Meet Yelena Friedman

We recently connected with Yelena Friedman and have shared our conversation below.

Yelena , 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?
I have always wanted to be an actor and creator. I think because I love what I do so much it makes working towards my goals that much more exciting – but there are a lot of ups and downs with this path and in this industry. There is a lot of rejection and a lot of having to continuously work hard for things you may never hear back on. I think the best ways I’ve found to have resilience (in the entertainment industry specifically) is really two things.. First: Love what you do. Work hard because you enjoy growing, learning more, and you love the process.
Second: Don’t wait around for something to happen. Create your own path or ways for yourself to succeed that don’t rely on waiting for others. By that I mean, in times when I’ve waited to hear back on auditions or projects and things didn’t go my way, I just created characters and skits or sketches for myself that I’d want to be in. Resilience is a lot about creating your own ways to make this journey more fun for yourself so you don’t burn out!

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?
Hi, My name is Yelena Friedman! I’m an actor and content creator based in LA. I’m most known for my outlandish characters (Note Girl, Overly Dramatic Girlfriend etc) and silly skits! I love acting and within the next year, I want to focus on continuing to create more long form sketches/mini series (comedy or drama.. or both!). You can watch some of my most popular videos on: Tiktok @YelenaFriedman (1.2 Million followers) Instagram @Yelena_Friedman (200K+ followers)
YouTube @ Yelena Friedman
I also sing and make music. You can listen to my most recent singles: “Messed up” and “Until You Had Me” – on Spotify, Apple music, YouTube music, etc..!

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?

Number 1: Don’t be afraid to look silly! 🙂

I was always a weird, goofy kid. Even when I was really little, I would put on costumes and create silly, funny characters with my friends. I remember, one of my best friends and I, (when I was growing up) would put on the weirdest costumes we could find and create these silly personas and go walk around the neighborhood. We would make little movies and skits with our characters and it was just super fun. So, I think growing up not being afraid to look weird has helped me a lot with my comedy because I’m not afraid of being outlandish or looking silly – if anything, it’s more freeing to be able to just improv and have fun.

Number 2: Be able to grow and change. The internet is full of trends and etc and to a degree you have to be able to continuously create new ideas and change with the times. It can be really hard sometimes but it’s also very rewarding to push yourself to try new ideas!

Number 3: Be relentless with your work ethic and always work towards what you want. Work hard for it, not to become “famous” but because you love it.. and when you’re in your own flow and creating what makes you the most happy, success will come..
But even more important than that..
Be the most authentic you that you can be and just focus on putting out what makes me you happy. No one else is like you so.. embrace your differences and show the world who you are!

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I would love to meet, work, create and connect with new people so the best way to connect with me is probably through Instagram! I would love to create a community of people to continuously create sketches with. Or even to do in person shows with – sketch comedy shows or just shows in general. I also sing and make music so I’m very open to working with other musicians. Secretly but also not so secretly.. I would love to start a band..! If you’re reading this and want to collab or create something with me.. let’s do it! 🙂

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Resilience
The Power of Persistence: Overcoming Haters and Doubters

Having hates is an inevitable part of any bold journey – everyone who has made

Confidence
From Self-Doubt to Self-Assurance: Saying Goodbye to Imposter Syndrome

Self-doubt and imposter syndrome have stopped far too many talented folks from going for their