Camera Ready & Abel

How to Create Opportunity and Make Money with Blair Taylor

This episode of Camera Ready & Abel is brought to you by the phrase, How to Create Opportunity and Make Money. My insightful - and delightful - guest is talent agent Blair Taylor, CEO of Taylor Talent Services, who has been innovating and creating opportunities for his clients for over 25 years. Blair has built a successful career by accessing opportunities untapped by traditional agents. He has represented commercial actors and spokespeople for national and international campaigns for some ...

Measure Your Inchstones with Angela Marie Hutchinson

This mini episode is brought to you by the phrase, Measure Your Inchstones, which was a gem that Angela Marie Hutchinson shared with me on her episode of this podcast. We all know about milestones, even if we forget to mark them. A milestone is defined as an action or event marking a significant change or stage in development. Angela opened my eyes to the beauty and power of measuring your inchstones, the small, incremental essential steps you take daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly that mo...

Unsubscribing from Perfectionism with Nicole Baker

This is one of my favorite asking for a friend episodes. When Nicole Baker - host of the Imperfect Success podcast and a coach who helps high achievers ditch perfectionism, cut out hustle culture, and start achieving their goals with fun, fulfillment, and a whole lotta free time - connected with me, I immediately thought, this woman has wisdom I need to hear. So many highlights and takeaways to Unsubscribing from Perfectionism: Perfectionism is often the root cause of procrastination Our success...

The Secrets to Creating Social Video that Gets Noticed with Kim Rittberg

On this episode of Camera Ready & Abel the highly engaging Kim Rittberg teaches how to crack the code of creating social video that gets noticed. Because as Kim says, if you're hiding from the camera, you're hiding from clients. Kim's simple strategy is based on her Four Cs: Confidence Concise Consistency Creativity and she gives a big permission to let go of perfection, focus on value and don't get hung up on all the technology. Keep it simple with a ring light and a microphone and easy, us...

Lights Camera Cash with Nicole Sellars

Relationships: It’s Who Knows You!

The topic of relationships come up often in my conversations on Camera Ready & Abel. This is no surprise since media and entertainment are relationship-driven industries. People like to work with people they know and trust to to get the work done on time, on budget and well executed. It's also a fact that media and entertainment are referral driven businesses, and people recommend people they know, like, and trust. So I've pulled together a best-of featuring snippets from my conversations wi...

Play to Your Strengths with Sean DeSimone

My dear friend, Sean De Simone, is back on the podcast and we are discussing the phrase, Play to Your Strengths. This comes up in all areas of our business from coaching to casting to the courses we teach. My favorite definition of Play to Your Strengths is: Do what you are able to do well, instead of trying to do other things. Sounds simple but so often we waste energy on trying to conform to a narrow ideal - The Shoulds - that we miss the opportunity to highlight our unique value and what make...

Camera Ready and Confident with Barbara Barna Abel & Vinnie Potestivo

Camera Ready and Confident is a rebroadcast of my guest appearance on Vinnie Potestivo's I Have a Podcast two years ago, shortly after the launch of Camera Ready and Abel. Vinnie is my dear friend, co-conspirator and Emmy Award-winning media advisor who helps people and their business get seen and heard. Vinnie and I met years ago when we were talent executives at MTV Networks. Listening back to this episode I can hear how far I've come as a podcaster which is reminder that consistent practice p...

Daily Disciplines with J.D. Durkin

This episode of Camera Ready & Abel is brought to you by the phrase Daily Disciplines. According to success.com being a high performer is the result of your daily disciplines. Here to discuss is my friend, journalist, J.D. Durkin, who opens up and shares the personal details of how developing his daily disciplines with intention helped him navigate his career, work through challenging times in his life and evolve as a human being. J.D. is a host and reporter at the New York Stock Exchange fo...

Am I Allowed to Say That with Karith Foster

I get asked all the time by clients and students Am I allowed to say that?? It used to be we were afraid of causing offense or being inappropriate, now add to that the very real fear of being canceled. I'm very happy to have this timely conversation with a bonafide expert on the subject, Karith Foster, who is a diversity engagement specialist and creator of the groundbreaking INVERSITY™ methodology and other signature programs. Karith is also a humorist, author, television and radio personality,...

How to Talk to Anyone with Crystal Jones

Humans are social creatures and yet it can be mighty hard to talk to people. It's a serious challenge - when you Google, how to talk to anyone, 455 million hits come up. Here to discuss is my dear friend Crystal Jones, who is the associate director of Major Gifts for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and who talks to people all day, every day for a living and talks them into making serious donations. The alternative title to this episode of Camera Ready & Abel could have been How to talk to anyo...

Question Everything with Danielle Robay

Everyone from Socrates to Euripedes to Virgil Abloh has commanded us to Question Everything. My guest for this episode, television host and professional interviewer Danielle Robay, figured out early on that questions are a superpower - and all of us can develop and tap into it. At a critical time in Danielle's career, when she was rebounding from the dream job that turned out to be a soul crushing mistake, she turned her superpower inward, asking herself five thoughtful questions per day, and em...

The 3 M’s: Mastery, Marketing & Mindset with Wendy Alane Wright

Mastery = deep, comprehensive knowledge or skill which is the difference between knowing how to do something and doing that something extremely well. Marketing = the activity or business of promoting and selling products or services. Mindset = the established set of attitudes held by someone Here to discuss the 3 M’s is Wendy Alane Wright - acting career coach, Hollywood talent manager and founder of the Hollywood Winners Circle Academy and the Talent Managers for Actors (TMFA) conference. Wendy...

Work Ethic is a Superpower with Buki Elegbede

Several guests have said this to me: Working harder IS working smarter. My guest for this episode of Camera Ready & Abel - multi Emmy nominated Television Host, Producer and journalist, Buki Elegbede - says his Work Ethic is his Superpower. Buki believes his work ethic is what has given him a competitive advantage in an industry that is saturated with talent. As he says, quoting Milton Berle, “when opportunity doesn't knock, build your own door.” More takeaways: Work ethic includes working s...

Write Your Dream Role with Emily Grace

This episode of Camera Ready & Abel is brought to you by the phrase Write Your Dream Role, an action at the heart of creating opportunity. A core principle of being camera ready. My guest for this episode is Emily Grace - a career coach and Sundance award-winning actress - who lives the mantra: Why wait? Don't ask for permission. Go do. Because that's what Emily did. She learned hard lessons as an actor going from making a big splash to fizzle and went on a mission to figure out how the indu...

Industry Trends with Mark Turner

Trends and market changes - like emerging technologies and shifts in consumer behavior impact every industry - and are hitting entertainment and media particularly hard right now. Here to discuss both the opportunities and challenges of current industry trends is legendary agent Mark Turner, who currently serves as a Partner and Vice President of programming, digital media licensing, branding and head of unscripted talent at A3 Artists Agency. Mark started his storied career after graduating fro...

Balance with Erin Palinski-Wade

I grew up with an imbalanced idea of what life balance is, thinking all the different parts had to be in equal amounts. What a huge relief and step forward when I met my guest for this episode, Erin Palinski-Wade, who helped me understand balance is about having the correct proportions. Erin is the ultimate multi-hyphenate: a nationally recognized nutrition, diabetes, and fitness expert, author, TEDx speaker, business owner, frequent television guest, and busy mom of three, who also happens to b...

On Message with Johanna Maska

Being on message means saying things that agree with the official position of a political party, organization, business, or brand…and most importantly, being true to your own message! My guest for this episode, Johanna Maska, is an expert bar none on the how and why of being On Message. Johanna shaped the message and image of Barack Obama, beginning with the Iowa caucuses in 2007, all the way through being White House Director of Press advance until 2015, and recently launched her podcast, Press...

Industrious with Matthew Hoffman

This feel great episode is brought to you by the word industrious which means diligent and hardworking, and also implies a habitual devotion to the work, which in the Camera, Ready & Abel universe is one of the keys to success. This episode could also have been called Industrious: How to Get the Gig! because my guest, TV host, narrator, and media personality, Matthew Hoffman, generously - and hilariously - walks me step by step through how he landed the gig that propelled him to the next lev...

You Choose! with Beth Schiff

Life is a series of choices. To choose means to select freely after consideration, to decide upon, to vote (important reminder!), to have a preference. This implies both freedom and responsibility. Joining me to discuss on Camera Ready & Abel to discuss the phrase You Choose! is legendary Talent Executive, Producer and Casting Director, Beth Schiff, who believes in the power of choosing so much she named her business You Choose Creative. Beth has more than twenty years in the entertainment i...

Alignment with Tamiko White

“Alignment is a real place,” shares my guest Tamiko White who joins me on this episode of Camera Ready & Abel to discuss the journey to alignment. Tamiko White is the founder of White Noise Consulting and creator of #NOWTrending, a branding course and community for entrepreneurs. She is a fashion and media entrepreneur, creative brand consultant and writer who has worked with an impressive list of clients over the past 30 years- in front of the camera and behind the seams- to help everyone s...

How to Pitch with Dave Noll

If you're thinking I'm not in sales or I'm not a creative, I'm never going to pitch anything, think again! As my guest for this episode, Dave Noll, says, life's a pitch, life's a series of pitches...whether it's love or work or anything important. Selling anything, creating anything, anything important in life comes with a pitch. Dave knows what he's talking about. He and his partner, Cleve Keller, are the mega-successful creators and producers of Chopped (the most successful show in the history...

Curiosity Didn’t Kill the Cat with Alice Ford

Dreams only become reality when we actually are curious enough to start implementing and making them happen. - Alice Ford I say all the time that I'd be sitting in my villa in Tangier right now if I had a dollar or ten for every single person I've encountered who said I want to host a travel show. My guest for this episode, award winning host, adventure filmmaker and stunt woman, Alice Ford, created a travel show and turned it into a viable business. Alice says curiosity is the key to all of it....

Civility with Kristi Spencer

I am a card-carrying etiquette nerd along with my guest, for this episode, Kristi Spencer, who spent over two decades working in the rough and tumble world of local news before becoming a certified business etiquette expert and launching her business The Polite Company . Why does it matter? Good manners are good for business. Good manners minimize or prevent problems with reputation and employee/client retention (which impact the bottom line), make you more memorable and good manners are key to ...

Dealing with Bozos and Bullies with Iggy Perillo

The title of this episode of Camera Ready & Abel - Dealing with Bozos and Bullies - tells you a lot about my guest for this episode. Iggy Perillo, founder of WSL Leadership, helps leaders and educators do right by their people with warmth, humor and compassion, training them to do the hardest part of great work more easily, through group and one-on-one coaching masterminds and experiential workshops designed to make it simple for them to connect with their people, create meaningful change an...

Laughter On Call with Dani Klein Modisett

Dani Klein Modisett is a comedian, actor, author and accidental entrepreneur who (accidentally) founded, Laughter On Call - a company that runs innovative, interactive workshops for individuals and organizations rooted in mental wellness, designed to foster connection through shared laughter, by combining compassion with comedy to boost morale - when she saw the positive impact comedy had on her mother when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Since the company's founding in 2018, more than 20,00...

On Brand Part 2: It’s Always an Audition

On this episode of Camera Ready & Abel my conversion with Aliza Licht continues but this time I am in the guest seat as I re-air my interview on her podcast, Leave Your Mark. This episode is brought to you by the phrase, it's always an audition, because no matter the career field you are in, a job interview is an audition. What makes a great audition? First off, to recognize that it starts the minute you walk into the building, so be memorable and be delightful. Leave the room better than yo...

On Brand with Aliza Licht

Problem: What's my personal brand? Solution: Aliza Licht, my guest for this episode of Camera Ready & Abel discussing her new book, ON BRAND: shape your narrative, share your vision, shift their perception. Aliza explains being on brand means you have a clear understanding of what you align with, what it is you want to be known for and how to make sure other people see you that way. That last bit is key because your brand is your story and in the absence of your story, people will create one...

Gratitude with Barbara Barna Abel

Time flies when you're learning and growing! I cannot believe this episode celebrates my two-year podaversary. It's been - and continues to be - a creative joy and an education which is why this episode of Camera Ready & Abel is brought to you by the word, GRATITUDE. From the Latin word gratis meaning thankful or pleasing. I struggled for a bit before hitting the record button, wondering what I had to add to the Gratitude conversation, and then the Universe provided me with two quotes that h...

Decoding Success with Matt LeBris

Sometimes the universe brings you the person you absolutely need to speak with in that moment, and that’s what happened when I connected with my guest for this episode, Matt LeBris, host of the top 1% globally ranked podcast Decoding Success which is hyper-focused on delivering value through decoding others’ success. Matt insists he’s not great at math but he shares two powerful equations: Events + Perspective = Outcome Knowing How to do something + the Courage to do it = What you really need Ke...