Conversations with Wendee Miller

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendee Miller.

Hi Wendee, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in the Cayman Islands. I was very active in the community and arts at a very young age. As I look over my entire childhood, from the age of five years, my mother listened to me when I told her of my interests in the extracurricular activities that I wanted to take part in, such as ballet/dance classes, piano lessons, choir rehearsals, steel pan practice and taking part in local talent shows with my older brother Todd and many more. My mother stretched herself, allowing me to do most if not all that my heart desired.

Throughout my years, I stayed driven and continued to stretch my ability and gifts in the performing arts within the Cayman Islands and now, as a grown adult, let’s just say that ‘life happened,’ and when that happens, your dreams, motivations, plans, choices tend to change, and it somehow makes it difficult to go after what you had originally planned or dreamed. So, you then make the decision to do what is best at the moment and put aside or forget about your heart’s desires. I am now a mother of three beautiful children and it was during the time when I had given birth to my son. God told me that it was time to move to the next level which was to pursue my dreams professionally. Now, I questioned it because no one in their right mind (finger quote) would pursue dreams with a young baby. At that point, I had given up on moving toward doing it professionally to focus on family as any mother would do. But because I know as a Christian that when God tells you to do something, be obedient and make sure to follow His instructions. So, I was obedient to His direction, and I never thought that I would have made it this far with the living conditions and situations that I was going through at the time.

During this time of following God’s directions, I took a leap of faith, quit my Government job in the Cayman Islands, and moved to the United States of America to pursue my dream as an artist with my two years old toddler on my hip, with little to no money. I know that it may seem foolish to most but I had to be obedient to God’s direction. I first was located in the Atlanta, GA where I hit the ground running. God just opened doors for me to collaborate with other creatives, creating content, shooting films, meeting with talent agents just to name a few. In no time after being in Atlanta for three months, starting to get my feet wet and doing all that I loved to do. Then the Lord tells me to move the LA. I’m at this point nervous, but I know that if God brought me this far, He will continue to make a way. So I packed my bags and my son and moved to the Amazing Los Angeles where the journey continues to build and grow.

I don’t know about you, but during the Pandemic of Covid-19, it has been more of a blessing than a curse for me and my family. I have met so many renowned people within the Entertainment Industry, built so many amazing relationships and worked with iconic artists that have guided me to the right paths and pushed me to my fullest potential, which I am so grateful to God for.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Leaving your home to move to a foreign country is absolutely terrifying to say the least, and I mean “Terrifying”. Not having your immediate family and closest friends that you grew up with there with you, even though they are supporting you from a distance, it still isn’t the same and it can be really hard and challenging. Also, having a toddler with you on this journey makes the challenge even more difficult because I have to make sure and cater to all his needs. Now that his personality is growing, my mommy duties grow just as big as he is. Let’s just say that boys take a whole lot more energy than girls and with him being the only boy, he takes more of my attention than my two girls put together.

While being on this journey, I have been evicted; in and out of homes and hotels; experiencing several living issues and so forth made me think to myself several times, was this move to the USA really what God told me to do? Was I hearing right? Did I hear from God, but when you know, that you know, that you know that you heard the voice of God; seeing that your circumstances and situations could’ve been a lot worse, and God showed up “Every Time” when I felt He wasn’t there; when I felt like throwing in the towel; God brought such strength and comfort, especially when I needed it the most. Being on this journey, I had to find a balance, Spiritually, Emotionally, Mentally, Financially and Physically. Finding this balance can only be found while you are on the pathway towards your dreams, aspirations, missions and once you have found that balance, it makes your journey a whole lot easier to manage and maintain.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an Actress, Producer, Director, Writer and Editor. I have worked on features and short films and theater sets within the Cayman Islands, Atlanta and Los Angeles as the previous named titles and also worked as a Production Manager and assisted with casting on several projects. I have also traveled to different countries as a representative of the Cayman Islands taking part in competitions and performing in different shows whether it be in acting, singing and dance.

I wrote, produced, directed my own short film called “Secrets” which was shot in the Cayman Islands and has been submitted and selected in several Film Festivals around the world. I also worked on projects and commercials with filmmakers such as Frank E. Flowers Jr. on the Flowers Sea Swim Documentary ‘In This Moment’ as Production Manager; with Badir Awe and Pascal Pernix who are all directors based within the Cayman Islands and Los Angeles. I have worked on films such as ‘Hands Up’ directed by Ms. Angela White in which I was Co-Producer on that film. I was 1st Assistant Director (1st AD) and Director of Photography (DP) for the films ‘Possessive’ which these films were all shot here in Atlanta.

I was recently awarded a National award as a 2020 Silver Star Awardee for Creativity at the National Arts & Culture Awards in the Cayman Islands. Being awarded this national award makes me extremely proud to know that all my hard work over the past 20 years has been recognized and appreciated. This only pushes me to keep moving towards my dreams and creating content for the world to see as well as be an example to all those who want to take the same path that I am taking because it is surely paying off.

Performing arts has always been my greatest love and passion and what I have been known for in my country because this is what I Specialize in. I have been called upon mostly to perform using my creative gifts and talents at small private functions to Island wide public events. Entertaining people is what I love to do and now being in the USA especially Los Angeles, it allows me to use and utilize the creative juices that God has gifted me with and use my authentic Caribbean Culture to bring a flair the roles and characters that I was giving the opportunity to play and that would make me stand out in my auditions and performances and to also be able to bring something different in my writing or scripts.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I would love to share a word of encouragement to all the readers out there. The advice that I could give is “Don’t Stop Going Towards Your Dreams!” It may sound cliché, but just don’t stop. No matter what the dream may be, it could be going towards a business; a house; a new car; marriage; having a child; your dream job, whatever it is, just keep going. The situations that you are living in may not make your dreams look as if it will become a reality and it may look like it is very far from happening But, know that faith without works is dead, know that you have the ability within yourself to make your dreams become a reality with God’s help and direction. He will work things out in your favor. If I had given up on my dreams and completely stopped working on my craft; stopped training; stopped doing the little theater shows; stopped singing; stopped networking with other actors and like-minded persons as myself, I wouldn’t have gotten this far to where I am today. I still have a little way to go, but currently, I’m not in the same place in my career that I was last year. The more you work on your skills, your craft; saving; preparing; gathering the appropriate documentation and do the work behind the scenes, ‘It Will Pay Off’, I can assure you. I know it isn’t easy, but it will be worth your time. Nothing is just handed to you and there is a lot of work that you need to do to get to the place where you want to be, so start moving towards it. Take it step by step, and you will see it fall into place. I promise you will be more fulfilled and in time, you will realize you made it because you never stopped. So, like what I always say, “Keep Pushing, Keep Grinding and Always Remember to Put God First.”

Contact Info:

• Email: wendee345@gmail.com
• Website: www.wendeemiller.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/wendee345
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/wendee.miller.587
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/millerwendee
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/RshZd8Q-Hro

Image Credits
Headshot credit: Hollywood Headshots (Atlanta, Ga) Secrets Film Screening: Kasey Reid from Brave Media Secrets BTS: Genesis Ryan Possessive BTS: Danielle Scott Cayman Cultural Stories Stills: Lennon Christian