Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Charles Handy of Hollywood

We recently had the chance to connect with Charles Handy and have shared our conversation below.

Charles, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: Who are you learning from right now?
Right now, I’m learning directly from life — real-time experience is the best teacher. Indirectly, I’ve been learning a lot from Charlamagne tha God. His content and books are filled with common sense, wisdom, and humor. Seeing his journey and his advocacy for mental health, especially in the Black community, has really helped break the stigma around getting help — mentally and physically. My wife and kids challenge me every day to be my best self, and my daughter especially keeps me on point.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Charles Handy — I’m a video editor, content creator, storyteller, and producer based in Los Angeles. I’m also a proud U.S. Army veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. After moving to LA in 2005, I started a dance company called Bridge Dance League, producing underground street battles and filming them for YouTube and posting them to Myspace. My folks always calling me Charlie Hustle like E-40, eventually inspiring the name “DanceHustle.”

Over the years, I’ve worked across television and digital media — from Tila Tequila to Jersey Shore to literally launching Revolt TV to now The Shop (Fulwell/UNINTERRUPTED). I’m an Emmy- and NAACP-nominated editor and currently serve as Co-Lead of the Veterans/Spouses of Veterans Affinity Group in the Television Academy.

Through DanceHustleTV, which I co-created with Frenchiebabyy, I continue to merge dance, culture, and storytelling through interviews, travel, and behind-the-scenes content. Above all, I’m a husband, father, son, brother, uncle and cousin.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
For this question, I have to give my older brother Ri-Karlo Handy of The Handy Foundation his flowers. Serving in the military and returning from war gave me the maturity, life experience, and confidence to move to Los Angeles and pursue my dreams alongside him.

Our mother first exposed us to TV production back in 1988 — she would come home from her college classes with cameras and lav mics, and there we were, just 4 and 7 years old, learning how to film. Since then, my brother has been laser-focused on working in film and television — directing music videos, editing, producing, and ultimately building an organization that helps others break into the industry through workforce development.

He taught me how to fish — not by hand-holding, but by example and mentorship. He’s given me countless gems over the years, and if he didn’t have the answer, he always knew how to connect me with someone who did. One big lesson that’s always stuck with me is this: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to do something — what matters is figuring it out before they realize you don’t.”

Ri-Karlo is only three years older, but he’s always been a leader in our family. I’ve learned so much from his guidance, his drive, and even his mistakes — that’s one of the blessings of being the younger sibling.

Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
I have to give the example of the night I met my wife. We actually met on the night of my 25th birthday, and we’ve been together ever since. It was at a lounge and rap show for a mutual friend, and even though there was music and noise all around us, it felt like she was really listening to me.

In LA, conversations can sometimes feel a little “Hollywood” or “industry” — surface-level and not very genuine. But this one was different. At one point, I even started talking a little lower just to see if she was really paying attention or just nodding along. Then she said, “Wait, I missed what you said — say that again.” That moment surprised me, and it stuck with me. It showed me that she was present, engaged, and genuinely interested — and from that night on, we’ve been inseparable.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I truly believe there’s no such thing as a coincidence. Every moment, every person, and every experience we cross paths with happens for a reason — even if we don’t understand it at the time. There’s a world that we see, and there’s also a world we don’t see — one made up of God, spirit, ancestors, and energy that we can’t always explain. I can’t prove it, but life has shown me too many “perfectly timed” moments to think otherwise.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
One thing I’d like people to understand about my story and my personal journey is that I wasn’t supposed to “make it.” My mom married my stepfather and moved my brother and me from East Oakland, California, to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany in 1989. During that time, crack and violence were flooding the streets of Oakland. Moving to Germany was like winning a lottery ticket — it completely changed the trajectory of our lives.

In addition to that, I was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age. I was always very hyper, which often got me into trouble. Because of that, I wasn’t doing well in school academically. I ended up being held back a year, placed in special ed and resource rooms — and at the time, I never felt like I belonged. They even had my mom and me convinced that I was disabled or had a learning disability.

Needless to say, I’m grateful for it all because it’s all part of my journey. If I could tell my younger self what I’m up to today and the life God has blessed me with, that kid wouldn’t believe it — and he’d be amazed. As a creative, an editor, and someone who’s traveled the world and fought to find a way to provide for myself and my family, I’ve come to understand that there are many different forms of intelligence.

Even as I’m writing this, I’m using technology — ChatGPT — to help make my thoughts more clear as I type, so I can just focus on being a free thinker, not spelling or grammar. But these are my thoughts. Being different and thinking differently has been, and will always be, my superpower. And there were a lot of years the world tried to dim that light — but I fought back and fought hard to make it.

What does “making it” look like to me? Being a husband, father, provider, and protector. Getting up every day with a mission and purpose, and figuring out how to get where you’re trying to go. I had the determination, grit, and hustle to never give up — which is what drew me to the military. A lot of people who join the military are people who want a better life and are willing to make that sacrifice to get it.

Never give up on yourself or your ideas, and don’t let anyone ever put you in a box. Because according to some of the teachers I had growing up, I should be living in my mom’s basement — but by the grace of God, that isn’t the case.

As one of the elders in my family said during a family reunion speech as the patriarch: “I went into business for myself 50 years ago, and I haven’t missed one meal yet.” There are ups and downs in life, but keep going — it will get better. And don’t believe the haters. Lastly, as my dad would say: “What’s a hater’s job?”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dancehustletv.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancehustle/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleshandy/
• Twitter: https://x.com/DanceHUSTLe
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/obama1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DancehustleMedia