Tag: Collaboration

  • Angela Thomas Smith

    Angela Thomas Smith

    “You determine your worth and set your success. Don’t allow your success to be set on what others think of you and how others perceive you. You determine that, so you won’t have expectations from the world, but you can set your own guidelines and your own expectations.”

    Angela Thomas Smith is an entrepreneur who helps authors publish their books in addition to having a podcast and a magazine based in Georgia. 

    Interview

    Transcript

    Emma Plutnicki  00:02 

    So, to start, what do you do for work and where are you currently working from?  

    Angela Smith 00:24 

    I work from wherever my computer allows me.  

    Emma Plutnicki  00:31 

    Amazing and where is home for you? 

    Angela Smith 00:34 

    So, home right now is Georgia.  

    Emma Plutnicki  00:37 

    Okay, 

    Angela Smith 00:38 

    I actually just moved from Myrtle Beach. 

    Emma Plutnicki  00:41 

    Oh, Amazing! Um, so how long have you been doing that? How long have you been an entrepreneur? How long have you been helping with publishing and all that? 

    Angela Smith 00:50 

    I’ve been doing this since 2012. I started in 2012, I really stepped out in 2016 it really picked up the during the pandemic, and it’s just been going amazing. And I published my first client. Um, we’re having a book signing in Georgia this weekend, so I’m excited about that. Amazing! congratulations. That’ll be so fun and so how has your work shifted at all living in South Carolina to now Georgia has done South Carolina has any influence on your work, as opposed to now living in Georgia? So, I am originally from South Carolina. I’m originally from upstate South Carolina Anderson, South Carolina. Actually, nothing has shifted. It is the same because, I have established a virtual community. So, I’m able to connect with people virtually, um, so we’re able to connect globally. I have individuals that’s not here in the US, and we’re connected with individuals in the UK, Africa, the Virgin Islands. I have a host from one of my podcasts that she’s a professor at University of Virgin Islands. So, we are connected globally, and during the pandemic, I was able to establish that platform. So, I’m grateful for that. Yeah, it’s great to have that flexibility. So, if you’re working with people from different time zones, and you’re on your computer conducting these tasks. Is it ever hard to have a good work life balance, because you’re able to work at any time at your fingertips? Is it ever hard to shut the laptop and kind of get away and have some time for yourself? It was at first, but when you learn how to balance, when you learn that if you don’t take care of yourself, then you’re not going to be any good for anyone else. So, when you learn how to incorporate self-care into your daily life, it makes everything so much easier. Just having that time to, you know, escape from the computer, you know, because sometimes you can get overwhelmed and you can get consumed with what you’re doing, and you get caught up.  So just having that time to escape, it’s necessary, I encourage everyone to have that for sure. So, what does a typical day look like for you now? What’s expected of you on a daily basis, and what kind of things do you get into? Okay, so first thing I’m usually up at 4am I normally take Angel, who is my mom, my God, mom’s little baby. For a baby, I usually take her out. And I do a 5am prayer. I am a spiritual person, so I am part of a prayer call. We’ve been doing it now for five years. So, I do that every morning, and it starts my day. It encourages me, it uplifts me, it gets me started. And then, I own the computer doing whatever that task is for the day, and it can range from today, I’m working on a magazine. We have a special edition of the magazine that’s dropping to honor poets, celebrating our new poet of the year out of Dallas, so I’m excited about that. She’s from Dallas, Texas, and we get opportunity to really connect, collaborate and be creative, and build a community where people can come and have that safe space to be creative and to allow that express side of them to come forth, whether it’s through books, whether it’s through podcasting, whether it’s through magazine, whatever it is, we want to be that space that allow you to be able to create, yeah, for sure.  

    Emma Plutnicki  04:31 

    And so, your podcast, how often do you film those and what kind of topics do you cover? 

    Angela Smith 04:36 

    So, we stream live, and we stream on from Sunday to Friday. We have nine hosts, and they all have two shows a month. So, say one may come on every first and third Wednesday, like doctor chin, she comes on every first and third. Thursday, we have a young lady that comes. On first, no second, Sundays and fourth Thursday. So, they have different days that they may come on, but we have someone on every day, Sunday through Friday, at 8pm and they talk about different things because they come from different walks of life.  We have individuals that have disabilities. They have a young lady that was born with spina bifida and hydro syphilis. She has a podcast called delayed but not deny. So, she not only focused on disabilities and showing people that you can overcome disabilities, but she allowed anybody that has a story that wants to share it to come on her podcast. Individuals that work in social work and librarians. We have a young lady from Toss in South Carolina. She’s a librarian, um, she hosts a podcast that focuses on authors and anything in the literary world, creative side, she likes to focus on that. So, we are a diverse group, and we’re from all over. We have South Carolina, we have New York, we have the Virginia area, California, Texas. So, we have a variety of individuals as a part of what we do amazingly. 

    Emma Plutnicki  06:08 

    And so, with a career like this, is it hard to kind of quantify success? Because, you know, in a creative career, it can be hard to figure out what success looks like, whether it’s financial or ideological. So, in your role, how do you define personal and professional success? Is it how many viewers you have on your podcast? Is it the stories and of people saying that they’ve been touched? Or how do you how do you kind of define that? 

    Angela Smith 06:36 

    So, that is something that is just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, that will be something that each individual person will have to say. But for me, success, to me, is seeing individuals that I’ve worked with go to the next level and seeing them excel and go beyond what they thought they could do to me, that’s success. Seeing articles about me, seeing interviews, seeing different things, where people acknowledge the things that I’ve done to me. That’s success, and you know, it’s measured upon the person that is doing it. It is in the eye of the beholder.  So, you determine your work, and you set your success. Don’t allow your success to be based on what others think of you and how others perceive you. You determine that…So, you won’t have expectations from the world, but you can set your own guidelines, and you can set your own expectations so that’s my, that’s my take on that. Yeah, that’s a great way of framing that.  

    Emma Plutnicki  07:46 

    Did you have any fears when you were coming into this career?  

    Angela Smith 07:49 

    I had a lot of fears but had to step out on faith. I had to believe in myself and knowing that I had all these dreams and I was doing things that I didn’t want to do, and I never thought I would be doing the stuff that I’m doing. But when I stepped out and believed in me and believed in what I felt was on the inside of me, things came forth, and I just began to Just go and things just begin to open up, and the more and more I did, the more and more things opened up. And I tell anybody, if you take that first step, that is the most important thing, get rid of fear. Because fear is not something that we are supposed to have. Because if you’re a believer, whatever your belief is, it has to lead to you not having a spirit of fear but having that spirit to do what you’ve been purposed to do. And how do you do that? Go forth, step into it. Do it boldly. You know, I’m reminded of when I was a child, and all the things that I did when I was a child, and how I enjoyed those things. You know, I got back to doing those things. You know, sometimes we get caught up in trying to live up to expectations of other people, where we lose those things that we’re passionate about by chasing after the things that everybody around us want us to do, but if we hold on to those things that we’re passionate about, it will allow us to be creative, and it will allow us to be who we are, and it allowed that true spirit of us to come forth. 

    Emma Plutnicki  09:35 

    I love that. Yeah, and along the way, was there anybody offering you advice, or was this something that you just kind of figured out on your own?  

    Angela Smith 09:44 

    Well, there were a lot of people that were in and out of my life, and people that probably didn’t realize that they were pouring into me and giving me advice and encouraging me, like my sister. For example, for those that know my story, I lost my mom to a day after my 16th birthday. So, my sister was very important in my life. She was a very inspirational person. She was one of those people that no matter what, she always encouraged me, she always uplifted me, she always pushed me to go beyond. She always believed in me. And she was one of those people that no matter what you did, she would tell you, you did wrong, but she didn’t hold it against you.  She always solved the good in you, and that was one of my inspirations. But there have been so many people, and I can’t begin to name them. Because I would definitely lead someone out, and I don’t want to do that, because there have been so many people that have been inspirational to me, even giving credit to my high school coach, Monica Denise Davis, she was someone that if I never come across her, I never would have played basketball. I never would have had that opportunity to go to college. I ended up in North Greenville for one year. I ended up at Morris Brown College. We had the opportunity to play basketball, meet, some individuals, had the opportunity to travel and do some things that I never would have done. So, there’s been a lot of people and just allowing those people to pour into your life. So, take those mentors. If you have an opportunity to be mentored, take that mentorship.  Allow individuals to pour into you.  

    Emma Plutnicki  11:19 

    Yeah, for sure. And so last kind of question, has there been one significant project that you’ve worked on, or something that you’ve done that kind of sticks out as being particularly significant throughout your career? Maybe it’s a project or someone you worked with, or something that stands out as kind of like the pinnacle of your creativity or of your career.  

    Angela Smith 11:42 

    Wow, I can say right now what we’re doing the 100 authors movement, the 100 authors to watch being able to work with a diverse group of authors that are trying to make an impact, that are trying to leave a legacy, that are trying to allow their voice to speak and touch on different things that they’re passionate about. I am grateful for that opportunity that right now is the most, I mean, pivotal thing, and to hear I’ve had the opportunity to sit and interview all of these authors, a part of this movement right now, and every last one of them, they have a spirit of gratitude. They’re grateful for the opportunity, and it’s based on four seeds, connection, collaboration, creativity and community. That is truly what is based on and being able to give individuals a platform where they can be supportive, where they can feel comfortable and open to support.  There was a young guy, he was getting ready to release a book. He was having writer’s block. He came inside the chat. We have a chat room on Facebook. We have a group on Facebook, so we have a chat. He comes inside the chat, and he just said he was having a bad day, and he explained what was going on. One of the group leaders immediately responded to his post. She posted some things that he could do. Just willingly. Posted things that he could do. He incorporated those things, he came back, he gave his testimony, he wrote his book. His book dropped, and that’s what we’re doing. We share resources. We are pulling on each other. We’re letting each other know that we’re there, that you don’t have to do this alone.  Because a lot of people start a podcast, they start a magazine, they start a book, they do whatever they do, and then they get stuck after they’ve done this thing, like, what do I do now? Now you have a community that’s there to support you, that’s helped, to push you, that’s there to help promote your stuff, that’s helped, and we just want to be a family so that, I think right now, that is the most pivotal thing. And just having all these individuals from different backgrounds, you know, when I say different backgrounds, we have professors involved. We have a professor right now that’s being honored out at miles University, a part of the movement. We have Doctor Chen. We have teachers, elementary and middle school teachers. We even have a high school teacher. I forgot about him down in Texas. We have men and we have women a part of the project. So, we are a diverse group of individuals just wanting to be a voice, um, wanting individuals to know that, yes, you can. We are not respective people, just as we did it. You can do it too.  So that’s what, that’s what I’m doing, and I’m excited about that, that project.  

    Emma Plutnicki  14:38 

    Yeah, I love that. That’s amazing. Thank you for sharing all that. And just as we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to say about your career? Any advice or anything else you’d like to add? 

    Angela Smith 14:50 

    Well, I just want to tell everybody. As I turn, I’m turning 50 in a couple of days, I would say, what? 12 days I’ll be 50. I’m going to be dropping another book. It’s never too late. Um, because I didn’t start until 2016 and it took me almost losing my life. Because I’m a domestic violence survivor. And it took me almost losing my life for me to really step out and do the things that I wanted to do.  Don’t allow something to be the reason that you step out and do something. Do it because you’re passionate about it, and it’s something that you just want to do, and you want to leave your impact. Because we are our legacy. We are our brand. We are the ones that must tell our story. So, we can tell that in the form of written. We can tell in the form of audio, like we’re doing now, visuals, different things, where we can archive the great works that we’re doing. Because if you are a believer, and you are a word, when you know that the words say we should do greater works, and if we should do greater works, how will they know?  Because we can’t alter none of the things that have come before us. So, we have to leave the evidence and how we do it through our works, our works just speak even when we’re not here, and we want to leave something that the next generation can pull off because someone did something for us before we got here, and those things that they did for us allow us to be in place to do the things that we’re doing now. So, I just tell anybody, believe in yourself, know your worth, know that you have power because you were positioned to be an overcomer, because you didn’t get dropped out of the sky. You are a willing investor to move forth and allow that thing to come forth out of you. And how do we do that? By educating, empowering, encouraging others.  Through our resilience, we can’t give up. You can’t quit, no matter what it looked like. I just completed it on Monday. I just turned in a 40-page document for my last class. I just completed my master’s, so I will walk with my MBA. So, I’m excited about this. 30 years after graduating high school, I went back and I got my Bachelor’s, and now I can walk 12 days before my birthday. I now am a master holder, so I’m excited about, you know, what we have in store, you know? And I say to anybody, chase after your dream, don’t stop chasing your dream, because dreams still come true.  

    Emma Plutnicki  17:40 

    Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing.  

  • Angela Yemi Gibson

    Angela Yemi Gibson

    “But I’ve learned that a closed mouth doesn’t get fed.”

    Angela Yemi Gibson is the Founder and Artistic Director of Libation African Dance, a nonprofit based in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

    Interview

    Transcript

    00:02 

    Emma Plutnicki:  So to start, what do you do for work and where are you currently working from? 

    00:07 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: I work from home. I am a medical biller, and I work for a billing company called Medical Billing Center Incorporated, 

    00:16 

    Emma Plutnicki:  Okay, amazing. How long have you been working there? 

    00:18 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Six years. 

    00:20 

    Emma Plutnicki: Okay, amazing. And that’s based in South Carolina?  

    00:23 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Yes, it is in South Carolina. 

    00:25 

    Emma Plutnicki:  Okay, how does working in South Carolina specifically influence your work, if at all? 

    00:32 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Well, I have a nonprofit that I do outside of this, but, you know, being a nonprofit, you have to at least have some type of stream. So I do both. I don’t know, I moved here from Colorado, so it’s a little different, 

    00:48 

    Emma Plutnicki: Okay, yeah. And what is your nonprofit? 

    00:52 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: My nonprofit is an African Dance Company.  

    00:54 

    Emma Plutnicki: Okay, amazing and how long have you been doing that for? 

    00:57 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Over 20 years! 

    00:59 

    Emma Plutnicki: Wow, and you started that? 

    01:01 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Yes, I started dancing with other companies in Ohio, and then I moved to Colorado, and now I’m here. So I have my own nonprofit here in South Carolina. 

    01:11 

    Emma Plutnicki: Yeah, what made you want to start that? 

    01:14 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: It’s something different. It’s always changing. It keeps people engaged and it also brings a sense of community to everyone that’s involved. 

    01:27 

    Emma Plutnicki: Yeah, for sure. So what does a typical work day for you look like these days? What’s expected of you on a daily basis? What are your responsibilities 

    01:36 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: For my primary job? 

    01:38 

    Emma Plutnicki: Both. 

    01:40 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: So I work every day, Monday through Friday, from 7 to 4:30. Iam responsible for making sure that claims are clean when they go out of the system. I am responsible for fixing denied claims and rebilling those claims, patient statements, speaking to patients about their balances, communicating with the clinics and the owners about any account issues thatI have. Teamwork. and in my nonprofit, I am responsible for all the choreography, all the booking, all the costumes and the musicality. 

    02:21 

    Emma Plutnicki: Wow. And how are you able to manage both at the same time? Because I’m sure both of them are pulling you in different directions. 

    02:27 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Yes, I’m not able to manage at all. I’m not good. I’m not able to manage it all. Since I work from home, I hop from one thing to another. So it’s one moment I’m here, then the next minute I’m there. So fortunately, I have the flexibility with my job to be able to do that. 

    02:43 

    Emma Plutnicki:  Yeah, and are you able to manage a healthy work life balance, or is that difficult to manage? 

    02:50 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: It’s difficult to manage most of the time because most of our- I teach classes during the week and we perform and rehearse during the week or during the weekend, so it was kind of wherever. But fortunately, I have a good support system within my family, so I’m able to juggle both pretty, pretty good. 

    03:09 

    Emma Plutnicki: Amazing, and within both of your jobs, how would you define success? I feel like it’s difficult sometimes with creative careers, especially, you know, some people say it’s monetary, some people say it’s more ideological. So how do you define success in your professional career and also just in your personal life? 

    03:30 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: In my- my professional career, I would label success financially, because as much work as you do, you want to getpaid for the work that you do. But as far as my nonprofit work, I label success by the people’s response. So if no one responds when you’re doing something, that means you’re really probably not doing a good job. So if it’s- I’d rather deal with customer engagement and the responses of people in order to garner my success for my nonprofit. 

    04:02 

    Emma Plutnicki: Yeah, makes sense. And did you have any fears when you started your nonprofit? 

    04:07 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Oh absolutely. Whether I will be successful in doing it correctly, and will it be sustainable? 

    04:17 

    Emma Plutnicki: Yeah. And how were you able to kind of overcome those fears? 

    04:21 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Just keep going. I have a team of 10 so far, and we have been going strong for these past few years, since we started the nonprofit, so it’s been pretty good. So I mean, dealing-working with people that you trust and that are dependable is key. If you don’t have those types of people involved, then you probably won’t be successful. 

    04:46 

    Emma Plutnicki:  Yeah, no, that definitely makes sense. And overall, have you been able to get advice from anybody? Is there any advice that stands out as either exceptionally good or just terrible advice that you received along the way? 

    05:02 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: I have received a mixture of both. I’m online a lot, so I tend to research more than anything else. So I’ve received a mixture of good and bad advice. Some people say, you know, don’t- What do people say? Don’t confide so much in the people that you work with, because the more that they know, the more that people can possibly use against you, so to speak. But I think that if you are more transparent with people, people are more- tend to either appreciate you or to be more understanding if you’re a little bit more transparent. But I’ve also learned that a closed mouth don’t get fed. You gotta ask. Sometimes it’s okay to ask for help if you need it. 

    05:57 

    Emma Plutnicki:  Yeah, I love that. No, that’s great advice. And throughout your career, has there been any specific projects that you’ve worked on that kind of stand out as having a significant impact on you, or just something that you know is something that has kind of been the pinnacle of your career? Anything that stands out? 

    06:18 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: This year we did, for- this is for my nonprofit, I can’t really say for my my primary job, because we do the same thing every day. 

    06:26 

    Emma Plutnicki: Yeah, okay. 

    06:28 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: But as far as my nonprofit, we successfully completed our very first residency- artist in residency. So that was a week long, and it was new, and it was completely different, and it was way out of the comfort zone, but it was successful. It was very successful. 

    06:48 

    Emma Plutnicki: Amazing. Congratulations on that. And what was that? Where did that take place? 

    06:53 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: It was in Monks Corner, South Carolina, and we taught fourth grade kids and kindergarteners for five days. 

    07:01 

    Emma Plutnicki: Amazing. And how has the community reacted to your projects and just overall, your nonprofit? 

    07:08 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Wonderfully. They’ve been very supportive here where I am, because I live in Spartanburg, so they’ve been very supportive here. Also, I am a dance teacher at one of the ballet centers here, and they have been so supportive to where they’ve written grants to be able to get make sure that myself and my two drummers are paid for our classes. So the we’ll be able to offer the classes for free to the community. So they’re free to the community, but yet we get paid for our time. 

    07:41 

    Emma Plutnicki: Amazing. And have you seen the community, like the local professional community in South Carolina, generally helping?And is it tight knit, or is there any gaps in it? 

    07:51 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: It’s tight knit. I really think that if you don’t know the right people, you’re not in specific circles. So I think that it’s really click-ish, so you just gotta know the right people. And unfortunately, I don’t know a lot of people, so I just stick to where I’m at work, who I know. 

    08:09 

    Emma Plutnicki: Yeah, how are you able to have those conversations with people? Are there any, like, networking events or anything within South Carolina that you’d recommend for people if they’re trying to get in the door with people. 

    08:21 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: I honestly have no idea. I really need to know those things myself, because I need to get out there and network a little bit more. 

    08:30 

    Emma Plutnicki: Yeah, I’m sure at some some points, it’s just being in the right place at the right time. 

    08:34 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Yeah, and it’s just finding those right places in the right time, that’s the problem. 

    08:38 

    Emma Plutnicki: Yeah, exactly. Amazing. Well, thank you so much for your time. Just as we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share any advice for future people looking for a career in your field? 

    08:52 

    Angela Yemi Gibson: Keep swimming. What I can say is, honestly, don’t waste your money on college, unless you’re going to do something specific to that particular major that you’re going for. If you go to trade school, go to trade school, but stick to your guns and just remain positive. 

    09:17 

    Emma Plutnicki: Yeah, I love that. Well, thank you so much. I really- You’re welcome! 

  • Rhodes Farrell

    Rhodes Farrell

    “Do 1% better every time.”

    Rhodes Farrell, a videographer based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, offers healthy habits to generate inspiration and build skills that are beneficial not only to filmmakers, but to any creative. 

    Interview

    Transcript

    00:00 | Lexi 

    My name is Lexi, so I’ll be interviewing you today for the Athenaeum Press for a little project we’re doing called Uncharted. And basically it’ll be professional creatives giving advice to students. And yeah, so first, just give us a little introduction of yourself. What do you do for work, and where are you currently working from? 

    00:27 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Yeah, I’m a videographer, and I do that full time. I came from, like, audio world, and then a AV and then video kind of took hold of me, and I fell in love with that. So I didn’t go through school for that. Particularly. I was in audio, but we moved out here in 2018, and that’s when I went full time, and it’s been great. But I’m in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and loving it. It’s a really great town. 

    00:59 | Lexi 

    So, yeah, okay, awesome. So how long have you been working like doing this creatively? Are you doing this full time or part time? 

    01:14 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Yeah, so full time, it was a– I tried trying to make it part of my job. I was technical director at a couple different churches and other jobs before that, so I always tried to include videography, yes, but when we moved in here in 2018 from Atlanta, I just went full time into it, and haven’t looked back. And so I guess full time was it now close to seven years, six or seven years, but I’ve been doing videos since high school, so 20, yeah, ish years. 

    01:47 | Lexi 

    So you said you moved to South Carolina in 2018 is there anything that you love, like, specifically about working in South Carolina as a videographer? 

    02:06 | Rhodes Farrell 

    I’m kind of grateful I moved away from Atlanta, because this is, you know, I didn’t feel like a small fish in a big pond kind of thing out here I could, you know, stretch my wings a little bit More, or be the the decent size fish and the decent sized pond, I really want to put it, but yeah, so it’s it’s worked out really well. I wasn’t 100% sure that Spartanburg would support filmmaking full time, but surprisingly, it has been. And even more so. 

    02:39 | Lexi 

    That’s amazing. So what does South Carolina like bring to your work, and what is its unique influences on you, if it has? 

    02:51 | Rhodes Farrell 

    My people are here. I guess Spartanburg coming into it. They’ve just got arts all over the place. Same thing with Greenville, I’ve been able to set up a community called Film Bar, and that’s just filled with hundreds of people in the upstate that are just in filmmaking, whether they’re acting or voiceover, or they just do sound, or they just do lights or whatever. They have some role in filmmaking, and I’ve gotten to know not all of them, but a pretty good number of them. So it’s been really great to have that connection where it might have been more cutthroat in other areas. Yeah, that’s awesome, because there’s a it just seems like there’s a clear ladder to climb here, if that makes any sense, but yeah. 

    03:40 | Lexi 

    So I actually never knew that Greenville and the Spartanburg area were such big areas for filmmaking, but I’ve actually heard a lot about Greenville and that area, so I feel like that’s awesome. Yeah. So how would you describe the local community? 

    04:05 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Well, I mean, with film bar, I mean, that’s kind of my wheelhouse. Is we started it three years ago, and it’s technically 1700 people on Facebook, but I’ve only met 400 or so of them, which is still a good number, and they’re just constantly working on different projects and doing things and trying different things. And so it’s great that we have that community, that people can, you know, because it’s, it’s a very collaborative artwork for, you know, narrative short films, or even for commercials, you have to have more than just one person generally. So it’s good to have those connections there, but it’s just really diverse. I mean, like I was saying all the different roles that you have in filmmaking, yes, you get a large collection of brains and smarts and creatives. 

    04:55 | Lexi 

    I feel like it’s also so special that you’ve been really a big person in bringing everybody together with film bar. So that’s amazing. So how would you define professional versus personal success in your creative endeavors? 

    05:15 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Well, I my slogan or quote or whatever. It’s a Disney quote, but “Keep moving forward.” There’s just so many things to be creative with. You just keep moving on to the next project. And some people like to stick with the project and do a festival run and stuff like that. But I’m always keen to work on the next thing. I don’t know why, but, but also just 1% better. That’s another one. If I did 10 podcasts last year, I want to do 11 this year. So I want to just incrementally get better and better and do more and more and and find more success that way. 

    05:52 | Lexi 

    Yeah, that’s awesome. It’s always good to be looking for something to grow. So what was your biggest fear when you decided to pursue filmmaking professionally? 

    06:04 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Like I said, the Spartanburg being a small town, I wasn’t sure it could, if I would get enough work or whatever, but it took a while to get there. But it’s, it’s definitely proven itself. 

    06:21 | Lexi 

    Yeah, that’s awesome.  Okay, and then can you please describe like a defining moment in your creative journey? Like, was there a particular project that made a significant impact on you, or was something that, like you produced that you believe really showed your creativity? 

    06:39 | Rhodes Farrell 

    I did win the indie grants, which is through the film commission for a short film last year. So we got $30,000 to shoot a short film that’s amazing. Partnered with my friend who wrote it and directed it, I was a producer on it, pulled in a bunch of people on a project. We had 40 people most days, and I think we had a bunch of background one day. So we had up to 60 or 70 people one day, and just just pulling all that together was a ton of fun to do, and it’s actually gonna show at Beaver Film Festival first, and then the Greenville Reels Film Festival second. But they’re not announcing the name, so we can save our premier status for festival. We end up going to so exciting. And so that was a big one, that was a really fun project to be awarded and get to do. And then film bar really has been a huge turning point for me. I started it just because I wanted a few friends, and then it’s huge, grown so much so, and that’s just changed, a lot of access points for me to be able to have that weight behind me, to talk to people and stuff like that. 

    07:54 | Lexi 

    So on your whole journey, what has been the best and worst advice that you’ve ever received? 

    08:03 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Oh gosh, I have like, hundreds of little slogans or nuggets or whatever from all kinds of various places. Some of the ones I really love are from the Imagineering workbooks, stuff like that, the Disney theme of things. But one, I would say, pretend you’re an expert. That’s a great one. Kind of fake a team make it, so to speak, and then don’t use your head as a filing cabinet. That’s a really good one too. Yeah, I write stuff down now way more than I used to. It’s like, Oh, y’all remember that note doesn’t work? Yeah, when the worst one was probably just sign it. Don’t just sign a contract. You get in sticky situations. Technically, I heard that first with our house, when we’re trying to buy a house out here and they’re like, oh, just sign the contracts, like, but I don’t know what this means. Yeah, so, but I’ve heard it from other times, for other places. 

    09:08 | Lexi 

    I feel like that is some good advice. Just like all around you don’t want to get into anything without knowing… 

    09:15 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Well, you just forget the bad and the bad advice. 

    09:19 | Lexi 

    I think that’s good on its, I think that’s a good piece of advice, like on its own, because I feel like if you are remembering all this bad advice and negative comments, you’re just gonna get bogged down by it. So okay, so can you walk me through like a typical workday for you, what does your process look like, and what do you kind of like expect from yourself on a daily basis? 

    09:48 | Rhodes Farrell 

    There’s not really a typical day in filmmaking as a freelancer, maybe, if you’re in a corporate world, you might have more of a typical day. But there’s a typical process, which is kind of like, you know, you’re doing cold emails, you’re finding the client, and then you they call you back, you do all the pre production stuff, the brainstorming, and then you set some dates for finding talent, locations you know, to film whenever you get all your footage. Then you have two to four weeks of editing, depending on the project. Social media turns around a lot faster and present them with that, and hopefully they do the next video. So that’s that’s kind of just the process, but in a typical day, I’ll answer a lot of feedback from different things. I’m on a lot of the reading reels, Film Festival board. I do film bar, and I do YouTube and podcasts, and then there’s marketing myself and work. So there’s a lot of different variables that go in. 

    10:57 | Lexi 

    That sounds like a lot to juggle. 

    11:01 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Yeah, I’m actually working on doing an AV install, which is throwback to what I used to do, but I’m helping the museum install stuff. So it’s a very different than my normal day, but it’s just what it is to be freelance, I suppose. 

    11:15 | Lexi 

    Yeah, so with freelance, how do you how do you create, like, a good work life balance, where you’re able to, like, maintain everything? 

    11:29 | Rhodes Farrell 

    The biggest answer for that is probably my wife. She is a teacher, and she takes care of so much, takes care of me and allows me to be able to do this. So that’s, that’s a big part of it. So shout out to Emmy. I love her. But being encouraging to clients to kind of take a creative step, not a leap. You don’t want to push them too far, too fast. Some of them are all up for it, but just, you know, slowly, give them a little bit of nudge to hey, let’s do try something a little edgy that you may not be totally comfortable with. Getting out of that comfort zone is a great spot to be. And then the other thing I’d say is, like, learn public speaking. How to start a conversation in conversation, small talk, doing that with film. Barb to go from person to person, kind of have those conversations you and editing. You kind of learn how to narrow down your communication to the most useful nuggets and be quick about things. Yeah, last one is learn business and marketing and keep things simple. Because it’s if you don’t know how to do that for yourself, then you’re stuck.  

    12:44 | Lexi 

    Yeah, yeah. I feel like, I feel like that is very good advice. I feel like that there’s a lot of moving aspects in every part of a creative career. So you’ve kind of already described some of them, but what are some habits that you think would be beneficial to others wanting to get into videography, filmmaking and stuff in that realm. 

    13:18 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Just like any artist will tell you, who can go out and practice your thing, I would say, find a community. If you can find people to do this with, whether it’s just you and your siblings or you and your best friend just go out and start doing stuff together. And there’s so many stories of filmmakers that have say, Oh, I’ve got these YouTube videos of I guess, in this day of age, YouTube videos, you know that no one sees anymore because I took them down, but they’re just silly little things that people went out and did, but that that’s what made them fall in love with it. So keep doing those things that make you fall in love with it, and just find your community. 

    14:02 | Lexi 

    That’s, I think that’s really beautiful, because I feel like fear holds so many people back from what they really want to do. 

    14:12 | Rhodes Farrell 

    But, yeah, I have a great quote for that too. 

    14:15 | Lexi 

    Yeah, go ahead. 

    14:19 | Rhodes Farrell 

    let me find it. It’s from, it’s from Walt Disney. Sometimes I wonder if common sense isn’t just another way of saying fear, and fear, too often, spells failure, Walt Disney. 

    14:32 | Lexi 

    I think that’s really fitting. That’s a good one for sure. So do you have any questions that you wish that you were asked. 

    14:46 | Rhodes Farrell 

    I do lots of interviews myself, doing videos, stuff like that, so I like to ask the question like: What are your other hobbies do you have? Or if you had a TED talk, what would be what would it be about? 

    14:59 | Lexi 

    So, if you had a TED talk, what would yours be about? 

    15:05 | Rhodes Farrell 

    Public speaking? Probably for one, just being able to get out there and talk and how to hold a microphone. I don’t know why that gets me, but,yeah, that would probably be one of and then my other hobbies, I do leather working, just because my hobby was filmmaking and then became a job, so I needed something else, so I do leather working for fun. My wife is an art teacher, so we do crafts all the time. She does ceramics. And then we recently got our scuba license, so I’m trying to do more of that. That’s very fun. Incorporate that in my videography as well. 

    15:50 | Lexi 

    Yeah, I feel like that opens up a lot of, like, good shots that you could have that’s super cool. 

    15:56 | Rhodes Farrell 

    And just wildlife in general, if I can film wildlife, that’s a good day. 

  • Daniel Kline

    Daniel Kline

    “Just jump in and just do it and learn along the way. Don’t wait until you’re don’t. Don’t wait until you feel ready.”

    Daniel Kline is a fitness coach and writer/producer for Starling media in Conway, South Carolina. Daniel has been professionally making films for two years now and offers great advice for those entering a career in the arts. 

    Interview

    Transcript

    00:01 | Lexi Raines 

    First, just give a little introduction of yourself. What do you? Who are you? What do you do for work, and where are you currently working from? 

    00:09 | Daniel Kline 

    Yeah. So my name is Daniel Kline. I am from Conway, South Carolina, and I, as far as work goes, I’m kind of doing two things as most artists are doing. I, my main job is, I’m a fitness coach, but my creative job is, I’m a writer and producer for Starling media. 

    00:31 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, that’s awesome. And, so how long have you been working for, you said Starlight Media? 

    00:040 | Daniel Kline 

    Starling media, like the bird. Yeah, yes. So that’s Starling media is actually it’s my thing. I, I’ve been making films like professionally, both creatively and I’ve done a couple of commercial things, but I’ve been doing film for about two years now, although Starling media was started back in November, so it’s still pretty fresh. But yeah, I’ve been doing film professionally for about two years, but total about four years. First two years was mostly learning. 

    01:14 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, that’s awesome. So you said you’re from Conway. So what is one thing that you like working as a creative in South Carolina? Because I know some people, they tend to think that if you want to be a creative professional, you’re going to have to move out of South Carolina. You’re going to have to move somewhere bigger. What does South Carolina give to you that somewhere else wouldn’t? 

    01:40 | Daniel Kline 

    I think South Carolina is actually a really great place to be a filmmaker, because one of the largest hubs in the world for filmmaking is Atlanta, which is practically our back door. I mean, it’s a little bit further for us because, you know, or at least makes them in Conway, but, I mean, it’s, yeah, we got Atlanta right in our back door, which means a lot of, a lot of film companies are, you know, they do kind of like sub out in a bunch of different areas that are nearby. So like, Charleston is close to us, Wilmington is close to us. And actually, most of the work that I do is up in Greenville, which is about an hour and a half from Atlanta, and so we get a lot of, like, Atlanta productions that film in Greenville as well. So I think we’re, like, we’re at a really great position to, you know, have, like, a really affordable living and, you know, also be very close to where the action’s at. 

    02:37 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, that’s amazing. So I’ve actually heard a lot of filmmakers and producers, there is a big hub for that in Greenville right now. So how would you describe the professional community up there? 

    02:56 | Daniel Kline 

    Oh, gosh. I absolutely love my filmmaking friends. I mean, I’ve met producers, I’ve met filmmakers that are kind of on both sides, so it’s not 100% but the community that I’ve, I’ve met, and I’ve worked with, and I’ve really, you know, dug roots with, there are some of the kindest, most giving people. Like, they freely give their time. We, we pretty much exchange time, like, I’ll work on your project if you work on mine. And everyone really gives 100%, sometimes 110%, and it’s just a really fantastic community, and I’m just, I love being part of it, and they welcome me as a local, even though I’m three hours away. 

    03:38 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, South Carolina really is just like one big community. I feel like, no matter where you’re from, we’re all very close with each other, which is awesome. So kind of moving a little bit, how do you define your professional or personal successes in your creative endeavors? 

    03:58 | Daniel Kline 

    So as far as filmmakers go, there’s a lot of talented filmmakers out there. And, I mean, there’s a lot of talented filmmakers that are way more talented than I could ever hope to be. So I learned pretty early on that my why, my why is, what’s going to make me different. And so like professional success would, would, on the surface, be, you know, like having a successful film, you know, film that wins awards and everything but personal success. I, I’m really passionate about people, and I think if I’ve got an award winning film, but my film was a miserable experience to work on, then I failed. And so that’s, that’s kind of how I am choosing to define my success; is just being a team player, being a, creating a positive work environment, and also just creating a product that shows love. You know, when I say shows love, like you can tell that people loved it when they worked on it. And I think that, and I think that really shows in the final product as well. 

    04:58 | Lexi Raines 

    I completely agree. I- I’ve seen movies in the past that you can just tell the actors, the people on set, they weren’t super passionate or happy about it, but I feel like it always makes the biggest difference.  

    05:12 | Daniel Kline 

    Yeah, absolutely. 

    05:13 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, so you said that you’ve been making movies for a while now, seriously, and just outside of that, what was your biggest fear when you first decided to pursue this career? 

    05:30 | Daniel Kline 

    I think the easy answer would be fear of failure. But I’m going to dig a little deeper, and I’m going to say my biggest fear is creating a product that I think is great, and people not liking it. Like, if I look at the final product, I’m like, “alright, this is awesome. This is my best work”, and it just absolutely flops. I think that’s the biggest fear. 

    05:53 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, I feel like that is a- that’s a big fear for a lot of people. But, so on a more positive note, like, what’s a defining moment you’ve had in your creative journey? Like, was there a particular project that made a significant impact on you, or was it something you produced that really showcased your creativity? 

    06:17 | Daniel Kline 

    Yeah, so my- I would have to say that the most defining moment was probably my first project, my first short film. It was, it was that big step where I went from wanting to become a filmmaker to actually being a filmmaker. I took I’d been, I had spent like, two years learning. At that point, two years learning and not doing anything. And everyone was just saying, “Just do it. Just do it. Just, you know, just push through. You’ve got stuff, if you’ve got a phone, you can make a film,” and so we just did it. I wrote something that was accessible, that had like a little creative spin on it, and something that we could film like, pretty easily in a weekend, and we just put a lot of effort into it, and it was, it was pretty good. Like, it’s, it wasn’t like the best thing, and you can tell it was like our first thing ever. But I got to show it to our, my filmmaking community up in Greenville, and these are people who, like, work full time in it, and like, they, like, some of them were actually wowed by it. They were like, “wow! Like, who, who did this? Who, you know, who edited them?” Like, it’s, my brother edited it. He’s never edited anything in his life and it was just like, it, it ended up being such a really cool thing, because we just, we just did it, and it’s been entered into film festivals. We just won Best Short and Best Director for it couple months ago. And so it’s like it was a really defining moment, because it was just that moment where I realized, you know, we can do this. 

    07:47 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, that is amazing. That’s so special. Congratulations on that. 

    07:52 | Daniel Kline 

    Thank you.  

    07:53 | Lexi Raines 

    So, what is, while you were on this path, was there any like advice you received, like good advice, bad advice? 

    08:05 | Daniel Kline 

    That- the advice, the best advice that I received was, was just do it. There’s a lot of, there’s a lot of creative people, not just filmmakers, but there’s a lot of creative people who are afraid to take that first step, but I mean, really, there’s no reason- there’s no time like the present, and there’s no reason why you can’t, and especially if you’ve got a phone in your pocket, you can do most of your creative work to some capacity. And, so the best advice and the thing I always just tell people who ask me what to do, just do it. Just jump in and just do it and learn along the way. Don’t wait until you’re ready. Don’t wait until you feel ready. 

    08:43 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah because- I feel that. Like you’ll never feel ready. 

    08:48 | Daniel Kline 

    Yeah, I had about a dozen people tell me that in a day, and I was like, “Okay, I get it. I get it.” 

    08:55 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, so along with “just do it” you obviously, you said you were a fitness instructor, so you have another job. How would you- How do you balance your day? Like walk us through a typical work day for you. That is an awesome, an awesome balance. So when you’re shifting into more of like, your creative mindset later in the day, what does your process look like for when like, you’re writing these movies, producing them, what does what does that process look like? 

    09:11 | Daniel Kline 

    Oh my gosh. So my day usually starts at 4am, which is rough. I’m not a morning person, but you know, I have to be, but no, my day usually starts at 4am and I just basically work between four and seven sessions. So my day, usually, my professional day usually ends around 11 or 12- 11am, or 12pm, so I mean, I’ve got the the last half of my day to do anything creative, you know, anything creative that I want and so it does allow for a lot of time, and, but- and the gym that I work at, they know, they know what I do. They know what I love to do, what I want to do and so, like, anytime there’s a project, I can freely take off and, you know, go pursue that. And I- So I, it’s a really awesome job to have, yeah.  

    10:05 | Lexi Raines 

    That is an awesome, an awesome balance. So when you’re shifting into more of life, your creative mindset later in the day, what does your process look like for when like, you’re writing these movies, producing them, what does that process look like? 

    10:22 | Daniel Kline 

    Yeah, you asked about writing and producing. I could, I could talk for hours about either so I’m going to choose one. I’m going to shorten it. I mean, writing, writing is, is just a bunch of planning. That’s all it is. It’s just a bunch of planning. You plan on conversations and everything, and then you write it out. So I’m actually going to shift to producing what my day looks like as a producer. It’s a lot of- it’s a lot of boring office work. It’s phone calls. It’s making sure that people’s schedules align. It’s making sure that money is where it needs to be. It’s filling out spreadsheets, creating spreadsheets. I like to use this website called Milanotes. I know a lot of people use it to, like, take notes and everything it’s, it’s where I like to have, like, a different- it’s basically like a giant virtual cork board that you can, like, put different files and draw different lines between things. It looks like a crazy conspiracy theorist board, but- that’s, but yeah, it’s basically just filling in information and just making sure that everyone’s caught up on everything. 

    11:27 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, so, that seems like a lot to juggle. What are some habits that you have, that you’ve developed that you think would be beneficial for others wanting to join this field? 

    11:47 | Daniel Kline 

    I think the- the best habit for people who are wanting to join the field, if they’re starting from scratch, the- probably the best thing that I did for myself, and I, like, I would absolutely recommend, is I keep this, this Rolodex spreadsheet. I created- I created this spreadsheet that anytime I, I basically just got on set, anytime I could, like, I volunteered, I like, met people, shadowed people, and I spent, like, two years working on sets, different sets, without getting paid, just to, like, meet people. And so what I did was, every time I worked with somebody that I enjoyed with- enjoyed working with, and that I would want to work with again, someday, I would put their name, put their information in spreadsheet, put how I met them, and then, I also had a line that was like, this is the last date that I talked to them on, and I kept all of those dates within a month. And so, like, if it’s been about a month since I talked to somebody, I would text them say, like, “Hey, what are you working on? How are you doing?” and that spreadsheet quickly grew into, like, 100 lines. And that was 100 different connections that I you know, people that I kept in in contact with, and that, after about a year and a half of investment, that- that became work, like those people started calling me for- for work, and those became paid projects. And so, like, so, I mean, bottom line is, however you want to do it, like, find your community. Write down, write down a list of people that you want to work with and stick with those people. 

    13:26 | Lexi Raines 

    Yeah, that’s actually a really, a really clever idea. I haven’t- I wouldn’t have even thought to do that. That’s so smart. So do you have any questions that you wish we would have been asked- we would have asked you? 

    13:47 | Daniel Kline 

    Oh, no, not really. I think that covers everything. 

    13:50 | Lexi Raines 

    Okay, awesome. And my last question for you today is, do you have a creative that you’d like to nominate to be interviewed? 

    13:57 | Daniel Kline 

    Hmm, well, I’ve got a whole Rolodex full of them. Yeah, I’ve got, I’ve got one. I think she’d be really cool person talk to. But Yasmine Lee. 

    14:11 | Lexi Raines 

    Yasmin Lee? 

    14:12 | Daniel Kline 

    Yeah.  

    14:14 | Lexi Raines 

    Awesome.  

    14:15 | Daniel Kline 

    She’s a filmmaker up in Greenville. She’s an Emmy Award winning person, really, yeah, she’s and she’s really cool. Worked with her several times. 

    14:24 | Lexi Raines 

    Okay, awesome. Yeah, send us, send us her information, and then, yeah, I will hear this if you can. Thank you so much for your time. It was really great interviewing you. I’m going to look into your work. You seem so passionate about everything, I’ll be looking for your name out there.  

    14:46 | Daniel Kline 

    Thanks. Appreciate it. 

    14:48 | Lexi Raines 

    Thank you so much for your time. I hope you have a good. rest of your day, stay safe in the snow. Supposed snow. 

    14:59 | Daniel Kline 

    Alrighty, bye. 

  • Dallas Vickers

    Dallas Vickers

    “Think outside the box and go for it!”  

    Dallas Vickers is an event and wedding planner working from Myrtle Beach. She attended Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, but she sought out an internship in Myrtle Beach because of family connections. While event planning can be a high-stress and high-pressure business, Vickers focuses on a healthy work-life balance and the importance of knowing your professional community.

    Interview

    Transcript

    00:03 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Okay, so to start off, what do you do for work and where are you currently working from?  

    00:09 | Dallas Vickers 

    So, I’m currently in our office in Myrtle Beach. So, we have a big office, kind of near the airport area, and I am a wedding and event planner. 

    00:19 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Amazing and how long have you been working there?  

    00:21 | Dallas Vickers 

    I actually did my internship here in 2020, and then I moved to Arizona, and now I’m back. I’ve been back for almost three years doing wedding and event planning for Stunning & Brilliant Events. 

    00:35 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Amazing, so what is one thing that you love about working in South Carolina?  

    00:40 | Dallas Vickers 

    I love the community. I feel like everyone knows everyone, and no matter what city you’re in, we’re close enough and know each other well enough that we can help each other out. So, if there’s a shortage on a certain type of chair here in Myrtle Beach, you know they have contacts in Charleston that can bring them down, and it’s not a big deal. And I love the connection we all have as like wedding vendors. It’s very tight knit. 

    01:05 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Yeah, so how would you describe the local professional community within South Carolina? 

    01:11 | Dallas Vickers 

    Again, very tight knit. Everyone knows everyone. We all help each other out. I know, you know, in the wedding planning world, there’s a lot of people who have interned for Sara (McCall) and may have done their own thing afterwards, like, you know, moving to a different city and doing their own thing. Or, like the DJs here, they all trained and, like, worked with each other and helped each other out. So, it’s all like very, “teamwork makes the dream work” around here. It’s, yeah, it’s great. 

    01:38 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Yeah amazing. So, in terms of, I don’t know, in a creative career, it can be a little tough sometimes to figure out like, success, I guess. So, how do you define success in your career, both professionally and personally? 

    01:56 | Dallas Vickers 

    Money, right? I mean, I think it’s just success is returning clients, continuous events and for us, it’s, you know, expanding. So, Sara, the CEO of our company, started this 14, 15 years ago after her own wedding and from there, she now has, I think, 14 franchises all around the US.  And so, within the creative space, I think that our success is definitely measured in like how far our reach can go, and like how many clients we acquire, and, you know, people we meet. 

    02:34 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Yeah, makes sense. And did you have any fears before you entered this profession at all? 

    02:38 | Dallas Vickers 

    Oh, yeah, absolutely. Um, there’s always the fear of, like, another COVID happening or, you know, social events being, you know, limited or not at all. There’s always a fear of, like, a slow season or something. But I think that we’re very innovative in what we do, I mean, down to, like, if we have a slower time in December, we’re going to offer gift wrapping. We’re going to offer designing your birthday or your party, or Christmas party, we send out. A lot of marketing goes into what we do and keeping ourselves busy, and, like, ever evolving, really helps the business. 

    02:39 | Dallas Vickers 

    For sure. So, nowadays, what is a typical workday look like for you? What’s expected of you on a daily basis, and what do you get into? 

    03:00 | Dallas Vickers 

    Yeah, so I have 16 clients right now. So that ranges from anywhere from birthday parties to full weekend getaways that I’m planning for people to, of course, weddings, obviously a majority is weddings, and even like corporate events and events like that. So, all ranges. So, I come into office, 9am, a little coffee, and sit down on my computer. We all are in our cubicle, we’re all in the same area, there’s multiple planners in our office. We, you know, I get on my email, I check what, what I need to see, and then I kind of start on my checklist. So it could be, again, my days are so different every single day. If it’s a Friday before an event then I am prepping people, putting batteries into late night items for like glow sticks or whatever, or going to rehearsal an hour away, or going to a meeting with a florist. Or I’m sitting here at my computer all day making a layout, matching linens to whatever, to florals, you know, making a timeline, it could be anything like that. Or I’m doing math and creating a detailed budget for someone’s dad. It just depends. It’s always changing. 

    04:45 | Emma Plutnicki 

    That makes sense. And throughout your career, has there been a significant event or project or anything that you’ve worked on that like, stands out in your mind and has had a significant impact on you? 

    05:01 | Dallas Vickers 

    Yeah, I think every event comes with a learning curve, but there’s definitely when you’re working so closely with people and such a high wedding, specifically, it’s such a high emotional and energy event that there’s been some times where I’ve learned a lot about how I handle conflict and how to properly handle conflict, and also you know how to do it in the future. So, I think that my biggest event is learning. 

    05:32 | Emma Plutnicki 

    That makes sense, and along the way, when you have kind of those conflicts, have you received any advice throughout your career, like what’s the best advice? 

    05:40 | Dallas Vickers 

    Yeah. Sara McCall, our CEO that I was talking about earlier, she’s been around the block with almost everything that could possibly happen in an event or in event planning. We’ve done it, and she has the best advice on how to respond, and a lot of it is turn off your emotions and you remember that. You’re here for your job as well, and like you were people pleasers, but only so long.  

    06:07 | Emma Plutnicki 

    And is there any bad advice that you’ve received that you don’t think would… 

    06:31 | Dallas Vickers 

    From other people, like people that aren’t in the industry that’s like bad advice would be: well, just tell them that you’re busy with other clients. And I’m not just saying that to a bride who’s like, a few months away. You know what I mean? 

    06:30 | Emma Plutnicki 

    And so, with events, I would assume that a lot of times these happen at night. So how do you balance work-life balance in your life, because you also, you know, you want to do things too outside of work. So how do you balance? 

    06:46 | Dallas Vickers 

    That’s another reason why I love this job. It’s not corporate, we don’t have, you know, the strictest schedule in the world. If I need to work from home, for A, B and C, reason, I can work from home. And this is also, like, special to us, because we have an amazing company. But, if I’m going to go on a trip for a couple of weeks, it’s encouraged. I mean, the more that you travel, the more you learn, and our clients want to see that we’re fun people. They want to see that we’re going on vacation and experiencing things and doing creative things, we’re seen as these creative beings, and people want to see that as well. So, work-life balance is a big deal. If we have a Saturday event, then we get our Mondays to ourselves, so we still have our two-day weekends. And really just trying to, like, keep it at work and that’s really a personal adventure everyone has to go on. It was definitely a learning curve after I got out of college. So, yeah, it’s been a good transition, but it’s it gets easier with time. 

    07:49 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Yeah, amazing. Well, thank you so much. Just as we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to add about your career, or anything you wish I might have asked that I missed? 

    08:00 | Dallas Vickers 

    No, I mean, I think that it’s not advertised. A lot of creative jobs like this I never thought would be a choice. So, whenever you know college kids are looking into what they’re doing for their internships, think outside the box and go for it. 

    08:17 | Emma Plutnicki 

    How did you find out about this career? How did you get into it?  

    08:23 | Dallas Vickers 

    Yeah, I was a hospitality student. I’m from Texas originally, so I was at school in Texas, and I knew I wanted to do my internship out of state, and my grandparents live here. So, I was looking around the area, I reached out to a venue, and I was like, “Do you guys have any internship opportunities? I’m interested in event planning or event catering, you know, that kind of world.” And they were like, “Well, we don’t, but here’s a list of event planners that might” and Sara was top of the list. So Stunning & Brilliant Events was top of the list and once I worked with her and saw exactly what they do, I was like, “This is the perfect balance of like, business and creativity,” which is, like, I didn’t even know existed.  

    09:04 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Yeah, amazing. And where did, where did you live in Texas? What school did you go to? 

    09:08 | Dallas Vickers 

    Austin yeah. Well, I went to school at SFA, which is East Texas.  

    09:13 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Yeah, nice my sister lives in Texas or in Austin. Yeah, she lives in Austin. My gosh. 

    09:19 | Dallas Vickers 

    Wait, that’s so cool. What part? 

    09:22 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Somewhere in Austin. She lives in like that, like outside suburbs, maybe like Southwest, I guess maybe. But I love Austin, very cool place. Well, amazing. So if you I don’t know if you know anybody else like a creative that would help us be interviewed, but if you can think of anybody that you want to nominate for a Creative Careers interview like this, just to get the word out to young kids, I’ll send you a link to the website that these will be put on. It’s called the Creative Careers Studio. With the South Carolina Arts Commission. So it’s a super cool website, but yeah, that’s, that’s basically all I got.  

    10:07 | Dallas Vickers 

    Yeah, thank you awesome. Thank you so much, Emma. It’s nice to meet you. 

    10:12 | Emma Plutnicki 

    Nice to meet you too. Hope you have a great day.