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

Jemario, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is different in everyone’s eyes. What is success? is it tangible items? is it money? these are questions that people have about success. To me, success is journeying through life living in the purpose God placed you on this earth. While doing that, everything you need, God gives you. You’re in your right mind, good health, wealthy, family blessed,etc, etc. I developed this view over time as I have been through many struggles in my life and it was through those struggles I learned what success looked like for me. It didn’t look like what I was going through thats for sure but in that mess was success. Example, when I got out the Air Force, I wasn’t sure of my “what’s next”. So I went to college and prayed on what God wanted me to do next. I gave Him my two cents and then I met with guidance counselors. The counselors decided that acting would be a good fit for me and from that moment forward, acting is all I’ve been doing and it has been a blessed 5 years. The mess in this was not knowing if God would approve of me acting. Also, where would my income come from since now I’m no longer working a 9-5. The stress was strong and giving up before I even started was easy. To some that’s not success but as I said in the beginning, success is different to everyone and to me, taking that leap of faith was success!

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 Jemario Patterson from Nashville, TN. Im 38 years old and I’m currently living in Colorado Springs, CO. I moved here in 2009 while I was in the Air Force. I spent 12 years in the military where I was a cook, fitness trainer, hotel manager, mortuary officer, and an instructor. When I got out the military, I wasn’t sure what my next step was so as I am a Christian man, I prayed to God and ask for his help and advice. Acting and modeling was something I wanted to do ever since I was a kid but I didn’t want to do it unless God said yes. Well, I received his yes and can say for 5 years now I am a successful actor and model. I’m currently in school now learning behind the camera stuff as one day I plan to have my own production company so I can produce and direct my own movies. How I got into acting was actually pretty cool. So as I was meeting with the counselors who decided to put me in acting, 3 weeks later I find myself shooting a commercial for University of Colorado Colorado Springs or UCCS for short. They were looking for actors to be in a commercial as they were opening a new facility on campus and I auditioned and made the cut. Now I made it as an extra and the shoot started at 7:15 am but I arrived at 6:40 am because I’m all about being early no matter where I go. I immediately was bumped up from extra to main actor for the shoot. As I sat in the chair, a makeup artist to which I forgot her name but she was so sweet, told me about Wilhelmina Denver talent agency and said I would be a good fit for them as I have a bright light on me. She saw something in me that I didn’t see and I carry that with me still to this day. When I met with Wilhelmina, I met Cassie Keefe and the rest is history. Been apart of them ever since. What I’m most proud of is that I took a leap of faith even when I didn’t have a full support system. I could count on one hand how many people truly believed in me when I decided I wanted to act and model full time. I trusted God the whole way and have been doing it his way. I could have listened to all the naysayers and did other things but then I would’ve ended up just like them, a carbon copy but I’m an original! So I trusted God instead of others and that has taken me from glory to glory every year. Im not going to tell you that it’s easy because it’s not. This journey comes with mountains and valleys, ups and downs, good days and bad. But all my good days outweigh my bad days and I’m still standing and moving. Many times I wanted to give up and quit but God kept speaking to me over and over saying things like “you too far to go back” and that would always hit me because I would look back like “man I’ve come so far. Im way out here now”. If I quit, I know the result already but if I can keep going then I can keep dreaming. I’m just a kid from Nashville still living his dream and the best part about is that I get to do it with God, my Queen and our kids and that is a blessing. If God can do this for me, imagine what He can do for you and thats what I want people to know about me

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

About 5 years ago, I was working at Amazon as a driver when Covid hit hard. Of course I was still delivering packages during the pandemic and man those trucks would be packed tight due to everyone ordering since they were at home. Well after about 6 months into 2020, I made the choice to walk away from Amazon and walk into acting full-time. Now this was not an easy thing to do as I really didn’t have a lot of income coming in at the time. So it was a tough decision to make but I believed in God and in myself that this dream would come true. So I did it and I can tell you that it was rough. The first year started out ok as I was learning quick how to be on sets but then I would have periods where it was no work. That was the first 2 years. About year 3 was where it got rough. The first 6 months of 2023 I was working left and right and going through a divorce so mentally, it was rough. When August had arrived, I remember the last job I worked for that year was a training video for the military. I didn’t work again the rest of the year. The reason was God was taking through a valley in where I had to fully rely on him. Think of when the children of Israel went through the wilderness with Moses before they entered the promised land. Thats what I went through from mid August 2023 to February 2024. In that same timeframe, my grandmother passed away and I had to attend her funeral back in Nashville. I got into it with my family as they didn’t fully believe in me pursuing my dream and so that was heartbreaking. I returned back to Colorado and my electricity, water, and internet are all shut off due to non payment. Now as I stated early, income was a bit scarce as I was waiting for income to come in from the previous jobs I had worked. I had asked for help from others before but that came with a lot of headaches and arguments even thought they knew my situation so I wasn’t doing that again. I had just got into it with my family and the last thing I wanted to tell them is my situation so they can yell at me again so I decided to tell no one and trust God instead. I had 5 dollars to my name at the time and nothing to eat so I would go to Walmart and buy those tuna packs for like 70 cents and little salad bowls that were on sale for a dollar. For internet, I went to Starbucks and spent the day there. Even spent a lot of time at the gym for water and showering. I cried a lot during this time. I felt God was pulling me away from all the things I use to do and pushing me to something greater. The resilience factor kicked in heavy as Ive been deployed to Afghanistan before and out there we had no running water. So we made due with what we had. So those instincts kicked in immediately. Eventually the money from the previous jobs came through and I was able to get things turned back on but I still had to worry about the next month and so on. Well I tried working Uber and Lyft but every time I turned in my info, I got denied. Crazy right? I was unsure of what to do as I ended up reconnecting with an old friend around this time and I told her my situation. Well out of nowhere, she provides for me food, water, and money so can get by from month to month all the way till February. Then she disappears again. God was looking out for me the whole time. I could have given up and threw in the towel. I could have went and applied for other jobs and left my dream job but I knew I wouldn’t have been happy if I did. I decided to trust, persevere, and remain resilient in God’s plan for my life and it all worked out in the end. Once I came out of my valley, I heard God tell me “Don’t forget who kept you and brought you out” and my promise to Him was that no matter how high He takes me, I will always tell the world about Him!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Well I wouldn’t say just one goal but all around I would say that the drive is becoming the best version on myself everyday. Along with that, being the best servant, dad, husband, actor/model, etc. Everyday I get out of bed, I have to make a choice, Live Blessed or Live Complaining. What does live blessed mean? It means I won’t allow anything to destroy my day. Everyday I get out of bed, I thank God I’m still here and I pray over the day. I’m in my right mind and I’m breathing. As the day goes on, things I can and can’t control happen right? and I have a choice on how I react to those things whether that be positive or negative. Those reactions dictate my mood for the day and for some the week. So instead of being angry, I choose happiness. Instead of bitter, I choose better. I choose peace because it takes too much energy to choose pouting. Think about that for a second. One situation messes up your day and now thats all that you think about all day. Your day is ruined, you go sleep, and you rinse and repeat. Before you know it you went a whole week upset about one incident on Monday that you took all the way with you into Saturday and other problems happened as well. So you ended the week upset. For me, my mindset is if it happened on Monday it stays in Monday. I don’t take it with me into other days because those days have their own troubles. I don’t want to pile on troubles so by making the choice to choose peace and leaves issues where they are, I now control my day and mood. In a nutshell of what I’m saying, In the words of Bishop Joseph Walker III, I choose to be a thermostat instead of a thermometer. I don’t allow the outside to dictate my inside. I dictate it. No matter what I’m Blessed. And so in my journey I keep that with me because in this career and life, hearing no is normal. If I allow those no’s to dictate me, then I won’t make it far. I only need God’s yes! So as I journey, I continue to be a sponge soaking up as much information as I can because I can always grow. I don’t want to be the man that can’t grow because I know everything. Sit me around people who are growing and building and then we can collaborate. I don’t want to be the smartest one in the room. I want to get away from this crabs in a bucket mentality and help people cross and any way God see’s fit to do that with me, I’m for it. I want to have my own production company and direct and have movies that gives you a testimony but also makes you laugh. I don’t want to be just another actor or director that was here and gone. No, I want anything God allows me to be apart of to flourish and thrive! I want to take all the things God has given me and give it out to His people so that when I leave, my cup leaves empty.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jemario_patterson
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cold.ice.33/
• Other: Wilhelmina Denver Talent Site – https://www.wilhelminadenver.com/talent/all/1649307/jemario-patterson