We recently connected with Paige Prevost and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Paige, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
In 2022, Oprah Winfrey interviewed Quinta Brunson and imposter syndrome came up. Oprah says, “I’ve never had a moment’s imposter syndrome” and Quinta exclaims, “Me either!”.
Me either.
There have been times when I’ve started a new job and felt overwhelmed trying to learn how to do things correctly and trying to make sure I don’t get fired while I do them incorrectly, but I’ve never felt like I shouldn’t be in a place.
To me, that’s a waste of time. I believe in myself enough to know that I can figure it out.
To be in a space and feel like I don’t deserve to be there only serves to undermine me – and for what? It doesn’t help me and doesn’t help anyone around me.
It helps to understand that everyone is figuring things out constantly – and that people are guessing, often, at the best solution for something. Even if it sounds like they’re speaking in facts.
When I was in high school, we went shopping in Louisiana for a white ballgown for a local festival/pageant in my hometown in Texas. The man inside helping us was a pageant coach and gave me some sound advice that I’ve continued to carry: “in any room you’re in, believe that you belong.”
Will do.
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?
I was born and raised in Beaumont, TX – the Catholic part of the Bible Belt – as a daughter to a mother, sister to a brother, and granddaughter of a MawMaw and PawPaw. I luckily grew up with the same group of people from kindergarten through twelfth grade and then moved to Los Angeles to attend film school at Loyola Marymount University. While there, I was involved in campus ministry, cultural organizations and immersion trips, service clubs, and Delta Delta Delta. I interned for an education nonprofit, for Cross Creek Pictures, for Walden Media, for Latin World Entertainment, for London Alley Entertainment, and for a feature documentary about Captain Paul Watson called “Watson”.
After I graduated in 2018, I eventually landed at Quibi, which was a short form streaming service for your phone. Although Quibi eventually shuttered, it was the best experience. Personally and professionally, I learned so much and am grateful for the chance to have been a Quib. I started off as the receptionist, which was great because I knew everyone’s name and got to interact with more departments than just my own, and then was promoted to a content assistant on the daily shows team.
Afterwards, I worked at 20th Century Animation / Disney as a production assistant on “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules”, “Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again”, and “The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild”.
Eventually, I left and started working at MACRO as a coordinator for the alternative (unscripted + podcasts) team. While at MACRO, I was accepted into the Rare with Google Creative Fellowship as a producer for Google Brand Studio.
Currently, I’m a freelance producer working on Google/YouTube’s Creative Studio team.
2022 – 2023 was a huge amount of growth and amazing opportunities and people. Not least of which is starting development and production on my first feature documentary called “A Place Called Home” and building a team and network of support around that. To house the documentary, I’ve also created an overarching production LLC and then one specifically for the film.
“A Place Called Home” is about Southeast Texas and Southeast Texans. It’s both an environmental justice documentary about the struggle for clean air and health against the area’s dominant industries – oil refineries and petrochemical plants and also a cultural anthropology about a place and people special to me, that I’d like to see immortalized and honored. It’s about both the pains of living in the area and also the joys. After all, home is home.
We filmed two weeks in October 2023 and will be going back into town in February to film a bit more. Stay tuned!
Outside of work, I was proud to be a charitable cheerleader with Cheer San Francisco over the past year. We recently competed in Gay Games in Guadalajara, MX and took home 2nd place for our pom routine! I’ve moved out of the Bay Area, so I’m now an alumni member but once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader 🙂
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
– Everything works out / Being optimistic / Finding silver linings – Perseverance & being adaptable
– Learning from everywhere & everyone and seeing the interconnectedness of lessons
– (Bonus: Be in awe)
Out of these, the through line is being in awe. Don’t get bogged down in the day to day. Look up at the sky sometimes. Life is a lot bigger than what’s going on with humans every second. There’s so much beauty around – from plants to animals to the ocean – and also, to humans. And each living (and nonliving) thing on the universe is so intricate. Literally, so intricate! That’s amazing. And here we are, all together. Working together. There is more good than there is bad.
Very important: don’t take things so seriously. There’s a difference between treating something with importance and treating something seriously.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Depends. If I’ve stayed up all night and I’m feeling overwhelmed, without a doubt, there will be some tears that day. For something.
No real advice or strategies here (I’ll take some!), but ultimately, I think go ahead and let yourself feel overwhelmed and then know that it’s okay. There might be anxiety (!!) in the meantime but you can always get through it.
“The sun’ll come out tomorrow…” <- thank you to my Barbie CD/cassette player and the Annie tape I kept replaying when I was a child.
Contact Info:
- Website: wtpaige.net
- Instagram: apchdocumentary & twentyfiveninety
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apprevost/
