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

Crystal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I knew I wanted to pursue being a creative professionally when I was a child. I have always been the person gravitating to do what I love. Any time I do any thing that I do not care about, it is always short lived, so I try not to. As a little girl, I drew pictures, sang, danced, and did all sorts of creative things. Although I excelled in many areas, I always preferred to do things that didn’t feel like a chore. For me, that was creative and artistic things.

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.

I am an actress and empowerment specialist. I know, it’s a new term and I am running with it. I believe my mission in life is to reach people, teach people, and inspire people. The core element for me is to be able to do it in a creative outlet of sorts. Growing up I was in the arts. My first acting opportunity came to me while I was young and playing outside in my neighborhood. Being on that film set birthed the love that I have for the entertainment industry. I knew then that this was it for me. But no matter how much I loved the craft of acting, singing, dancing, filmmaking, photography, etc., one thing has been consistent.
I am a talker! I have been talking since I was born. That is my truest gift. I got into so much trouble while growing up because of it. I knew I needed a career that would let me do it. Every job or position that I have had has been revolved around me being able to be a public speaker. Communication is my gift.
In addition to acting, modeling, voice over, writing books, and whatever else I do — because I do a lot, I actively keep myself open and available to speaking life into people.
There are so many people with so many questions or feel stuck in circumstances or limited beliefs. I am here to be in their face and ear telling them they can do it!
I create content around opening up mindsets through exposing my audience to new things and ideas. I do a lot of lifestyle, teaching, and sharing on my platforms. All that I do is to inspire someone to live their fullest life and to die empty. Don’t take your brilliance to the grave.
I am most proud of receiving feedback from people that I have worked with (clients), when they tell me they took my advice and it worked. Of course it is gratifying, but it is more gratifying to see them happy and get closer to their vision or goal.
I have a have the power of persuasion, therefore I do not recommend anyone who isn’t ready to be inspired to reach for the stars to be around me because I will make you believe in your wildest dreams whether you like it or not.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Taking risks like not having a settled full-time job is often-times necessary to be available for creative work, including speaking engagements and appearances. People who do these types of things have more autonomy in their schedule and are considered business owners. Having several part-time jobs gives you a little more flexibility to not be too depended on daily.

When acting you often work 10-16 hour days and there is no certainty of what time you will be expected to report to set or what time you will wrap for the day. If you have a full-time 9-5, you become a risk for that job if you are out frequently. Your creative work may become consistent for several days or even several months. But even though it was consistent, it is still a “gig” or contract work. It is very short lived.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I knew this sooner, even though I have a strong foundation now, but the biggest resource will be building a great network. Networking is your life bread in the creative realm. To this day, the most powerful form of marketing is through word of mouth. Meet people, be good to people, work with people, and build a solid reputation for being good at what you do and a good person. All else will follow. People will support you because they trust your product which is: you. You can wake up without any network and have a wild idea to do something creative and get discouraged because you don’t know who to call or how to call. Or you can network your butt off and make a few phone calls that will either lead you to a solution for your wild idea or they will lead you to someone else who will have a solution. The power of the network is infinite.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/crystalgix_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamcrystalgix/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystal-gix-a81303203/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CrystalGix/featured

Image Credits
Hakim Hill Courtesy of iSpot.tv and Draftkings Courtesy of Meta