We recently connected with Jose Miguel Vasquez and have shared our conversation below.
Jose Miguel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Yes, I have been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work. It started in 2009 when I started working as a Teaching Artist at the Orlando Repertory Theater. I was given the great opportunity to not only teach kids of all ages but also to perform as an actor in many of their TYA (Theater for Young Audiences) program. Simultaneously, I signed with a talent agency in late 2008 and right around the time my work at the theater picked up, my commercial work in Orlando Florida was slowly but surely growing. At first mostly, Non-union work came my way, which means it was decent pay but only one time payment. The real fun began when some of the Union commercials started to cast me as I gained more experience, and those are truly worthwhile because they pay residually based on usage. Then my first break into tv occurred in 2012 when I got cast to play on Burn Notice. This was my first Tv show! Florida was struggling to maintain any sort of solid film incentives for productions and so the tv/film work was scare at best. My next chance at major film work did not occur until 2014! That’s when I first travelled to Atlanta to work on Term Life. The world of movie making was in Atlanta and I found out thanks to my good friends and colleagues. However, raising a family made me cautious. I needed to make sure the moves I’d potentially make would truly give my wife and kids peace and great potential for their own growth; this was always meant to honor my role as a father and husband. While I could easily say: “If only I had moved sooner to Atlanta I could’ve gotten the ball rolling sooner with better roles and such.” But that’s not where my focus truly lies. What I know now is this: the major steps, challenges and milestones have helped shape me into a better man for my wife and kids. Therefore my artistry benefits because I’ve become a more honest artist with genuine and deep love for who God has created me to be: a man to serve. So I would not have sped this up, perhaps I would have been less afraid, less prideful and more trusting along the way of this transformative process. I know I’m meant to serve with my life and my art. And the first beneficiaries of my work must be my bride and my kids. After them, whomever will observe the stories I help tell, will hopefully encounter solace, entertainment, hope and a little love in this challenging human experience.
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 Jose Miguel Vasquez, a professional actor and content creator. I got into the industry in Orlando Florida. I started working on stage at the Orlando Repertory Theatre and then once I really got the ball moving with my agency I got pretty busy with commercials and then my first TV show in 2012 , Burn notice. Most of those experiences prepared me and set a strong foundation for what came in 2014 when I got my first break into a major motion picture titled, Term Life, where I played opposite of Jordi Molla and Vince Vaughn, it filmed in Atlanta Georgia. At the time, I was still living in Orlando Florida with my family so having to travel became quite the nuissance and so the question came up, should we move to Atlanta? Well obviously we did and that was the best possible move for the intentions of my career but we made sure it was solid grounds for my wife and kids to experience great potential of starting a very productive and exciting life as well. And good God, it has been exciting!! Still choosing this creative career bares its many challenges.
Working in the movies came after being big nerd fans of the movies! Haha! Star Wars, Marvel! Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter! Yes indeed! This industry has really taken us into the space of content creators. We stumbled into YouTube and became YouTubers very much by accident when we reacted to the Avengers Infinity War Trailer, years ago. Our video did very well and after reconsidering what this niche could be about we have embraced it fully. You can find our family channel as, MaJeliv.
We absolutely love working together as a family. Today we provide creative services when we’re on tv or film sets, and I do mean “we,” I’m not the only actor in the family. My three kids have also been on TV and movie sets and when we’re on there we try to embrace the spirit of service. My wife Jenny truly is the captain of our ship and she accompanies the kids on set when they get called to work. We invite you to visit our IMDB pages for more info on the work we’ve been able to do thus far.
I also mentor actors; young actors, older actors, parents of actors, artists, whomever has great intention of gaining applicable insight from the experiences I’ve had on my artist journey, thus far. While I still do one on ones, I am currently developing a course that will service more people across the globe.
When we share our craft we want to serve and collaborate with the other artists telling a compelling story. Daily, when we audition we like to approach the whole process as an intent to help the casting process by showing them our version of the character they’re hoping to cast. I have to believe this really does help them figure out what they’re trying to do with that character, and sure, we may not get the role but, ultimately, if it helps the casting offices then we’re helping the script come to life in a very indirect way, and so we are servicing the story none the less. This perspective resets the mindset of expectation or anything of the sort and it truly helps us enjoy the process a bit more.
While working on YouTube we discovered, from our viewers’ comments, that our presence brings them more than fun, its hope, peace and joy. So, we have to look at this whole content creating as a form of giving people necessary moments of peace, hope and inspiration. We all need this kind of emotional and spiritual boost. Our family dynamic is our signature presence, our unity does not come easy and our years of mastering this collaboration hopefully brings people a sense of sincerity, harmony, respect and pure joy for all things family and cinema related.
As a family of artists our MaJeliv brand aims to spread the Light, in other words to elevate humanity by expressing our artistry with the same kind of awe filled love that God shows us. We fully intend to create, serve, interact and collaborate with artists looking to tell inspiring stories, beginning with their own.
Our company MaJeliv Productions spawned out of our family’s bond and our struggle to work in the Entertainment industry. It came after, MaJeliv, our family’s instinctual motive was firmly in place.
We invite our viewers and our fans to experience our story, this family that believed in their dreams and made lots of sacrifices to work as creatives on a day-to-day basis. I really want to emphasize the word “sacrifice” because it takes lots of resilience and sacrifice to pursue fulfillment in this creative professional life. Fans and viewers can become supporters and producers on our Patreon page which you can find using our brand name: MaJeliv. This is the most direct way to help us grow.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2019, I experienced my best year as an actor. Coming off filming “The Liberator” for Netflix as a series regular, things seem to be leading up to a major breakthrough. But the breakthrough never came and I am truly grateful for it. At the end of that year I closed it off with some work on Black Widow, which sent me out to the UK for almost a month, but I had a major void inside. On the surface it felt purely business driven like my ambition and preparedness had not been met with the correct opportunity. But deep on the inside, I was missing balance and the fullness of love for my family, primarily my bride. You see, right after my travels for The Liberator, one thing was clear, my family life was mediocre at best. Most people would not have known it, but I was constantly at odds with myself, struggling to see myself as worthy of any grace whatsoever. Therefore, my family got the best of my mediocrity, which at the end of the day resulted in me saying to myself, “is that all you got to give man?” I have high standards for myself and so coming short of loving my family as they deserve had taken its toll on me as 2019 ended. My struggling career began to reflect what I truly wanted—the fullness of pure love within my family. But that kind of love first required me receiving it from the Great Creator I claimed to believe in.
Then 2020 hits, the world goes into a pandemic, everything changes. Work halts and I was left to tend to this internal work, to restructure who I was so that I could transform into who I was meant to be: The man my wife deserves and the father my kids believed me to be. So, I began a deeply spiritual journey. I wanted to consecrate my life, my art and career to the Great Creator, Jesus Christ, through the love and devotion of Saint Joseph. Most of you out there may not know what that means, so allow me to summarize. In my Catholic Christian faith, we look to our ancestors, like Saint Joseph, as in Jesus’ adopted father, for inspiration on how to live and serve God, the God of Abraham. As an artist, I was in search for a greater purpose to my work and I found it after I embarked on this spiritual journey with my bride. That’s right, she too, took a closer look at the story of the Holy Family with me. This 44 day journey took us “there and back again” and we were never the same for all the best reasons. It was time to rebuild and pivot. “Family before career” truly meant loving wholly, without holding back, with full transparency and integrity. To our wonderful surprise, this form of loving is a true art form and we were eager to participate in it fully.
Setting my family first put all acting and career aspirations, in its rightful place. My family got to know me more and I got to love them better without fear. Mercy and grace yielded greater works of art within our home. I say “greater” because they were not clouded with selfish ambition, or a dead end pursuit of validation through career breakthroughs. This pivot opened the way for a truly clear canvas onto which both the divine and the human could meet to co-create. Our family was the direct beneficiary of this wonderful exchange.
In real time this meant I was out of tv/film work for almost a year, commercial work for almost 3 years and so career progress slowed, income swayed and faltered. My work on Youtube for MaJeliv, side hustles, like working events and mentoring helped make ends meet while I was not being called onto sets. On some occasions we had family, friends, our church and organizations like Actors Foundation through SAG, to help us keep food on our table and a roof over our heads. Today, work has returned, now that I’m truly prepared to serve and to love with my art, my craft, my business. Most importantly, today we make greater progress to being in a position to help those struggling much like we did.
Our family continues to be the driving force of our “WHY” but now it’s more integrated with what truly fuels my soul, loving my wife and kids with the BEST of the BEST of me. Remarkably, my artistry and career have flourished from this and at a pace with which my family can still experience the fullness of who I am to them “Dad,” “Best friend,” “Husband,” “Lover,” “Protector,” “Supporter,” “Trusted Artist,” and “man of God”.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
This wild variety of resources have significantly impacted my spiritual transformation, my entrepreneurial approach, and philosophical development:
Perhaps one the most affecting pieces of reading I’ve done is “the Artist Way” by Julia Cameron, which found me early on in my career. Then there was Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist.”
My studies with Wendy Braun began in early 2020 and this took me on a course to “break through” much of my own barriers. After deep decluttering, and a more intentional pursuit, the last 12 months have offered great texts like “Green Lights” by Matthew McConaughey, “the 5am Club” by Robin Sharma. All sparked a specific interest to repurpose my interior work fueled by love and joy for who I am, flaws and all! Some of the video content I find still impacts me gets produced by Bishop Robert Barron on YouTube, Sunny Lenarduzzi, Ascension Presents and Robert Peterson.
Now for the most transformative book yet, “Consecration To Jesus Through Saint Joseph” by Dr. Gregory Bottaro & Jennifer Settle took me on a journey to a new place to rebuild into the man I was designed to be.
Watching the Marvel TV series LOKI, i was profoundly surprised with how much I identified with his story!!
The autobiography of Sidney Poitier reveals what true honor is in Hollywood. The Commencement Speech by Denzel Washington and a recent workshop of the Sam Christensen Process by Get Taped in Atlanta, elevate the concept of authentic self to an applicable level; what a liberating experience!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.majelivproductions.com
- Instagram: @majeliv
- Facebook: majeliv productions
- Linkedin: jose miguel vasquez
- Youtube: MaJeliv & MaJeliv Creative
- Other: www.patreon.com/majeliv @jose.miguel.vasquez (actor instagram) www.imdb.me/josemiguelvasquez
Image Credits
Jose Miguel Vasquez, Jennifer Vasquez, Matthew J. Vasquez, Jemileen Vasquez, Joshua Vasquez, Bradley James, Martin Sensmeier