We were lucky to catch up with Dahmian Ramsammy recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dahmian, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Honestly I learned through experience. Starting off, I had an idea of what I should expect and what would be expected of me, but you can never truly know what something will be like until you experience it. I think going into it with confidence and openness was really helpful in speeding up the learning process for me. I had a pretty strong understanding of myself and my skillset, but I was still open and eager to develop that through experience. I also had to be open to taking direction, hearing critiques, being rejected, but had to be confident enough to use those things as lessons to learn and grow from rather than allow them to break me down or shake me.

I think the two main skills or strengths of mine that became the most useful to me in regard to learning how the industry worked, were my ability to communicate with others and my ability to adapt to changes and new environments. Every job you do is with a different team working on a different project and each person you work with has a different way of working. When you take the time to communicate, to listen to everyone you’re working with, you can learn to better understand them and respect their working style. I feel like this creates a more comfortable environment for everyone to focus on their work and makes it easier to collaborate. Also, everything is constantly changing and moving and it all happens fast. It’s a creative industry, so being able to adapt to whatever you’re being presented with, as opposed to expecting a consistent or rigid structure to guide you, really makes it easier to flow with everyone you’re working with and allows you to create something really great together.

I still face new obstacles and challenges, but I think that rather than holding me back, they end up also being things that I learn from. For example, especially when I was starting off, I’d go to an audition or a casting, and I’d have a lot of ideas of how I could perform something, and I would get pretty indecisive or start overthink things, which lead to me getting nervous and sometimes choking up a bit. I learned that what was helpful for me, was fully committing to a creative choice at an audition or casting right away and going all out. I’ve definitely gotten much better at being consistent with it, but I do still get a little in my head from time to time. Especially if it’s an audition for a type of project that I don’t have as much experience with.

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 a model/actor from the Twin Cities. I’ve always had an interest in modeling and acting but for a while I wasn’t sure where to start. I found out a local agency was having an open call, which sounded like a great opportunity to meet and be seen by the agents and hopefully secure representation with them. I am happy and grateful to say that it went well. I joined the agency and went on to book my first job with Target a month later and as the year went on, I started to book work more consistently.

MN is more of an open market and we are allowed to multi-list, meaning we can be represented by multiple agencies in the area. Some have overlapping client’s that they work with but they all have their own client’s as well. I wanted to work as much as possible, so I started to reach out to other local agencies, which helped me connect with even more opportunities in the area. Since then, I have connected with other agencies outside of MN like in Chicago, Nashville, and Indianapolis, which has given me the opportunity to experience other markets, different types of projects, and meet more new people with different ways of working and communicating. It has also given me the opportunity to travel and see new places, which has been really fun and exciting.

Something I learned pretty quickly was that connecting is really important. Not connecting in the way that you might connect with someone for networking purposes, but moreso in the way that you take the time to listen and truly understand the vision for a project. It helps to eliminate any uncertainty so that you can confidently perform to the best of your ability. I guess this is me going back to why communication is important. I always come back to that, but I take pride in being a strong communicator. It’s something that that has gotten me far both in work and in life.

There are a lot of different categories of work within the entertainment industry and I would say that most of my work falls under the commercial/lifestyle category. Most of the projects I work on entail creating a scene, whether in print or on-camera, that feels relatable and engaging. Doing this requires an ability to make whatever you’re doing or saying feel real, believable, and genuine, or else it just falls flat. It’s more work than it might seem, but you need to be able to really immerse yourself in a scene, or character, or whatever it is in order really make it successful.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It’s one thing to create something on your own as an individual, but there’s an additional layer of challenge and reward when you’re creating with a team and for a purpose. Each set I’m on, I am working with a group of creative people, each bringing our own talent and vision to the job. Sometimes we get a specific vision or set of directions that need to be followed and we can create within that. Other times we’re given more freedom to operate in a broader scope and we’re able add more of our own style into it. I love working collaboratively with others and coming up with creative ways to execute or add to a project, and when you really vibe with who you’re working with it’s a lot more fun.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Currently my focus is on branching out of the Midwest and into other markets. I love my agents and am so grateful for the work we do here. I don’t intend to leave that behind, but I do want to expand, I want to continue grow, and I want to keep challenging myself with more new opportunities. Still as a model/actor working in the commercial world, but with an additional focus on acting in TV/Film. Currently, I’m looking forward to a fresh start and establishing myself in the LA market. I knew before I started in this industry that I would eventually want to be able to continue my work beyond the Midwest, and have had my sights set on the LA and NYC markets. I think both markets are different and offer different types of work and challenges, but also I love being in both cities. However, before branching out, I wanted to establish myself in my current market … to understand my potential and develop my skillset before trying to establish myself in another. I felt ready to make some moves in 2019 but going into 2020 discouraged this transition slightly. Now, with people going back to work and with businesses putting additional precautions that are helping keep us safe, I feel like now is the time to do it so I’m committing haha.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dahmianramsammy/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV3ZpQ99dL2KqkvRW4Tf5ig/videos
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_dahminator

Image Credits
Lauren Krysti Genét Jean-Pierre Erika Flaherty Javier Juárez Kerry Fongthavisay Dani Werner Me Bruce Schlehuber