Be inspired by the personal journeys of others doing their best to find work-life balance working demanding creative careers.
This conversation dares you (and me!) to test your beliefs about who you are and what you do beyond your job. Erica challenges me on my own beliefs about what the success path for creative professionals really looks like and questions whether it can truly be distilled into simple action steps.
Eddie Hamilton, ACE (Top Gun: Maverick, the last 3 Mission: Impossible films, Kick-Ass 1 & 2, and X-Men: First Class) and I candidly discuss his experience editing Top Gun: Maverick and what drove him to asking for help before it was too late.
Eddie Hamilton, ACE (Top Gun: Maverick, the last 3 Mission: Impossible films, Kick-Ass 1 & 2, and X-Men: First Class) and I talk about his early career choices and how he was able to become one of the top feature editors in the world…without ever going to film school.
As creative professionals, the pressure to come up with new ideas and be daring is stressful at best, and debilitating at worst. This pressure leads to limiting beliefs, imposter syndrome, and procrastination. And if it persists over long periods of time…even total burnout. What if there was a better approach to reinventing yourself, your work, and even your health & body image so you could fully tap into your limitless creativity?
When Optimizer students Nick Towle and Fabian Corrado originally came to me, neither one of them knew each other. But they both knew they were tired of the jobs they had, they felt stuck after trying for years to make a seemingly impossible career change, and they were ready to do anything to get on the right path.
In this community Q&A, I and my coaching students discuss how to ensure that a potential opportunity can meet both our creative and lifestyle needs so the job doesn’t become “just another paycheck” at the expense of our health, our relationships, and our sanity.
Learn from motivational speaker, author, and American Ninja Warrior how to become “Fail Proof” and embrace all of your imperfections and failures to ultimately achieve your own definition of success.
Two members of the costume department discuss the realities of working in Hollywood production, how they’ve been exploited, and most importantly what steps we can take to affect positive change in the entertainment industry.
In this community Q&A I have a candid conversation with my coaching students about how we can set proper boundaries and avoid exploitation…because whether we like it or not, a contract isn’t going to save us.
Chinna Balachandran was all but declared dead after a massive subdural hematoma (a brain bleed). Learn the mindsets he used to not only recover from severe trauma but also overcome nearly impossible obstacles to become an American Ninja Warrior.
Despite her unstable and chaotic family life growing up in foster homes and living on welfare, Sandy Zimmerman chose to pave a different path for herself, ultimately becoming the first mom to hit a buzzer on American Ninja Warrior. Here’s how (and why) she did it.
Learn what it really takes to get the attention of the biggest writers & producers in Hollywood so you can work on projects you love while also being treated with respect.
I and the Optimizer coaching & mentorship community discuss the upcoming strike vote and what we can do to support better working conditions in our industry for years (and decades) to come.
Learn from award-winning producer/writer/director Mark Gantt how to overcome a troubled past, limiting beliefs, and imposter syndrome to make sh*t happen (without waiting for someone else’s permission).
Learn how Chris Patterson, an incredibly successful 1st AE on top-tier features, overcame his networking struggles to land a gig on a feature as the lead editor.
