Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Whitni Resides. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Whitni, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
How did I develop my ability to take risks in my life? Gosh, where to even begin. Remember what it was like when you were a kid? Nothing seemed impossible… The world was a spinning globe of possibilities… You answered every question with, ‘Well, why not?’ You never thought about falling down, you just jumped? Well, I remember hitting a point in my life, I would say some point in high school, where I lost that childlike wonder and flame. I started conforming, attempting to be like the rest of my peers. Afraid to embrace all the things I wanted to do in fears that I would be ridiculed. Endlessly made fun of for being…. weird. I was told from an early age that I was ‘weird.’ Never knowing what to do with that or how to even feel about it, I remember I just shut down. If everyone thought I was weird then it must be so, right? I started pushing down the things I really wanted to do in life out of fear of not being accepted or fear of failing. I think it was sometime after I graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2018 that I started to shake off all of those fears. I believe I began to develop the ability to take risks in life when I accepted that I was in fact weird. I mean it. There’s literally no one on this earth that is like me. Same with every single person on this planet. Why be ashamed of the things that make me different? Why not embrace them? Do the things I have a burning passion for. When I started to let go of what I assumed people would think of me, let go of the fear of failure and accepted we all fail… I feel like that was around the time I started to embrace who I really was and started going after the things I wanted in life. Taking risks. I’m going to quote one of my all time favorite films, “Make each day count.” Yep…. I just quoted Titanic. But really, as soon as I also fully accepted we get one life to live, why not make the most of it? Be weird and wonderful. Let go and jump. Isn’t it better to fall down trying to soar then to never try at all?
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Originally born and raised in the Chattanooga area, I now reside in Nashville, TN. I am an actor, screenwriter, producer and director. I began my own production company this year called, Incandescent Pictures. My focus for my company is to create and tell stories that have bits and pieces of my heart and soul intertwined throughout them. It all started for me when I was just four years old. I started acting on stage and I immediately fell in love with storytelling. Any type of storytelling really. From as early as I can remember, my true love has always been cinema. Man did I love movies. Still do, of course. My parents weren’t the kind of parents that would take our family out each weekend to a regular sporting event, even though we did love a good baseball game every once in a while… No, they would primarily bring the family out to go watch the latest blockbuster movie at the local theater. Or a family night in on Fridays with a movie rental and a few extra large Papa John’s pizzas (extra sauce.) That was how our family spent time together. That’s how we bonded. Funny enough though, I ended up the only one out of the family in the entertainment business. My family has always, I mean always, been so encouraging about my passions and dreams. From a young age, my parents taught me to pursue my dreams and to believe in myself. They would tell me everyday, “You can do anything you set your mind to. You just have to have faith, courage, and determination.” I spent 15 years performing on stage. I ended up getting my degree in Business Management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. On top of my love for storytelling, I also have a passion for business, specifically nonprofits. I have been so grateful and blessed to step into a role working with Catalyst Story Institute this past year. I am the Regional Southern Director and am able to bring my worlds of film and nonprofit together in a beautiful way. The Catalyst mission is to, “Make it possible for storytellers to make a living they love from where they love living.” I’ve always been a dreamer and continue to add to my list of dreams each year. However, there has always been certain goals I aim for each and every year. I aim to be the best filmmaker I can be. I aim to create and tell stories that are immensely personal to me. I aim to spend time nourising the things in my life that bring me the most happiness and joy. Which is family, friends and films. I am extremely blessed and hope to continue making meaningful projects with the people I love most in this world.
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?
Honestly, going back to faith, courage and determination. Keeping those three things in mind throughout my life has kept me moving forward and has helped me keep a positive outlook. Even when things are looking down or looking like it won’t go the way I want it to, I do my very best to keep those three things alive in my mind. Most importantly though, if you can be anything, just be kind. No matter what the situation or the circumstance. Even when you have absolutely nothing in common with someone you’re working with or disagree on absolutely everything imaginable… Just be kind. It goes a long way.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Oh man, could I write a book on feeling overwhelmed and anxious! I feel like most creatives struggle with this almost every single day. At least I do. As well as my best friend, Taylor. We are constantly having in depth discussions on this topic… Trying to get to the bottom of what the best solution is when feeling this way. I honestly believe the strategy to overcome these things are unique and specific for each individual. I constantly am up nights fighting anxiety. I feel like it’s just part of the life as a filmmaker. Especially when I’m in the middle of a screenplay, my brain just will not turn off. I spend hours laying in bed going over the story or the characters… Constantly trying to figure out my next scene. What comes next in my story. The lack of sleep usually leads to feeling exhausted, overwhelmed that I haven’t finished all the projects I’m working on or feeling like I’m behind and then I become anxious about it all! It’s a fun little game. For me, finding a friend to chat to and open up to really helps. That is always my first step is finding someone to talk to. After that, deep breaths. I usually picture an ocean and focus on the waves crashing onto the shore and pulling back out again. Over and over. I usually find time to write it all down too and create a list of things to accomplish if I’m feeling overwhelmed. Then I set it all aside and remind myself, it’ll all be okay. Again, I think it’s different for everyone but my advice – Find a friend, breathe and picture the ocean.
Contact Info:
- Website: Catalyst Story Institute: www.catalystories.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/whitnirae/
- IMDb: www.imdb.me/whitniresides
