We recently connected with Arjon Bashiri and have shared our conversation below.

Arjon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Growing up in San Antonio, I took my first acting class in middle school and it turned out to be a setting stone for what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. As I got older the endgame was to be an actor, I had everyone saying “don’t forget us when you’re famous!” Or “You’re going to do so many great things!” But with every creative path you chose to take, there’s always going to be backlash “Keep your day job” “You majored in theatre? That’s a thing?”
“How will this make you any money?”
To me, being a creative wasn’t about the money, if I told anyone about my dreams and goals they’d just say I was after the “Fame and Fortune” but no, I was after passion, I was after breaking cycles, I was after creating a life that I felt happy living in because we’re all navigating this life for the first time right? Why not navigate it doing something you love. When I graduated college with my BA in theatre the plan was to move to California and finally pursue acting, I was so ready! But life can be tricky sometimes, I graduated May 2020 and we all know what happened in 2020, the year the world paused. I knew I had to keep moving forward even if I didn’t feel like it so that’s when I got into music. I made my first EP “Persona” during the first 6 months of quarantine, but didn’t release it until a year later because I felt like It wasn’t good enough. You see, as creatives we will always be our biggest critic, but also as creatives, we’re making risks every single day just by doing what we love. After Persona released, I made 3 more albums and as the world started to rotate again, I made the biggest risk of them all, I finally did what I was supposed to do after college, I moved to California! I finally did it, I finally set sail on the open journey of discovery, something that I’ve been wanting to do for years was finally done and crossed off my list of goals. But here’s the risk factor in it, moving to California means no more of my fathers amazing cooking, no more hugs from my mom, no more late nights with friends talking about what we want to do when we get older. It’s a new life, but with new opportunities so where there’s a con there’s also a pro because now I get to do what I’ve always wanted to do. Now I get to achieve my dream.

Arjon, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi, I’m Arjon! An Actor&EDM Artist. I started acting when I was 12 years old after taking my first acting class in middle school and from there it became a career I wanted to pursue. Some fun facts about me is: I love the outdoors, making new connections, gaming, and making music! I got into music about 3 years ago and been going strong since then, I was able to open my own merchandise shop on Amazon where I sell shirts, pillows, phone cases, and those little popits you put on the back of your phone (I’m not sure what they’re called) on my off days, you’ll catch me reading, learning a new hobby, or writing in my journal.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

“You won’t be successful being a creative” that’s what I was told my whole life and for a while, I believed it. I believe it so much that I put acting to the side and wanted to be a dentist, A DENTIST! Can you imagine? As a kid I’ve always been the one to break cycles, my options for a career were either a doctor, lawyer, engineer you know, the “successful paths” I was always told having loads of money means success, but what is success? What does it means to be “successful”? To me, success is waking up and working hard to pursue what I love. To me success is being able to say “I did it” instead of “what if I did it” right now I’m pursing my dream to be an actor and because I took that first step to my goals, I feel successful.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

“No” is a strong word in the world of a creative, it’s the breaking point of your career. “No you didn’t get the part”
“No you didn’t advance to the next round”
No, we decided to go with someone else”
It’s discouraging, putting so much effort into an audition, dance routine, musical number, putting so much effort into something that can either make or break you and you just hear “No” sometimes you don’t hear anything back at all. It’s such a cutthroat industry, but that’s the challenging part about it, because the countless of rejections you get can lead to the one yes you need.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amazon.com/s?rh=n%3A7141123011%2Cp_4%3AArjon+Bashiri&ref=mh_bl_sl_s_ap_mw_7141123011
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arjonbashiri/
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/67EeJ9JTuIThDP3yaVv9G6?si=_zT_9w8mTgKP-4yVb5naqA

Image Credits
Christopher Ardon