Everyone who knows me knows I am a huge President Obama fan. I have read his books and I enjoy his speeches. I think he is the best President of my lifetime so far: progressive, intelligent, compassionate, witty, moral and articulate. Obama will be sorely missed and his speech at his final White House Correspondents’ dinner did not help. From the mic drop to the jokes, it was perfection. Goodbye Obama, I will miss you.
Credit: wikipedia
At her lowest point, Beate Chelette was $135,000 in debt, a single mother, and forced to leave her home. Only 18 months later, she sold her image licensing business to Bill Gates in a multimillion dollar deal. Chelette is a nationally known ‘gender decoder,’ respected speaker, career coach, consummate entrepreneur, and author of Happy Woman Happy World. Beate is also the founder of The Women’s Code, a unique guide to women leadership and personal and career success that offers a new code of conduct for today’s business, private, and digital worlds.
The last few months have left me dazed and confused as to why the American people love Donald Trump. I’ve written about it, I’ve unfriended Facebook friends who asked me to endorse him, and I’ll admit I have even learned a few marketing tricks from his campaign.
By anyone’s playbook, Trump is a bully, a narcissist, a misogynist, and a racist. Plus, he’s attracting dangerous followers like members of the Ku Klux Klan. Even his right-hand salute was compared to Hitler’s hand gesture. Despite his politically incorrect behavior and self-bravado, again and again Trump comes out on top.
American people are loving Trump in record numbers. Why?
What we are seeing now is a passionate rift between those who like Trump for his brashness, and those who fear what could happen to our country with a man like him in power. This is what prompted me to take a deeper look at what exactly Trump says that resonates with Americans. It didn’t click until I read Thomas Frank’s article, which you can find here.
At the very bottom of this election sits a deep-rooted dissatisfaction with our systems. Let’s go through the list of what wiped out the American middle class and the hard-working, blue collar employee who used to be able to support his family.
And this is where Trump comes in.
People are tired of losing. They are afraid the little they have left could be lost at any moment. And who isn’t disgusted when a CEO gets fired and is given a multimillion dollar parting gift bonus? Trump nails these pains and fears and dissatisfactions. He promises to be the bully who will shake things up. He has no problem blackmailing, negotiating, or forcing the other side to relent to his wishes. And why wouldn’t they? He’s the Almighty Trump and this is his track record. Truly, he has no plan other than to “change it.”
The American people support Trump because they want to send a message to the system. This is his appeal. Trump will tell the establishments what we want to tell them ourselves, and Americans believe the establishments will listen to a bully.
The bank bailout did nothing for the people, or so we believe. Of course, we didn’t live through the outcome of not providing the bailout, so we don’t really know how bad it could have been if banks were allowed to fold. What we now witness is the effect on our lives and the people around us. Like my girlfriend who lost her house at 62-years-old after battling with the bank for five years. The refinancing they offered was merely an extension of her debt. Total fail. She can’t get back on her feet financially, is such an emotional mess that she can’t focus on work, and the stress of her fight for survival has literally paralyzed her—she awoke one morning unable to move her left arm. There are millions of stories like my friend’s.
That is why Trump is so popular—he promises to be strong enough, independent enough, and crazy enough to take the system on. He will send a message to anyone, anywhere.
Who wouldn’t want that? In some ways I do, too. Let’s shake things up.
But then…
On the flipside, those amongst us who look into the future and carefully examine the past know this type of populism comes with great danger.
History shows that great fear leaders who understand pain-point marketing can rise to unprecedented heights. And once they are in power, they keep manipulating the system, like Putin, Hitler, Castro and many other dictators have done before. In the long run they can cause irreparable harm to a country and its people. And that worries me more than anything else.
I interviewed a lot of great casting directors, actors, directors and experts in the acting industry for my book How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur. One of those interviews was with Emma Dyson who gives actors career advice for Spotlight, the main casting site for actors and casting directors. Spotlight is also the essential casting site for actors, if you are not in it, you are invisible. An extract from the interview is below. Read it and learn.
Emma Dyson works for the main casting website for actors in the United Kingdom, Spotlight. She also does one-on-one talks for Spotlight members to give them career advice.
So tell us about you.
I’ll tell you a bit about my background. I trained as an actor at the Guildford School of Acting in the 1990s and then, having got the training out of my system, I quickly realised I couldn’t be an actor. I probably didn’t have the talent or the perseverance or the backbone. Then I was an agent for six years. Then I left being an agent thinking that I would go into a different career, something entirely different, but every job that I was getting was pulling me back to the business so first of all I was working at my old drama school back at Guildford, I was the personal assistant for Peter Barlow who was the then assistant director, and then I left two weeks into the job because he was leaving. Subsequently a casting director put me in touch with Thea from United Agents, and I was temping at United Agents sort of off and on for about six months which is when I got the job here at Spotlight being the PR manager.
I used to do castings within the agencies and get the Spotlight breakdown and put roles and the actors that fit them together. It was interesting, having worked in an agency, because the first point of contact that you do in casting work is Spotlight. Now I am very happy here as PR manager and I go to the drama schools and talk about acting and Spotlight member benefits. How to get a good CV and photo, what type of letters to write to casting directors, agents. Time and time again they are incredibly green. They are in their final year of drama school and have hardly written any letters to agents or casting directors. They leave thinking ‘Here I am, come and get me!’ it just doesn’t work out like that. It’s really important and I empathise that it is very important to write letters, to hopefully reach your future employer, who will, across the course of your career, become your friends, and keep re-employing you.
It is such a shock when people leave drama school. They don’t really know what to do.
I know and it is such a shame. They go to Central, LAMDA and RADA. Those are very central London schools. They get so spoilt for choice because it’s awash with agents and casting directors, it carries the kudos of being at the best drama school. Where I was at Guildford we were terribly cut-off despite the facts it’s only a twenty minute train journey, but, we felt very cut-off. It’s a shame that schools that are not in central London get kind of left out and not thought of. There are some interesting actors in regional schools. The Welsh college is a very good school with a lot of good courses and a brilliant reputation. Conversely Rose Bruford has some really good students and that is in Kent.
I think you have got to train, you have got to workshops, you have got to keep classes going. Try to teach yourself as many skills and techniques as possible because the more skilled you are as an actor the more you should work. I always like the actors who go into musical theatre, straight theatre, film and do a bit of everything, And what we are noticing is that there is more of a vogue for musical theatre and films are being made from those musicals. I know of a few film directors who are making films which are musicals. It is kind of a renaissance or a nod to the 1950s. The MGM sort of musicals. Musicals are very popular.
So learn to sing
Learn to sing if you can, and if you can dance then I think you will probably work all the time.
Daryl Eisenberg, an American casting director, told me two things when I met her: One, you are not special. Don’t think you are more special than anyone else and are just going to make it, and two, whatever is stopping you from getting a job, remove it. So if you can’t dance then learn to dance, etc.
I think that is just a roundabout response to what I just said. If you do just keep yourself as skilled and as tuned in as possible then you will get work. You have to do as much theatre as you can and as much film as you can. Not only that but I extend it to: if you are a London actor or a London based actor see as much art as you can, culturally exploit everything which is on your doorstep. Because I think that tunes you in to everything. It keeps you aware of what is current. You pick up on working trends and that reflects across the arts.
Tell me about Spotlight events,
Yeah, we do events. Being PR manager. ..We did one in October in conjunction with the London Film Festival. I got three casting directors. I got Karen Lindsay Stewart and Lucinda Syson. It was held at the British Film Institute and it was chaired by Pippa, my boss, and myself, it was just about how to become a working actor, keeping your CV up to date, how to get an audition, and also I do seminars where I talk a lot about being a working actor, how to network, all of those things, and at Spotlight offices on every Monday we have Spotlight Mondays where I operate 20 minutes chats with people who are stuck in their careers. They are incredibly popular. They always sell out very, very quickly. And the seminars are sometimes in conjunction with Actors Expo or other bodies. We just hold little seminars in house.
How do you break through?
I think it depends because some actors burn out very quickly, and other actors, they see an opportunity and they become very successful and popular when they are in their forties. So I think it just depends because there is so much reliance on good luck and you have to have a lot of charisma, a lot of talent. But then the rest of it is luck. I think you can make your own luck, but a lot of it is out of your control. Probably one of the reasons that I didn’t become an actor was because I couldn’t stand being in a career with no control.
To answer your question, I think it depends on many things. They have to have a good agent behind them and the rest of it I think is luck.
What is the most common mistakes actors make?
Not being proactive, not writing letters to casting directors. Even with a good agent you should still do your own work. Not looking after themselves, not working out, not eating well, not networking, I think all of these things, the actor has to do that. It is part of their homework.
How many actors are on Spotlight?
Just over 40,000
For the rest of the interview, and great interviews from our acting industry professionals get your hands on a copy of How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur now.
Anna Wintour is the British Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue and has been for the past 25 years. What she doesn’t know about fashion is not worth knowing. Talented, fierce and fashionable. She is incredibly inspirational. Have a read of some of her quotes below and feel inspired.
“I look for strong people. I don’t like people who’ll say yes to everything I might bring up. I want people who can argue and disagree and have a point of view that’s reflected in the magazine. My dad believed in the cult of personality. He brought great writers and columnists to ‘The Standard.”
“I’m very good at delegating – people work much better when they have a real sense of responsibility. But at the same time, I don’t like surprises. I don’t pore over every shoot, but I do like to be aware at all times of what’s going on.”
If one comes across sometimes as being cold or brusque, it’s simply because I’m striving for the best.”
“There is something about fashion that can make people really nervous.”
“I wasn’t academically successful. And maybe I’ve spent a lot of my career trying to make up for that.”
“Create your own style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.”
‘Vogue’ is a fashion magazine, and a fashion magazine is about change.”
“The notion that a contemporary woman must look mannish in order to be taken seriously as a seeker of power is frankly dismaying. This is America, not Saudi Arabia.”
“I like having young assistants in my office; they have energy, and I spend time with them to make sure they understand what we’re doing. By investing in them, I’m investing in the magazine. All over ‘Vogue,’ ‘Teen Vogue,’ and ‘Men’s Vogue,’ there are people who have been through not only my office but also many other offices at ‘Vogue.'”
“It’s always about timing. If it’s too soon, no one understands. If it’s too late, everyone’s forgotten.”
“I don’t really follow market research. In the end, I respond to my own instincts.”
“You either know fashion or you don’t.”
“Because of reality television and all these celebrities thinking they can be designers, everyone imagines that they can just become a designer, photographer, or model, but that’s not the way things work. People have to go to school, learn their craft, and build a brand – that’s the right, healthy way to do things.”
“If you look at any great fashion photograph out of context, it will tell you just as much about what’s going on in the world as a headline in The New York Times.”
“Just be true to yourself, and listen as much as one is able to to other people whose opinions you respect and look up to but in the end it has to come from you. You can’t really worry too much by looking to the left and the right about what the competition is doing or what other people in your field are doing. It has to be a true vision.”
“I think possibly what people working for one hate the most is indecision. Even if I’m completely unsure, I’ll pretend I know exactly what I’m talking about and make a decision. The most important thing I can do is try and make myself very clearly understood.”
“[The democratisation of luxury] means more people are going to get better fashion. And the more people who can have fashion, the better.”
“It’s very important to take risks. I think that research is very important, but in the end you have to work from your instinct and feeling and take those risks and be fearless. When I hear a company is being run by a team, my heart sinks, because you need to have that leader with a vision and heart that can move things forward.”
“Fashion’s not about looking back. It’s always about looking forward.”
“In the end I do respond to my own instincts. Sometimes they’re successful, and obviously sometimes they’re not. But you have to, I think, remain true to what you believe in.”
“Part of the pleasure of editing ‘Vogue,’ one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it.”
“Fashion is not beautiful, neither is it ugly. Why should it be either? Fashion is Fashion”
“To be in ‘Vogue’ has to mean something. It’s an endorsement. It’s a validation.”
“I surround myself with a talented group of people that are opinionated and interesting. I try to remain very open to what others have to say.”
At Frost we are super excited about the prospect of a female American president. It has been a long time coming and if anyone can do it, Hilary can. We also love the wackiness of this new website that has been set up in support of Hilary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign offering a range of wacky merchandise sporting the ‘I’m Ready for Hilary’ slogan.
Even though Clinton is yet to announce whether she’ll run for the 2016 presidential election, due to take place on Tuesday November 8, the website has backed the her in what is set to be another hotly contested election.
The site offers everything from a Grassroots Tour Poster to Champagne flutes, hoodies and cufflinks, but there are some more unusual additions such as ‘Hillary Rocks!’ old fashioned glasses and an extensive range of petwear.
A social media storm has gathered on the back of the new merchandise store with people posting pictures of the free bumper sticker that can be collected upon backing the campaign. An anti campaign has also been initiated with a red ‘not’ wedged between ‘I’m Ready’. The campaign has enjoyed similar social success with one Tweeter saying: “If the U.S. is ready for Hilary, I’m moving to Nepal” in response to bumper stickers being handed out at a US college campus.
Top 10 Wackiest ’Clinton for President’ Merchandise
Early polling for the 2016 elections indicate Hilary is expected to take the Democratic primaries with ease, with 55 per cent on people in a Fox News poll saying they believe she will win. Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Rand Paul and Mitt Romney are the most likely Republican candidates to be standing against her, but Hilary will have to overcome Vermin Supreme in the primaries before running for president after the performance artist put himself in the running.
The bearded Supreme is known for running as an alternative candidate in various local, state, and national elections and renowned for carrying a large toothbrush and wearing a boot shaped hat. Here’s a brief look at what Hilary will be up against:
Merchandise images from ReadyforHilary.com
Christmas is coming in fast, October is nearly over and we are already hearing jingles when we are out. It may be a time of festivities but it is also stressful and shopping can be a nightmare. So we are bringing you Christmas Gift Lists. Lots and lots of Christmas Gift Lists, bringing you great ideas and suggestions for your nearest and dearest. First up: stocking fillers. We hope you enjoy and feel free to add any comments below.
Ringtons’ 2015 Diary set £4.99 available now
This fantastic 2015 Diary Set will make organising the coming year as simple as making a cup of tea. Offering fantastic value for money the set includes both a desktop and a slimline diary. Exploring Ringtons’ history and including recipes, stories, Ringtons facts and customer poems, this diary set makes a lovely keepsakee or gift. We thought this looked great and was very handy. The little one will fit in your handbag, the bigger one is great for more detail.
Front Door Toffee Tin £4.99
This gorgeous red front door with festive Christmas wreath lid lifts off to reveal a selection of traditionally made flavoured Devon toffees. With six different flavours to choose from – including vanilla, strawberry, rum and butter, liquorice and treacle clotted crèmes, as well as chocolate éclair – this is a must-have for toffee fans. We loved this. It looks great, couldn’t be more festive if it tried and the toffees are good too.
The Bay Tree Christmas Selection
One of the UK’s leading producers of fine preserves, The Bay Tree is celebrating 20 years in business and has launched a collection of Christmas products. They have wonderful jams, chutneys and biscuits. They look great and they taste great. We would like a stocking full of their stuff this Christmas please.
Christmas Mini Jar Selection
All delicious: This trio of festive favourites has all bases covered. The three mini jars may be small in size but each is bursting with flavour. The Christmas Pickle is a delightful mix of cranberry, apple and currants – far better with hot turkey than simply cranberry sauce. To add a dash of sweetness and spice to the cold meat platter is the Boxing Day Chutney – an aromatic blend of apricots and coriander seeds. You’ll wonder how you ever survived Boxing Day without it! To keep the over-indulgence running right through till breakfast The Bay Tree’s Christmas Marmalade is a decadent recipe made using wild Moroccan oranges and a luxurious mix of spices.
3 x 100g RRP £8.30
Mulled Wine Spices in a Tin
We love mulled wine at Frost. So much that we have been known to have it all-year round. This gorgeous tin has five Bundles for mulling your festive Wine or Cider in a pretty oval tin. £3.60.
Brandy Butter
Yum. We love this. Just wonderful. Rich, buttery and boozy serve with Mince Pies and Christmas Pud £3.00.
We are a sucker for a good notebook and they are always the perfect thing to buy someone-who-has-everything. These Style Notebook range are from one of the leaders in office products and accessories, Leitz. Ideal for the jet setter that likes as much style in her work life as her wardrobe, Leitz Style Notebooks are the perfect gifts. The elegant Notebooks are available Via Amazon.co.uk and are available in five slick colours: arctic white, garnet red, celadon green, titan blue and Satin black. The Style Notebooks are available in A5 or A6 and have an attractive soft brush look, perfect for everyday note taking and comes with special features such as a built in back pocket and two sticky note piles to ensure optimum organisation. With the choice of a hard and soft back, the Style notebooks are as practical as they are chic.
We are a huge fan of Avlaki olive oil and were delighted when they sent a beautiful gift box for us to review. Their olive oil is first-class, truly brilliant stuff: Avlaki have created a festive gift pack featuring two of their extra special finishing oils – one of which won a gold one star in Great Taste 2014 and 2013. It is the ultimate gift for lovers of fine foods and those who enjoy exploring new tastes and flavours. It is also the perfect treat for those who would like to add a touch of gourmet glamour to their festive feasts.
Avlaki’s finishing oils are completely different. They are made from olives grown at varying altitudes on Lesvos Island in Greece, under the watchful eye of producers Deborah MacMillan, an artist, and broadcaster Natalie Wheen. They are handpicked in December, milled and bottled as soon as possible to capture the explosion of flavours from the olives in the bottle – and all to the highest British quality standards.
Cordello Home have a great range of everyday homeward products featuring their iconic heart symbol. The launch collection is designed to bring vibrancy and fun into your home – a true reflection of what the festive season is all about. These cute mugs are £12 each. They are good quality and look beautiful. They also have cushions and plates with the same designs.
Beanies have brought out Christmas flavoured coffee. Yup, Christmas Pudding flavour and Mulled Spice flavoured coffee. All coffees are syrup free, sugar free and only 2 cals per cup. Great for stocking fillers.
American hot sauce Frank’s RedHot is the ideal last-minute present for students, food fanatics or the man in your life. Perfect for fans of spice. Slip this into their Christmas stocking, they will love it.
If you’re struggling for inspiration this Christmas, fill your stockings up with Frank’s. Hot, flavoursome and authentic, it’s the must-have sizzling stocking filler that’s perfect for men and foodies. Watch and enjoy as your loved one cracks open their present to reveal one $#It hot saucy gift this Christmas.
Frank’s is the American classic beloved by foodies everywhere for its versatility and zest. Add a fiery twist to a Christmas classic and
put a drop or two on your Boxing Day sausage rolls. Or if you’re ‘Christmased’ out by the 26th, take some leftover turkey and a splash of Frank’s Original to make some mouth-watering fajitas. We have recipe for you below. Yum, sounds delicious.
BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP
2 lbs softened cream cheese
2 cups blue cheese dressing
2 cups Frank’s RedHot® Sauce
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
8 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups finely diced celery
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella or provolone cheese
Julienne vegetables, chips, crackers, etc. as needed
1. Whisk together cream cheese, dressing, Frank’s and crumbled blue cheese. Fold in chicken and celery, mix well. Portion 1 cup of mixture into shallow oven or microwave proof ramekins. Top each with 2 tbsp. cheese. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
2. For service reheat dip until golden and bubbly and surround with dips
My Little Day has a great range of decorations for children’s parties that are also stylish and festive enough for Christmas. Their napkins, straws and glittery decorations are all beautiful and first class. Highly recommended for adding a bit of class to Christmas.
Popcorn Kitchen
Popcorn Kitchen refer to their popcorn on their website in caps locks as “THE BEST POPCORN YOU WILL EVER TASTE, HANDMADE USING TRADITIONAL METHODS”. We like confidence here at Frost and we also love popcorn so we thought we might be on to a winner. Turns out we were right. The popcorn is hand-popped in a giant kettle and then they hand-sift it to remove unpopped kernels and then taste every batch to make sure it’s perfect. It works and is tasty, moreish stuff. Perfect for watching endless Christmas TV with.
What would you add?
Anna Wintour doesn’t give many interviews and has always been something of a fashion enigma. Which is why we absolutely love this amazing video where she is asked 73 questions whilst going about her business. She talks about Brooklyn, the Rumors, and the One Thing She Will Never Wear. Her favourite comedian might also surprise you but let’s just say, go Britain!
What did you think?
American Actors Can Get How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur For $1.99: One More Day Only
Fresh from a Kindle Countdown Deal for British actors which was very successful, now American actors can get my book for only $1.99 for a limited time only. How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur has been getting rave reviews in America and it has already been selling stateside.
This is what American actor Tom Shafer had to say about my book: “An excellent guide for the entertainment professional
I found this book to be an excellent companion to Bonnie Gillespie’s ‘Self-Management for Actors’, which I am also currently reading. The first half of Catherine’s book does a excellent job of distilling a seminar’s-worth of material into a manageable bit. The second half, the interviews, felt more conversational. What was clear, the recommendations made in the first half came, in part, from these interviews. This is an excellent technique, since it reinforces the validity of the recommendations as having come from entertainment professionals who have achieved a perceived level of success. (I like that the definition of “success” was open for discussion, since it can mean different things to different people.)
As an American reading this book, I did find some UK-centric resources and references. But, in this era of global Internet access, I found just as many that were valid for US readers. I was able to take this in stride and see this as a valuable tool in my self-management as a working actor.
Thanks, Catherine, for writing this excellent guide.”
What are you waiting for? Get your copy now.
