We were lucky to catch up with Rafal Cwiok recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rafal, really appreciate you joining us to talk about a really relevant, albeit unfortunate topic – layoffs and getting fired. Can you talk to us about your experience and how you overcame being let go?
I think getting laid off may have been the best thing to happen to me. I was working a day job for 5 years in LA before Covid hit and we were all put on furlough.
For those 5 years, I was working normally and making steady income, but I wasn’t feeling fulfilled. As a filmmaker, I would still take on projects while working my day job, but I knew I wanted to pursue filmmaking fulltime. Yet, the comfort of my steady income prevented me from taking the leap.
So when Covid hit, all excuses were thrown out the window. There was no other work for me to look for and I forced myself to go heavily into creating content and promote myself as a filmmaker; otherwise I simply had no income.
So getting laid off lit the fire underneath me to get to work in order to make a true living off what I loved to do. And I’m proud to say I’ve been doing so for nearly the past 4 years.
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’m currently a filmmaker that specializes in talking-head based content; interviews, podcasts, speeches, presentations, etc. And I recently decided on pursuing this niche just at the end of 2023.
I think the most exciting thing about this, for me at least, is that I’m able to truly focus on a part of filmmaking that I enjoy. I know when filmmakers first start, many of them have trouble finding out what realm of filmmaking they want to pursue; be it weddings, commercials, products, narratives, or something else.
So for me to find something I can finally focus on, I’m able to run in a straighter line towards specific goals and jobs that I know I’ll be good at.
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 think one of the most important things I learned is allowing the knowledge that perfection isn’t something that’s ever achieved, yet always strived for. I always wish to get better at something, but I know that I won’t ever reach a level of “perfection,” nor would I ever want to. Because then what happens to the chase to become better? What happens to a pursuit of constant improvement? Does it disappear? I don’t believe it ever does.
Piggy-backing off of that, allowing myself to undertand that I’m not the best, NOR do I need to be the best at what I do, can be very liberating. I think a lot of people let their egos get the better of them and try not to take advice or feedback because they “already know that.” Yet when you let yourself constantly learn and improve, and take pieces from others’ skills and ideas, you are building and developing an ever-changing style that keeps your projects fresh!
Anyone just now starting their journey, I invite them to ask as many questions as they can and soak in as much information as possible. Because once it starts, it should never stop.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Make a schedule. Plain and simple, make a schedule. Sit down, open your calendar app, open your paper calendar, your notebook, whatever it is, and schedule.
Personally, the reason I feel overwhelmed is because I have all my thoughts hitting me at the same time – I gotta do this, I gotta finish that, haven’t started on this project yes, oh this project needs revisions, yadda yadda.
Yet when you are able to write these things down, and see on paper what exactly it is you need to do, it becomes much clearer; and you even realize that there isn’t as much as you thought there was. You just weren’t giving yourself a chance to see everything individually.
So write down your thoughts, and schedule yourself out when you start to feel overwhelmed.
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- Website: FERMstudios.com
- Instagram: @Fermstudios
