We were lucky to catch up with Frank Ziede recently and have shared our conversation below.
Frank, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
My optimism comes from one key concept: gratitude. I’ve always been a naturally optimistic person, seeing the silver lining, looking at the world through rose colored glasses. Sometimes that optimism was viewed as a little bit too much for some people. A little too much enthusiasm, a little too much energy… sometimes even thought of as disingenuous. But my natural personality type is to be optimistic: getting excited for what’s around the corner, truly pumped up about what’s to come. As I get older that optimism started to fade a little. That’s because of a thing called life. Adulting is hard and sometimes it’s hard to stay optimistic. But in this current chapter of my life I have intentionally chose to look through the lens of gratitude. Thinking back to how lucky I have been in my life and how grateful I am for the blessings that I have and then thinking about how I can share that gratitude and optimism with others.
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 in Arizona and went through performing arts high school because I wanted to be in the arts any way I could. After catching the acting bug when I was in an acting company called the grease paint players when I was seven years old I left phoenix when I was 21 years old and moved to Los Angeles with two suitcases and $200 in my pocket. After quickly running out of money and being evicted from my apartment I struggled like all actors do to make my way.
I went on to be a professional actor, starring in multiple plays and commefrials, a professional hip hop dancer and choreographer, working with Usher, Ginewine and Celine Dion ate the 1999 Billboard Music Awards, and a writer/director of over 20 short films.
However, acting led me to my path in life because it helped me meet my wife. My wife, who lived in Chicago was the reason I’m in the business I am today. She got a call about a job and didn’t want to go and I went in her place. That started me as an automotive specialist for auto shows across the country which led me to then meet my mentor who cornered me in a courtyard Marriott hallway. He said “I’ve got the job for you for the rest of your life. And if you listen to me you’re going to have to turn down work period so here’s my number.” My mentor Dave knew that I had the right tools, skill set and inclination to be what’s known as a professional facilitator. A person who runs adult educational conferences and workshops for corporate clients all over the world. About 75% of my work has been in high end luxury automotive retail with brands such as BMW, MINI, Rivian, Polestar, Jaguar, Land Rover etc. However in the last 10 years I branched out beyond automotive to other industries such as working with the military contractor Northrop Grumman, Coach handbags, Colgate oral pharmaceuticals and Lieca cameras. For the last 20 years I have been a professional facilitator, running workshops at least twice a month all across the United States and in Europe.
But then the pandemic came. My job, which is just meeting with people face to face from all across the country in some Conference Center had disappeared off the face of the earth. It was a quick wake up call to helped me realize that I didn’t want to talk about inanimate objects anymore. I wanted to talk about what matters: people. So I shifted away from product and moved more to interpersonal skills, leadership training and really giving people the right mindset to serve others, whether they be customers or coworkers. Out of that revelation I started to write my first book which is called THE LOST ART OF GIVING A $#!+: a book for any employee who serves the customer or any leader who serves those employees. I’m currently working with a publisher to launch the book sometime in 2026.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
3 qualities or skills that impacted my journey that others should know? I guess I’d have to start with authenticity. Early in my career I was so concerned with what other people thought of me, and to be clear that’s never fully gone away. But by focusing on that it encourages imposter syndrome, where every action I take or word I say in my mind is being analyzed by the person in front of me. Research has actually shown that people are thinking about you much less than you actually think they are. They’re so consumed with themselves and what they’ve got going on.
The second would be gratitude. If comparison is the enemy of joy, the lack of gratitude is what starts cracks in your foundation of self. Nothing’s ever good enough, or your house isn’t big enough, or you don’t have enough followers or likes. Being comfortable in your own skin is so incredibly crucial for you to stop and take stock in the life that you’ve been given. It’s not about looking at other people who have it worse off than you do. It’s about looking around, being present in the moment and truly grateful for the life that you have at this point.
The last thing I would recommend for who are early on in their journey is develop a great sense of patience. I heard a phrase a long time ago that’s been hard to soak up but it really helped me later in life goal that the universe is unfolding exactly as it should. It may not seem like it and some people want to rush to success but you have no idea why things are happening the way they are. So relax, breathe and just be present in the moment. Look forward see what’s coming and be prepared then it may not be what you expect but it’s definitely what you can use as fuel for what comes next.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
To answer this question quickly, yes I think it is better to go all in on your strengths than trying to be well-rounded in every area. First off, you can’t. There may be specific talents, skills or attributes that you’re asked to perform that you just aren’t capable of.
Very early on in my career my mentor came to me and asked me to be a facilitator and trainer, which I am still professionally to this day. But at that time he also asked me to be a content developer and writer for programs. I tried it for about two or three days and quickly realized that it was not a skill that I had or even really wanted to have. I remember going to him and saying “the best thing I can do for you is be a speaker and the worst thing I could do for you is say that I can be a writer. I just want to be honest with you and let you know where my strengths lie.”
Luckily for me he appreciated that direct and honest approach and it has worked out to all of our benefits for the last 20 years. I think the key here is self-awareness. The better you are to understanding what you’re great at and what you suck at, the more capable you are going to be of letting people know where you can help, serve and excel. Yes, it’s good to be well-rounded and improve where you can, but those aren’t strengths. Those are to-do items. Your strengths are where you shine, so I highly suggest you lean in on those.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ftzinc.com
- Instagram: @ftz_film
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-t-ziede-b4907931/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ftzinc-ht8ub
Image Credits
Frank Ziede
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