Letting Go Of Hiding Your Brilliance And Getting Discovered!

Unknown Speaker  0:00  
Hello, everybody, I'm your host, the gentle yoga warrior, and welcome to the gentle yoga warrior is conscious conversations podcast, to help you grow and discover who you are. And we're now in season 11, which is a full inspired season, which is all about shedding and letting go that which holds us back in life. And I've got an absolute gem of a guest on the show today. Today, we're gonna talk about letting go of hiding our brilliance and getting discovered. And I thought who better to talk to us today, then, Emmy Award winning media advisor and talent executive, podcast host and producer, Vinnie Potestivo. And I'm so excited about today because we're going to talk about letting go of hiding our brilliance and becoming more discoverable. So to get discovered in life, and I thought, wow, when I managed to book this next guest, Vinnie Potestivoand I really hope I've said your name right?

Unknown Speaker  1:05  
Perfectly. Yes, yes.

Unknown Speaker  1:08  
Fantastic. So Vinnie, welcome to the show. You're joining us from Brooklyn, usa wishes always makes me feel. Wow, I really want to go there. So welcome to the show. Yeah, hello,

Unknown Speaker  1:18  
hello, yo, what's going on from Brooklyn? How you doing?

Unknown Speaker  1:23  
Love it. Love it. So, Benny, you have got over 25 years experience in the pop culture businesses? How would you describe it? You

Unknown Speaker  1:35  
kind of take it like that. Okay.

Unknown Speaker  1:38  
And you've worked with really big names as well. Like I was listening to your interview earlier that you did with Mandy Moore, and Sue chin pack. And wow, like, it sounds like you've been like a real kind of stable person for people's growth in life.

Unknown Speaker  1:54  
Stable. Only in the world of creativity, would I be seen as stable? Oh, gosh, I love the perspective. And the permission and the permission, it's funny how uncomfortable that word stable just made me I have to think after right after write that word down, actually, and figure out what my relationship is with that word stable. Why? Just why just as if that's a bad thing. You know, I'm stable as if as if, you know, if I'm not grounded, I'm going to be pushed over. And I feel like that's kind of like what I'm afraid of the most is, is not being a strong sounding board, for people who appreciate being creative. And some of the names you've brought up already such in POC and Mandy Moore, like the most amazing women on this planet, and brilliant communicator, brilliant creative communicators, you know, Mandy, who went through, you know, who does it a little bit more through acting and through music, where she's, she's able to explain what people are going through by being them. And Sujin Pok, who is the voice of cribs, and a whole MTV News generation of millennials and Gen Xers who got their pop culture news from MTV, and, and was a really important hire at MTV at a point where Korean Americans weren't seen on television and more as much. And I got to be a small part in that wave. But a lot of responsibility came with that that title. Even even like my casting assistant title, you know, in the early in the late 90s, at MTV, I kind of always took that the weight of the world, I realised that what I wasn't doing was just casting any old project, what I was doing is putting people on the network that that all have youth culture and the entire globe was tuned into, especially from 330 to 430 in the afternoon in the early 2000s That was the place where we're pop culture happened and and I'm not saying I made all the decisions or even got to make any choices but I was in the room. Yeah, eaten craft services. Finding out how to fit in and just enjoying the access I had back then.

Unknown Speaker  4:01  
Well, what a legacy to to leave like to give to the world. And do I remember TV? Wow, it was just like it changed my world when I was when I was young, which was a while ago, but it kind of really, I just remember it was just I don't know, there was nothing like it before it kind of came to be amazing. So what what a gift to be,

Unknown Speaker  4:20  
are the best parts of YouTube and worst parts of Instagram and best parts of all the best and worst of everything and the all the all the social platforms came out. And you know, we talked it's funny, we say everyone in the world sort of watch it because because celebrities. I mean, not just artists, but like global figures came through that network between 330 and 430 because of how important it was to have access live access to an audience. That's when you really asked me like what did i What did we have that that other networks didn't have was access to a global audience, a youth audience and you hear how smart Movies audience, the kids, the kids are on tick tock that are able to, you know, take down big politicians and big movements and, and the power that youth culture has always had. And like I just, there's, there's not a day that that I spent at MTV and I was there for almost 10 years that I wasn't aware of how important it was to be there, especially to be honest. I'll say it this way, especially me like a gay white man in the 90s, where I had no legal protections, no corporate protections. Again, I know that prevented people from making moves. So a lot of what I had to do not that I never, I never lied about anything. But I had to minimise certain parts of me, I learned to be a smaller version of myself in some weird ways, which I can't wait to talk to you about. I know that I my sleeves are rolled up. I know we're going to do some work today in this in this chat.

Unknown Speaker  5:56  
So I can't wait to talk to you about it. And so would you mind sharing Vinnie about your journey of how you came to be discovered? And how that felt?

Unknown Speaker  6:07  
Wait, that's so funny. No one's ever asked me. How did I get discovered? I never even thought for a second that I thought we were going to talk about how I discovered people. I love this idea of how did I get discovered? Because my answer is I got discovered because I knew a casting director was casting. And he said meet on the corner of 45th and Broadway for this MTV event. And I specifically went to a place where I was told I could get discovered, and I stood there and waited. And I did little things to stand out. You know? And I can tell you what those are. Yeah, please. I was conscious, I was conscious of the people around me. I wanted to have friends immediately around me, I brought candy. So people would instantly like back then taking candy from strangers, I guess wasn't so bad. Because it wasn't so weird. I brought candy I think I always had like nerd nerd robes and things like that, like What a weirdo. Different types of candy that I thought would be unique. Because it's important to have instant friends. And I wanted to not spend the day not knowing people. I wanted to spend the day knowing the people, the 3040 people that I was in, you know, being the crowd with for whatever shot I was there for. And then I and then I realised during that time that whenever the casting director was looking to pull someone in feature them if you were somehow focus of energy, I'm not saying focus of the room, but a focus of energy. If if you were the person who who was holding court with four or five people, or if you were the person who did something, and 10 people saw it and laughed, and you were the person who had these moments with certain groups of people, that energy that those groups that people are giving you. That's that's what helped me get discovered. And I didn't even realise I was doing it. I just thought I was having fun, to be honest. So when I look back at it, I did all these little tiny things that made it really easy for this casting director to say, look, well, everyone was laughing at him over there. And then he was holding court over there with that group of people and like the executives are, so he obviously has some type of energy or something. It's you know, so everyone, if everyone here like something, then it's an easy yes for me because, you know, no, there's no one in the room that says no.

Unknown Speaker  8:19  
No, the opportunity I'm talking about was the chance to be in the background of a shot that Whitney Houston was doing on MTV to talk about her a new album that she was coming out with. And I got picked to ask her a question. The question I was going to ask Whitney Houston, and so called the producers, they prep you and they really get you look into the camera. And this is the I got training. I got free media training. I'll never forget the day. And I had to ask Whitney What was it like recording Prince of Egypt soundtrack with Mariah Carey? What was it like recording with another recording artist. And I've practised and I practice and the Nanda Lewis, the video host, the video jockey, the VJ, back then came in, I remember her like, shoulders down. And like if your hands are to put your palms on your side, if you can feel your palms to the side to your sides, if you can feel your toes, the palm of your toes in your heels, is really important. Like all all three of those pieces on each feet firmly planted on the ground, your knees are a little bit bent, almost like so if you were to catch it, catch a baseball, you know, you have some some torque and some ability to move around and you can lean lean into whatever comes be open to opportunity in any way when he comes out. And the producer tells her that this is my big moment. And she says I'm not asking I'm not answering that question. She's like, What? She didn't come up with a different question. I am not answering that question. And it was live TV. And I remember, there was like three or four of us that we're going to ask questions and suddenly now there were only two or three of us. And what I did next is a thing that cinched my career. To be honest, what I did next was I said, Oh my gosh, thank you so much. This was a blast i What a huge learning experience for me. So I can't thank you enough for talking to me and I got to speak into a microphone into a camera like I'd never done this before. If you ever need anyone else, dancers, singers, young artists in New York, I'm from here and I have I have a database of young talent that I'd love to share with you if you ever need more people. And like the eyes lit up and he was like, well, we're actually shooting a very Busta Rhymes Christmas special tomorrow, perhaps you have 20 friends that like to come to that and I was like, what? Yeah, I don't have too many friends that when it comes to a very busted Christmas special and by the way, it's really cool, Busta Rhymes reading Christmas. Nursery Rhymes is like one of those one of those the Internet things that comes around, I'm in the audience. It's like the best moment of like, young early, like I'm touching it, I'm in it and, and what I continued to do was, was make friends along the way I never focused on where to say this and never focus on the task at hand. If I if I focus on asking that question. Because I wasn't successful, I'd ask them that question. If I'd walked away from that day, a disappointment, I just wouldn't be so sad, myself if that's how I allowed myself to perceive what in reality actually happened. And I was energised, and I knew that that suddenly I had access, I had access to casting directors that needed large groups of people. And I realised that at MTV, 3040 50 people for a taping was exactly the size audience that they were looking for. And I had a creative that introduced me and meanwhile, MTV is new MTV was born in 1981. So like, you know, I got to see, in the 90s, CNN get launched, Fox News came out. And when Fox News came out, they had this bipartisan show called Hannity and Colmes, which which back then both men of equal Reverend see, were held to equal esteem on that network where both sides of the aisle could be heard. Of course, of course, back then there were only two sides of the aisle back then. But we'll get into that later. And my job was to organise the audience, right on the database guy, so I know how to make sure people's names are on the right things, and we're going to email them and we're gonna give them call times. So that was a very technical job in terms of casting. And then I developed this sort of like empathetic listening skill where look politics more my favourite subject in school, to be really honest, not because of the subject, but mostly because of the let's call it student experience. We don't have to dive deep into the bullying but like the student experience specifically around around that class for me, unfortunately, it was a it was a tough one. So

Unknown Speaker  12:52  
I had a disdain for politics and a lot of ways even though I ran for even though I was class president often and I was the president of choir and quite president of the computer club, but like, these are my strengths choir, getting a singular voice getting many empowering multiple voice identifying tenors and tenor ones and, and working collaboratively to create something I love that idea. And the computer club, part of me was like, just I would have died for social media back then. But if you you would have found me in like, talent for you in NYC and like one of those AOL chat rooms back then, just meeting meeting talented people, because I knew that because you know, cuz, because why? Because my mom told me growing up, if you hang out with those kids, and they get in trouble at your fault, because you're the sum total of like, five people that you hang out with. And so I was like, Cool. They're not just going to hang out with like, super talented people. And we'll see how that goes.

Unknown Speaker  13:45  
Wow, that was a great piece of advice. Worked.

Unknown Speaker  13:49  
And she also told me, she's also the woman who said, when we don't know anyone in media, how are you going to get in TV? She's like, literally, the only way you'll ever get discovered is if you go out on a corner and a casting director find you. I promise. I promise you my mom and I have this conversation and it's a verbatim what she said to me. So when I saw the casting notice where the casting director said, I'm TV casting 45th and Broadway. During these times, I was like, well, that that sounds like the corner I'm supposed to be on if that's how I'm gonna get discovered. And sure enough, it was she. She always said she wants 10% My momager Wow, that

Unknown Speaker  14:26  
is what that's amazing what a synchronicity and like, it sounds like you kind of went you kind of knew what you wanted. But you were like your authentic self. That's what I pick up. Yeah, I view like listening to you right now. And yeah, wow.

Unknown Speaker  14:40  
Yeah, I didn't know what the result would be. I didn't know. I didn't know what I wasn't watching MTV. back then. I was a diehard theatre kid like rent had just come out. I'd seen rent maybe 15 times and only been on Broadway for like 40 days. Like I wake up in the morning and go wait in line. I wait in line for the Rosie O'Donnell I'll show it to NBC trying to get into the audience of that, like, I wasn't, I wasn't really tuned into modern pop culture, I think Spice Girls and sync, Britney, ultimately, Mandy Moore really brought me back into this sort of modern pop culture era. But I'll tell you what my music tastes stopped when I left MTV. So like, my, my, my, my iPod, my iPod is like literally now that so 1998 to 2007. And I only know the clean lyrics on TV. So I only know the clean version. Sometimes when I would be out of the clubs back then I'd hear the real version of the song. Why? Why I can't sing the song isn't that words, I'm allowed say, or one or one to say, even. And, and what I loved about MTV, you know, we're talking about music and artists is that when MTV was was sort of built in 1981, these people had an idea that artists would be a good would be good at making videos like they make good music. So why don't we just give them a couple of $1,000 Extra and see if they can come up with like a three minute music video to complement this. And we'll market it and we'll have a platform. And eventually nightclubs started playing music videos. So then there was a second place where so it wasn't like they were just creating them for MTV, but it was then and then a couple of other music networks happened. And then YouTube came out. And to be honest, YouTube even says this YouTube had the moment that the MTV audience went to YouTube. Do you know, do you know? I'll tell you the actual minute. Yeah, please, was the Janet Jackson nipple gate incident of the Super Bowl. The most watched moment on YouTube at that moment was that moment, and that came from the MTV demo or Super Bowl, obviously, global, you know, not nothing like global events. But a lot of our audience was watching this, we were producing the halftime and a lot of her audience and their audience were too. So that was a big moment, you know, to see the shift in media. Wow. Meanwhile, meanwhile, my skill set has not changed. I don't know who I don't know, but I'm good at meeting them. That's why I love podcasting right now. And by the way, I geek out a little bit, but like I treat podcasting, like I'm treated like I treated my job at MTV. I'm going to take the next 10 years and continue doing one on ones and the coolest part about MTV is like when you're a new artist, and I was like the talent development manager, I would call the label and I would say hey, we'd love to meet with Hilary Duff and see if she liked to have a show or hey, this is Vinnie, you know does a you know does car does Ashley Parker Angel want to have a real you know, we get to have these like fun conversations with artists that empowered them they didn't even know the opportunity existed. Now I'm working with people

Unknown Speaker  17:54  
who get it. I was gonna say the word I should have uses that you empower people that's what you empower people and you guide people well, because earlier when I spoke to you didn't you said the word or kind of being like a kind of stable thing wasn't comfortable for you? Yeah, maybe empowerment sounds

Unknown Speaker  18:12  
empowerment and encouragement. Absolutely. I'm down. Those are two words that I am I am loyal to.

Unknown Speaker  18:18  
Plus fantastic I like that and parliament. I was gonna say to Vinnie so I can see that you've it sounds like you would kind of really walk in your walk you find your when you say it wasn't always easy in that industry. Being a gay man in the 90s, the naughties, there wasn't the protection that there is kind of development. Progress. Yeah, work in progress. Exactly. Yes. You to me seem. And I'm not trying to fight but you seem like you're a person that's kind of stepped into your brilliance? And how would you advise if there's listeners listening right now and thinking actually, I want to break into TV or any kind of industry? How would you encourage them to find that empowerment to be discovered? Because, you know, sometimes I feel we can be a bit nervous about being a brilliant self, if that makes sense.

Unknown Speaker  19:10  
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. For fear of what might be the result, right. But what if we had control? What if we had a control over where we were allowed to have our likeness or our name be exposed? Or what if we had control over what piece of information you're you first see, in whatever it is that I want you to see so you can understand what I'm trying to do? And then like, what if we had more control over being discovered over exposure? And more importantly, actually, over the actions that people take after discovering you? Like, I think that that's, that's where there's probably the most growth and to be honest, the answer is we have full control now, you no longer need this dude, if you no longer pointing to me, I'm doing that Blake. Shelton thing he does on the voice. You no longer need this guy to tap you on the shoulder and sing concert in 1999 and say, excuse me, you have a great sense of style. Would you like to be a VJ on MTV and come in for an audition, you don't need to meet me at a corner in Times Square. Today to get discovered. I'm looking on Instagram, I'm looking on podcast. And not only am I looking, I'll tell you exactly where I know the network executives are looking. I know exactly where the morning show producers are looking and the Booker's are looking. Those are, you know, they first off, they work backwards from award winning lists. One of the things I love helping people who identify as being a creator, whether that means you're a podcaster, an influencer, a business owner, who gets on social media, and anyone who has a creative output, right? I love guiding them to I have like 99 Plus awards worthy of winning. Some of them are local, Emmys. So if you have a video on a local me channel and a local news syndicate that qualifies you for a certain type of award different than the national Emmys, which are which are for nationally broadcast projects, the difference there, you know, that today's show is a national project, but maybe we live in like a local area, we have like a local New York show, that would be local news. So just understanding territories might help you win awards, understanding that if you have a blog, and email, a website, if you are a podcaster, meaning you are a host or a guest, there are awards for all that. And part of it part of the charm and winning an award is being grouped with award winning leaders. So if you're a lawyer, I might suggest winning a podcast award for being a lawyer, because that's gonna help you stand out as a legal voice in the podcast community, maybe more so than a local Well, actually, there's, I cannot discredit local local awards, I actually am a huge fan of local awards, or global or local slash global awards, I bring this up TripAdvisor I think does a great job. When you go anywhere in the world, if you don't know if you should go into a restaurant or not, sometimes there's like a little sticker, a little laminate on the bottom window. And it says like, you know, top top business approved certified. So there's like an award, there's been an award merited that allows me to have a commonality with you. So I can engage with you because I understand the sequence that it takes to win those awards. So. So winning awards is one of the ways that I love helping people stand out.

Unknown Speaker  22:40  
I guess that gives them that exposure, doesn't it?

Unknown Speaker  22:43  
That's it. So it gives him the exposure. And now and then exposure without action is entertainment. And I'm cool. That's what I used to do. So if I'm going to show you a celebrity, and I want you to sit back and watch 30 minutes of programming, because I work for a television show or a network and my goal, I'll be it for you to watch that 30 minute shows truly for you to watch the seven minutes of advertising in between the 23 minutes of content, right, that's the real goal of television is to sell advertising for an audience to connect with an advertising message and to move on advertising and get so mad about that. But that's okay. That's how TV happened. That's, that's how TV is. I never got to work for HBO, or Netflix or like a subscriber based network where the audience came before the advertiser. But because of that, I learned the value of earned media reach, I know how to work brilliantly with brands grow. And also, because of my talent development perspective, because of the point of view of how I develop these projects, I tend to be the person caught in the middle where where there's no one other than the artist or the subject matter at hand, or their team who has their their vested interest in mind more than me, and that was hard about TV, where where we get paid on episodes more so than on impact. And I focus on impact. The content I made made such a tremendous amount of impact in the late 90s, early 2000s Because of how broadcast was set up. I know that I can take podcasts I've been taking podcasts a broadcast since 2006 was the first time I converted a podcast into a TV show what I'm trying to do now is convert networks convert audiences into communities and and there's this cool app called pod match discovery you know just discovery podcast network out there pod match and and the reason why I was attracted to them and we met on the we meet on pod. Pod match for y'all listening is kind of like it's like a dating site for for it's a dating site for podcasters who are just looking to connect and talk nothing nothing romantic about this connection, y'all. Although I'm feeling the love, I'm feeling the love Jane, I'm not gonna. But But, but what's cool about this community is because we all have our own different audiences. So multiple audiences, to me, in my mind equals community. What's cool about this community is that as audience leaders, as you and I, as audience leaders, we have an ability to collaborate as we're doing on this episode. And it will forever change the alchemy of everything that I create, whether it's a podcast episode, or TV show, or a blog post, I have a podcast, it's called I have a podcast. I also have a Google News verified platform for podcasters called I have a podcast.com. I named it the same thing, because I paid to get a trademark and that was expensive. So we're just gonna use it. I'm gonna milk it for all I can. So I have a podcast to follow, follow the journey. But what I'm what I'm focused on doing here, Jane is is not just getting my story out, but absorbing yours, I want I want my experience moving forward to be our experience. And that's what's going to build this like cool community of creators that support each other that have nothing to do with each other. This is like the beginning of a joke, a yoga, a yoga instructor, a lawyer and a dentist sit down to record a podcast. Sounds like a joke. But in reality, that's like, if you looked at my schedule today, it's literally what I get to do. And, and that's just, that's just from talking about how to encourage creativity. So you talked that you asked about discovery. Do you want me to stay

Unknown Speaker  26:33  
on topic? John? Yes. Yes, please.

Unknown Speaker  26:37  
Discovery, right discovery? If so exposure without action is entertainment. Exposure with action is discovery. And what I mean by that, is that when you give someone the opportunity to share and share being the number one action I want to talk about here, when you give someone the opportunity to share after they see you for the first time you're exposed, they see you they read your blog. Now what do you want them to do? Well, social media media. Did I just say that weird word social and ahead, weird accent, social media made it easy to be able to share content. So that's the first thing out of the gate, I get to do a share your video, share your photo, share your real, maybe if you wrote a lengthy caption, I might even be able to share an excerpt. So now what I've done is allowed myself to become an editor in this crater economy, a curator, and this crater economy where I feel I'm elevating your message to my audience in a way that will connect with them to so there's this cool moment where I literally giving someone the opportunity to feel empowered, to feel more creative, because all I did was write a lengthy, a four sentence, a six sentence post and let them pick two sentences that they liked the most, and roll with it. And that's something I make a conscious effort of is ways that I can empower people to innately to instinctively feel more creative. merch, we share merch, so that's why it's important to have merchandise y'all. You've ever podcast. And you have one single hat I don't recommend, like there's red, but there's sites like red bubble.com, where like you can go and upload your logo and anything you want. It gets printed on shower curtains, skirts, I've seen like life vests, I've seen like inflatable pools I've seen like the funniest things get out there. My recommendation would be come out with one a form of merch so that people can identify it so they can recognise it right? Because there's nothing cooler than you then us having to be at this. You know, as we're going back to concerts now, I just saw a Death Cab for Cutie a month a week ago here in Brooklyn. And I ran into a couple of people and like, it was so cool to see like minded people and an historic place. If I was wearing your podcast hat and I saw another person that I didn't know wearing your podcast hat, then that's a moment for connection. Now you're sharing contacts. Contacts are the most valuable share. That's networking. Sharing contacts is networking. Sharing experiences is emotional. You know, my mom feels like she discovered Michael Buble A, because she watched the Christmas special years ago. She's like, I watched a Christmas special Vincent. I discovered him none of my friends knew him. I told them I said, Oh, you've discovered him mom. She goes, Yes. I told all my friends, go buy his album, go watch, go watch the music, go watch the music videos, they're gonna come out again, I think it's going to air again. She had like a schedule. She had all these data points to share that he created just from being in a television show and simultaneously releasing an album that there's a methodology behind why when when Beyonce is in a movie, then the soundtrack comes out. You know the methodology behind that is some of it is education is expensive to teach people about what what what is. So if there's a spin off or deviation of something, you spend less money in time educating people on what it is and they understand a little bit more that piece. But But creating those little pieces, right creating creating guides, you know, on Instagram where we're able to take our posts and convert them into a guide, like a unique share on Instagram, creating that type of content are ways that we can be better discovered, like we're already getting exposed, but we're not giving enough options for sharing. And those are just some ways that people they I mean, I can go on and on and

Unknown Speaker  30:26  
on. I love I love this. I'm just I'm just I'm digesting what you're saying is Wow, yeah, it's just some of them like kind of like obvious, but then I haven't really thought about it. So that's a really kind of good Western, I really love the fact you're kind of building community like creativity, because I think that's how we kind of develop it as a person. And there's so many different ways to be creative. And I think, yeah, allow ourselves to be discovered, allow ourselves to be in a brilliance and kind of break it down. Because I think sometimes we can get overwhelmed. What would you say to anyone who's listening to think, oh, yeah, I want to be discovered, but I get overwhelmed, of like, the steps to take and things like that.

Unknown Speaker  31:02  
So edit, edit, by the way, I think the next phase in this crater economy, if we skip the curator, we may end up so you know, it was like real people. And then it was like thought leaders, and then it was experts. And then it was influencers, and now we're creators. So if you look at this, like journey that we're in, you know, I don't know, any story that's worthy of telling that wasn't edited, by the way. And I can mention a very famous book, if you want the Bible, that's probably more famous because of the Edit than the actual pages itself. The King James edit is what literally put that book on that single book, when we talk about it being the most purchased book, you know, that that edit made it completely relevant to a generation that that until community, it took audiences multiple audiences, and combine them building a community around the book because of an edit. I think prior to the Edit, there may have been curation, you know, you know, that's like, a deviation of story is not say so fantastical, but but where the facts were the facts, and the people remain true, but the story changes a bit because of the audience, you know, so there's some curation that happens in there. But editing is a powerful, I mean, when people say reality TV, you know, it's not real, it's edited. Everyone's like, it's not even, that's not even what they're shooting. First off, what they're shooting is real, because like, we're real people. Like, if you did it, then it's real. So I don't care if I told you to do it. Or if you did it yourself, you know, like, it's like, it's like, if my little if I told my little brother, you know, kick kick the can, I'm gonna get in trouble because I told him to kick it, you know, he's also gonna get trouble because you know, he kicked this. It's not like he didn't kick it because I told him to do it. So reality TV, right? I think what's fun about reality TV, to be honest, is that we do like, as producers, we give fun options. I'll say it that way. Like, hey, to move the story forward. Here are some things we're prepared to shoot, if any of this works for you. And sometimes there's compliance. Sometimes someone's like, oh, yeah, this will go this way. Is because they know there's best interest in mind. And sometimes, you know, a housewife will know otherwise, you'll know, we know. What's better for her than maybe the producer. And I gotta be honest, probably, probably. So if I'm talking about housewives and producers, as my voice drops, I'm like, you know, I guess I got to cast Housewives of New Jersey and beginning bazillion years ago, and it was a fun show to cast. But I don't go out looking for those stars. I go out looking for people who know those stars. You know, I don't spend time trying to find a diamond in the rough. I spend time with the caterers, the landscapers, the manicurist, the boutique salon, you know, I'm looking for people. And that's how I did it at MTV, I didn't go out looking for all the stars that we ended up launching and finding. And to be honest, I'm happy that I didn't, because I didn't realise I was doing this. But that that was sort of my trick to to inclusivity is that if I if I build a funnel for myself, and I only pull talent, and I keep asking the same people for opportunities, I don't have to educate them on what I'm always doing. We're MTV, and it's exhausting the level of education if I can, if I can tap into people as if I could be a source. And they could be a source. You know, they're a source of talent for me, Hey, I got I need I need a rock coast. So I know that I can call this I cook I can call CBGB. And I can talk to the Booker and that they're going to answer my call because when they want access to all things rock or headbangers ball next time is recording and MTD. I'm the first person to call them and say come on up, accesses doors open if your doors open my doors open because it doesn't even have my door. But I got the keys. And that mattered and and that was really I didn't realise this but that's the big trick to me. To have having such an inclusive run at MTV, where there's such a high level of diversity and inclusivity. And protection, to be honest for some of the talent that we worked with, especially the young females at a point in time, and I'm kind of speaking specifically about many more specifically, at a point in time where we're females were exploited in media, like what Jessica Simpson went through, to get to newlyweds was horrible, like she was compared to she wasn't Britney, she wasn't Christina, she wasn't Mandy, she is to this, she's not that she's, she's saying, you know, like the label, the label will give her crushing. The label would give her notes like your songs are too complicated to sing. But meanwhile, Whitney and Mariah and other artists are recording songs that are very difficult to sing. There are a lot of things that she had to experience that she wasn't prepared for, and just where the media was, and, and what newlyweds did, was make everybody watch for 30 minutes what she's talking about. Like the thing I learned, it's weird to say this, the thing I learned from Jessica Simpson, is that we don't know what we want, until we see it until we get it until we trust it and love it. She's a billion dollar brand. Now, billion dollars because of those boots and her fashion and her lifestyle. And everything that makes her that successful, in my opinion, were a lot of the things that held her back from success because of where media was at with the images of young females in music back then.

Unknown Speaker  36:34  
Oh, what a great role model she is to kind of get through all that. And one of my key values is fairness. And, and it sounds like that's kind of what you're offering within your MTV, MTV days. Because, yeah, you know, we kind of always told to kind of fit in, I've always felt a bit of a square peg, the same goes itself kind of in life. And it's like, no, it's about being it being ourselves. And by by showing her the strength to show one's vulnerability, then that inspires other people. And that, you know, it kind of has a knock on experience. If we're all kind of trying to pretend everything's all right all the time, then that's, that's not live. Right.

Unknown Speaker  37:13  
Right. And I love this analogy, the square peg in a round hole, because this isn't, here's my follow up questions. So why do you have a square peg? And let me ask you another question. I bet that you hold on to that square peg, longer than the round one, I bet you lose the round peg before you lose the square peg even though you don't know where the square peg fits in. Because you know, it's that valuable. So I love that you had that experience. And that's, that's how I see it. When I'm square peg in. I'm like, Oh, just see where I'm gonna fit in next. This is gonna be a fun one.

Unknown Speaker  37:48  
I love it. I love I love that. I have a podcast now. I'm subscribed to her on good parts. I'm gonna kind of like I'm getting through. I've got through two of the episodes. And I don't know you just mark the one of Mandy Moore as the first one that are listened to us to are so natural, like the Whitby interview, whichever and she's considered has got a lot of admiration for you. But I can see it was also like a two way thing, but kind of, yeah, I would invite our listeners to check out your podcast because there's so much real knowledge, I would say real knowledge, real wisdom in that. Could you explain how it came about and how you? Obviously you've done a lot behind the scenes. Yeah. And how now you're

Unknown Speaker  38:37  
finally, finally me, it was time for me to have a podcast. And you know, I started thinking, Well, how is it going to be different? How am I going to stand out? I have so much knowledge I knew Wait, I know way too much about creativity that holds me back in the weirdest ways because there are rules in TV that don't apply yet to podcasting. And even though I still adhere to everything that I was taught just because I know creatively, that's the way to go. And also, I'm mindful that what I'm creating in podcasting is going to be purposed for broadcasts, like I'm pre purposing my content, I have distribution deals and television. I have a podcast is the podcast. I have a podcast on TV is the video version. And then I have a podcast.com is the platform but as I said earlier, I paid like $2,000 to get I have a podcast trademark so I use it. Make sure I get my money's worth. Um, so here's where I landed. I have a podcast the web's the podcast for me. I thought I thought it would be best if I just only focused on talking to the people that I've already created something with that that whose whose careers I've impacted and who who have impacted mine. And where I saw a lot of people using podcasting as a way to network and meet new people. I use it as a way to network with old people. And I no longer have The job that I used to have when I worked with Mandy Moore, and I was heard, like talent, coordinator, talent, Assistant talent, Matt, and then grew through the years there at MTV, but like, like I was the guy who did her schedule, I figured out what her call time was, I, I also was the guy who knew the mental health space that we need to be in when we're going live. And if we're gonna sing in the show, and we're gonna post the show that I need to create a cup a little bit more space, to make sure that we're not getting anxious. So what does that mean? It means that I'm making decisions on when producers are going to meet her in the day so that they don't meet her when she's in hair and makeup. And we're not, we're not mate, we're not squishing in the last minute and creating all this unnecessary energy. I'm not letting you give a last a quote unquote, last look for wardrobe, because I'm not going to let someone feel judged before they go on TV. That's like a weird old thing that y'all used to do, that they don't do anymore. You wouldn't know how it looks I tell, I would tell. See, we were told wardrobe ticket picture, that's what they can do. But they can't, I don't want them to feel like they're coming out. And that someone in this room is gonna say yea or nay based. I don't want them to fear that someone in this room was wrong. And that we're going to find out lo and behold, now now someone's gonna get in trouble because they didn't have this is a weird system. Why are we judging? Why? Why are we setting it up in a form of judgement, when we can just be very transparent, red is her colour blue is her colour, I need you guys in your colours so that people understand who you are. Because there's so much talent on this network, that by assigning sort of hues, and even hair textures, really helps people identify faces, people, people, you know, I learned this at MTV, you know, first they kind of recognise the face, there's like a silhouette they recognise and those are, then there's like the face. And then there's like the project. And then maybe there's a name that that person is attached to. So they still don't even know your name yet. You're just always in the movies that you know, George Clooney isn't, is what it is, but it turns into, and then eventually people know your name, and then they get it wrong and get it mixed up. So I learned it. They're called cue scores, and TV and I learned, you know, the journey that the audience takes as they as they grow a deeper affinity and a deeper relationship and a deeper level of trust with talent. So, so some of those things, some of those, like some of that continuity matters. And I actually, I have to tell Larry, this is awesome podcasts are Larry Roberts, I'm literally just described him to do you'll know who he is, because he's got a red hat. That's all I gotta say. The second you see the token Red Hat, you will know who I'm talking about. It's brilliant. It's like, it's like when it's like when I was working like pink. The artists you know, like, you knew exactly who she was in the room, you know. So so there's that level of branding that and clarity that comes from from real talent development, real internal work. And if you do that work, your output will be better, because you will have you will have figured out happier, more more conductive more productive ways to execute your skills, whether they're good or you could be good at you could be great at being good at something you can be great at being bad. Like Jessica Simpson was bad at cooking chicken tuna, the seat didn't come because she was like a five star Michelin, you know, chicken tuna. The C came because she's frustrated here. Here again, talk about the role of women in media. Here is this woman who's newlywed, and now what she's supposed to know her way around the kitchen, because she's now married. Like, we're, we're still putting those values, we're still assigning that conversation. And like, if you asked me what newlyweds was, was literally what like modern. This is the it's really a show about a modern woman. And MTV was always sensitive to the modern female viewer of that network because she was the most loyal we, I remember when ESPN came out and a lot of guys left to go watch sports and we couldn't have sports on the network anymore. And that's where teen mom comes into play. You know, now we're looking at the reality of these relationships, and we're able to play out things. So I was there at a point in time where people thought maybe I want to be an Osborn, I want to be married to Nicholas che. And then there. I want to be on Laguna Beach, you know, I want to be on the hills. And then I left and now the now the kids like I want to be on Jersey Shore.

Unknown Speaker  44:28  
It's like, it's okay. You know, it. It's actually the most watched show in the history of MTV. So I it's it kind of it's kind of Yeah, I'm very happy for them that they had that moment. I'm very, not to see. Yeah, maybe I'm just I'll say jealous. I'm jealous because it was the Osborne's and it was a specific episode that I was actually in where I introduced jack to Natalie Portman that Kelly's like VMA performance. And that was season two, episode one. And that was the most so it took all of season. Want to get through what we did and everyone thought when we came out of the network that it was a shoo in hit. And it wasn't until people saw punked. And newlyweds and Osborn is collectively together, that those three shows really, you know, hit and people understood what we were doing. And you know, that will happen for me in podcasting, it's coming up, people will get what I'm doing, when we figure it out. Meanwhile, I'm not focused on that the figuring out part, I'm open to outcomes. I'm meeting awesome people like you who are expert creators that that did not train the way I trained. And I'm so envious, that you didn't have to do the 1000s of unpaid hours that I had to do. And I think it's super cool to go back to the joke that he said earlier, that a yoga instructor and a doctor and a dentist, and a lawyer and me have literally equal rights to be in podcasting. Nick, it's such a cool, such a cool space. It's such a cool space.

Unknown Speaker  45:55  
It's a secure community. One last question. If I'm listening to you, and I want to work with you connect with you, what's the best way our listeners can connect with you and your services?

Unknown Speaker  46:06  
That's thoughtful. Thank you. Well, first off, um, I love connecting on podcasting. So do you have do you have an affiliate link for a pong match? I do. Yes. Yes. So y'all go to the show notes. You put it in the show notes. Yes, help Jane out, click on her pod match affiliate link, y'all, I'm telling you, there is no, there's no better money spent. And I think it's like 20 or 40 bucks a month, I pay to get introduced to eight, brilliant, meaningful podcasters a day where I'm leading with what I want to talk about, they're leading with what they want to talk about, and the algorithm connects us. It is it's instant success. I'm collaborating with people I trust. I can do this way quicker than I can do TV because I have control over my podcasts and you have control over yours. And I know that no one of those networks has control over content because we're a publicly owned company. So there's so I have so much faith in podcasting right now. So that's a great way to connect with me. And I think you get paid to if you if we get connected through the system, I think we get paid to like interview me now, which is kind of neat on pod match 10x I think they put like a 10x on me to like get that bounty get that money. I'm on LinkedIn, it starts with Hello, you know, don't even waste like an InMail to me say hi and my comments and I'm hashtag linked then on on on LinkedIn. But that's a great place to connect with me. Where I have long standing conversations and then my website vpe.tv. So if you want to know, my 99 Plus awards worthy of winning 50 or more creator marketing platforms, if you're if you're creating content, and you're looking for brands to sponsor you don't have any, these other platforms you all you have to do is put your name on the list, I'll send you the I'm gonna send you this afterwards getting your IMDB credits for your podcast, making sure your podcast is listed on IMDb, the internet, Movie Database, intellectual property, you know, archives of humanity, in this crater economy. That's where we as podcasters can invite. I'll go back to the joke of lawyers and dentists and floors. That's where they get that's how they get crater. That's how they get their names in this crater economy. That's how they get their names on this platform. It's really valuable to say, Hey, by being on my podcast, is it okay if I get you on IMDb? Because that's going to impact your your Google search engine results. It's going to it's 100% promise you're going to impact? Well, because podcasts are such a rich form of content right now in Google. Google podcasts, like whenever there's, whenever a search platform shows favour to a type of, you know, content, Instagram says reels. Google says podcasts like these are ways to lean into them. So if any of this is over your head, say hi. Say oh, you said something. I don't know what you said. But it sounded interesting. Can you say it again? The I'm the I'm the guy to repeat himself. So reach out and say hi,

Unknown Speaker  48:55  
thank you so much Vinnie Potestivo, you've been an absolute legend. And it's been an absolute pleasure to interview today. So do stay tuned listeners. As always, there's a meditation inspired by today's show. But then he thank you so much and enjoy the rest of your day in Brooklyn. Thank you. Thank you. 




As promised, here is your meditation. Inspired by today's show. Top Tips for the meditation is either sit nice and cross legged on the floor of a nice strip back. Always nice to sit on a block or a cushion. Or that's not available for you. You sit in a chair with the back nice and straight. The important thing is you're not slouching and if you're doing something that requires you concentration are you to do is just pause this and you can reconvene the meditation at a time that is good for you. If you're doing the meditation, that's begging

Unknown Speaker  49:48  
as you allow yourself to be be in this moment, be in your body just being via the tool of the breath. So Slow, calm deep breaths, in and out, slow and calm, allowing yourself to be who you are, being in your body. And including all aspects of your breathing in a slow and calm way. So breathing from the belly, breathing into the sides in front of the lungs, the top of the lungs, the back of the lungs. And you can initiate this by starting the breath just below the navel, filling the hole of the lung capacity, as you learn to simply be, be who you are, be in the moment be in your skin, be happy and contented that you are this wonderful human being going through a wonderful adventure of life. And what new adventures are you going to embark upon today? What is your dream? What way would you like to learn to grow and be seen. Sometimes we're taught as a child that we should be seen and not heard. That we should just kind of fit in there in the background and not cause too much of a stir. And perhaps those who told us this, were trying to help us in some way. But do if you have a dream and aspiration, something that you wish to achieve, allow yourself to be allow this to grow, what wonderful things can happen today. What wonderful once in a lifetime chance can slowly or fastly flow your way. Some say dream it and it will come. But we also need to take some action. Balance between action and flow, surrender, and let go. Break down your dream and aspiration into where you want to go. How will you take the action steps and how will you allow yourself to flow. The best place to start this from is a clear mind like a starlit sky at night without a cloud. negativity and worry can kind of cloud our way. But through the tool of the breath. Regardless of its night or day, you do one could learn to step into your flow. Let go of your worries and make things possible for yourself. So regardless of what you want to be, start taking positive action steps and how you can get there, and how you can also learn to be so it's flow and let go. Perfect balance. Just for a moment, picture yourself in your dream, career choice, or whatever it is that you wish to achieve your dream retirement

Unknown Speaker  53:57  
and with a sense of wonderment tap into how that feels. How do you feel?

Unknown Speaker  54:08  
And if that comes to you straightaway, that's great. And if it doesn't ask No, that's okay. It's not too late. You can just repeat the meditation or take out a journal and write each day. How do I feel in my dream job? Or how do I feel in my dream retirement? Whatever stage of life you're at. Allow it to Flo and people for you deserve everything that you wish to have. Treat others with love with care. Treat yourself with kindness. And with a little bit of hard work, flow and trust. You will get there. Be open to new possibilities and through the breath meditation and mindfulness. Allow yourself to be set free So slowly come back into the moment come back into the room and go about your day with care and joy and if there's a specific meditation that you would like please reach out to me and we'll be happy to record one for you

Transcribed by https://otter.ai