Meet Jeff Macolino

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jeff Macolino a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeff, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

I was lucky to experience imposter syndrome and take a lifelong lesson out of it when I was in college. My very first college course at USF St. Petersburg was an Honors Philosophy class. I never felt so dumb in my life. After a few weeks I finally had the courage to ask one of my classmates if they understood anything that the professor was teaching. She was so excited because she, like me, thought she was the only dumb one in the class who didn’t understand. That led to additional classmates hearing us talk and chiming in that they too were clueless.

That one moment highlighted two things for me at a young age. One was, don’t be afraid to admit you have questions. The other was, you’re almost certainly not alone when you feel like an imposter.

Translated to today, whether it’s interviewing someone who I feel I have no business having the opportunity to talk to, or showing up to a film set and acting like I’m a confident actor – “fake it till you make it” is a philosophy that can work, as long as you know when you need to ask for help and you have the work ethic and desire to succeed.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I started The Jeff Macolino Podcast back in 2021, and have kept it consistently going as a weekly show through today. I talk to anyone I find interesting across many different fields, mostly in the entertainment industry. Doing that show certainly reinforced my love and desire to succeed in the entertainment industry.

In 2022 I committed to trying to find acting work as well. This year I have 3 feature films that will be released. “Women Want Everything!” was released in January, in which I play one of the lead characters, Stuart. “Haunted Happy Hour” will soon be released, in which I play the second lead, Brian. And lastly a Christmas movie “Dimming Lights,” in which I only had a small supporting role, but I am excited to see the entire film.

I will soon be announcing more details on the first feature film in which I will be the lead actor and executive producer. This will be filmed before the end of 2024, and expect to see that in 2025. I’m very excited to bring this story to the screen and intend it to be the first of several films that I produce and star in over the next couple years.

I also have a couple of TV shows which I am hosting. “Scratch My Noodle” will be on new network, Ethereal TV. And Season 2 of “Dads and Drinks Show” is currently in production and that will be released in early 2025 with an exciting, revamped format.

It’s exciting to me to produce content that is hopefully optimistic, uplifting and funny. I truly hope I can make the world a better place by bringing smiles to people’s faces!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I would say the three things I find most important are commitment, a strong work ethic and resiliency.

Entertainment is an industry where you are going to fail, constantly. Whether it’s a bad joke, a bad podcast episode, a bad audition or a bad movie. If you aren’t resilient, learn from your mistakes or rejections. A lot of times the failures are not your own doing and even if they are, it’s important that you keep your head up, take any lesson you can learn from it, and move onto the next thing.

You constantly need to stay focused and committed to your goal. And even in situations where you’re afraid what you’re doing might not turn out as well as you hoped, you better show up when you say you will and do your best.

If you are always punctual and prepared, it goes a long way in this industry where a lot of people fail to succeed for just failing to do those simple things. I think these things translate into a lot of life. If people can’t rely on you to be where you’re supposed to be, when you’re supposed to be and prepared how you’re supposed to be – you’re not going to get far in any industry.

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 love me unconditionally, and support me and my siblings beyond what you could ever expect. We didn’t grow up with much money, and my mother my bed-ridden for a decade. But the love and support and optimism never disappeared.

That still impacts me today, both as an example of the type of father I want to be to my two children, and also knowing that no matter what successes and failures I have that I have two parents (and 3 siblings) who will love me unconditionally and support me as much as they possibly can. That gives you a lot of freedom to take shots, knowing that if you miss and feel like quitting, you’ll have that supportive net of people to help lift you back up.

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