We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Paige Blankenship a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Paige, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?
I think we remember the generosity of others just as much as (if not more than) degeneracy. I remember being bullied in school, for example, but it only motivated me more to succeed and rise above those that tried to keep me down. I remember how it made me feel more than I remember the actual bullies. On the flip side, when I think about the people in my life that were truly generous in their actions, those are the ones I not only remember, but also respect, admire, and look up to the most. It doesn’t matter if it was a colleague standing up for me at work when no one else would, a friend loaning me cash when I couldn’t pay my bills, my parents sacrificing so much of their lives to make sure I was cared for, or a stranger helping retrieve the items that fell out of my bag when I fell on my face in public. Knowing the positive impact others’ generosity has had on me drives me to want to have that same impact on others. And maybe part of it is engrained in me now; I come from a small town in North Carolina where we went to church multiple times a week and were constantly volunteering our time to help various charities. Every Sunday after church, we prepared bagged lunches to pass out to families that couldn’t afford lunch. Sometimes we even travelled out of state to help rebuild communities that were impacted by natural disasters. Doing charity work like this from a young age, you get hooked on the high that comes after you just helped another human being. It’s amazing what generosity can look like. It’s a shapeless term, it’s a choice, and it’s a mindset, meaning any human being breathing on this planet is capable of being generous.
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?
Working my way up to a full time producer was not easy. Being a young woman often hurt my chances at being taken seriously in any role I held. As a former female business owner from North Carolina, I thought I was coming to Hollywood at a great time for us women, post #metoo movement. You can imagine my surprise when I encountered a series of abuses in the workplace from various women in power. Instead of viewing me as their peer, a lot of them treated me as a threat. It started to feel like I was in a competition I didn’t sign up for, making it next to impossible to form meaningful friendships with women in my industry. I suddenly felt stuck in a chain reaction that only existed because these women had never healed from their own traumas, having withstood the sickness of an earlier Hollywood. I made it my mission (at first for my own sake) to recalibrate and connect with people who are actively breaking that chain of abuse.
After a while, I had finally built a network of amazing women here in Hollywood championing and cheering each other on! It felt so good to distance myself from the negativity and competitive nature of my previous workplace relationships. This year I started hosting quarterly mixers to bridge that gap between women in our industry by wielding the power of prompted conversation-starters to curate meaningful connections. This is made possible through our tried and true formula, which involves a speed-networking activity, designed to provoke conversation between complete strangers about the impact kindness has on the human experience. Before speed-networking begins, we set intentions together to be fully present and to practice the mindset of both a mentor and a mentee in every interaction. What results from setting collective intentions before networking is a magical outcome that I could have never predicted when first planning these events. The amount of love and warmth you can feel in the room after the activity is beyond words. The outpour of positive messages from attendees after the fact are validation that events like these are addressing an unmet need in our community, motivating me to maintain them on a regular basis.
I’ve since then formed an awesome advisory board of strong, intelligent women to support this mission and ensure our success. Now we want to spread the word, the method, and the love. This initiative has subsequently highlighted other gaps in our industry that the next generation wants to address. We recognize Hollywood is in need of healing in many ways. While our focus is on fostering a supportive community of empowered women, we look forward to expanding this initiative to support growth and healing in other areas such as sustainability, mental health, and creative development.
Right now, stay up to date by visiting: https://blankpaigefilms.com/women-of-hollywood
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?
1. Always do your best.
It doesn’t matter what the job is! I’ve worked in many roles I didn’t have a passion for, but that didn’t mean I was going to give a fraction of my best. Even if you don’t feel 100% one day, you should still give 100% of whatever you have left in you. This has helped me expedite my career path and stay on trajectory towards my goals. From my background in dance, I like to remind people: the most graceful ballerinas that made the choreography look effortless on stage were usually the ones putting in the MOST effort.
2. Don’t be afraid to apologize.
It’s shocking to me how afraid people are to admit when they’ve made a mistake these days. But you can actually use this to your advantage. Being brave enough to own your errors has the power to earn you trust from your colleagues. It doesn’t look weak to say, “I’m sorry, I messed up.” It shows you’re a human being with self-awareness. When I see people I work with (or for) pushing the blame off of themselves to avoid liability, I not only notice the obvious deflection, but I also lose respect for those people.
3. Remember to show gratitude.
Part of my journey was learning how to accept generosity from others. I loved being generous with my time and resources, but often felt uncomfortable receiving acts of kindness. Then I unlocked a very helpful tool: I write down what I’m grateful for every night before bed. This has caused a whole shift in my mindset. I remember to take a moment to thank my colleagues for their time on tasks with me. I thank my friends for their energy on everything they do for me. People will remember that you said thank you, just as much as they’ll remember when you didn’t say it.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
We are definitely open to collaborations and partnerships for our events! We like to switch up venues and are always on the hunt for good spots that check all of our boxes: in a central location and has enough seating for speed-networking. We like to serve our guests food and provide a drink ticket with each RSVP, so food and beverage partners are always a must! Additionally, these events lend themselves to multiple experiential and digital marketing opportunities for brands looking to spread the word to women, artists, producers, etc. A great example from our most recent event: Versed Skin donated swag bags for our VIPs as well as a self-care package that we sold raffle tickets for and gave away after our speed-networking activity. As long as the brand has a similar mission and values to our own, there are a variety of options in how we can incorporate it into each event.
Of course, the best way to support us at this time is to join our initiative as a sponsor. We have different levels of sponsorship options based on the contribution. The best part about becoming a sponsor of our mixers is that most contributions are tax deductible! Thanks to Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program, they have opened the door to nonprofit funding for our initiative for the next year. To learn more about it, check out our page on the Film Independent website:
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blankpaigefilms.com/women-of-hollywood
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550941535539
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blank-paige-films/
- Other: https://www.filmindependent.org/sponsored-projects/women-of-hollywood-mixers-x-blank-paige-films/
