Meet Samuel Figueroa

We were lucky to catch up with Samuel Figueroa recently and have shared our conversation below.

Samuel, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
The word resilience has been a big theme in my life the last few years. So much so that I got a tattoo of a mountain range on my arm that represents how resilience has played a big role in my life. In 2022 I went on a camping trip with some friends in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. We hiked 30+ miles in three days at elevation of 10,000 feet with a 47 lb backpack on my back. It was physically the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.

But that type of resilience was born out of ambition. I grew up in Puerto Rico, a tiny island in the Caribbean with a land mass of 100×35 miles. But I always had big dreams of working in the music and film industry. Dreams of traveling the world and meeting all sorts of interesting people. For a long time I believed that if you wanted something hard enough it would just come to you. It was my calling, so it was meant to be, right? But I learned in my early adulthood that my “calling: was something I had to chase. I have to follow it wherever it leads. And sometimes it leads to some very hard places.

I’ve had to overcome many things to get to where I am today; chronic health issues, financial limitations, divorce, religious trauma, just to mention a few. But every one of these challenges have made me stronger and lead in the direction I needed to go all along. Resilience doesn’t mean clenching your fist and resisting as hard as you can in the face of adversity. It means that in the face of overwhelming challenges you adapt and grow with it in a way that still leads you to your goals. This means you never give up no matter what.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m an Art Director and Production Designer for film and entertainment. For those who don’t know what that means; I handle everything that has to do with the looks and aesthetic for film projects. Everything you see in a film that is not a living breathing thing falls under the art department. Set dressing, props, set building, plants, paintings, etc.

I love working in art department because every project is different and requires a new approach to deliver the vision of the director. One day you might be decorating your everyday office space, another day you might be building a haunted maze. The other part I love about production design is working with all sorts of talented and creative people. In order to build the world your characters live in, you may need builders, painters, prop fabricators, set decorators, carpenters, etc. This keeps the job interesting and fresh everyday.

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?
If you’re working in a creative industry three qualities that have helped me in my career are adaptability, good attitude and always being willing to learn.

Naturally when working in the film industry every set is different. So adaptability is key when you’re frequently working in new environments with new people. This can be intimidating at first, but with time and experience you learn to read a room quicker and figure out how you can best help your team complete the objective.

Good attitude is good quality to have in general, but in professional settings it has opened up opportunities for me that maybe I have been slightly under qualified for. And now as someone who has been in a position to hire people, this is a quality I always tend to look out for. In a highly competitive industry that can be the one quality that helps you stick out among the rest.

Lastly, as a freelance worker there will always be slow seasons. But this doesn’t mean you can’t be productive. This may be a good time to learn more about your craft, workshops, study the market, improve your brand/skill, build your network, etc. Getting better at your craft looks different for every person. In my case I’ve offered free help to colleagues of mine if they are working on a project just to get better at building, carpentry and using new tools/equipment. No matter how experienced you are, you can always learn new things.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played an important role in your development?
It’s hard to choose just one book but the first book that comes to mind is You’re A Badass At Making Money by Jen Sincero. The reason this book had such an impact on me is because it fundamentally changed my perspective towards money. For a long time I hated money because I never felt like I had enough. My 20s were filled with a number of disappointments that left me feeling hopeless towards my future. No matter how hard I worked I was broke all the time. Everything I went after seemed to lead nowhere. It’s like at my core I believed that I was destined to be a starving artist forever. It was pretty depressing.

In her book, Jen Sincero talks about how everything you need or want already exists, you just have to find it. This simple fact started changing my perspective on my dreams and money. I started to believe in myself again. I don’t know if it’s coincidence or if there’s something spiritual about it, but around this time big opportunities started to come my way. It’s like this simple change in perspective helped my life move forward again.

Faith isn’t the only thing that’ll make your dreams come true, but having faith as a foundation will help you do all the things you need to do in order to get everything you want. I believe it’s a combination of doing the work and believing in your work.

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