We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Isaac Parra-azocar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Isaac, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
My parents taught me, that which you are good at can only take you so far but the character you build in the process of becoming the person you desire can open doors no talent or gift can.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Isaac,
I am an entrepreneur and an artist. Music and acting have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, from playing a toy guitar bass to being part of a play at my local church, the arts have always been a part of who I am. Business on the other hand has been more of a recent passion.
It could be said that getting involved in entrepreneurship and entertainment have both been happy accidents. Situations that happened and doors that opened, that were certainly not on my ten year plan those which have all lead me down this road. It would be easy to say it was the universe telling me which way to turn, but I don’t think it was as arbitrary as I, at times would like to believe. In my heart I know that Jesus has a plan, one that I choose to follow as best as I could with my flaws and all. A plan that lead me to walk through the right doors when the time was right. All to end up here.
I am fully devoted to the things that I do, not only because I enjoy and love doing them but because I believe the purpose I’m carrying out in doing them is greater than me. From helping to inspiring, the desire is to see those I come across be positively impacted by my actions.
In one of my businesses, The Dirt Herders, I help people make the exterior of their homes feel and look new. Ranging from a simple window cleaning job, to a full refresh of their homes with an exterior wash and detailing. The way I ended up here is anything but exciting. I felt frustrated and overlooked by the people I worked for. It came down to the day I stood up for myself and asked for a raise, a raise I had worked hard and diligently for but my request was denied. This happened right after the awful pandemic we all experienced. It was the last straw, I realized that if I didn’t look after myself no one else would, no matter how hard I worked. This is what lead me to partnering up with some great people which lead to the beginning of The Dirt Herders. A company that looks to make its clients feel seen and taken care of. As well as its employees, we pride ourselves in providing a space where everyone that works with us feels like they are being heard and treated with the respect we all deserve.
When it comes to my music and acting, I want to be as honest as possible with my emotions. I believe that at the core of things we all feel very similar, misunderstood and overlooked. Often times by the people closest to us. Whether we feel that with God Himself, relationships, friends, family and even our parents, we all experience a level of loneliness and isolation. And I want people to know that they’re not the only ones feeling that way. Truth is our emotions are not the reality of things, that God and those that surround us and love us are truly there desiring to understand us but we are complicated beings and to communicate what’s truly going on in our messy minds is no easy task. My music and acting reflect that. The songs we write with MDNGHT SUMMRS rage from happy to sad, from fun to chill and everything in between. Music is one of the creative outlets I use to let everyone else know, “ I too have felt like you before.” Acting is my other outlet. Like I said before, people are complicated and often times almost impossible to understand, yet acting has made that a little easier. I’ve always felt like I’m looking in from the outside. A want to feel understood but as I grew older I yearned to understand others. When I begin to act I started to be put in circumstances I never expected to be in, saying things I had never imagined saying before, this opened my eyes. I found something that helped me see a little deeper into the human experience of each individual. It allowed me to understand how little I truly knew and how shortsighted I was about the world and people. I fell in love with getting to know what was like to think like someone else and to feel what others felt and although at its very best acting can only bring me just below the surface of the hardships and complexities other people experience, it has given me a greater understanding than I previously had. I hope people either love or hate my characters, my characters aren’t me, but they are real in some sense of the word. They represent real feelings and emotions, real hardships and experiences and how people relate to them will hopefully teach them something about themselves.
All of this to finally say, none of us truly know what’s going on in this life. I wish I had the answers but I don’t. Life comes at us faster than we can understand and even faster than we want. However, we do have a choice. We can make the best out of every situation or we can choose to let them destroy us. We can pivot and look for ways to adapt. To channel what we feel through healthy mediums maybe; through the arts, faith or through creating something that we never believe possible. Taking a risk and betting on ourselves. Knowing that we lose more when you don’t take a risk. Believe that everything happens for a reason good or bad the choice is your, whether we understand it now or not we have control over our prospective and the way you choose to see it is the way it will end up being. After all, lemons do taste pretty good as lemonade.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Through the pandemic all things regarding entertainment were pretty much closed. During this time many people decided to give up on their dreams and goals but I chose to have a different prospective on it. I decided to hone in on my skills now that I had more time. I pulled out my guitar gear and old notebook and started practicing guitar and song writing in the mean time I thought to myself that if I had this much time on my hands probably so did a lot of people in the industry and that included agents and manager. Over the span of a few months I emailed agents and mangers, and while I was waiting for a response I would invite friends over to do some improv and scene study I can proudly say most days just ended with us watching a movie and claiming we were studying it. But it paid off, I started getting responses from those agents and managers, tens of them were no but all I needed was one yes. Yes it’s cliche and everyone says it, but it’s true. I stayed the course, kept trying until I got a yes, and it eventually came. Can’t say it’s all been roses since, the pandemic took way longer than everyone expected and right afterwards, all the strikes within the entertainment industry started to happen and through it all I’ve kept my eyes on the price because no good thing comes easy so if it comes easy it might not be as good as it seems. And a simple but powerful passage has always been in the back of my mind, Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Staying the course has paid of, I been able to make music with some great people and been involved in projects I am proud of. But the best of all I have a become a better person through it all.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
It’s an old saying but it holds true, treat others how you wish to be treated. Reality is, this is harder to implement than many perceive. To treat others how we want to be treated means to try to understand and put ourselves in their shoes and if we were fully in their shoes knowing what they know in the circumstances that they are in, how would we want someone else to treat us. More often than not there is only one right answer and that is to have more grace. People allow themselves to be lead easier if they believe the person leading them also has their best interests in mind. It’s easy to be selfish and look for ways that you can make your business more profitable but if that’s at the expense of someone else’s livelihood and integrity then it’s best to find another way. Managing people isn’t about control but rather inspiration. I believe it’s about letting them peek into your own vision of things and making them a part of building it with you. It’s not about being their boss but rather their leader and a leader not only leads with example but helps those that have a harder time getting to where they need to be. When problems arise, refrain yourself from speaking the first thing that comes to mind, take a moment and listen to what they have to say, in good faith and with a desire to understand them more than one to correct them. If you can understand more often than not you’ll see the path way to correct the problem.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Dirtherders.com
- Instagram: Isaacparraazocar
- Facebook: Isaacparraazocar
- Twitter: Isaacparraazoca
