Meet Erman Baradi

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

Erman, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

This leads to kind of a long-winded answer, so sit tight! There are several key factors that lend itself to my big why. Firstly, you can say there are two sides to me. I’m a writer – screenwriting, poetry, dabbling in songwriting. My role is to elicit a response from you. The other side of me is known for producing events. My platform exists to connect people. Ermantourage is more of a community than a business or a company. I want people to not feel alone in life, in the world, and in their endeavors. So, we’ve got the writer and the producer. Both roles intend to make you feel something. What’s funny, I think, is I didn’t discover the purpose to what I do until I was already in the middle of doing them! I’ve been producing Hollywood gatherings for a while now, helping people meet collaborators, make new friends, get signed by reps, etc.

At the beginning of 2018, I hosted an event with a casting director as the featured special guest. There’s an actress I reached out to when promoting the event. She made the drive to LA from two hours away. At the end of the event when everyone cleared out she approached me to thank me for the event. She detailed how in the same year she lost her mother and grandmother and she had been going through a tough time, but inviting her to the event brought her out of this darkness she was in. She smiled, walked away, and I cried then and there in front of one of my friends. It hit me. I thought to myself, “Wow, I’m doing something beyond just doing events.” That inspired me to get more in touch with non-profits. We all know that LA is tough and we know the entertainment industry is tough. That summer, I get in touch with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for my events to support them. We did some events, and one of my friends – we’ll call her P – offered to volunteer her time. I thought nothing of it. Half a year later, I’m wrapping up a general meeting at this big production company in Hollywood. I’m sitting in the lobby and I get a message from P. She revealed to me that she had considered ending her life, but putting on the event with this suicide prevention organization made her realized people cared about her as an artist and as a human being. At that moment, it hit me again. I’m inside this big Hollywood company and I’m talking to a friend who said I essentially saved her life. That’s when I realized I’d love the two worlds to mesh. I don’t want an entertainment career unless I’m helping people internally. Then during the lockdowns I started hosting virtual events. Someone who’d end up being a good friend of mine expressed how those virtual gatherings saved him, too, during a dark time.

So why the part about not wanting anyone to feel alone or unseen? Unapologetically, I can say I fall into the “good guy” group. As a writer you’ve got to be honest with yourself and be self-aware, and I can wholeheartedly acknowledge the fact I’ve never been the Hollywood bad boy type. I can acknowledge the fact that I’m not the stereotype that girls will typically look at and go, “I think I’ll give him a chance.” I say this not for sympathy but to provide context to my why. There came a type in my early 30’s, in LA, where I realized all this. Fifty percent was pure rejection. The other fifty percent was the date actually being successful, but there was always some excuse they’d have later for it to not go any further with me. I remember one girl literally telling me I was “perfect” but was “too good.” So I’m sitting there examining a lot of things.The love I could save for a singular girl could be spread out to the world. If there isn’t a woman for me to uplift, why not use all that energy and make everyone feel special instead? I guess that’s the upside of being alone! The purpose of the events is for everyone to have a sense of belonging in the world. As a writer, I could write to one person, or I can use words to write a love letter to the world. I love hearing people’s reactions about how something I wrote gave them a strong reaction. That’s what it’s about. Now, that’s not to say I won’t stop writing to the world when I find my soulmate! Nonetheless, all these pocketed moments in their own right have led to me discovering the purpose of what I do.

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 like to tell people I don’t do anything unique, I just do them differently. A lot of people write. A lot of people produce and host events. A lot of people act. A lot of people connect others. I believe the appeal to what I do is its grassroots approach. In the past, I’ve put on bigger conferences or these bigger feel gatherings. Nowadays, we’ve reeled them back a bit. When you have 200 people in a room you will probably walk away with like 5 connections. On the other hand, I want everyone to feel like family who can’t wait for the next gathering to see each other. We put on mixer and panels with entertainment industry guests, but my favorite event format is our speed networking. Think speed dating but you’re meeting industry execs. I’m also working with friends to turn my poetry into songs. Again, I love eliciting emotion from people. My brothers and I are also working on merch for my creative community to enjoy. Across the globe, I have hosts who collaborate with me on these networking events. We’re taking up to 15 or so cities nationally and internationally. My biggest goal in life to be so successful and financially secure that I can hop on GoFundMe all day and just drop money on people. The four things I want to do is invest in my creative projects, invest in people’s businesses, go on vacation with family, and be on GoFundMe impacting people’s lives. Those four things would bring me complete joy. Imagine being able to help a family you never met going through a tough time, or investing in a senior’s dream they want to accomplish before they pass? My ten year plan is to do these things.

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 don’t know everything and I’m open about it. I’m not an expert event producer. I’m not an expert marketer. I’m just good with people, and I think that’s a starting point. I don’t claim to be the best writer in the world either. I’m just the best that I can possibly be. Three qualities or skillsets? I doubt I’ve mastered anything, but that’s fine. There’s room for that growth to become even more epic. If any advice, I’d say find what moves you. Don’t think about what you’re good at, but figure out what stirs your soul. What is it in your possession that makes the people around you better?

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

As creatives, we get in our own heads about being good enough. The biggest improvement in myself isn’t even skillset. It’s the ability to make myself think I’m good enough. “Okay, I’m ready to put this out to the world.” We always second guess ourselves. It’s human nature. Sometimes, I wish I changed a line or two in something I wrote. When my latest poetry book “Bad Times & Goodbyes” hit Barnes & Noble, there’s literally a single word I wish I caught in time. One word bothered me for weeks. Then I realized it wasn’t the end of the world. And if it’s not the end of the world, I can continue to create more beautiful things.

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Image Credits

Priten Vora
Bernard Mathis

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