Meet Danielle Drewes

We recently connected with Danielle Drewes and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, thank you so much for joining us today and appreciate you talking about a sensitive topic. It’s unfortunately relevant to so many in the community as layoffs have been on the rise recently, and so we’d appreciate hearing your story and how you overcame being let go?

New Hampshire is a small, not well known state in the film community and to land a job in my field so quickly after returning back from school was a miracle. There was that overexciting amount of joy to say to everyone that doubted me about returning home that I made it. I had my foot in the door, and the world of opportunities opened, but as quickly as they opened, they shut.
In October of 2023 I was let go from my first production job. I was devastated, but who wouldn’t when they felt like the world was ripped out from underneath them.The first month and half of being let go I struggled a lot mentally. I felt like I had lost everything, a feeling that tends to just leave you not wanting to continue and to just give up.
But I had a lot of support behind me, near and far. I had so many friends and family supporting me to keep me from falling into that type destructive mind set. I wouldn’t say I was ready to give up on my career but there was a lot of doubt that I could find something so close to home again.
I can’t remember what motivated me to not give up but waking up one morning, I told myself that “they weren’t going to take this from me” Who was taking this from me? No idea but, all of a sudden I wanted to prove I had worth, drive, and passion. So I set out to find something in my field while taking on any job that would hire in the moment to keep myself afloat in the time being.
I applied to over 30, Live Event and Film Production, jobs. I only heard back from 6, only 1 interviewed me. I didn’t get that job. This was March of 2024. At that point the current job I was at to keep me afloat was probably one of the worst places you could ever imagine working at (not related to my field) and that motivated me harder not give up. It can only get better if you make it better. July of 2024 had rolled around and I never been unhappier with my job. At this point I was onto my second hold over job and it was a bit better than the last but still wasn’t it.
During some late night scroll and I mean like, 1am searching on LinkedIn an add for a Warehouse Technician position for a live events company in Boston opened up. Boston is a fair drive for me, and would cost a lot to make that commute. So there was some minor hesitation to apply, but as I talked this out with a few of my production friends and some family members the point of “When would another opportunity like this arise?”
I sent an email the Operations Manger that morning following morning expressing interest. 3 Days later I was Freelancing in the Warehouse. By the end of day 2 I was offered a full-time position. 3 weeks later I received an email about another position opening up in the office and that they were interested in interviewing me for that position. I got that position a few weeks later. I’m now 6 months into being back in my field and when I say that if I had given up, when things got rough, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Happy, determined and thankful. I’m surround an amazing group of people.
So the moral of the story is that you keep fighting for what makes you happy. Keep pushing through those dark days, the one where you feel like all hope is lost because it isn’t. Being let go was an opportunity to push myself to grow and to strive towards something better. that all that hard work in college was not in vain and you can tell everyone who had doubted you that, you did it you won that small victory and no one can tell you otherwise. Keep pushing and don’t give up trust me it’s worth it.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am the Production Administrator for High Output in Canton, Massachusetts. I help in the Production Department with events we staff in the Boston area. This can be from Live Events, Film sets, Concert, etc. I mainly work on administrative tasks with the opportunity to work as a Stage Hand on the side, to learn and build more production skills.

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?

Your enthusiasm for what you are passionate about, is what will guide you to succeed.

Leave a positive lasting impression on someone, because sometimes it’s not what you know but who you know.

Work hard, be willing to put everything you know to the side and be willing to listen and learn, you never know what will come out of it.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

I’d want to say it’s its the ability to go with the flow of things and just over all maturity. It’s funny I just had this conversation with a friend a few days ago. We talked about how all of sudden when you turn a certain age you all of a sudden get that clarity of life and how to handle situations without acting immature or stooping down to that lower level. I’d say 12 months ago I was in the beginning stages of really turning into an adult, letting situations roll off my back and not engaging in unnecessary drama or issues. and having that realization that I can’t control everything. That I can only control myself and my own actions. Losing my job was a great example of molding me into a better person. All I could do was keep applying and if the opportunity didn’t present itself it was time to keep moving forward.

Image Credits

Teddy Brown, Quinn Matheson, Swen Richter and Evan Whipple