We were lucky to catch up with Tenise Farria recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tenise , 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?
My resilience derived from having no choice. Where I came from is not where I wanted to be. So my only options were to become complacent or defy the odds. I chose the latter. Accepting defeat has never been something that I’ve dealt with lightly. I have always desired the most for filling life. At times, my desperation to change my environment has fueled the fire that has, at times, catapulted me to places I didn’t think I could go. You have to want it bad enough. After overcoming something you thought would break you, confidence becomes easier and easier to settle into. But it was a process for me.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am Tenise Farria with French Descent Productions. I am an Actress, Model, Acting Coach, Writer, and Producer in the Houston Area. I started acting 15 years ago. Originally, It was a creative outlet that I assumed would remain a hobby. But I was good at it. Like, really good at it. At the beginning, I didn’t appreciate how I easily maneuvered through the arts of acting. Opportunities seemed to fall in my lap. During this time, I met my son’s dad. After meeting, we, fairly quickly, started the process of starting a family and life together. Acting, temporarily, became an after thought. Fast forward, things ended quicker than they started and my son’s dad and I went separate ways. I became a single woman and a mother fighting an excruciating postpartum sickness. To say I was lost and depleted is a huge understatement. Rock bottom is the only way I can articulate the feeling. Looking back, I see exactly what God was doing. In the mist of feeling sorry for myself, I received a phone call from Vincent Victoria asking if I would be interested in having a role in one of his plays. I jumped at the opportunity. I did not realized what a fire that opportunity would ignite. I tried to hide my pain as I walked into practice for the first time. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to perform because of my sickness. But I did not say anything. I refused to say anything. I wanted to overcome and I did not want to be a victim. As I walked into practice, I was distracted by a cast mate saying hi. I was excited to see everyone and went right into practicing. I had a great time. As I walked to my car that night, my pain came back. To my surprise, my pain was very minimal when I was in a fruitful environment. I realized how much acting filled my cup. I knew from that point that acting could never be an option. I needed it. Since then, I filed for an LLC, began teaching acting, became a writer, became contracted through a school district to teach kids in the theater departments, started private acting classes and workshops, created a film club for kids, starred in multiple films, shot my first production, and am currently pitching for funding on my first full length feature film. My life is completely different from the way it was a few years ago. I am proud to say, I did it scared, I did it defeated, I did it with no support (but God), I did it with no resources. I needed to be broken all the way down to be built again in the most perfect image. What is special about my journey is that I did it my way. As hard as that was, I was fearless enough to jump. I went through the fire from hell to paradise. I have been perfectly crafted in humility and confidence. I now thank God for every piece of the journey because, at every point, I gained something that propelled me forward. I am so grateful.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Being fearless has definitely push me forward. I have never been afraid to figure it out alone. My willingness to self reflect has also been a huge benefit of my growth. I believe that when you are trying to go somewhere you haven’t been, you have to be open to everything you know being wrong. Our perception is our reality. I believe you grow when you allow yourself to see a different reality than your own. Lastly, I nurtured what I was good at. For a long time, I tried to be what others thought I should be. I lived in a constant internal battle. When I followed my gut and what made me happy, everything worked in my favor. I have never felt out of place with acting because it is for me. If you find what God put in you for you, it should flow. Even during difficult times, it should still feel like home.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
The Alchemist has been a big one for me. It is a short read but so impactful. It is a story about a young boy trying to find the treasure that God gave him a vision of. The book tells a tale of life and its difficulties. It shows how we neglect our true treasures because of worldly obstacles. It teaches about staying steadfast in the rewards that God has for us and fearlessly doing the hard work to achieve our dreams. A message that stood out to me in the book was one about a “personal legend”. Everyone has one. It is basically what you are called to do in this life time. Some people follow theirs and some don’t live up to their full potential. I have heard this before but what stood out to me was when the author said that we can tell within a couple seconds whether someone is following their personal legend or not. It made perfect sense to me in real life because I always see the difference in the people moving with a purpose and those who are still looking for their purpose. I also realized that, at the time, I was not following my personal legend. I have since changed that.
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- Instagram: frenchdescent
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