Advertising Brands and Hiring Real Genuine People with Jill Strickman

She's the founder of genuine, it's a real people company with over 25 years of experience, casting real people and who have compelling stories for consumer and healthcare advertising. All right, cool. She's a casting director, rock and roll. And today we're going to discuss women in business and media business, entrepreneurialship authenticity connection with people in conversation, telling real people's stories, ethics, and advertising, and you know, it she's all over the place.
So we're definitely going to go all over the place. So this episode is specifically focused for women empowerment. So I brought Jill here. She's a boss lady, in addition, how other genders can support, you know, females in divine femininity. So it's not just, you know, labeling oh, just women, but you know, it's important for everyone to be on the same playing field and to be fluid. So welcome, Jill. I I'm so grateful to have you here.
I am very happy to be here. It's a pleasure. Thank you for inviting me.
Yes, definitely. So tell us more about your company and why did you start at 25 years ago?
Okay. So the company is called genuine the real people company, and we find real people for well-known brands, for everything from super bowl commercials to consumer and healthcare testimonials to internet content. That's viewed by millions. I started, I was a photographer working for kind of a famous photographer and he went into film and he always wanted to use real people in his work. So I kind of switched. And then I, I, it, I decided to switch from photography to being a real people, casting director. And it was, I never even knew it existed, but because I was doing work with him, other people sort of found out about me and it sort of, it was like opportunities kept presenting themselves.
But years ago, I mean, there was no internet. We didn't even have like cell phones. Like it was a whole different world. I remember having sex of foam books, like how, in terms of finding people, it's like I was doing work all over the country and like someone would call for a project in Phoenix. And I have to order all the Phoenix film books, because how else would you reach out to somebody? So it's a very, very different world. Basically opportunities presented themselves. And I keep kept rising to the occasion and just saying yes and figuring it out. And I learned very quickly that the impact, what seemed impossible was possible because people would ask me to find all these different things and I would think, okay, I'll, I'll go for it.
And we'll go for it. When I had a baby things shifted because I wanted to be able to spend time with my, I used to travel a lot. Everything was back when I started was you, if you want to interview someone, you got on a plane and you went across the country and you interviewed them, things have changed. We do most of our work like this remotely now. And when I had a baby, I didn't want to be traveling so much. So I ended my, my business ended up ironically, expanding versus retracting with having a child, because what I realized is like, I'll stay at the helm and I'll train people to go out and travel and, and do all the interviewing. So I actually grew the business by having a family, which is very unusual
Kill. I wish I met you 25 years ago. I mean, this is so impactful. The power of yes, your curiosity, and then empowering yourself through the birthing of another child or maybe your first child
To eventually. But my first child was when things really expanded
Having a child and then a lot of women and people think when you have a child that you dismantle your dreams and goals, and I am one of the, I'm very much going to say I was that person. I haven't had children yet because everything I'd been birthing through, through my creativity of all the ventures I've done, I've been very successful. I'm so in deep gratitude and I wanted as a youngster to have a career and have children later. So I knew I was always having children later. I just knew it was in my stars. And I thought that by having a child, it would dismantle my, my dreams. However, I've come to terms along the way. I've seen one this whole entire time, I've been bursting, bursting these voiceovers painting, acting modeling, like producing, like I've been birthing.
These are my babies, but then I've also saw along the journey how, yeah. Sometimes mothers will take us six months off or a year off or a couple of years off. But then they saw in their flourish and their businesses. But actually by what I learned later on is I haven't had a child yet. I'm wanting to God willing in the near future, if it's meant for me, but to really what you said to outsource and have other people support the vision. And actually it takes a life of its own. You're the Oak tree. And then it's so much bigger than you. And it's about genuine people connecting and like really like internationally. Right. So, I mean, this is really beautiful. Thank you for sharing that story.
You're welcome.
Oh yeah. So where should we go from here? I mean, oh
Gosh, we could just go everywhere. So let's talk about all, everything will be in the show notes and people can go to the website if they're interested and they can sign up and be in your database. So then yeah,
And that had actually, I'd like to say clearly, like we have a database and when we have projects, we send out emails. We're also on socials. We're on Facebook and Instagram, genuine real people. And we post about our projects all the time and people hit a link and submit. So if you want to be in the database, you go to genuine real people.com and it will say, are you a real person? And then you go in and you can go to fill out a form to be part of the database. But people, you know, we tell people about all our opportunities and there really is a good chance that you'll be considered for something. So please go and sign up or follow us on Facebook or Instagram and you can see what's going on.
So that's really important. Yeah.
Thank you for sharing that. And I'm a union actor and I signed up, I signed up, I was really excited because as an entrepreneur and a person in business, I always want to sow seed. So it's like, I'm connecting with you and I'm, I'm in your database and we're connecting now. And maybe you'll think of me. And then maybe how is it when people sign up in the database, can they say hello on Facebook? Do they reach out and send you an additional reel or links? If they want you to see their work?
I can do that. A lot of times we ask for a lot of information about people. Like, what are your passions? What are your hobbies? And a lot of things happen where we're looking for someone, like for instance, it could be, we're looking for a content creator, someone who's doing the series. Like I saw you're doing the couples therapy. Like someone is interested in a relationship, like things will happen where they'll be looking for something very specific. There are clients that we have that will say we want, we don't want anyone who's been paid for performing or being filmed. And then there's other times it's like that. We want someone who authentically participates in something like it could be that they have a skill or a passion or that that's beyond just acting the thing.
That's interesting. We do also get jobs where we need to find actors. We've sort of covered all the though our quote, you know, we, our specialty is, and our expertise is in finding real people because there is a big distinction to be an actor is an art and a skill set. You just don't, you just it's people think like, oh, I want to be an actor. Like, it doesn't work that way. You can't like people come to us and say, oh well, we'll script the real people. And I'm like, oh, that's, I mean, it's so hard to read a script. Well, like that's such art and a skill and a real person really cannot do that. They just,
Oh, no. Like what happens is it's so funny. I've been in so many acting classes like with Susan Batson and Leslie Kahn. And what happens is all of a sudden, an actor gets on film and their shoulder goes up to their ear or their lip goes to their, their eyebrow. And it's like, weird things start happening when you're not using your language because we have thousands of, you know, muscles in our tongue and like things start happening when the camera comes on and I'm an actor and I studied the crap, but still, I mean, it's, you know, I still, you know, I, I know the fourth wall and stuff, but still there's, there's that level of how you respond to it 1000%. So a lot of people think, oh, I can do voiceovers, or I can just do acting. It's a craft. And you know,
Like being a writer and it's, it's something you spend practicing for a long time, you know, it's the 10th journey. And so being a real person and the type of stories we look for is really about just being yourself. Like, so we're not asking people to, to be somebody else or to like to perform for us or to, to, to work with a script. Or it's more tell me your story, share your story, share your experience. So that's very different and an actor can also share their story, but it's, but it's coming at it from a different lens versus asking them to be an actor.
You know what I mean? It's, it's them being themselves and sharing themselves.
Oh yeah. I want to dive into what you just said about sharing the stories and how more and more people are becoming more communicative about being authentic and trusting and sharing stories. I wanna, I wanna dive into all that, but first, you know, to just to end cap this whole bit. So during the pandemic, you know, this is probably a whole nother conversation, but so I was getting some auditions. Like we want real people and it's like, oh, I was with my mom, my dad, like I was with like everyone. I'm like, yo, these are real people. They could get some real money. And it was like, it was like a horizon commercial or something like that. And they were all nonunion except for me, but I'd never done like a cell phone thing. So I'm like, oh, okay. I asked the cashier and she was like, yeah, just go for it.
Cause like you haven't done anything because they want people who haven't been like in a, in a spot like that. So we went out for it. We had a call back. It was really cool. We didn't book it, but I was seeing these commercials online of like these real families and they're shooting from home. So, so, so you hire not only real people, but like, and, and union people, but then you can take like if there's union actors, cause there's a lot of entertainers on this listening, tuning into this podcast. And I have a lot of youngsters, a lot of like 13, 14, 15 year olds too. So, so if they're union or not union, they can sign up and then they can be a part of, you know, real people casting. And then, and then also like bring their family if it's the right fit. If they have a sibling or a dog,
The, the app. So there's union non-union and then real people. And non-union can also be real people too. Yes. But there are many times where it would be like, well, one person in the family can be an actor and then the rest of the families, just the family. But that's a great way of casting people, casting families, because it's quick and, and, and everyone can get involved and, and, and the, the after can kind of lead and tell like wrangle everybody what they're supposed to do. But there is now people will even self submissions, right? Like we don't necessarily, we don't bring people into the studio very often anymore. Right now, maybe that will change.
I
Prefer it. I think it's quality over quantity. I think our time and our energy is well spent with more self-care and self-love instead of, because we're emotional beings, especially being an entrepreneur, being an actor, being in entertainment, like as an artist where we need to be vulnerable and open and like real and raw. So there's like a transfer of energy and we can pick up other people's energies, especially other talents and production teams. I think it's almost better like to get a vibe like virtually for energy, you know, to protect that sacred energy. We can use it in a better way. Oh yeah. Preserve. When I do my reads, when I work with my coaches, they're like, yo like, like you're, you're a little challenge you're doing really well. And because I have this extra 45 minutes just to sit there and pray or meditate, to look over my characters, to really focus myself instead of like driving to one thing in LA and then driving to four things around town.
And I used to change him, you know, I had a whole closet in my trunk, you know, so we, it's the quality of the energy. Right. And the space and the time and how we connect with one another, you know, it's super important.
Interesting, interesting. I do agree. I think across the board, people have been given more time for self care during this. That's been one of the lessons of our pandemic. Like suddenly they're not community community, but it is interesting. You're talking about like, when you go for an audition and you're in like a waiting room with all this other talent and all their energies, it's like a whole thing unto itself. Right. Like,
Because we have collective energy, they, you know, people who are into praying and meditation and consciousness, when, when they say like, when people have a rain dance, you know, for like making, if rain needs the come or like people, when they yoga community prayer, when you meditate together somewhere that it's more powerful. So imagine being in a room with all this talent and they're all on their electronics and they have so many things going on, but it's, Crosswired, it's not a collective, like we're all there to like work, make money, book the job and live our dreams. So there's that collective consciousness. But I just think he is, maybe it's a bit haywire. So yeah.
Yeah. Often I think the only time we, we see people sometimes for a call back, like they might bring people in if they're available close enough. But yeah. So it everything's really changed. And the technology has given access to anybody like someone who's not trained to experiment and be creative, you know, as you said, like with, you know, getting your own home stuff going on, you know, but it does take across the board. It all takes energy and focus, you know, to be participating. However, you are
Real quick since you mentioned that, I just want to say, like, I'm not an affiliate with Amazon or whatever, but like you go to Amazon and you just type in like a lighting tripod it's $27 is Amazon choice. It's a, it's a tripod. It's amazing. It has a ring light. You put your cell phone, like right in the center, there's a hook. It comes with a Bluetooth remote where you can start and stop yourself. Like instead of using my Sony 6,500, some fancy camera, which is amazing, like I'll just have good lighting and just press start and stop myself. And cause a lot of times actors like we're by ourselves early, if you're a real person or anything, you're by yourself. And two, if you can source within, instead of sourcing without, then it's going to be more effective and you're going to have less nervous energy of, of getting it right. The perfectionist syndrome, the imposter syndrome, all that jazz.
So let's just nix that out of the way and you can get it for $27, you know? It's amazing. It's so good. Yeah. And one thing before we dive deep into that other thing we're going to talk about since we're on the topic of the business side, you know, I really, any advice I'll start with maybe one and then any advice through your 25 years of experience, I want to talk about like negotiations and payment and contracts. So, okay. So Jill has been in the game for over 25 years, so she knows what's up and works with the biggest brands and probably the newest boutique-y brands. So the full spectrum and it's about quality content and ethics, morals, and values, right? So she knows what's up and she's a business woman. So she she's been around the block.
So like, if you go somewhere like Craigslist, maybe you're not getting the best deal. And like a lot of these things, they can sign your life away forever or like, you know, so there's terms, there's always new negotiations with new media, with YouTube, with, you know, the no ways people can view, not just, you know, TV, there's the streaming contracts. So you want to check in, if it's a six month contract, one year contract, just know the contract before signing anything. And like, you know, if you have an attorney, look at it, honestly, you pay no fees to an entertainment attorney. They take 5% from the deal. And if you have a friend, great, a lot of people maybe don't have that resource. There's a lot of resources out there like legal zoom or whatever. I'm not an affiliate with them either, but there's places you can go to find an entertainment attorney that doesn't take money from you.
They just take 5% for doing your deal. You want to make sure you're not signing your life away. A lot of artists I seen so many times, they blame and shame the company that whoever the casting director and blaming is so immature, blaming yourself is immature blaming. Anyone is not business. It's not show blink, it's show business. So you're signing a contract, you're getting a cool opportunity. That's all great. And I'm so happy for y'all, but show up. And you know, I've had to turn down a lot of beauty campaigns and stuff because they're going to stay, use your rights for like ever, and you might not want to take that deal. So that's my 2 cents about, I would love to hear Jill, take it away, please. So
Interesting in terms of contracts, when we're given a project as part of our initial specs, it's how was what's the usage? How is it going to run? How long is it going to run? What's the payment, what are their conflicts? So if you're in sad, you're protected because there's a structure. So, so really where it becomes an issue is when you get in the non union realm and does have some caveats now for non-professionals where you can, they don't have to pay the sad contracts. But I think with what often we try to do is when we put something out, we try to put the terms that really clearly like, this is what you're going to get for the day.
And then if you are edited in, this is the usage and this is how long it will be. And we often, you know, it's this term imperpetuity, which is the one to flag. If it's imperfectly, they could use it forever. Often. They don't, you know, use it forever. But that's the one where we're always trying to say to the clients just put two year and then it would to be where it could be renewed, but often.
Great. Thank you for that. I appreciate that. You're, you're putting a fork in the road for, you know, for humanity, for the natural business. So you're doing that
However many years and then there's an option to renew and with the same terms, like that's often what people will do. I mean the more professional or, or subs or substantial a good company is, is going to put out something that's clear when they, I mean, if it's not pretty clear, I mean, people do try to do it in perpetuity. That that does how I see it. I see it. And I'm always trying to say, like, we always try to say, yeah, you don't want, and the other thing with now with the internet, you don't want people to feel taken advantage of because it's very easy for people to go up on social and start yelling and screaming that they feel that they were taken advantage of. And you don't want talent of any sort, we're real people to feel that way that you want them to feel like it was a great opportunity.
It was fun. It was interesting. And it was fair.
Exactly. And just so the talent who's listening, this is valuable, great, insightful information. And you know, it's not emotional. People are just showing up. It's like data, they're hitting their marks, they're doing their job and they're leaving. They hired you. They're working with you. They like, you they'll keep you in mind for future stuff. You don't have to like oversell yourself after you signed the contract and you're doing the job, just do your job, do a great job and then leave. And just like say a prayer and gratitude and just be, be kind and spread some goodness, you know? And if you signed a contract and you can't talk about it on social media, don't do that as a very big no-no, even though you're excited and you want to share these things, but harness that energy, you know, thank you. Thank you for sharing that insightful, beautiful information. It's so important.
Great.
I think when, when you're you see opportunities, it's good to ask what the terms are like what upfront, like trying to get information upfront because you don't want them to book you. And then you go on to say, you don't know what's going on. That's when it gets uncomfortable. Like try to find things out upfront, you know, often, you know, when someone starts bringing a lawyer in at the end of the process, sometimes it's like, oh, we're not, you know, these are the terms either. They're going to accept what we're offering or they're not there isn't, unless it's a really big project or in the after world, in the non-union and real people world, it's, they're not gonna, it is what it is.
And you have to look at what it is and decide if you're going to do it. And, you know, everyone needs new content and new things to share and show. So, yeah, I think it's just, I mean, you could also Google, like there's tons of information online about contracts and what to look out for. You could look things up, but most reputable companies, I, in my twenty-five years, I, you know, people listening are going to be really, like, I haven't had that many things where I felt like, I mean, I wouldn't take on a job where I felt that people were being taken advantage of. So a lot of it's also the type of people that you're, you know, the casting companies and like most people I know, like, we'll fight for fairness, like to say, like, you know, you want, you don't want people to feel taken advantage of.
Right. And what you said is Google is amazing and you know, the people can do the research. And I mean, once you find yours, then they suggest others that are similar. So once you find one good one, and this is a good one, then it'll suggest similar things. You're posting things, you're in the community. You're adding people, tagging people. So an actor has to be kind of like a scientist to do the research, or even like the real people. If you're not like a crafted actor, but you want to get involved in entertainment and be on TV and commercials and things like that. So what are some of the favorite projects you've cast so far? I mean, it's a lot, but I guess maybe it refills
So many. We do a lot of work for dove, which is always interesting because dove likes real beautiful women of all shapes and sizes. And there's an awareness about self-esteem and, and empower women empowerment. And the process is often lengthy because people can not have been like, you couldn't be a dove woman because you're an actor you have. Yeah. You have
Tarny. I grew up on dove. My mom uses dove
The way they do. They want them to be women who have not, are not in the professional world, like of entertaining for death. So that's when he's on
Screen, maybe difference maybe for voiceovers,
Voiceover, they may use talent. Yes. That's true. Voiceover. And especially if there's a lot of scripts and things like that, what else have we worked at recently? We worked on a healthcare.gov campaign, which were people who got their insurance through healthcare.gov and how that's helped their lives. We do a lot in the pharma space with people, with all kinds of conditions. Wow.
That's big money, big pharma. Oh my God. I did a commercial one time. Yo, I got so much money from that commercial. It was insane. How much money they have? Yeah. What
Was it? What was the disease? The condition,
What was it? Geez. What was it? What was it? What was it? Geez, what was it? Oh gosh. It's not coming to me is, I don't know. It was like some, some little pill of a tic-tac. It was like to help people with something. I don't remember What it was. It was a union gig though. It was union. It was, it
Was nice where you get all the residuals. We done a lot of work over the years for Microsoft finding people who are innovators in their fields or incredibly creative. And they're given, you know, the Microsoft products, like the surface or all the windows products and have them use them in their work and see how that is. And that's always interesting. Cause it's finding, you know, these incredibly innovative and successful people in all different areas. Yeah. Yeah. It really is across the board. The stuff we work on a few years ago, we did a big project for curing with James cordon. So that was interesting. That was in LA. So it was, we had to have the real people come in and they didn't know he was there and then they were interacting with him and it was very funny, you know, and he was having them try all the coffee.
And I think it was for one of the ones that made like lattes and cappuccinos and you know, so yeah, if you go to our website, I mean, there's a ton of work there and it really spans every industry and you know, all a lot, a lot, a lot of big brands. We did a project for chase where we had to find, we've done a lot of small business owners recently and we ended up finding a couple that may have were beekeepers and made honey. And that was their company. They were hunting pretty interesting. So it really it's either. We do a lot of searching for very specific kinds of asks. Some of the, one of the funny things over the year, someone reminded me this of recently is I had a pro, this person met me and she heard me get up.
I was like at a networking event and I got up and I explained to her, I wasn't. And I said, right now we're looking for people in heroic professions, like firefighters who used to have a bedwetting problem as a child. And it was for one of these like pull up companies to say, you know, they were trying to say, your child may have a problem like this, but they can grow up to be like this fierce, you know, heroic person, even if that had like, it's very common. Like, but things like that, there was always like this twist to things that we're looking for.
Well, the human brain, I guess, according to Dr. Joe Dispenza, we have 60 to 70,000 thoughts per day, 90% of those thoughts at the same sauce. So it's like the creative writers, like wanting to create something new in a comical way to make people laugh and just break that ice to be more authentic and say, Hey, we're all human here. Anything could happen from the spectrum from baby to hero.
Right? And that's often the most resonant things when it strikes something that we all can like people can relate to. And like from a different angle or the, like our work is also known for the emotional resonance of a bunch of years ago, we did a project for British airways where we had a fight, a man, an Indian man whose mother was living in Mumbai and who was living in Mumbai. The ma his mom was living in Mumbai. He's Indian living in New York. So the idea was the mom was supposed to send food for her son to New York. Like they would British airways would pay to have the food delivered.
That was the con. But really they blew him over to Mumbai. And when the person who was supposed to come to pick up the food, he showed up and they had cameras all set up and she was like a big surprise. And she didn't, she didn't know it. And yeah, so it was very emotional.
Yeah. That's a huge surprise.
She hadn't seen him in a really long time. Wow. It was really, really, yeah. And they had food cause she had meal. Things are, you know, there are some things where we, we create surprises. We've done a lot of that or people just who use products and love them, you know, or, or people who are just doing really interesting things in the community. We had to find truck drivers who would be willing to adopt dogs. So it was for pedigree and ExxonMobil. So it was, it was about the companionship between and the relationship between the dog and the, and the truck driver And all about the adoption process.
And it was all about the story about, you know, their lives and being on the road. And so things, that's another interesting example.
Anything is possible literally, if someone's like listening and you're like, yo, could I be the one? Yes, you are the one. Oh, but I'm not, I'm not interesting. I'm boring. I just that's, that's who, that's who they want the most, if you think you're so boring, you have nothing to offer. Like it's something it's, if you're a truck driver or like you're a nurse or like not to say those jobs are boring, but it's just human beings. You know, my, one of my producing partners said to me, like, you're just so used to yourself. We get so used to ourselves. We don't think our uniqueness is in there, but to someone else we're brand new, you know?
Yeah. So it could be something very basic, like, you know, like it's sort of like universal problems or issues or, or what we share. And some it's really about how people share their experience and their stories and their everyday life. You know?
So now that circles those back around, what I wanted to shadow talk about is, so you're saying real people. So like, just be you, we just want to see how you are. If like, okay, here we are having a conversation and how we were before the chat and how we are with, you know, my mom or my, whoever, just who, how we are, how we are. So how are ways people can show up of who they are when one is still discovering who they are. And a lot of people don't even like, some people know who they are, but some people don't go on the journey of self discovery to know who they really are. And so what are some ways for people to discover who they are and then show up and bring that to, you know, the project,
You know, what's interesting is often when we put something out, it's very structured of what we're looking for. So it's someone who fits we're screening for a certain type of person, whether it be, it could be anything that we're screening for, but you know, someone who can juggle, like I'm making this up, like where someone who has a skill or someone who has had a certain type of experience where a mom or dad, or, or someone who has siblings. So they're coming for us, they're coming to something that has some strength sense of a structure. But what's interesting is really it's about what you described earlier on in our conversation where, you know, it's finding your center and finding your calm and being comfortable with who you are.
So you can be open and you have access to all like, it's really just showing up as your best self by taking care of yourself. You know what I mean? Like not being anxious, not being worried, not overthinking, you know, just being open and to get to that place. Like we were talking about people have different processes to get there, whether it's meditating or breathing or going out for a run or talk, laughing with a friend or, you know, like everyone has a different way. They get their nervous systems calm and they can be themselves and be able to connect with other people.
I love that. I love that. And I want to add one thing to it, to take it a step further because I do it all the time. And I think maybe I'm doing it. We're all human. We're all doing it. There's always going to be an excuse or reason. Oh, but this person, or I have this, or this is my circumstance. So what we do instead of dismantling and making it separate where we make it a part of our circumstance, we make it a part of us and be befriend that irritation be friend that annoying partner or mom or dad or roommate or whoever or dog or whatever it is that noisy neighbor. And just be like, okay, that's a part of my irritation. That's a part of my collective instead of separating it, make it a part of it. And then take a deep breath through that and utilize that through your work.
Because it's who you authentically are in the given circumstance of the, now it's not maybe who you want to be is how you don't want people to perceive you. But when we see people it's like, we know within 33 seconds, like we read someone like we know it's like an intuitive hit. Our hearts are so powerful. We have over 40,000 neurons in our heart alone. Like our hearts are so powerful. So it's like when you're showing up, no matter what you say and what you do not say, people feel the energy, even through a virtual people are smart. That's why it's like when you're watching films commercials. And that's why it's so intuitive of what Jill does in her work. Because when people are watching the screen would just by visualizing, people are going to collectively pick things up because we're energetic beings and we're going to have that intuitive hit.
And we're going to know like, this is like all for like, ah, that's so funny. What, what made that funny? Because it just, it just was, but you have to bring it all to the table. You have to just show up with all of who we are and be like, rawr. And just like, this is who we are. And it's like, you know, it's like a bit of this and a bit of this. It's not going to be a, a polished Monet. And if you've seen Monet, it's like a bit, it's a bit wavy, you know what I'm saying?
And
That's real and genuine. Right.
But it's being able to have access to all, all of, all of that stuff, you know? And, and also just being present, you know, and taking a red, like putting yourself, like, as you said, you got to put yourself out there, you got to put energy out. Right. And you have to, you know, like, especially with this type of thing, like you have to apply to possibly have the opportunity. It's like anything in life, you have to kind of lean into it, like go out there, take a risk. And sometimes it's going to work out. Sometimes it's not that you'll learn along the way. And just the experience of doing it can be very interesting and illuminating.
So what you said earlier, the power of yes. Showing up applying, oh, you might have this knowledge, but actually hack it and apply it because we could go all day having all this information. Once we have the research, but showing up and saying, yes, which deep dives me into, what are some takeaways you can share with the audience of, you know, impactful quality choices for showing up for oneself in business to pivot, to scale, to make money to monetize and what are some things, take it away on a personal and then, and or professional level that you, what are some do's and don'ts that you've learned along the way that can utilize for others to walk upon their journey for success.
Wow. That's a big question
We have all day, but it's all over the place.
What have I learned? And, you know, it's interesting. Cause I, you know, when I was growing up, I had no idea that being of, I think I knew about casting directors, but being a real person, casting director, like what, I'm, what I have created. I had no idea existed, like just zero idea. And it was being open to opportunities and using my skills and what I was good at, like going, following that trajectory that led me to finding this niche. And I think what's made us successful is one having, we don't over promise. So I think it's really important to set realistic expectations and then to be able to go be up like exceed the expectations.
I think sometimes people will go into situations and over promise and under deliver. And that always kind of leaves a sour feeling at the end, where if you go in with realistic expectations and then the outcome is even better, you're you end up in a positive place? I don't know.
I have a question if that's okay. Cause I want to dissect that because there could be one person who has a real, a realistic expectation. Let's say we write those down, but some people they've their egos or they have so much trauma that they've been told. No. And to place small, there are realistic expectations might be very small. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, someone like me who grew up reading poetry and Greek mythology with fantasies and mark Twain, like sky's the limit. So my practicality might not be as practical as a practical could be. So how can one kind of find the happy medium of having a realistic, practical goal? What does that mean? If you don't don't have you have it like yourself when you did it pay the way you went through curiosity and you created from the clear canvas and created something, which is the ultimate mastery of love and the ultimate divine way of being here on the earth.
So, I mean, it's such a gift that you empower yourself to do that, but it's a gift and not everyone has a gift. So what are some practical steps for people who need to find that happy medium of finding a like big dreams here are the lowest, but here are the practicals. And how many should we have? Like three to five.
Well, I think having big dreams are just wonderful. And I think I'm not saying at all, we shouldn't have big dreams, but I think we have to break in order to, to achieve a big dream. You have to break it down into small parts to get there and you have to start, you know, so you're, and, and I think everything is a process. You're not necessarily I haven't, and you have to be open to opportunities because you know, there's a path along the way. And then sometimes something big happens and you have to be willing to jump. You know, you, you may be a big stretch to get there, but I think having being realistic about, but you know, it's like I say, the impossible is possible. So, and I'm saying don't over promise.
But, but even in that, like let's say someone comes to us and asks for us to find something that seems impossible. We can say, okay, this is a vision. This is our goal. And these are the strap, all the strategies we're going to work to get to that goal. We don't know exactly what's going to happen. And along the way, we're going to communicate what what's going on, what obstacles we have our solutions to getting around them. I think it's more digging into the process and being authentic along the way without being negative or like complaining, you know what I mean? Like it's like, you know, setting, setting goals, breaking them down into smaller goals, setting, celebrating all the victories along the way.
But I think big dreams are what you know, are wonderful. Wonderful, but then break it down into little ones to achieve. So you can gain momentum.
I think that's kind of a roadmap where one has to, when they're an actor like researching to get involved in any job, that's, that's the interpersonal work. That one needs to have the self-discipline to kind of have a journal of writing down all the big dreams, then writing down practical dreams and maybe writing down things where maybe I play myself small and this is what other people have that I would like to have, but I don't feel like I'm worthy enough. So it's like, there's different sectors of it for a big overall thing. But then it sounds like through the journey of that, having one or two trusted sources of people, you can communicate with to put brainstorming ideas out there without mucking it with the negativity and not complaining.
Cause when we're complaining, we're dragging ourselves down. It's, it's pivoting the attention of what we do not want to create. And so maybe have a separate journal of like writing down all the fears and things that could go wrong, but keeping that separate from the good stuff. Right. So, and having, having that, however one wants to organize that. But I think it's really important to have that out there because no one knows what chill really ultimately wants. When you started this 25 years ago, you didn't know what you were doing. Like you said, you were just on this.
I was just going, I didn't plan it out at all. I just, I had opportunities and I went for them and one thing led to another and I had to learn quickly, you know, oh, I'm paying people. I better, we've got a payroll company. Oh, you know what you need along the way. It wasn't like a big planned out company, which is for some people, their companies are more planned out than what my experience was. But I also think, you know, there's when you're talking about our, our, our, we can have big dreams and big ideas. And then a lot of our psychological, we get triggered and our old wounds and our, our psychological issues hold us back. So I, I think like this idea of it gets intermingled, unfortunately, but you know, you always have to work on that.
You know, I have a friend who's who has a business and she's a public speaking and an influencer. And, and she went on a group, like it was one of these conferences and she spoke and she was like, oh, she didn't think she did well. And I watched and I'm like, what are you talking about? Like it was, you know, maybe it wasn't your best though. It was who was good, like, but it was something in her was triggered from other stuff, you know, like it didn't have to do with their reality. So you gotta be aware of your issues and your triggers and stuff that may interrupt you getting going forward. Does that,
Jill, I love what you just said. And I just, I, what keeps coming up for me where I want to really add value and to make this a sweet spot moment is for the listener tuning in gab or Montay, the wisdom of trauma, you can binge them for 16 hours on YouTube. T E the wisdom of trauma, just everything about him. He under to break down trauma and to understand that we're all, you know, traumatized from the start at the beginning. Also a couple of times coming up in the conversation, what came up is the four agreements by Don Miguel, Ruiz, R U I Z, Miguel Ruiz, the four agreements, there's four agreements. And the one thing you were just mentioning in your story is for your friend, who's the speaker and for the people tuning in and for ourselves.
And in the beginning of the day, I'm going to do my best today. At the end of the day, during the day, I'm having a day, I'm doing my best. I'm doing my best. At the end of the day, I did my best for, you know, I didn't do my best, but tomorrow I can maybe do better. So all we can do is our best and my best 100%, right. Even if I do 80, people are like, oh my gosh, because all of our energies are different. So your best 100 is going to be so different than somebody else. Best 100. So have that space. I always say the 80, 20 rule, how the space like do your best at 80%. And let people think like, oh, that's your best, but keep that 20% for the unknown, for the pivots, for the excitements to jump up and down and the opportunities that come about, but have that space for self-compassion.
And self-love when we're human and the audience and the people know, and if he has to do another take and stuff, they know we're human. We'll just do another one. We'll just do another one and create that, that 20% cushion for ourselves first. And then we can be that and understand that for others as well, because we're all going through stuff. And I think during the times of 2020, we all have that space and reality to kind of ground in practicality of, Hey, she has stuff going on. This person has stuff going on. They have stuff going on. So do I. And so there's that new cushion, I think, which is really beautiful.
That's one of the silver linings right. Of pandemic.
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Definitely. Cool. Okay. So, so what are some things like not to do when you're a talent, trying to reach out to casting about opportunities? What are some things just, you just don't want it do.
I think I'm reaching a lot of people reach out to me a lot. Just randomly like send me pictures, send me, and often I'll, we'll say, you know, we're so busy working on what we're like, it will come in. It's like, oh, if they don't apply to what we're working on at that moment, like, it kind of gets lost. So different of casting directors and companies have procedures. Like for us, I'd be like, go put yourself in the database because you're going to put in all this information about you and we're going to let you know of everything we're working on. Like, so you'll have access. I think it's following the protocols of people. What people ask, like, how come people want you to approach them? I think people can, it can be very overwhelming.
Of course, if you have a friend or a family member who knows somebody, you know, it's always nice to meet people in a social way. And then they get to know who you are. And then, then you're in there. It's all like topic. One thing I do have to say, I believe, I do believe in top of mind. And I do believe the more you're you're in, someone's on the radar on some level, and it gets some people's brains.
Yeah. Impact making an impact. But how are you choosing to show up with your voice and make that impact? You can do it in indirect ways where it's like, you can get new fans in a social way to sow a seed to build, right? Like for example, people can follow you on the Facebook and Instagram and you can socially, they can, maybe they're tagging.
I like participating on feeds. Yeah. That's a good way to get noticed
Reposting
Something, reposting something. Or like, if someone you want to get to know is posting about something you could respond. People do really look at, you know, how many likes and what were the comments like, that's a great way to get like, noticed by somebody. So if you like target a person that you're trying to get an, if you start going onto their LinkedIn and go like how, wherever they are and start participating in a way, they'll get to know who you are. So they'll know your name. And then when it comes up in a different setting and be like, I know pepper.
Yeah. Even if you've never met him, you feel like, you know?
Yeah. So I, I think the social media really does allow people to get involved in the conversation in places that you never could before. Okay.
And then what I would like to share from my experience, because, you know, and in school, I didn't, there wasn't like school on social media or anything. So for the, for the human being who wants to maybe get past the ego with minor, any like manipulative things, how I'm going to get ahead, brain hack things is it's past the ego with mine, it's business. It's a smart business tactic to do, to be socially involved. If it authentically excites you, if there's something about elephants or monkeys, I'm like, oh, really? Like, yo, and I'm going to repost it. I'm going to repost it. I'm going to tag it and be like, congratulations, I'm honoring you because I'm gifting my energy. And I'm honoring this person and they're on a platform that I want to be on and I'm lifting them higher.
And they're seeing that I'm giving them accolades because we all just want to keep reaching ourselves higher. And we're only as strong as our weakest link. So that person I'm getting chills is going to see yo, I just honor them. They're going to say, who is that person? Oh, she's into elephant Sue. That's so cool. Like, we have a connection of elephants. That's how we're socially really authentically connected. And then it's, you're not going to be in your brain of like how to do it. You're just naturally going to be in a flow of like, what's happening. You're following the people. You're reposting them. You're writing comments there. They're gonna be like, oh, that you're going to get the dopamine hit. Who who's that? Who's that person that wrote that comment. Oh my God. She's from, she's all over the place podcast. Oh, cool. Yeah. That was a really fun conversation.
I got a lot of value and insight from that, that that's really me and that's gonna warm Jill's heart. And she's going to see that, that like you took time and because, you know, Gary V says the number one, most valuable thing we have is our attention. We only can be focusing on one thing at a time. So for the listener tuning in for Jill being here for me being here, we're showing up together for you right now. It's the macro universal law of authenticity and truth. And you know, it's more than just us. It's, it's a collective. So it's those Caroline might, she's a mystic intuitive. And she thinks people who do the macro is like the big thing, the move. No, it's the micro, the, the example of, we just showed you how to sow seeds, the micro of communicative being authentic and genuine through social media.
And it's a lot of ways people are connecting now because there's fewer events because of what's happening in the world. So, and then it's more fun. Cause we're being real with us instead of putting something on.
Yeah. Yeah. It's like the, where focus goes energy flows, right? Like, ah, yeah. Like what we focus on expands. And I do think to your point, the more you could connect with people over like very specific things, the more you're going to get noticed or, or, or, or write something up, like some thought has gone into it versus just being like congratulations or happy birthday, you know, you know, vanilla kind of niceties.
Yeah. Cool. So I want to hone it in here. I want to ask kind of like advertising. So anything you want to share in the space of advertising, what it means to you, how the process is anything, anything that you can communicate with the listener would be awesome.
Well, my business is primarily finding people for advertising. That is my universe. And I find it fascinating. Like, as you said in advertising, there are enormously creative minds and people. And like you were saying, when you get to see scripts early, like you're on the cusp of what the thinking is or what the waves are that people are, you know, that companies are trying to ride. So it is, I find advertising fascinating. And I've been really lucky to be involved with creative people in campaigns that are like the top, you know, the, the top of the top. And, and they're often is, you know, in advertising when something is smart and works and hits an emotional or human cord, there's like nothing like it.
Right? Like there's nothing like where it's funny, you know, humor like it, it really is. And yes, the objective is to sell something, you know, that they are trying to have us open our pockets and purchase, but I'm kind of, I don't know. Like I feel like we all need lots of different things. So, you know yeah. In terms of, I mean, I don't see advertising as like a negative. I feel like it's very creative inspiring. And you know, it's your choice of whether you want to support what you're seeing or not.
And are these advertising companies primarily still in New York or where do you find, where are they now? In the,
The first century we work with agencies all over the country and the world that we work with. A lot of agencies in London do a lot of hubs for corporations. Like we'll be out of London. You know, the work will come from London. Yeah. So it's all, it's all over working with agencies. Another trend in advertising is a lot of companies have brought their advertising in house. So they have like an in-house agency, like Peloton. We worked on some projects with Peloton and they, they have like an in-house creative group. So, so that's been a shift. It's not all agencies. Also. They might, companies are using multiple agencies for different things versus just one where, where there'd be an agency of record that did everything.
There is more divided up now,
Voiceovers all the time. Good spots. And it's cool because like sometimes when you find it it's there in house, but sometimes I'm boutique-y and house, but then sometimes if you have an ad advertising agency, like you get like a Gillette campaign, then they're working on so many other products. Like, you know, so it's like, you can get that ad agency and then boom, you're like booked on maybe like seven to eight other campaigns that they could just somehow
We'll hear you or see you. And remember, it's the same thing they'll remember you, and then they'll have something else they're working on. They're like, who is it? Like often we'll be like, you know, that person we saw for this, could you get them back for something else? But that happens a lot
Creatives tuning in, see what we said earlier, the importance of showing up, doing the work, doing your job, leaving the emotional stuff out of it and being professional because then when they're like, oh, who is that person they're like, oh yeah, but she wasn't begging me for the next job. She wasn't like all emotional saying, oh, I hope to work with you again. Like, just be like, I mean, obviously, yeah. I hope to work with you again, or, you know, but be professional, like when you're like actually communicating and onset and then in the emails follow up with, you know, being professional as well. But if that's fine line of the art of communication, I mean, that's a great book, right? The art of communication is super important. Oh, cool. Cool. So yeah, honing it in here. How can people find you?
And any last words you want people to know,
They can find it's a genuine, real people.com. That's our website. And we are on Facebook and Instagram. I'm on LinkedIn as well, but go on and, and go into our database. That's the best way to connect because we need to use the database all the time. So it's our way of reaching as well, social the social channels. But you know, when we put things out, we asked people to submit, submit, submit your stories, submit, tell us who you are and it could happen. It could definitely happen because we are always looking for people for all kinds of projects
Nationally. It doesn't matter where you are. If the client really likes you, they will send you all of the equipment. So don't stop yourself from
It's true. Like everyone sends kits now. Like there are these kits, right? Yeah. The world just opened up. So yeah. So it's, it's, it's fun. It's fun to, to, I mean, I guess as a professional, it's not always so fun. Cause it's work.
No, it's fun. It's fun. It's totally fun. The whole process is fun.
Yeah. And, and, and, and you have to get into the process. We'll get into, you know, submitting yourself doing a self-report, you know, and just putting it out there. It's energy out. And the more energy you put out, it comes back. Whether it's met direct place or from somewhere else.
And what you just said, I guess my biggest takeaway from what you just said is what I said earlier about being self-sufficient. So just getting the lighting kit for the tech, to be able to, just to take myself for an audition, because they know it's an audition. It doesn't, it's not going to be look like camera ready for the TV or whatever. However, the most important thing I would like to share is through my journey thus far, along the way, being self-sufficient. And then when something is stressing me out, or if I'm getting emotional or something keeps going, and I'm only as strong as my weakest link, but I'm not talented or skilled in this area, I be vulnerable. And I asked for help and I say, I get coach. And I say, what that thing is to take the pressure off. Or if I'm hired on somebody, like, yeah, I can do like 98 of these things, but that 2% over there you're you might want to find someone else because it's going to weigh me down for me doing that 90% of the amazing stuff I know I can do.
Can we just offset that? And by communicating with people and letting them know, like, actually I don't have a car, I can't get there or you know, something and oh, okay. Well just why don't you just put yourself on the laptop on, on blah, blah, blah. Like people will help you and give you information instead of dismantling and sabotaging and not showing up, just communicate what that link is that's going to make or break the deal. And then that person like Jill or someone on our team could say, Hey, we'll just do this because they are creative. They have a million ideas of what you can do. They want you to show up and be the best authentic you in the moment of now. Like not the perfect you are the you that you want to be 10 years from now, who knows. If we're going to be here just now, like do our best today
Within this community. Everyone wants to like, we want you to be great. Right? Cause that makes us shine. Like, you know, we want to find interesting people. We want people to be at their best. No one's going against you. It's all we want to bring out the best. Just keep showing up. That's right.
Bigger than everything that we just what'd you say? Go
Ahead. Okay. Completed my thought. Okay.
Okay. Yeah. Just bigger than everything we've talked about here. Like, you know, work, entertainment, advertisement, money, deals, contracts being human on the planet. We want to have fun here. We want to play. It's why we're here. Curiosity, fun. Play let's hold hands and do it together. Although we may be divided by the unknown. Let's learn and grow from one another. If we don't know something like it's okay. You know, it's totally fine. Just have a lot of fun and play. Yeah. I love that. Yes. Yeah. Well, this has been an impactful conversation and Jill Streetman, I would love to invite you back to she's all over the place one day in the near future. Anytime you want to come on, please let's have a coffee. Yes. We'd love to do that.
Okay, cool. Yeah. Chacho macho or we'll go somewhere. You, you pick the place. We'll we'll go somewhere. Okay. Okay, cool. We'll go to Chacho macho. I love it. There. It's so cute.
Sounds great. You are all over the place and the best of what I'm curious and energetic and thank you. This was a lot of fun.
I mean, you're, you're amazing. You're an angel. You paid the way for 25 years, plus for me and so many fellow artists and humans out there. So I'm in deep gratitude for you. And to honor you on the show, it's really amazing. You're an angel in the world and just keep shining and spreading your light. I'm really grateful. Thank you. We need you
For having these conversations and shining the light so that people can learn from each other.
Yeah, definitely. Cool. Cool. Okay. Everyone, you just tuned into she's all over the place. So follow Jill everywhere. Sign up, fill out the form if you're interested. Cause if you're listening, you probably are. Oh, and yeah. Just connect with me further. You can just contact me. Imagine [email protected]. I love you so much. Check out, you know, my website to knox.com and all the videos on the YouTube. Katie . I love you so much. See you shine bright. Do your best pick up the four agreements. You'll love it. Also his book mastery of love is amazing. So definitely check out mastery alive. All right. Over and out. See you next time.
Ciao. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next time. Kyriaki, over and out.