Review List for 33...

Yesterday I celebrated my 33th year of life on Earth. God is so good! I can not believe I'm 34! When I look in the mirror I look around 24 and when I think of myself I just don't think of myself as a 34-year-old woman! CRAZY. Anyway last year I started doing the year in review list to remind myself of what was happening in my world so I don't forget (I feel we sometimes have trouble seeing where we are b/c we forget where we came from). So here's my list for year 33!

DaVida Chanel's Highlights of Year 33

• I brought in my birthday on stage w/Rebirth Brass Band!
• In August I returned to my waitress gig...I felt sucky about it but on the third day, Tyler Perry came in which made me realize I was on the right track.
• I, along with the rest of the world, mourned the loss of legend, Michael Jackson.
• I started a new feature on my blog called "She Makes Me Wanna" and featured ladies who make me want to do things. I also stared "Friend In My Head" about people that I hang out with in my head.
• I fell in love w/New Orleans ... HARD! Because I wasn't working consistently, I had time to really experience some of the cool things NOLA has to offer. I love this place!
• I spoke to the President of the UNITED STATES! President Barack Obama came to town and I had the opportunity to ask him a question - and it was a good one!
  
• I threw a mixer at a local club.
• I took a class on Final Cut and learned to edit film.
• I was the female lead in a hip-hop video.
• I had a photo shoot where I was a guitar toting rocker chick.
• I got to see Lenny Kravitz at Voodoo Fest and my friend caught his guitar stick!!!
  
  
• I saw Avatar which was amazing to me-visually stunning and it made me fall in love w/3D.
• I got to be assistant to amazing director Clark Johnson on the pilot of Delta Blues, which was written by Liz Garcia and Josh Harto, old friends from L.A.
  
• The New Orleans Saints won the SUPERBOWL!!!!!!
• I became ok w/the fact that my career had changed forever - I no longer need a M-F, 9-5 existence-I see that my success will come with a whole lot less stability.
• I began doing freelance PR work.
  
• Josh and Liz's show got picked up by TNT and I went to work on the show in March.
• My new boss at the job is amazing and she set me up with my next gig starting Aug. 2-directly after this one ends on July 30.
• I organized a community service event for Kourtney Heart called Kourtney's Little Princesses.
• I worked on the planning and organization of NOLA Summer Jam 2010.
• I began work on a documentary focusing on the hip-hop community in New Orleans. It has fallen apart but I got invaluable experience in case I decide to pursue it on my own.
• I had a reunion with my bestest friends from Indiana!
  
• I had a fab time at Essence and the highlights were seeing Janet Jackson and watching Mary J. Blige FROM the stage!!!

So yes, the year of 33 was great and full of extreme highs and lows. I'm excited about what is to come in the year of 34! I got a feeling this is going to be a hardworking but fruitful one!

Let Me Work With You

Before I moved to L.A., I read a book about landing your first job in Hollywood. It said the way to any longevity in the city, one had to go the assistant route. It said once you become an assistant, you must do your job to the fullest - and even more importantly, let your boss be the boss. Master being a great understudy and refine your leadership skills by serving great leaders. I took those words of advice to heart. When my boss(es) would do crazy stuff to get on my nerves, I'd let it ride and clean up his(their) messes because that's what a great assistant does. Being as humble as possible, I was a damn good assistant. Even the brilliant crazy azz BM said so (and he NEVER gave a compliment that wasn't well deserved!)! Problem is I never wanted to be an assistant - I went to pursue a career as an executive. I just got caught up in the assistant lane because I'm good at it and it was safe (someone is always looking to hire a great assistant) .

How's it safe? Well,the thing about Hollywood is it is the one place where no one really wants to be the person who can officially say yes...until they know that yes is going to pay off. I mean imagine being the guy who says yes to a $100,000 budget to a movie that flops! It can be a scary thing. Ironically no one wants to say no either - lol the agent who turned down Julia Roberts has a great career BUT no longer as an agent! Starting a business there is damn near impossible unless you are independently wealthy and that still doesn't guarantee anything. Being a great assistant is like a safety net - everyone is always looking for one. You get all the perks with fewer risks (you get everything your boss and their clients get and you have an entire network of people just like you!). Yes you do have to protect your boss at all times but that boss is the one who has to make sure the bills get paid and the lights stay on. Talk about pressure-making sure you, your clients, your family and your employees all eat and do well is MEGA pressure.

Staying in that assistant lane is very tempting but after the monotony of it, I felt myself ready to branch off. The average amount of years an assistant is an assistant before making the leap is at least five. The recession made that amount of time become unpredictable. In general, you pay your dues learn the biz for that allotted time and you'll eventually move up. I was quite frustrated because once I'd master the desk, I'd get so bored. (And after doing it for a while, it didn't take much time to master a desk.) I vowed when I came to New Orleans, I'd be an executive NOT an assistant. But my pattern was the same.

I find as I pursue my goals, it is easy for me to want to work for others. Instead of saying, "this is what I can do," I generally ask, "how can I help." Many folk I've attempted to "help" didn't get it and the situations didn't work out. I'm extremely fortunate because one of the people I wanted to "help" and work "for," was instead looking for people to work with to achieve his goals. That situation taught me to switch my question to "how can I work WITH you." That type of attitude is providing many great opportunities across the board and exciting things are happening!

Things are looking better!

SO PROUD - Vote for My Students :)

Amongst the many jobs I have had, I am proud to say I was a Barbizon instructor! This year they held a contest only for Barbizon students - there's a new movie coming out called STANDING OVATION and the girls were able to submit a video. If selected, they get to attend the premiere Hollywood style. Of all the girls in the country, two of my students MADE THE CUT!!! How exciting!!! Please please please go to the site and vote for Baton Rouge High's own Marissa and Kim!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Here's the link: http://www.girlslife.com/StandingOvation/Voting.aspx

My Alter Ego? Ms. Pepper Potts

During the month of May, I committed to getting my stuff together. I've been putting in WORK! I worked on my eating habits, worked out more and got my affirmation and meditation game RIGHT! I've never been this focused so I thought it was time to release my alter ego (she's been acting up trying to get out!). As a symbolic welcome that inner me, I got a huge makeover. Watch ...


(Dana Chanel is my hair stylist and she ROCKS! Jonathan Hamilton did my entire look for the night - makeup, hairstyling (styling the hair Dana made look like it grew from my roots!), AND he designed the dress IN ONE DAY! Without ever putting a tape measure to me! No wonder his fashion line JerkandJon is on its way!! I love my people!!! They are so talented and amazing! I'm grateful they are in my world!!!)

Lest I Forget ...

I've been involved in three car accidents in my life. The last one was so random yet horrible it shapes a lot of my life. Its a long story but the moral is this - things are never as bad as they seem. When I had that wreck, everything changed. My life was downgraded in the worse way. I had moved to Houston for school and the plan was that I'd live at home. But I was now living at home with no car! I was devastated. I literally had to catch the bus for school and we since we lived in the hood for real, my bus stop also happened to be the pickup spot for hookers. Things were not great and I could not imagine they'd ever get better. (For instance, after waiting four months for my car to be fixed, I found out it was totaled.) Everyday was darker than the one before (I had never lived with my mom so that was an adjustment; no car; no money because I was paying for school; nothing.) But you know what, one day things got better. I don't remember how it happened or what got better, it just did. One day things were just okay. I need to remember that story right now. Things are great, good things are happening-wonderful things are happening but something feels off. I can't let it get me down though, I've been here before and I succeeded. So I can't forget where I've come from as I continue to forge the path of where I'm going. I refuse to forget ... or give up. I'm all in.

They See My Potential

During the time I wasn't working, it was easy for me to get down about my situation. The reality is that I've been very lucky to have worked for people that see something in me that allows them to teach me the skills I need to succeed. This started very early on in my work history. My first job was for the Iberville Parish JTPA Office. I'm not sure that program still exists but back then it was for kids 14-18 whose household income didn't exceed some point. It taught them job training skills (JTPA=Job Training Participation Act). Luckily I was able to start the day I turned 14 (its a summer program and my birthday is July 21 so I couldn't work that long the first summer) and I worked in the local JTPA office. I learned to type during that summer because the secretary was awesome and gave me a typing book. Obviously that skill has taken me far - LOL because I type everyday all day! (Don't trip its a skill I pride myself in - a lot of my friends don't know how to correctly type. They get it done but their fingers aren't in the right place!)

I remember when I got my job at Purdue I'd never done any graphic design but with the help of my co-workers and the printers we worked with, in the end I was able to compose entire media guides and do web design! I also learned to do color commentary for volleyball and had the opportunity to do some writing for the local paper. I was brought to tears at the completion of my first Big Ten Tournament (I ran the media portion of the indoor track n' field tourney on my own - which was HUGE because many records were broken!).

When I transitioned to the entertainment industry was working for my mentor Vincent Cirrincione. He was amazing because he taught how to do the Hollywood thing (it really IS another world). Vincent works very close with a publicist, Pamela. Now Pam is the ish when it comes to publicity. She knows how to work the crowd at events and she always looks impeccably professional. She and Vince took me under their wing and really allowed me to blossom in the industry even beyond the time I worked for them. Those skills are now coming in handy as I'm serving the publicity needs of a new client here in New Orleans. Even working with that artist I find myself in the position where I'm supported - her manager is awesome at really placing me in positions to succeed.

I'm also finding a lot of great support and mentorship at my production job. The supervisor has graciously taken me under her wing. I was supposed to just be helping out around the office but she recognized my eagerness to do more so I'm now the production secretary on a network television show!!! This is a really great time for me career-wise and I had to just acknowledge how grateful I am to work with people who see me for what I am. I'm happy that when I do get jobs, my skills speak for me and people tend to respond positively to me in work environments. I know I am a lucky girl to be given the opportunities I have been and I hope that when it's all said and done, I live up to my full potential!