My First In Person Event In Over 3 Years…
I’m very lucky to be able to do what I do. I get to speak and people pay me money. Well, yes… it’s a little more involved than that but it’s the gist essentially. I had to build my way up to this point.
For context - I’ve been in front of and behind the camera for a long time. I started performing on stage when I was 5, I spent 5 years working in Entertainment with Disney, and 5 years ago I was on billboards across Los Angeles. Before the pandemic I was hosting live main stage panels at social conferences across the country, I performed internationally as an ambassador for a top mobile based live streaming app and had gained a following of over half a million viewers. It was a wild time.
After so many years interacting with audiences and creating in both digital and physical place I was forced to shut down operations due to COVID-19. I had a lot of time to think and overthink and maybe… drink? Okay let’s be real - we’re living through some rough times people! I took some time to reevaluate a lot of things as many of us did.
After emerging from sheltering in place, finding a therapist, and realizing I still had to pay rent to live - I needed to get a job. My use-the-digital-space-to-get-people-back-into-physical-place-super-social-love-and-hug-(with-consent) business model wasn’t no longer appropriate.
So I did what everyone else was doing.
I searched for a remote gig online.
And you know what? I actually found one! A part time gig as an Experience Manager for an Author and Keynote Speaker. The story about that is for another time but the gist is eventually I accidentally found myself back in front of the camera again totally by accident - hosting a documentary that’s airing on PBS. These things happen #whoops.
So here I am once again hustling, putting myself out there, intuitively flowing and I get another totally unexpected offer to be an Emcee at an event in Louisiana doing vox populi and panel moderation.
Excuse me?
Yeah…
At this point I’m rollin’ in this Independent Producer game pretty strong. It just feels like the right way for me you know? Except here’s the thing… I gotta go do this event in person in Louisiana not over Zoom.
What?
In person…
Cause I’m like… THAT PERSON. You know that person that still wears their mask. I’m them!
I thought about not going. I thought about 86-ing the whole deal! But only for a second…because deep down I knew I would regret not going.
So I asked. I communicated very clearly that I had a particular set of protocols and that I would be maintaining them at the event. And you know what? They were so wonderful about it. I was so nervous they would be upset I didn’t want to show my face but they fully supported my choice and respected my boundaries.
Why does that come as such a relief though? I wish it were more common/expected of a response.
I did the event and I’m so glad I did. Everyone presented proof of vaccination upon registering, many of us still wore masks while others did not. I wore mine the entire time I was doing face to face interviews and took it off when I was sitting with a panel of humans I had already been exposed to. Was that the “proper protocol”? I don’t know. It was the best I could do in the moment and I thin that’s good enough.
I didn’t do as many social engagements or interactions as I normally would because I am still being cautious and to be honest it’s a lot harder to network while wearing a mask. It’s a new and interesting spot to be in living as a “public persona” but only showing my face online. Is this my future moving forward? Hmm… I’m not sure.
I’ll tell you what I do know - I am a creative being and I love what I do more than most everything else. And I guess it shows? It felt really great to hear such awesome feedback about my role at this conference.
I’m reenergized and reminded of my passion for human connection and communication. I truly felt like I got to be in a room with change makers and those actively invested in an equitable future for all.
What exactly does that mean? I’m not exactly sure. But I feel good about what I’m doing so I’m gonna keep heading in this direction.
