We were lucky to catch up with Chelsie Overocker recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chelsie, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I get my work ethic from my mother! She raised me as a single parent while earning her master’s degree in accounting. I always remember growing up watching her study on the weekends and taking her courses late at night. She set the example that if you worked hard, you would achieve success. There were times she also had to work multiple jobs to keep me involved with my sports and activities that I participated in school. I was very athletic growing up! I started competitive gymnastics when I was 7. Ran track & field from 8th grade through college. Did figure skating for a few years in middle school, joined the high school cheer team and gymnastics team, was a competitive cheerleading for a year, and finished competing in club gymnastics when I turned 18.
I was also a part of my high school’s DECA team. I would travel a lot and compete with other students on delivering the best marketing campaigns to the top businesses in Colorado and my Junior year my campaign won me a spot to go to nationals. Being a part of DECA I got the opportunity to travel to Europe and spend a week in Italy, France, London, and Spain to learn about their business culture which was an unforgettable experience.
After seeing how hard my mom had to work, I definitely knew the importance of money. When I turned 16, I worked two retail jobs while going to school and being involved with my sports. At age 17 I signed with my first modeling and commercial agency where I got the experience of being a spokesperson. Going into my young adult years I quickly learned time management because there would be times I would be on set all day and would have to bring my school work with me so I wouldn’t fall behind on my college courses. From my senior year in high school up until I graduated with my degree my lifestyle was getting up super early to go to track practice, taking my courses during the day, working my two jobs on the weeknights, traveling for my gigs, and going to my competitions on the weekends.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
After graduating I was still sighed with my agency in Colorado and was fortunate enough to keep booking different gigs in Denver. I soon started meeting and connecting with a lot of people who were from California. I was able to build my community with people on the West Cost on different projects collaborating in tradeshows and commercials. I always loved the challenge of clients giving me products that I needed to know and speak about for an event they hired me for. I knew after working these events that I wanted to focus my career with networks. Being a native in Colorado I wanted my next adventure to be out of the state and broaden my horizons. After I continued to make connections in LA/OC county I thought it would be a good time to move out to California after graduating college.
Once I relocated, I continued to build my community and wanted to experience as much as I could. I slowly started making more connections with people in the entertainment industry and getting work. My experiences that I’ve gained in Colorado helped a lot when I auditioned and interviewed to be on different networks. With each job that I’ve worked I’ve learned more about myself and built-up skills as a content creator. I currently work at Hallmark Media which has been the biggest network I have been a part of so far in my career. It’s exciting and awarding to be with the network this time of year as we get ready to celebrate another year of Countdown to Christmas. Being part of the social media team, I see first-hand the joy it brings to our fans.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three best qualities that I have learned to adapt to well is writing, producing, and pivoting quickly to change. Working in social media, I had to learn how to write short copy which can be challenging because you have a limited number of characters you use to get your point across. At a previous network I worked at I was great at writing long articles (which I still enjoy) but you must be a little more creative with words when its short copy. Earlier this year I got the opportunity to expand my horizons with producing talent interviews and learning how to use different video editing tools. My third skill that has been the most impactful in my journey is learning to how to adapt to change. I think that’s a skill that will be useful in your professional life or personal.
Advice I would give folks who are early in their journey is to embrace every opportunity that comes your way. It may not be the end result of where you envisioned yourself to be at, but I truly believe every steppingstone will get you closer to your goals. Success doesn’t happen overnight but being consistent will get you ahead of the game. Some of the wildest opportunities lead me to some amazing people in my life. And opposite of that, don’t get discouraged when an opportunity you have taken has ran its course. Think of it as the universe congratulating you that you have mastered the skills set you needed to learn so you can levitate onto the next level
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I 100% agree that you should try to be well rounded in all areas. Think of your life as Crayola box. Do you only want to be sharp in your favorite colors or have every color in your toolbox be as vibrant as possible? I remember I got hired at certain jobs not because of my strengths but I had the drive to work on my weaknesses and turn them into my strong suites. Your natural talent will help you get your foot in the door, but your motivation is what’s going to help you stay in your position. I think being a creative you have to be well rounded in many skill sets. Not only do you need to be strong behind the scenes and have a vision on how you want a project to be produced but I do think it’s helpful if you’re also talented at delivering and executing your work. When I was young, I got the experience on how to speak about brands and now I get the experience on how to produce an idea. Both are very helpful tools to have under my belt.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelsieoverocker
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chelsieoverocker/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsie-overocker
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChelsOverocker
Image Credits
Christopher Reale (Reale Image) IG- @RealeImage Website – www.realeimageworks.com
