We recently connected with Kevin Saunders and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kevin, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I get my work ethic from my family. I grew up in a family of determined and dedicated people who knew the importance of hard work. I saw how their hard work helped them triumph over obstacles and barriers in our lives, and I’ve seen them achieve things that were not expected nor easy for minorities of their time.
At an early age, my parents instilled these lessons in all of us children. One of my mother’s famous quotes when we were growing up was: “Do the labor, great or small. Do it well, or not at all.” It’s funny how this simple quote still rings in my head today. I apply it to many aspects of my life, especially my craft of acting and filmmaking. It’s from these teachings that I truly feel any and every one can achieve what they put their heart and minds to. It may not be easy, but when it’s achieved, you’ll be happy with the work you’ve put in to build your dreams.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Growing up, I always wanted to be an actor. Movies and television were a vital part of my life and were a form of entertainment that helped feed the natural creative mind I have. I think about how film and television brought me closer to friends, family, and strangers, and became a form of expression in my life. However, I was always too afraid to take it seriously. Between insecurities, self-doubt, and fear, I never made the leap as a child to fully jump into the acting scene. It wasn’t until my freshman year of college that I had, what I call: “my first real acting experience.” I shared my passion of wanting to be an actor with an admission advisor, whom I later found out tricked me into taking a theater class. I thought I would be taking a class on theater tech, hoping to slowly ease into this world I was so fearful of. However, when we were told on the first day, we needed to prepare a monologue by the next class, I quickly realized it was not a theater tech class. As scared as I was, this class lead me to being a part of my first theater play and forming an everlasting bond with this art, and I have not turned back since. I truly appreciate my advisor for pushing me in the deep in, because it helped me triumph over that fear.
I always wanted to help people with the problems they were having in their lives. In high school, I found out that if I went to college for Psychology, I could have a job that would help fulfill the very thing I wanted to do. But as I went through college, I realized that although I do love psychology and I could see how opening my own practice as a psychiatrist could be extremely helpful to others, it wouldn’t bring me my own full happiness. One day, a coworker of mine came into work and shared with me that she changed her major that morning. She was a senior and set to graduate that year and changing her major would set her graduation date back. When I asked her why, she told me she watched a movie the night before, and it touched her so much, that it made her decide to pursue the very thing she had been avoiding for so long. She wanted to become a cop, but due to fear, she decided to pursue something else that would still have a good impact but wouldn’t give her the self-fulfillment she needed. This resonated with me to my core. I too was having the same thoughts, making acting a plan B. But the more I thought to myself, I realized that if a movie could make that much of an impact in someone’s life, why can’t that be how I help people. So, I made a promise to finish my degree, but once I finished, I will set off to do what I love…and I haven’t turned back since.
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?
• Customer Service: Working in the service industry not only taught me how to serve others, but to truly connect with how to communicate to people. Being in the service industry we meet people from all walks of life and learning how to communicate and connect with these people all helps us empathize with others no matter what we want to do.
• Finance: I worked at a bank for 3.5 years and it taught me a lot about the financial aspect of the world, but most importantly our country. Being that I produce films as well, these skills have been applied to the overall budgeting and how I market the films we have and will make.
• Marketing: One of my former jobs was with an IT company with high end business partnerships. I was able to see how the marketing strategies differed from company to company, and why strategic branding practiced were far more successful and enticing than companies that didn’t apply the same tactics. I have taken these insights and applied them to how I market myself as an actor and filmmaker, in hopes to stand out from the norm.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
As an adult, I can now look back and see how much of an impact my parents have had in my life, and why I am where I am today. There are many things they have done and continue to do for me, but their leadership by example is one of the most poignant principles that has impacted me.
I’ve seen how the things they’ve taught me in my life have been paved by them, and they live by the positive principles they’ve instilled in me. It’s easy for a parent to say “do as I say, not as I do.” But, to have parents that have shown me the benefits of following their own guidance has had a lasting effect over my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: imdb.me/kevinsaundersofficial
- Instagram: @kevo_theactor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.n.saunders/
Image Credits
John Lawniczak and Kurt Yue
