We were lucky to catch up with JANUARY CURRY recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi JANUARY, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Being a female, of color in a male dominated industry can be challenging. I started my journey in Casting as an assistant to a very well-known male Casting Director. Learned an abundance of vital info, made lifelong connections and ultimately found my passion and purpose. My decision to start my own casting company did not come easy but it definitely felt like it was my newfound purpose.
I was a single mother of three small children when I made the decision to start Destination Casting. It was risky, as I knew that while working in corporate America may be more consistent and stable, building a business that my children could one day take over if they wanted was a sacrifice worth making. Let alone, I wanted to do what made me happy. Helping talented people fulfill their dreams was a something gave me great joy.
As of today, I couldn’t imagine clocking in at a “regular job”. Most have realized how much freedom and time really mean since the pandemic however I realized it a lot earlier. Though the film and TV industry is long crazy hours and not always steady, being a creative, when you are able to make a living doing what you love every other sacrifice is worth it.
JANUARY, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am the owner of Destination Casting based out of Atlanta GA. We provide casting services for film, TV, commercial and music videos all over the U.S. We cast both principal and background talent. Our main goal, no matter how many or how big the projects are that we cast, is to always have a boutique feel. We want the Producers to trust that we will bring them the most professional talent and the talent to know we are here to be a door to opportunities for them.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
My casting team can sometimes be just one Associate or be three to four depending on the size of the show. The most important thing to me is communication. We primarily work remotely so email and text messages are our main form of correspondence. Forming group texts and email chains to keep us all in the loop is important. I loop my team in on all emails, even those that may not directly apply to them. I do this so that they are what I consider “over” informed. Your team is only a strong as you build them up to be. I don’t concern myself with being a “boss”. I concern myself with being a great communicator with my team. They are all an expert at what they do, otherwise I would not have hired them. Communicating, respecting their personal time and being open to learn from them, helps me be a better leader.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I believe what helped build my reputation is how I treat people. Word of mouth will always be one of your biggest marketing tools. If that word is broken, you are no longer trusted in your field. It takes less energy to be kind to people than it does to be negative or irate. My past working in customer service plays a major part in how I communicate with Production, talent and agents. The same service that I would like to receive is the service I like to deliver.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://destinationcasting.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destinationcasting/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DestinationCastingGA/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/january-curry-841b1b181/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CastDestination
- Other: https://destinationcasting.tumblr.com/ https://www.tiktok.com/@destinationcasting
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