Meet Billi Sarafina

We were lucky to catch up with Billi Sarafina recently and have shared our conversation below.

Billi, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I am still in the process of overcoming imposter syndrome. The main thing I recommend working on is changing your mindset. Recently a short film I wrote, directed, edited and produced was chosen to be in a film festival. This particular festival only chose a handful of films, less than 20. My film was chosen. It was the first short I ever edited and directed and you can tell. I was beating myself up with shame, cringing at the fact that 100s of people would see this short at the Directors Guild in Los Angeles. I would tell people how my film was chosen and insult myself in the same sentence. It took people reassuring me that there was a reason the film was picked and I needed to stop being so hard on myself. Mind you I have been submitting this film to festivals for over four years and it had never got chosen. So I was in disbelief when it did. I spoke with one of the directors of the film festival and I asked them why the film was picked and he mentioned it was “very funny”. With his comment and several people telling me I deserved to be in the festival. I realized it was imposter syndrome that made me feel like I didn’t belong. Not the editing, not the writing, the acting etc it was me not feeling deserving. The fact was the story was there and humor was present. I had to acknowledge that I have imposter syndrome and ask myself if I am going to continue to let it hold me back. Any success or positivity I face is not a coincidence or the product of luck. I am telling myself this daily. When you spend many years of your life feeling undeserving, alerting your feelings does not happen overnight, but I am doing the work. You should too.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am all over the place. I need a minimum 10 day vacay. In the last 3 years I have become a mother of two. So this opportunity is a great way of reminding me I am more than just a mother, although it is the most important thing I will ever do. I have a daughter (2) and a son (5) months so my hands are full. Outside of being a mother I am a wife, a student majoring in journalism, a content creator, a mental health and youth advocate, a childcare provider an entrepreneur yes I have a small business called “Body Vibes Beauty” where I make shea butter and beaded jewelry, and a writer producer who started a female led production company called The Blank Collective Studio. We just finished our first short film titled “Thank You Sade” and it is being showcased in film festivals now. The collective is working on figuring out what our next project will be. I am also a good human with can feel like a job in itself in todays crazy world.

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 am still on my journey. Success is something we all want to achieve and assume comes with a straight path free of turns or roadblocks, but this isn’t the case. The roadblock is a necessary aspect of the journey and sometimes has greater significance than the destination. I have faced many challenges on my journey and one quality I’ve been able to maintain is my integrity. I hate to sound cliche, but it is a quality I have always practiced. One of the roadblocks I face is being a person with integrity in a world that does not seem to value it as much as they should. Maybe I’m just a believer of karma, but I believe it is a quality more people should poses. My desire to be a good human helps me stay focused on my journey. I also have unsolicited resilience which helps. I say unsolicited because it is hard bouncing back from rejection and obstacles, but failure is not an option. A key piece of knowledge I advise people to have is know yourself as well as forgive yourself. I could go on and on on how, but I believe they are pretty clear.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I am always looking for other creatives to collaborate with specially those in the film and tv realm. I would love to collaborate with community leaders those who focus on mental health, trauma healing, parent and motherhood support. If you are a woman or woman identifying who works or wants to work in tv and film please follow The Blank Collective Studio on IG and click the link in bio.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Billisarafina
• Youtube: Urbesgoo
• Other: @theblankcollectivestudio
  @bestgoodvillage
  @bodyvibesbeauty
  @modernmonologues