We recently connected with Eric Guilmette and have shared our conversation below.
Eric, appreciate you joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
I am lucky. Upon moving to Southern California in October 2019, I didn’t have much of a plan… I just knew that I wanted to do something that would inspire me and feel fulfilling. On my second day here, I booked an editorial shoot as a model. I loved it; being in front of the camera felt so freeing… I felt artistically awakened. Four days after that, I booked a campaign that paid very well, as an independent model I might add. And I thought to myself “I can make a career out of this…” So I did, and from that moment on over the last four years, I have been a full-time model and actor making a living from doing something I love. The process of getting from A to B, where I am right now, has been a heck of a journey. Very early on, I decided I was a business, and I operated as a business. I thought of every connection as an opportunity, every event as a chance, and every shoot as potentially my last. This allowed me to be a full-time, creative and make a good money doing some thing I’ve grown to love more and more every day. Now as we step into Q4 of 2023, I am more-so working as an actor than I am as a model. This has been something I have been working towards for a long time, and to that, I will say stay tuned for a whats to come.
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?
My background is not in the arts, it’s in mathematics and finance. As much as I have had mentors and agents and management and friends help guide me along this creative journey, I’ve really just made it up as I’ve gone along… one day at a time… I’ve shot from the hip on a lot of things… I did what felt right. And I think that some of the best advice I can give is “if something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it, but if something does, don’t hesitate” Listen to your body. Trust yourself. One of the most common compliments that I receive has to do with my confidence because I am so confident in my ability to do anything. I push myself and challenge myself in ways that would’ve terrified an older version of me, but I love proving myself right, or proving others wrong. Modeling actually came very easily to me, but acting did not. Both of these are disciplines that I’ve worked at every single day but that work isn’t necessarily sexy. So when you view your favorite creative on social media or on a TV screen or hear them on the radio, they are often times not glamorizing the parts of this process that are unglamorous. The work that you do in silence is what allows for the final product to shine so bright. If you have a dream, mentally prepare yourself to do the work, to do it in silence, and to do the unsexy things that are often not talked about that you’ll learn as you go through this process one day at a time.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Agents are great, but don’t be afraid to be independent for a while, or ask for a non-exclusive agreement. I still book the majority of my work on my own.
Your best resource is social media. Instagram is your resume, business card, and first impression, so make it a good one.
Actors and models, use a variety of casting sites. Some of my favorites are:
backstage.com
actorsaccess.com
castingnetworks.com
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Not everything is a logic-based decision. Again, a lot of this process is intuition, it’s being in the right place at the right time, it’s being prepared for anything, being confident in yourself and your abilities, it’s going left when all signs say go right… Using logic from a business perspective is going to help you a lot, but using feeling and trusting the energy of a situation will help you the most as a creative. When you lean into that, and trust it, good things happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://eric-guilmette.com/
- Instagram: instagram.com/etfitnesscoach
- Other: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@ericgpoetry
Image Credits
Cover Image: Bryan Tubola @bryan.tubola Additional Images: Zinvo @zinvo Jeremy H @jeremyholdenn Aaron Soffer @_aarontylerphotography_ Daria @daria_in_tokyo