We were lucky to catch up with Gobi M. Rahimi recently and have shared our conversation below.
Gobi M. , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My childhood was fairly turbulent. I grew up in an emotionally fractured family with elements of abuse, neglect and abandonment. On top of that, we escaped Iran during the revolution and came to the USA amidst the hostage crisis. I was a small and asthmatic child when I moved here and was a very easy target for bullies and kids that just didn’t know any better than being the children of parents who believed everything the media said about Iranian’s. I say all this to say that, yes my childhood was very tough and often a very lonely place, however somehow I pushed through it all. I remember trying out for the football team when I was in junior high. I was probably 1/2 the size of all the kids, but really didn’t know any better. There was a drill where some of the players would like up parallel to each while holding large pads, while the rest of the kids trying out for the team had to run through the middle of them, while being pummeled. When it was my turn, I ran through as fast as I could, but got hit by every kid and each time I hit the floor. Even though I got hit hard, I kept getting up and made it through the whole line up. At the end of my turn the coach stopped the whole practice, came up to me and looked at the team while saying “this is what I’m talking about. This kid is 1/2 your size, but even after getting hit hard and falling, every single time he got up and kept going. That’s the type of heart you need to be on the team”. That might have been the nicest thing anyone had ever said about me up to that time in my life. For a good amount of my life I was used to being a victim. That’s the only way I could process all that didn’t make sense to me. At the same time, the universe, God or whatever is out there, put me in some very serendipitous situations from living in the Beatles Abbey Road album cover, directing a Yoko Ono video, working with musical legends like Bono, Trent Reznor, Snoop, Mary J Blige and Tupac. Eventually I realized that my essence and being was shaped by all the hardship and it was my job to turn the lemons into lemonade. Ultimately my happiness is my responsibility.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a director/producer who runs a production company focused on environmental, sustainability and social justice content. I realized after working with global brands and bringing in billions of media impressions with campaign featuring Snoop for Hot Pockets, Seth Green for Butter Fingers and NIN for Microsoft, that I can use the same skills to educate and empower consumers about products and services that can actually enrich their lives. I represent 6 directors (yours truly included), who have created some global, award winning content.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
When I look back at my career, one of the qualities I learned from Tupac of all people, was to never give up on a dream. If you have a story that you have no choice but to tell, don’t take no for an answer from anyone. There’s a video of Busta Rhymes I just watched a few days ago, where he shared his ideas on following an idea or a dream. He said something like, follow your intuition or desire to the point of insanity. When everyone says it can’t be done, don’t take no for an answer. Every single time a great song, film or piece of art has been created, 9 out of 10 times the artist that came up with probably had to deal with a mountain of criticism. At the end of the day, if you are the creative, you have to believe in your idea more than anyone else, because they won’t make it happen for you, only you can with your perseverance and tenacity.
Another area that I think is important to recognize, is that we need to know what we don’t know. I’ve learned to keep my ears open to other peoples ideas and opinions. Often I’ve been able to incorporate bits of what has been shared with me into what I’m working on, which only makes it a better end result. Being is sponge for knowledge is a great thing. Lastly, I would say be kind, be nice and be an asset to others. To every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. I vehemently believe in karma. What goes around comes around.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’m raising money to make a film about my time with Tupac. He was like a little brother to me and I ended up sitting death watch for him for 6 nights from 12 to 8am, amongst death threats, under cover FBI agents and a police force that didn’t want to help. I’m going to make my film. I’m looking for any like minded warriors that want to help me with this important film.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.staticfreefilms.com
- Instagram: gobi1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gobir
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gobirahimi/
- Twitter: gobi rahimi
Image Credits
Gobi and Tupac photos. Frederique Barrera.
