We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brandi Aguilar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brandi below.

Brandi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

I think my parents did everything right. They were upfront with me that being an actor is very, very tough and although were always my biggest cheerleaders and super encouraging, they also enforced that getting an education was super important and persuaded me to pursue a degree. I have my B.A. in Communication and Speech Rhetoric from Concordia University Irvine. It’s come in handy for finding a day job to have in-between my acting jobs.

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.

My mom got me into tap dancing and ballet at age 3, but by the time I was 9, i was getting bored of dancing and it hit me like a ton of bricks that I wanted to act. I had done a few school plays and really loved it. So I told my parents I wanted to do it professionally and begged them to put me in an acting class. The summer I turned 10, they did. 2 months later, I got my first modeling gig for Stein-Mart, and did a low-budget student film. That was a lot of fun. Right after that, I signed with my first agent in L.A. I met at my acting school who represented me until I was about 14. I did my first theatre workshop and stage debut at 12 here in L.A. and haven’t stopped. In high school, I was a huge fan of MadTV and got into improv comedy, I took comedy improv classes and was a part of one of the improv teams at the L.A. Connection Comedy Theatre. In college I started writing my own comedy sketches and filmed them myself and put them on my YouTube show “The Wild Child Brandy Comedy Hour”. But I enjoy dramatic acting as well. My resume is filled with theatre, film, tv, voiceover and commercials. I think the thing that sets me apart is that I don’t quit. That really is my biggest piece advice to succeed in an acting career, don’t quit. This isn’t an overnight thing. You have to keep at it to see success. I think what I am most proud of is all the roles I’ve booked. The competition is fierce and I get rejected everyday. When I book something, it’s bittersweet because it’s seeing your hard work pay off. I’m competing against at least 50 other actors for the same role in every audition.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A huge lesson I have learned is that you don’t have to tolerate inappropriate behavior from a producer towards you, especially if the producer is being a creep. I had met by chance an indie screenwriter/producer at a job, and he offered me a part in a script he wrote, he emailed me the script and I loved it. I told him I’d love to do the film. But then he kept emailing me nude pictures of himself out of the blue. The first time he did it, I was horrified. He did not seem creepy in person and seemed like a nice guy. Was it a mistake? I called him out on it right away, and told him I wasn’t going to tolerate him being inappropriate like that. He apologized and said he sent it by accident (yeah right!) but I accepted his apology and told him not to do it again. I felt very uncomfortable though and decided that when it is time for me to film the movie, I would bring a friend or family member to set with me for my safety.
He then started emailing me more and more nude pictures of himself not long after I had that conversation with him, and I cussed him out and told him I refuse to work with him, and to find someone else for the role. I also threatened to call the police if he ever tried contacting me again. Then I blocked him on everything. I felt so scared, I literally started shaking. This was before the #metoo movement happened and I cannot say enough how much I’m glad the #metoo movement happened. This inappropriate behavior cannot be tolerated. These people need to be held accountable for their poor actions.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I try and respond to all comments on my social media. I’m naturally a social person and I don’t like ignoring people. If they took the time to leave me a comment, I will take the time to respond back! I think it’s only fair!

Contact Info:

• Website: brandiaguilar.com
• Instagram: x_brandiaguilar
• Other: Brandi_Aguilar