We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rosalind Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rosalind, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I would think that I get my resilience from my parents. Not because they ever said anything to me, but just by example. I’ve never seen them give up at any time in life. I’ve never seen things look difficult to them even when they obviously were but as a child growing up and watching them,everything seemed attainable. I think the biggest lesson I learned in resilience was through their support of anything I’ve always wanted to do and anything I got involved in, I had to see through to the finish they never allowed me to flip flop back and forth or give up even when I wanted to.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am an actress and singer, who comes from the theater industry with the few Broadway shows under my belt. I’ve also appeared with small roles in at least a dozen TV shows. I am currently the owner of Mari Entertainment, NY (formerly known as New York City Swing) which is a wedding and corporate band. Each aspect of my business and brand is exciting in their own right. I’ve been singing all my life as I come from a musical family and began singing in church, Believe it or not, church is where you hone your performance skills because there’s no way you can be shy and sing for God at the same time lol. Every since I could remember, I’ve always wanted to be “famous”. Musical theater is my first love because I’m able to take a script and go into that world and become this character while acting and singing at the same time and making the audience feel something. The feeling is not always a good feeling. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable, depending on the content, but the goal is to bring the audience into the story and make them FEEL something. What’s exciting about doing TV or film is the process is so much different from live theater. It’s a welcome challenge because you don’t have bells and whistles and songs to depend on. This forces you to dig deep to breathe life into the words on the page and the character in order to once again, make the viewers feel something. Owning a company that provides the music and mood for the biggest day of a couple’s life brings me sheer joy. There are no do overs. You get one shot on that one special day. There’s nothing like knowing you’ve provided such a service that’s so important to others. Entertainment is NEVER about the performer. It’s always about love and service. Period! You will never go wrong when you perform from that place.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Simply put :
Be on time – Time truly is money! Unless it’s coming out of your pocket, you have no idea how much money goes into all of behind the scenes things to make stuff happen.
Be prepared – No one wants to work with an ill prepared person in ANY area. Be it on stage or behind-the-scenes. It is very disrespectful to your co workers, the process and the profession.
Be nice! – The late-great Natalie Cole once told me, in her dressing room, before a show, that “talent is no excuse for rudeness”. Truer words have never been spoken. People will always choose a great attitude over talent. They will pick a person less capable that can “get the job done” before they deal with an extremely talented person who’s difficult to work with and exhausting to be around.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
My parents taught me that it’s ok to try anything you want. Without reservation. There is no such thing as “you made your bed so you must lie in it.” If a situation is not working, you have the freedom, power, inner strength and self love to change course. It’s NEVER too late for change. To this very day, the still support all of my endeavors and that concept.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marientertainmentny.com
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Image Credits
Sneak peek photography
