LLCs, LIVING WELL & NO REGRETS

Hope everyone’s Tuesday is off to a good start and welcome to Potentially Focused! Today we… Help you start your own company and share tips on how to live a life of no (big) regrets.

Plus, I’m excited to feature another great interviewee and he’s someone who helped me up my creative game when we collaborated a few years back.

Erik Parker is a creative force. Starting out as a journalist he wrote great pieces for fantastic outlets like Rolling Stone and the much-missed Village Voice. Ultimately, his love of music and culture lead him to editor posts at The Source and Vibe. Always looking for his next creative endeavor, his debut doc, Nas: Time is Illmatic with his creative partner One9 was widely praised and sent his career into a great new phase. As a filmmaker and EP, he’s since gone on to produce projects centered on a wide range of topics including NASCAR, the Super Bowl, food, and the LA Riots. Many of Erik’s projects have won or been nominated for major awards. I can tell you from working with him, it's not a coincidence. He’s one of the most passionate and thoughtful people and storytellers working (not exclusively) in nonfiction today.

Potentially Focused is a newsletter for busy people in the TV business (or not) who are curious. People who want to keep growing. Everyone interested in new possibilities, new stories, the stories we tell ourselves, and what makes all of us tick. Each edition shares at least one great piece of content on professional development and one centered on personal growth. It's useful information for your journey to what’s next.

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Off we go…

HOW TO START YOUR OWN COMPANY

For many people, there’s an itch or in some cases a need to become entrepreneurial. In the TV business and other industries going through significant changes right now, some of the jobs that used to be there for people simply won’t or already don’t exist as we move into the new normal.

In those kinds of challenged spaces, you hear a lot about being fractional. The idea basically being that rather than the one source of income situation many of us have grown accustomed to, you spend your work life doing several different kinds of work or assignments. As a result, you become fractional. Some of your money comes from each of your various endeavors.

But, whether you’re going fractional, straight-up consulting or just want your own thing…

What do you have to do to start your own business? Is there some secret swearing-in ceremony or other rituals you must go through? Or does the Business Fairy simply grant your wish if you wish hard enough? And, why does it have to be complicated?

All of these thoughts and more plagued me as I recently created my own company.

Turns out, there are a bunch of different structures and ways to go at it depending on your situation. And, I can’t stress this enough. Do your own research!

But, for many people, a simple LLC will be the way to go. It’s a relatively easy way to create your own business and with it get a little protection from liability.

It can be very intimidating to think about if you’ve never done it before. So, here’s a link to one site I found helpful in terms of understanding and navigating the process. (And legal-ish disclaimer, I am in no way endorsing this site.) Again, do your own research!

Whatever you decide, do bet on yourself and your ability to know best what’s right for you and to figure out how to get there.

HOW TO LIVE WELL

Two certainties in life. We are all going to die (and I hope it’s many many years from now for all of us). And, each of us will check out having some regrets.

Knowing both of those things, I believe part of living a well-lived life is to minimize the big regrets.

Little regrets will happen. Things like ordering a salad at your favorite burger spot or (and I actually saw a friend do this) buying sushi at a gas station. But those kinds of things aren’t the things most likely to flash before your eyes as you’re heading out of this life.

So, how do you avoid having THE big regrets?

One way is to ask people who’ve lived a long time about their lives and learn from their responses. Thankfully someone recently did a study, which did just that. I’ll share a link to an article that will tell you more, but first a few takeaways…

• The older people surveyed shared a feeling that life went by very quickly. That may seem negative, sad, or depressing at first but it’s actually freeing. Meaning, that when there’s so much coming at you or so many things you want to do, knowing that life is short can help you to prioritize what is truly worth spending your time on. (This, also explains why my closet continues to be in the terrible state it’s in…)
• Older people believe happiness is a choice. I am a strong believer in the power of framing and the stories you tell yourself. So, while I do believe they have a point, I am not 100% sure that I 100% believe in happiness as a choice. Speaking of myself, I go through down times or moments and then tend to return to a fairly optimistic state relatively quickly. I’m not sure if that’s brain chemistry, being born lucky in many ways (great parents, a country that allowed our immigrant family to build a better life in the USA even as it has problems like any nation, being born into certain demographics, good schooling, a supportive wife and kids, great mentors and on and on) or maybe just having a lower IQ than I realize. But whatever the case, I do believe that believing in the possibility of good things happening is certainly better than believing you’re likely to always fail or be unable to attain a goal. Belief and framing are good first steps, but I acknowledge some of the rest of it is a crapshoot.
• And despite all I just wrote, I do love this quote from Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius cited in the article: “When you are distressed by an external thing, it’s not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgment of it. And you can wipe this out at a moment’s notice.”

Well said, MA!

Ok, so all of the above is well and good, but it’s all a little nebulous. Not the sort of practical information we pride ourselves on sharing here. Luckily the article shared detailed advice too.

According to the older adults interviewed, these are the most valuable things you can do with your time:

• Say things now to people you care about — whether it’s expressing gratitude, asking for forgiveness, or getting information.
• Spend the maximum amount of time with your parents and children.
• Savor daily pleasures instead of waiting for “big-ticket items” to make you happy.
• Work in a job you love.
• Choose your mate carefully; don’t just rush in.

Here’s a list of things they believed weren’t worth their time:

• No one said that to be happy you should work as hard as you can to get money.
• No one said it was important to be as wealthy as the people around you.
• No one said you should choose your career based on its earning potential.
• No one said they regretted not getting even with someone who slighted them.

And the biggest regret they had? Worrying about things that never happened.

“Worrying wastes your life,” was the way one respondent summed it up.

As someone who has thankfully learned to worry less the longer I’ve been on this planet, I’m 100% sure I 100% believe that.

As promised, here’s the link…?

POTENTIALLY FOCUSED WITH ERIK PARKER

As a child, I thought I’d grow up to be a journalist. That hasn’t happened (yet), but I do remain fascinated with journalists and storytellers of all kinds. And so, it’s always exciting to me when I get to work with someone who is a journalist. I usually end up fanboy-ing out, asking a lot of questions about their work and experiences writing professionally.

And so it was with Erik Parker.

Erik and I collaborated a few years back. And though by then he had made his mark as a terrific doc filmmaker, he graciously indulged my curiosity about his writing career. I am indebted to him for that and more importantly for the fantastic project that we (and a lot of other fantastic people) got to make together.

Since then, we’ve stayed in touch and our conversations always make me think and leave me feeling hopeful.

I’m excited to welcome Erik and I am hopeful (actually, certain) you’ll enjoy his perspective.

What's one thing you're currently excited about?

I have a series coming out today (streaming on ESPN Plus) that explores the evolution of sports media. It's called Up for Debate, and Stephen A. Smith figures heavily?into the story. I say that not just as a plug but because it is a part of what I am excited about. I've always watched media and found fascinating?the changes that happen slowly?until it's sudden. Like the change from print to digital to podcasts. Now, with AI movie-making rising up before us all, I'm interested in where it's all going. I mean, AI everything is going to change our everyday in ways that we cannot appreciate at the moment. Like when cell phones happened, nobody really knew the camera would be one of the main features and that the actual "phone" aspect and even FaceTime?would be less preferred than the two-way paging feature. Can't wait to see how this unfolds.?

In your career, you went from writing about hip hop and other topics as a journalist to making an acclaimed Nas documentary with your creative partner, One9, who is an amazing storyteller as well. These days you're an in-demand EP and director working on projects centered on a wide variety of topics, what is it about you that allowed you to transition to new mediums, roles, and genres so successfully?

When One9 and I (along with a few other friends) got together to start making?Time is Illmatic, it was a learn-on-the-job experience for us all. Prior to that, I worked as an editor for the Source and Vibe magazines. I was receiving pitches all day from many angles: From writers, artists, authors, politicians, entrepreneurs, as well as the reps for all of them. Aside from my time as a print editor, I've written for many?publications which?has?gotten me very comfortable interviewing people. Doing so helped me to be okay being uncomfortable. From there, you develop?a skill of traveling down rabbit holes. Exploring stories, pulling at threads. So?my training as a journalist did help the transition to documentary storytelling less bumpy.?

As part of AMC’s Nonfiction Team, I?was very fortunate a few years ago to get to work with?you, One9, The Roots, Jigsaw Productions and Angie Day on Hip Hop: Songs That Shook America. I always tell people how blown away I was by the beautiful and out-of-the-ordinary interview setups?you and the creative team came up with for that series. What drives you to innovate?

Oh man, we had a great team on that series, which includes you and the executive team and down to our PAs on the set. Really was a special?project with special people. It was a collaborative project, too. We were constantly looking for visual pathways into that story that would be unique to each episode yet have a uniform feel for the series. My favorite thing was the episode on Jesus Walks where we found and shot the choir that originally sang that song, the one that Kanye West sampled. From behind the camera it was moving. And beautiful. Can't front, my eyes were a little moist in the moment. And DP Frank Larsen captured it with one camera in a way that put?the?audience in that room. ??

I'm inspired to innovate when I see?other?works that?are bold?and experiment with?different approaches. When I see something that moves me like, say, an unusual?or clever frame, it challenges me to want to push the?envelope. It's satisfying to create without the boundaries there are in most work, you have to find those moments of freedom.?

What's one great lesson a great boss or mentor taught you?

I think the best lesson I learned from someone I worked for was about management and inclusivity. It's helpful to get input?from different people at different levels of the organizational chart. One thing it does is helps everyone feel ownership. Another is, which is just as important, you can get some really good insight and ideas from outside of the tight inner circle. Of course, this flow of ideas has to be managed as to not just be a free for all or else it can be counterproductive. But the leaders who get this right, whether they be execs or producers or what have you, will always have a better product and more fun along the journey getting to it.?

In an alternate universe where you were happy, but weren't doing any of the things you are currently doing professionally, what do you think you'd be doing professionally?

I love this question for anyone. Mostly because it helps you to reveal who you are at heart. On Earth 2 in the metaverse, I might be a happy?teacher, or working with young people somewhere. Or conversely, maybe in some remote cabin somewhere churning out books. I dunno, really. I used to want to be a rapper, yep, in my younger years. But that time would have passed by now. But I can't help but think somewhere in dimension C-137, there's a rapper me. And yes, I'm getting swifty with it. ?

I’m sure you are. Thanks very much, Erik!

THAT’S IT!

See you for our next edition on Thursday. Wishing you all good things always.

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Thanks to you all for reading,

Marco

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