Hey everybody, Matt Major from Clickstream Studios.
Welcome to another edition of Good News York.
This is a fun one. Joining me is this incredibly
handsome gentleman here. My good friend, Devine
Bay, has joined us. And if you're a follower
of any of our other content, you might have seen
he's been a guest on another podcast that we
have here, but we'll talk a little more about
that. Good morning, Devine. How are you, buddy?
Good morning, Matt. How are you? I'm doing great.
I'm doing great. So Devine, we asked you to come
in and just talk a little bit about yourself
and all that, because you're involved in so many
different things and interesting things from
both the business and the community side. And
every time I have a conversation with you, you're
just an incredibly interesting fella. What better
guests to have here on Good News York? If you
wouldn't mind, jump in and just tell folks a
little bit about what it is you do today in your
kind of day -to -day world. Sure. Thank you.
And thank you for having me, Matt. So I do a
few things here locally. My main course is we
run a boutique talent management firm here called
DeCon Consulting Group. Essentially, we help
companies become better at hiring and attracting
people to work in the workforce. Wow. When you
say you help them become better, are you trying
to, I guess, sort of train the companies even
and how to work with culture and things that
help keep talent? Yeah, so we're more on the
acquisition side. Gotcha. So everything from
looking at a company's website to see how they're
positioning themselves in the market, right?
Helping them become better at engaging people
who have peak interest into their companies,
but also helping them become better at attracting
what we refer to as the passive candidates. Meaning
the individuals who aren't necessarily looking
for work, they're doing the work and they're
doing it very well. So positioning themselves
to be in a position to attract that type of talent.
Wow. What, and I'm sure that you encounter a
lot of different things that you might want to
tweak to reach those goals, but is there a very
common thing when you do an engagement with a
company, kind of a first step that almost everybody
needs to take that maybe they haven't already?
Yeah, that's really a great question, Matt. And
what we find oftentimes that companies, when
they reach out and they're engaged and, hey,
we need to fill this particular role. And we
like to kind of take a step back, right? Because
we look at the hiring process as a cycle, right?
The recruiting process actually begins way before
your attractive role. It begins with, you know,
let's take a look at your website. Let's do an
audit, right? What does your company tell people
about your organization? Because ultimately,
the question that an employer must ask is, why
would someone want to come work with the Y? So
we help them develop what we call an employee
value proposition. How easy is it for an individual
to apply for your job on your website? Where
are the career sections buried? Is it buried
deep in your page, or is it right front and center?
So those are some of the things that we look
at at the beginning of the process. That's incredible.
Do you find that You're met with some resistance
on that because I feel like there's a lot of
sort of old school business mentality where it's
like, if I got a job, you should work hard to
find it and get it. You know, it's like I'm doing
you a favor sort of thing to the job seeker.
And I don't know that's necessarily the modern
mindset anymore. Is that accurate? Yeah, I think
that's I think there's some truth in that. And
we do have it's part of the education process
with our clients, you know. there was a time
when you can place an ad in the paper and people
would apply. But we're at a different time now.
And so when we encounter that kind of pushback,
we like to provide our candidates with, our clients
rather, with some real concrete insight into
the market and what's happening in the market.
It's a very competitive, it's always been a competitive
market. It's a hyper competitive market today.
Yeah, I can imagine. Do you work with any particular
industries, Divine, or is it a wide variety of
types of businesses? Yeah. So just by context,
my background is talent management, right? So
I worked in various different verticals over
my career. I've worked in law firms. manufacturing
companies, hybrid. But in terms of our business
today, we have decided, we made a decision that
we really want to focus in areas of growth. And
right now the growth is happening in construction
management, in engineering. Those are the vertical
stack that we focus in. That kind of sounds like
a bunch of Micron jobs. Am I on to anything there
locally? Well, you know, so Micron is not a client
yet. Yeah. But there are so many adjacent companies
to Micron. And there are other organizations
that support the work that they're doing. And
those are the companies that we find that are
having rapid needs for growth and expansion.
Yeah. That's incredible and encouraging, right?
It's great to hear that those jobs are in demand
because they're typically pretty decent wages
and decent jobs, aren't they? For sure, for sure.
And we focus in on more of the mid -management,
senior -level roles. Lots of opportunity there.
Yeah. And there is definitely demand. And what
I would say is that what we're finding is that,
yes, there is a there's definitely local talent,
but there's not a critical mass of local talent
for those particular roles here in Central New
York. Wow, that's interesting. Now, do you work
at all at the other side, like with the candidates,
or are you primarily focused on setting the companies
up? Yeah, great question. So we actually work
with both because we see both as clients. Sure.
We work with the clients, but we also work with
the candidates, right? Helping them understand,
wait, when it's time for you to interview, The
interview process is not the time to be humble.
That's the time to brag. And we coach them on
how to best present their accomplishments. Don't
read the job description to me over in your resume.
Tell me what impact that you had in each role.
That's what's going to sell you. I like that.
That's great advice. That's great advice. Along
those lines, Devine, You know, I think that was
an incredible tip. Are there any other immediate
things that stand out for the job seeker side?
Just a bit of advice that almost everybody kind
of needs to hear from you when you work with
them. Yeah. So I would say don't become frustrated
in the process because it is a process. And as
much as us on the hiring side, hiring authorities,
HR folks, hiring managers, as much as we want
to keep the process objective, hiring remains
a very subjective process. Sure. Your your skills
and qualifications may get you to the table,
but your personality is what's going to get you
to nod. Right. So that's fair. I love that. Great
advice and great advice. Devine, what, if you
don't mind me asking, what brought you to this
particular venture? It sounds like maybe you
kind of worked in that field and then ventured
on your own. Is that how it went? Yeah, so I
was what's five years ago, we're five years old,
and Decon Consulting, and actually started when
I was still in my capacity as head of talent
management for Syracuse. Okay. And I started
out kind of part time doing some side consulting
work. And once I, you know, determined that there
was a critical massive need there, decided to
branch out on my own. That's great. That's great.
I love hearing those stories. What what has been
the biggest challenge of kind of entrepreneurship
going from that full time guaranteed paycheck
to now working on your own? How's that been?
Yeah, you know, so I A few times over the past
few years, I've had an opportunity to talk with
business school students at Whitman and talk
to some of the MBA graduates. And I always start
off by saying, entrepreneurship sucks, right?
It's not for the weak of heart. Business is a
contact sport. And the analogy that I use, Matt,
is when you are looking to start your business,
it's like kind of going on vacation, right? You're
excited about it. It's a lot of enthusiasm around
it. You get on the plane and you're thinking
about the destination, right? Where you see yourselves.
But what we don't anticipate is you have to take
off and at some point you have to go through
some clouds and go through some turbulence. Just
like going through a plane as your business is
going through turbulence. you have to remain
confident because eventually you will break through
the clouds. And that's a process to get there.
I often talk about starting out early on, Peter
to Rob Paul, Pay Paul, something to Rob Peter
and Rob Paul to make things work. But the flexibility,
the ability to get to choose who you want to
work with as a client, all those things are really
important. And what I would say is that um having
um some of the best advice that i received in
starting up was this um choose your business
partners wisely that's phenomenal advice yes
i've learned that lesson the hard way in the
past that's great uh divine you are just absolutely
incredible uh in And so, if you wouldn't mind,
tell us a little bit. You've got a couple of
other things going on around town as well, right?
Yeah, yeah. So, in addition, my wife and I, we're
actually business partners in a different venture.
We own a short -term rental business. And it's
interesting because our initial goal wasn't to
get into the short -term rental business, but
we decided that there was an opportunity in the
market, especially where our property was located.
And the thing that we realized in that Throughout
that process was, um, we couldn't go into that
with a landlord mindset. We had to go into that
business as being a host and hospitality business
because what we are providing is an experience.
We're providing an experience for our customers
who come and to our space. So we want to make
it feel like home. So, um, we were very clear
at the beginning. We know what we don't know.
and we know what we don't know, but we're smart
and we'll figure things out along the way. And
I'm smart enough to know that, you know what,
in order for this space to be optimized, I need
to get out of the way and allow. and let my wife
do what she does best to create that internal
experience. And so that's been really good. In
addition, I own a kitchen cabinet dealership
business as well, and it's called Kitchen Cabinets
Plus. And so we primarily work with a lot of
the local nonprofit community development organizations,
and they're building a lot of the homes throughout
the Central New York area. That's pretty neat.
If you don't mind me asking, How do you get into
the cabinet business on top of these other kind
of different businesses? pure serendipity. We
actually, as we were going through the process
of remodeling the rental property, we gutted
it out and we needed to source various materials,
including the kitchen cabinets. And I was out
of town and I came across this cabinet manufacturer
and he said, hey, you seem like a really personable
guy. We're looking to establish a presence in
the central New York market. Would you be interested
in being a kitchen cabinet dealer? And I'm like,
no, I never really thought about that. But I
gave it some thought and kind of vetted it with
a few people that I know locally. And that's
what landed us into this space. Wow. That's pretty
neat. That's really neat, actually. Devine, I
got to ask you about one other thing. And hopefully
it's not a sore subject. I don't think it is.
You're good friends with our good friend next
door, Arthur, there at Ward's printing. And he
was telling me a story about you and he in your
younger days. Yes. Selling some clothing or something
like that. Right. Can you tell me a little bit
about that? Yes. So Art and I actually met up
when I graduated from LeMoyne College. And we
both worked for the same employer and for a local
insurance company. And so just to put some context
behind that, I mean, so this is 1991. We're in
the middle of a recession. Right. And I was a
new I have a newly formed family, my wife and
a young son. And I was only making twenty thousand
seven hundred dollars. Wow. Right. And there
was no way I would be able to support my family.
Sure. And so. While I was in college at LeMoyne
College, I would always go down to New York City.
I'm from New York City originally. I would go
to New York City. I'd buy a bunch of t -shirts
that were popular at the time. I'd bring them
back and I'd sell them and I'd turn it over.
That led to me getting introduced to someone
in New York City who made custom shirts. He became
my exclusive vendor that I'd buy shirts from.
Eventually he said, hey, you know what? Let me
show you how to do this. rather than coming down
to do it with me. And I was very appreciative
of that. And in the process of him showing us
how to go through the process, I started coming
up with this idea. And we had a couple of ideas,
and I didn't have a lot of money. Art had more
money than I did at that time. And so I had the
idea, he had the money, and we decided to form
this business. And the name of the company was
called Divine Art. Nice. And we would, every
weekend, we'd get our shirts printed here, come
up with our designs. We developed a relationship
with a local printer. And we would go down to
New York City, Philadelphia, all throughout New
York State and sell our products. And one year,
well, one summer, we actually saw one of our
designs on MTV. Really? Yes. That's incredible.
But it was a great experience. I loved the engagement
with the customers and just being able to create
something that people appreciated. So yeah, that
was our start. That's such a neat thing. I just
love hearing those stories of young entrepreneurship
and just hustling and figuring something out
and doing it. That's so cool. Can I add something
to that? Sure. And this is something that I would
say for entrepreneurship. I think it's really
important that at some point, you have to turn
off the noise around you. Even people who care
and love you may not always understand your journey.
So when I started the T -shirt business, as I
mentioned, young family, we weren't making tons
of money, but we were doing okay. But I listened
to the noise around me. Hey When are you gonna
get a real job sure you're gonna do anything
now? Ironically some of the people that we were
on that circuit with they've gone on FUBU Yeah,
they gonna have very various careers and I just
wondered what would have happened had I had we
turned off the noise and Had pursued that where
we would have been with that entity. Yeah particular
to time. That's that's interesting And always
something to think about, because you hear that
all the time. Especially people that don't do
those things will be the first to tell you, oh,
that'll never work. And I think that's phenomenal
advice. You still got some of those divine art
designs anywhere? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. You
fellas should, I don't know. I feel like things
that were popular in the 90s are trendy again.
There might be something there. I don't know.
I'm just saying. Yes, yes. We are discussing
that every week. That's awesome. I love to hear
that. Oh man, Devine, you are, like I said, it's
just incredible and this is why I was so excited
to have this conversation because such phenomenal
advice and experience that you've had. You also
do a little bit of work in the community, right?
That's not even necessarily a business -centered
activity, right? Can you talk a little bit about
that? Sure, sure. So I'm involved in a few different
organizations. I am a board member of ACR Health,
which is a Syracuse based organization here.
I'm a member of an organization called 100 Black
Men, which is a mentorship organization here.
And I also belong to a couple of local fraternities
in the market as well. That's incredible. And
my spouse, my wife is actually, so we're both
foodies. She's actually she teaches she's a faculty
member. She teaches culinary arts. Oh, wow, but
we travel lucky you But no we we are She is in
the process now kind of thinking about how does
she begin to extend that education to underserved
populations? Wow community as well. That's neat
So you mentioned a little bit doing a little
travel what? What are some of the destinations
you like to go to to experience some of this
different food? Yeah, so, you know, we travel
frequently to South America, South America, Panama.
We've been to St. Kitts and Navis. We have been
to various islands. My wife has actually been
across the pond. I haven't been there yet. She's
been to France. She's taken a few courses over
there in Paris. I like, me personally, I love
Caribbean food. I love Mexican food. I love food.
I love food. What's your go -to Caribbean meal?
I would say jerk chicken. I like a little spice.
I love that. That's so cool, man. Traveling the
world, I think, and experiencing. That's something
that so many folks don't do. You go to Europe
and eat at the McDonald's or something. It seems
silly. But just having those experiences. Because
food is so tied to culture as well. You kind
of get the history lesson along with the taste.
It's a really good point. Growing up in New York
City, I grew up in Harlem. And during the time
when I grew up in Harlem in the early 80s, there
was an influx of immigrants coming from Western
Africa into Harlem. So what happened was I got
exposed to some of the cuisine. What I started
to realize was that the universal nature of cuisine.
So there's a real popular dish in Nigerian Senegalese
culture called jollof rice, which is basically
a tomato -based rice. My maternal side of the
family are from Charleston, South Carolina, Gullah
Islands. I grew up eating a dish called red rice,
which is a tomato -based rice. And once you begin
to understand the history of the trans -Atlantic
slave trade, Jollof rice became peas and rice
became red rice became jambalaya and you see
that the continuity in a connection with food
conversely Being in the recruiting space you
meet people from various walks of life and what
I have found is that food is a way for me to
When I understand where people are from I know
some of the foods from those areas and that allows
the relationship to form Yeah, and it's a great
a way to kind of experience different cultures.
But traveling really just opens up your aperture.
And what you realize, what I realized in my travels
is that people are people wherever you go. There
are prototypes, they may speak different languages,
they may dress differently, but people are people
kind of wherever you go. And it's really phenomenal
just opening up the aperture and traveling and
seeing the world and experiencing, and getting
different perspectives in the world as well.
That's absolutely incredible. Great that you
can do that and experience that. And it sounds
like you've got an incredibly talented wife who
can even recreate some of those things when you
get back home too, right? That's the part that
I couldn't do. Oh man, this tastes great. I could
never do it again. So I have to travel. That's
great, man. And locally Syracuse has an emerging
food scene that's emerging, that's growing. And
I'm really happy to see that. You know, there's
so much new variety that's coming into town and
I think that's going to be good for our local
folks here locally. A hundred percent. Having
those options. You know, when I was a kid, I
grew up in a tiny small town and your options
were Italian or Chinese. That was as cultural
as we got, unfortunately. But even a lot of these
small towns and things are evolving. And you're
seeing all kinds of different and new foods.
And I love, I love seeing that. My wife is from
Queens. And, you know, first time I'm very, yeah,
the first time I visited her family, we're getting
all kinds of different things that like This
is what you guys need on a regular basis. I don't
I don't know that my parents have ever even had
these things. You know, so it's it's great to
see. Nice to know there's more options, you know.
Divine, I don't want to take up too much more
of your time and let you get back to the massive
list of things that we just talked about that
you got going on. But we should take a minute
and just tell folks where they can find more
information about this. So you got some some
websites, some social media, things like that
that we should share. Sure, sure, absolutely.
For the HR consulting, that website is Decon
Consulting Group. Or actually, the website is
Decon Group, D -K -O -N group .com. Gotcha. For
the kitchen business, that's kitchencabinets
.plus. kitchencabinets .plus. And feel free to
reach out to me on LinkedIn, Divine Bay, D -A
-V -I -N -E -B -E -Y, and I'm on LinkedIn. That's
awesome. And the last thing I'll say, Devine,
is who would you like to hear from most? So in
all these conversations, are you very much looking
for candidates for particular things? Are you
looking for more organizations that want to place
candidates? You're looking for homeowners with
kitchens? You know, what's the, just the folks
to know who should contact? Yes. From an HR standpoint,
we're really looking at, I'd love to hear from
local employers. who are having a difficult time
filling critical roles. I'd also love to hear
from local talent, specifically folks who may
be in the construction fields, project managers,
superintendents, and engineers. From the kitchen
cabinet standpoint, local developers who are
looking to build multi -unit properties would
be ideal for that as well. Gotcha. That's awesome.
Divine Bay. We could talk for days and we definitely
will. So as you know, we're massively expanding.
These are a couple of the last few episodes we'll
actually be doing from this facility. So we'll
definitely have you in for our grand opening
and then have you back on Good News York on a
regular basis as well. So anytime you got something
new or interesting or just in general, you want
to talk some more, we'll have you back anytime,
my friends. This has been great. Thank you so
much, Matt. Appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely.
That was an incredibly jam -packed interview.
I really appreciate Divine for joining us. Tomorrow's
Micron Day. Yes. We are groundbreaking. The Good
News York team will be there covering it all.
I don't want to promise live in case Verizon
goes out, but we will be covering it all in great
detail and very excited to see that project kick
off and celebrate all the great things that are
happening here in New York State. So with that...
Check out our friends at ads on the go. Get ads
on the go .com. Our buddy Zach will be more than
happy to hear from you. Peace out. Hello and
welcome to good news York sponsored by ads on
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Mike Brindisi You can follow me on all socials
at Mike B TV and you can follow us at good news
York good news York calm I've already spoke to
my special guest for probably a good half an
hour before we even got on the air We should
have just mic'd that as our interview. This is
a very special guest An L .A.-based actor and
voiceover artist with over a decade of experience
working with top networks, producers, and recording
studios in the industry, including Disney, Hulu,
FX, Nickelodeon, E! Entertainment, Sundance TV,
PBS Kids, Crest, Hershey's, Rockstar Games, and
more, a native New Yorker from Syracuse, New
York, give it up for Jamie Sarah Lewis. And thank
you for clapping. I'm going to clap for myself.
You should. Why not? Because I do this, so whenever
we have a guest, I like to, you know, yay. and
it sounds so sad because it's one clap so I think
maybe if the guests start clapping for themselves
it'll feel like we need to do yeah we need more
of a smattering of applause you know what I mean
it's like a pat on the back absolutely Jamie
I want to get right into it um just such an impressive
resume and career um I want to get into your
background and I know it's pretty extensive you
have done work uh as an actor but also uh as
a voice actor some acting classes, which we're
going to get into. kind of started for you. Yeah,
you know, gosh, I feel like it's so there's so
much right there is I know, I was 16 when I started
interning in radio in Syracuse, New York. And
you know, I started off by doing like food runs
and things like that board hopping Howard Stern
show. And I came across this wonderful voiceover
artist who still is like the voice God his name
is Howard Parker. And he was doing production
and radio. And he got me in front of a mic. And
he's like, why don't we just play with your voice
a little bit. And it's something that I never
even thought about doing. But I started doing
voiceovers for different companies. He got me
my first one. And I just watched him and trained
with him. And then I became a DJ. And I did a
lot of local theater here. And then I was just
like, all right, acting is... Was in my bones,
you know, I had the bug so I was like, alright,
let me go to New York City Let me go to New York
City, which I did without knowing What the heck
did you you know, I don't come from an entertainment
background. So I had absolutely no roadmap It
was like, when I think about it now, I'm like,
wow. People don't understand that before Google,
there was really no roadmap. And a lot of actors
and people in the entertainment industry would
have to just kind of create their own map. You
know, there's no set way to do it. There isn't.
And even also to know how to audition and to
prepare for an audition and knowing that you
you have the fearlessness, you love performing,
but it's like, OK, how do I walk in the room
and how do I get rid of the nerves and how do
I prepare to, you know, stand out and also have
the confidence of knowing who you are and what
you can bring to the table? But. I found my way.
I went to conservatory, which is it's a it's
a two year, very strict acting school in New
York. And when I left conservatory, I started
auditioning for film and television and theater.
And I played with all the things. And then. I
think you and I were talking about this beforehand.
I really resisted voice work because I was like,
oh, I'm going to do more on camera stuff. I want
to play around and whatever. But I just kept
booking voice work. And then I feel very lucky
in what I do. But I'm telling you right now,
so much training, so much training. I paid so
much money for it. Lots of training in New York
in LA, but yeah. Yeah, I It's really impressive
that you know, you you're not only doing the
acting, you know on on camera But with the voiceover
work and you know people don't understand you
hear training and some people might go Well,
you know, you turn the mic on. You just do a
different voice. There's so much more to that,
isn't there? There is so many elements to voice
acting. When somebody gets a microphone in their
face, they tend to just start announcing. They
feel like they got to talk like this. And it's
actually the exact opposite, especially right
now. The trends are so very natural. When you
think about the TikToks and the influencers that
are out there, everything's kind of like... Hey,
guys, it's me in front of whatever they're doing.
There's mic technique. There's certain distances
you have to keep from a mic. There are levels
that you play with on your audio mixing board.
But yes, the bones are acting. And I always say
a microphone is like a camera. It picks everything
up. And with acting, for the camera, everything
is behind the eyes. And if you need to have those
thoughts and you you need to feel those thoughts
in order for it to really, to hit its target.
Same thing with microphones. The roots are acting
and being completely believable. And when I'm,
I train a lot of people, I coach people globally
all over the world about acting, but also particularly
in voice acting. And I always say, it's like,
We know when you're reading and we know when
you're actually living in the moment truthfully.
A hundred percent. I remember, you know, in some
of the acting experience I have, I remember hearing
the term like, you know, we want to be able to
smile with your eyes. And I always thought that
was BS until I had to try to smile with my eyes.
Smiles. Yeah. And that's a good example of like
the kind of Things you learn in training and
why it's so so important and you are doing some
acting classes again We will get into that. Do
you find we were talking about how you know as
a performer? People don't understand that when
you're not performing it just it it is excruciating
and it's not because you need to hear good job
it's because it's it's you just you want to Perform
you want to get you do and so Do you find that
it does it scratch the same itch? Does the voiceover
work scratch the same itch that that did you
have for for on -camera acting work? That's a
really good question. Yes, it does. And no, it
depends on the character and who you're doing.
You know, there's a lot of work that I do that
is just very straightforward corporate self medical
stuff that's just that, you know, they're looking
for a voice to, you know, captivate and whatever.
But then when I do a different character, when
I do animation, I mean, that's what feeds me.
I love being on stage. Yeah. I think that that
actually gives you the adrenaline that nothing
else does. I agree. I don't know why. And it's
not even like what you were saying, like it's
not because all eyes are on me. It's just maybe
it's more of a connection thing, connecting.
You know how like when you, I mean, I work out
a lot. So it's like when I'm at the gym or I'm
in a yoga class, like I want to be with people.
Like I don't want to work out alone. I want to
work out with people. It's the connection. You
know, that's such a great perspective. Personally,
I think what it is is in, when you do radio or
voiceover work or you do film, there's not that
immediate feedback or that immediate connection.
You gotta wait till the film premieres or maybe
someone stops you and says, hey, I was listening
to that show or I heard your voice. When you're
live or just in front of a crowd. You get to
see and feel that connection that you make with
people, whether you're making them laugh, whether
you're making them cry. And I think, I mean,
I could be wrong, but that's... No, you're absolutely
right. And you've been on stage, so you know.
Yeah. I will say a quick little story. Please.
When I was working in local radio here, I worked
for a rock station. And I mean, 90s rock was...
Yes. It's still my juice. You want to do a whole
episode on that? We can. Yeah, we can. Well,
you know the band live. Of course I do. I just
saw them. Me too. My buddy was their touring
drummer for a little bit, so I got to go backstage
and meet them, actually. They're phenomenal.
They're really cool, and this is kind of part
of my story. So I was working in radio, and at
the time, it was probably the late 90s, early
2000s. And I got to go backstage and meet the
band, and I remember I was talking to Chad Gracie,
who I... because there was their drummer. But
I was like, hey, do you guys have any like front
row tickets? Because I didn't have any front
rows. I was kind of the back is one of those
things. And he's like, why don't you just hang
out on stage while we perform side stage? So
I hung out side stage while they performed. And,
you know, I've done a lot of theater, but there
is nothing like feeling that energy with those
guys feel every single day. It was like one of
those moments. I was like, wow. These rock stars
feel that energy and it's also all that love
like they're fans, right? So I mean There's a
small percentage of people like obviously like
the Taylor Swift's and all those other people
Sure that feel that love and energy. It's incredible.
I I don't even and like like you were saying
it's not a validation It's not that we need attention.
It's just like an energy Yes, it's it's an energy
and it's like it sounds so corny, but it's because
you're all in one room, experiencing one thing
together. And when you're up there with your
band, you're experiencing it as a band. But even
as a fan, it's just like, you're all together
on one night, singing these songs. And it's just,
especially nowadays I have more of an appreciation
for that because we've moved away from in -person
more and everything's on these things, you know?
So it's so special. Do you have a preference
over, do you find that now, I know you like to
follow the work, we talked about that, which
I love, but do you find that you enjoy the camera
work, a film work more than voiceover, or is
it kind of a watch, you like both? I like both,
I mean, well, I love obviously my voiceover work,
right? I would never like poo on that stuff,
because I love it, but the thing, the main...
reason that I got what we were just talking about
connection got into acting is because I do love
connecting with another actor right there it
is being in the moment I said there's this whole
set you know living truthfully in the moment
which I talked about before yeah under imaginary
circumstances so right so you're doing a scene
and you're connecting with another actor and
you guys are playing the scene there is nothing
more special than actually being in the room
with another actor and That's how I feel about
even these acting classes. Like I teach virtually
a lot, but I love connecting with humans. I love
connecting with people. So I do think that being
on stage and being on film or television is a
special thing because, and you know, acting too,
the big thing about acting is, you know, I tell
this to a lot of the people that I teach, you
know, it's not just spewing out your lines. It's
actually becoming a really good listener. You
know, if you were and I are doing a scene and
you said something, I'm watching and listening
and reacting to you. You know, it's not me knowing
my lines and how I'm gonna say it. No, I actually
shouldn't know how I'm going to say it. I should
know how I'm feeling, but listening to you and
then reacting, whatever, you know. It's funny
you say that. That's something I learned along
the way too is that took an acting class when
I went back to college and I had already had
some some acting experience professionally, but
obviously doesn't matter how much experience
you have you can always learn and So on the first
day the professor was like so like what he wanted
to go around and ask what each actor? What they
wanted to get out of the class and I kind of
said that same thing which is I want to learn
What to do when I'm not speaking I want to learn
I want to learn how to create space between lines
and how to react better. There's just something
to be said about listening and not. Yeah. You
know, speaking and there's just a lot to learn.
There is a lot to learn. And that's part of like,
you know, I do a lot of one on one coaching,
especially for a lot of kids in the area who
are looking to book their their high school plays.
Right. And they they come in and they do the
monologue for me. And I always create a very
safe environment for them, supportive and safe.
But I talk about. Before you know what to do,
what I like to do is choreograph the monologue
a little bit for them to help them get into their
bodies. Because say that you're right now listening
to me, you're not thinking about how you're reacting,
right? You're just kind of having a neutral face.
Now I'm putting it on you. Well, not now. Now
I'm thinking about how I look. Well, like, I,
you know, I listened to the podcast, Smartless,
and not that I should talk about another podcast
because this one's fantastic. Oh, yeah, sure.
Not that we should compare. But Jason Bateman
was talking about how important it is as an actor
to have a very neutral face. Yeah. And I think
that that actually when he said that, I was like,
wow, that speaks volumes to me. Because, you
know, just in life, when you're listening to
somebody, you're not going. Right, that's exactly
what I meant contrived right that that was part
of what I meant It wasn't the whole idea, but
when I said to the professor, that's what I meant.
Like yeah, I don't want to learn I mean, I do
want to learn how to become a better actor overall
But I'm more interested in what what to do when
I'm not speaking how I'm reacting What are my
hands doing but also like having silence like
it's okay to for there to be a pause, you know,
artistic. Did you train under Meisner? Do you
know what that is? I do. I the Meisner theory
or technique. Yeah. So a lot of the really cool
that, you know, I'd love to get into with my
students is down the road to it's, you know,
I'm doing this intro to kind of acting, but this
is something a little bit more down the road
with them. But Meisner technique is when you
bring in an activity. So say you had like I'm
just throwing something out there. Say you had
like a wooden model airplane or something. Right.
Yeah. And you come in and we're going to be doing
a scene and the other person is just kind of
doing the airplane, putting it together. And
you guys are working together to see, because
you're putting the energy into something else,
right? So the only problem with, so that helps
you when you're on set doing things like that.
But during an audition, they usually don't allow
you to have props. Right. But that helps as well.
Look, I love device. You know what? I did do
the Meisner technique because in that class,
one of the things we did is, it was a little
while ago, but basically we were given wrapping
paper and an object. Yeah. And I forget, I think
he gave you, the professor gave you a backstory
on what the situation was. Like you just lost
your job and you're wrapping a gift and you had
something like that. And you basically had to
convey. All of what happened that backstory without
speaking and while you're wrapping the gift and
and I was like well This is what I asked for
and it was Hard. Yes, it's hard. It was really
hard. And you really have to have real thoughts.
Yes. You really have to have real thoughts about
what you're you're feeling in the moment or what
you're I always say, like an opinion. It's it's
an intention and it's an opinion. If you have
an opinion, I don't care what it is. It's going
to transcend like it's you're going to, you know,
a lot of the times with with my kids, when I
work with them and like trying to memorize their
monologues, I have them do it in gibberish. Yeah,
like a feeling so. It's like, say if they come
in and they're talking, but if they're like,
huh, hmm, hi, hee hee hee. I have them do that
so they know where the feeling is. I like that.
And then they can add into, add their words.
Yeah. What word am I trying to find here? Add
their script. Let me ask you this. I didn't plan
on asking this, but I... I've always wondered
this with other actors is so you you hear about
method acting pretty much everyone under the
Sun knows what that is and we think of the extreme
cases like there was a whole documentary on Jim
Carrey when he played Andy Kaufman which was
Absolutely phenomenal performance. Yeah, me too.
And you know, that was a very extreme case. Have
you encountered other, I don't know, do you use
the method technique and have you encountered
others that do? And do you find that it can cross
the line and be obnoxious or do you completely
like totally respect it? Yeah, I know I just
threw a lot. No, no you didn't because here's
the thing is I absolutely respect it I don't
think that I've come across anybody in particular
like a Daniel Day Lewis or something. You're
not gonna work together yet I absolutely will
respect that. No, I do I use the method acting,
you know what? So Uta Hagen who is a famous acting
coach Created the coined the phrase sense memory,
right? So here's the thing is that I think I've
been doing this long enough now, where if I have
to get into the feeling, I do activate it because
I have been doing it for so long. So I guess
that can be considered. It's like muscle memory.
Yeah. So like if I had to cry for a character,
which, you know, I do a lot of video games, there's
times where I'm crying and like I'm in my studio
really crying. Do I snap out of it? Absolutely.
It's like right out of it. But I don't have to
try to do it because I remember that feeling
of that emotion. And here's part of the acting
training that I went to. It's like, it really
helps you bring everything to the surface, right?
Like your feelings are right there whenever you
need it. And I do remember, I do have to kind
of touch on this real quick because when I was
in my method acting, or I'm sorry, my Meisner
technique training, I had this amazing teacher.
and Pam, Pam Karaman, and she... Hi, Pam. Hi,
Pam. I was kind of a little shit, you know, going
in there, and I was like, oh, he's been kind
of this tough kid, right? So I was going in here,
not really having much training, and I, you know,
we're acting, and I'm kind of holding my guard
up, like, you're not gonna get, you know, whatever,
and we're kind of doing the Meisner technique,
and she starts yelling at me, and you little
shit, you da -da -da -da -da, like that, and...
Boom. It worked. Crying. And I walked out of
there being like, wow, she was so mean to me.
Like she hates me, blah, blah, blah. And it took
me years down the road being like, no, she broke.
That's what she was trying to do. She was trying
to break me She was trying to penetrate me to
know that I needed to react I needed to let that
other the other actor in and it changed my life
Wow It was like it was like it was like it was
like acting boot camp I'm gonna strip you down
and rebuild you we were in a black room for hours
and hours and hours during the week You know
the closet everything was black the floor the
ceiling is black. The walls are black The floor
is black every you step into the black room and
it's yeah conservatory training is is It's intense.
It's intense. Yeah. Real quick. You know, for
the most part, especially nowadays with social
media, we kind of have an idea of what it's like
for a film or television actor on set. But we
don't really know too much other than, you know,
you're in an isolation booth for voiceover work.
But those can be extremely long sessions or extremely
quick sessions. Can you take us through like
kind of what what the process is like and what
is your favorite and least favorite part of those
sessions? You know, here's a with voice or without
voice with voice stuff, you know, sometimes when
you look for video games and stuff like that,
the efforts are hard. Yeah. Voice, you got to
be careful. You use your voice. There's certain
things that I won't even do anymore. You know,
like I'm not going to get eaten by a bear and
react. Right. Because it's like, you know, like
that hurts my voice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know.
The voice acting isn't as long as the film acting
because a lot of times like they're changing
the set, they're changing the lighting. There's
a lot of waiting around. But then again, that's
the time that you get to connect with other actors,
which is cool. So those can be long and tedious.
I mean, a lot of these actors that are on set
are like filming, you know, for long, long, long
hours. You know, I do long sessions with voiceovers,
but they tend to be about two to four hours.
You know, four hours is kind of my max of what
I will go at. It depends, but that's usually
because it is a lot. You know, it depends on
what you're doing. You know, a lot of the times,
you know, I'm union, so there's there's also
different, you know, regulations that they have
to withhold. I'm saying after so like with the
snitches, you know, this is a 45 minute special.
I worked on that for like a year and a half.
Wow. You know, so there's, it's, it's a, I mean,
in these video games, um, there's things that
I'm working on that probably won't come up for
years. I mean, Wildwood. Yes. I want to talk
about that. I started working on that in 2000.
23 or something. Really? Yeah. Let's talk about
Wildwood. Yeah. What is Wildwood? And what can
we expect? What's it all about? Yeah, so Wildwood
is a trilogy. It's being produced by Laker Studios.
They did Coraline, ParaNorman. And I got to work
with Travis Knight, who is Phil Knight's son.
Phil Knight's the guy who created and Travis
also does claymation and he actually is such
a nice and humble guy and super creative and
very talented. I was supposed to go in studio
to film that and something happened that I wasn't
able to go and I was able to record it from my
studio and they filmed me over zoom and they're
turning me into a character from what they filmed.
And you know, I actually that was a very special
booking for me because they went through like
three rounds of auditions trying to find the
right voice trying to find the right voice and
on the and I'm not talking callbacks like rounds.
So, and they booked me. And at the time I wasn't
able to go in the studio and I almost turned
it down. And there was also an NDA. So it was
like, I couldn't, they couldn't really tell me
what it was. But I remember my agents just being
like, you really don't want to turn this one
down. And I didn't. And it was a really cool
experience. And my character is, you know, it's
a small character. It's not a huge role by any
means, you know, but it's to be a part of it
and to be able to work with such creative, talented
people. That was really great. Do you know when
it's going to be out? No, I don't. What the hell?
Yeah, hopefully this year. It was supposed to
be out last year, but this is stop motion feature.
So this is claymation and every little move and
every little, you know, I mean, I don't really
know what goes on to the inside of because you
know, I'm not a part of that part of sure the
production but But I can imagine it takes a really
long time to make I mean, I mentioned yeah, I
took years and years pair Norman. Yeah Yeah,
that could go in the strings. Yeah, that's another
one that they did couple more questions And then
we'll get into the meat of it one time what the
acting classes you're doing You know back to
the voice of a real quick For the most part and
when we talked about this There's really no clear
-cut path for actors on on how to do it and what
to do But there's kind of some things that you
know that you should do, like try to get an agent.
But with voiceover, again, that's a little more
up in the air. What kind of advice would you
give to young actors that... specifically want
to do voice, what's a good first couple steps?
Yeah, and there are a lot of different, there's
a lot of information out there. And, you know,
I'm a part of this amazing platform called Skills
Hub. It's run by Jennifer Hale, who is a legend
in the voiceover world. I think she holds the
Guinness World Records for voicing the most video
games. Wow. And she not only that, she's like
a she's a super cool human. So Skills Hub, it's
it's acting dot skills hub dot life is where
you want to go to. And I coach on this platform.
The great thing about this platform is it's for
people that want to get started in voiceover
and had no idea where to start. So there's, there's
paths, there's many different coaches to work
with. I mean, I work with so many different clients,
but I'm also like, I always say like, you know,
don't just work with me, work with others. You're
going to learn. It's just like for me, like taking
a yoga class. Like I, I take many different yoga
classes with different instructors and you learn
so much, but same thing with, with voice acting.
And we talked about this before. It's like, follow
the work. People tend to make demos too quickly.
And then that demo is their resume. So that's
their representation, right? So say if I have
my demos, which it costs quite a bit of money
to get a demo made. But say I was doing my commercial
demo, where it's I'm doing all national commercials.
Like say I'm doing like Crest, Imes, Hershey's.
It's like whatever. those demos are going to
cost some money. And then I start sending these
demos out to agents or to, you know, casting
directors. And if it's not a good representation,
and if you don't know what you're doing, you're
just going to get a bad name in the industry.
So training, training, training. And the problem
with training is it does cost money and people
are on a budget. And I totally get that. The
great thing about skills hub is you become a
member for I think it's like $22 a month. And
there's a lot of free different assets that there's
these rooms that you can enter called workout
rooms and then different coaches will host them.
There's a lot of really well -known voice actors,
very successful actors that are a part of that.
There's this one coach that he just creatures.
I'm telling you guys, if you have not looked
up... like voice actors that just do creature
voices, it is unbelievable. Yeah. That's something
that, I mean, I can make things happen, but my
God, that's a talent. I do remember the footage.
I guess this isn't really voice, but I do remember,
what is it, Smeagol from Lord of the Rings. There
was a lot of footage of him doing it, and the
voice, and the... Yeah, and it was just like,
this is mind blowing. I mean, it really is a
performance. It is. So clearly, especially in
the last 10 years, the world is changing rapidly.
And so are the industries, music business, the
entertainment business, acting. From your perspective,
what is the biggest change? If you go back to
when you started acting, what do you think the
biggest change in the industry has been that
you've noticed or experienced? Yeah, I've been
through some changes. I'll tell you that right
now. I mean, when I first... got into acting,
you know, you go and get your headshots and then
you go get them printed. You get like 500 of
them printed or you go and you get your demo.
And then I remember going to this this place
in New York City and just printing my demo and
getting them. What do you call them? Printed?
If you couldn't print it on CD? Sure, yeah. Whatever.
I don't even know anymore. What do they call?
So, and I'm, you know, putting my package in
the Manila envelope. It's my resume and the back
and the stapling on the back of my thing and
then sending them out and hopefully it makes
to the casting director or an agent. And now
everything is done digitally, right? So everything
is like send an MP3 or send a JPEG or whatever.
You know, upload your submission on this website,
you know, to different. casting directors, you
know, the things that and taking classes virtually,
that's different. But, you know, I when I first
started in this business, I auditioned by going
as I started off in New York City. So I rode
the subway and went to an audition. I had like
a 230. Then I'd have like a 310. It finished
with that audition. Go to the next audition.
Always say if you're running, if you're running
late, I came from another audition. That's what
it's like. Boom, boom, boom. That's a good one.
Yeah. You use it every time, every time. So you're
going all around and now when I audition I audition
alone So self -direction is something is an art
that you have to learn now So it used to be I
get in front of a casting director and they would
guide me through it direct me and so now it's
all self -direction So it's like, okay I'm gonna
try this one way and I have to do it that my
second take a different way and am I even Capturing
what they're looking for and I always say to
people it's like, you know You need to tell you
need to show them what they're looking for rather
than questioning. What are they looking for?
for, but that is a giant change. Also streaming.
Streaming has changed the industry. And that's
one of the reasons why we went on strike. We
went on strike because we weren't getting paid.
We were getting paid for prime time and national
networks. Same thing with video games, but video
games are heading in a really good direction
as long as they keep the AI clauses within. I
worked hard to become union, and I'm union. Good
for you. That's a big deal. That's a big deal
in an acting world. Yeah. It's a special day.
I'm SAG eligible, but I never, because I'm not...
you know, acting primarily, you know, it wasn't
worth it. But I remember just being SAG -eligible
after being in a film was like, what? Yeah, you
can start. I mean, look at Harrison Ford. I'm
SAG -eligible. Is Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman?
A lot of these guys started off. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. Absolutely. I'm not saying that you're
old. No, no, no. I mean, I'm no spring chicken.
So now you are based in Syracuse now. I mean,
you still work all over the country, but you
are here. Originally from here? I am. Yeah. I
was born and raised here. And I was born in Syracuse.
Yep. Yes. But the main reason you're here, other
than your amazing resume and everything we're
talking about, you are offering acting courses.
Let's talk about it. Yeah. Where, when, why,
all of it. So I'm offering them acting courses.
And this is something that it's just the jump
off, because I would love to do this for adults
as well, because I actually do teach a lot of
adults virtually. But I taught a class for a
homeschooling community not too long ago. I taught
them an animation course and I brought the microphone
in and we had some fun with all these different
characters. But a lot of it, we did a lot of
warmups and improv and things like that. I'm
just a natural teacher. I've always been like
that. I'm a little bit more maternal. I have
a very positive outlook. And I wanted to start
teaching these acting courses also because growing
up here, like when I was touched on a little
earlier, I don't come from an entertainment industry
and my parents just didn't know what to do, right?
And don't begrudge them for that by any means,
but I would have loved to have taken classes
to just learn how to say I have to get a monologue
to perform to audition for a high school play.
You're just going to go in there and do the best
you can. But if I give you a roadmap and help
you navigate that and use your use what you have.
And I always say like every kid or actor brings
in something different. Let's use those differences
to be our best assets. Right. And celebrate that.
You know, you're not you're not going to portray
a character the same way that like Joe is or
that Emma is. And I really want to help young
performers feel confident going in and auditioning.
And even if you don't get the part, you walk
to you can walk away knowing that look like I
did the best I could. And here's the thing, too,
is that not getting the part doesn't mean that
you did a bad job. It's the dynamic of how they
want the production to work. It took me a long
time to realize that, you know, you do take it
personal and you realize you've got to remember.
And when I started writing my own scripts, I
realized it's a lot of times they have an idea
in their head of who this character is. And it
could be a little thing it might be you know
you just don't have the the same the gruff look
they're looking for or you were just picturing
something different for a long time I thought
I I made a mistake it's like no no you didn't
make a mistake as long as you prepared but and
you know what and we're sensitive guys we're
happy yes very way we feel So I, you know, and
that's something that comes with time as well.
I mean, I just touched on this the other day.
I lose way more than I win. And it just becomes
part of the game. And you don't hold on, you
don't make any of these jobs too precious and
you continue to follow the work. And the thing
is, is that in acting classes, everyone gets
to be the main role. Absolutely. Absolutely.
And everything I've ever learned, and it's cliche
because you hear it now on social media, but
it's like everything I've ever learned has been
from losing or failing, not from when I succeeded.
I mean, you learn from things when you succeed
too, but that's where the... That's where it's
at. That's where it's at. So these acting courses,
what can somebody expect coming into the course?
What kind of things are you doing? So I'm doing,
I didn't mention this before, but I'm doing these
classes in Camillus. But I might be bringing
them to other areas like Fayetteville and things
like that. Because here's the thing, too, is
that I'm a mom. So I get it. My daughter's in
a lot of different activities. And if you have
tons of kids, it's like, oh, I've got to take
this kid, this kid. So I'm hoping to do these
classes seasonally. maybe do a summer camp too.
But what to expect for these classes. So these
classes are set up for beginners, people that
have done moderate theater or any type of performance,
and people who actually have a lot of experience.
It fits all different types of levels because
we are digging in to improv. We're gonna dig
into comedic timing, which is the best, right?
You know that. We're gonna learn how to prepare
a monologue, do a little scene study, you know?
And a lot of, with my kids, You know, this is
all play based, so. But I also want to give them,
like I said, a road map so it is set up for anyone
can come into my class at any level and still
have a great experience and still walk away learning
so much, you know. It's set up for everybody.
Between the ages of 8 to 17, I do want to do
adult classes and if I get enough interest, I
100 % will hold them. Take this for what it's
worth, but in the classes I've taken or the training
I've done, there's times when you're scared going
into these things because you don't know what
to expect. You know, in this business, you're
going to find a lot of people who are like, do
you know who I am? And I just want to tell you,
you are the furthest thing from that. And you're
very, very comfortable to talk to. So I think
that's a really huge character to have, especially
when you're training people and teaching. Yeah,
because here's the thing, too, is that for these
kids, like I said, we're all sensitive, right?
So I'm definitely one of those people, too. So
for these kids, my goal is when they come into
this class, I want them to experience a connection
and a bond with each other. in the room and let
them know that this is a safe space to explore.
This is a safe space to play. There's absolutely
no judging yourself. or each other's choices.
They're just making choices. And here's the thing,
too, is that I always tell the people that I
train, this is a collaborative effort. I'm just
here to guide you and to direct you into finding
your own imagination and creativity. One of the
things I learned late in life with some acting
training, someone said something to me that I
never thought of. And they were like, it was
in regards to speaking publicly or performing
live. And they said, Nobody wants nobody in the
audience is is waiting for you to screw up or
if you do screw up. They're like They're actually
just as uncomfortable as you are everybody in
that audience is rooting for you and I just This
is years after I'd been performing live and I
was I never thought of it that because you hear
like just picture everybody in their underwear
and I'm like that doesn't work in fact, that's
gross, you know, but but for me, I just thought
wow, what a You know, what a concept. Nobody
wants you to screw up. So you saying, hey, take
chances. Everybody here is on the same team.
That goes a long way. It does go a long way.
And I heard that before too. And I was just telling
a young girl that I was coaching the other day.
And I said to her, you know, when you walk in
the room, you say your name, there's the casting
director or the panel of people. And I was like,
she wants you to win. She wants you to do well.
Don't think that she's judging you, right? And
then also it's like, don't ever look at them
in the eye. Look at them like up here or over
here. And that's something that I was taught
too. There is something that I think takes time
to get, right? So say if you're, and I was just
talking about this actually with Jennifer Hale,
the woman that owns that company that I was talking
about. It's like when I'm performing, I am very,
very much, if I have to be it by myself, I'm
very within. So it's like I could be on stage
and there could be thousands of people there,
but I'm very focused and very within. And I think
that takes time to learn. There's a way to connect
to the, I know what you mean, like there's a
way to still connect with the audience while
still kind of being in your bubble and kind of
closing it off. Is that kind of? Yeah, it is.
I mean, like you were saying that you did stand
up. Yeah. God, that is such a connective performance.
You ain't kidding. And you're like trying to,
like, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of improv
that goes with that. Oh, yes. And things that
are off the cuff and there's things that happen
that you don't expect. And that's what makes
it all fun and exciting. But you still have your
routine. You still got your thing that you're
going to. And you have to make it sound like
it's off the cuff. You do, and the one thing
in stand -up is it's like, it's fun and it's
actually encouraged to go down a road off the
cuff, but you have to have enough experience
and be good enough to be able to do that and
then zip right back to where you were. You know,
that's a challenge. Yeah, just like, where was
I? Where was I? Anyway, before I want to do one
last thing, but where can people go for these
these acting classes? So you can go to my website.
It's my name, Jamie Sarah Lewis dot com slash
classes or just go to my website, Jamie Sarah
Lewis dot com. And then you can find find my
classes in the menu. So you can find my work
there, too. Awesome. I've been seeing it in some
fancy pictures. Wildly, wildly impressive. All
right. Rapid fire questions. How do you feel
about that? I feel great about it. I feel great
about it. OK. Here we go. Question one. Favorite
character you've played or voiced. Oh, man, I
get this all the time. Oh, I gave you a hack
question. Dammit. Favorite character that I've,
you know, probably. I don't know. I really don't
know. That's so hard. You know what? We can skip
it. Can we skip it and come back? We can skip
it. Geez, I have so many. Pass. It was a hat
question anyway. Here's another hat question.
Dream director to work with. Oh, Paul Thomas
Anderson. Wow, that was really rapid fire. Dream
actor to play opposite. I mean, Daniel Day -Lewis.
I knew that was coming. Is that really gonna
happen? That's everybody's, I think. Favorite
performance by an actor in a movie. That's another
tough one. It is so tough because I'm going to
say something and I'm like, why didn't I say
something else? You're going to watch this and
then you're going to go, why did I say that one?
Man, you know, damn it. I did a bad job. I'm
asking complex questions and putting them in
a rapid fire. I'm like, tell me about your life
in five seconds. Maybe you know who I love. Breaking
Bad, Gia Caralato, the guy who plays the cartel.
What's his name? Giancarlo Esposito. Danny Tripodi.
I'm going to tell you real quick why I love him
so much. And I talk about like being in control
and a level of chaos. So my husband's a scientist
and we talk about he was talking about chaos
one day and like the greatest level of chaos
is like is like something that's loud and crazy
and blah blah blah blah. But something that is
completely contained in control. He played that
cartel like the most power like when you're playing
a high status. You are powerful. Yeah. That's
probably my favorite show of all time. It's incredible.
It's a good one. I really like that role, but
I'm sure there's a lot of others. All right.
I know, again, here we go. L .A. or New York
City? Oh God, I love both. But I think for now,
at this point in my life, I'm a big fan of the
LA. Okay. I just like the sunshine. Listen. I
like the vibes there. People are cool. But listen,
you throw me in New York and I'll own that shit.
Heck yeah. I love it. Of course you will. All
right, last one. Biggest pet peeve when you're
working on set. Mean people. Well, yeah, you
know people that just act like you were talking
about the act like they're bigger and better
and trying to Show off and out act each other
like I'll tell you in auditions This happens
a lot you walk into a room and everyone's trying
to out funny to each other and in the waiting
room And you're just like I've I was I mean,
I'm not saying I haven't done things that have
pissed people off But I vote I'm always like
the quiet one. Yeah, you know what? I'm so glad
you said that because I've done stand -up shows
where there's like five of us Oh my god, you're
probably all funny to each other. And before
it starts, everybody's trying to be funny. And
I'm like, I don't want to do this funny off.
You know what I mean? Like, let's just be natural.
All right, give us the plugs. Website, social
media, classes. Hit it. Yes. So you can find
me on jamysaraluis .com. You can find me on Instagram,
jamysaraluisvo. Find my classes online. Honestly,
if you Google me, you can get a hold of me. And
honestly, if you guys have any questions about
the business, you can email me. I'm always happy
to help. And that's one thing that somebody told
me a long time ago, too. It's like, usually when
you ask someone for help, 99 % of the time, people
want to help you. Absolutely. I ask for help
along the way. I ask for guidance. Jamie Sarah
Lewis, this has been an absolute pleasure. No
offense to the other people I've had on the show,
but this might just be my favorite interview.
I'm not kidding you. Definitely one of, I've
had so much fun. I could talk to you for another
hour. You guys are great. I can't wait for your
studio to open up. Well, we're moving to our
new studio, Clickstream Studios soon. So, thank
you for joining us. Best of luck. Thank you so
much. Jamie Sarah Lewis, she's amazing on screen,
on mic, and in person. This has been another
episode of Good News York, sponsored by Ads on
the Go. Get ads on the go .com. You can follow
me on socials at MikeBTV, and you can follow
us at Good News York. GoodNewsYork .com. We will
see you tomorrow.