We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chuck Steele a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chuck, thanks for 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 have not yet had the opportunity to earn a full-time living from my creative works. My main project has been going on since April of 2020, and has definitely been met with its share of challenges. I have had however, hit a few great milestones along the way!
I have met industry professionals that really enjoy what I am doing as well as, give me insights and gracious advice on how to proceed and whom I can potentially speak to about my project. Since this is an unscripted “reality” travel and adventure platform, it is a tough sell. The industry is currently shying away from travel shows but I will not quit. I fund this project myself now as it is so if I must, I will just keep on going! I believe in this idea, and I know people will really start to come around to it the more I get it pushed out to the other platforms.

Chuck, 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?

Who is Chuck Steele? That is a good question ha-ha! Daily, I am a father of two amazing boys. Or young men I should say. My oldest is in the Army currently serving overseas. My youngest is a Junior in High School and planning his future. I work a full-time job or as I call it, a W2, that I will soon step away from to pursue my passions in the creative arts with television and film. I am a writer, short stories, scripts, loglines, so on.
I am an actor professionally trained; I have a few uncredited works under my belt as of now and of course will be gaining more. I have been working on getting my motorcycle adventure show off the ground for a few years now. My business partner and I promote different types of motorcycle events and such around the community as well. I simply want to put the world of motorcycles on the map under the context that we all share a passion for the ride. We love the adventure, the comradery between each other, the love and care for each other. How free it is to ride a ride to unknown and known destinations.
I am also a gym junkie, love the health and fitness lifestyle. Love working on myself daily and getting myself to better points for stronger life. I love helping people get to their health goals and will drop what I am doing to coach someone along! It is a difficult journey, and we need to build each other up and support each other daily!
I am proudly a Free Mason, part of the oldest fraternity in history. My lodge puts together community events and helps out wherever we can. Some of the most prominent people in time have been Freemasons.
What I am most proud of is my no quit attitude. Because I believe in what I do so much for my craft of acting and writing and being on film, I absolutely believe that Chuck Steele will be a name everyone talks about soon for the great things I am doing and the fun I bring to life.
I want my fans and viewers to feel what I do each and every day. I want them to feel my happiness as I role down a back road, taking in the beautiful scenery. Stopping at local diners and having amazing food. I want them to feel the stress of the challenges we face as we travel, like mechanical issues or angry people or whatever comes up. I want them to experience getting stuck in the rainstorms with us. Having to hide out under bridges and wait. Or to narrowly miss that bird (that actually happened) or hope we get around that cattle truck without getting a nasty surprise! I want full immersion into my show that from their couches, they feel they are riding along with me!
I am very proud of the work I have put into this so far just to get where I am now. I work daily of phone calls, emails and everything in-between just to make contacts, connections and network with people that can or will talk to me. I have also turned my project into a full-fledged LLC and we are in the works to start up tours of our state and assist with other motorcycle related things. This is my life. It is my passion and all I want to do every day is wake up, feel good, help someone smile and then go ride! So I am making it a career and stepping away for the W2 grind. I appreciate everything my job has done for me for sure, but I have to let my creative life live on!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I like this question, yes there is a particular goal and mission driving my creative journey. That being, I absolutely must succeed. Quit is not an option. I have a story to tell, and the world needs to hear it, I have people looking for an adventure that for whatever reason, they cannot take, and I want to do it for them! I want to bring smiles to people’s faces. I want their hearts full of adventure, happiness, completion. To live vicariously through me. I want to be that example to my sons that no matter your dream, you chase it and make it happen! I also really really want to see the faces of all those that told me no and doubted me! Not for a vengeance or negative thing by any means. Just to show them that I was a good horse t bet on simply put. I have a million ideas and someone out there is willing to hear them I’m sure, so that is why I am doing this. But I really just want to share something special with people all around!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The word “NO” has become all too familiar with me at this point! Which makes me laugh to be honest. A quick funny story, I had an agent working with me at one point. He was in distribution. Basically, trying to sell me and my show and at that time, I was super fresh in the game. Door after door was being slammed in our faces over this whole project. I has spent so much time and yes, money on things to just get where I was then! But the word NO kept coming up. He told me “Chuck, don’t get frustrated. You will hear NO a million times before you hear a YES”
He’s right because I am only up to a maybe or sounds interesting! Ha-Ha!
My point is, don’t quit! Do not let the word no slow you down or stop you from following what you believe in so much, what you have so much passion and heart in. The word no is not an ending. It’s merely a challenge. So, what if you didn’t nail that monologue audition, it’s ok if you missed your step on that dance tryout. That word no, was protecting you from the place you did not belong to begin with. So, keep grinding, keep polishing, keep filming, keep GOING! Because that YES is right there waiting to surprise you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: 307BackRoadBikers
• Facebook: Chuck Steele
• Youtube: 307backroadbilersfindingam5