church one summer where I went to college.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was interning up there doing some video work for them and I'd happen to be getting lunch with them that week and your guys's name came up again because you know, asking what they were doing and how they've been.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: And I was like okay, wait, so what is this company?
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: And they're like oh, it's great, like yeah, you should definitely reach out.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: And I was like okay, wait.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: So what is this company?
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: And they're like oh, it's great, like, yeah, you should definitely reach out.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: And I was like all right.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: So I cold emailed Willem and luckily Bob read it and he was like oh, I'll send your information over whatever Eric called me Like.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: You know, it kind of happened really quickly.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Now I'm here.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Are you one of those people that like so?
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: When david planted the seed, I would have probably been like, okay, cool, you know, I'll look into it.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: But then when I went to lunch with somebody and it comes back again, I'm the type of person I would have been like, okay, what's happening?
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Like our stars a lot, no, exactly exactly one.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: At that point, like man, I'd applied to probably 40 jobs and not heard back from a single one about anything, even ones that, like I, knew people at the company and it was just here or everywhere everywhere in northwest arkansas, la, atlanta, like so many, like nashville, and it's just like, again, if you don't know someone, it's hard to get past that first initial, like screen, um.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: And so I was like, oh, this company, here's another thing, like I see what it is.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: And then I heard it and I was like, okay, maybe this is actually a serious thing.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: So I sent the email and, you know, got the interview scheduled and then I was at the bittonville film festival volunteering and I was leaving and I saw the car, the wrapped car, and I was like, okay, this is like third time.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Wow, like this is crazy.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: I have a like.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: I was having a good feeling about it I'm not just saying you.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: We were over there posted up doing some interviews that day.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was inside the lounge like the filmmaker lounge just chilling out of the heat.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: So I saw all the videos posted and I was like man, I wish I would have gone out and been like hey, what do y'all actually do?
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: But yeah, so very happy to be here, I'm glad.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: So what's your title and what will you be doing within the company?
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm a customer success specialist, so basically I'm working with all of our clients to make sure that their podcast is what they want it to be.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Ultimately, I want to make sure their stories are getting told.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: I want to make sure that you know the ideas that they have and they bring in are being executed in a way that's beneficial to them and to us and like ultimately leads to their success.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: So that's working with you know the diamond members, as well as like every package that we offer in whatever capacity that looks like.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Love it, it's dope.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: We're happy to have you.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: You're following a customer support specialist that wasn't the best.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Obviously I was in that role before you, but super happy to you know, have you, and you do bring a very good energy thank you.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: It's a super welcoming energy.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: It's very.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: You know, I worked at a lot of different places doing a lot of different stuff and this is one of one of the best cultures, um, that I've gotten the pleasure to work at.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: So it's great to come in here and be able to, like feel welcomed and invited you know you mesh well with the team.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: You definitely get the family vibe.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean kind of yeah here, and sometimes it's hard to say because they making jokes and like picking on you and it's like you know.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: They treat you like they know you already as soon as you get here and you know and you're, like you, last year's planner.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I'll make it all for real, but but you get used to it did you feel that too?
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: oh, yeah for sure.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Like I used to watch how they interacted with each other and like you know the jokes and stuff that they would do it.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: And now we're here, just lighthearted fun, almost like a family vibe.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Immediately you know what I mean.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: It's not much buffer time there which you learn to appreciate, yeah For sure.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: So what's if you could write the narrative?
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: What is big picture for Sam and Lou and Dawson?
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Like where do you see yourself?
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: What do you see yourself doing?
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: And you can either take that five to 10 years, you can take it to when you got into the place that you deem success.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Like what do you see for yourself?
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: I think like well, I mean, there's kind of two ways that you can go.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: I feel like in life in general and like what is happiness?
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Like which?
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: I wish I knew the answer yeah or you can go like career you know what do you, where do you see and I think more on the career side.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: Honestly, this is the craziest things I.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: I, I see myself doing, kind of what I'm doing here, which is like mind blowing.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: If you would have asked me five months ago, like my first job post-grad, if I could be doing this, I'd say you're insane.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: You already gets to do what they want to do right out of college, but it's genuinely.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: It's helping people tell their stories in whatever capacity that looks like.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Obviously for me like my passions in film and television, but in video-based media specifically, if I can do that, whether it's podcasting or social media, you know movies, tv, whatever that looks like.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Helping people get their stories told from start to finish is like truly just what I would love to do.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, sam, congrats to you.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Thank you yeah.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: What else?
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: do we need to know about you at the Lillie Dasky?
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: I'm a really picky eater.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: I hate everything outdoors.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Go watch our you know our episode on what we could talk about for an hour and you'll learn.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: I don't like.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: I don't like exercise, I love being outside it's the exercise part.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: I feel that except for fly fishing, that's just fly fishing.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: Shout out to Parker yeah, who would that's lame yeah favorite, favorite food pizza.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: You could eat it every day every day, every meal really yeah, I'd never get tired of it, that brownie.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: It's the only way to do it.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: What's your go-to pizza?
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: I like the brownie.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Best pizza place in NWA.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Oh Sam, that is a good one.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: There is a food truck outside of Fossil Cove called.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know if it's.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: Wicked Wood.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: I'm so sorry.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: I love y'all so much.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: I don't know if it's Wicked Wood.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I'm so sorry.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: I love y'all so much.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: I don't know if it's Wicked Wood.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: I gotta look it up because I can't, yeah, yeah.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: I can't butcher them but.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: I haven't heard of this, and I've lived here my whole life.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: You gotta go, okay.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: You gotta go there.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: Let me see, yup, it's Wicked Wood Fired Pizza, okay, and it is so tasty.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, what style Is it?
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: Like thin, like street food?
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: They got thin, but they also do hand toss, oh yeah, okay, hand toss.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they have a pizza called like the honey pot or something like that.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: So it's pepperoni with a little honey glazed over it.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: Yum, yeah, that's good.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Inspire, you got to check out a spot in Johnson called Ruby's Pizzeria.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I've heard of them.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I've never been.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: It's super good.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: It's really.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: It gets crowded, it's popular because, it's super small, so good.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Ruby's.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, ruby's.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Okay, it's really good.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Also, if y'all got pizza suggestions, let us know.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: We'll.