“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!
“I would define my creative success; I think it’s that I try to be as chaotically scheduled as possible.”
Interview
Transcript
Lexi Raines 00:00
David. Okay, so first, just give a little introduction of yourself, like, what’s your name? Who do you work for? And where are you currently working from?
David Estrada 00:11
Yeah. So my name is David Estrada. I am the director of content production at Cargo in Greenville, South Carolina, and it’s a marketing firm that’s been around since 2006
Lexi Raines 00:25
Okay, so have you been working there since 2006 or how long have you been- How long have you worked there?
David Estrada 00:33
I’ve been working at Cargo since April of 2016 so about 10 years after it started, I came on board. It was a company of about 15,12 to 15 people and since has, you know, I’ve been there about nine years, and it’s grown at one point. At its largest it was like 75 people, and now we’re back to under 50. I was pre-COVID. Now we’re back to just under 50.
Lexi Raines 01:06
Yeah, that’s still like a lot of growth, though and COVID impacted so many different things so for sure. So what’s one thing that you love working you- that you love about working as a creative in South Carolina?
David Estrada 01:21
Yeah, one thing that I love about working as a creative in South Carolina, wow. You know, there’s so many things that come to mind. I studied film, radio, television, film, studied advertising. Got two different degrees at the University of Texas, you know, way back when, and never really thought that things would pan out to where I was doing both of those things at one location. You know, at one job, it’s one of those things where you- you hear stories about how people study a certain thing and they get into a totally different field. And so I just feel very lucky, very, you know, blessed, I guess, to be able to be working in in the creative field like I hoped and intended to but as far as like, yeah, the creative field in South Carolina specifically, I like that there is a base, a very good baseline, of creative professionals and strategic professionals in upstate South Carolina, and I can’t really speak from any real experience in the coastal or midlands area, haven’t worked in those regions, but in the upstate, it’s- it’s nice to be surrounded by folks with so much experience to be able to learn from and I don’t know that you necessarily get that in every region, every market, yeah.
Lexi Raines 03:10
So would you say that’s like, it’s unique influence on you compared to being anywhere else?
David Estrada 03:18
Yeah, you know, this area, I guess, has the- the benefit of, at one point in history, there was a very large amount of advertising being done on a national scale from one particular agency called Henderson advertising, and there was just a lot of money coming through the area for that, and that agency, I think, collapsed back, I don’t want to misspeak on what year that happened, but it shut its doors, and from that, a lot of other like smaller agencies and professionals that learned from being at that shop kind of fragmented off and started their own shops. So now there’s just a very robust community of advertisers you know, marketing and advertising agencies.
Lexi Raines 04:22
Yeah, that’s awesome. So, could you go into like, a little bit more detail about the profession, the community there?
David Estrada 04:31
Definitely, yeah, you know, it’s, it’s a, it’s a small, I mean, you know, it’s a small place. So it feels like everybody has kind of worked everywhere, at all the different shops. Everybody kind of knows each other, or has at least heard of each other the like I said, there’s a mix of video production strategy, design, copywriting, developers, photographers, and, you know, it’s, it’s nice in in a smaller region or market like this, to have the opportunity to work in smaller organizations where you get to learn about all those different fields. So I think especially as a young professional, I- I came in as a project manager, and that allowed me to interact across every single creative discipline to kind of learn, like, okay, what are the challenges that copywriters face, as far as, like, you know, the direction they get from their- their creative directors versus, you know, what they hear from the clients, versus like, how they’re briefed in on projects. You know, what are the challenges that designers face that are different than, like, what an animator would- would face, and then how all those kind of cogs work together in efficiencies from like, how they transfer files back and forth, how they work from the Cloud, versus what types of things need to be local, like, you know, local hard drives and or local servers. And, you know, how do they collaborate? Not just like, like, technically, but also how they collaborate in the brain space, you know, and in hybrid environments. Or, you know, in the same room and kind of like what the hierarchy is, you know, being a being a project manager, allowed me to just integrate myself across all those things. You know, I came from a background of, like I said, having studied film, you know, in college, I came from that more writing background and editing background directing and I actually owned a production company for four years in Austin after college, in Austin, Texas, after college. And so I also got the benefit of kind of learning the hard way about the aspects of like being an entrepreneur, being a business owner, you know, paying vendor invoices, accounts receivable, accounts payable. You know, paying, filing your taxes, managing a team, both internal and external, payroll, payroll taxes, and- and so there’s, there was kind of all these things that that fuse together from my background, so that when the opportunity arrived for me to kind of take more even as a project manager, take more creative control and provide more creative direction that the agency that I was at recognized that, and then, you know, allowed me to kind of make the shift over to being a full time creative
Lexi Raines 08:13
Yeah, that’s awesome. So having that background in film and then being a project manager, that’s like combining so many different aspects, like you were explaining, how have you come to, like, define your professional or personal successes and your creative endeavors?
David Estrada 08:32
How to define, gosh, you know, I think that’s what everybody’s always trying to do is to define creatives and that’s it’s just that’s not what you want to do. You want- you want your creatives to be the enigmas. You want them to be undefinable, like if, if your creatives are operating inside of your systems, then they’re not able to be creative. You know, I think that’s why you hire that’s why you hire a quote, unquote creative is because you want them to be thinking of different not just to provide you with a set of materials that you think you want but to provide you with processes, ways of thinking, ways of getting work done that are outside of your- your the blinders that you might have on as- as a business owner or as a strategist. So as far as how I would define my creative success. I think it’s, it’s that I, I try to be chaotic as possible. Yeah.
Lexi Raines 09:54
Yeah. I think, I think those are really good points to keep in mind. Success to everybody and creativity to anybody is just so different, depending on like whoever you ask. So it really, really is person to person. So you said that you started a film production company out once you got out of college. What was your biggest fear like when you decided to pursue that.
David Estrada 10:22
Oh, money for sure, you know, like, I think everybody is seeking a sense of security, you know, a sense of that, that feeling of being safe and a life of filmmaking is the furthest thing from that is It’s the scariest thing I think you can set out to do, not only because of how vulnerable your work is can be, but also because of that financial security aspect. So, you know, I mean, I was definitely afraid of putting my work out there and- and people not understanding it, or people, you know, ragging on it or- or critiquing it, and but then there’s always people that interpret it in new ways that I didn’t even think about. But I think that was always why- That was also why I studied advertising in addition to film, was because I wanted to understand the science behind, like, how businesses use the craft that that I love, and I would, I would definitely, like, recommend to everybody, like, even if you’re really interested in in film or- or any of the arts really, you know, take the time to go to finance classes, go to accounting classes, go to management and marketing classes, because even in today’s, I mean, especially in today’s age, like you are always marketing yourself. You know, your smile is your handshake, your, sorry, your- what is the saying? It’s something like your smile is your business card, your handshake is your website kind of, you know, but like we were always, regardless of how good we are at something, just being really good is not necessarily enough to get paid. You have to be able to sell your abilities. Does that kind of answer the question?
Lexi Raines 12:40
Yes, it does, and that’s honestly, that’s something I’ve heard across the board in some of the interviews I’ve done. I think that’s something that a lot of emerging creatives do need to understand, is that there’s so much more to it. Rather than just being creative, you have to know, like you said, how to market yourself, networking all the business aspects of it. So, I feel like that’s that’s really something good to think about.
David Estrada 13:08
Yeah, I would say the other well, can you go back to what the top? Know, what the question was at the top?
Lexi Raines 13:13
The question I asked? Yeah, your biggest fear when you first decided to pursue the arts?
David Estrada 13:19
Okay? Yeah, okay, yeah. I was just, I was thinking I wanted to add something else to that, but I think we summed it up.
Lexi Raines 13:29
Yeah, okay, awesome and so you’ve come a long way since graduating, obviously. Do you have, like, a defining moment in your creative journey, like was, did you have a particular project that you think made a significant impact on you?
David Estrada 13:48
There is one defining moment that does come to mind. It’s not actually a creative project, which I mean, I could, I could give a creative project as well as it was defining. But I think probably something like one of the things that made the biggest difference in my career was actually, I took two years off of college after freshman year. f\Freshman year, I went in wholeheartedly, like, I’m going to study film and and I was my, my only major. And then I took two years off, I came back, and I think that that that fear, like you talked about, that fear of security, had started to creep in. And so I thought, “you know what? It’s- films just not a- a viable career choice”. It’s an, you know, as an art like I’m always gonna be struggling. And so I went to my career advisor at- at UT and told him, “hey, you know, I want to, I want to change my, my major over to advertising”. And he said, “okay, cool. You know, schedule you to class- Classes, we’ll get you set and, you know, apply to the advertising school. We’ll see if you get in”. I should find out in a couple of weeks. This is like at the start of the semester, and I’m walking out, and I hit the button to go down the elevator, and this woman comes running, walking quickly towards me, and she’s like, “Hey, I’m so sorry,- I I am the Career Advisor with the office next door to yours, and I’m just, I couldn’t I couldn’t help the doors were open. I couldn’t help I was eavesdropping”. I was like, “oh, okay, nope, whatever. I don’t care”. And she’s like, “well, I just, I felt like, you know, you sounded like, you really love making films, making movies, and, you know, you can, like, double major or whatever, right?” And I was like, “no, like, I didn’t even realize that was a concept”. She’s like, “well, you know, with maybe, like, an extra semester looking at the” because, I guess while we had been meeting, she was like, “looking at the comparisons and like, how they how the courses would- would interactions like, I think with like, one extra semester, you could get a degree in both”. And I was like, “No way. Okay”. So then I walked right back into her office and sat down, and she got me totally rearranged and set up. I ended up getting an email from the moody College of Communication at UT that I wasn’t accepted into the advertising program, and then like, the next day, or it might even been, like, two hours later, they’re like, “oh, sorry, we made a clerical error. You’re in”. I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is like, such a roller coaster”, yeah. So that was definitely a defining moment, because now I get to have a full time job out of this. I’ve worked professionally, full time in publishing, on the publishing side, making videos and original content. And I’ve worked, you know, obviously I had my business doing commercial work and short film, and then I’ve had an agency job for nine years, and every time, it’s always been with an angle of marketing, plus video or video production or photography production. So definitely extremely grateful for that.
Lexi Raines 17:19
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that sounds, that sounds awesome. Like I- I feel like you don’t really ever wish someone was eavesdropping on you, but in that moment, I feel like that made a big difference for sure. And I feel like- I feel like everybody really, especially in college, needs somebody that’s going to guide them towards their passions, but also something that is, I don’t want to say, more realistic, but will help stabilize you. So I feel like that’s really awesome.
David Estrada 17:52
It’s good to have something to be to be grounded to. And, you know, I don’t want this in any way, shape or form, to deter somebody from fully pursuing the arts, because, you know, this is just my path, and it’s probably my path, because maybe I never fully took the leap, you know, like there, I think that there. I mean, I have colleagues from- from college who have struggled, but then I also have colleagues who did take that leap. And now are, you know, VPs at, I don’t know, like one of my buddies is VP at Black Bear pictures, you know, which has produced award winning films, and we graduated the same year, you know. So it’s, I think it’s that move of like being in the place where the work is going on, like a New York or in LA, can be very difficult financially and but if you love it enough and you’re willing to put up with the difficulty and be patient. I mean, I think that that is still the move. I don’t know how much longer you know that will be the move. Maybe things are fractaling out, you know, to different regions a little bit more. But, yeah.
Lexi Raines 19:17
Yeah, I feel like, definitely- I feel like New York and LA used to be, like a big hub for all of that, but I feel, especially with the internet and social media and everything, I feel like it’s definitely way more possible to be creative outside of those areas now, like easier than it was then. So this kind of goes along the lines of what you were talking about. But what’s the best and worst advice that you’ve ever received?
David Estrada 19:50
Okay, start with sort of the worst advice, which was. Is,” don’t be so idealistic”, which, I mean, I’ll explain because, you know, I think that there’s, there’s definitely some, I mean, there’s some drawbacks to being an idealist, but that, if you don’t have something that keeps you going, you don’t have some kind of hope, you don’t have some kind of, like, vision for what the best possible outcome could be, then what are you doing? You know what I mean, like, in order to be a visionary, like, well, in order to be a person who can affect positive change in your own life or in the life of your coworkers or your family, like, my opinion, you have got to be an idealist with a healthy dose of pragmatism. You have to know what it’s going to take. You can’t be, you know, pure idealist. You have to understand what the barriers are going to be. But there’s always going to be that final gap between what seems possible and what is impossible, that like, there’s only like, there’s only so much like delusion that you can have about a goal, right? Because if you have too many delusions, then people are going to write you off. I think you get one delusion per goal, and that delusion is usually the idea that you can do it, that you can be the one to do it, unless you’re like, you know Ryan Reynolds, or you know Trump, or whoever, like people who don’t have to the delusion doesn’t have to be them, because people already know that they can do it, right. So then they can have delusions about other, like, other things in the project, and that gap can be made up. But yeah, I would say the worst advice would be like, don’t be so idealistic. Gotta have some- gotta be an idealist to become a visionary. The best advice I’ve ever received was listen. Listen a lot more than you speak. Because, in my opinion, telling stories is not about talking in order to find the best story and ultimately tell the best story, you have to listen to the world around you, the people around you. That’s where you’re going to find the inspiration. And if you’re too busy worrying about, like, what am I going to say, what am I going to write, you’re always going to be in your own head. You know, draw from the experiences of other people. And I do think it’s an issue that maybe, maybe it’s rooted in academia. In early K through 12, academia, of like, okay, we got a speech class, we got an oration class. We don’t have, like, we don’t teach listening skills, and there’s the public speaking aspect, but I think listen more than you than you speak. In order to tell a great story, you got to listen first.
Lexi Raines 23:37
Yeah, I think that. I think that’s a great thing to live by. That’s really something that we focus on here at the Athenaeum Press- is just lifting up people’s voices from all over South Carolina, because at the end of the day, their stories matter, and they deserve to be heard, and who knows they can, if they can help anybody. It was something that was worth putting out there. Yeah, so kind of shifting gears. Do you have, like, a typical work day? Like, what does your process look like, and what’s expected of you on a daily basis?
David Estrada 24:08
For sure. Yeah. So I think that those things change a lot, because as much when you’ve been somewhere for a very long time, like 10 years, the business around you changes, and what that business needs from you can- can change pretty drastically. So like I said, I started off as a project manager, and then I became a producer, and then became a, I guess, like, for lack of a better term, like an executive producer, or like a, like a, like a production lead. So I had as a manager. I had a full team of shooters, filmmakers, editors, animators, and so, you know, my role shifted more towards being a sort of like a creative director over video and helping to make sure that all of those folks had the resources that they need and had the information that they needed in order to do their jobs, but so now my day to day is much more in the trenches of executing the work rather than the managerial side. So my day to day is oftentimes show up to a set and take a bunch of photos, commercial photography, and then spend some time in post-production, retouching those, color grading those. Or, you know, my- my day might be, because now I have a producer who does, like most of the communication stuff for me, and, you know, she might come to me and say,” Hey, we have a new bid. Can you help me kind of scope out what the lift will be, what the level of effort will be?” And so I could, I could provide some input on the budget side, or, you know, it might be, hey, we, we’ve got this new video project that we need you to direct. And so I might then be on set, you know, doing the actual commercial direction of the spot. You know, help with crewing up projects. So, you know, maybe, maybe I need to reach out and contact some directors of photography, you know, video shooters that I would want to bring on board a project. You know, other producers that could help gaffers or hair and makeup artists and just using my network to kind of crew up shoots, or honestly, a large part of my day, each day could be spent editing video, doing sound mix and color grade and searching for music tracks.
Lexi Raines 27:30
So that sounds like definitely a lot to kind of schedule and work around. How have you created a work life balance, where you think you’re able to maintain both your professional and your personal creativity.
David Estrada 27:48
I think in advertising business, there is because what you’re selling is the brain power of your people. You know, there, there’s not a physical production line with a product that is the output, where you can physically measure the quality versus the competitions output in a quantifiable way. I think, you know, media and data try to do that. But as a- as a creative shop like us that doesn’t have an internal we have media partners that we work with, but not an internal media arm. You know, it’s very difficult to come up with, like, an idea of how we measure up against the competition in a non-qualitative way. So, because of that, it is an extremely competitive industry, and everyone is always vying for that next AOR contract. And oftentimes you’re in competition against a bunch of other local shops, or sometimes national shops. And there tends to be a because of that sort of cutthroat mentality, there tends to be a do whatever it takes mentality when it comes to work life balance. So, you know, I think when you love it, it, it doesn’t affect you in a negative way, as far as, like, your- your mental health, or whatever. But, and I do love it, and so, you know, there’s, there’s definitely, like, I would say less of a work life balance in advertising than maybe other, even creative other creative industries. But yeah, as far as like me personally, what I do, I try to set boundaries more for myself than anyone I- or with myself, of like, hey, you know, like, no matter what it is you’re working on, trying to go home at seven at the latest, and, you know, pick back up where you left off. But if you have a deadline, you know, it can be tough to to sign off. And so then it becomes a question of just managing your time effectively saying no when you know, even if you want to help out on a project, knowing when your bandwidth is too strapped at smaller you know, especially specifically at cargo, you know, when it, when it was a smaller company, there weren’t really, like resource managers. So it wasn’t like, wasn’t like there was anybody managing my bandwidth. So, you know, I just, whatever came through the door, came to my plate and had to get done. Yeah, you know, Now, thankfully, we’ve, we’ve matured, and we have resource managers that are able to look at what’s on the plate of a specific creative and say, You know what, I’m not even going to bring this project to their attention. I’ve got to, I’ve got to go to an outside resource because I know that their- their plate’s already full. So yeah, I think as a as a company matures. Hopefully you’re not having to, as a creative really, like worry too much about your work life balance. Hopefully there’s, there’s a resource manager that’s that’s helping with that.
Lexi Raines 31:31
Yeah. Okay, so my final question, well, second to final question, do you have any questions that you wish you were asked during this interview.
David Estrada 31:43
Oh, that’s a great question. Let’s see. Yeah. I mean, just what’s the coolest project I’ve ever worked on? You know?
Lexi Raines 31:50
So tell me what’s the coolest project you’ve worked on?
David Estrada 31:55
Well, I guess in most in most recent years, the my favorite one is a music video that I shot with Fred Armisen from Portlandia. So, you know, working with- with celebrities is always fun and challenging. But in this specific case, you know, it was an opportunity to work with somebody who really respect and find to be, you know, extremely funny, and also to implement some new technology that I hadn’t worked with before, in the case of virtual production, so working on a volume soundstage and building environments in Unreal Engine in order to deploy those onto, you know, onto the LED screen, and just seeing how we can do in camera visual effects with, you know, the way that those volume stages can detect camera movements and and props and scale or move The background in, in parallax in a way that that computes and makes sense with the real world.
Lexi Raines 33:06
Yeah, that sounds awesome. That sounds so cool. I feel- I that was sounds like such a like an amazing experience.
David Estrada:
Yeah, it was great.
Lexi Raines
So my last question for you today is, do you have a creative based in South Carolina that you’d like to nominate to be interviewed?
Speaker 1 33:22
Oh, yeah, Rocky French.
Lexi Raines 33:26
Rocky French. Okay, awesome. And what? What the What do they do?
David Estrada 33:32
He’s a creative director.
Lexi Raines 33:35
Oh Awesome. Okay, so thank you so much for your time. Today. Sounds good, awesome. Have a good rest of your week.
“It’s a good thing to bring beauty to this world, you know. Like, leave it a little bit better than you found it, hopefully.”
Interview
Transcript
00:03 | Emma Plutnicki
Okay, so to start, what do you do for work and where are you currently working?
00:10 | Paolo Gualdi
So, I am a musician, generally speaking, and I divide my time between teaching. I’m a full-time professor at Francis Marion University. And I also do a part time job here at the University of Wilmington UNCW and that’s for my teaching in general. And then I am also a performer. So, I play piano and both as a soloist and chamber musician, which is collaborating with other musicians. And I play regionally, nationally, internationally, depending on, you know, the opportunity.
00:46 | Emma Plutnicki
So how long have you been doing each of those, the teaching, the playing?
00:51 | Paolo Gualdi
Well, for many, many decades, I’m, I mean, I don’t know if you need to run 50. I started when I was, I started teaching when I was 16. So, we’re talking about privately, of course, but and then also, very shortly after that, I started performing, you know, full concerts and everything now, in terms of what my current positions, I’ve been at Francis Marion for 16 years, and the UNCW I think maybe seven, eight years. I can’t remember when I started my part time job, but, yeah, my concert. I mean, I played concerts my whole life, pretty much.
1:26 | Emma Plutnicki
So, at UNCW and at Francis Marion, what are your official job titles?
2:44 | Paolo Gualdi
At Francis Marion, I’m a professor of, I think in music, it’s called something like that. But I’m, yeah, focusing on piano, but I also teach other classes like ear training. I do direct chamber music, sorry, a jazz combo, which is, you know, we play different styles of music, but mostly jazz. And speaking of Francis Marion, yes, this might be interesting, also to you. I also started a chamber music festival every February with both fine grants from the university as well as donations from the community and has been going, I’m organizing right now. At the end of February there will be the 13th edition of this festival. So that’s actually another kind of another aspect of my job in at UNCW again, it’s a very, I’m an instructor. Here I actually am teaching Piano Jazz. And that’s, that’s pretty much the involvement. It’s minimal, obviously, because can’t have clone doing, but it’s okay, yeah.
2:38 | Emma Plutnicki
Yeah. Amazing. So, what is one thing that you love about working in South Carolina, specifically?
2:44 | Paolo Gualdi
Well, Francis Marion, it’s a great place to go, I really enjoy it. It is a little complicated for me, because actually leaving Wilmington, North Carolina, as we are talking right now, I mean North Carolina, so it’s a little bit, you know, a nuisance to go back and forth. I, you know, like, but it is really a very desirable job. I have great colleagues, and it’s a great little University with a lot of potential in general. And I do enjoy the fact that specifically, Francis Marion gets a lot of people that are indecisive. So, we get, we don’t require an audition to access our program, which is a double-edged sword.
3:27 | Paolo Gualdi
Of course, you get a lot of people that should not be doing that, but that discover, you know, the interest in music, and then they pursue it seriously. So, speaking of, you know, discovering, real careers, I have more than one student that had gone to, you know, either gigging in the region or I have a, most recently, a student that opened a Music Academy in Florence. She wasn’t even done with her undergrad degree, and she opened a music school, which is thriving. And so, I really enjoyed that aspect of, you know, that specific job moment. So yeah.
4:03| Emma Plutnicki
That’s great. And so, does working in the Carolinas specifically influence your work in any way compared to other places that you may have worked in the past?
4:13 | Paolo Gualdi
I can’t differentiate that I do. I can tell you that it’s mostly aside from the positives of the specific institutions I do love living in the South. I do love living around here for many reasons. And so, I wouldn’t say that there is a detached, how to say, a reality in the Carolinas for what concerns music in general, but definitely it’s special in South Carolina. I have the occasion, for example, to go play and teach at the Governor’s School up in Greenville, so you get really a sense of what’s the future is holding.
4:51 | Paolo Gualdi
And it’s incredible because, I mean, South Carolina is not specifically, you know, on the top list when it comes to culture and music. General, but aside maybe from the, you know, the spoiler festival in Charleston, which is a big event, and it’s known nationwide, but it is really, there’s a lot of talent in South Carolina, and so, yes, I really enjoy that, that aspect. But, you know, it’s, you know, it’s a specific which, again, it’s, yeah, it doesn’t make my work different in any way, but it’s definitely an exciting context to be working in.
5:28 | Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, no, that’s really refreshing to hear. So how would you describe the local professional community? You said it’s really, you know, inviting, and there’s a lot of art in Charleston and other places. So how would you describe that community?
5:42 | Paolo Gualdi
There is a lot of…by the way, as a parenthesis—so, you’ve been…Are you from South Carolina, or…?
5:47 | Emma Plutnicki
I’m from New Jersey.
5:51| Paolo Gualdi
Oh, wow. Okay, New Jersey. And how long have you been in South Carolina?
5:54 | Emma Plutnicki
I’ve only been here for about a year and a half.
5:57 | Paolo Gualdi
So, I’ll tell you because, I mean, otherwise you would know already a lot of realities. That’s why I’m telling you. I’m not going to bore you with the details. But for example, yes, Charleston has this. You know, it’s one of the most vibrant cities in South Carolina concerning the cultural environment as a scene, Columbia as well. Columbia has a lot of things. For example, they have this specific piano. They have a huge festival in the summer called the southeastern piano festival. Florence, again, beside the festival that I was telling you, which is small. I mean, it’s nothing, you know, in the nation, not newsworthy. But Florence, for example, has exploded in the last few years, they built a world class concert hall, for example. Then we have also Lake City, which is a tiny little town about a half an hour from Florence, which has this world class gallery, art gallery that brings in incredible shows.
7:00 | Paolo Gualdi
Years ago, I remember that there was a Goya exhibit for several months, I mean, and you would not expect it, you know, from a tiny little town in the middle of South Carolina. So yeah, and so yes, definitely for what concerns South Carolina, and then, not to mention your school and environment. I don’t know much about, you know, like Coastal, but I know that they’re doing incredible things. And for example, the piano teacher that Philip Powell, I mean, he’s been bringing the fancy names and wonderful instruments that they are. I don’t know if they’re a strain with school, but anyway, I don’t want to get to the specifics of music, but what I’m saying is that there is definitely a lot going on.
7:37 | Paolo Gualdi
And again, so it’s an exciting, you know, boiling pot, yeah, opportunities, and North Carolina as well. Here in Wilmington, at least, if you are interested, also outside of this, I don’t know if you’re writing something about specifically South Carolina. It’s generally a kind of group of South Carolina professionals…
7:58 | Paolo Gualdi
But I mean, Wilmington is also very cool, but yeah, the scope of what you’re talking about, so I will know the details, but not amazing.
8:11 | Emma Plutnicki
So, in your life as a creative, how do you define success, like, how do you define personal success, and then also professional success?
8:21 | Paolo Gualdi
Well, it’s a very personal standard, right? So, you I really think that within creative arts, for example, you know music and painting, whatever you know like, it is a very dangerous balance, because you have the competitive aspect, which can be overwhelming sometimes, right? You’re talking about being successful. Does it mean winning something, a competition, winning a job, position and so on, versus the capability to be accepting the fact that, especially in in in arts, you’re always improving, you there’s no, you know, goal that you’re I got there now I can see it and relax. It’s a lifetime of excitement if you take it the right way.
09:10 | Paolo Gualdi
Otherwise, it’s a lifetime of frustration because you don’t feel you’re good enough forever. So success, what is success? It is to have, obviously, this, I think it’s about involvement and engagement, actually, into what you’re doing, loving what you’re doing, being curious.
09:28 | Paolo Gualdi
That’s, I mean, very important for an artist. At the same time, we don’t live on top of a mountain, you know, like foraging, so we need to pay the bills. And also, you want to find the reality that allows you to, you know, pay the bills, to have a car and all of that. So, I think success is very personal in those terms. But at the core of what we do, yes, we want to make sure that we never become cynical, that we never lose the imagination and the again. The aim for, you know, for beauty in general, generally speaking, I mean, that means, for me, as a pianist, there is an anecdote. I’ll tell you. This is, this might be kind of cute to include. There was a famous cellist, cello player by the name of Pablo Casals. And he was 93 years old, 93 and he was practicing, right?
10:25 | Paolo Gualdi
And so, somebody asked him, like, So, Mr. Casals, like, why are you still practicing? You’re 93 years and he answered, like, because I think I’m making progress, you know, like it, and it’s somebody that, I mean, we’re talking about the legend of, you know, of cello. And I’m 93 he was still like, you know, like, I’m still going, and I’m looking for, you know, like something. And so, I think that that’s, that as a personal aim goal. It’s the best feeling in the world. So really, like, always being interested and curious and digging deeper.
11:00 | Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, no that’s a sweet story. Definitely always room for self-improvement.
11:05 | Paolo Gualdi
A lot of people can’t wait to retire and be done with whatever you know, office job or something, with all due respect, with those, with those you know, but they’re not, we’re very lucky if we’re in the arts, granted that it’s also very difficult. Nothing is easy about that. But you know, did you arrive at 93 that you’re still, still love music so much. It’s really a blessing.
11:27 | Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, I love that. So, within this career, before you went into the career, did you have any big fears about going into something more creative?
11:41 | Paolo Gualdi
I had, I think, I was a little bit different as a child, because I knew, before I even have memories of knowing that I knew that I wanted to be a musician. My parents used to tell me that I was when I was three or four years old. I don’t remember. I did start playing piano when I was five, and I knew, always knew that I wanted to do that, and now I have a bunch of different hobbies. I like photography and so on, but I was never intimidated by that. That’s one of the reasons why, actually, I moved to the States. I’m originally from Italy, because I could not really, I didn’t see myself. It was a really difficult situation. So, I had the ambition to do that as a life, you know. But as I said before, you don’t live only playing one concert every six months.
12:28 | Paolo Gualdi
You need something that is also practical. And so, I came to the States to pursue that. And I mean, I consider myself very lucky that I did. And so, I had a moment, if you were talking about fears, yes, there was, when it doesn’t work out, if things are not really clicking, it is scary, because then you get a little bit discouraged.
12:49 | Paolo Gualdi
And a brutal aspect about creative, you know, careers in general, it is that, unfortunately and again, not, not everybody likes to hear that you do need to have some level of talent, because you, if you’re not, you know, unfortunately, it’s brutally, brutally honest. So, there needs to be something that doesn’t mean you have to be a genius, but, you know, that’s where you find your position in a specific career. But you cannot expect you’re terrible. You can do it, and then you just like the idea, you know, it’s kind of like when you’re little, I want to be an astronaut. Okay, you know?
13:24 | Paolo Gualdi
So, a lot of people have thought that I want to be a singer. I want to be, you know, yeah, okay, then when you have to do the hard work, then that’s where you see who really wants to do it. So, when you face challenges in life, then, yes, you get scared. Because I was, I was really scared at what I’m going to do, but you know, luckily, again, I found my way. So that answers your question.
13:48 | Emma Plutnicki
So, when you face those challenges, are you able to receive any advice from anybody? Was there any advice that was either good or bad advice that really stands out to you?
14:01 | Paolo Gualdi
In general, if we’re talking about that kind of challenge, then definitely there needs to be more, more than just inspiring, more practical advice. In general, I was kind of following, how can I say, Well, I mean, yes, some of the teachers who basically, you know, generally speaking, it’s very important to have a mentor, somebody that guides you, a professional that was basically what you’re doing. Also, you’re bringing, you know, a little bit of perspective of people that had the experience of older people, older, you know, individuals that had decades of experience, and then they had, you know, down moments and up moments and success stories and all that. When I was in Italy, I was about 22- 23 I had no idea what to do.
14:47 | Paolo Gualdi
I tried every avenue, and it was not looking good. As a matter of fact, I was looking at alternate careers because I was, you know, because I was not living in LaLaLand. And, I mean, I wanted to be independent, and then eventually, through some of the connections that I had, I found my way to, you know, back to the States and to what basically became my home for the last 25 years. So, it’s been a while, a specific connection, I mean, a specific piece of advice, the one that I can give is basically never give up, really. I mean, it seems cheesy and everything, but you need to learn how to deal with closed doors or rejection. It’s part of the thing. Nobody has, you know, a straight line into a career. I rarely heard that even the most talented, most you know now, the most famous, all fell down.
15:45 | Paolo Gualdi
They had an unfair situation where they were not chosen, you know, and so on. So never give up, but at the same time, have always, you know, like a kind of a reality check, because once again, if you keep going and you’re, you know, 10 to 20, years into this career, and it’s not clicking.
16:03 | Paolo Gualdi
Maybe that’s so but in general, you know, like always take the especially in our career, it’s, it’s a given that you’re going to get some, you know, moments where, like, oh, I suck, you know, like, or nobody likes me, or what am I doing? And then, if you really love it. Just keep going and eventually, you know, you don’t have to be, you know, the Van Gogh of the situation that he never sold the painting in his life, but it is, you know, that’s why I’m telling you. It’s the best profession in the world, but it’s also one of the toughest to, you know, to find your spot.
16:36 | Emma Plutnicki
That’s definitely great advice. And has there been a particular project in your creative journey so far that has really, like, showcased your creativity, or has just made a significant impact on your life? Can you think of anything specific?
16:54 | Paolo Gualdi
It’s very specific. Okay, so in general, since I’m a performer, basically my main thing is as a performer. It’s now, I don’t know how much you know about music careers. You have very many. How can I say identities as a musician? So, you can be more academically prone or pedagogically prone and so on, right?
17:16 | Paolo Gualdi
Specifically, for me, I’m very interested in, I mean, I did write a dissertation for my doctoral, you know, studies, which I wouldn’t, would not recommend to anybody, unless you want to fall asleep at night. But, no, but, but as in projects, I can tell you, as a performer, I am a, not an advocate, but I’m really close to the music of Franz Liszt, who was a romantic composer. So, I brought a lot of my future concert music. Sometimes I gave lectures about his music. And he is a very well-known composer now that I’m bringing unknown musical figures to the audience. But there is an under, how can I say, underappreciated as a composer for certain aspects. So, I would say that one of my best, again, contribution would be for the music of Franz Liszt.
18:10 | Paolo Gualdi
And also recently, I have just recorded, for example, the music you might be interested in this. It is, it is a trend of the last few years to really rediscover some music that was neglected because of issues of race, of gender and so on. I do have a trio that we’re actively playing and performing, and we recorded just this. We released this, released two trios by Clara Schumann, which was the wife of a very famous classical composer, Robert and then Fanny Mendelssohn, which was the sister of the most famous Felix Mendelssohn. So, we are basically those two gigantic figures of music which were neglected just because they were women, right? In the last few years, has been brought back all of this beautiful music. Finally, I would say because they were unfair, you know, because of society, the stigma and all that. So those two things, maybe, you know, are among the many things that I’ve done in life. So again, I’m not a painter. It’s not like, you know that I did a series on whatever, painting landscapes or something, but some composers are, again, especially from Franz Liszt again. And then lately, these two women composers that we recorded, and I think it’s a nice thing. So, yeah,
19:30 | Emma Plutnicki
That’s great. So nowadays, what is your typical workday like? What kind of is expected?
19:37 | Paolo Gualdi
This is one of those things that another reason why I really love my profession, because we don’t have, you know, oh, this nine to five, you know, kind of thing, generally speaking, yes, I am involved for the greatest part of the week at Francis Marion. Then I came back. And usually, I teach on Fridays. Here in Wilmington, and in between, I practice, I practice.
19:59 | Paolo Gualdi
And so, it’s a very movable schedule. Weekends can be either, you know, like we have some I have some periods where I have no weekends free. I’m always practicing, rehearsal or traveling and performing, and then all of a sudden you have, you know, like 20 days free. Okay, great, you know. So, our schedule is completely, you know, changing, ever changing. So, yeah.
20:07 | Paolo Gualdi
I practice when I can, especially as a family man. I have a daughter, wife and speaking of being also, I would say pragmatic. I practice when I can.
20:44 | Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, so how are you able to kind of create, how do you create that work life balance where you’re able to have your personal creativity and then also have your profession?
20:57 | Paolo Gualdi
This is another personal thing, I think that also it depends on the amount of work you want to take on and the ambition I did much more when I was much younger, in terms of so I’m not going to, you know, 100 concerts and then travel all year. I will miss my family. I will neglect my family. So that’s very important to me to be present. And so, it is a very personal and a very fine balance, yes.
21:27 | Paolo Gualdi
I would say that if you’re a young and ongoing, you know, artist or musician or whatever, it will be much more you’re going to be more involved. You have to invest in it, all right? You have to go for it. You can be lazy about it. Then as you grow, I mean, hopefully again, the excitement stays, as I said, I mentioned the 93 years old cellist, but at the same time, you have to find a little bit more balance, like you say, you have to make choices so you become more selective, also, of what you want to be involved, rather than, you know, just take anything.
22:01 | Paolo Gualdi
Yes. Always. You have got to learn how to say no and be more. And you know, at 50, if somebody comes to me and says, like, always going to be very important to your career, I’m saying, okay, thank you. Now, I’ve done that. You know the freebies, like, they call it them so many times when you’re very young, and it’s good to be up there, even if you’re not making any money. And just sorry, I’m very brutally directing my senses. It is like that. So, you have to invest in being visible, networking and all that.
22:34 | Paolo Gualdi
And sometimes, you know, you’re so, yeah, it is. The struggling artist is a real thing, you know. But then once, once you find your balance, I mean, at some point again, especially if you have and especially if you know, financially speaking, if you are reached, has an acceptable position, then you know, you can say, Okay, I cannot do this because blah, blah, blah, my daughter is having a ballet or whatever. And no, I mean, so I think it’s a, it’s very personal, but I chose, I mean, I think that is very important to me to live also a normal life. Otherwise, you’re going to be, you know, this very egocentric person that thinks of my career, my life, and that’s not me.
23:18 | Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, no, that definitely makes sense.
23:23 | Paolo Gualdi
Because I’m not criticizing, I’m just saying everybody has to find their balance.
23:28 | Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, no, for sure. And okay, just as we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to add, or do you have any questions you wish I might have asked that are missing?
23:41 | Paolo Gualdi
I don’t know… now I’m getting—you put me in a spot. A couple of advices that I give to my students, so maybe something that you can translate into something interesting to your audience, that to be, especially if they’re students, to be relating, networking. Be kind to each other. I always say, like, you might, you might be each other’s boss in 10 years, for example, in terms of music, you know, I give an example, like, Okay, you’re a guitarist, and he wants to be, I mean, I don’t know an engineer, sound engineer, or something like that. So, he might have a studio in 10 years, a recording studio he wants to hire you, but if you, you know, be misbehaved or treat him like you know, horribly. So anyway, so make sure that you network with your nice people.
24:34 | Paolo Gualdi
I have, I personally, even nowadays, a lot of my commitments come from networking, from networking that I did when I did my master’s degree or my doctorate degree, the trio that I just mentioned a few minutes ago, that we recorded, those women composers, two people that I met and started collaborating with during my doctoral studies. So, for example, this is the school. It is an incredibly useful environment for networking, which is essential in creative hours. And the other thing, again, one day, once, once. You know, that’s why I was mentioning very quickly about the music festival.
25:16 | Paolo Gualdi
They’re organized. It’s not my money. I am very grateful to the institution and donors and everything, but make sure they also, you know, give back in a way, you know. So I am actually now hiring musicians, and I’m happy to do it because, again, we have to help each other as a community and so being able to involve others in your project, I don’t know how it will translate in other fields, or branches of the arts. It’s, it’s always very, very it’s a cool feeling that you now are in a position, you know, I’m a little older, and I’m in the position to actually organize music, to make concert happen, not only to play concerts, but also to offer the community in Florence, again, I offer this series of concert I’m very proud of because it’s a beautiful thing. It’s a good thing to bring beauty to this world, like leave it a little bit better than you found it, hopefully. So that’s one of those things that we, you know, creative people, should keep in mind. And again, it translates in very different ways in all of the disciplines. So, yeah, great, I don’t know. I don’t know what else.
