Camera Ready & Abel

This episode is brought to you by the phrase, I have skills, now what do I do with them?

Follow up question number one is: Who needs what I've got? 

Here to discuss is the multi-talented Jolene Latimer, whose superpower is her ability to get to the heart of a story. Jolene asked herself: How do I leverage my skills? How do I get better? How do I become the person I know I can be? and shares the strategies and steps she took to pursue her dream and break into major media.

Key takeaways

• Identify your strengths

Jolene is a writer, producer and sports journalist with a Masters in Journalism from USC. Jolene has covered major events like the Winter Olympics, World Series, and the NBA Awards and her byline has appeared in the Associated Press, CBC, USA Today, PEOPLE, and TeenVogue.  

Everyone from Socrates to Euripedes to Virgil Abloh has commanded us to Question Everything. My guest for this episode, television host and professional interviewer Danielle Robay, figured out early on that questions are a superpower - and all of us can develop and tap into it. 

At a critical time in Danielle's career, when she was rebounding from the dream job that turned out to be a soul crushing mistake, she turned her superpower inward, asking herself five thoughtful questions per day, and emerged more confident and more clear and committed to her path.

Danielle shares...

• what she learned from her worst interview ever 

and her favorite quote from Shirley Chisholm: Service is the rent you pay for a room on this earth.

Watch and listen to Danielle's video podcast PRETTYSMART, her love letter to bold, inquisitive women who have something to say.

Stay in touch with Danielle on Instagram at @daniellerobay and check out her other offerings:

QUESTION EVERYTHING CARD GAME link for purchase: https://prettysmartshop.com/collections/shop/products/question-everything-card-deck-1

PRETTYSMART podcast link: https://pod.link/prettysmart

I am thrilled to be joined by Laura Geller on this episode Camera Ready & Abel discussing the wise words of her father: Nothing Appears As It Seems.

Translation: There's always more to the story than meets the eye. Don't compare and despair.

Laura is the legendary founder of Laura Geller Beauty. Laura began her career as a makeup artist, often working on TV and with Broadway actors before launching her hugely successful makeup line on QVC in 1997.

Key takeaways:

• Do your homework!

Laura is a member of Forbes 50 over 50 and QVC's 50 and Fabulous - a testament to her great success - but as she’ll remind you, her success did not come overnight. Laura's resilience and ability to weather the storms along the way have helped give her profound appreciation for her success. 

Laura delivers a masterclass in playing the long game, and most importantly, YOUR long game. 

Visit www.laurageller.com for more information about Laura’s products and follow her on Instagram at @lauragellerbeauty and @aurajgeller.

Full disclosure: I wear Laura's products every day <3

Feeling a little stuck? Need to change your energy? My guest for this episode, actor-writer-sought after public speaker-instagram slayer, Franchesca Ramsey, delivers a Master Class in how to reenergize, refocus, get back in alignment to bring back the joy and make your goals happen. 

In short, how to be CEO of your own life.

Franchesca is a highly successful creator. But she didn't start there and she generously shares the steps she took to evolve from her career as a graphic designer working for the City of Miami to making YouTube videos to creating and starring in the award-winning MTV series, DeCoded, to being a writer-correspondent for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore to the triple threat, full-on CEO of her own life she is today. 

Key takeaways:

• Don't wait for permission - take initiative!

Enjoy Franchesca on instagram and Visit www.franchesca.net to get more of Franchesca’s gems. While you're there check out her NAACP-nominated book, Well That Escalated Quickly, one of Amazon’s best books of 2018. 

Good news! All of the Camera Ready & Abel episodes + grab-n-go clips of inspiration and actionable insights are now available on YouTube. 

This episode of Camera Ready & Abel is brought to you by the phrase How to Find Your Drive because there is great power in finding what ignites you as you develop a life and career you can sustain with joy and excitement.

Here to discuss is Raquel Bruno, founder, president, and CEO of Drive Entertainment Group whose tagline Thrive With Drive gives you a glimpse into her intentional and proactive approach to helping others take their career to new heights. Raquel is a TV, film, and digital producer,  talent booking savant, media and creator coach, and a popular DJ on Twitch who has worked with all A-list talent in media & arts from Lady Gaga to RUN DMC, launched TV Land, Co-Produced Emmy-nominated TV Specials & content and booked various film documentaries.

Raquel’s conversation goes beyond how to find your drive, she also opens up about what to do when you’ve misplaced it. 

You can learn more about Raquel’s work at driveentertainmentgroup.com and follow her on Instagram at @raquellovesdrive.

In my years as a casting director and talent development executive, I've observed that the secret to many of the most successful hosts and performers is that they understand how television production works and how their part of the show (or segment) fits into something larger than themselves.

I saw this first hand when I booked my guest for this episode, Brian Balthazar, on Page Six TV back in the day, and he was always so great because he knew how to make good TV. 

It's a treat to have him discuss and share actionable insights on how to think like a producer because Brian has built an impressive career simultaneously in front and behind the camera as a television host, producer and network executive.

Brian is the executive producer and founder of Balthazar Entertainment, specializing in compelling lifestyle programming including Christina on the Coast and Tough Love with Hilary Farr for HGTV and My Dream Kitchen with Carla Hall on Food Network. Brian oversaw the launch of the fourth of Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda where he later became a beloved guest dishing pop culture and trends, was a co-executive producer of The View and was a vice president at Discovery Networks (now Warner Brothers Discovery) where he oversaw mega hits like Flip or Flop and my favorite, Love It or List It. 

Key takeaways

• Production is not personal (even though it often feels that way)

Follow Brian on Instagram at @brianbalthazar…trust me, he’s a fun poster!

It's a truism in coaching that we learn something from everyone we meet. I learned a ton from my conversation with award-winning producer, manager, and Hollywood Navigator, Brian Medavoy and I learn something new every time I listen to this episode: Life is about moments.

Because it's the little wins, the moments, that add up to something bigger. There's no Olympics, World Cup, World Series, Super Bowl or Oscars without the moments that add up to get there. 

Key Takeaways:

• Moments gets you out of your head and into the present

As a personal manager, Brian Medavoy has had a hand in the careers of Ryan Reynolds, Toby McGuire, Josh Brolin, David Schwimmer, Jason Bateman and Maria Bello, among others + developed and produced TV classics like Dharma and Greg, The Single Guy, and Just Shoot Me. Brian is also the writer of an insightful and generous blog, Welcome to Hollywood.

Resources mentioned by Brian in this episode:

The Five Minute Journal

Building a Second Brain - Tiago Forte

Late night legend Dick Cavette interviews jazz legend Oscar Peterson 

Brian Medavoy's Business Plan for Actors

This is another one of my "asking for a friend" episodes. I thought you'd be as interested in me in learning how performance golf coach, Eric Cogorno, built a 7-figure business with his popular YouTube channel and online training platform, cogornogolf.com.

I got that and so much more: A masterclass in working through fear, setting goals, writing a detailed 10-year plan that includes income projections, the power of meditation and daily visualizations and showing up consistently even when you feel like quitting. 

Eric credits having a great creative partner, Mary Lengle, reading Feel the Fear...and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers and following Jim Rohn's Goal Setting Method.

The result is deeply inspiring and totally actionable. 

Also visit Eric's second channel Lessons I've Learned with Eric Cogorno including this keeper: The Secret to Stopping Fear & Anxiety.

This episode with life, business and career coach, Brian Patacca, has been one of my go-to's ever since he shared this nugget with me: Marketing is going public with your gifts and being seen for your gifts. If you build it and you tell people about it, they will come.

Grab your journal. Brian and I begin with marketing and end with dignity and respect. 

Along the way, Brian reframes the entire concept of marketing around generosity and purpose:

• Be determined each day, not to leave your function unfulfilled.

Brian is a spiritual practitioner who engages creative professionals seeking to ignite their businesses with fierce accountability, marketing innovation and soul satisfying success. He is the founder of a coaching organization and creative community with locations in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Now based in Los Angeles, Brian coaches nationwide in several web-based group courses including his latest programs, Agent Goals and Actor Operating System. 

Get more Brian by tuning into his podcast at www.BrianBreaksCharacter.com and download his free guide to 23 stories of people growing their networks in unusual ways that you can put into practice, at  supersneakyauditons.com.

I used to think sales was a dirty word, especially when it came to selling myself and my services. I know I'm not alone in this, which is why I am excited about this episode with Aleasha Bahr who shares everything you need to know about sales. 

We're all in sales - whether you're selling yourself to an employer in an audition or job interview or pitching your idea to a network or for financing or trying to get your boss or team to buy into your idea. 

Aleasha is a woman in a male-dominated industry who is calling out the common lies in sales - primarily, that sales is a one-size-fits-all proposition and that you have to do things that feel “weird” or "yucky" and out of alignment to close the deal.

Aleasha says embrace the Black Sheep Sales Method instead:

• Find your tribe and thrive (because if it's a fit, it's a fact)

Try this action step: I am going to innovate my approach to pitching myself by innovating my approach to ______ (fill in the blank). Aleasha explains how around 25 minutes into the episode.

Learn How to Sell Like a Natural via Aleasha's Sales is NOT a Dirty Word podcast + so much more on Aleasha's website including how you can work with her.

Listen to Aleasha and me discuss How to Stand Out in a Saturated World.