Today we’d like to introduce you to Natasha Guimond.
Natasha, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in a small town in Northern NY and broke out as soon as I could. But just ’cause you’re able to do something, doesn’t mean you should — until you’re ready. Spoiler alert… At 18, I wasn’t quite ready for the “real world” and struggled for a few years with my identity and sense of purpose. I was depressed, because life wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be — or maybe it was exactly as hopeless as I thought it’d be, which made it worse. I even eloped when I was 19 at a local town hall and had a mini reception with my 3 closest frenemies, at our favorite pizza place, before getting my lip pierced at the tattoo shop down the street. I was a lobster growing uncomfortably inside its shell. The pressure kept building and building as I kept trying to figure out what it was that I was supposed to do with this life. Eventually, I went back to college, got divorced, dropped out, re-enrolled (third times the charm, right?) and finally finished what I started when I was 18.
My experience at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI was transformative in all of the cliché ways possible: I met lifelong friends, my perspective changed, I partied all weekend and pulled too many all-nighters. I also served on the student government and showed my passion for the school by becoming student body president. They even let me give the commencement speech, which was a great addition to the documentary (www.tuningthestudentmind.com) that featured one my most cherished mentors, alongside myself and a couple other peers. It was through her class, and the David Lynch Foundation, that I was able to learn Transcendental Meditation — a tool I continue to use to this day.
But before I graduated, I met someone else who changed my life — my boyfriend. We’re actually still together today and he’s really the reason that I’m in LA. He majored in what I minored in — Entertainment Arts and film production. (I majored in Creative Advertising). I did a bunch of internships in college — graphic design, marketing, art direction and finally copywriting. I was always thinking bigger picture… I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied in being just an art director or just a copywriter, so I tried to figure out what I needed to do in order to be a Creative Director, or someone who saw the bigger picture. Realizing that I had to choose a path, I landed on copywriting.
Now, I was always obsessed with social media, but it finally became a career when I started working as an associate copywriter at VaynerMedia’s LA office (VMLA). I had been a freelancer up until that point, with major PTSD when it came to commitment. I was looking for something to dedicate myself to, yearning to be a part of a team, jones-ing for those dope perks that major agencies can deliver. I drank the Kool-Aid, was served quite a sobering reality check, and after 9 months decided to go freelance again.
For most of the year after that, I took on clients that meant something to me. There were few gigs that I did “just for the money”. I started to evaluate what it is that I really wanted out of life. I truly believe in the Law of Attraction, but I don’t think it’s just about thinking about what you want. I think those that truly benefit from it are the ones that keep striving for what they want, maybe not in every single action, but at least in every day. I got to work with really cool and creative clients like INKBUS Tattoo and WeAreLATech. Most importantly, I got to use all of my skills again. When I was at VMLA, I was really only valued for being a writer. They appreciated by GIF-making skills, for sure, but all-in-all, I was feeling very restricted in my role. I knew I had so much more to give. Plus, I wanted to continue to foster and improve my skills, because I also believe in life-long learning. There was some old painter that said he probably wouldn’t be satisfied with his skills until he painted every day until the age of 92. Can’t remember the story exactly, but it makes total sense. You only become really incredible at something when you do it a lot, or practice. I’ve always been able to pick things up really quickly, but whenever there was some sort of learning curve, I’d become extremely frustrated and feel like a failure when I couldn’t get it to be perfect right away. My 20s definitely changed that.
Has it been a smooth road?
Beyond everything I’ve already mentioned, I had a difficult childhood. My grandparents raised me and gave me a sense of normalcy in a world that was focused on wreaking havoc in my life. I’m a survivor of child abuse, I’ve had too many friends die from freak accidents and suicides, I’ve been in too many situations that a young girl should never find herself in… basically, life was fucked up. Hell, life IS fucked up. But I got through it all. With the help of counselors, teachers, friends, the INTERNET, cannabis, meditation, etc. (it takes a village, y’all), I was able to come out on top.
We all have bad days, but if you’re focused on having a happy life, you usually have less bad days, or at least you learn ways to turn them around.
I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, honestly. And this might sound ridiculous to those who don’t understand, but I think half of it has to do with the weather. SoCal is pretty perfect for me.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
It’s been a whirlwind of a year and the past month has been spent doing something I didn’t think I’d be doing again for a long time. I’ve been working full time at a company called Red Ampersand, with some of the greatest people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. It’s a small, craftily curated team of individuals that all have their own strengths and work really well together. There’s another woman on the team, who is a produced writer/director and she helps out almost full time with hosting panels and planning events, but technically I’m the first full time female employee, which I think is pretty dope. We work with screenwriters, filmmakers and film festivals through brands like ScreenCraft (www.screencraft.org) — think panels, contests and script feedback from industry professionals. We’ve even done some fellowships and hooked people up with agents and managers. I’m the Head of Content Management and it’s been pretty fulfilling so far. I get to use all of my skills and help deliver hope to aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers. My focus is on blog content and social media. It’s been really great so far and so much stuff is about to kick off. And our company Holiday party is tonight! Super excited for life right now.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I came here for the quality of life. I mean, yeah, this was the natural place for my boyfriend to be, because of his entertainment degree, but I’ve always daydreamed about California. Red Ampersand and ScreenCraft are 100% perfect for LA. Like I said, we work with screenwriters, filmmakers and film festivals. The team travels all over to attend different events and host different summits, but LA is absolutely the place to be for a company like ours. I would totally recommend coming to LA and I think the sooner, the better. The rent’s too damn high, but I get it. This town can’t fit the world, but we can at least try to help it.
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