 How did you become an actor?
I started off doing church plays in DeRidder, LA. During my senior year, I played the lead role which received a lot of praise and high review & I caught a serious case of the acting bug. Albeit, I was already enrolled To attend our Lady of the Lake college in Baton Rouge Louisiana. My mom, my grandmother, and my aunt, were all physical therapist assistants and it was a two year degree $45,000k/yr right out of school. In my third semester I decided to drop out and on my way back from dropping my classes in speaking with my advisor there was an ad on the radio for a company called pro scout. They were seeking actors that were interested in trying to make it to Hollywood so I showed up and I performed, ended up going to Dallas to the second round & speaking with a talent agent who said he saw potential in me but that I wasn’t ready. He told me to get on craigslist and look up acting jobs and start there. So when I got back home, thats what I did. I found Green Lantern was filming in New Orleans and they were looking for extras. I applied, and ended up working two months on it. I networked and met the niece of agent....the rest is history.
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 What inspired you to create beard + balance? Autonomy played a huge role in my decision to become an entrepreneur. The ability to have control over the course of my life was a strong motivating piece of the equation. The 2nd part of the equation was understanding that no existing company does everything right, in which we felt we could provide additional value within the men’s skin care market. We wanted to provide high quality products for the modern man, but also provide educational content along the way, which is missing in the market. Regardless of what profession you are in, beards are making a comeback in a major way. Now more than ever, men are extremely comfortable with growing and rocking their beards, which has a lot to do with the recent pandemic. In the midst of it all, beard + balance jumped on the scene and we are here to shake things up. Tell us about your products. We provide handcrafted beard card products made with organic essential oils and all natural ingredients. Our ingredients are proven to improve the appearance and quality of the beard while keeping it hydrated and moisturized throughout the day. Tell us about your process in creating the scents.
Creating our unique scents is one of the most enjoyable parts of the business, but also one of the toughest and most time consuming. It really is an art and science which takes skill and knowledge, but also trial and error. Step 1 First, we determine what kind of vibe we are looking to accomplish with the scent. The vibe can range from relaxing, calm, bold, spicy and full-bodied. The vibe we are looking to obtain will then let us know what kind of essential oils will be needed to create that specific scent. Essential oils have (8) different aroma families: floral, spicy, citrus, herbaceous, earthy, minty, camphoraceous and woody. Step 2 We then complete an organoleptic test by placing one drop of each essential oil on separate testing strips and then slowly draw the strips to our nose and let our imagination run wild. You really want to envision how the scent makes you feel and what personality it has, while also being cognizant of how you feel physically and emotionally. Step 3 Next we then have to determine what essential oil combination will make the specific vibe we are looking to accomplish. Typically it will be a combination of at least 4 essential oils. Step 4 Once we determine what essential oils are needed is when the real fun begins. It’s all about trial and error, in which we blend the essential oils selected to determine the perfect combination. You really have to play around with the ratios of the number of drops of each essential oil and determine the aroma strength you are looking to accomplish. We either include the combination of essential oils on a strip, diffuser or room spray and see which combination provides the perfect scent. What kind of comments/feedback have you gotten from clients? After placing the order customers mentioned that they enjoyed the ease of navigating the website and being able to select from different scents. Customers especially liked that we offer FREE SHIPPING on all orders. We’ve been fortunate enough to receive nothing but positive feedback on our products. Customers are sharing that their beards feel soft, nourished and look hydrated. The overwhelmingly consistent reaction has been that the beard oils just smell so good! Beards have become more trendy with an increasing demand for grooming products. What makes your product so unique? With so many beard care products to choose from it can be confusing and frustrating selecting the best product for your daily beard routine. We wanted to make this process easier by creating products that are fast absorbing, nourishing, non-greasy and affordable. Most beard oil products in the market contain 1-2 carrier oils, we decided to include (6) in our products which definitely makes us stand apart from the competition. Each one of the carrier oils we carefully selected provides a specific benefit to the beard. Jojoba oil will aid in hydrating and retaining the moisture of the beard, which are vital to hair growth. Grapeseed oil is effective in strengthening hair and fighting against hair loss. Apricot Kernel oil aids in improving the appearance of facial hair and providing a healthy shine. Hempseed oil is extremely nourishing to the beard and skin and is a natural hair conditioner. Vitamin E oil helps reduce beard dryness and helps the beard oil maintain its quality. Baobab oil is antioxidant loaded, which helps heal damaged hair follicles. Lastly, we would be remiss not to mention the vast array of unique scent options we have available. We wanted to give our clients the ability to change up the beard oil scent depending on their mood that day. This is the reason we currently have (5) beard oil scents to choose from: lemon drop + burnt sage, leaves + lavender, herbs + spices, toasted vanilla + pepperwood and black mint + eucalyptus. Most of our competitors just offer 1-2 beard oil scent options. What are the options to purchase your product? We are currently an e-commerce business, in which people can go to our website (www.beard-balance.com) or follow us and shop on our Instagram & Facebook pages (@beard.balance). beard + balance has developed (5) beard oil scents and (1) unscented beard balm to choose from. All products are available online for $22.50, which includes free shipping and a free beard oil sample with every order. Use promo code: “firsttime” for 15% off your 1st order. What else can people look forward to experience when becoming a client? Most men don’t believe they need to use any beard care products or just aren’t aware of the key benefits proper beard care can provide to their facial hair and skin. Male skin is at our focus and we are dedicated to providing educational content along the way on proper beard and skin care techniques. We incorporated a Tips + Tricks section on our website just for that reason and are looking forward to continuing to expand that content, because we truly see it as a value-add and differentiator. We strive every day to be a company that our clients can come to answer their questions, provide solutions to their problems and share our experiences along the way. That is the experience our clients can expect to receive throughout their journey with beard + balance. How can we follow you? www.beard-balance.com IG: @beard.balance Facebook: beard.balance  What inspired you to produce documentaries?
I was inspired to produce multimedia projects because I wanted to develop intervention programming that was applicable to my community. Documentary film is a medium where voices from a particular community can be represented, depicting their lived experiences. Film is a powerful tool to communicate health information and promote positive health outcomes for marginalized groups. Also, it was important for me to highlight the cultural context of racial and ethnic groups—especially when focusing on historically challenging topics like HIV and sexual health. I use film to translate public health research as a means to disseminate information in order to mitigate health disparities and promote health equity. I could see both professionally and personally how silence around sexual health issues can deepen adverse health outcomes and I wanted to do something about it. I was inspired to produce documentaries in order to engage the community by amplifying the voices from within it [community]. Tell us about the first project, "Even Me". My first project, Even Me, was developed when I was a graduate student at UCLA. I was in the midst of earning my Masters in Social Welfare with a concentration in gerontology, when I received word that my great-aunt had developed neurosyphilis (infection of the central nervous system) due to oversights by her medical provider. Given that syphilis is a treatable infection, I was appalled that it was not treated. As a result my great-aunt’s quality of life was severely diminished until her last days. This incident was the catalyst for the making of Even Me, a short documentary film that highlights the rise of HIV among middle-aged and older adults in communities of color. After the warm reception of the film, I immediately launched my production company, “Reel View Interventions” and implemented the Even Me Outreach Campaign. We toured nationally and internationally to disseminate HIV education among various audiences, partnering with churches, community based organizations (CBOs), universities, hospitals, clinics, film festivals, and other organizations that serve older adults. Even Me was completed in 2012 and has received multiple recognitions and awards. It continues to be used as a tool to provide education and awareness for older adults, emerging and practicing clinicians.  Tell us about NemesisX NemesisX is a fitness lifestyle Brand created for individuals who seek to push themselves to a new level, mentally and physically. The Vision I have for NemesisX stems from trails and tribulations that I have faced and conquered in my lifetime and will continue face and conquer. Ultimately NemesisX aims to inspire and motivate individuals to reach the best version of themselves. What inspires your designs of the athletic wear? Growing up I have always looked up to brands such as Nike, And Adidas. Brands that have a message behind them while also creating apparel that aligns with there message. NemesisX gives me that creative reign to create fitness apparel through my eyes. Taking into account what people need and like, I try to put my creative spin on things that I create that I think people will genuinely enjoy wearing. Why did you become an entrepreneur? I became an entrepreneur simply because I had a dream to create my own brand. I became an entrepreneur because I want to experience Financial freedom is something, and lastly, because I want to provide be generation wealth for my family. I became obsessed with those goals because I saw people who have done it before. I figured if these individuals can do it, why can’t I? It doesn’t matter what background you come from, your age, race, or height. It’s simply a decision you must make to take the risk and become your own boss, or don’t and always think what if. What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of being an entrepreneur? The most challenging part of being an entrepreneur to me is not getting discouraged by failures. Things may not happen in the time frame that you expect them too, but if you stick to your game plan eventually you will hit your targets. Learn from previous failures and don’t make the same mistake twice Tell us about the most rewarding moment you have had thus far. The most rewarding moment I have had thus far is seeing people where my brand, and actually support it. People who actually resonate with the purpose behind the brand and use it to fuel and motivate them. Whenever people tag me on Instagram wearing my apparel and hashtag #youvsyou. That is a very surreal moment for me. Where can people buy your merchandise and secure your consulting services? Purchase can be made at Nemesisxofficial.com For consulting services follow my Instagram @th3kidd_nate What's next for NemesisX? What's next for NemesisX is to continue spreading the message around the world. Sticking to our game plan of inspiring people to reach the ultimate versions of themselves mentally and physically. Also Getting my apparel into clothing stores and eventually being recognized by brands such as Nike, adidas, puma etc.
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