Welcome to THE TRUE NORTH COLLECTIVE℠ PODCAST: SEASON 3! With co-hosts Rachel Bellotti (she/her) and Jenell Riesner (she/her), this is a gathering of un-sugar-coated conversations celebrating the untold stories of everyday people fearlessly finding and living their true north.
In our own search to discover and live from our TRUE NORTH, we continue to meet many interesting, courageous people from all walks of life, doing all sorts of amazing things to live life in their own unique way. Stories from all over the world. Stories with heart. Stories with grit. Stories with plot twists. Stories going untold - until now. This season, we celebrate these untold stories of everyday people who are fearlessly living their true north and inspiring each of us to do the same.
Today, we talk to Cain Rodriguez - lovable, funny, self-deprecating friend of Rachel’s, incredibly authentic human, playwright + director, most recently directing Dallas, The Remix Theatrical Project and upcoming Isolation Station with Caroline Cole, and information professional. We find the parallels in the creative process and life, dig into NOT sharing your stereotypical story, and connect on how a passion for boring things, allowing for unique interpretations, being given permission to fuck things up, and wasting time can lead to a life worth living.
*note: this episode includes explicit language appropriate for those ages 16+
**also note: this episode was recorded prior to any shelter-in-place or quarantine, for context around COVID-19 dialogue
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
- The Walking Dead
- Sundance Film Festival
- Party Monster
- Milwaukee Film Festival
- Metropolis + Alloy Orchestra
- Contact in the Desert
- Flexible Grey Theater Company
- In a society that profits from your self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act - Caroline Caldwell
- Hilly Holsonback
- Music from: https://www.jukedeck.com/
3 KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Friends can be the best accountability in encouraging you to keep going, keep doing it, even when you aren’t sure if you should. Surround yourself with people who want you to succeed and want you to be the person you want to be so that when you falter they keep you honest and on your path.
- Tell your story, not your stereotypical story. Share the things that make you feel alive and that you are interested in, not the things that you think you are supposed to share because of the things that have happened to you or what you were born into or the circumstances you have gone through (unless that is where you feel alive). Live your truth, not just what people might be expecting from you. It’s way more interesting when you are you and sharing your unique flavor of human because while we might look or seem the same because we come from similar backgrounds or experiences, we all have a unique story to share that is ours to share when we are ready.
- It’s never too late to start. And in fact, it’s most likely that if you tried to start sooner than now it wouldn’t be what it was meant to be. Just get over the fact that you are too anything and just start creating the thing that is calling to you, do the thing that it’s time to start doing, be the person you are ready to be and trust that it was all the perfect timing for you to create the thing you were meant to create, now. Go!
TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:
- [3:00] How Rachel would survive a Zombie Apocalypse
- [10:30] Warning to our listeners!
- [12:00] COVID-19 early predictions (recorded in early March 2020)
- [18:00] Introducing Cain!
- [20:30] A passion for boring things, like media preservation
- [23:00] Inaction + wasting my time
- [27:00] Therapy + saying YES
- [31:00] Allowing for interpretation + hoping for the worst possible scenario
- [36:00] The parallels between the acting world + life
- [45:00] Expectations around sharing your stereotype
- [54:00] The creative process is a form of life
- [59:00] How self-deprecation has allowed me to be who I am
- [1:05:00] Putting yourself out there
- [1:08:00] Don’t wait to begin - just go into your weird niche world and make shit and do it now!
- [1:11:00] It’s never too late to start
- [1:14:20] How do you live your TRUE NORTH?
- [1:15:00] Don’t contact Cain, but if you really want to then contact him via IG @televisionblues