We recently connected with Gregory Lay and have shared our conversation below.

Gregory, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

I created an online episodic comedy series called “Greg in LA” with my creative partner Sean Cunningman, we had absolutely no money and no crew, just one microphone and a camera. My goal was to have it reach the largest audience possible and potentially, through word of mouth and online sharing, go viral. The hope was that it would get picked up and funded by a platform that understood what we were doing and shared our vision.

We succeeded.

We live in a different world than the one I grew up in with regards to the creation and production of entertainment. The gates have been broken down and the gatekeepers no longer have the power they used to. This means that with the proper skills and planning, an individual can create and develop a show that traditionally would require permission from others and potentially millions of dollars and hundreds of people.

With the use of social media a creator can garner the attention of their own unique and dedicated audience, something that traditionally would have taken several departments full of people and resources to win over.

My partner Sean Cunningham and I knew that we had the unique ability to produce high quality content quickly for absolutely no money and with no additional team members. Additionally we didn’t want to have to ask permission from others or have any extraneous voices or egos t throw us off of our vision. It would go straight from our hearts and minds into the camera and out into the world. If the audience liked it they would make sure others saw it. They did.

I knew that if the show were to catch on, the rest would take care of itself purely based on the nature of what social media is at its essence, a vehicle connecting the world by one click. We would produce and release an episode a week, every Sunday.

People enjoyed it, shared it and within a year it would go out to millions of people and create the steady flow of a returning and growing audience. We are now a fully funded show working in tandem with an incredible company and have an entire marketing team behind us that allows us to simply continue our unique process. We are currently shooting and will soon release our 4th season.

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 artistic entrepreneur. In addition to the comedy series I have two companies I co-own with my partner of 10 years Julia Tokarz, East Side Cheesecakes and Sweet Selma’s Bagels. We will be selling our offerings at Smorgasburg in LA come July 14th, 2024.

It’s thrilling to not be pinned down in one single industry. This happened because I followed my grace, skills and passion wherever they took me. I committed for 20 years to being an actor and storyteller while continuously working in every front of the house aspect of the restaurant industry. Feeling the need to challenge myself and allow my other interests to flourish, I committed to learning the craft of cooking and baking when I arrived in LA in 2019. It was scary, slightly intimidating and I had no idea what I was doing but I knew if I put in the work I could reshape who I imagined I was and could potentially be. I believe one of the biggest and most detrimental lies we are ever told and therefore end up telling ourselves is that we must choose one thing to do in this life.

I believe in quality, consistency, integrity and hard work above all else. The quality of the product is simply not negotiable and personal integrity is the fuel that leads to quality. You MUST combine a passion and love for what you do with an obsessive work ethic and desire to become a master through the development of a skill set. This means under no circumstances should you forego quality to make either more money, obtain clout or seek expedient results or praise. In a world run on attention seeking and quick results the tendency is to be rushed to publicize your work but craft must be your dedication. I believe all accolades and prizes are the result of a commitment to that quality and dedication to personal and professional development. Making prizes the main driver of your pursuit, money or praise, is akin to soul death to me.

I sell bagels and cheesecake made by hand, both connected by the star of the show – the handmade cream cheese we use to make both the cheesecake and to compliment what I consider the best bagels in Los Angeles. The cream cheese is the perfect example of what I believe in. It takes time and effort and there are no shortcuts, the result is a deeply delicious and complex product, it is the primary reason that our customers keep coming back. You will not find the attention we give to quality and consistency anywhere else and under no circumstances will I ever release a product I believe to be subpar.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I have two creative partners.

One is the love of my life and one of the most talented human beings I have ever known, Julia Tokarz, who I not only share a life with but co-own two businesses with. We met one night in NYC over a decade ago and since then we have pursued our dreams together, evolved as human beings together and continued taking risks and saying yes when doing so could often not be more challenging. Together we forge a complimentary bond that has limitless power when applied to any pursuit. Our businesses are a testament to our shared belief in quality, love and integrity in this life.

My other creative partner I met also over a decade ago on a short film shoot. We both immediately knew we had met our creative counterpart. I was the actor and he was the technician but we both loved film and stories and together our minds melded into a mutual love of storytelling via a love of the films we grew up watching. Since meeting we have produced over 30 projects together and currently are shooting our 4th season of “Greg in LA” set for release sometime at the end of the year.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

My main business, East Side Cheesecakes was started with $300 and a mixer purchased off Craigslist. Essentially early in 2020 when the pandemic started and the world shut down my partner Julia Tokarz and I found ourselves at a crossroads. We could either find a way to cobble together some money and continue to survive by finding odd jobs doing what we had in the past, mainly working in the service industry OR we could take a risk and do something we had only dreamed of off hand as some far into the future and vague idea, start a food business. We decided that all things now seeming uncertain there couldn’t be a better time for us to take a leap. Rather than feeling limited by the pressure of our circumstances we chose instead to realize our own power in taking our destiny into our hands. It seemed at that time quite clear that it could all be taken away at any moment…our freedom, our health or even our lives so what on earth were we waiting for? It was time to reinvent ourselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: Eastsidecheesecakes.com – sweetselmas.com – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28029475
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greginlaseries – www.instagram.com/eastsidecheesecakes – Instagram.com/sweetselmasbagels
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eastsidecheesecakes?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-lay-4a899b264
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@greginlaseries
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/myykXuB_e5