Camera Ready & Abel Barbara Abel

I used to think sales was a dirty word, especially when it came to selling myself and my services. I know I'm not alone in this, which is why I am excited about this episode with Aleasha Bahr who shares everything you need to know about sales. 
We're all in sales - whether you're selling yourself to an employer in an audition or job interview or pitching your idea to a network or for financing or trying to get your boss or team to buy into your idea. 
Aleasha is a woman in a male-dominated industry who is calling out the common lies in sales - primarily, that sales is a one-size-fits-all proposition and that you have to do things that feel “weird” or "yucky" and out of alignment to close the deal.
Aleasha says embrace the Black Sheep Sales Method instead:
Find your tribe and thrive (because if it's a fit, it's a fact)
Ask yourself: what are better questions I could be asking?
Put yourselves in your customer's shoes (empathy)
Focus on what makes your customer's life better/easier
Customize your pitch to motivate your customer
Prioritize building relationships and you naturally sell yourself
Try different approaches to see what works best for you
Be mindful of reputation management
Try this action step: I am going to innovate my approach to pitching myself by innovating my approach to ______ (fill in the blank). Aleasha explains how around 25 minutes into the episode.
Learn How to Sell Like a Natural via Aleasha's Sales is NOT a Dirty Word podcast + so much more on Aleasha's website including how you can work with her.
Listen to Aleasha and me discuss How to Stand Out in a Saturated World.

Creativity is the ability to create, produce, or develop original work theories, techniques, thoughts and ways of seeing. You are creative, whether you tap into it or not, and you take your creativity wherever you go, and I think it's often overlooked how valuable creativity is as a transferable skill: the abilities you take from job to job.
Here to discuss is BAFTA-nominated television director, Ed Bazalgette, who exemplifies creativity as a transferable skill, having first found success as a musician, then editor, and now director and producer. I first met Ed when he was the lead guitarist for The Vapors, supporting their global hit, Turning Japanese, and I've been a super fan ever since. Please do yourself a favor and check out the power-pop majesty of their full albums, New Clear Days and Magnets.
Ed's directing credits include Dr. Who, Poldark, The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, and The Witcher. 
Ed opened my eyes in so many ways:
stay humble
there's room for more than one person's creativity on a project
creating an environment that fosters sharing creative ideas serves the project
leadership, communications and soft skills are essential
never stop learning and questioning what's in service of the story
combine a let's try it! mentality with discipline
the ripple effect of creativity as a transferable skill because the more you put out there, the more everybody working with you takes with them to the next thing they do
Ed's currently in post-production on Marie Antoinette for PBS.
For more on creativity, listen to Maria Brito discuss how Creativity Rules the World.
For more on breaking into directing, listen to Mike Simon discuss Directing Talent.

If you want to know how to build a sustainable and successful career, then look no further because this episode of Camera Ready & Abel delivers a masterclass from 2 titans of the unscripted television world, Roni Selig and Marcie Mulé.




Roni is a multi-Emmy-winning producer whose credits span from GMA to CNN most recently launched a new digital platform for The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and executive produced The Call to Unite, a 24-hour global livestream event, hosted by Tim Shriver in response to the COVID 19 pandemic.  




Marcie is a two-time Emmy-winning producer for the Bravo series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and the former co-founder of Picture This Television, a full -service production company that created programming for Bravo, Lifetime, TLC, Food Network, MTV and PBS.  




Now Roni and Marcie have joined forces to create RonMar Studios Inc, producing innovative unscripted content from long form documentaries and reality programs to digital fundraisers, live streams including and musical performances. These legends dive into the role their rugged, resourceful, and resilient work ethic played in growing and sustaining a successful career. 




Learn more about RonMar Studios Inc. by visiting their website at www.ronmarstudios.com and check out their impressive body of work.

This is one of my favorite evergreen episodes.
Chris Witherspoon is an entertainment journalist, producer, entrepreneur and CEO of PopViewers who taught me how his career soared to the next level when he unlearned the importance of seeking approval. Instead of looking outward he focused inward on his approval matrix: Feeling happy, great in his own skin, confident and loving his work.
As a recovering people pleaser I know firsthand how much time and energy is wasted seeking approval.
Chris has overcome enormous challenges to create his life and career. Therapy, digging dip and doing the hard work helped Chris learn to let go of needing approval. So did listening to the sage advice of two very wise women:
Sister Harden (14:17) - one of the church muthas at his congregation growing up in Ohio - told Chris before he left for college, “If you don’t see the example, be the example."
Oprah has a soft spot for Chris as an interviewer and shared with him how, when the chips are down and you feel you're at rock bottom, go sit under a tree, get settled and at peace with the moment so you can receive the answers you seek (21:13) and how early in her career she  sacrificed her authenticity and integrity in exchange for approval and never made that mistake again (25:54).
Bonus tip: Oprah always repeats your name when you interview her. So does Barack Obama. 
More key takeaways:
Ask what makes you happy?
Ask what makes you feel alive?
Ask what makes you jump out of bed in the morning?
Ask for help - it's an act of bravery.
Chris is the founder and CEO of PopViewers, the platform that helps you find what to watch next, invites you to react to the TV and movies you’ve watched, and encourages you to share the experience with fellow content-lovers.
Follow Chris on instagram @witherspoonc and connect on LinkedIn.

My guest for this episode, Shannon O'Dowd, has one of the most unique perspectives of the camera-ready universe of anyone I've ever interviewed because her experience covers every aspect of the industry both in-front of and behind the camera. Shannon is an on-camera host, commercial spokesperson, actor, media trainer, certified life coach, author, CEO of Shannon O'Dowd Presents and agent with Taylor Talent Services.
When Shannon says determination is essential for success, she knows what she's talking about. She also revealed:
Being a performing and earning a living at it is one of the most challenging things you can do
If you wake up in the morning and there is anything else that you wanna do for a living, you should go do that
Be coachable and open to feedback - it's as important as your determination
Learn to adjust your vision and pivot with purpose (you'll reap the rewards)
Ask yourself: Who do I need to know? and Who needs to know me?
Follow Shannon on Instagram @theshannonodowd.  
Explore Shannon’s brand positioning course 
Visit Taylor Talent Services 
Listen to Shannon's partner, Blair Taylor discuss How To Create Opportunity and Make Money

Seizing opportunity is essential to getting ahead in media and entertainment. It is not a passive, I-think-I'll-wait-until-it-comes-to-me kind of a business.
You not only have to seize the day - carpe your diem - you have to do something with the opportunity if you want to move forward in your life and career.
My guest for this episode, Hena Doba, generously walks me through how she did just that, going from a local news producer, behind the camera in Watertown, NY, to anchor and contributor on national programs from CBS News (where she became one of the first Pakistani anchors in America) to Cheddar (where we met) to NewsNation where Hena now hosts the weekend edition of Morning in America. 
Key takeaways:

Be adaptable
Take smart risks
Listen to feedback
Invest in training
Learn how to write and tell a story
Know how to use video and communicate with your audience through a lens
Observe industry standards (as well as the competition)
Know the competition
Study your weaknesses
Work through insecurities
Play to your strengths

Connect with Hena on Instagram and LinkedIn.
If you have a word, phrase, or topic you'd like me to explore on Camera Ready & Abel, please shoot me a note by my website or send me a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn.