I AM Radio EP 2: Founders turned filmmakers

Founders turned filmmakers

Someone asked us the other day,

Do you still feel like new entrepreneurs, or 3 years in, do you feel like old pros?

We both sat with the question - could the answer be both?

We feel experienced at the fundamentals of entrepreneurship: being OK with the unknown, trusting your gut, willingness to pivot, being scrappy, trusting the process, and being your own boss.

But in looking back, we’ve reincarnated ourselves at least 6 times in 3 years. And, so, to become something new every six months, we’re always “starting over.” The process is familiar, but the content is what’s new.

Today’s iteration? First-time entrepreneurs turned filmmakers; and here’s how IT ALL came to be… sorry we really can’t help ourselves.

Looking back, it’s all linear

It’s so funny to look back now and see things so linear, when at the time, it felt anything but.

The FIA Podcast launched Fall 2020 (pandemic, BLM, Great Resignation, systemic breakdowns). Talks about mental health and the facade of false perfection have since become mainstream dialogues; but at the time, this was groundbreaking.

We were hearing real stories from real women without first - GASP - cleaning up the mess.

Realizing What we Had: Grounded Theory research

Cut to 6 months later, we sat down with a group of traditional researchers seeking to understand the Great Resignation; and while we hadn’t intended to be researchers, it was our vulnerable and real conversations with women amidst transition that was the first of many lightbulb moments.

The Podcast wasn’t ‘just a podcast’ it was Grounded Theory Research (GTR). We got to work coding the themes we were observing, and turned it into curriculum and coaching.

approached to make a tv show

Around the same time we had our GTR ah-ha, we were approached by a production company with an idea to turn our series into a scripted TV show - ala Modern Love. We LOVED the idea, and even more than that, loved the woman who conceived the concept. (so much so that we recruited her as a dear friend, collaborator, doc producer AND next week’s I AM Radio guest - be sure to tune in).

Despite how much we loved this idea, we could never get it to “work.” And we’re talking like 7 pitch decks, countless scrapped scripts and several false starts.

It’s ok to let ideas sit on the shelf

This show became the jacket we so desperately wanted to love, but never quite ‘worked.’ We let her sit on the shelf, passing by from time to time, trying her on with a hopefulness that today would be the day she made sense.

Cut to nearly 2 years later, having just wrapped a speaking gig at SXSW feeling ravaged by a vulnerability hangover, eating our feelings in the best damn pancakes Austin had to offer. We spent the week prior doing FIA street interviews - feminist celebrities and everyday women, alike.

a light bulb moment

Cue what Kacie lovingly calls, “Katie’s Creative Blackout.” The light bulb appeared, and she yelled out:

“IT’S REAL WOMEN!
NOT ACTORS OR ACTRESSES!”

OF COURSE the narrative show never worked - how could we put actors in the place of real women? If our work is tell new stories, we must let the women of today be the mouthpiece of their own narrative. The jacket finally fit.

Kacie grabbed a notebook, and that began our reincarnation into first-time filmmakers. By the time we’d returned to Atlanta from Austin, the framework from the series was drafted.

We landed, called Ciera - the woman behind the original TV concept - and told her about our syrup-laden Ah-Ha.

More on that next week…

You’ll hear from Ciera herself on next week’s drop of I AM Radio.

In the meantime, be sure to hit subscribe to join us every Thursday for a new episode.