Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Ashley Lauren Elrod.
Topic: Entrepreneurship, diversity in entertainment, safety in production, and personal resilience.
🎯 Purpose of the Interview
To spotlight Ashley Elrod’s journey as a creative entrepreneur and advocate for diversity, safety, and inclusion in the entertainment industry. The conversation also aims to inspire listeners to pursue their own paths with integrity and adaptability.
🔑 Key Takeaways 1. Visionary Leadership
Ashley defines being a visionary as leading with purpose and merging creativity with healing and impact.
“Being able to merge things together that make sense, to be able to actually help to heal the world.”
2. Entrepreneurial Drive
Ashley founded A Visionary Woman Productions in college, driven by a lack of business education in creative programs. Her journey reflects resilience and self-taught growth.
“It kind of happened overnight… people asking me like, all right, what do you charge for XYZ?”
3. Challenges for Black Entrepreneurs
She discusses the reality of racial bias and the need for constant self-promotion and excellence.
“People can define my work, define my ability to fund a project or complete a project.”
4. Adaptability in Business
Ashley’s career evolved from consultations to casting, directing, and production design. She emphasizes the importance of pivoting with industry changes.
“I’ve always had to pivot in every single season of my business.”
5. Safety & Advocacy
Ashley is passionate about protecting young talent and ensuring safe, inclusive sets. She stresses contract literacy and parental involvement.
“Make sure you are knowledgeable of these contracts and what you are signing and going into.”
6. DEI in Casting & Content
She critiques tokenism and colorism in media and advocates for authentic representation, even at the cost of losing clients.
“People are looking for actual authenticity in these films… I never heard from them again.”
7. Age & Opportunity
Ashley shares her father’s late-in-life success in modeling and acting, encouraging older adults to pursue creative careers.
“My dad is now 74… had the best six years anyone could have had at that age.”
8. Secrets to Success
Her advice centers on adaptability, financial literacy, and creating independent opportunities.
“Always being available and adaptable to the pivots of life… learn how to be smart with your finances.”
💬 Notable Quotes
- “If you lose the job, so be it. Morals and values are a thing in this industry.”
- “We should be in a position where [diverse casting] is acceptable beyond just Denzel Washington.”
- “Never let age be an excuse.”
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host of weekly Money
Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this
show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading
other people's success stories and start living your own. If
you want to be a guest on my show, please
visit our website, Moneymaking Conversations dot com and click the
be a Guest button. Chriss submit and information will come
(00:23):
directly to me. Now let's get this show started. My
guest is a true champion of diversity, safety, and inclusivity
in all aspects of entertainment, media, marketing, and advocacy. At
Visionary Woman Productions, they're of the expert in bringing visions
to life through powerful storytelling that connects you with your audience.
And philamp of three that heals the world. Please welcome
(00:45):
to Money Making Conversation Masterclass. Ashley Lauren L. Rod. How
are you doing, my friend?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Good? Good? Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
So where are you based at?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I am in New York City.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Oh that's awesome. Now one of my favorite sisions New York.
Now I brought you on the show, and I hear
the word visionaire now that words like all words have
been because of social media gets bandied about a lot,
you know, brands and the faith and passion. What does
visionary mean when I use that in your introduction, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's definitely. Visionary means honestly leading at the forefront, doing
things that we believe that are not being done to
the fullest capacity that they can be done, and being
able to merge things together that makes sense to be
able to actually help to heal the world.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So I'm going to use this term. You are an entrepreneur,
correct I am. Yes. So they're saying that's the black
women or African American women are the fastest growing entrepreneurship
in the last ten years. Why is that?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Honestly, drive resilience, being able to command whatever we can
in our lives, to be able to propel forward through anything,
I think is the most definite reason that black women
are one of the leading, actually the leading business entrepreneurs
(02:16):
right now in the country.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah. You know, I am African American male, and I
wish I could say I could walk in the door
and somebody didn't see my skin color. Yeah, but I
know that is not something that I'm using as a
as an excuse, right, But one has to realize that's
part of reality because people can define my work, define
(02:39):
my ability to fund the project or complete the project.
So I constantly have to promote myself. I constantly have
to deliver information, stay in front of people. What are
some of the pitfalls or maybe not pitfalls that you've
experienced in developing your company of Visionary Warm Productions.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yes, well, I started a Visionary when I was in college.
Actually it was fit over fifteen years ago, and it
actually was just a collaboration of sorts at first, with
some really really great friends, all fantastic diverse women who
really accomplished so much in their own right and went
on to become celebrity photographers and makeup artists and amazing
(03:21):
people and think people that I still keep in touch
with to this day. And I feel like, you know,
in the beginning, it happened so quickly for my business.
It kind of happened overnight actually, to the point it
was like, oh, I think I have a business. You know,
people were asking me, like A R, what do you
charge for X Y Z. You know, we were doing
consultations and we were doing honestly bringing wisdom back to
(03:44):
our college. That's how it started. There. I went to
Columbia College, Chicago, and we were not being taught the
business side of preparing for graduation. We were taught about
acting and you know, getting your portfolio together if you
were doing technical and things of that nature, but we
weren't taught Okay, how do you utilize this after you graduate?
(04:05):
You know what, how do you get an agent? How
do you land yourself onto productions? And I was already
working on productions for a long time before college, So
I wanted to take all of that and help people
and give them what they needed to succeed. So I
feel starting off so early and honestly not knowing what
I was doing because a lot of interesting twists and
(04:30):
turns on my journey of business and entrepreneurship. I come
from a family of educators, not business owners, with the
exception of my grandfathers, who were both business owners and entrepreneurs.
But I came from educators who were amazing, but you know,
didn't know about angel investments and you know, planning out
(04:51):
business from those different aspects that I just I just
wasn't taught and given the access to. So everything has
been learning and processing, especially even now fifteen years later,
with the scope of business changing so much just keeping.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Them say right there, when you said the scope of
business changing, what has been the scope that you see?
You know, because we all know that social media is
like blowing everything up. The Internet is blown everything, even
the cell phone has blown everything up. You on the
I always heard the story that you know, as an entrepreneur,
you work eighty hours a week, but you don't want
to do a for they all week job. Yeah, you know,
(05:28):
so you're willing to work out sales to death, but
I don't want to do a fordy our week job.
So that means there's a dream and passion that drives entrepreneurship.
But there have been changes. Now will you resistant to
the changes and tell us what those changes were?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Honestly, I feel like I've always had to pivot in
every single season of my business. It started off as consultations,
and then it transferred into people asking me to do
production design on set, and then directing things and writing scripts,
and then you know, one season I was managing talent,
and then I've really like fully propelled into casting, which
(06:06):
then took my business off actually to the next level
for the past decade. So I feel like I'm used
to the scope changing or having to pivot a little
bit to a rise to the occasion for each season
of business. And how I've done that is honestly lots
of networking and putting myself out there, like you said earlier,
(06:30):
being able to prove myself to people in a way
where they referred me. My business was a referral business,
and I was able to, you know, stay afloat because
of those referrals and be able to bounce from one
project to the next and bring in those clients because
of that. So that's definitely a big part of it.
And just building that foundation. I think building that foundation
(06:53):
of my brand has been really important from a community aspect.
People know Visionary Woman Productions to be a community. It's
not just a business, but it's really what artists and
other crew members of the industry and social impact leaders
can come to for encouragement. They know that they can
come to me for good advice that's actually sustainable and
(07:16):
be supported on their journey.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
What advice would you give to young people, Because this
is a young person in the industry, I want to
ask that question, and then I'm I ask you a
person who's in their late forties, which are two separate
questions to be responded to. Let's talk about a young
person who wants to get into entertainment industry. Your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I would say, between kids and young adults, it's very
important to make sure that you are learning the business
early on, and also parents, you know, making sure that
parents are keeping their kids safe. That's a big thing
that I coach on often when I do workshops and
different one on one sessions with people, I say, make
(07:55):
sure you know where your kids are. You know, you
are reading these contracts. You're teaching them how to read contracts.
If you don't know how to read a contract, you
are getting a suitable lawyer or counsel that can be
able to break things down for you of what you
should be looking out for at all times, and if
you're not able to pay for one, to make sure
(08:16):
you at least know the verbiage so you're able to say, hey,
this doesn't look quite quite why right? Or I would
like to negotiate these terms, or you know, I want
to take this down from a two year to a
one year contract to see how it goes. Being able
to make sure that you are knowledgeable of these contracts
(08:37):
and what you are signing and going into is number
one important. And making sure that you are you're safe.
You know, not everyone is safe in this industry unfortunately,
and I have had my share of a lot of
experiences on set as a young actor coming up back
in the day that you know, I want to protect
(08:58):
as many people up from having you know, making sure
that you just you know, stay your course and also
you don't feel afraid to speak up when something does
happen or someone is making you uncomfortable, making sure that
you just always know that you have the right to
speak up no matter what if you lose the job.
(09:19):
So what you know, I morals and values and standards
are a thing in this industry, even though so many
people will still to this day try to teach you otherwise.
That is something that I teach. It's like, if you
if you have morals and standards, if you have a
role that a certain role that you know is a
no go for you that you would never want to do,
(09:41):
tell your agent that you can't do it, and if
they have a problem with that, then that's not the
agent for you. Making sure that you are comfortable even
as an actor who is supposed to be versatile and
you know, be a chameleon of sorts, making sure that
you understand that can happen still, but underneath your value
and your morals and what you want for your career.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Which is really great because I've been fortunate to be
on you know, did a lot of sitcoms, So I
saw ten Tomarow Mari's mom, yeah said, and a lot
of you know, then me and the boys with Steve,
they were young boys who want to say and their
parents were there. You know, you can't be an absolute
mom in entertainment. Let's gonna be wall with that. You
just can't let somebody, a stranger take your child to
(10:23):
a job where they might keep your child eight to
twelve hours a day, eat school breaks. But guess what,
you want to be there with your child in the
entertainment industry. If you want to take your child and
put them in an entertainment game, know that it's responsibility
to you as a parent to stay with your child.
Be with your child. This is not a part time job.
(10:43):
This is not something you want to do. Women in
general have been in the forefront of how their business
can demean women, control women, put them in a position
where they compromise, you know, started with Harvey, Bill Carsby
and now Peep Daddy. I've been in this business since
ninety two. I've seen not that side of the business,
(11:07):
but I know there is power in a business that
can cause people, or women in particular, to be uncomfortable,
but they still move forward. How do you, being a woman,
a woman of color, how do you deal with those
circumstances and also with the reaching revelations that come out
that force you to even rethink some of the process
(11:27):
that you have in place.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Right, Yeah, that's definitely a loaded question. I am a survivor,
but from multiple other things growing up in my family,
issues and things of that nature, which I believe plays
into the overall issue that I think has been ingrained
in our country for a very very long time since
(11:49):
the beginning of time, especially within the entertainment industry. I
always tell people when these things arise with P. Diddy
for instance, or Harvey or ur whoever, that these are
things that have been happening for a very long time
from the very inception of the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, you know,
(12:09):
women were expected to you know, put out to be
quite frank, you know, I always tell people. Look at
Marilyn Monroe, look at Earth the Kid, look at Dorothy Dandridge,
look at all of these people that had very intense
stories regards in regards to abuse and having to you know,
(12:31):
go through their lives, which you know, a lot of
them unfortunately had very tragic ends due to not being
able to cope with all of that after a while,
which who can you know, And it's been a cycle
that's been perpetrated, you know, for decades and decades and decades,
and there hasn't been accountability. There hasn't been people that
(12:52):
felt then that felt that they could speak up fully
regarding their stories regarding their pain up until honestly the
past few year years where you hear child stars finally saying, hey,
this happened to me and I'm tired of being silent
about it, and you know, being able to process through
their trauma for however long they have been able to
(13:12):
to be able to have the courage, because it takes
a lot of courage to share your story after going
through things like that, to be able to speak out
and to say, hey, enough, we need to put this
out into the light and something needs to change. And
Visionary Woman productions. That is something I'm very passionate about.
I am, like I said, as a survivor, I'm very
(13:34):
passionate and it refuses me every day to be able
to help set protections in place for kids, for teens,
for everyone on set, to be able to feel safe
and comfortable and included on our sets. I take things
very seriously from hiring. I'm very particular of the people
that I'm hiring to make sure everyone is safe. I
(13:57):
am very very particular are regarding that. So that's something
that I have put into place where I heavily vat people.
I make sure that even like their backgrounds, are you know,
good to be on our.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Sets because you know some actually I'm talking to actually
Lauren L. Rod, a visionary woman production. You know the
volatility of you know, of the last going on five years.
It started with the death of the tragic death of
George Floyd. The diversity echo and inclusion exploded. Everybody said, hey,
white people, go, hey, we got to see things from
(14:32):
a different perspective. We have wrong black people or people
of color, let's give them equal footing. And then all
of a sudden, bout twenty one twenty two, the word
woke popped up and all of a sudden, you know
why we banning books popped up and all of a sudden,
you know, different waves of discontent, and it felt like
(14:56):
we were suddenly under attack for just saying we want
to equal footing right in your business and your company,
your production company. Tell us the work work process that
weighed across you, the diversity equit inclusion process that waged
across your company, and how did you deal with it
and still dealing with it by.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
The way, right, I mean, We've always been that, and
I've always been very vocal about how we need more
diversity and inclusion and equity within the production space because
we have a very long way to go. I have
been in those casting you know, CSA meetings, I've been,
I've talked to you know, the DGA and PGA, and
(15:40):
I've always been very vocal about this before it really
honestly became a thing.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
You were talking before everybody else.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Right, Honestly, I really was like, I.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Want to hear the truth now because a lot of
people back like this thing just jumped off last week, right,
I've been screaming, especially the entertainment business. I would tell
people about this in the entertainment business. It has the
most racially imbalanced format age discrimination, okay, and a gender discrimination.
(16:08):
That's entertainment. And people have allowed this to happen. They
could ask for just odd asked. The things they can
do is for a black person who don't like white
people and that's your casting description, right, and then people go, okay, fine,
let's go find that person.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
money Making Conversations master Class. Welcome back to Money Making
Conversation master Class with me Rashaun McDonald.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Huge threads conversation that blew up actually via Instagram that
I posted because I said, hey, I work in production
and one gal was saying, why is there only I
feel like on every commercial only multi racial families. There's
no just black families or just Asian or Native America.
Like there's all either white or it's like they have
(17:01):
to have you know, maybe one the blacks start.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
When did that start? It's not a commercial that runs
nowadays that is black black or white white? Yeah, somebody's mixed.
Who made that decision that that's the way we're going
to promote commercials now?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
All right? I honestly I feel like I've been casting
a bunch of commercials and I feel like it started happening, yeah,
like over probably ten years ago. But also it's always
in a format, always been a thing, you know, when
it comes to even movies and television, you know, there's
always I mean, colorism is a thing, and you know,
you don't see too many like dark skinned you know,
(17:40):
black men and women being able to be in those
leads as much as we would like it outside of
you know, specifically just black television, you know, and black
films like black centric projects, and you know, you don't
see like them bleeding in Omission Impossible film or you know,
just even you know, psychological thrillers and horrors and stuff like.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
That about.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Look, look just take my name out of the.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Hand right exactly, And that's crazy. We should be in
a position where that is acceptable beyond honestly, just Denzel Washington,
who is you know, a dark skinned black man who
was able to break through the mold and be that
person that can do thrillers, can do sometimes horrors when
he did when he started back in the day, and
(18:32):
you know, dramas and pretty much anything. He's one of
the few been able to break the mold all of
these years. But that's very far and few between when
you compare that to our white counterparts. And I have
been in these meetings where people have accepted and you know,
taken a look at my suggestions of different people different
(18:55):
casting choices, because they have brought me specs and said, oh,
we want X or we're interested in these celebrities and
they've all been white for pretty much and me being like, hey,
you know, there this is a horror like and this
actually happened there was it was a horror film, a
psychological horror, and you know, everyone was predominantly white at first.
(19:18):
And I just said, hey, you know it's this was
in twenty twenty three, and I was like, this, it's
twenty twenty three. You know, people are looking for diversity.
You know, people of my of my community love these
movies as well, and we can have other ethnicities in
these types of.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Right rights.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, but it's like, you know, but it's like you know,
we there are there is a huge following with these
genres from our community. I know because I'm a part
of a lot of the groups. And it's like they
love thrillers, they love mysteries, they love horrors, and it's
like they want to be included too, So I put
I presented that to them, and they actually did take
(20:01):
my advice and they ended up making it a pretty
diverse film, which was incredible. They really did follow a
lot of what I said, and they were very sensitive
to certain things that needed to be changed in the script,
which was great. But that doesn't happen all the time,
you know. I've definitely lost clients before who One person
(20:21):
was trying to do a Joseph movie on the story
of Joseph from his perspective with having Jesus and in
that whole situation and story. Cool script, interesting perspective to
go from, which I was excited about. But they were
looking for white people to be the lead characters.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And I said, hey, yeah, I said Jesus.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
None of them were like why I had to just
say that straight up. I was like, this is a
very sensitive time. People are looking for actual authenticity in
these films. There are so many great, wonderful Middle Eastern
actors that I can give you a list of right
now who would be phenomenal in these roles and adequate
and accurate for them. And I never heard from them again.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Well, you know the thing about it. That's why I
wanted to bring you on my show, because you know,
I talk about industry. I've never talked into the entertainment side,
something that has been a major part of my life.
You know, a sitcom, right. I know the power of writing.
I know the power of casting because I've been fortunate
to I've cast you know, Gabrielle Union. I have cast many,
many people from from Lola Anthony, from Kim Woodley to
(21:35):
Sherry Shepherd to to Chris Spencer, all these people just
the name of few. So I know the power what
you can do. And when you when you're writing for
stars like Monique and Robert Towns and then Jamie Fox
and Tia and Tomorrow Mari and a Senior Hall and
Steve Harvey, then you realize that you can position people
(21:56):
to look look at things a certain way and a
certain way about a particular character, and then that walks
away with expectation what they think these people are on
the streets. And so when I look at what you're doing,
which is even more incredible because of the fact that
it's imagery, it's imagering what people expect in their philosophy,
(22:19):
what they want, and then you've been strong enough to
have before say can I just say something? Now? I know,
raising that finger? Can I say something finger? How much
courage does it take? Ashley the raise that can I
say something? Finger?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yes? I mean it definitely takes a lot of courage.
Like I said, I've been in those meetings where you know,
you know, if you do say this out loud, it's
a potential that you'll lose that client. And like I said,
I have lost clients before by speaking up and raising
that finger. But I don't regret it because it's something
that has to be done. I am a person that's
(22:57):
always been a person of just and truth and that's
something that I want to see ingrain more in our
world and every community and every space and every business.
And I know that we have such a far away
to go, and I want to be, you know, a
part of leading the charge when it comes to propelling
(23:20):
it along a little bit faster in any way that
I can.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Now, I get a lot of questions from people, you know,
the running RuSHA I want to get into business you
know in their late thirties, forties, really in the late forties. Yes,
if they're an opportunity for people in their late thirties
or forties to get into entertainment business and be successful.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, yes, and absolutely one hundred percent is possible. I
will give you my father as an example. Oh okay, yes,
he was. He retired. Like I said, he was an educator.
He worked his way from a teacher to a superintendent.
Over thirty he had done like one play and one
(24:02):
like modeling gig, random modeling gig. It actually was. It
was for Texas Instruments calculators way back in the day
when he was a teacher. Yeah. Yeah, he got a
modeling gig and it was like when he was a teacher.
They chose them for the Texas Instruments to be on
(24:25):
a magazine, for the actual Texas Texas Instruments magazine when
they had it back in the day. Uh, to go
out to all the schools and they had a billboard
and stuff. So that's the only thing he had ever done.
And throughout the years, like when I was, he would
drop me off of my agency to do a tape
or something or do a go see and he would
stick around. My agent always did say she was like
(24:47):
your dad. I always think he's one of the models
because he's just so good looking, like he's just he
should really because but these compliments, I mean, it was crazy.
Everybody always was like, your dad really should be on TV,
and you know it was not. It was far for
(25:08):
his life doing it.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah, well so he actually just retired. But the past
six years he was very successful. And my dad is
now seventy four and he got started over six years
ago before I moved to New York. And he, you know,
he was bored. He was getting a little depressed because
he wasn't working anymore. And that's something that you know,
I don't think it's talked about enough when people end
(25:31):
up having to retire, that they do get depressed. They
go through a withdrawal of not feeling needed in the
big way that they were with their purpose. And my
dad was a very inspiring educator at the school district
and really really led it to be honest in many ways.
And these kids, even adults to this day, he'll run
(25:52):
into them on the street and they'll be like, mister
l Rod, Oh my god, like you changed my life,
you know when I was a teenager, and you you know,
you whipped me into shape, you know, because he was
really good with the inner city kids who were coming
to the suburbs because my dad grew up in the ghetto.
So you know, he grew up in Kabrini Green in Chicago,
and he had that vibe, right, yeah, like he grew
(26:13):
up in the real hood, like he went at television hood. Yes,
like like actually and you know, migrated from the you know,
the depths of Mississippi to Chicago and you know, his
story is wild, but you know, he had that vibe
with the kids, so he was very inspirational. And not
having that need fulfilled anymore for him, you know, really
(26:33):
kind of put him down in the dumps a little bit.
So I just was like, you know what, I was like, Dad,
everyone keeps saying that you would be good on TV,
and like you should model and everything. Why don't Why
don't we just try it, Like I'll take some headshots
for you. I'll submit them to a few agencies and
we'll just see how it goes. And at first he
was very, very hesitant, and he was like, no, I
(26:55):
don't want to do that, that's your thing. No, And
then finally I broke up and I took his hat
shots and then there happened to be a modeling go
see for one of the big agencies that I knew
for many years. And I was like, you should go,
just go and see what she says and see what happens.
Instantly she signed him, like right away on the spot.
(27:17):
And I mean, when I tell you, this man took
was booking more than I was, because I'm still acting myself,
and I swear I was like, what is happening? He
was booking like multiple gigs a week, like before he
graduated or graduated before he retired. He you know, got
(27:39):
sag after eligible. He did different multiple national commercials and
had billboards. I mean, a wild six years, the best
six years anyone could have had at that age sixty plus, right, and.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
There's a dream for years. Yes, like the Black Panther,
you know in Atlanta. You know they cast her in
that role. So you know, because I always tell people that,
you know, never stop, never let age be an excuse. Yeah,
you know, because a lot of people get fifty sixty,
well you know, I'm just gonna pack it in and
pack it in. Does leave. The depression, does leave to
a different level of stress because we're in a mental
(28:20):
a world that just keeps evolving and information is being
pushed down our throat even if we don't want it
on a daily basis through your cell phone. Used to
be talking on your phone. Now your cell phone could
be a distraction because with notifications and things of that nature.
But I really, you know, bringing you on the show
was important to me because I always want to share
(28:41):
stories of entrepreneurship and your side of being an entertainer,
your side of being having a voice, and also giving
some notes of advice for people who think it's such
a cool deal to be an entertainer, a deal of opportunity,
and it is, But bod the pit palls are ugly
and closing. Actually, what would you recommend? What advice would
(29:04):
you give? Your Secrets to success?
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Secrets to success? Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm
hard on myself, so I'm always like there's so much
more to do. But I think the biggest secrets to
success is always being available and adaptable to the pivots
of life. I think, especially as we continue to go
(29:29):
throughout this crazy world that we're in, it's very important
to learn to do that because you never know when
the market is going to change, and you know things
are going to get a little bit harder, and it's
always best to understand how to pivot, but also to
(29:49):
prepare as best as possible for those things, especially in
entrepreneurship and being a creative. Something that I am working
towards helping hopefully more creatives do in the next year
is really learn how to be smart with your finances
and to understand, you know, how to form your LLCs
(30:10):
and how that's a benefit for taxes, and being able
to make sure you're keeping yourself covered and prepared for
those rainy days. I think that's the biggest secret to
success that will never go out of style, is being
prepared and always learning how to ye lean into those
pivots because it's always there's always going to be a pivot.
(30:32):
Things are always going to be changing. Who knows what
the entertainment industry is going to look like in the
next even two years. You know, we've seen the strikes,
We've seen the detrimental effects that the strikes are still
having right now, and you know, hopefully people are saying
things will get a little bit better, but they're still
honestly scraping the ground trying to figure out what happened.
(30:55):
You know, these higher ups at these at these executives
and you know at these at these network work. So
it's always it's important for us to be able to
learn how to create our own things for ourselves that
we can profit off of for the foreseeable future and
not rely on just pitching to these big execs and
trying to work at Netflix or Paramount. But being able
(31:18):
to actually create something for ourselves is very important. And
I think that's a big secret to say that she's
a visionary.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
That's name of visionary woman production that ties itself in Ashley.
I appreciate you coming on the show. Her real name,
Ashley Lauren er Rod.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
This has been Money Making Conversation Masterclass with me Rashaun McDonald.
Thanks to our guess and our audience. Visit Moneymakingconversations dot
com to listen or register it to be a guest
on my show. Keep leading with your gifts, Keep winning,
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host of weekly Money
Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this
show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading
other people's success stories and start living your own. If
you want to be a guest on my show, please
visit our website, Moneymaking Conversations dot com and click the
be a Guest button. Chriss submit and information will come
(00:23):
directly to me. Now let's get this show started. My
guest is a true champion of diversity, safety, and inclusivity
in all aspects of entertainment, media, marketing, and advocacy. At
Visionary Woman Productions, they're of the expert in bringing visions
to life through powerful storytelling that connects you with your audience.
And philamp of three that heals the world. Please welcome
(00:45):
to Money Making Conversation Masterclass. Ashley Lauren L. Rod. How
are you doing, my friend?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Good? Good? Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
So where are you based at?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I am in New York City.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Oh that's awesome. Now one of my favorite sisions New York.
Now I brought you on the show, and I hear
the word visionaire now that words like all words have
been because of social media gets bandied about a lot,
you know, brands and the faith and passion. What does
visionary mean when I use that in your introduction, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's definitely. Visionary means honestly leading at the forefront, doing
things that we believe that are not being done to
the fullest capacity that they can be done, and being
able to merge things together that makes sense to be
able to actually help to heal the world.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So I'm going to use this term. You are an entrepreneur,
correct I am. Yes. So they're saying that's the black
women or African American women are the fastest growing entrepreneurship
in the last ten years. Why is that?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Honestly, drive resilience, being able to command whatever we can
in our lives, to be able to propel forward through anything,
I think is the most definite reason that black women
are one of the leading, actually the leading business entrepreneurs
(02:16):
right now in the country.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah. You know, I am African American male, and I
wish I could say I could walk in the door
and somebody didn't see my skin color. Yeah, but I
know that is not something that I'm using as a
as an excuse, right, But one has to realize that's
part of reality because people can define my work, define
(02:39):
my ability to fund the project or complete the project.
So I constantly have to promote myself. I constantly have
to deliver information, stay in front of people. What are
some of the pitfalls or maybe not pitfalls that you've
experienced in developing your company of Visionary Warm Productions.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yes, well, I started a Visionary when I was in college.
Actually it was fit over fifteen years ago, and it
actually was just a collaboration of sorts at first, with
some really really great friends, all fantastic diverse women who
really accomplished so much in their own right and went
on to become celebrity photographers and makeup artists and amazing
(03:21):
people and think people that I still keep in touch
with to this day. And I feel like, you know,
in the beginning, it happened so quickly for my business.
It kind of happened overnight actually, to the point it
was like, oh, I think I have a business. You know,
people were asking me, like A R, what do you
charge for X Y Z. You know, we were doing
consultations and we were doing honestly bringing wisdom back to
(03:44):
our college. That's how it started. There. I went to
Columbia College, Chicago, and we were not being taught the
business side of preparing for graduation. We were taught about
acting and you know, getting your portfolio together if you
were doing technical and things of that nature, but we
weren't taught Okay, how do you utilize this after you graduate?
(04:05):
You know what, how do you get an agent? How
do you land yourself onto productions? And I was already
working on productions for a long time before college, So
I wanted to take all of that and help people
and give them what they needed to succeed. So I
feel starting off so early and honestly not knowing what
I was doing because a lot of interesting twists and
(04:30):
turns on my journey of business and entrepreneurship. I come
from a family of educators, not business owners, with the
exception of my grandfathers, who were both business owners and entrepreneurs.
But I came from educators who were amazing, but you know,
didn't know about angel investments and you know, planning out
(04:51):
business from those different aspects that I just I just
wasn't taught and given the access to. So everything has
been learning and processing, especially even now fifteen years later,
with the scope of business changing so much just keeping.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Them say right there, when you said the scope of
business changing, what has been the scope that you see?
You know, because we all know that social media is
like blowing everything up. The Internet is blown everything, even
the cell phone has blown everything up. You on the
I always heard the story that you know, as an entrepreneur,
you work eighty hours a week, but you don't want
to do a for they all week job. Yeah, you know,
(05:28):
so you're willing to work out sales to death, but
I don't want to do a fordy our week job.
So that means there's a dream and passion that drives entrepreneurship.
But there have been changes. Now will you resistant to
the changes and tell us what those changes were?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Honestly, I feel like I've always had to pivot in
every single season of my business. It started off as consultations,
and then it transferred into people asking me to do
production design on set, and then directing things and writing scripts,
and then you know, one season I was managing talent,
and then I've really like fully propelled into casting, which
(06:06):
then took my business off actually to the next level
for the past decade. So I feel like I'm used
to the scope changing or having to pivot a little
bit to a rise to the occasion for each season
of business. And how I've done that is honestly lots
of networking and putting myself out there, like you said earlier,
(06:30):
being able to prove myself to people in a way
where they referred me. My business was a referral business,
and I was able to, you know, stay afloat because
of those referrals and be able to bounce from one
project to the next and bring in those clients because
of that. So that's definitely a big part of it.
And just building that foundation. I think building that foundation
(06:53):
of my brand has been really important from a community aspect.
People know Visionary Woman Productions to be a community. It's
not just a business, but it's really what artists and
other crew members of the industry and social impact leaders
can come to for encouragement. They know that they can
come to me for good advice that's actually sustainable and
(07:16):
be supported on their journey.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
What advice would you give to young people, Because this
is a young person in the industry, I want to
ask that question, and then I'm I ask you a
person who's in their late forties, which are two separate
questions to be responded to. Let's talk about a young
person who wants to get into entertainment industry. Your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I would say, between kids and young adults, it's very
important to make sure that you are learning the business
early on, and also parents, you know, making sure that
parents are keeping their kids safe. That's a big thing
that I coach on often when I do workshops and
different one on one sessions with people, I say, make
(07:55):
sure you know where your kids are. You know, you
are reading these contracts. You're teaching them how to read contracts.
If you don't know how to read a contract, you
are getting a suitable lawyer or counsel that can be
able to break things down for you of what you
should be looking out for at all times, and if
you're not able to pay for one, to make sure
(08:16):
you at least know the verbiage so you're able to say, hey,
this doesn't look quite quite why right? Or I would
like to negotiate these terms, or you know, I want
to take this down from a two year to a
one year contract to see how it goes. Being able
to make sure that you are knowledgeable of these contracts
(08:37):
and what you are signing and going into is number
one important. And making sure that you are you're safe.
You know, not everyone is safe in this industry unfortunately,
and I have had my share of a lot of
experiences on set as a young actor coming up back
in the day that you know, I want to protect
(08:58):
as many people up from having you know, making sure
that you just you know, stay your course and also
you don't feel afraid to speak up when something does
happen or someone is making you uncomfortable, making sure that
you just always know that you have the right to
speak up no matter what if you lose the job.
(09:19):
So what you know, I morals and values and standards
are a thing in this industry, even though so many
people will still to this day try to teach you otherwise.
That is something that I teach. It's like, if you
if you have morals and standards, if you have a
role that a certain role that you know is a
no go for you that you would never want to do,
(09:41):
tell your agent that you can't do it, and if
they have a problem with that, then that's not the
agent for you. Making sure that you are comfortable even
as an actor who is supposed to be versatile and
you know, be a chameleon of sorts, making sure that
you understand that can happen still, but underneath your value
and your morals and what you want for your career.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Which is really great because I've been fortunate to be
on you know, did a lot of sitcoms, So I
saw ten Tomarow Mari's mom, yeah said, and a lot
of you know, then me and the boys with Steve,
they were young boys who want to say and their
parents were there. You know, you can't be an absolute
mom in entertainment. Let's gonna be wall with that. You
just can't let somebody, a stranger take your child to
(10:23):
a job where they might keep your child eight to
twelve hours a day, eat school breaks. But guess what,
you want to be there with your child in the
entertainment industry. If you want to take your child and
put them in an entertainment game, know that it's responsibility
to you as a parent to stay with your child.
Be with your child. This is not a part time job.
(10:43):
This is not something you want to do. Women in
general have been in the forefront of how their business
can demean women, control women, put them in a position
where they compromise, you know, started with Harvey, Bill Carsby
and now Peep Daddy. I've been in this business since
ninety two. I've seen not that side of the business,
(11:07):
but I know there is power in a business that
can cause people, or women in particular, to be uncomfortable,
but they still move forward. How do you, being a woman,
a woman of color, how do you deal with those
circumstances and also with the reaching revelations that come out
that force you to even rethink some of the process
(11:27):
that you have in place.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Right, Yeah, that's definitely a loaded question. I am a survivor,
but from multiple other things growing up in my family,
issues and things of that nature, which I believe plays
into the overall issue that I think has been ingrained
in our country for a very very long time since
(11:49):
the beginning of time, especially within the entertainment industry. I
always tell people when these things arise with P. Diddy
for instance, or Harvey or ur whoever, that these are
things that have been happening for a very long time
from the very inception of the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, you know,
(12:09):
women were expected to you know, put out to be
quite frank, you know, I always tell people. Look at
Marilyn Monroe, look at Earth the Kid, look at Dorothy Dandridge,
look at all of these people that had very intense
stories regards in regards to abuse and having to you know,
(12:31):
go through their lives, which you know, a lot of
them unfortunately had very tragic ends due to not being
able to cope with all of that after a while,
which who can you know, And it's been a cycle
that's been perpetrated, you know, for decades and decades and decades,
and there hasn't been accountability. There hasn't been people that
(12:52):
felt then that felt that they could speak up fully
regarding their stories regarding their pain up until honestly the
past few year years where you hear child stars finally saying, hey,
this happened to me and I'm tired of being silent
about it, and you know, being able to process through
their trauma for however long they have been able to
(13:12):
to be able to have the courage, because it takes
a lot of courage to share your story after going
through things like that, to be able to speak out
and to say, hey, enough, we need to put this
out into the light and something needs to change. And
Visionary Woman productions. That is something I'm very passionate about.
I am, like I said, as a survivor, I'm very
(13:34):
passionate and it refuses me every day to be able
to help set protections in place for kids, for teens,
for everyone on set, to be able to feel safe
and comfortable and included on our sets. I take things
very seriously from hiring. I'm very particular of the people
that I'm hiring to make sure everyone is safe. I
(13:57):
am very very particular are regarding that. So that's something
that I have put into place where I heavily vat people.
I make sure that even like their backgrounds, are you know,
good to be on our.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Sets because you know some actually I'm talking to actually
Lauren L. Rod, a visionary woman production. You know the
volatility of you know, of the last going on five years.
It started with the death of the tragic death of
George Floyd. The diversity echo and inclusion exploded. Everybody said, hey,
white people, go, hey, we got to see things from
(14:32):
a different perspective. We have wrong black people or people
of color, let's give them equal footing. And then all
of a sudden, bout twenty one twenty two, the word
woke popped up and all of a sudden, you know
why we banning books popped up and all of a sudden,
you know, different waves of discontent, and it felt like
(14:56):
we were suddenly under attack for just saying we want
to equal footing right in your business and your company,
your production company. Tell us the work work process that
weighed across you, the diversity equit inclusion process that waged
across your company, and how did you deal with it
and still dealing with it by.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
The way, right, I mean, We've always been that, and
I've always been very vocal about how we need more
diversity and inclusion and equity within the production space because
we have a very long way to go. I have
been in those casting you know, CSA meetings, I've been,
I've talked to you know, the DGA and PGA, and
(15:40):
I've always been very vocal about this before it really
honestly became a thing.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
You were talking before everybody else.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Right, Honestly, I really was like, I.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Want to hear the truth now because a lot of
people back like this thing just jumped off last week, right,
I've been screaming, especially the entertainment business. I would tell
people about this in the entertainment business. It has the
most racially imbalanced format age discrimination, okay, and a gender discrimination.
(16:08):
That's entertainment. And people have allowed this to happen. They
could ask for just odd asked. The things they can
do is for a black person who don't like white
people and that's your casting description, right, and then people go, okay, fine,
let's go find that person.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
money Making Conversations master Class. Welcome back to Money Making
Conversation master Class with me Rashaun McDonald.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Huge threads conversation that blew up actually via Instagram that
I posted because I said, hey, I work in production
and one gal was saying, why is there only I
feel like on every commercial only multi racial families. There's
no just black families or just Asian or Native America.
Like there's all either white or it's like they have
(17:01):
to have you know, maybe one the blacks start.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
When did that start? It's not a commercial that runs
nowadays that is black black or white white? Yeah, somebody's mixed.
Who made that decision that that's the way we're going
to promote commercials now?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
All right? I honestly I feel like I've been casting
a bunch of commercials and I feel like it started happening, yeah,
like over probably ten years ago. But also it's always
in a format, always been a thing, you know, when
it comes to even movies and television, you know, there's
always I mean, colorism is a thing, and you know,
you don't see too many like dark skinned you know,
(17:40):
black men and women being able to be in those
leads as much as we would like it outside of
you know, specifically just black television, you know, and black
films like black centric projects, and you know, you don't
see like them bleeding in Omission Impossible film or you know,
just even you know, psychological thrillers and horrors and stuff like.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
That about.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Look, look just take my name out of the.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Hand right exactly, And that's crazy. We should be in
a position where that is acceptable beyond honestly, just Denzel Washington,
who is you know, a dark skinned black man who
was able to break through the mold and be that
person that can do thrillers, can do sometimes horrors when
he did when he started back in the day, and
(18:32):
you know, dramas and pretty much anything. He's one of
the few been able to break the mold all of
these years. But that's very far and few between when
you compare that to our white counterparts. And I have
been in these meetings where people have accepted and you know,
taken a look at my suggestions of different people different
(18:55):
casting choices, because they have brought me specs and said, oh,
we want X or we're interested in these celebrities and
they've all been white for pretty much and me being like, hey,
you know, there this is a horror like and this
actually happened there was it was a horror film, a
psychological horror, and you know, everyone was predominantly white at first.
(19:18):
And I just said, hey, you know it's this was
in twenty twenty three, and I was like, this, it's
twenty twenty three. You know, people are looking for diversity.
You know, people of my of my community love these
movies as well, and we can have other ethnicities in
these types of.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Right rights.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, but it's like, you know, but it's like you know,
we there are there is a huge following with these
genres from our community. I know because I'm a part
of a lot of the groups. And it's like they
love thrillers, they love mysteries, they love horrors, and it's
like they want to be included too, So I put
I presented that to them, and they actually did take
(20:01):
my advice and they ended up making it a pretty
diverse film, which was incredible. They really did follow a
lot of what I said, and they were very sensitive
to certain things that needed to be changed in the script,
which was great. But that doesn't happen all the time,
you know. I've definitely lost clients before who One person
(20:21):
was trying to do a Joseph movie on the story
of Joseph from his perspective with having Jesus and in
that whole situation and story. Cool script, interesting perspective to
go from, which I was excited about. But they were
looking for white people to be the lead characters.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And I said, hey, yeah, I said Jesus.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
None of them were like why I had to just
say that straight up. I was like, this is a
very sensitive time. People are looking for actual authenticity in
these films. There are so many great, wonderful Middle Eastern
actors that I can give you a list of right
now who would be phenomenal in these roles and adequate
and accurate for them. And I never heard from them again.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Well, you know the thing about it. That's why I
wanted to bring you on my show, because you know,
I talk about industry. I've never talked into the entertainment side,
something that has been a major part of my life.
You know, a sitcom, right. I know the power of writing.
I know the power of casting because I've been fortunate
to I've cast you know, Gabrielle Union. I have cast many,
many people from from Lola Anthony, from Kim Woodley to
(21:35):
Sherry Shepherd to to Chris Spencer, all these people just
the name of few. So I know the power what
you can do. And when you when you're writing for
stars like Monique and Robert Towns and then Jamie Fox
and Tia and Tomorrow Mari and a Senior Hall and
Steve Harvey, then you realize that you can position people
(21:56):
to look look at things a certain way and a
certain way about a particular character, and then that walks
away with expectation what they think these people are on
the streets. And so when I look at what you're doing,
which is even more incredible because of the fact that
it's imagery, it's imagering what people expect in their philosophy,
(22:19):
what they want, and then you've been strong enough to
have before say can I just say something? Now? I know,
raising that finger? Can I say something finger? How much
courage does it take? Ashley the raise that can I
say something? Finger?
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yes? I mean it definitely takes a lot of courage.
Like I said, I've been in those meetings where you know,
you know, if you do say this out loud, it's
a potential that you'll lose that client. And like I said,
I have lost clients before by speaking up and raising
that finger. But I don't regret it because it's something
that has to be done. I am a person that's
(22:57):
always been a person of just and truth and that's
something that I want to see ingrain more in our
world and every community and every space and every business.
And I know that we have such a far away
to go, and I want to be, you know, a
part of leading the charge when it comes to propelling
(23:20):
it along a little bit faster in any way that
I can.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Now, I get a lot of questions from people, you know,
the running RuSHA I want to get into business you
know in their late thirties, forties, really in the late forties. Yes,
if they're an opportunity for people in their late thirties
or forties to get into entertainment business and be successful.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, yes, and absolutely one hundred percent is possible. I
will give you my father as an example. Oh okay, yes,
he was. He retired. Like I said, he was an educator.
He worked his way from a teacher to a superintendent.
Over thirty he had done like one play and one
(24:02):
like modeling gig, random modeling gig. It actually was. It
was for Texas Instruments calculators way back in the day
when he was a teacher. Yeah. Yeah, he got a
modeling gig and it was like when he was a teacher.
They chose them for the Texas Instruments to be on
(24:25):
a magazine, for the actual Texas Texas Instruments magazine when
they had it back in the day. Uh, to go
out to all the schools and they had a billboard
and stuff. So that's the only thing he had ever done.
And throughout the years, like when I was, he would
drop me off of my agency to do a tape
or something or do a go see and he would
stick around. My agent always did say she was like
(24:47):
your dad. I always think he's one of the models
because he's just so good looking, like he's just he
should really because but these compliments, I mean, it was crazy.
Everybody always was like, your dad really should be on TV,
and you know it was not. It was far for
(25:08):
his life doing it.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah, well so he actually just retired. But the past
six years he was very successful. And my dad is
now seventy four and he got started over six years
ago before I moved to New York. And he, you know,
he was bored. He was getting a little depressed because
he wasn't working anymore. And that's something that you know,
I don't think it's talked about enough when people end
(25:31):
up having to retire, that they do get depressed. They
go through a withdrawal of not feeling needed in the
big way that they were with their purpose. And my
dad was a very inspiring educator at the school district
and really really led it to be honest in many ways.
And these kids, even adults to this day, he'll run
(25:52):
into them on the street and they'll be like, mister
l Rod, Oh my god, like you changed my life,
you know when I was a teenager, and you you know,
you whipped me into shape, you know, because he was
really good with the inner city kids who were coming
to the suburbs because my dad grew up in the ghetto.
So you know, he grew up in Kabrini Green in Chicago,
and he had that vibe, right, yeah, like he grew
(26:13):
up in the real hood, like he went at television hood. Yes,
like like actually and you know, migrated from the you know,
the depths of Mississippi to Chicago and you know, his
story is wild, but you know, he had that vibe
with the kids, so he was very inspirational. And not
having that need fulfilled anymore for him, you know, really
(26:33):
kind of put him down in the dumps a little bit.
So I just was like, you know what, I was like, Dad,
everyone keeps saying that you would be good on TV,
and like you should model and everything. Why don't Why
don't we just try it, Like I'll take some headshots
for you. I'll submit them to a few agencies and
we'll just see how it goes. And at first he
was very, very hesitant, and he was like, no, I
(26:55):
don't want to do that, that's your thing. No, And
then finally I broke up and I took his hat
shots and then there happened to be a modeling go
see for one of the big agencies that I knew
for many years. And I was like, you should go,
just go and see what she says and see what happens.
Instantly she signed him, like right away on the spot.
(27:17):
And I mean, when I tell you, this man took
was booking more than I was, because I'm still acting myself,
and I swear I was like, what is happening? He
was booking like multiple gigs a week, like before he
graduated or graduated before he retired. He you know, got
(27:39):
sag after eligible. He did different multiple national commercials and
had billboards. I mean, a wild six years, the best
six years anyone could have had at that age sixty plus, right, and.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
There's a dream for years. Yes, like the Black Panther,
you know in Atlanta. You know they cast her in
that role. So you know, because I always tell people that,
you know, never stop, never let age be an excuse. Yeah,
you know, because a lot of people get fifty sixty,
well you know, I'm just gonna pack it in and
pack it in. Does leave. The depression, does leave to
a different level of stress because we're in a mental
(28:20):
a world that just keeps evolving and information is being
pushed down our throat even if we don't want it
on a daily basis through your cell phone. Used to
be talking on your phone. Now your cell phone could
be a distraction because with notifications and things of that nature.
But I really, you know, bringing you on the show
was important to me because I always want to share
(28:41):
stories of entrepreneurship and your side of being an entertainer,
your side of being having a voice, and also giving
some notes of advice for people who think it's such
a cool deal to be an entertainer, a deal of opportunity,
and it is, But bod the pit palls are ugly
and closing. Actually, what would you recommend? What advice would
(29:04):
you give? Your Secrets to success?
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Secrets to success? Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm
hard on myself, so I'm always like there's so much
more to do. But I think the biggest secrets to
success is always being available and adaptable to the pivots
of life. I think, especially as we continue to go
(29:29):
throughout this crazy world that we're in, it's very important
to learn to do that because you never know when
the market is going to change, and you know things
are going to get a little bit harder, and it's
always best to understand how to pivot, but also to
(29:49):
prepare as best as possible for those things, especially in
entrepreneurship and being a creative. Something that I am working
towards helping hopefully more creatives do in the next year
is really learn how to be smart with your finances
and to understand, you know, how to form your LLCs
(30:10):
and how that's a benefit for taxes, and being able
to make sure you're keeping yourself covered and prepared for
those rainy days. I think that's the biggest secret to
success that will never go out of style, is being
prepared and always learning how to ye lean into those
pivots because it's always there's always going to be a pivot.
(30:32):
Things are always going to be changing. Who knows what
the entertainment industry is going to look like in the
next even two years. You know, we've seen the strikes,
We've seen the detrimental effects that the strikes are still
having right now, and you know, hopefully people are saying
things will get a little bit better, but they're still
honestly scraping the ground trying to figure out what happened.
(30:55):
You know, these higher ups at these at these executives
and you know at these at these network work. So
it's always it's important for us to be able to
learn how to create our own things for ourselves that
we can profit off of for the foreseeable future and
not rely on just pitching to these big execs and
trying to work at Netflix or Paramount. But being able
(31:18):
to actually create something for ourselves is very important. And
I think that's a big secret to say that she's
a visionary.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
That's name of visionary woman production that ties itself in Ashley.
I appreciate you coming on the show. Her real name,
Ashley Lauren er Rod.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
This has been Money Making Conversation Masterclass with me Rashaun McDonald.
Thanks to our guess and our audience. Visit Moneymakingconversations dot
com to listen or register it to be a guest
on my show. Keep leading with your gifts, Keep winning,
The Steve Harvey Morning Show News
Hosts And Creators
Steve Harvey
Shirley Strawberry
Thomas "Nephew Tommy" Miles
Carla Ferrell
Kier "Junior" Spates
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