We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chase Yi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Chase thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Risk has become a tremendous theme in my life over the past few years. And as I’ve thought about it and how it’s affected me, I’ve realized that I’ve been taking huge risks since I first moved to Los Angeles when I was 18 years old. I grew up in a small town in Kalamazoo, MI, and after doing some plays and feature films around the state, I packed up my car and drove across the country by myself to pursue my dream of being an actor. At first, I thought I would become this famous actor with all the money in the world to take care of my family. I thought I would become a big star and that my life would be this amazing success story, but that wasn’t the case.
The reality was that I lived in my car for almost a year when I first arrived. I had to do demeaning catering jobs. I ate peanut butter sandwiches on the curb and stole WiFi from Starbucks in the middle of the night. I’ve lived in shitty apartments with rats running through the walls. I’ve had agents and managers dump me because I wasn’t “ready.” I watched countless friends progress with their lives while mine felt like a standstill. I’ve spent so many nights questioning my purpose–praying for a way to move forward. I watched my mother pass away from cancer. I’ve watched my father wrestle with his own demons and self destructive behavior. And meanwhile, I’ve only gotten older. I’m 31 now, and I can honestly say that my life has become nothing close to what I expected it to be at this age. However, the only thing that has gotten me closer to who I truly am and I what I want has been Risk. I realize now that if I had stayed in MI, I would have never known what this journey would be like. I would have never discovered all the different sides of myself that I love. I would have never gone to college and studied poetry. I would have never met my fiancé or have our dog Scuba. I wouldn’t have discovered my passion for photography and art. I wouldn’t have so many close friends or people who inspire me. And most of all, I wouldn’t appreciate the impact and influence of where I came from. To truly understand one’s self takes risk, and with my pursuit of FILM POETICS, every risk has brought me closer to who I truly am. Not the idea of who I thought I had to be, but who I’ve become now. I think in many ways, that’s more important than some dream I couldn’t see.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
F I L M P O E T I C S is a fine art and photography brand directed by my own creative sensibilities as an artist.
I’ve spent most of my life as an actor, but within that journey, other modes of self expression have emerged. I think so many people develop a perceived idea of who they’re supposed to be, and breaking away from that identity becomes extremely difficult. For me, I thought acting was my only purpose, but once I found the courage to pursue other things that interested me, my entire life changed. Poetry, for example, has become a strong foundation of how I experience the world. And from being in front of the camera for so long, I realized that my love for physical, visual representation is equally served (if not better) from behind it. By using the camera and experimenting with lighting, composition, and art direction, I’ve naturally developed a love for graphic design and physical prints. I invested in commercial printers, taught myself how to cut glass and frame pieces, and by selling photographs, I’ve cultivated a love for painting and making collages on canvas.
Today, I work with a blend of mediums that include filmmaking, photography, graphic design, poetry, and painting. I offer all of these services (end-to-end creation) for clients who have their own creative ideas or projects they want to pursue. I’ve had the honor of working for major brands and networks, as well as connecting with others on an intimate community level at local art markets and events throughout Los Angeles. I also launched a new studio space in Mid-City where I often shoot branded work and create unique sets for a wide mix of personal and professional projects.
I think what sets me apart from others in the industry is my practice of self-expression and creative freedom. I try to live my life in a way that doesn’t judge or put limits on an idea or rejects mistakes. Time is so fleeting, and any opportunity that I have to work with someone who wants to discover different sides of themselves is a true blessing. I honor the strength and risk that it takes to show the world who you are. Some people may not readily know how to initiate that expression, and my role has become a way to spark that process. And funny enough, the more I share and work with others, it only helps me understand myself better. I think that’s what I’m most proud of–having the opportunity to help others, while always digging deeper into who I am and what makes me feel alive.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Most of my life, I’ve always felt like I was running in circles. Now, that circle may get a little wider as time passes, but it takes me that much longer to get ahead compared to the guy who just goes straight up. Side hustles can often feel like this.
I’m the king of side hustles. I’m a professional chef. A licensed used car salesman. A professional actor. A photographer. An artist. A published poet. A freelance content writer. A journalist. A filmmaker. I’m a licensed minister to officiate weddings. An event coordinator. An art dealer. I run a print shop from my garage. And these aren’t just things I used to do–I currently and actively do all of them to make a living. However, the only way I’ve ever made true progress or gotten ahead at any of these things is by investing time into them. This is my biggest piece of advice for those who have a side hustle they want to turn into their full-time job–you have to invest your time in order to see results.
I’ll use photography as an example:
Before really making a living as a photographer, I worked as a freelance content writer for numerous companies (something I currently do for fun). I spent 40 hours a week at home writing about all kinds of topics, and during my free time, I started to take photos and share them online. The more interested in photography I became, the more I started to go out and shoot and connect with other people. Eventually, I started making a little bit of money with my photographs–getting hired to do photoshoots for others and sell prints of my work. Now, each month, I started to see a pattern: I was making $4,000 a month writing, whereas I was making $500 a month taking photos. However, I didn’t want to sit at my desk writing copy about fertility and online security anymore. I wanted to take more photos! I figured that if I could transfer those 40 hours a week from writing into photography, maybe I could start to earn just enough money to cover my bills. So I took the risk and cut down my hours at the keyboard. I replaced them with setting up more free shoots with friends and signing up for more flea markets and art events around the city. Initially, I had to spend a little bit of upfront capital to get the ball rolling, but within a short period of time, I was earning a little over $2,000 a month with photography and earning $1,000 a month freelance writing. It wasn’t that I had to quit everything else and focus on just one thing to make it successful–all I had to do was make a time shift from one thing to another. All I had to do was take the risk, but then follow it up with action.
I have done this with countless things in my life, and the more you do it, the better you get at recognizing opportunities that no one else sees. You start to see, immediately, what you have to do to make it a success. And when roadblocks happen (because they will happen), you can’t let them deter you. There’s an amazing poem that I encourage everyone to read called “The Men Who Don’t Fit In” by Robert W. Service. It changed my life and gave me the clarity I needed to make progress, even though I may feel like I’m just running in circles.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of my biggest struggles in life has been never finishing what I started.
I would quit everything. As soon as something got hard, I’d stop and restart with something else. My acting career has taken the brunt of this bad habit.
I spent about 4 years driving back and forth from Michigan to Los Angeles in my late teens and early twenties. I would arrive in LA with no money or prospects, and after a few months of living in my car and going hungry, I would scrape some money together and drive back home. Once I got back home, I would be working at some restaurant, taking my mom to chemotherapy appointments, hanging out with same old girlfriends, feeling sad and lost, and out of nowhere, I’d pack up the car and drive back to LA. I made that drive 9 times, and each time I arrived at my destination, I felt more lost and confused than before I left. Before she died, my mom sat me down and looked me square in the eyes:
“Chase, if you go back to Los Angeles, you stay there. Don’t come back home. Promise me.”
She passed away in the fall of 2014. I had flown with her to South Korea so that she could see her family there one last time. After the funeral, I went back to LA and enrolled in college. I haven’t left since. Unfortunately, it took me losing my mom to really understand this lesson–that if you have a dream or a plan or a goal, you make a decision and see it through. Don’t quit because it gets hard or confusing. See it through until you come to a conclusion.
There’s nothing wrong with failure or disappointments, but what truly kills you is indecision.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.filmpoetics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaseyi_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Yi.Chase/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaseyi
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaseyi_
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3524780/
Image Credits
All photos taken by Chase Yi F I L M P O E T I C S