We recently connected with Brandi Brooks and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Brandi , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My work ethic comes from my parents. My dad started working at the age of 16 and has not stopped since then. He taught me the importance of working and managing your money to maintain the lifestyle you want to live. My mother has been a flight attendant for over 20 years for united airlines. There isn’t anything she wouldn’t do for her 5 children. Being young I didn’t understand why she had to leave for work days at a time. As I got older I understood she was working extremely hard to provide for her kids. My mother can be sick to her stomach, she will still get up and go to work. When I started working my first job I did not have a license or car. My mother made sure I got to work and got a ride home from work. Even if she was flying, she made arrangements to make sure I was able to get to work. I work hard in hopes of one day retiring my mother. She survived a brutal brain surgery during covid. We did not know if she would survive. That didn’t stop her from fighting back and being the hard working women she is today. Having parents that have a great work ethic is a great example to set for your children. Myself and all of my siblings followed in my parents footsteps. I am always trying new things and perfecting my craft. My hard work Will pay off in the end
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 was born and raised in Missouri city texas. I have a twin brother. We are the youngest of 5 siblings. I have 2 older brothers that are twins as well. Growing up, life started out well. 2 parent household. 2 loving parents. Grandparents were extremely active in our lives. Unfortunately my parents divorced when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. While I’ve never vocalized it, this was very hard on me. it is the reason I am extremlly guarded and became an introvert. After hurricane like landed in Houston Texas, our lives changed forever. Our home was damaged and we were forced to move in with our grandparents. That was a very challenging time. My mom ended up getting laid off for a period of time. We never went back to our home. My dad worked over seas and I rarely got to see him or talk to him. My mom never gave up or lost hope. She did everything she could to provide for us. All of her kids successfully went to college. I graduated from Sam Houston state university in 2017 with a degree in human resource management. Knowing what I know now, I would have chosen theatre or film/television. Growing up I would always study commercials and recite them word for word. Same tone and everything. I knew at a very young age I wanted to act. I took theatre in middle school and high school but I wasn’t confident in myself. I was afraid to get in front of the camera. I was always afraid of what people would say about me. How they would judge my looks. What they would say about my voice. I finally gained the courage to start acting classes in 2021 with acting out studios. They taught me the basics of acting and helped me with headshots and a demo reel. I then started taking acting classes with Charnele brown known as Kim Reece from the hit show a different world. With the help of Charnele I was able to land my first feature film role as a police officer. The movie is called love by chance. I was also able to land my first role in a play. Theatre is very different from film. Theatre requires you to be very big. I naturally do not have a big personality so it was a bit uncomfortable in the beginning. But Vincent Victoria took a chance on me and casted me as a role of a nurse in the hit stage play A Dream Girl Differed. This journey hasn’t been easy. There have been alot of “no’s” but I don’t let that get me defeated. I just keep on pushing. God has a plan for me and I will continue to follow it.
I started a podcast back in 2020 where I would discuss issues in the black community. I felt like that was over saturated. It was so negative. It became draining. Once I started acting classes I came up with the idea to highlight black actors, creators, entrepreneurs, directors, writers, etc in the Houston Texas area. The Houston film community is so large but doesn’t get enough recognition. I came up with The Black Way Podcast. I interview creatives in the Houston tx area. I give them a platform to help them get their story out. I think it’s important to share your journey to help the next person achieve the same goals. Since I’ve started this podcast I’ve met some great people in Houston. I’ve learned a lot and received some great advice on how to advance my acting career. I hope to one day have The Black Way Podcast at 1million plus views. I would like to interview some of the big names in the film industry. My dream guest is keke Palmer and Issa Rae. I appreciate putting in the ground work. I record and edit my own videos with my iPhone 14. Sometimes I reach out to people and they ignore me or ask for a booking fee. I respect people hustle. I’m just not in a position to pay out of pocket yet. I spend alot of time studying my guest to be sure I have a great authentic interview. The title The Black Way comes from my willingness to highlight great creatives in the black community. I feel as though we don’t get the recognition we deserve for our craft. All of the negative things in our community are always front page news. It’s time to highlight the positive things that go on in our community. That’s what my platform is about. I would never ask anyone to come on my show and talk about the negative things in there life. I only care about the postive things. Since starting this podcast I’ve learned so much about acting, editing, recording, camera angels, the proper equipment and so much more. I’m just getting started. One day I’ll have my own talk show on mainstream television where I will
Continue to highlight black creatives in a positive way
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?
I learned to be free. Be confident. Don’t take anything personal. I learned how to build muscle memory. I learned how to be a professional on and off set. I learned to go after my dreams and don’t let anyone tell me I can’t do anything I put my mind to. You can now see my confidence on camera. From the way I speak you can see how well I prepare for a role or a interview. Taking acting classes was the best choice I’ve ever made. It led me to start my podcast as well. I’m still early on my journey but I encourage everyone to start taking classes. Some of the biggest names in the film industry keeps an acting coach on standby to help them prepare for roles. You must take your journey serious. Prepare for every audition as if you already got the role. Study and read the script over and over until you can recite it word for word without looking at it. Invest in the proper equipment for self tapes. The beauty of self tape auditions is you can do it over and over until you find the take you like.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
My acting coach Charnele Brown has been a gift from God. From the day we first spoke she assured me that I was in great hands with her. She was very hard on me in the beginning but i appreciated it. This is a tough industry to get into. You have to have thick skin is this game. There’s isn’t a time when she doesn’t pick up the phone if I need help. I’m the beginning she saw how timid I was. She knew I had potential she just had to pull it out of me. She’s protects all of her actors. She will review a contract for you to be sure you aren’t getting messed over by a producer or director. She sends out auditions to be sure all of her actors get a chance to succeed. She also showed me that I have the gift to direct. I never saw myself being a director or writer but Charnele saw something in myself that I did not. She taught me how to move in the film industry. She taught me how to vet roles. How to analyze a script, how to breakdown a character. How to Study a film and what to look for. She taught me the meaning of what living on stage is. You can’t be successful in this industry if you don’t live. She helped me overcome my stage fright as well. Being with her also led me to a life coach. My life coach has helped me overcome some huge life challenges and daily obstacles. She helped me realize that I was my own worse enemy. I just needed to get out of my own head and be free. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO GIVE A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MY TWIN BROTHER BJ (BRANDON BROOKS), FAMILY, DARIUS DILLARD, AND VERY CLOSE FRIEND,WALTER MERRELL. THESE 3 MEN GO ABOVE AND BEYOND TO MAKE SURE I SUCCEED IN MY SELF TAPES, AUDTION PREP, AND SCRIPT knowledge. WHEN IT COMES TO MY CAREER, THERE IS NOT A MOMENT WHERE I CANNOT CALL FOR THEIR HELP OR Assistance. I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR THEM.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @actinglikebrandi
- Facebook: Brandi brooks
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theblackway
