We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Benn Wiebe. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Benn below.
Benn, so great to have you sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our readers and so let’s jump right into one of our favorite topics – empathy. We think a lack of empathy is at the heart of so many issues the world is struggling with and so our hope is to contribute to an environment that fosters the development of empathy. Along those lines, we’d love to hear your thoughts around where your empathy comes from?
Empathy: It’s a word we don’t use nearly enough as a benchmark for where we are at in this journey. How often do we pass each other by with offerings of “how are you?”, or “how’s it going?”, and often the response is a simple “fine”, or “good”, with little follow up to what any of that means, or if that response is a genuine one for the moment. It’s just something people say. And we move on. But empathy requires curiosity. It requires care, and concern, and digging further into the journey to discover what’s really there. In my journey. it has been rare to come across many others who have shared in my curiosity to dig deeper. So naturally I dig in harder and want to tap into the why of it all, of why we dismiss each other and those feelings so easily. My empathy is bred from trauma.
As a survivor of abuse, whose primary abuser is in prison, I know what it is to be torn apart and put back together. You feel unheard, unimportant, inadequate. inept, incompetent, not worthy of fighting for. However, I sensed from the beginning, and had parents who instilled this in me, that kindness is a trait many never fail to undervalue. And since I already felt undervalued by most people, I established a kindred relationship with kindness. My inner dialogue became all about, “well even if I’m not particularly good at anything, at least I’m kind to others, kind to this world, and will leave it better than I found it”. That’s what started my journey of leading with empathy. People started to notice. I remember teachers would write on my reports, “needs work on academics, but he is such a sweet and caring child”. That kind of feedback became my fuel. We can’t change things, we cant change the world if we don’t start by changing ourselves and weeding out the institutional thinking that got us here. If that means I miss out on certain things or feel compelled to turn certain things down then so be it. Because when empathy is still a virtue we are having to fight to get people to embrace, we know this is a long and narrow road that can make sticking to it seem lonely.
As I’ve gotten older, I reconcile that in order for that empathy to develop, I must put myself into some hard places. I can’t just stay in the corner, remain docile and silent, and put things out of sight and out of mind. Empathy demands us to put ourselves out there and connect, in as many ways as we can, to what the full human experience is about. And a lot of that human experience has included the exploitation of the many in order to serve the few. So I have a deep sense of urgency to put myself in places where I will continue learning, and understanding these vast perspectives that the status quo often choose to shut out. Or flat out exploit. When I really turned a corner was when I worked on the Real Housewives franchise, particularly on the Atlanta series and its spinoffs. I had never been in an environment like that before where empathy pretty much didn’t exist. The ethos from everyone was pretty much a standard of, as long as you get yours, nothing else matters. I made a push for the production to stop exploiting the children on camera, particularly Kim Zolciak’s children, who were the most exploited at the time, and was not only met with being ostracized, but witnessed deliberate attempts at publicly humiliating those children to gin up drama for the show. I knew at that point my values had zero in common with anyone in and around that operation. And I never said yes to working on anything remotely like that ever again. It flipped the switch in me that I was on the wrong path, and basically feeding toxins to the masses.
From there I started prioritizing a social impact mandate for myself, to dedicate my time and efforts to amplifying stories that matter, and spotlighting people whose stories needed to be told. It didn’t always workout the way I hoped. But it was my start to putting that empathy first and foremost at the front of what I was working towards. For example, I worked for a major media organization where there was a mission to reshape the narrative of a massive public health issue and deliver some hard journalism that challenged how that sector does business. And the kicker was one of those companies making these destructive products was going to pay for our content to deliver on this and give full editorial authority over to us. There was literally a sign of the mantra in our underground bunker that said “using bad money to do good”. And I bought into it. I really thought we could do some good. But that requires having full transparency to be able to challenge the systemic problems and the institutions who have led us there. And if that transparency doesn’t reveal itself, you know the empathy implied in the mission is false. It never revealed itself in this case. Not only that, but it became clear to me that I was being lied to, and in turn I was then lying to the public about a major public health issue. And that could not stand. So I whistle blew on it, which ultimately shut down the entire project, and led to a mega corporation divesting $400 million dollars in that media company. Did it scare me? Yes. Did I feel a conflict of whether to speak out about it? No. Not really. Because that’s what embracing empathy at our core really does. It starts to make it second nature to understand, and embrace the understanding of what it is to do the right thing. It certainly hurt my ability to “get ahead”, but what was the alternative? Get ahead but at the cost of my own integrity, and value, and my very nature? Let me tell you, it’s not worth it.
I have ultimately had to look for ways to create my own opportunities more so than not, in order to keep empathy as a major driving force in how I conduct myself and do business. It’s no wonder to me that I have become a staunch advocate for embracing a people over profit ideology, and I have positioned myself as an advisor to many to push for the curbing of excesses and leading with compassion. Our biggest existential crisis going on in the world has, at its core, a huge connection to our lack of empathy in the way we build society, and function as a race. We live as if we have dominion over this place, when we didn’t create it. We extract too much, consume too much, covet too much, and take from those who already have less, over and over and over again. When we are stewards here, and it is our responsibility to be good to it. That means being good to our environment, our wildlife, our very air. And to each other.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m looking for opportunity. Opportunity to team up with organizations and people who believe in people over profit. Who believe in social purpose, and leading with empathy and compassion. Who believe that love is the work. That is what I am focused on.
I serve as the Executive Producer and Vice Chairman of HF Productions where we put on film festivals around the world, and cultivate independent cinema. We just hosted our Arctic Film Festival in Svalbard, which is particularly special to me because it is a United Nations SMART Project, and it speaks to the ethos of this company when it comes to nurturing community, championing voices of vast perspectives, and ultimately amplifying people’s stories to propel a mission forward that serves a greater good for our world. HF Productions has a very important mandate, as we have such a responsibility to spotlight people and build opportunity for them to be heard, and seen, which strengthens our ability to understand, and embrace the understanding of who we are and where we’ve come from. We are launching a new education initiative, to better serve creative minds working in the film/tv industry, and provide them with the nuts & bolts that will serve their journeys well as they forge ahead.
I also serve on the Board of Trustees for Screen South, and Treun House Atelier. Treun is on a fascinating mission to deliver bespoke sustainable fashion, with hand painted pieces making them truly one-of-a-kind, in a mission to take leadership in championing made-to-order products that do away with fast fashion and ally with other orgs and vendors that prioritize the same. I really implore people to put their support behind organizations that are pushing us to embrace a world where we curb our excesses, and see our place here as stewards so we can have communion with this place instead of always seeking dominion over it. I want to talk to people out there, and work with people who reconcile that in everything we do it’s about competition not conquest, and within that it’s collaboration not competition. Can you embrace that lens? Because I can. I do.
I take film, games, media, and advise organizations on how to shape their narratives to inform social movement, ultimately have an impact on bridging story with policy and advocacy. It’s what I have done for Netflix, Vice, Sybo Games, and in building events with the United Nations and Sony Pictures.
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?
First of all, let me say that I have a healthy balance of empathy and apathy. Now that may sounds like a conundrum. How can someone be both? Where empathy brings us to connect emotionally with where people are, and bring us to understand better the experiences that can help inform decisions and our journey forward; apathy can make us question important things, rather than taking everything at face value. Are we really making a dent? Are we really making a difference? I don’t know. The apathetic side would say no, maybe not. But the empathetic side says its worth it to keep going regardless of our own quantification of our own successes. That balance leads to healthy debate, an inner monologue that keeps us curious, keeps us questioning, keeps us seeking new challenges. But it is a balance. One without the other, especially apathy without empathy, simply does not work. And practicing balance is truly the biggest quality I am grateful for and that I practice having in my life. Hustle culture doesn’t last. It can’t. It’s biology. Everybody breaks at some point, and when you hit burnout you’ve passed a point of no return because your well has already gone dry. So I realized pretty early on that I wouldn’t last long either if I didn’t place healthy boundaries in my life when it came to work and life balance. It’s important to be able to turn it off, just as it is being able to turn off our phones. be present with where we are and who we are with. Demands will always be put on us, but we won’t be able to be our efficient and passionate selves if we don’t practice self care and prioritize having balance. This also allows us to step back and look at bigger pictures, so that we aren’t always feeling rushed to get things done and therefore often not delivering to our potential. I ask companies and people about work culture. About where their values are prioritized in their daily operations. If people don’t have a clear answer to that question I move on. It should be easy if its a priority for you to say you care about company culture, you care about people over profit. and are part of solution building in creating and nurturing healthy environments for people to thrive. I think we have to be willing to stick up for ourselves, because often no one else will, and it builds respect in the rooms where respect even exists at all. If it doesn’t exist you can tell its not a place where that, and you, will ever likely be appreciated. Will you miss out on some opportunities? Yes. You will. It’s on you from there to weigh the cost. I believe it’s worth it.
We have one life here. One shot. We can either put pedal to the metal and squeeze every bit we can out of ourselves until we’ve run dry. or find a way to prolong our productivity and energy in ways that aren’t ultimately exploitive. Its not binary. We can make great things and be decent and expect decency at the same time. That also takes us listening to good counsel, and surrounding ourselves with people who will build us up, as you do them, and who will question our worst impulses because they know we’re seeking that balance, as they are, and not looking to climb a ladder that doesn’t exist, for a prize that inevitably wont fulfill us.
When it comes to knowledge I like looking down every avenue. You don’t always have to be an expert in something to engage in it. But we must respect experts and seek them out. A lot of the work is knowing how to bring people together and connect the dots for them to drive things forward. Acknowledging what we do and don’t know is the first step in how to accomplish that. Being curious. interested, present, caring with the sharing of ideas and strategies, with an open mind, and who is willing to fight for ideas that have reason behind them, will draw good people to you. Seek out knowledge, in many places. Don’t worry about trying to be the smartest in the room. That just leads to silo-ing off our contributions, when we need to be allying people and organizations together as much as possible in this new paradigm we are heading into. Or we wont make it. Not on our own. That is what communion over dominion means. .That’s what collaboration over competition means. I implore everyone to seek out ways to commune as much as possible.
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 am looking for folks and organizations to partner with absolutely. I work largely as a consultant, and advisor to creative organizations on social impact and purpose. From producing shows, campaigns, building r&d projects on mental health, climate action across the creative economy, and serving on boards for these kinds of institutions. I am here to be an asset in this mission that drives social movement in how companies operate and informs what we produce. You can find my links here to connect with me: https://linktr.ee/bennwiebe
https://bennwiebe.wixsite.com/bennwiebe/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bennwiebe.wixsite.com/bennwiebe/
- Instagram: bennupm
- Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bennwiebe
- Other: https://linktr.ee/bennwiebe
https://www.hosttalentgroup.com/talent/bennwiebe/
