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

Gene, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I’m SO happy as an artist and creative. It’s funny you ask if I ever wonder what it’s like to have a regular job…I’ve had multiple. Every single time I realized how I was so not cut out for the corporate world. It’s funny because I love what I do as a creative, but when I worked an office job, I felt even more passionately about how much I didn’t like the 9-5 world. My full respect goes out to those that work those types of jobs because I knew immediately I didn’t have the mental fortitude or patience to see myself doing that long term.

Gene, 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?

I’m an experienced actor, touring stand up comedian, and social media content creator with over a million total followers. I first got into performing arts when I was mistakenly put into a drama class by my middle school counselor. What I quickly discovered in this class was this extroverted persona that I never knew that I had. More importantly, I realized that using this newfound silly persona brought joy to those watching me. Ever since then my sole mission has been to bring joy to the world…even if that means at my self deprecating expense. I believe that I was put on this earth to entertain and plan on continuing this pursuit through my acting, writing, and directing until my last days.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I was never a big social media guy growing up…But I always understood the value of being able to reach audiences without having to talk to/perform for each one. In the creative world a great comparison for this is theater versus film. In theater, each show requires every viewer’s physical presence at the exact time and a purchase of a limited seat in the venue. In film, assuming there is proper distribution, a movie can be watched at any time and any place for the rest of time. This is what makes social media such a valuable tool in building an audience or creating business leads. I’m saying all of this to emphasize the value of being on social media today, for someone looking to reach new audiences. One big tip I can give is always having consistent a niche/theme of content. If you post fitness videos then one day switch to finance tips, you’re confusing your viewers. You’re much better off having a separate page for each as painstaking as that may seem.

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

I really wish I utilized this more coming up in my creative journey but the value of a community. COMMUNITY IS SO IMPORTANT. And more specifically I mean a community in your career path. I can’t tell you the number of things I learned from being around comedians that made me funnier, actors that made me a better performer, or self driven people that made me work harder. Make like-minded friends and communicate with them constantly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13857356/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genewpark
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@genewpark
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@genewpark

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