# Building Your Brand: Acting can be a career for the young and the not-so young.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 7 Nov 2024, 34 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/ddce893f-5f66-41cb-a398-b212016c8481/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Ashley-Lauren Elrod. She is a true champion of diversity, safety, and inclusivity in all aspects of entertainment, media, marketing, and advocacy. At Visionary Woman Productions, they are the experts in bringing visions to life through powerful storytelling that connects with your audience and philanthropy that heals the world. The mission and vision are to create partnerships and content that make a lasting impact on the world for the better. Talking Points/Questions * 1. Social impact in entertainment and media. 2. How we are propelling change in and out of the industry to help give back to communities. 3. My inspiration for this company and how we transitioned into this space today. 4. The importance of true and accurate representation in media, marketing, and entertainment. 5. The work we are doing to change lives, such as with our upcoming project Verge of Remembrance in support of survivors and Project CAN HOPE with the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center. A project to raise awareness and funding for SA, DV, and sex trafficking survivors in America. 6. The importance of utilizing one's story in leadership positions to create change. 7. Our plans to make the entertainment industry and world a safer and more healed place to be. 8. The people and orgs we are partners with and supporting. 9. The importance of mental health in the work field. 10. How to have a greater impact in your business that not only aids in profitability but world sustainability. #STRAW #BEST #SHMS Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:05] Speaker 1: Welcome to the show.
[0:06] Speaker 2: I'm Rashan McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
[0:10] Speaker 2: where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success
[0:13] Speaker 2: stories and start planning their own. Listen up as I
[0:17] Speaker 2: interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities and
[0:21] Speaker 2: ask them how they are running their companies, and speak
[0:23] Speaker 2: with dog profits who are making.
[0:25] Speaker 1: A difference in their local communities.
[0:27] Speaker 2: Now, sit back and listen as we unlock the secrets
[0:30] Speaker 2: to their success on Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Hi, I'm
[0:35] Speaker 2: Rushan McDonald, a host this weekly Money Making Conversation Master
[0:39] Speaker 2: Class show. The interviews and information that this show provides
[0:42] Speaker 2: off for everyone. It's time to stop reading other people's
[0:44] Speaker 2: success stories and start living your own. My guest is
[0:48] Speaker 2: a true champion of diversity, safety and inclusivity in all
[0:52] Speaker 2: aspects of entertainment, media, marketing and advocacy. At Visionary Woman Productions,
[0:58] Speaker 2: they're of the expert and bring visions to life through
[1:01] Speaker 2: powerful storytelling that connects you with your audience and philamp
[1:05] Speaker 2: of three that heals the world. Please work in the
[1:07] Speaker 2: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Ashley Lauren L.
[1:11] Speaker 1: Rod. How are you doing? My friend?
[1:13] Speaker 3: Good? Good? Thank you so much for having me.
[1:15] Speaker 1: So where you based at?
[1:17] Speaker 3: I am in New York City.
[1:18] Speaker 2: Oh that's awesome. Now one of my favorite citis in
[1:21] Speaker 2: New York. Now I brought you on the show.
[1:24] Speaker 1: And I hear the word visionaire.
[1:25] Speaker 2: Now that words, like all words have been because of
[1:29] Speaker 2: social media, gets bandied about a lot, brands and faith
[1:35] Speaker 2: and passion. What does visionary mean when I use that
[1:40] Speaker 2: in your introduction?
[1:42] Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely.
[1:42] Speaker 4: Visionary means honestly leading at the forefront, doing things that
[1:49] Speaker 4: we believe that are not being done to the fullest
[1:52] Speaker 4: capacity that they can be done, and being able to
[1:55] Speaker 4: merge things together that makes sense to be able to
[1:59] Speaker 4: actually help help to heal the world.
[2:02] Speaker 1: So I'm gonna use this term. You are an entrepreneur,
[2:04] Speaker 1: correct I am? Yes.
[2:06] Speaker 2: So they're saying that's the black women or African American
[2:10] Speaker 2: women are the fastest growing entrepreneurship in the last ten years.
[2:15] Speaker 1: Why is that?
[2:17] Speaker 4: Honestly, drive, resilience, being able to command whatever we can
[2:25] Speaker 4: in our lives, to be able to propel forward through anything.
[2:30] Speaker 3: I think is.
[2:30] Speaker 4: The most definite reason that black women are one of
[2:34] Speaker 4: the leading, actually the leading business entrepreneurs right now in
[2:39] Speaker 4: the country.
[2:40] Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I am African American male, and I
[2:45] Speaker 2: wish I could say I could walk in the door
[2:47] Speaker 2: and somebody didn't see my skin color. Yeah, but I
[2:50] Speaker 2: know that is not something that I'm using as as
[2:54] Speaker 2: as an excuse, right, But one has to realize that's
[2:57] Speaker 2: part of reality because people can define my work to
[3:01] Speaker 2: find my ability to fund a project or complete a project.
[3:06] Speaker 2: So I constantly have to promote myself. I constantly have
[3:08] Speaker 2: to deliver information, stay in front of people. What are
[3:12] Speaker 2: some of the pitfalls or maybe not pitfalls that you've
[3:15] Speaker 2: experienced in developing your company of Visionary Warm Productions.
[3:20] Speaker 4: Yes, well, I started Visionary Women when I was in college.
[3:23] Speaker 4: Actually it was fit over fifteen years ago, and it
[3:26] Speaker 4: actually was just a collaboration of sorts at first with
[3:30] Speaker 4: some really really great friends, all fantastic diverse women who
[3:35] Speaker 4: really accomplished so much in their own right and went
[3:38] Speaker 4: on to become celebrity photographers and makeup artists and amazing
[3:43] Speaker 4: people and think people that I still keep in touch
[3:45] Speaker 4: with to this day. And I feel like, you know,
[3:49] Speaker 4: in the beginning, it happened so quickly for my business,
[3:51] Speaker 4: It kind of happened overnight. Actually, to the point it
[3:55] Speaker 4: was like, oh, I think I have a business. You know,
[3:57] Speaker 4: people are asking me like, what are you charge for
[4:00] Speaker 4: X y Z. You know, we were doing consultations and
[4:03] Speaker 4: we were doing honestly bringing wisdom back to our college.
[4:07] Speaker 3: That's how it started there.
[4:10] Speaker 4: I went to Columbia colle Chicago, and we were not
[4:13] Speaker 4: being taught the business side of preparing for graduation. We
[4:17] Speaker 4: were taught about acting and you know, getting your portfolio
[4:20] Speaker 4: together if you were doing technical theater and things of
[4:22] Speaker 4: that nature. But we weren't taught Okay, how do you
[4:25] Speaker 4: utilize this after you graduate? You know what, how do
[4:28] Speaker 4: you get an agent? How do you land yourself onto productions?
[4:32] Speaker 4: And I was already working on productions for a long
[4:35] Speaker 4: time before college. So I wanted to take all of
[4:38] Speaker 4: that and help people and give them what.
[4:40] Speaker 3: They needed to succeed.
[4:42] Speaker 4: So I feel starting off so early and honestly not
[4:46] Speaker 4: knowing what I was doing because a lot of interesting
[4:51] Speaker 4: twists and turns on my journey of business and entrepreneurship.
[4:56] Speaker 4: I come from a family of educators, not business owners,
[5:00] Speaker 4: with the exception of my grandfathers, who were both business
[5:03] Speaker 4: owners and entrepreneurs. But I came from educators who were amazing,
[5:08] Speaker 4: but you know, didn't know about angel investments and you know,
[5:13] Speaker 4: planning out business from those different aspects that I just
[5:17] Speaker 4: I just wasn't taught and given the access to. So
[5:19] Speaker 4: everything has been learning and processing, especially even now fifteen
[5:26] Speaker 4: years later, with the scope of business changing so much.
[5:29] Speaker 3: Just keeping them.
[5:30] Speaker 2: Saying right there when you said the scope of business changing,
[5:33] Speaker 2: what has been the scope that you see? You know,
[5:35] Speaker 2: because we all know social media is like blowing everything up.
[5:37] Speaker 2: The Internet is blown everything, even the cell phone has
[5:41] Speaker 2: blown everything up. You on the I always heard the
[5:43] Speaker 2: story that you know, as an entrepreneur, you work eighty
[5:47] Speaker 2: hours a week, but you don't want to do a
[5:48] Speaker 2: for their all week job, you know, so you're willing
[5:51] Speaker 2: to work out sales to death, but I don't want
[5:53] Speaker 2: to do a ford their our week job. So, I mean,
[5:55] Speaker 2: there's a dream and passion that drives entrepreneurship. But they
[5:59] Speaker 2: have been changed. Now were you resistant to the changes?
[6:03] Speaker 2: And tell us what those changes were?
[6:06] Speaker 4: Honestly, I feel like I've always had to pivot in
[6:09] Speaker 4: every single season of my business. It started off as
[6:12] Speaker 4: consultations and then it transferred into people asking me to
[6:16] Speaker 4: do production design, on set and then directing things and
[6:20] Speaker 4: writing scripts and then you know, one season I was
[6:23] Speaker 4: managing talent and then I really like fully propelled into casting,
[6:28] Speaker 4: which then took my business off actually to the next
[6:30] Speaker 4: level for the past decade.
[6:32] Speaker 3: So I feel like.
[6:34] Speaker 4: I'm used to the scope changing or having to pivot
[6:37] Speaker 4: a little bit to a rise to the occasion for
[6:40] Speaker 4: each season of business. And how I've done that is honestly,
[6:46] Speaker 4: lots of networking and putting myself out there, like you
[6:50] Speaker 4: said earlier, being able to prove myself to people in
[6:54] Speaker 4: a way where they referred me because, honestly, up intol
[6:57] Speaker 4: this past year, my business was a referra own business
[7:00] Speaker 4: only for the past fifteen years, and I was able
[7:04] Speaker 4: to stay afloat because of those referrals and be able
[7:08] Speaker 4: to bounce from one project to the next and bring
[7:11] Speaker 4: in those clients because of that. So that's definitely a
[7:15] Speaker 4: big part of it, and just building that foundation. I
[7:18] Speaker 4: think building that foundation of my brand has been really
[7:21] Speaker 4: important from a community aspect. People know Visionary Woman Productions
[7:26] Speaker 4: to be a community.
[7:27] Speaker 3: It's not just a.
[7:28] Speaker 4: Business, but it's really what artists and other crew members
[7:31] Speaker 4: of the industry and social impact leaders can come to
[7:35] Speaker 4: for encouragement. They know that they can come to me
[7:38] Speaker 4: for good advice that's actually sustainable and be supported on
[7:43] Speaker 4: their journey.
[7:44] Speaker 2: What advice would you give to young people, Because this
[7:47] Speaker 2: is a young person to the industry, I want to
[7:49] Speaker 2: ask that question, and then I'm I ask you a
[7:51] Speaker 2: person who's in their late forties. Which are two separate
[7:54] Speaker 2: questions to be responded to. Let's talk about a young
[7:56] Speaker 2: person who wants to get into entertainment industry.
[8:00] Speaker 4: Thought I would say, between kids and young adults, it's
[8:05] Speaker 4: very important to make sure that you are learning the
[8:08] Speaker 4: business early on. And also parents, you know, making sure
[8:12] Speaker 4: that parents are keeping their kids safe. That's a big
[8:15] Speaker 4: thing that I coach on often when I do workshops
[8:18] Speaker 4: and different one on one sessions with people. I say,
[8:21] Speaker 4: make sure you know where your kids are. You know
[8:23] Speaker 4: you are reading these contracts. You're teaching them how to
[8:27] Speaker 4: read contracts. If you don't know how to read a contract,
[8:29] Speaker 4: you are getting a suitable lawyer or counsel that can
[8:34] Speaker 4: be able to break things down for you of what
[8:37] Speaker 4: you should be looking out for at all times, and
[8:40] Speaker 4: if you're not able to pay for one, to make
[8:42] Speaker 4: sure you at least know the verbiage, so you're able
[8:46] Speaker 4: to say, hey, this doesn't look quite quite why right,
[8:49] Speaker 4: or I would like to negotiate these terms, or you know,
[8:54] Speaker 4: I want to take this down from a two year
[8:56] Speaker 4: to a one year contract to see how it goes.
[8:59] Speaker 4: Being able to make sure that you are knowledgeable of
[9:03] Speaker 4: these contracts and what you are signing and going into
[9:06] Speaker 4: is number one important. And making sure that you are
[9:11] Speaker 4: you're safe. You know, not everyone is safe in this industry, unfortunately,
[9:15] Speaker 4: and I have had my share of a lot of
[9:18] Speaker 4: experiences on set as a young actor coming up back
[9:22] Speaker 4: in the day that you know, I want to protect
[9:25] Speaker 4: as many people coming up from having you know, making
[9:29] Speaker 4: sure that you just you know, stay your course and
[9:32] Speaker 4: also you don't feel afraid to speak up when something
[9:35] Speaker 4: does happen or someone.
[9:37] Speaker 3: Is making you uncomfortable. Making sure that you.
[9:40] Speaker 4: Just always know that you have the right to speak
[9:43] Speaker 4: up no matter what if you lose the job. So
[9:46] Speaker 4: what you know, I I morals and values and standards
[9:52] Speaker 4: are a thing in this industry, even though so many
[9:55] Speaker 4: people will still to this day try to teach you otherwise,
[9:59] Speaker 4: that is thing that I teach. It's like if you
[10:01] Speaker 4: if you have morals and standards. If you have a
[10:03] Speaker 4: role that a certain role that you know is a
[10:06] Speaker 4: no go for you, that you would never want to do,
[10:08] Speaker 4: tell your agent that you can't do it, and if
[10:10] Speaker 4: they have a problem with that, then that's not the
[10:12] Speaker 4: agent for you. Making sure that you are comfortable, even
[10:16] Speaker 4: as an actor who is supposed to be versatile and
[10:19] Speaker 4: you know, be a chameleon of sorts, making sure that
[10:23] Speaker 4: you understand that can happen still, but underneath your values
[10:27] Speaker 4: and your morals and what you want for your career.
[10:29] Speaker 2: Which is really great because I've been fortunate to be
[10:32] Speaker 2: on you know, did a lot of sitcoms. So I
[10:33] Speaker 2: sold ten Tamara Maori's Mom, Yeah, I said, and a
[10:36] Speaker 2: lot of you know it did me and the boys
[10:38] Speaker 2: with Steve, they were young boys who wanted to said,
[10:41] Speaker 2: and their parents were there. You know, you can't be
[10:44] Speaker 2: an absoutee mom and entertainment, yes, let's gonna be rd
[10:46] Speaker 2: with that. You just can't let somebody, a stranger take
[10:49] Speaker 2: your child to a job where they may keep your
[10:52] Speaker 2: child eight to twelve.
[10:54] Speaker 1: Hours a day each school breaks.
[10:56] Speaker 2: But guess what you want to be there with your
[10:58] Speaker 2: child in the entertainment industry. If you want to tick
[11:00] Speaker 2: your child and put them in an entertainment game. Know
[11:03] Speaker 2: that it's responsibility to you as a parent to stay
[11:06] Speaker 2: with your child, be with your child. This is not
[11:09] Speaker 2: a part time job. This is not something you want
[11:12] Speaker 2: to do.
[11:12] Speaker 1: You know. The last I want to say five years.
[11:14] Speaker 2: You know, women in general have been in the forefront
[11:18] Speaker 2: of how their business can the mean women control women
[11:23] Speaker 2: put them in a position where they compromise, you know,
[11:26] Speaker 2: started with Harvey, Bill Cosby and now PP Daddy. I've
[11:31] Speaker 2: been in this business since ninety two. I've seen not
[11:36] Speaker 2: that side of the business, but I know there is
[11:38] Speaker 2: power in a business that can cause people or women
[11:42] Speaker 2: in particular to be uncomfortable, but they still move forward.
[11:46] Speaker 2: How do you, being a woman, a woman of color,
[11:49] Speaker 2: how do you deal with those circumstances and also with
[11:52] Speaker 2: the recent revelations that come out that force you to
[11:55] Speaker 2: even rethink some of the processes that you have in place.
[11:59] Speaker 4: Right, Yeah, that's definitely a loaded question. I am a survivor,
[12:05] Speaker 4: but from multiple other things growing up in my family,
[12:09] Speaker 4: issues and things of that nature, which I believe plays
[12:13] Speaker 4: into the overall issue that I think has been ingrained
[12:17] Speaker 4: in our country for a very very long time, since
[12:20] Speaker 4: the beginning of time, especially within the entertainment industry. I
[12:24] Speaker 4: always tell people when these things arise with you know, P.
[12:27] Speaker 4: Diddy for instance, or Harvey or R Kelly whoever, that
[12:32] Speaker 4: these are things that have been happening for a very
[12:35] Speaker 4: long time from the very inception of the entertainment industry. Unfortunately,
[12:40] Speaker 4: you know, women were expected to you know, put out
[12:44] Speaker 4: to be quite frank, you know, I always tell people,
[12:47] Speaker 4: look at Marilyn Monroe, look at Eartha kit look at
[12:50] Speaker 4: Dorothy Dandridge, look at all of these people that had
[12:54] Speaker 4: very intense stories regards to in regards to abuse and
[12:59] Speaker 4: having to you know, go through their lives, which you know,
[13:03] Speaker 4: a lot of them unfortunately had very tragic ends due
[13:06] Speaker 4: to not being able to cope with all of that
[13:09] Speaker 4: after a while, which you can, you know, And it's
[13:13] Speaker 4: been a cycle that's been perpetrated, you know, for decades
[13:16] Speaker 4: and decades and decades, and there hasn't been accountability. There
[13:21] Speaker 4: hasn't been people that that felt that they could speak
[13:24] Speaker 4: up fully regarding their stories regarding their pain up until
[13:29] Speaker 4: honestly the past few years where you hear child stars
[13:32] Speaker 4: finally saying, hey, this happened to me, and I'm tired
[13:35] Speaker 4: of being silent about it and you know, being able
[13:38] Speaker 4: to process through their trauma for however long they have
[13:41] Speaker 4: been able to to be able to have the courage,
[13:44] Speaker 4: because it takes a lot of courage to share your
[13:47] Speaker 4: story after going through things like that, to be able
[13:50] Speaker 4: to speak out and to say, hey, enough, we need
[13:53] Speaker 4: to put this out into the light and something needs
[13:56] Speaker 4: to change. And Visionary Woman Productions, that is something I'm
[14:00] Speaker 4: very passionate about. I am, like I said, as a survivor,
[14:04] Speaker 4: I'm very passionate and it refuses me every day to
[14:06] Speaker 4: be able to help set protections in place for kids,
[14:11] Speaker 4: for teens, for everyone on sets to be able to
[14:14] Speaker 4: feel safe and comfortable and included on our sets. I
[14:19] Speaker 4: take things very seriously from hiring. I'm very particular of
[14:23] Speaker 4: the people that I'm hiring to make sure everyone is safe.
[14:27] Speaker 4: I am very very particular regarding that. So that's something
[14:32] Speaker 4: that I have put into place where I heavily vet
[14:34] Speaker 4: people and make sure that even like their backgrounds, are
[14:38] Speaker 4: you know, good to be on our.
[14:40] Speaker 2: Sets because you know so, Ashley, I'm talking to Ashley
[14:42] Speaker 2: Lauren a Rod of Visionary Woman Production. You know the
[14:47] Speaker 2: volatility of you know, of the last going on five years.
[14:52] Speaker 2: Is started with the death of the tragic death of
[14:55] Speaker 2: George Floyd.
[14:56] Speaker 1: Diversity, echoing inclusion exploded.
[14:58] Speaker 2: Everybody said, hey, white people, go, hey, we got to
[15:02] Speaker 2: see things from a different perspective. We have wrong black
[15:05] Speaker 2: people or people of color. Let's give them equal footing.
[15:08] Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden, by twenty one twenty two,
[15:11] Speaker 2: the word woke popped up and all of a sudden,
[15:15] Speaker 2: you know why we banning books popped up, and all
[15:20] Speaker 2: of a sudden, you know, different waves of discontent, and
[15:25] Speaker 2: it felt like we were suddenly under attack for just
[15:29] Speaker 2: saying we want to equal footing right in your business
[15:33] Speaker 2: and your company, your production company. Tell us the work
[15:37] Speaker 2: process that weighed across you, the diversity equoing inclusion process
[15:42] Speaker 2: that weighed across your company, and how did you deal
[15:45] Speaker 2: with it and still dealing with it by the.
[15:47] Speaker 4: Way, right, I mean, we've always been that and I've
[15:51] Speaker 4: always been very vocal about how we need more diversity
[15:56] Speaker 4: and inclusion and equity within the production space because we
[16:01] Speaker 4: have a very long way to go. I have been
[16:04] Speaker 4: in those casting you know CSA meetings, I've been, I've
[16:07] Speaker 4: talked to you know, the DGA and PGA, and I've
[16:10] Speaker 4: always been very vocal about this before it really honestly
[16:13] Speaker 4: became a thing.
[16:14] Speaker 1: You were talking before everybody else.
[16:15] Speaker 3: Right now, Honestly I really was.
[16:19] Speaker 2: I wouldn't hear the truth now because a lot of
[16:21] Speaker 2: people act like this thing just jumped.
[16:22] Speaker 1: Off last week, right.
[16:24] Speaker 2: People have been screaming, especially the entertainment business. I always
[16:27] Speaker 2: tell people about this. In the entertainment business, it has
[16:30] Speaker 2: the most racially imbalanced format age discrimination, okay, and a
[16:37] Speaker 2: gender discrimination. That's entertainment. And people have allowed this to happen.
[16:42] Speaker 2: They could ask for just odd asked. The things they
[16:45] Speaker 2: can do is for a black person who who don't
[16:48] Speaker 2: like white people, and that's your casting description, right, and
[16:51] Speaker 2: then people go, okay, fine, let's go find that person.
[16:54] Speaker 2: Right and so, but when you look at the role
[16:58] Speaker 2: of how people are starting to do it kind of
[17:00] Speaker 2: like forcibly pull back, I will say the degree of
[17:04] Speaker 2: integration even you said, Rashaan, I've been screaming.
[17:09] Speaker 1: I've been hollering about this.
[17:13] Speaker 5: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
[17:16] Speaker 5: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
[17:26] Speaker 5: Conversations Masterclass. Hosted by Rashan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
[17:32] Speaker 5: continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
[17:36] Speaker 5: Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
[17:41] Speaker 1: Along the way.
[17:42] Speaker 2: Have they started listening to you Ashley talk about that process?
[17:47] Speaker 4: Yes, so yeah, they actually have. I mean sometimes I
[17:51] Speaker 4: feel like I have probably lost clients because I you know,
[17:56] Speaker 4: some people will literally come to me.
[17:58] Speaker 3: And I actually just talked about this.
[17:59] Speaker 4: It was a huge, huge threads conversation that blew up
[18:03] Speaker 4: actually via Instagram that I posted because I said, hey,
[18:07] Speaker 4: I work in production and one gal was saying, why
[18:10] Speaker 4: is there only I feel like on every commercial only
[18:13] Speaker 4: multi racial families. There's no just black families or just
[18:17] Speaker 4: Asian or Native America. Like there's all it's either white
[18:20] Speaker 4: or it's like they have to have you know, maybe
[18:22] Speaker 4: one the blacks start.
[18:23] Speaker 1: When did that start?
[18:25] Speaker 2: It's not a commercial that runs nowadays that is black
[18:29] Speaker 2: black or white white? Yeah, somebody's mixed. Who made that
[18:33] Speaker 2: decision that that's the way we're going to promote commercials?
[18:36] Speaker 1: Now?
[18:37] Speaker 3: All right?
[18:38] Speaker 4: I honestly, I feel like I've been casting a bunch
[18:41] Speaker 4: of commercials for the past decade, and I feel like
[18:43] Speaker 4: it started happening. Yeah, like over probably ten years ago.
[18:47] Speaker 4: But also it's always in a format, always been a thing,
[18:51] Speaker 4: you know, when it comes to even movies and television,
[18:54] Speaker 4: you know, there's always there. I mean, colorism is a thing,
[18:57] Speaker 4: and you know, you don't see too many like dark
[19:00] Speaker 4: skinned you know, black men and women being able to
[19:03] Speaker 4: be in those leads as much as we would like
[19:05] Speaker 4: it outside of you know, specifically just black television, you know,
[19:10] Speaker 4: and black films like black centric projects, and you know,
[19:14] Speaker 4: you don't see like them leading in a mission impossible
[19:17] Speaker 4: film or you know just even you know, psychological thrillers
[19:21] Speaker 4: and horrors and stuff.
[19:22] Speaker 2: Like that about elbows possibly beings exactly.
[19:28] Speaker 1: He probably would look look, look, just take my name
[19:31] Speaker 1: out of the.
[19:31] Speaker 4: Hand right exactly. And that's crazy, you know, it's like
[19:36] Speaker 4: we're in twenty twenty four. We should be in a
[19:38] Speaker 4: position where that is acceptable beyond honestly, just Denzel Washington,
[19:43] Speaker 4: who is you know, a dark skinned black man who
[19:46] Speaker 4: was able to break through the mold and be that
[19:48] Speaker 4: person that can do thrillers, can do sometimes horrors when
[19:53] Speaker 4: he did when he started back in the day, and
[19:55] Speaker 4: you know, dramas and pretty much anything he's one of
[19:58] Speaker 4: the few that's actually mis because he's now yes exactly,
[20:02] Speaker 4: he's been able to break the mold all of these years.
[20:06] Speaker 4: But that's very far and few between when you compare
[20:09] Speaker 4: that to our white counterparts. And I have been in
[20:14] Speaker 4: these meetings where people have accepted and you know, taken
[20:17] Speaker 4: a look at my suggestions of different people different casting choices,
[20:23] Speaker 4: because they have brought me specs and said, oh, we
[20:25] Speaker 4: went X, Y Z or we're interested in these celebrities
[20:29] Speaker 4: and they've all been white for pretty much, and me
[20:32] Speaker 4: being like, hey, you know, this is a horror and
[20:37] Speaker 4: this actually happened. It was a horror film, a psychological horror,
[20:41] Speaker 4: and you know, everyone was predominantly white at first, and
[20:45] Speaker 4: I just said, hey, you know it's this was in
[20:47] Speaker 4: twenty twenty three, and I was like, this, it's twenty
[20:50] Speaker 4: twenty three. You know, people are looking for diversity. You know,
[20:53] Speaker 4: people of my community love these movies as well, and
[20:58] Speaker 4: we can have other ethnicities in these types of congress rights. Yeah,
[21:07] Speaker 4: but it's like, you know, but it's like you know,
[21:10] Speaker 4: we there are there is a huge following with these
[21:13] Speaker 4: genres from our community. I know because I'm a part
[21:16] Speaker 4: of a lot of the groups, and it's like they
[21:18] Speaker 4: love thrillers, they love mysteries, they love whoores, and it's
[21:22] Speaker 4: like they want to be included too. So I put
[21:25] Speaker 4: I presented that to them, and they actually did take
[21:28] Speaker 4: my advice and they ended up making it a pretty
[21:30] Speaker 4: diverse film, which was incredible. They really did follow a
[21:34] Speaker 4: lot of what I said, and they were very sensitive
[21:36] Speaker 4: to certain things that needed to be changed in the script,
[21:39] Speaker 4: which was great. But that doesn't happen all the time,
[21:43] Speaker 4: you know. I've definitely lost clients before who One person
[21:48] Speaker 4: was trying to do a Joseph movie on the story
[21:50] Speaker 4: of Joseph from his perspective with having Jesus and in
[21:55] Speaker 4: that whole situation and story. Cool script, interesting perspective to
[22:00] Speaker 4: go from, which I was excited about. But they were
[22:03] Speaker 4: looking for white people to be the lead characters.
[22:07] Speaker 1: And I said, hey, I heard, yeah, I.
[22:11] Speaker 4: Said, Jesus none of them were like whites. I tell you,
[22:14] Speaker 4: I have to just say that straight up, like this
[22:17] Speaker 4: was one. I think this was the twenty twenty twenty
[22:18] Speaker 4: twenty one. I was like, this is a very sensitive time.
[22:21] Speaker 4: People are looking for actual authenticity in these films. There
[22:25] Speaker 4: are so many great wonderful Middle Eastern actors that I
[22:29] Speaker 4: can give you a list of right now who would
[22:32] Speaker 4: be phenomenal in these roles and adequate and accurate for them,
[22:37] Speaker 4: and I never heard from them again.
[22:39] Speaker 2: Well, you know the thing about it, That's why I
[22:41] Speaker 2: wanted to bring you on my show, because you know,
[22:43] Speaker 2: I talk about industry. I've never talked into the entertainment side,
[22:47] Speaker 2: something that has been a major part of my life.
[22:49] Speaker 1: You know, a sitcom, right. I know the power of writing.
[22:52] Speaker 2: I know the power of casting because I've been fortunate
[22:55] Speaker 2: to I've cast you know, Gabrielle Union have cast many,
[22:59] Speaker 2: many people from from lo Lanthony, from Kim Woodley to
[23:05] Speaker 2: Sherry Shepherd to Chris Spencer, all these people just the
[23:10] Speaker 2: name of few.
[23:11] Speaker 1: So I know the power what you can do.
[23:13] Speaker 2: And when you when you're writing for stars like Monique
[23:16] Speaker 2: and Robert Towns, and then Jamie Fox and Tia and
[23:19] Speaker 2: Tomorrow Mari and Senior Hall and Steve Harvey, then you
[23:23] Speaker 2: realize that you can position people to look look at
[23:28] Speaker 2: things a certain way and feel a certain way about
[23:31] Speaker 2: a particular character, and then that walks away with expectations
[23:34] Speaker 2: what they think these people are on the streets.
[23:38] Speaker 1: And so when I look at what you're doing, which.
[23:40] Speaker 2: Is even more incredible because of the fact that it's imagery.
[23:43] Speaker 2: It's imagerying what people expect in their philosophy, what they want,
[23:49] Speaker 2: and then you, being strong enough to have before, say
[23:54] Speaker 2: can I just say something?
[23:55] Speaker 1: Now? I know raising that finger? Can I say something finger?
[24:00] Speaker 1: How much courage does it take as ley the race
[24:03] Speaker 1: that can I say something finger?
[24:05] Speaker 2: Yes?
[24:05] Speaker 4: I mean it definitely takes a lot of courage. Like
[24:08] Speaker 4: I said, I've been in those meetings where you know,
[24:11] Speaker 4: you know, if you do say this out loud.
[24:14] Speaker 3: It's a potential that you'll lose that client.
[24:16] Speaker 4: And like I said, I have lost clients before by
[24:20] Speaker 4: speaking up and raising that finger. But I don't regret
[24:23] Speaker 4: it because it's something that has to be done. I'm
[24:26] Speaker 4: a person that's always been a person of justice and
[24:32] Speaker 4: truth and that's something that I want to see ingrain
[24:35] Speaker 4: more in our world, in every community and every space
[24:39] Speaker 4: and every business. And I know that we have such
[24:42] Speaker 4: a far away to go, and I want to be,
[24:46] Speaker 4: you know, a part of leading the charge when it
[24:49] Speaker 4: comes to propelling it along.
[24:51] Speaker 3: A little bit faster in any way that I can.
[24:55] Speaker 2: Now I get a lot of questions from people you
[24:57] Speaker 2: know and running RuSHA to get into business their late
[25:01] Speaker 2: thirties forties, really in the late forties. Yes, is there
[25:05] Speaker 2: an opportunity for people in their late thirties or forties
[25:08] Speaker 2: to get into entertainment business and be successful?
[25:12] Speaker 4: Yes, and absolutely, one hundred percent is possible.
[25:18] Speaker 3: I will give you my father as an example.
[25:21] Speaker 4: Okay, yes, he was. He retired. Like I said, he
[25:26] Speaker 4: was an educator. He worked his way from a teacher
[25:28] Speaker 4: to a superintendent over thirty years. He had done like
[25:31] Speaker 4: one play and one like modeling gig, random modeling gig.
[25:35] Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, it actually was.
[25:37] Speaker 4: It was for Texas Instruments calculators way back in the day.
[25:42] Speaker 3: When he was a teacher.
[25:44] Speaker 1: He got good. Yeah, I'm challenged, really, I'm jealous to
[25:47] Speaker 1: the model.
[25:48] Speaker 3: Yeah, he got a modeling gig. And it was like
[25:50] Speaker 3: when he was a teacher.
[25:51] Speaker 4: They chose them for the Texas Instruments to be on
[25:55] Speaker 4: a magazine, for the actual Texas Texas Instruments magazine when
[25:59] Speaker 4: they had it back in the day to go out
[26:01] Speaker 4: to all the schools and I had a billboard and stuff.
[26:03] Speaker 4: So that's the only thing he had ever done. And
[26:07] Speaker 4: throughout the years, Like when I would he would drop
[26:09] Speaker 4: me off of my agency to do a tape or
[26:12] Speaker 4: something or do a go see, and he would stick around.
[26:15] Speaker 4: My agent always did say she was like, your dad,
[26:18] Speaker 4: I always think he's one of the models because he's
[26:20] Speaker 4: just so good looking, Like he's just he should really
[26:26] Speaker 4: because now, but he always thought these compliments. I mean,
[26:32] Speaker 4: it was crazy. Everybody always was like, your dad really
[26:35] Speaker 4: should be on TV, and you know.
[26:37] Speaker 3: It was not. It was far for his lid.
[26:40] Speaker 4: Yeah, well so he actually just retired. But the past
[26:43] Speaker 4: six years he was very successful. And my dad is
[26:47] Speaker 4: now seventy four and he got started over six years
[26:51] Speaker 4: ago before I moved to New York, and he, you know,
[26:53] Speaker 4: he was bored. He was getting a little depressed because
[26:56] Speaker 4: he wasn't working anymore.
[26:57] Speaker 3: And that's something that you.
[26:59] Speaker 4: Know, I don't think it's talked about enough when people
[27:01] Speaker 4: end up having to retire, that they do get depressed.
[27:04] Speaker 4: They go through a withdrawal of not feeling needed in
[27:08] Speaker 4: the big way that they were with their purpose. And
[27:11] Speaker 4: my dad was a very inspiring educator at the school
[27:14] Speaker 4: district and really really led it to be honest in
[27:18] Speaker 4: many ways, and these kids, even adults to this day.
[27:21] Speaker 4: He'll he'll run into them on the street and they'll
[27:23] Speaker 4: be like, mister l Rod, oh my god, Like you
[27:25] Speaker 4: changed my life, you know when I was a teenager,
[27:28] Speaker 4: and you you know, you really whip me into shape,
[27:31] Speaker 4: you know, because he was really good with the inner
[27:32] Speaker 4: city kids who were coming to the suburbs because my
[27:35] Speaker 4: dad grew up in the ghetto. So you know, he
[27:37] Speaker 4: grew up in Kabrini Green in Chicago, and he had
[27:40] Speaker 4: that vibe, right, yeah, like he grew up in the
[27:43] Speaker 4: real hood, like he went.
[27:44] Speaker 1: Around television hood.
[27:46] Speaker 4: Yeah, like actually, and you know migrated from the you know,
[27:50] Speaker 4: the depths of Mississippi to Chicago, and you know, his
[27:53] Speaker 4: story is wild, but you know, he had that vibe
[27:57] Speaker 4: with the kids, so he was very inspirational. And not
[28:00] Speaker 4: having that need fulfilled anymore for him, you know, really
[28:03] Speaker 4: kind of put him down in the dumps a little bit.
[28:05] Speaker 4: So I just was like, you know what I was like, Dad,
[28:09] Speaker 4: everyone keeps saying that you would be good on TV,
[28:12] Speaker 4: and like you should model and everything. Why don't we
[28:14] Speaker 4: just try it, Like I'll take some headshots for you.
[28:17] Speaker 4: I'll submit them to a few agencies and we'll just
[28:20] Speaker 4: see how it goes and at first he was very,
[28:23] Speaker 4: very hesitant, and he was like, no, I don't want
[28:25] Speaker 4: to do that, that's your thing. No, And then finally
[28:29] Speaker 4: I broke him and I took his headshots. And then
[28:33] Speaker 4: there happened to be a modeling ghostye for one of
[28:36] Speaker 4: the big agencies that I knew for many years. And
[28:39] Speaker 4: I was like, you should go, just go and see
[28:41] Speaker 4: what she says and see what happens. Instantly she signed him,
[28:45] Speaker 4: like right away on the spot. And I mean, when
[28:49] Speaker 4: I tell you, this man took was booking more than
[28:53] Speaker 4: I was, because I'm still acting myself, and I swear.
[28:57] Speaker 3: I was like, what is happening?
[28:59] Speaker 4: He was booking like multiple gigs a week, like before
[29:04] Speaker 4: he graduated or graduated before he retired. He you know,
[29:09] Speaker 4: got SAG after eligible. He did different multiple national commercials
[29:14] Speaker 4: and had billboards.
[29:16] Speaker 3: I mean, a.
[29:17] Speaker 4: Wild six years, the best six years anyone could have
[29:20] Speaker 4: had at that age sixty plus, right, And.
[29:24] Speaker 2: So you're sat Rashwan, there's a dream for you, Yes,
[29:28] Speaker 2: Like the elderly lady was in Black Panther, you know,
[29:31] Speaker 2: yeah in Atlanta. You know they cast her in that role.
[29:33] Speaker 2: So you know, because I always tell people that you know,
[29:35] Speaker 2: never stop, never.
[29:36] Speaker 1: Let age be an excuse.
[29:38] Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, because a lot of people get fifty sixty. Well,
[29:41] Speaker 2: you know, I'm just gonna pack it in, and pack
[29:43] Speaker 2: it in.
[29:44] Speaker 1: Does leave.
[29:44] Speaker 2: The depression does leave to a different level of stress
[29:47] Speaker 2: because we're in the mental a world that just keeps
[29:51] Speaker 2: evolving and information that is being pushed down our throat
[29:54] Speaker 2: even if we don't want it on a daily basis
[29:56] Speaker 2: through your cell phone. Used to be talking on your phone,
[29:59] Speaker 2: now you're the cell phone could be a distraction with
[30:02] Speaker 2: notifications and things of that nature. But I really, you know,
[30:07] Speaker 2: bringing you on the show was important to me because
[30:10] Speaker 2: I always want to share stories of entrepreneurship and your
[30:13] Speaker 2: side of being an entertainer, your side of being having
[30:16] Speaker 2: a voice, and also giving some notes of advice for
[30:20] Speaker 2: people who think it's such a cool deal to be
[30:23] Speaker 2: an entertainer, a deal of opportunity, and it is, but.
[30:28] Speaker 1: Bod the pit palls are ugly and closing.
[30:31] Speaker 2: Actually, what would you recommend or what advice would you
[30:34] Speaker 2: give your Secrets to success?
[30:38] Speaker 3: Secrets of success?
[30:39] Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm a hard on myself,
[30:43] Speaker 4: so I'm always like I.
[30:44] Speaker 3: There's so much more to do.
[30:45] Speaker 4: But I think the biggest secrets to success is always
[30:50] Speaker 4: being available and adaptable to the pivots of life. I think,
[30:58] Speaker 4: especially as we continue to go throughout this crazy world
[31:00] Speaker 4: that we're in, it's very important to learn to do
[31:04] Speaker 4: that because you never know when the market is going
[31:10] Speaker 4: to change, and you know things are going to get
[31:13] Speaker 4: a little bit harder, and it's always best to understand
[31:17] Speaker 4: how to pivot, but also to prepare as best as
[31:20] Speaker 4: possible for those things, especially in entrepreneurship and being a creative.
[31:25] Speaker 4: Something that I am working towards helping hopefully more creatives
[31:30] Speaker 4: do in the next year is really learn how to
[31:34] Speaker 4: be smart with your finances and to understand you know,
[31:38] Speaker 4: how to form your LLCs and how that's a benefit
[31:41] Speaker 4: for taxes, and being able to make sure you're keeping
[31:45] Speaker 4: yourself covered and prepared for those rainy days. I think
[31:49] Speaker 4: that's the biggest secret to success that will never go
[31:53] Speaker 4: out of style, is being prepared and always.
[31:58] Speaker 3: Learning how to lean.
[31:59] Speaker 4: Into those pivots, because it's always there's always going to
[32:02] Speaker 4: be a pivot. Things are always going to be changing.
[32:04] Speaker 4: Who knows what the entertainment industry is going to look
[32:07] Speaker 4: like in the next even two years. You know, we've
[32:11] Speaker 4: seen the strikes, We've seen the detrimental effects that the
[32:14] Speaker 4: strikes are still having right now, and you know, hopefully
[32:18] Speaker 4: people are saying in twenty twenty five, you know, things
[32:21] Speaker 4: will get a little bit better, but they're still honestly
[32:25] Speaker 4: scraping the ground trying to figure out what happened. You know,
[32:28] Speaker 4: these higher ups at these at these executives and you
[32:30] Speaker 4: know at these at these networks. So it's always it's
[32:34] Speaker 4: important for us to be able to learn how to
[32:36] Speaker 4: create our own things for ourselves that we can profit
[32:40] Speaker 4: off of for the foreseeable future and not rely on
[32:45] Speaker 4: just pitching to these big execs and trying to work
[32:47] Speaker 4: at Netflix or Paramount. But being able to actually create
[32:51] Speaker 4: something for ourselves is very important, and I think that's
[32:54] Speaker 4: a big secret to success.
[32:55] Speaker 2: She's visionary. That's name of visionary, warm production that tieses
[32:59] Speaker 2: hefing Ashley. I appreciate you coming on the show. Her
[33:03] Speaker 2: real name Ashley Lauren er Rod. And you know her
[33:06] Speaker 2: dad after just left Roushon in the Dust Boy Chicago,
[33:12] Speaker 2: Richard Romfrey looking dude.
[33:14] Speaker 1: That was a dad, looked like Richard rot.
[33:16] Speaker 2: He was the everyday man Jack Beauty of the week,
[33:20] Speaker 2: handsome of the week.
[33:21] Speaker 1: He was making new to finding new parts out there.
[33:24] Speaker 2: But again, thank you for coming on Money Making Conversation
[33:26] Speaker 2: Master Class show.
[33:27] Speaker 1: I appreciate you.
[33:28] Speaker 3: Thank you so much. I really appreciate you as well. Resigned.
[33:31] Speaker 4: Thank you.
[33:32] Speaker 2: This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
[33:35] Speaker 2: hosted by me Rushawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests
[33:38] Speaker 2: on the show today and thank you listening to audience now.
[33:42] Speaker 2: If you want to listen to any episode I want
[33:44] Speaker 2: to be a guest on the show, visit Moneymaking Conversations
[33:47] Speaker 2: dot com.
[33:48] Speaker 1: Our social media handle is money Making Conversation. Join us
[33:51] Speaker 1: next week and remember to always leave with your gifts.
[33:54] Speaker 1: Keep winning the

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