We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rashad Todd. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rashad below.
Rashad, 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.
To be honest, I think I fell into my purpose. As a child, I knew I liked to entertain and laugh, which is in my family’s nature naturally. However, I did not understand how I would make an income from acting or modeling. I saw models and actors on television and it seemed they were making a lavish income, however, I did not know the process.
I went through many jobs, and did not feel the joy of my work. I remember one day I signed up with an agency that was a scam because they were charging me to represent me. Although, the agency was a scam, I actually booked an audition through one of their listings. This was my very first audition. After auditioning, I remember walking out of the casting room feeling so proud of myself. Rather I booked the role or not, I felt an overwhelming amount of joy. The next day, I received a call from the producer congratulating me on nailing the audition and booked me for the role. Again, this was my very first audition, and I booked a co-star character.
Booking my first audition is when I knew I was walking in my purpose of entertaining and healing people through laughter.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Hello readers of Bold Journey – I am excited to have this opportunity to share my world with you. My name is Rashad Todd and I currently reside in Los Angeles, Ca. With much experience, I am your actor, model, content creator and all things creative. I also now coordinate fashion shows.
The gifts that I feel are most special to me is how I make a person feel good about themself. I feel I am an encourager and a motivator to others. I love to see us all reach our goals we set in life and win!
Currently, I have an episode on The Prank Panel streaming on Hulu & Disney Plus, which is produced by Jimmy Kimmel, where I got to work alongside Johnny Knoxville, Eric Andre, and Gabourey Sidibe. You may also catch me in the series Thirty streaming on Watchvimnow & Mydekkoo. I have worked with many brands promoting clothing, skincare, haircare, and so much more. I am currently a brand ambassador with Dolfin Touch Cosmetiques which is an all-natural skincare line. You can order some healthy products for your skin and use code: RASHAD10 for 10% of your order. I am also working on a fashion show for the Oscar’s viewing party.
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?
In the industry I work in, you have to be multifaceted. I am sure my creatives can relate, that there is not one specific thing you do in the creative work we do. While creating content, sometimes we have to be the model, the actor, the producers, the director, the cameraman and so much more. In order to remain innovative, I feel you have to be a quick learner to adapt to the world that is constantly evolving.
Patience is another quality someone in this industry must develop. Working for yourself is not always easy, and you may not see big results overnight. The skill of patience is a skill that I still struggle with at times, because I love to see successful results quickly.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I almost decided to skip over this question, because I still am healing from my challenges. I am going to be very vulnerable answering this question in hopes to help someone that may be facing the same challenges.
As if the acting industry isn’t already up & down, the SAG strike happened last year. The strike was very challenging for the TV & Film industry.
The strike did affect me in many ways. Prior to the strike, I was working on so many projects and was preparing for my debut to national television in The Prank Panel. Not only did so many of my projects get canceled due to the strike, I did not get to promote my national television debut because of the rules of the strike. I kept this project a secret for over 6 months and was excited to share. I had my marketing plan all laid out and strategy on capitalizing from the show. Although the show did well in numbers with 2.23 million views, I was upset I couldn’t promote and market from the premiere of the show, to support the strike.
Although the strike was beneficial to actors and writers, I have to admit I was upset with the timing of the strike and that we even had to strike to demand fairness in the industry.
I felt this was going to be my big break into even bigger opportunities. Although the SAG strike has come to an agreement, it made me question the industry and doubt if I still wanted to pursue the dream of acting and entertainment.
Yes, I have worked through the situation now, and decided to continue pursue my passion. I am now going even harder on my goals, so I am sure you will see me on your TV again soon. However, my advice to all of my actors, be sure you have multiple sources of income to support your dreams, because I lost a lot after the strike, but that is a story for a different time lol.
Contact Info:
- Website: rashadtodd.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rashadtodd_/
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@rashadtodd
- Other: TIKTOK: @rashadtodd_
Image Credits
Yvonne Hanson Robin L Marshall Jimmy Cannon
