When a Diagnosis Can’t Keep You From Your Dream

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When a Diagnosis Can’t Keep You From Your Dream


While inspired by the whirlwind romances in Hallmark movies, Racquel Henry knows all too well that life doesn’t always feel like a fairytale. But an unexpected diagnosis (and 92 rejections) couldn’t stop her from becoming a published author.

Racquel Henry and I were supposed to meet at Lineage Coffee, where we would’ve walked across mint green floors and ordered an iced matcha and lemon cake before sitting in two black iron chairs at a small round light-wood table, us talking a little louder whenever metal eviscerated whole coffee beans. 

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From “Perfect” to Present

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From “Perfect” to Present

How former Hamilton dancer Lexi Toye fought perfectionism and found her voice.

Anyone who knew Lexi Garcia of DeBary, Florida would have probably described her as practically perfect in every way. But Lexi had a secret, and no one knew. No one. Her happiness cast out like a film projector on a blank wall, larger than life, seeming almost real, until it got blocked by a shadow.

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Leaving the Hospital

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Leaving the Hospital

On June 16th 2022, Megan Lovell and her husband drove their eight-month-old blue-eyed daughter Cam from their home in Orlando, Florida down to Captiva, Florida for Father’s Day. Megan sat in the backseat with Cam. While they were stopped at a red light, another car slammed into the back of them going full speed. The driver died, and there were no skid marks to indicate he’d even tried to stop.

In the split second between impact and unconsciousness, Megan thought, “Oh my gosh we’re getting into a car accident,” and then everything went black.

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If We All Stay Silent: a short film

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If We All Stay Silent: a short film

This is a film I created as part of my MFA in Creative Nonfiction at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. During the Fall semester in 2022 I took a film concentration and worked under the brilliant filmmaker Nina Davenport. As part of that concentration, I made the film you’re about to see.

My original plan was to hire a cinematographer, since as Story Producer for 15+ films for the I Am A Creator docuseries, I've always worked with the brilliant and skilled cinematographer Henry Thong. Typically my role in the filmmaking process is to find the subject, research and craft interview questions, ask interview questions behind the camera, build the foundational pre-production b-roll plan, and then do the first skeleton edit of the raw interview footage.

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To Follow Someone

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To Follow Someone

The Art and Craft of Profile Writing: An Interview with Susan Orlean

It begins in a Florida swamp.

It was 2015, and I was struggling to figure out how to structure a book I’d been working on for over a year; I’d interviewed 120 people about a dream come true in their life, but now I had no idea how to turn those interviews into a book. The structure I’d imagined when I started (something more like a how-to book, with anecdotes and quotes scattered throughout) no longer felt right. The book I’d set out to write wasn’t the book I was going to write. It needed to be something else, but I still had no idea what that was.

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The Three Best Friends Who Started Mammoth Club

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The Three Best Friends Who Started Mammoth Club

Molly, Alan, and Max had been friends for years before the August night in 2022 when they launched their new media company. That night their lives changed forever, and to date their videos total over 13.6M views. But this is not an overnight success story.

The countdown began on July 30, 2022, when Twitch streamer Max La Due left a blue, orange, and pink number 7 on the end screen after he ended one of his biweekly Twitch streams

That same day, YouTuber Molly McCormack posted an Instagram photo wearing a fanny pack that displayed the number 7.  

Three days later, on August 2, 2022, Alan McCormack, Molly’s husband,  posted an Instagram reel of him singing a song by the “imaginary band” 4-Town, emphasis on the 4. 

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When to Hold Tight and When to Let Go

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When to Hold Tight and When to Let Go

Professional stunt performer and driver Richard Marrero has been in Marvel films and award-winning TV shows, but sometimes a creative life also means life of uncertainty.

This is a story about how he (and his wife Carly) deal with the ups and downs of a life in the entertainment industry, and what kept Richard going towards his dream even when it felt like it was going nowhere. 

It starts with a breakfast burrito.

Years ago, my longtime writer-friend Carly Miller-Marrero mentioned a film project her husband, Richard Marrero, was hoping to be working on soon. She didn’t use any proper nouns, but shared that Richard might be stunt doubling an actor that he would be excited to work with. But of course, she said, you never know with these things. 

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Cookie Rockstar 

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Cookie Rockstar 

“A mob is coming,” said a Disney Springs security team member to Steve Lewis. It was December 2020, and the second Gideon’s Bakehouse location was about to open at Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida. Traffic was backed up for miles, and those who did park ran into Disney Springs before it was open.

By the time it opened at 9:00AM, the line stretched through the entirety of Disney Springs property.

By 10:30AM, there was an eight-hour wait.

By 11:30AM, the wait was 12 hours. For a cookie.

But not just any cookie. A half-pound chocolate chip cookie that Steve, the founder of Gideon’s Bakehouse, spent 15 years creating.

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Making the Work You Want to See

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Making the Work You Want to See

It was the end of 2019 and Marcia Colaundria packed up her car in the driveway of her childhood home in Vero Beach to move back to Orlando, even though she had nowhere to live.

But her depression had gotten so bad that she knew she needed a change of scenery; living in her car seemed like a fine trade off.

So after too many late nights spent crying she finally threw all of her clothes into her trunk and drove to Orlando, hoping to find a way to take her career in professional photography to the next level, to fulfill the dream that sparked in high school, and step out in faith.

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Telling Stories with Hair

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Telling Stories with Hair


Why head of the hair department for Stranger Things Sarah Hindsgaul moved to another country to tell stories with hair, the rejection that changed her life, and why she followed her gut and risked everything to create the buzz-cut wig for Eleven.

The day Season Four of Stranger Things comes out on Netflix (May 27, 2022) I’m unable to watch (aka binge) right away because of plans I’d made long before I knew the release date. The next day, on my way to plans I slightly regret because I wish I was spending all day watching Stranger Things, I reply to an Instagram Story of the only other person I follow who is as obsessed with Stranger Things as I am (her mom is currently watching the series for the first time and provides the best quotes) about her post-binge, spoiler-free thoughts, which I devour. Then I reply, with urgency that surprises even me:

“But I just need to know…how is the hair this season??”

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taylor at tribeca

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taylor at tribeca


Taylor Swift on fighting imposter syndrome and becoming a director.

As I walk onto Broadway to find the line for the Beacon Theater to see Taylor Swift speak about her short film All Too Well I see another crowd forming. It seems to be people without tickets to the talk, hoping to catch a glimpse of Taylor when she arrives.

The crowd starts singing All Too Well at the top of their lungs on 75th street.

I smile and turn the other direction to find the line.

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Quitting Art

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Quitting Art


Boardwalk Pictures founder Andrew Fried on leaving what you love and finding your way back again.

I walk up to an unassuming brick building on a crisp, sunny, Santa Monica day; I pause in front of the glass double doors before opening them. I see myself reflected: high-waisted jeans, a striped shirt, platform Teva’s, and a large black backpack holding my laptop and clipboard, both carrying notes for the b-roll we need to shoot later today; after this, I’ll be walking a few blocks to a nearby painter’s studio where I’m producing an episode of a docuseries.

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Failing Twice

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Failing Twice


Journalist Jonathan Landrum on failure not being an indicator of your potential.

Jonathan Landrum dreamed of being a sports writer.

Until the star basketball player at his high school crumpled up one of his first stories in high school.

Jonathan was a sophomore at the time and had written a story for the school newspaper about the basketball game the night before, covering how his school’s team lost against a rival in the closing seconds.

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10 lessons for artists from Taylor Swift and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions

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10 lessons for artists from Taylor Swift and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions

The morning after the Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions came out I woke up to an email from my friend Emily with one word in the subject line – “Taylor.”

I moved from San Diego to Florida a few months ago and my west-coast-friend Emily decided to email instead of text since she finished the sessions past my east cast bedtime.

Her email shared her gut reactions to the revelations in the sessions and how inspiring they were to her as an artist (she’s a fiction writer – her books are like a comforting cup of tea fyi).

I felt the same, and since Taylor has long been an artist who inspires my own writing, I thought I’d share the creative lessons that shone through. ❤️

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Finding Focus

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Finding Focus


What happened when Chef’s Table cinematographer Chloe Weaver finally started saying her career ambitions out loud.

Everyone thinks I’m an extra.

I’m sitting on a circle couch in a fancy hotel lobby in LA, and most everyone else milling about is dressed for a fictional brunch, extras in a TV show filming in the open dining room just across the lobby.

The screen of one camera is just eight feet away from me and I watch the scene through it, zooming in and out on an actor in a colorful 90’s-style jacket. He looks familiar, but I can’t quite place him.

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Viral Hope

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Viral Hope


How digital painter Nikkolas Smith turns grief into art and activism.

I’ll never forget driving by the teddy bear.

It was two miles from where I lived. Where Trayvon Martin was last alive, walking with Skittles from the Sanford, FL 7-11 I got that bottle of water from that one time.

There were piles of flowers and cards, near the grass his shoes last touched, still growing.

There were piles of stuffed animals too. Reminders that this was just a kid.

A kid.

He should have been in school today. He should have been unfurling a day-old Skittles bag to finish whatever colors were left.

I kept driving, but I did not know where to go from here.

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Stories that Last

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Stories that Last


Disney writer and director John Musker on writing with a collaborator, which feedback to take and which to ignore, and how to keep going when you’re stuck.

I almost expect the bunny to start talking to me.

I stare as it hops silently into the greenery outside the home of John Musker, the man who brought to life a mouse detective, a blue genie, a frog prince, an ocean voyager, and a little mermaid. I’ve been listening to John’s words since I was three-years old. I walk past the hiding bunny to John’s door, remembering the first time his art affected my life.

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the missing ingredient in most creative plans

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the missing ingredient in most creative plans


Inspired by Samin Nosrat: Chef, author, and host extraordinaire of the Netflix show Salt Fat Acid Heat

It’s fine to do some things fast. There is a time for all that speedy goodness - to whip something up and get it out. Done is better than perfect and all that jazz.

We live in this amazing time where we can create quickly. Like, right now. I had an idea and I rushed to my computer and here I am, with you now, because I just got going.

But what about those Big Creative Projects?

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Surviving Instability

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Surviving Instability


Actor Zach Knighton on the ups and downs of the creative life, and what to do on the “down” days.

Think about your favorite TV show of all time. You know the one. It’s that one you watch over and over again - on airplanes, in hotel rooms; you devour it like your favorite food after a rough day or a big life transition. Something about it feels like home.

It’s also the show you and your partner (or best friend) quote so much that at some point you realize almost half of everything you say to each other is quotes from this show (and in that exact moment you realize you and this person have the perfect relationship).

Now think of your favorite character on that show, the one who brings you the most joy.

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Hiding in Your Room

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Hiding in Your Room


Singer-songwriter Molly Jenson on showing up as your real self, especially after heartbreak.

So much about being a professional artist is showing up.

Again and again and again and again. Even when it hurts.

It also requires a transmutation of rejection, seeing it in a new skin.

What a professional artist knows is that rejection is part of the job – not a sign you’re wrong for the job.

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