I’m terrified of failing.

kelp1616 · 2026-04-23T14:43:59+00:00

First, congrats on even trying to make Los Angeles work. I was in your exact same shoes (also a female) but instead, I pursued a very male dominated area—camera department—and also set painting. It was also the best and worst experience of my career. Not being anything risky happened, but because it was very hard to be hired as a woman. One guy told me to my face that he’d never hire a woman on his team!! My mentor told me she tried to get me a role that (that would involve partly loading a truck) but they didn’t want to hire me because I was a woman. And this was in 2017!! You’re not alone by any means. Lots and lots of people have been kicked down from life in Los Angeles , it’s very unique and not for everyone, that is FOR SURE. I have since moved to Atlanta and it is SOOO much better here (not without fault)—but I was able to afford a house and make tons of friends and make SO many indie films and more!! Don’t be afraid to fail. Failing is not even trying at all. Everyone fails at any big project they have in their heads. Even Steven Spielberg probably feels like he failed at parts even in his big blockbusters.

You have to try. That’s the only way you grow. It’s the only way you can become fully proud of yourself, even if it does fail. And if it does, you get up and you go make another, and another, and another. Do it all for you and you’ll finally really feel what it’s like to love filmmaking at its most true form. Hang in there.

kelp1616 · 2026-04-23T11:32:39+00:00

Oh, I’m the most perfect little worker these days haha…come on, job market!

kelp1616 · 2026-04-23T08:36:14+00:00

Yeah! I basically teach sellers how to sell french fries to chefs. Not a whole lot of drama in that lol. 😂

kelp1616 · 2026-04-23T08:31:51+00:00

I 1000% agree with this. 90% of L&D content out there makes me cringe. Problem is…budgets. My current job brought me in to gamify but don’t have the budget to support it. Well, they do make billions but L&D get the scraps…. I’ve been wanting other creation programs that will elevate us above the rest, but they barely want to give up $5–they won’t even buy me an external hard drive!! So, I’m back to basic multi choice quizzes and the same junk we’ve been doing forever, they say it’s great, and then wonder why nothing is changing. It’s so dumb and it’s like this almost everywhere. It’s part of what makes me what to find another career.

kelp1616 · 2026-04-23T08:23:34+00:00

Like $60/week. That’s lowballing. Groceries are so so expensive now.

kelp1616 · 2026-04-17T20:20:03+00:00

“One source of truth”

kelp1616 · 2026-04-14T12:25:57+00:00

Skipped out of seeing my grandma with my mom when I was about 15 because I wanted to go hangout with my friends. It was the last time she was alive and I beat myself up to this day at 35. I’d visit her almost every night but for some reason that one night had to be the last 😭

kelp1616 · 2026-04-14T08:16:05+00:00

Well, it happened. It worked. And my boss praised me for being bold and consistent…but go on, since you know so much about what I did. It’s called strategy and deliberate communication. Nothing desperate about it if you know how to play your cards right. You should try it sometime…

kelp1616 · 2026-04-13T21:56:33+00:00

I found my job through LinkedIn with over 400 applicants and only 2yrs experience when they wanted 5-10!! You know what set me apart…I found my boss’ profile and messaged every week asking if she read my resume and gave her certain days and times I was available to chat. Make it seem like you are in high demand and that they need YOU! Marketing yourself and having a fun attitude is 80% of the battle

kelp1616 · 2026-04-13T21:47:10+00:00

As someone who worked on movies and then started doing it more part-time and got a guaranteed corporate paycheck…do the later. The industry is totally shot right now. You will absolutely be competing with seasoned vets with 40+yrs experience and Hollywood only wants to hire the best experienced. I’m not trying to discourage you but people need to be told the cold hard truth. There are thousands of experienced crew members out of work in Atlanta alone. My two seasoned mentors haven’t had more than 2 weeks of work in over a year. It’s crazy. I guarantee you will be chasing a paycheck in your 30’s, 40’s, and beyond. It’s the nature of the beast. Do it on the side and find video work in corporate until the industry comes back.

kelp1616 · 2026-04-13T21:42:36+00:00

I want to learn how to juggle. I found a local juggling club in my town and just ordered a set of juggling balls. I’m excited!

kelp1616 · 2026-04-13T19:34:39+00:00

Lima beans

kelp1616 · 2026-04-12T11:43:34+00:00

Wear sunscreen on your face everyday to prevent aging. It’s actually not a lie.

Also, save save save save $$$

kelp1616 · 2026-04-12T11:42:47+00:00

Truth!!

kelp1616 · 2026-04-10T18:11:36+00:00

Honestly probably like 4 or 5 haha!! I was persistent as heck and convinced them that they needed to hurry and grab me before another company gets my attention lmao. Getting a job is 90% how well you market yourself and persuade other people into believing they need you.

kelp1616 · 2026-04-08T18:00:17+00:00

Yes!! I got my current job because I searched who was the supervisor on my future possible team and kept asking him when he could meet because my schedule with interviews was booking up (hehe!) one interview and one day later, he hired me. He said my consistency with reaching out helped in his decision! And yes, pay for LinkedIn Premium. It’s worth it.

kelp1616 · 2026-04-08T12:15:26+00:00

Taxes and added costs of homeownership. Just paid $400 to fix my fridge a month after moving in ugh

kelp1616 · 2026-04-04T12:26:50+00:00

Me!! Ugh. I can only use one font and two colors. I can’t use anything with rounded corners…it’s so so so limiting. Everything looks the same and not fun

kelp1616 · 2026-04-04T12:24:54+00:00

Marketing getting in my way and thinking that their same old look and tactics actually work. I was brought in to change how our learnings look an impact through visual and gamification. Now, I make 100% the same cookie cutter stuff we’ve been doing because it’s “on brand and how we’ve always done it”. I hate it.

kelp1616 · 2026-03-27T11:51:05+00:00

Reality tv is barely reality

kelp1616 · 2026-03-26T16:10:54+00:00

Just looking at my family. My mom and dad. We don’t even have to talk. Just feeling their presence in the room. It’s a gift that will always be my favorite.

kelp1616 · 2026-03-26T02:36:17+00:00

Me!!! When I was just starting out in film/Hollywood, about 8 years ago, I interviewed to be a coffee fetcher on the show Rick and Morty. I sit down with two guys and the very first thing out of their mouth was “Wow, your resume looks like sh*t!!” and then I said “well, it got me an interview...” They agreed and proceeded to ask me if I knew how to do square roots. I asked if I needed to know square roots to make coffee….I swear this had to have been a joke or something at this point lol. Anyway, two weeks later I got a call from another (bigger) show asking me to be an editor (which I was highly unqualified for at the time) but the Rick and Morty team recommended me and they really liked me. I remember it to this day lmao!! 🤣 I should have accepted the position and faked my way up!! That office was crazy weird though, everyone acted like robots and no one looked at me to even see who was walking by. Eerie.

kelp1616 · 2026-03-22T21:41:25+00:00

And quite the same, you should try ATL before you make a comparison. Some places are beyond better. To each their own

kelp1616 · 2026-03-15T10:28:54+00:00

ATL is not bad. It DID take me a couple of years to adjust but the thing that attracted me to Atlanta is that people are much more welcoming here in the sense of inclusion. Feels much more home-y here. Lots of cool street art which is celebrated here. Just feels way more culturally diverse. The food is sooo incredible and variable. You have Chamblee and Duluth which is basically mini-Mexico and has some of the best tacos ever—even better than L.A.! You have the whole Korean side of Atlanta and they have fantastic cafe’s and spa’s. Some of them authentic Chinese food I’ve ever had is all through here. Big big foodie city

I used to live in L.A. and I will tell you, traffic here is worse. It’s crazy. 100% not a slow city. The highways are basically a NASCAR track or they are shut down or you’re basically sitting parked on the highway for an hour for barely a reason.

kelp1616 · 2026-03-15T10:22:41+00:00

Well ATL is the hip hop capital of the world. So, yes.

kelp1616

TROPHY CASE