Betting on Yourself: Inside the Creative Mind of Ashley Joseph

Guest:  Ashley Joseph -  Presenter, Actor & Writer

Episode Host: Angela

In this episode of Begin, Build, Blossom, we sit down with Ashley Joseph, a dynamic Presenter, Actor & Writer whose work spans global stages, award‑winning television, and celebrated theatre. Deeply rooted in his Saint Lucian heritage, Ashley has built a career defined by versatility, courage, and a relentless commitment to craft.

His presenting journey includes hosting the Saudi Arabia Formula E Concerts, Lil Simz’s Meltdown Festival, the Caribbean Summertime Ball, Dubai Music Week, and his signature Valentine’s showcase Lovers and Friends.

Ashley is the co‑creator of the hit improv show ACTing Up!, a familiar face from BBC favourites such as Robin Hood, Justin’s House, Doctors, and EastEnders, and the voice behind Jared in the award‑winning animated series JoJo & Gran Gran.

His theatre and directing credits include the Olivier Award‑winning Get Up Stand Up and the West End sensation Shifters. As a writer, he is shaping the future of children’s television with projects across the BBC, Channel 5, Cartoon Network, HBO Max, and more.

This conversation explores creative courage, craft mastery, resilience, and the power of showing up consistently in a competitive creative industry, offering practical insights for anyone building a creative or entrepreneurial path.

More specifically:

• The importance of Reading 
• Embracing growing older with intention
• Continual learning as a creative discipline
• Betting on yourself and taking bold chances
• Skiing as a Black man — challenging expectations
• Choosing the right partners for the right projects
• Stepping out of your comfort zone
• JoJo & Gran Gran and the impact of representation on Television 

 Books Mentioned 

• The Art of Growing Old — Marie de Hennezel
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — Stephen R. Covey
• How to Win Friends and Influence People — Dale Carnegie
• The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho 

  Connect with Ashley

• Instagram:  Sir Ashley J (@sir_ashleyjoseph) 
• Email: ashleyj.creativeteam@gmail.com 

Transcript

betting-on-yourself-inside-the-creative-mind-of-ashley-joseph

[00:00:00] Know that the only thing you need to bet on is yourself. I think a lot of people step into the creative industry thinking that they need to have all these things in place, and it has to be this, it has to be that. Just bet on yourself. Just back yourself and, and go and try and see what happens. Um, fail often, fail forward, that's fine.

We- we're all failing in different ways. Also, the other thing I would say is step out of your comfort zone a bit. That's something that I would ask people to do. Step out of your comfort zone, and when you enter it, just see how it feels. Just dip that toe out. Stop sitting in this comfort zone here and, and wanting things to happen for you.

What can you make happen? What can you do that can not just impact you but impact the world? That's what I try and do. Try and think about what you can control rather than what you can't control, and focus on that. It, it was just really interesting about people that was [00:01:00] 88 years old, 92 years old, saying, "I'm still learning."

And I found that really fascinating of, of not, of not thinking that by a certain age or stage in your life you have to be a finished product, and I think that's very useful in the world, the fast-paced world we live in. Welcome to Begin, Build, Blossom: Your Business Journey, the podcast where we share valuable insights, resources, and motivation to fuel your entrepreneurial spirit.

Let's build a supportive community together. Don't forget to subscribe or follow wherever you listen to podcasts and be part of this journey Let's pause for a moment to hear from our sponsors. You've built a name for yourself through hard work and dedication, but does managing the business side feel like a distraction from your true passion?

Are you dealing with unmanaged finances? CME Accounting LLC is here to help. We specialize in organizing your financial records, allowing you [00:02:00] to focus on what you do best. With organized books, you'll have more time for what inspires you, whether that's expanding your influence, building relationships, or simply enjoying life.

Don't let unmanaged finances hold you back. Reach out to CME Accounting LLC today and let us help you thrive. Visit our website www.cmeaccountingllc.com or email us at admin@cmeaccountingllc.com. All right. Let's jump back into our conversation. Welcome to Begin, Build, Blossom, Your Business Journey, a space for real inspiration, insight and conversations around creative and entrepreneurial journeys.

Today we're in for another fantastic episode from a very inspirational individual, but you have to stick around to find out more. Thank you for joining us. My name is Angela St. Denis, and I'm your host for today's episode. Our guest is an [00:03:00] accomplished presenter, actor and writer whose career spans major international stages, award-winning television and celebrated theater.

Born in Newham, London and grounded in his St. Lucian heritage, his presenting credits include the Saudi Arabia Formula E concerts for Live Nation, Lil Smith's Meltdown Festival, the Caribbean Summertime Ball, Dubai Music Week, and his very own Valentine's showcase, Lovers and Friends. But this is just to name a few.

As a presenter, he's introduced global icons like Usher, Akon and the Black Eyed Peas, and brought his energy to major moments including the Olympic torch relays, MTV Base, BBC events and international hip hop stages from Dubai to Berlin. Another incredible hosting event is the Prime [00:04:00] Minister's Gala. That is the St.

Lucia Prime Minister's Gala, which was held for the 45th anniversary of independence. Our guest is the brilliantly talented and creative Ashley Joseph He's not only a presenter though, he's a co-creator of the hit improv show Acting Up. A familiar face from BBC favorites like Robin Hood, Justin's House, Doctors, and EastEnders, and the voice behind Jared in the award-winning animated series Jojo & Gran Gran.

His theater and directing work also include the Oliver Award-winning Get Up Stand Up and the West End sensation Shifters. And as a writer, he's shaping the future of children's television with credits across BBC, Channel 5, Cartoon Network, HBO Max, and many more But of course, we'll find out [00:05:00] a lot more about Ashley in our conversation.

So Ashley, I'm thrilled to welcome you to the Begin, Build, Blossom family. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Um, it's always strange hearing the work you've done when someone else reads it, and I go, "Is that really me?" Still imposter syndrome. Yes, yes, that's always the case. I know, because when, when you think about it, you never recall all these things that you potentially have been involved in until it's written down and you hear it for yourself.

So today we want to follow your journey, you know, see how you started out, where, where you've come, the influences, and what's next for you. But to get things started, we're gonna do a little bit of a warmup. The first question on the rapid fire is, if you had to use a word to describe yourself as a child and a word to describe yourself as an adult, what would it be?

Uh, as a child, I would say curious. As a adult, I would say creative. So why, why curious and creative? Uh, [00:06:00] curious, I always just had, um, questions about how the, the world worked, how things moved, why was that a certain way. I remember asking my mom once, "So Mom, where were the dinosaurs in the Bible? Why does the Bible never mention the dinosaurs?"

As a 7-year-old, it was that level of curiosity, always wonder, always, uh, um, I guess that's imagination, and that led me into, to feeling like so many different things were possible. And so as an adult now, I just look at and navigate life so through a creative lens, whether that's if I'm cooking, obviously, if I'm working, p- planning birthdays for friends, w- helping my sons with their homework, it always comes from a place of creation.

So I guess, yeah, the curiosity bred the creation and, and fed the imagination and allowed me to see the world in that way, and, and that's how I navigate it now. Okay. Great. Thank you for providing that bit of insight between the, the curious and the creative. [00:07:00] Now, books, movies. Is there a book that perhaps have inspired you or left resonated with you, a movie?

Yeah. Gosh, uh, there's, there's so many books, and I'm gonna say books. I'm, I'm a big movie buff, but I'm gonna say books 'cause I think we need to read more. Um, so there's a, there's a few, but I'm gonna try and- stick with the first one that really changed things for me, and it's a book by, um- You're free to share more than one, but yes Okay, cool.

I just, I didn't know if I was ruining the game. Um, so yeah. Okay, so there's, there's, there's three. There's, the first one is a book called "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People"- I have that ... by Stephen Covey. Yeah, and it's, it's a phenomenal book. It's an incredible read. If you're someone who doesn't read, it's gonna be painful to try and get into it at first, but as soon as you do, things just flow.

And one of the things I've always taken away, two things, is one is any, I guess this is really good for this podcast as well, any business agreement or any type of deal you're trying to enter with [00:08:00] people, you should be looking at making it a win-win. If both parties feel that they're winning and gaining- Mm-hmm.

Yeah ... then it's more than likely to happen. If it's, if it's a win-lose, someone is not gonna fulfill their part of what's been agreed. The other thing I learned about that book that's always stuck with me is no pushing in conversations, and that, that's probably mainly in your personal relationships, but sometimes in business, sometimes you can feel something's up with someone and you really want that answer now, especially if you've got that energy of me that I just wanna s- be, I'm a solution-led person.

I wanna solve things. I want it to happen now, and, and that doesn't help. That, that, when you try and pull someone closer to you, you're just pushing them further away, so. Yes. Yes, because there isn't an understanding of how they operate. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. And so learning about no pushing, that book, yeah, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" I'd say to people to read.

If you're someone who more likes to read like fantasy books, um, there's a book by Paulo Coelho. I can't remember the name of the book, but it's about a young guy who goes on a journey in s- in search of [00:09:00] his fortune. And, um, I can't spoil the ending, but it's really, really interesting, especially if you're a young person or just anyone who's starting to rethink about your life and how you wanna do things and, and what you're going to seek, but also trying to think about what's around you.

And the, the last book I got actually was for my birthday last year from someone that you know as well, actually, Angela, uh, Rosa Till, who's another fellow British dent lucian, who is an incredible producer, and she got me this book called "Ikigai," and it's basically the art of growing old. Okay. Because she knows I'm scared of getting old, um, which I'm trying to talk about more.

But this book is- We're embracing it. Uh, but it was fascinating. It was very fascinating about- different people around the world and how they live. And it, it was just really interesting about people that was 88 years old, 92 years old saying, "I'm still learning." And I found that really fascinating of, of not, of not [00:10:00] thinking that by a certain age or stage in your life you have to be a finished product.

And I think that's very useful in the world, the fast-paced world we live in. So yeah, the, the, that book, Ikigai, is a, is a great book as well, um, to, to check out for those of you who read. But yeah, read, read, and get a book. Turn the pages, man There's that joy of reading. As a matter of fact, I interviewed a publisher, Valerie Brandes, earlier this week.

It was incredible to hear her story and her journey. So books is always fascinating. It transports you to a different world. It helps with your speaking, your engagement, your ability to engage with others. So thanks for sharing those. Pleasure. Now the next question, if there was a place in the world that you could be right now, where would it be?

Which country would it be? It was always... Do you know what it is? I'm always gonna say St. Lucia. I'm always going to say St. Lucia. Um, yeah, it's just- No place like home. No, there's not. I just, I, [00:11:00] I get there. As soon as I step off the plane, my shoulders just drop. I just, yeah, I feel s- I feel so blessed to have a connection to St.

Lucia, you know, to, to have that legacy. So there isn't, but I haven't been everywhere in the world, so, you know, I am also feeling like I wanna go to West Africa. I've never been to West Africa, so I've said I, I wanna go there. But yeah, if I get asked to be somewhere, the first place I'm gonna hop on that flight is get me to Vieux Fort.

That's an excellent choice. Quite a few people have chosen Sanducha as well. So yes, yes. Is there a fun fact about Ashley that we don't know since considering you're also a bit of a comedian and you need to bring funny things into presenting? So is there something funny that we don't, you'd like to share?

Ooh, something fu- that's funny because as soon as you said something interesting, I was like, "Yeah, I've got an interesting fact." But something funny- We, we can always switch it up to something interesting. Tell [00:12:00] me. I want to know. Yeah, I mean, well- Now you've piqued my interest ... well, I'm a skier. A lot of people don't know this.

Um, so I, yeah, I can ski. I mean, I'm a- As in in the snow? Yes. You're like, "Black man, what do you mean? You're St. Lucian." I did not say that. Those were not even my thoughts. I just wanted to clarify which type of skiing. But yes, in the snow, in the snow. I've skied in Bulgaria, France, Italy. Um, and yeah, it was a teacher at school.

A teacher at school made it possible for children from public school to go and do s- skiing, to go on ski trips and do lessons. And so yeah, I can, I can ski. Um, and actually funny enough, two years ago I got offered a, a job in a TV series 'cause they needed someone who could ski, and the producer said, "We know Ashley can ski."

And I couldn't do it because I was flying out to another country for my anniversary with my wife. Aw. And so, yeah, I was- See, they could've chosen to make some money for you. I, no, I, I literally, so I said, they said, "Look, man, we'd love you to do it." And I said, "Look, [00:13:00] I can come and do this, but I'm probably gonna be divorced, so-"

you know, I can ski and be divorced, or I can be in Lisbon in love." Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, what do you want me to do? You look at the long term, right? That's right. Where are you sleeping at night? That's right. That's right. Okay. All right. Well, thank you for sharing in the rapid fire. Um, I mean, you certainly made us laugh and shared some interesting facts in the books, and we learned a little bit of something interesting about you in terms of skiing, which is phenomenal.

So now let's go into the question. So you're a creator, an actor- Did you start out being in the field? What, what were you doing? Where, where did that interest come from? It came mainly from, um, me and my sister and a, a show that was huge in the, in the UK. It was the first time I saw people that looked like me and sounded like me on TV, which was The Real McCoy, and I was about eight years old, and I was just repeating the sketches.

It was a comedy night. There was sketches, there was stand-up comedy, comedians, i- and I was just [00:14:00] repeating stuff. Um, and actually it was the first time I saw Louella Gideon on TV, who now I have the honor of working on a show with, who is the voice of Great Gran Gran in JoJo & Gran Gran. But, um, but that just piqued my interest, and then I started to go to youth theater.

Started to go to Theatre Royal Stratford East Youth Theatre, as well as doing drama at school, and it was just because I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being different people, different characters, making people laugh, putting stories together, and that was really, I guess, the seed of, of the, the, the tree of my creativity.

Theatre Royal Stratford East Youth Theatre and, um, Boy Blue Dance Company, where I started dancing, which I was, had no interest in, in dance. Um, but the person who ran that company was an incredible dancer, and when I saw him freestyle, I was like, "I gotta learn that." I just, I was like, "I'm gonna do that for one summer," and it ended up being 10 years.

Um, so that's, that was, yeah, that was the, the birth of it, and e- everything I think for me was [00:15:00] really, um, organic. I knew I wanted to do it. I knew I wanted to, to, to tell stories, to entertain, but I, I didn't... I, I wasn't, from a, a young age, I wasn't having someone that was managing me and saying, "Okay, from age eight, this is the plan.

This is the strategies you're gonna take." It, it really became a thing that grew, and the people I met along the way that were saying to me, "You can do this," and, you know, people telling you that you can make a living out of something, you can make a career out of something that you enjoy and love is such a big boost.

So that's, that's, yeah, that's the start of, of it for me. Mm-hmm. Okay. So in terms of when you told your parents, "Well, I'm going to be an actor, a presenter," what, what is, was the response? Yeah. So, um, yeah, so I grew, I grew up with my mom, and, um, my, my St. Lucian mother. I see. And, um, I, I love her. She's brilliant.

No, she's brilliant. [00:16:00] And the thing she said to me is she, she, she, she enjoyed drama at school. That's about as much as she knew, and the thing she said to me was, "If you can work for yourself and make it work, then do it." Um, and I remember that, and I remember that I got offered three places at unive- university, and I was in a place of going, "Man, I, I don't know if I should be doing this.

I don't know if I should be spending all this money, like taking a loan. My family already is in a difficult position." And I said to my mom, "Let me try it for a year. Let's see if I can make this work." And she said, "Yeah, yeah, do it. Try and work for yourself, see what happens." And yeah, that was however long ago, and I've still been, still been doing it.

So I, I think for me, I had my mom's support and belief of going, "Just go for it. You're young enough to go for it." I think the hard thing for, for children that are in that position is when your parents or you, you don't, don't have access to the world you want to enter. [00:17:00] You know, for example, if, if your father's a, a plumber and you want to be a plumber, great.

Or, you know, if your mother owns, I don't know, a recording company and you want to sing- Yeah, you can easily access ... there's access. There's, there's, uh, there's so many steps you can cut out of the process, and so that, that was, that was the challenge for me. But, but yeah, my mom was, my mom was actually cool about it.

There was no, you know, locking doors, you're not going out and stuff. Um, because also what, what, what you have to think about is actually I was a young boy and I'm going out to perform because a lot of these e- experience and, uh, opportunities you're getting, entertainment usually takes place in the evenings.

So whether it's dance shows or theater productions, it's very rare that you're going out in the daytime. You might rehearse in the daytime, but a lot of rehearsals are taking place in the evening. Performances are taking place in the evening. Sometimes you're traveling overnight, and I think that was very understanding of my mom, like when I was 17, 18, 19, just going on tour, going to different cities.

Yeah, I don't know if [00:18:00] I... Well, I, I definitely know my wife wouldn't do that now with my children. She'd be like packing the bag. I'm, I'm coming.

I know I would be doing the same as well, so. You see? Yes. I'm coming along. Let's see how we're going to get this done. So it, it's good. Thanks for sharing that bit of insight, you know, and how you got into it. So in terms of your first real gig of- Mm ... you know, getting paid to do something, what was that and how did you acquire that job?

Yeah, so there was, um, I, I think there was two real things that kind of happened at the same time. One, we, my, my sister and I, 'cause my sister dances as well, we started teaching dance at a place very local to us, um, called Glory House. I remember it was called Glory House Center, and they wanted people to come and teach dance, but only to, um, worship music, which was, which was cool and great and fun for us.

And I can't remember how it happened. I think they saw us perform somewhere, but we were young. I was, I was 15, [00:19:00] and they were saying, "Oh, you need to send an invoice." I said, I had no idea. Invoice? I said, "What's an invoice?" I said, "Just give me my money," like. So then I went to my big sister going, "How do you..."

You know, my oldest, "Uh, what's an invoice?" And then she, uh, emailed me, like, her template invoice. I just changed everything, and, um, that was how that first gig was acquired. But I, I didn't really know how much to charge. I remember going, "Oh yeah, it's, uh, 15 pounds an hour," and just seeing what they said, and then we were, we were getting paid.

And my other gig was actually through the youth theater, and I think this is the interesting thing of when I was talking about, about a seed that, that grows into that tree of creativity. Being at Stratford East Youth Theater, you're around professional actors, you're around directors, writers, producers, because you're going into the building.

And I used to just hang around the theater, man. I just wanted to see stuff, to the point where they just let me in for free 'cause they knew I had no money. Oh, okay. You know? So they, yeah, they'd just let me in to see shows, or I'd just, yeah, I'd just sit in the box office all day and just see who's coming.

'Cause just you, you want, you wanna be around it. [00:20:00] When you love something, you just wanna be around it. And what happened is they was making a, a show, a hip hop theater show called The Boys, which was based on a Shakespeare show, and I got a role in it as one of the dancers in the show, and that was my first gig that I landed, and that was, that was the contract.

And I remember it was, um, I had to turn 16 before the show opened, and the show opened- On, it was something like the 16th of April, and my birthday was the 21st of May. So they was rehearsing me, and then they took me out the show because they couldn't afford a chaperone. 'Cause I was under 16, I'd have to have a chaperone.

So they took me out the show, waited for me to turn 16, and then gave me some shows to do. So I didn't even get to do the full contract, but I did get to do, um, a few, a few shows and stuff, and that was, that was, yeah, my first paid gig really in theater. Mm-hmm. You know? Okay. Mm. Oh, great. That, that sounds quite adventurous, and, uh, the fact that you stuck around means that you were really determined to get in [00:21:00] one way or the other.

I just was, yeah. I was, I was. So, so many, uh, like catalyst jobs happened because either I was putting creative energy out there or I was just going and seeing what was happening. What's happening? What's, what's hap- what's going ... And, and I think you do need to do that when you, when you're first starting out because I guess what, what there's, when you start out in this business in particular, you are knocking more doors than people that are ringing your bell.

And, and, and the, the, I guess part of the goal is that more people start calling you going, "I want, I want the guy from the CBeebies show," or, "I want the guy who hosted the pr- prime minister's event." That's, that's what you want to happen. Um, but you have to invest. You ha- you have to, yeah, again, you have to sow the seed so the tree can grow and then you get the fruits of your labor, and that takes time.

I mean, we know the best time to plant a tree was yesterday, and the second-best time is today, so. Thanks for sharing that and those insights. I- in terms of, so you've gotten these few gigs, you know, you got your semi- ... pro we'll [00:22:00] call it gig, then you got your real gig. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What, what was next after that?

The, the seed was now planted that, yes, I can do this. I can earn some money from this. What was next? So a- after that, w- well, realistically it was GCSEs 'cause I was still in school. Um, it was- Yeah. So how, how did you manage the school and the dancing and the GCSEs? Uh, so my dance teacher was incredible actually.

He, he banned us from coming to dance when we had exams. So, so you weren't allowed to study unless you'd, uh, you weren't allowed to train unless you'd finished your exams. But, um, my mom was never worried about that because I was gifted and talented for so many subjects at school. So for me, I, I enjoyed learning.

Um, and I just made, like, learning part of my daily routine, so I stuck things around the house, so it just happened to be always happening around me. I didn't always have to go, "This is my allocated revision time." But yeah, did my GCSEs, got, got into college and was still, still juggling stuff and, um, when I, [00:23:00] when I left college, I think that's when the next thing really happened where I'd started getting a bit of a n- of a name for myself 'cause whilst in college I entered a dance competition, like a TV dance show.

There was a TV channel on Sky called, um, Trouble TV, and they had the first-ever dance competition called Bump and Grind. And I know there's gonna be some people that watch this, like in my network, that are gonna be howling with laughter because there's some people that still remember that that was the first time I was on TV, and they don't let me forget it.

Good friends who like to bully me with that. When you were bumping and grinding. Exactly. There was no bumping and grinding, yeah. Let me just, for the CBeebies audience, there wa- it wasn't that. Don't look for it. But I entered that competition and that then gave me a bit more of a name in the dance world that helped me teach dance.

So now I was getting paid to teach dance, and that's when you started negotiating. So remember I just made up a little 15 pound an hour ting, so I was like, "Right, I've gotta start actually thinking about how much does it, uh, cost me to travel? How much time do I take in prep?" What- these times here you wasn't just streaming music for free.

You had to go [00:24:00] into the store and buy your CDs and stuff. So how, how many CDs do I need to buy? And so I remember getting, at the age of about 17, I'd started negotiating for about 25 pounds an hour now to teach dance. But what that helped me do was create a bit of an income whilst at college. Then when I, when I finished college, I still had some income, and through that I started to get more work within the, the youth community, I guess the youth network side of things.

So I was doing more youth work, doing more performing arts projects, teaching in that way whilst auditioning, 'cause a lot of people don't realize that if you don't have an agent, which I didn't have an agent at the time, I wasn't getting audition opportunities, but I still had to eat, I still had to travel, I still had to do all those ne- ne- necessary things.

And so two things I guess happened in that space of time. One thing was that I was creating spaces to earn and, um, put my name in certain places so I could, could build a bit more of a momentum and reputation for myself. And the second thing that happened [00:25:00] was a friend of mine told me, one of my, one of my good friends, double act partner of mine, 'cause I used to do comedy in a double act actually.

And, um, he phoned me and he was like, "Mate," he's actually half St. Lucian, half Zimbabwean, so I call him a Saint Zimbablucian. Um- And, but he's so, he's like, he's so cockney. He's like, "Mate, mate, I've just come from an audition. I don't really think it's me, but I think it's you, so you should go down there." And I remember going down there, like having the last little bit of money and I just said, "Hey, I heard, I heard you're auditioning today."

And they let me audition, and it was for a lead in a hip hop theater play that was touring the UK, and that was at a theater called Half Moon Young People's Theater, a play called Locked In. And I auditioned for it, and by the time I got home they called me and offered me the job And it was my first chance to tour, like, the UK.

And in, in that period of time, like, uh, I guess that gap between college and getting this job, I had done a bit of theater in [00:26:00] education, so I'd done plays in schools. I'd got one presenting job with MTV Base, which like was starting to build momentum, then it went quiet. So I'd done the job and then it finished unfortunately, and that, that happens.

You gotta go on to the next thing. And so then I did, um, I got this job, and that job got me my agent, and that job started getting me my foot in the door for auditioning, and that's when I first got "EastEnders" and started doing stuff like that. So again, it was from a friend. It was from a friend again who knew what I was doing and putting myself out there.

But all the whiles, while, while acting, I was still doing some presenting gigs. I was still teaching dance. And I, I think there was a thing of when you're creating a business and you are the main product of your business, to promote yourself, then, then work to put, put yourself in these spaces is such a challenge.

You're not, you're not selling trainers, so you can't just try and do distribution deals with different schools. Y- you are the only trainer. Like, you're literally the only product, so you've got to try and promote yourself, [00:27:00] be there, be at the next thing, still be sending the invoice for the last thing, and still be across the emails.

And we did the job groupings. Yeah, you've got to, you know, y- you've got to be doing that. But that was, that was the next job. "Locked In" was the next job that opened the doors into TV and auditioning for theater more and started to really get my name in those spaces. Let's pause for a moment to hear from our sponsors.

You've built a name for yourself through hard work and dedication. But does managing the business side feel like a distraction from your true passion? Are you dealing with unmanaged finances? CME Accounting LLC is here to help. We specialize in organizing your financial records, allowing you to focus on what you do best.

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All right, let's jump back into our conversation That one experience and just having the, it shows the power of the connection and of friends- Mm-hmm. Mm ... and people understanding, like the win-win, as we discussed earlier. Yes. Your friend was able to know what your, um, skill sets are, your characteristics, and match it to that opportunity.

So kudos to him as well. Yeah. No, no. Yeah. I, I totally- And you taking that chance to go down there and- Yeah. Exactly ... and see what- Yeah, yeah. You've gotta take the risk as well. There is, there are parts of it that are, are risk and putting yourself out there and not feeling afraid of falling, 'cause y- it might just work and you might just fly.

Yes, that's right. So as you talk about risk, what has been the biggest leap you've taken since you've been in this business, the creative business? Ooh. One time I got ... [00:29:00] Now I look back, I'm like, "This is stupid." Um, So maybe not so stupid. I don't know. So I, um, as you mentioned in the intro, I did, I was really blessed to do a lot of work for Live Nation and Live Nation Middle East, and that's where I got to, you know, make, meet Akon and introduce Usher and, and stuff like that.

But the f- the first time I was out there, I was doing a different show. I was hosting this hip hop dance show and, um, and I happened to meet the president of Live Nation. But the reason why we started talking was because I liked his shoes. I said, "You got nice shoes." Anyway, make a long story long, I'd done a few gigs for them, and then it started to go cold, and this had happened a few times before.

Like, you do some jobs, it's going great, everything works well. Like, the company like you, you like the company, you're well looked after. It's like, this is too good to be true. Everything's happening nice. And I'd done a job for them in 2015. I think I did something in 2016 and another year for them, and I was like, "This isn't- What's happening, man?"

No one's calling me. And I knew [00:30:00] that they were doing another gig the following year, and I remember speaking to a friend of mine. I was like, "I think I might just fly out there. I might just get on a plane and fly to Saudi. It's doing Saudi Arabia, so I might just fly to Saudi Arabia and then just say, 'I'm g- I'm coming to hang out,' but then just go, when I get there, just negotiate hosting the, the concert for them."

And, um, and I remember messaging the president of Live Nation going, "Hey, I've got a few days. I've got a gap in my diary." There was no gap in the diary. There, there was no diary. You know what I mean? Diary, the diary was empty. So, and I said to my wife, I said, "Yeah, I'm gonna go, babe. I'm gonna go." This time my eldest son, we even had our first son, he's two.

I got on the plane and went, and actually they, um, they were really nice actually. They sorted out a hotel for me So you didn't have a hotel? No, I just flew out. I just got a flight, I got a flight. I said, "Hey, I'm coming. Um, I'm flying out." Yeah. And they, they said, "Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. Yeah, come. Yeah, come hang out.

Just come chill." I was like, "Okay, cool." I get to Saudi Arabia, they, they sent a car for me, which is great because [00:31:00] I didn't know where I was going. That's the other thing. I got to the hotel- Yeah, Saudi Arabia. Yeah ... yeah, yeah, yeah. This, this is my, this is my second time in Saudi Arabia, but the first time they had done everything.

They've taken care of everything. So, um, so I get there and he's like, "Oh, come to the bar, come for a drink. It's late at night." So I'm like, "Well, I better." We're just chatting and catching up. He went, "So yeah." I mean, obviously, 'cause I was thinking like, "How can I pitch this? How can I pitch that I'm gonna like, 'Hey, hey, I'm out here, but I wanna do the show and I still want you to pay me.'"

Um, and then he just went, "Well, you're here, so we'd love you to MC for us. Would you, would you do that?" And I was like, "Yeah." He's like, "Okay, look, okay, we'll, we'll pay you. Let's get it all sorted." And that's probably one of the biggest risks that I took, like going on a plane to the Middle East only-- and, and saying to someone, "Hey, I wanna hang out," when I knew I had a, a whole other ulterior motive.

And then when I was out there, which this, this was cheeky, um, Anthony Joshua was in Saudi Arabia at the same time for his fight, for his boxing match. I've never seen a boxing match live. So I said, "Hey, can you, can you sort us some [00:32:00] tickets for me and the DJ to go to the f- the, the fight?" Rather cheeky indeed.

That is cheeky. And they went, "Yeah, of course. No worries." But you know what? Ask for what you want. W- well, this, this is what I thought, and I thought the worst thing that's gonna happen is I'm gonna get there, hang out with him, not work, and all I've done is spent some money on a flight. Um, but it worked out really, really well, and I had a great time, you know, because the year before I really enjoyed working with them, and I'm so glad I did do that, of just, just taking a risk.

And that was, yeah, that was 2019, like 2019 actually. And then the next year I was like, I was like, "Well, Nick," saying to my wife, "It works, babe. So I'm gonna try and do two months. I'm gonna try and just go out there for two months and work." And then obviously the pandemic hit. Yeah, I was just gonna go to Dubai and live between Dubai and Saudi.

The DJ who I worked with out there, he lived, he did that. He's like, "Yeah, I've got a spare room. Come and stay with me." I was like, "This is great." This time my accommodation, my accommodation is actually guaranteed [00:33:00] But yeah, that's, that's probably one of the riskiest things I've done, um, that paid off. I've done other stuff that's not been as risky as that.

Um, a-a-and yeah, I mean, sometimes I've really tried to, and this is the problem when you can do improv, improvisation. I've tried to improv my way through things, and that I've realized of going, you can't just always just be this spirited individual just improving your way through stuff. Sometimes you've got a plan, you've got to strategize, you've got to have those conversations, um, and know exactly what you wanna do.

But yeah, that, that was a big risk. Now I'm like, "Brother, you took yourself to the Middle East with no guarantee of where you were sleeping, let alone work." Like It was scary. Yes, that's indeed a pretty big risk. So as you talk about risk, you know, and you looking for jobs, b-because earlier you mentioned, you know, you, as the individual, you're the business, so you have to do everything.

You have to send the invoice, follow up on the invoice, go out and perform, look for work, and so on. But you mentioned an agent. When did you get an agent, and how, how did you? [00:34:00] Yeah, so my first agent I got, um, when I was about 19, and that was when I was doing the show "Locked In" that I mentioned earlier, and I got an acting agent.

And at that time I only knew you s- you get an acting agent. You get an acting agent, they find you auditions and stuff, and you, and you audition for stuff. And I was with that agent in particular for about 10 years, actually, which some people say is a long time, some people say it is, it is what it is. But, but how I got th-that agent, when you're in a show, it's a lot easier to invite agents to come and see you perform.

So because I was doing this tour and we had London dates, and the director who I have to big up, Angela Michaels, who she calls her, she calls me her theater son, and I, I adore her. She's taught me so much about acting. But she said to me, "There's some agents that I think you should write to," because she was just shocked that I didn't have an agent.

So she helped. Again, she helped me out. With, with the right-- When you put the right energy in spaces, I really believe in, like, putting the right energy in spaces and making the right connections. People will see you and want to [00:35:00] invest in you when they see how you're investing in yourself and investing in a product that you're collaborating on together.

So she, she helped me write to some agents, and yeah, this particular agent, Lee Morgan Management, who's an incredible agent, and I thank him dearly for everything he did for me at the start of my career. He came and saw me and he signed me, and that was, again, like the, the momentum of getting more TV and more theater projects.

Mm-hmm. Okay, great. Thanks for sharing that. So it, it provides our listeners who are interested in that field with how, how to connect with an agent and what are some of the things they should be doing, planting those seeds Absolutely. And also now, you know, you're in a space where we don't necessarily need to wait to be in a show.

You can film your own stuff. You can edit like a two-minute clip together and send it to agents. I think that's the other thing I'd say. Even if there's someone who's not necessarily a young person, but someone who may have been doing-- They might be doing acting courses secretly, but they're a doctor for some, but, you know, acting's always been their [00:36:00] passion.

You could film some stuff now on your phone. There's free editing software, and just send an email to agents because again, the worst that can happen is they say no, and you're in the same position. Do you know what I mean? And you're not getting on a flight to another country not knowing where you're gonna sleep, so.

Not at all. Not at all. So, yeah. Not at all. So in, in terms of the team that helps you, so there's an agent. What, what does your team look like, the creative team? Yeah, my, my team is, is different now. I still have, um, an acting agent. I have a literary agent for my writing, and then I have a voiceover agent as well who looks after my voiceover work.

So that's with regards to me as an actor and writer. Then as a presenter in an individual independent shows I do, like Lovers and Friends, um, and Acting Up, I have a creative team there. So that team consists of the wonderful Holly, who is my PA and production coordinator, [00:37:00] and then I have Mish, who is also a company manager who liaise with artists and work in that way.

Holly manages my diary a lot and helps out in that way, but also helps with just negotiations, um, sometimes agreements, contracts, sending invoices, some things that I can't do. Sometimes when I'm away as well, just having someone to manage that because that's what we forget about as well. If, if you work for an organization and you go on annual leave, someone picks up your emails.

People think I don't have annual leave. I, I have so many people- It's working around 365. Yeah. I have people that will just message me on my work phone and go, "Yeah, um, I sent an email but no one's got back to me." I'm like: "Oh, sorry, I'm away at the moment." "Oh, sorry that you're away, but can you..."

And it's also what, what, what can you do? And, and I come back to that point of if you are looking at entering an industry where you are your own product, then you have to be very specific [00:38:00] about the hours you're gonna work and the, and its operation times. And so I've got better at that now having a family, but there's also sometimes when you just have to grant people that access because people wanna book you or people wanna inquire and people wanna engage.

And unfortunately, we live in a world now where more or less whatever you want, you can shop for it any time of time of the day. You know, you can just go on the internet and look for something. That's a bit of a, a tangent, and I digress. But with regards to the team, I would say I'm still building my team.

I'm still curating my team, and it, it takes a long time to, um, to have the right team, and it varies from project to project. I have some, uh, collaborators that I love working with, like creative collaborators that I'll always work with. Um, there's, there's, uh, Jade Hackett, who we'll always make a lot of shows together because we just, it's like we share a brain when we're in the space, and that's more so- You're very sync, in sync with each other.

Yes. And she's, um, she's a [00:39:00] director as well as a choreographer, and so we will sit on the other side of the table and we c- will co-direct. I'll write, and she will choreograph, and it just works. And so there's, there's those things as well. I think you've got to look at, when you're looking at show business, you've got to look at the creative team you're building to realize the show, but then there's the side that's called the business.

So then who is the team that you have that are doing the business? You cannot just know the show and not know the business. And there's, and there's two sides to that. That's why it's called show business. So yeah, my team is, is, it's a journey, and I say honestly and openly, the people that you work with, don't necessarily look at them in a sense of always about are they at the right level?

What is their intention? Because I've had people that are at incredible levels of experience, but their intention isn't right for what we're doing, and that kind of bleeds into it. And then another story, I've got one other person on my team who is Ebony, who I've just [00:40:00] started working with Ebony from Eberson Productions, and she's producing my podcast and doing all that.

And inc- it took a while. I, Angela, I cannot tell you the amount of times people have asked me to start a podcast, and I'm like: Why do people wanna listen to me? I've got nothing to say. You know, I'm just living my life. That's, that's the first thing. I'm still putting my bins out on a Monday. You know what I mean?

Still doing that, but I- No, I, I share your view with that because when my friend asked me to co-host this podcast, I'm like, "Are you sure? I don't have a business anywhere, eh?" And then when someone asked me to, to speak at an event, I'm saying, "But I don't have anything to share, so I don't know about that."

And it turns out I do have a lot to say. So you- we, we all have these different journeys to share and the information, so it's good. Yes, you started off your podcast and congratulations on that. Um, how has that experience been? It's been really nice working with someone who has a really clear vision for it and, and why I worked with Ebony as a producer is [00:41:00] because she had a very great vision for me and what she said matched my ethics as a human, as the type of person I am, as the work I wanna put out there, the things I wanna talk about.

And also she is insane at editing and filming, and I love the fact that it's not me having to do that. She is so, so good at it. But I just love that she just brings the topics, brings the conversations. She knows what I am about, she knows what I stand for, and she's really working with me in that way. And yeah, I'm glad, I'm glad I'm doing that.

The first episode's gone out and they've had some really nice feedback And yeah, we- we're gonna be dropping the next episode, I think it's in a week. It's no, so it's two weeks from now. We'll be dropping that and see, see what happens. But yeah, it takes a while to build, to build your, your business and your team, and have the right partners for the right projects as well.

'Cause I've also, I've also developed an app which is very different [00:42:00] actually to what I do. It's an app called The Pathwise Playbook, and this is for young children, um, mainly children in footballing academies. So I don't know if people know this, but out of all children in footballing academies, only 2% turn professional and the, and the 98%, they can get released at any stages, and sometimes they can be left feeling in a really bad place.

Like, there's a lot of mental health that plagues young people because they've been told they're gonna be footballers and then they're not. So this app we've got is an interactive audio story. It's myself and my business partner, Darren Duport. And what we've created is individual stories where children can listen to these stories and they can choose the path.

Each one, the child gets to a... Our main character gets to a juncture and they can choose which path they should take. But it doesn't look at the s- the, just the technical skills of football. It's about resilience, teamwork, courage, discipline, all these skills that, yeah, you can learn on a pitch or at training, but they're transferable.

They're things you need in life. We need resilience [00:43:00] as people. I'm having the resilience to record this late tonight, like. And the courage to say, "We can achieve this." Yes, yes, yes. But, um- Yes, we can. But that, that is, um, yeah, that's ano- that's another thing I'm doing, but also that, that's, that I've known Darren for almost half my life, and it's the first time him and I have collaborated in this way 'cause the right project came up, the right business venture came up, and he, him as the, the person who's been in the football career, who was an academy player, has worked in diversity, equality and inclusion, and then myself as the writer to write these stories, has just been, been great again.

And yeah, and it's, and you know, when it works is when you will have challenges along the way, but it still feels like silk. That's what I'd say to people that are looking to create teams and build teams- Take your time, be patient, but un- but when it feels smooth and just feels like, yeah, this should work, even though you're meeting challenges along the way, they're the business partners you wanna [00:44:00] work with.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's excellent advice. I mean, I couldn't have said it better myself. Now, thanks so, so much for sharing those insights, I mean, on partnerships, on building a team, you know, on different pathways that people can choose, and also sharing your work on the podcast as well as the new app that has come out.

So we will share that information in our show notes. There are a couple of things I wanted to touch on before we have to bring to a close. So one, "JoJo & Gran Gran," your St. Lucian heritage, and then you had the opportunity to host the head of state of St. Lucia's gala. Tell us about those two experiences.

How did you get involved with "JoJo & Gran Gran" and then we can talk a bit about the prime minister's gala. Yeah. Um, JoJo, "JoJo & Gran Gran"'s a great, a great story how it happened, and again, it comes back to networks, you know? Networks and, and building because I just happened to be on my Facebook one day and a friend of mine who's an actor and [00:45:00] writer as well, um, Nicole Natalie Davis, big you up, love you.

Um, she put something out on her Facebook going, "Need help from any friends who have St. Lucian parents or grandparents, 'cause I need some stories about that stuff." So I messaged her like I, I didn't even get on her Facebook. I got on the phone. I was like, "Yo, Nicole. Yeah, that's me. I got that." And so I gave her some stories and, and little quotes that my nan would say, like, like phrases that we all have.

You know what I mean? Our grandparents have all got these phrases that they've coined. And so I was giving her this stuff 'cause she was talking about her grandparent. And then I said to her, "Yeah, but don't forget about me, yeah, when you're, when you're making this show." I didn't know this was "JoJo & Gran Gran" at, at the time.

And she said, "Yeah, no, course, course, course." And I thought, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." And about seven months later, she messaged me out of nowhere going, "Yo, bro. All I know is that they're auditioning for voices. I know this is the production company. It's BBC." And the show at the time, it wasn't called "JoJo & Gran Gran," it was called "It's About Time" because it was all about the seasons, and [00:46:00] it actually wasn't a, uh, the, the two, the two main characters are in it, but that's what it was called.

So I, I got on, uh, I got onto my agent at the time, and I was like, "Come on, come..." This is a new agent I had, Alex. "Alex, come on, come on, find it." I said, "I can't find it." I was, "Alex, you need to find it. You need to find it. You just find..." And then he found it and pushed, pushed, pushed, pushed. And I was like, "Tell them I'm St.

Lucian. Tell them I'm St. Lucian." And then, and then he said, "Okay, Ashley, I've got you to audition. I've got you to audition, so can you record a demo?" And, um, I had to record for the role of Jared and also a guy called Pete who, um, who worked in the shop actually. So Jared was actually just a musician. He wasn't the shopkeeper, for those who have seen "JoJo & Gran Gran."

And Pete was, like, this kind of old guy who's like, "Hello, JoJo, Gran Gran. How you doing?" And, um, and anyway, I, I, I booked it And I remember going, "Yeah, man." Like, because I had never seen anything that was St. Lucian. This was like, I've gotta be part of this. This is history. This is Br- British St. Lucian, like, th- and [00:47:00] for me, it's such a big thing because there's a whole, we haven't got time, but there's a whole identity thing that you talk about that you never, that, that as someone who's born here, you never really feel British, then you go St.

Lucian, you're not really full St. Lucian. You're like, "Where am I?" Like, "What, who am I?" And so I just felt like I can sit in both my cultures here and, and, and really own this. And so yeah, I w- I was very blessed to, to book the job. Um, and I remember when I did the first session, they said, "Oh, what voice are you thinking for, for Jared?"

And 'cause, like, you know, Jared, he's young, he's cool, he's hip. That's me. That's right. I, I'm young, I'm cool, I'm hip. Let's have my voice. And the voice director, Steve Cannon, who again, wonderful man, wonderful friend now, I, um, he laughed and he said, "Okay, let's see. Let's see how we go." And, and Jared stayed.

They cut Pete out the show. There's no Pete. Jared ended up becoming the shopkeeper, and they made Jared a, a bigger character. But for me, "JoJo & Gran Gran" is a job of, like, a lifetime for me because it was such a joy. B- it was just [00:48:00] wonderful people, and it's the, it's the first show I worked on for, uh, four or five years I was on "JoJo & Gran Gran."

But everyone wanting the show to win and starting out as a voice actor in a show and then progressing to being a writer and then co-writing the St. Lucia special with Gemma Weeks, another St. Lucian, who I saw a few weeks ago and we went Gros Islet on Friday. Woo, woo. And, um, just to have that for us as our legacy, but then also the episode for the St.

Lucia special wins a Royal Television Society award. And for me, what a beautiful way to celebrate St. Lucia, to see St. Lucia animated, to, for me as well, um, at, at the time of writing the... I, I never knew this was gonna happen, by the time of writing the St. Lucia special, I put so many phrases that my nan would say that Great Gran Gran says, and then that came out in 2022, that episode, [00:49:00] and when we, by the time we'd won the award in October 2023, my grandmother had passed away.

And yeah, and I, and I was I was with my grandmother when she took her last breath, you know, and I was with her Yeah, so that was quite emotional, I would think. Ye- I, I was, and I remember I came home, um, after being in hospital, and I said to my wife, I said, "Babe, I, we have to take our son to some kids party."

Man, you know what it's like when they're young. Every Saturday there's a party. And I said to her, I said, "I can't do that." And I just laid on the sofa and just watched the St. Lucia Special, just watched it, and it was like I heard my nan. And I didn't even realize what I'd done at the time, but I had protected and immortalized part of my nan's legacy.

Just things she would say, like, "I'm, I'm not stopping, I'm just passing," you know. "Mind how you go." Like, just all those little phrases that for me was my nan. So yeah, JoJo & Gran Gran was, it was just a great move for my career, great move for my culture, great move for my heart, great move for my [00:50:00] family, and You know, the next time they call, 'cause I believe we're not finished with that show, I believe new episodes will be made, but next time they call I will be there whether I'm 50 or 60-

I will still pull out this voice and say, "Yes, I am Jared." You're there. Oh, wow. So thanks so much for sharing that because I was, I had the privilege of attending the first screening when JoJo & Gran Gran came out. I could remember going to the BBC studio where they had that screening, and it was pre-COVID.

That was just before everything shut down for COVID. That's right. That was, like, about three weeks before. Yeah, I remember that. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Very much so. And so now to hear that story and for us to have that conversation because I just saw you from a distance at that time really. Yeah. You know, and we, we were, we had that opportunity because when they were preparing the scripts, there was some interaction with the tourism authority for St.

Lucia- Mm. Mm. Okay ... and the hydration. So some of the scripts and the storylines, they would send [00:51:00] it to us and ask, "Okay, how does that sound? What does it seem like?" And we were able to provide some feedback, so it was really quite- Yeah, good ... and reflective. It's good b- because it made a difference and, and actually one of the things I'll say about the series producer, Tom Cousins, and Roz, uh, Atilla, the exec producer, they, when we had the writers' rooms, because a lot of people, some people won't know that when you write on a show, even though I was on the writing team from series two, there can usually be anywhere between 10 to 40 writers across a series writing per episode.

So it's- And that's something I never knew, so it's good for you to share that. Yes. So a lot of people think it might just be one person or two people, and one of the things that Tom and Roz said is, "You can tell any stories you want, but if you're gonna tell a story about Caribbean, it, you, it has to be connected to you, you have to be of Caribbean heritage."

And I really respect that because when I look at those specific episodes, you can see that there is a lot of care and attention to it. There's authenticity in it. And for me, that is [00:52:00] really important because as Caribbean people, we have seen stuff done before where it's not done well or we're caricatures, and that's what makes me really proud of JoJo & Gran Gran, even to the point where I remember I, I did an episode and I, I went, I went down to the studios, the animation studios in Bristol, and I said to them, I was like, "Yeah, listen, man, the plantain's gotta look like this, 'cause if the plantain looks like that, that mean the plantain burnt.

If it looks like that, it hasn't been fried long enough." Like, I was like, "These things are gonna make a difference." Like, you ha- like, if you're doing a chicken, it ha- the chicken has to look seasoned on the barbecue. Yes. You can't just... But- We need to see a little bit of spice around there, some green stuff, some black stuff.

You know. And, um, and I, I wrote the barbecue episode, and there's a whole section about- Like where they're seasoning the food because I was like, "This is so, this is important." Like when you have, like for us as Black people, when we have a barbecue, man, the music, the food, the drink, like it's so important.

It is such a part of it. And so for me, I look at JoJo & Gran Gran and I see that. And the amount of people that have said [00:53:00] my generation, my parents' generation, their parents' generation love the show because- Mm-hmm. Yes ... it feels like them. Adults and children alike. They can see themselves. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right.

Excellent. Thanks for giving that insight into JoJo & Gran Gran, you know, and how it came around and, and your involvement as well in it and how it's helped your career. And then you had another opportunity to get involved in St. Lucia at the Prime Minister's Gala. Yeah, that's when I knew my, my, my, my nan would very be, be proud of me.

She, yeah. That's when I knew, that's when I knew my nan would stop calling me English. It's like, okay, come on. What else can I do? I mean, that was awesome for me. Uh, and that was because of you, you know, calling and, and saying, "Look, we want you to do this, this event." And the event in itself, I had done like gala events and, and dinner events and, and I love black tie events.

I really do love them. But again, it was, I, I felt like I was able to bring me to it. That event was the first time in my life I could do that whole [00:54:00] comedy moment about when my nan said, "I'll meet, I'm gonna meet you by the gap." Yes. You know? Like, and I thought I was going to a Gap shop. I thought it was jeans my nan was buying me, and I didn't realize it's just a gap in the road.

And, um, and just to, and having audiences that know that, but it, it felt like such a huge respect, a huge honor. And when you're presenting something like that and you're the master of ceremonies for the event, you realize that sometimes your energy can really make or break an event. And just to see how I was welcomed by yourself, the, His Excellency, the High Commissioner, e- even the Prime Minister, certainly that's the first time I met him, and he was just able to, to joke with me on stage.

And, and, and then meeting Patricia from the Tourism Authority, just really being welcomed into that world. And now I'm very much like when those events are happening, I've gotta be the guy you guys call, man. Like, if it's not me, I'm, I'm gonna be getting on the flights to St. Lucia now, just [00:55:00] turning up with no accommodation going, "What's happening?"

Like, you know, even, even, um, my wife and, and Rose was saying, "Yeah, no, y- you're just, you're the St. Lucia guy, isn't it? You're the St... If there's a St. Lucian event, they just call you." But it was such the right job to do, and it felt right to do. So yeah, to, to stand on that, that stage and host that event and, and welcome fellow St.

Lucians, the Prime Minister. It was, it was great. It was great. And that's the first event I've hosted for a prime minister, and for it to be the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, why not? You know? It was- But by the way, but, but full circle, eh? Yeah. For your nan. Yeah, it was. It really is. It really is. So yeah, more of that and, and more things have led on from that, like, you know, hosting events for Julie and Alfred.

It's just, I feel so part of the, the legacy and the community of St. Lucia now, and I feel that my skills and my talents are going back into that. So, a- and it is full circle 'cause you think what your parents or grandparents came here to do, you're able to pick up that baton and run a different way with it, but you're still running the same race.

Yes, and raising that [00:56:00] profile of your heritage. So very much so. So Ashley, I mean, there's so much more we could talk about in terms of the work you've done. I mean, you've been on the "EastEnders," you've done quite a few things, uh, on the West End, but we'll have to pick them up in another episode. But before we go, there are two things I want for you to share maybe, you know, two piece of advice for persons wishing to enter into the creative industry, and then how people can reach out to you if they wish to connect.

Yes. Okay. Um, so connecting, I'm gonna do that first. That's, that's easier. The, the best way is Instagram, which is very simple, @sirashleyjoseph. So it's just my name, @sirashleyjoseph on Instagram. You can connect with me there. If you really wanna email and be super professional, then you can email ashleyj.creativeteam@gmail.com, and that's another way that myself or someone in my team, mostly Holly, will get back to you as well.

Two pieces of advice I would give if you wanna enter [00:57:00] the creative industry, know that the only thing you need to bet on is yourself. I think a lot of people step into the creative industry thinking that they need to have all these things in place and it has to be this, it has to be that. Just bet on yourself.

Just back yourself and, and go and try and see what happens. Um, fail often, fail forward, that's fine. We- we're all failing in different ways. Also, the other thing I would say is step out of your comfort zone a bit. That's something that I would ask people to do. Step out of your comfort zone, and when you enter it, just see how it feels.

Just dip that toe out. Stop sitting in this comfort zone here and, and wanting things to happen for you. What can you make happen? What can you do that can not just impact you, but impact the world? That's what I try and do. Try and think about what you can control rather than what you can't control, and focus on that.

Excellent. Need us say anymore. [00:58:00] You have ended on an excellent note, Ashley. Thank you so much for being with us on the Begin, Build, Blossom family. We've discussed so much about your creative journey, lots of insights about business, partnerships, relationships, and of course, stepping out of that comfort zone.

So we look forward to catching up with you again in some time to see how the app is going, how the podcast is going, and how all your other ventures are going. Yes, please. Thank you so much for having me. Okay, wonderful. Listeners, this has been Begin, Build, Blossom: Your Business Journey, a space for conversations around entrepreneurial and creative journeys.

Don't forget to listen, like, share, and subscribe, and help us build a community. Of course, we also welcome your feedback and perhaps an question for our next guest. Bye for now. A quick note before we wrap up. The insights and experiences shared by our guests are their own. We love [00:59:00] creating space for real conversations about business and growth, and everyone's journey is unique.

Therefore, this podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only. It is not meant to replace legal, financial or other professional advice. So we encourage you to take what's useful, do your own due diligence, and build what works best for you. Thanks for listening to Begin, Build, Blossom: Your Business Journey.

We hope today's conversation gave you the insights and inspiration you need to move forward on your own path. Don't forget to subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. Do you have feedback? We'd love to hear from you at podcast@cmeaccountingllc.com. Join us again next week for a new [01:00:00] episode.