We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rocky Powell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rocky below.
Rocky, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I feel happier than I ever imagined choosing a path as an artist. When I was younger I’ll admit, I thought getting into the entertainment industry would be red carpet nights all the time, champagne parties, and photoshoots. All things I wanted! And don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’m fortunate enough to experience those perks. As I’ve grown, hustled, and created, I’ve learned choosing a career path in the arts is so much more than that. It’s a 10,000 piece puzzle that on some days I put together 20 pieces, on others maybe I fit one in, and then some days I look at the puzzle I’ve been working on for years and realize a bunch of the pieces are in the wrong spots and need to be rearranged. WOW, does the picture look better when you rearrange them, or try not to fit a piece where it doesn’t belong. A lot of my happiness as an artist comes from collaborating with other artists on projects big and small. Having late night conversations and making meaningful connections with someone I’ve just met one time but they get it. They get the lifestyle. That conversation may lead to something even greater. A big part of my happiness comes from supporting my friends around the city and watching them follow their own path in artistry. I have to learn to sacrifice all the time. Differentiate between need and want. I have to learn when to call it when I might be having a wild night because tomorrow’s version of me needs me at 100%. Well, at least 90%. I remind myself daily that I’m either doing something for my career as an artist or I’m not. That reminder ensures that every day I’m doing something that aligns with my future. If I solely had a regular job it would be my mission to laugh with my co-workers daily in some way shape or form.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
When I was growing up I was really outgoing and excited to be onstage in any capacity. In 8th grade I marched up to the director of our school play and demanded that he give me the lead female role in Jack and the Giant. Listen, auditions were going on for like two weeks straight okay? I was trying to save everyone some time. When it worked I said to myself “Okay yeah, I’m into this. I’m going to be an actress.” From there I went on to act in all the shows in high school, and took acting lessons outside of school. My acting coach was an alumni of Adelphi University and had nothing but positive memories from when he studied acting there. When it came time to do my rounds of college auditions Adelphi felt like the best fit. Spoiler alert, it was. Pursuing a career in entertainment was an easy path to go down because my family has always supported me. I look back at my time at Adelphi as so crucial to who I am now. How much I learned and grew as an actress. The triumphs, the disappointments, the life long best friends who are probably reading this now. Hey guys! I’m beyond grateful. Around the time I was graduating our professors were putting a heavy emphasis on commercial acting. “That’s how you’ll make your living so you have to get good at improv if you want to get book commercials.” When I left school I made it a point to start taking improv comedy classes and never looked back. I’ve been a New York City Improviser consistently for almost 14 years. And (with love), it is improviser, not improv-er. Wayne Brady did not score all those worthless points on ‘Who’s Line is it Anyway’ for people to walk around calling us improv-ers. Improv has given me some of the most invaluable tools in the real world, life long friends, and so much experience as a comedian. When the pandemic hit that was the longest I’d ever gone without doing improv in front of an audience. My community made it so that we were doing zoom shows, which at the time I was grateful for of course! But something was missing. I wanted to be more creatively fulfilled. In December 2020 my podcast ‘Wild Nights with Rocky Powell’ was born. Before we were locked in the house I was an all out party girl. A wild child! Bopping around NYC using it as my personal playground. Going from outing to outing and ready to do it all over again the next day. That’s what inspired the title. I had stories to share and this seemed like the best time. I wanted to also use the show to connect with more stand up comics. I have such a love for stand up comedy for as long as I can remember. Stand up’s don’t always have the same love for improvisers but that’s okay. I was on a mission to befriend stand ups, hear their wild nights, and create a podcast for people to enjoy. The first half of the podcast would be me telling stories and sharing anecdotes, sometimes poetry and songs, and a rundown of my life that week. The second part of the show would be an interview with an entertainer (mostly stand ups) over zoom. The first 134 episodes are exactly that! In August of 2023 I got a little more loose with the structure of Wild Nights. I was tired of doing zoom interview’s and tired of feeling like the show had to be done a certain way because I had been doing it a certain way. Don’t be afraid of evolution, babe! I was the captain of the ship and I had to remind myself of that. Now it’s a mixture of the occasional guest in person, and listener wild night story submissions. When listeners submit their stories I then re-tell it in my very Rocky way. What has been the most fulfilling element of creating my podcast is the feedback. I’ve heard from every type of person that they enjoy the show. Gender doesn’t matter, generation, race. I’m talking to every type of adult, and everyone who listens or watches can feel that.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I knew nothing about creating a podcast when I started out. I had to make my own roadmap. One of the biggest moves I made to gain a social media presence was to befriend other indie podcasters around the country. I would listen to their shows and then connect with them. I love podcasts so I was genuinely interested in almost every one I listened to. I could always find something great about them! When I did that I learned how supportive and big the indie podcast community was and how willing they were to support a stranger.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I utilized being on camera more in the beginning. Back in the pandemic days I had all the time in the world to work on the show but I was stubborn in evolving. I wanted my show to be this purist audio show because that’s what a podcast is, audio. That’s the point! I no longer feel that way. Had I embraced visuals sooner and put myself on social media with those types of clips, I could’ve had a wider audience in the earlier days. Second best time to plant a tree I guess.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/wildnightswithrockypowell
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildnightswithrocky
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rocky-powell-0b618920a/
- Twitter: https://x.com/WildNightsPod
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildnightswithrocky
Image Credits
Justin Reid
Troy Conrads