We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Monique Farah a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Monique , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I became a vodka expert by chance. I worked in a restaurant that had a 90 degree vodka freezer where a person stood and poured in a fur coat. I knew I could do better and spent a few weeks learning every thing I can about vodka. Becoming a vodka expert sounds like a lot of drinking, but the majority of the knowledge comes from learning the art of distilling and identifying the subtle note changes that different ingredients produce. The latter does require drinking ;). You have to have a discerning palate as well as a thirst for knowledge because a new vodka is released constantly. The obstacles are staying relevant and I find that writing for magazines and teaching classes online has helped tremendously.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started my production career right out of LMU film school. I got a job as a PA for a few car and motorcycle shows that ran on the Speed Network. Talk about GRUNT WORK. Because this was a small production company and I was usually their only PA, I was doing EVERYTHING. From booking accommodations to operating the camera, it was a crash course in unscripted television. That was my first taste of the documentary world. Although shows, like “American Thunder” and “Battle of the Super Cars” weren’t quite the juggernauts that were “The Jinx”. and “Tiger King”, they taught me invaluable skills about shooting quickly and on a budget.

I eventually took my passion for story telling outside of the Speed Network and onto subject matter that compelled me. My first Executive producer and Director credit for a tv show came from an unexpected place. I was approached about doing the interview questions for Lamar Odom’s, first interview after escaping death in a Nevada brothel. After suffering numerous strokes and heart attacks during an overdose, he shockingly made a full recovery. He also agreed to sit down for an interview with Uncensored on TVOne. What was supposed to be just my contributions to the questions turned into an opportunity to direct and produce the entire interview. We went to very deep and dark to places, he kept hidden for a reason. We eventually made our way to the light that comes with the appreciation of life. To this day, it’s one of Uncensored most viral interviews.

I’m now in the process of pitching my own docuseries, which took over ten years to shoot and edit. It’s the greatest content I’ve ever worked with and I’m incredibly proud for everyone to see it. I know I have a unique skill of asking the right questions to get people to open up. That skill is only strengthened by that fact that I truly care about my subjects. What is coming soon, will most certainly blow your mind.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

As everyone who works in the film industry knows, you NEED to have a side hustle to survive. I became one of the top vodka experts in California (yes it’s a real job). During the Writer’s Strike of 2007 I was able to get a hosting job at Nic’s, Martini Lounge and Restaurant in Beverly Hills. It wasn’t your normal 90210 nightlife. Nic’s was the rebel of Beverly Hills, with it’s rotation of insane live music and a 28 degree walk in vodka freezer called the Vodbox. It housed over 90 different vodkas from around the world and guest waited sometimes up two hours to spend fifteen minutes in the Vodbox. As they don faux fur hats and coats they were given a flight of vodka by an expert waiting inside.

I took one look at that frozen vodka palace and knew I needed in. I took the opportunity to learn facts about all the bottle inside. But it wasn’t until Chef and owner Larry Nicola, taught me how to taste vodka that I really got. I really understood the beautiful subtlety between wheat, rye, potato and all the other bases that can make up vodka. I understood how the water you use and how you filter it can completely change the flavor. I was officially hooked and knew I could make something out of this.

Over the years I ended up conducting hundreds of tastings, wrote consistently for several publications, became an instructor on Typsy.com, infused my own vodka and appeared on several well known TV shows. I took a small hosting job to get me through the strike and made the most out of it. I think that’s important in any job you have. Find the small opportunities and make them as big as you can. You never know when a side hustle can become something much greater.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part is definitely the freedom. Cause you know it isn’t consistency or stability. Nobody chooses to be an artist because of the wealth of jobs available. You do it because you know there’s nothing else you SHOULD be doing. You know if you weren’t creating, that you’d be sitting there one day wondering what could have happened, if you just believed in yourself. You pick this life because you never want that other one. And it’s usually the harder road to traverse which makes any level of success so much sweeter.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3095051/
• Instagram: @TheMoeFarah
• Linkedin: Monique Farah

Image Credits

Dot not use the mint julep pic. couldn’t find a non personal image so couldn’t move forward with this application