4 years ago today, my parents watched me pull out of the
garage with my car packed of my belongings as I set off on a new adventure in
my life. The rain was coming down hard
and I picked up my friends John Roman and Amy Salzman who made the 2,596 mile
drive with only stopping for one night’s of rest (6 hours).
These four years have been the quickest, busiest, full of
knowledge, depressing, crazy, emotional years of my life. I am very thrilled
with how everything has turned out and wouldn’t change a thing. There were
times when offers in New York and Cleveland almost change my career path, but I
am confident I am exactly where I need to be. Some of my proudest moments
include:
- Working at Transition Entertainment and producing a short format show on the Disney Channel (over 20 episodes) before the age of 23.
- Line producing a pilot and completely managing the production with bigger name talent/crew on my own at the age of 25.
- Working for Aaron Sims, a true artist talent/guru and learning development and more in-depth preproduction process.
- Getting hired at A&E to learn the network side and continue to learn all sides of the industry so I can be well rounded and know exactly where I will like to work in the next few years.
- Produced a music video that aired on MTV and LOGO all on my own at the age of 22.
I hate to try to boast about my accomplishments as I am very
modest, but to see them in writing is motivating and continues to push me to achieve
more and more. The one thing I’ve learned in the past few months is to embrace
myself, stay true to myself and learn to be receptive and open to the feeling
of fulfillment and pride.
The friends I’ve made in California are truly the best. I’ve
made completely new friends and continued friendships I had from Ohio. Each
friend I have has helped me in their own respect and I thank each of you for
that, for helping me become the person I am today. I fell in love and had my
heart broken twice. I am oddly so grateful for each both relationships as it
has helped me realize the person I am, how I act in moments of complete despair
and what type of relationship I need to seek out going forward.
I’ve traveled a shit ton over the past 4 years. I’ve been
home to Cleveland over 12 times, been to Phoenix a handful of times, Sedona, Lake
Havasu, Las Vegas (not enough), Hawaii, Seattle, Mexico, New York, San
Francisco, San Diego, Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Upper Kern
River for white water rafting and the Great Sequoia National park. I cannot
wait to start adventuring outside of the US as well to Italy and other
countries around the world. Other notable experiences:
- I met Alanis Morissettte
- Got my first tattoo with Sarah.
- Helped raise Dexter and quickly learned I am not ready for a dog
- Seeing both cassie and evan the first night they moved to LA and sharing a very mutual, huge smile
- Sitting in my car at Mulholland drive, overlooking the city, surrounded in my own thoughts and excitement about life.
When I first moved to LA I did a lot of clubbing, partying,
after parties, etc. I am glad I went through that very quickly to get it out of
my system. It was a rite of passage to help me mature and stay focused on why I
moved to LA. Because a good party only lasts a night, but staying focused on
your PA job will open lots of doors. That’s not to say I didn’t show up
hungover multiple times to work, but I still showed up.
I’m very excited to see where the next four years take me,
and how I will feel when I look back and read this blog post, and the multiple
songs/lyrics that I have written. I am big on self-therapy, embracing our journeys
and witnessing our own self evolution. The biggest struggle that will never go
away is being so far from my family and friends. But knowing I have their full
support encourages me to stay to continue to follow my dreams. A dream turned
to reality thanks to my amazing parents. Here’s to the next four years.
