Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jill Bailey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Jill, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
First and foremost, I get my resilience from my faith in God. I know that no matter how hard things may get, having faith and trusting in God has always helped me through any difficult situation. I think having my faith and knowing that no matter how hard things may get, I will make it through and learn important lessons along the way. Second, I was raised by a single father who is the definition of resilience and strength. He not only raised my sibling and I on his own, but helped to raise my cousins on a very sparse income. Yet he never complained and he is the one who taught me that having faith in God and always trusting that we would be always find a way. My father is my hero, my biggest cheerleader and my best friend.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My passion lies in telling people’s real life stories in a Docu-follow format. I started off as a Clinical Social Worker out of college and worked with Women and Children with HIV/AIDS and then in Children’s Hospice. It was here that I learned to advocate for my clients and walked alongside them through some of the most difficult times of their lives. Much of what I did was listening to them tell their stories which was integral to being able to help them and access resources for the needs that they had at the time. It was while working in Children’s Hospice that I had a little boy by the name of Tommy that told me to promise him that I would “Follow My Dreams.” After he died, I lost my job and started working with a friend of mine at a local TV Studio until I found a new job as Clinical Social Worker. But God had different plans for my path and I was picked up by a major network to work as a Field Logger and met my mentor on that set. Here we are 15 years later and I am blessed to work on projects that make a difference in people’s lives. I have worked with the show Intervention (helping people that struggle with addiction get treatment), Beyond Scared Straight(helping kids to clean up their lives with the help of inmates at prisons who show them what their lives could look like), and Cold Justice(helping Police Departments and Sheriff’s Offices with their unsolved homicides to bring justice to victims and their families). The most important part of what I do is listening to people’s stories and then allowing them an outlet to share their journey with the world. Seeing real life stories of those who struggle through their own lens is powerful. I am honored to be entrusted with being a small part of telling these stories and helping people to have access to resources that they so desperately need.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
There are so many qualities and skills that I need to continue to learn and develop. I would say that the most important are Compassion, Listening and Patience which are vital to what I do. You can teach logistical skills to anyone, but having people skills is key and oftentimes it is either something that comes naturally to you or you struggle with. Having Compassion and not judging where someone is at in their life when doing Docu-Follow shows is so important. People will know if you are genuine and want to get to know them better, or if you are just there to make a show(which we all are, but they don’t want to feel that way). Listening to someone and hearing their story and who they are plays a huge role in how comfortable they will feel when the cameras start to roll. Listening is not just hearing, its allowing someone to share and guide you through their lives, giving you access to the good, bad and ugly. It’s our responsibility to handle that with care and walk alongside them and provide support throughout the casting and filming process. Patience is so important and is always a challenge especially with the network having deadlines and budgets that need to be met. You have to balance not pushing a subject too much in risk of losing them with getting your job done in a timely manner. I find having patience in combination with compassion and listening to the subjects needs oftentimes leads to everyone getting what they need.
My advice to anyone who is starting out in their journey is to always be hungry to learn the skills that you need to be the best Producer you can be. It’s ok to make mistakes, we all do, but learn from them and always have Compassion, Listen and have Patience, and you will see that these qualities will help you through any situation you may face. I always try to remember if the shoe was on the other foot, how would I want to be treated if I was going to be a subject of a Docu-Follow with a difficult topic.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
The most impactful thing that my father taught me was to have faith and to work hard at anything I chose to do in life. My dad came from a very poor background growing up, but always focused on his family and the positives. He worked hard and even in the toughest times raising 2 of his own kids and my cousins, he never complained and always put 100% into what he did. We struggled financially a lot, but we had all of the love in the world because my father always focused on what we did have and his faith in God. My father always told me that he believed in me and taught me to believe in myself whenever I wanted to give up. It is because of him that I am where I am today, and he is absolutely the best man I know. My father’s faith in God eventually impacted my life and my focus changed. My father has shown that in God, all things are possible, and that has changed the way that I live.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jilljohnson19/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jill.johnsonhess
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-bailey-44a28a87/
Image Credits
These are my personal photos from my collection that I have the sole rights to .
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
