We recently connected with Benen Dykstra and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Benen, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve always wanted to pursue an artistic career since I was an eight-year-old watching pro wrestling Friday Night Smackdown on the Score channeI. I remember amazing wrestlers like Kurt Angle, a man who won an olympic gold medal with a broken neck; The Undertaker, a man who wrestled and entertained around the world for thirty years and CM Punk, a wrestler who dyed his hair different colours, had tattoos and became a world champion despite not having the look or, size that most promotions sought after. I fell in love with the storytelling aspect of wresting good versus evil, big versus small so, i’ve had a desire to tell stories in different ways ever since. I have no desire to be a pro wrestler myself given the toll it takes on the human body and mind plus my cerebral palsy would make wrestling rather difficult, I dreamed of commentating the matches. Commentators are a very important part of the show regardless of whether they are in the role of play-by-play or colour analyst. I love the idea of exciting and engaging the viewers at home and around the world.

Benen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a podcaster and voiceover artist, I was born ten weeks premature resulting in a diagnosis of Spastic Quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy affecting both of my legs and my left arm. I try my best every day to stand out and live my best life even though I spend most of my time in a wheelchair. My podcast which I started in October of 2022 is called The Sit Down Stand Out Show and focuses on how people with disabilities, mental health conditions, or any situation that would cause a person to be considered different or differently abled asks “How have you been able to take what many people would consider a negative and turn it positive? How do you stand out from the rest?”
My brand is called RollingDragon Media. I created the brand to show people that my disability doesn’t define who I am. My passion for the craft, my work ethic, how I treat people is what defines me. The podcast airs every Wednesday at 7am EST and I’m hoping to see more growth of my audience in 2023 the show is available on Anchor, Apple Music, Amazon Music Spotify, and Stitcher.
What makes me most proud of my work as a voiceover artist and podcaster is every day i’m the one putting the work in to make my career successful. In the past I’ve had very low self confidence and had to rely on people for personal and professional reasons.
I’ve wanted to get into the voiceover industry for as long as I can remember I just didn’t know what it was or how to get started until college. I wanted to get into the voiceover industry to be like David Attenborough and Morgan Freeman, two very talent narraters who engage viewers to listen, learn and enjoy the world around them.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think the most important thing society can do to support artists is be openminded. For artists to flourish they can not be hindered by the fear of not being “politicly correct” and worrying about what other people think. While I do believe in respecting believes, cultures, history, traditions, and being a good human being I don’t believe in living my life afraid of hurting someones feelings with my creativity. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; no matter what you create there will be someone out there that doesn’t like you or your work. If you let that affect you, you will never be as successful as you want to be. As long as you are trying your best to make your creative dreams a reality and you’re being a good person I think you should be able to create anything you want.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being creative is bringing an idea to life. I love the idea that something I create could be helping other people and be enjoyed by other people long after i’m gone. The episodes of my podcast could exist forever if the right message was being told and the idea of having a legacy of helping people and changing lives for the better makes me smile. I am rewarded and feel success whenever someone hears an episode they can relate to or feel a connection with the life of another person. We’re all here together to make a difference in our own way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rollingdragonmedia.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/_rollingdragon_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RollingDragon-Media-928180754191271/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benen-dykstra-858a7123a
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenenDykstra

Image Credits
Tofflemire Photography