Meet Jason Fleurant

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

Hi Jason, 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 haven’t Well at least I haven’t fully. But I believe at some point your past becomes your testimony to give you that inspiration to push past that. At least that’s how it has had to be for me. I had to stop and remind myself how far I’ve come and how much I’ve been able to accomplish. Take that and use it as the fuel to boost me… but I dunno if I’ll ever fully be rid of it.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a self-taught visual artist, book illustrator but probably more significantly animator/film director of my own brand of black cartoons called “Treal Toonz”. My studio (Exhibit Treal Studios) was originally about creating art shows for myself and others til I taught myself animation and refocused it as such back in 2017. Since they I’ve had the honor of having my animations screened internationally, win awards including now being 3x NAACP Image Awards nominated. Our most popular project is our animated series “Peanut Headz: Black History Toonz” which is a collection of short films about well black history. Our latest short about the great, Jackie Robinson has just been nominated for “Outstanding Short Form (Animated)” at the 56th installment of the awards.

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?

Looking back, I dunno if it’s considered a skill but having this level of ignorance towards reality is a big need. Being that the world is constantly trying to tell you who you can be, where you can go, what you can do and so on. There has to be something in you that tells you “Nah, I got this.” Other than that I think the willingness to continue to learn and most importantly the courage to realize it’s ok to start over. Or even pivot… I started in 2010 think I’m going to be a painter and ended up pivoting into award-winning indie animated films.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

I’d say two particular books have really been vital for me. The first being “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. Ever since I first read it back in 2015 it lit a different kinda fire in me that I’m able to draw back from time to time. The concept of one seeking their “personal legend” and that the Universe is working in your favor as you pursuit what your journey helps guide me when I reach road blocks. Being an indie artist there is a lot of those. While also being one dedicated to telling black stories and history has also been proven tough. Not really having the resources and when you reach out to certain enties they don’t see the vision so it feels like a constant fight to prove what I’m doing is worthy and that book has been so very helpful. Other than that I highly reccommend to anyone with aspirations to dig into Richard Williams “The Animator’s Survival Kit”. It’s like the bible to this. I stayed in my local libary studying it.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Portraits of Resilience

Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our

Productivity
Perspectives on Staying Creative

We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists,

Confidence
Kicking Imposter Syndrome to the Curb

This is the year to kick the pesky imposter syndrome to the curb and move