We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Davionne Coubarous. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Davionne below.
Hi Davionne, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Everyone goes through things, when we reach adult years sometimes all the wheels fall off, we have to manage and figure out how to pick up the scraps. I found myself in a very trying time, the family that I made and thought I would have forever, looks a little different now. I took a long break from my creative world and immersed myself in a regular job. That didn’t age well, creatives know when you’re called for this type of thing you’re not happy unless you’re creating. Once I decided to get back into my craft I was skeptical, scared, felt like I couldn’t do it. My now ex husband was my biggest cheerleader at one point and now we were no longer married, I was concerned that I was not good enough. It really affected me mentally and it almost won. I’m a mother first above all else and I never want my two amazing kids to give up because things are getting tough. You learn you grow you heal you cry you shout and you get through it. After much needed prayer and therapy I auditioned for a short film, (Mindless directed and written by Shacolby Shentell), didn’t think I would get a role but not only did I book the project, I got the lead. The story was centered around a mental health specialist that tried her best to heal everyone else’s demons while hers grew inside. By the time she realized the deepness of her own mess it was almost too late. The short film highlighted mental health, trauma, the black community and our response to therapy. This was the most meaningful project I’ve been apart of, not only was it my ticket back into the creative role as a divorced mother of two, it impacted my own mental health. I connected with that character because I just experienced the exact thing. It was my chance to tell my story while portraying someone else. I made the decision then, that I wouldn’t just audition for any and everything. I want the projects that I’m apart of to be a lesson, a teaching tool, to have true meaning behind it. When someone walks up to you and state that you made them more comfortable with bringing up the topic of mental health, man .. thats a very humbling feeling and I never want that to stop.
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’m Davionne Coubarous. A mother of two, actress and writer. I was born and partially raised in New Orleans, La a city thats full of culture. At a very young age I started performing, I was on the dance team, performed at parades, went to a creative arts school then later joined theatre and dance at my church. After Katrina my family moved to Houston, Texas which is where I reside now. Throughout highschool I leaned more towards acting and I left dance behind. I joined a theatre group where we went to multiple competitions, had many performances and events. Theatre and film are extremely different, I knew I could tackle theatre but I wanted to challenge myself with film. I later joined and became co owner of a film group (Houston Acting Group) where we wrote and directed our own projects. Short films that helped other local actors find agencies for representation. I slowly left theatre behind and gravitated towards film as a whole in front and behind the camera. I’m extremely proud of how far film has taken me. I’ve had the pleasure of booking several independent film projects, a show titled Good Act , Bad Act founded by Christopher Chatman and James Joffrion, a web series titled (The Shift) directed and written by Malcolm Dwain Carter, (you can find it on social media platforms), a podcast Breaking The Black Box with my co-host and best friend Tabitha Nicole (also on social media platforms) and now my next goal is to find an amazing agency to really take my gift to the next level.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Social media is so complicated, the algorithm is constantly changing, its really difficult to stay relevant in a world where things switch up over night. Even if you have alot of support from family and friends its really important to find YOUR TARGET audience. Meet and socialize with those that has like interest. You’ll be surprised on how far networking can take you. It opened a lot of doors for me. Although a few of my reels has went viral when I did give into the quick trend world those are usually short lived. I decided to post content that I personally connected with, not quick and fast trends that change every week. Most of the projects and most of the creative relationships I have been able to maintain and benefit from now has been from staying true to myself , staying consistent and intentional. Social media is an amazing tool once you learn how to utilize it.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Being in the creative world can be brutal. You will get so many no’s that will literally have you wondering if all of this is worth it. I use to believe that I was a failure if I had to keep starting over, “its embarrassing to start from scratch,” never tell anyone your struggles. That is the biggest LIE in the world. Theres so much resilience in starting over so much strength in a reframe. You learn the lessons and you try again. If it doesn’t work you try again and again and again. You do not quit you do not back down. Picking yourself up ADMITTING this is harder than you thought sharing that with others showing that you are HUMAN. There’s power in THAT. Don’t you ever feel embarrassed about starting over. Be happy that you had the mindset to do so.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davibby_?igsh=N3czd2l0ODRqaGlx&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/182SgKgJux/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/ZltE4stsnIA
