We recently connected with Karlos Miguel and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Karlos thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

There are many ways that it can take to be able to become successful but one main thing is to stay consistent and persistent no matter what. you will hear no after no after no and like myself you could just be in a bad mental space when you are at thee bottom. One thing you have to do is always believe in yourself and know that it is for you. I was working at an accounting first in my 20s after college and truly was not happy behind a desk punching in numbers especially was I am a huge creative it was just too boring. While at the accounting firm in the process of moving I became homeless while living in Los Angeles with nobody to turn too. I knew one thing was that I would not be going back home and hard to figure out how to get myself out of this struggle. I parked my car near Santa Monica Beach and just looked at the stars, cried and had to mentally rebuild myself to understand this is just a bump in the road to the true path to Success. Was homeless for 4 weeks living out of my car with nobody at work nor people around me knowing that I was homeless because I did not want a free handout I had to earn it. When I overcame it and moved into aa one bedroom alone my life truly changed for the best after all those tears and struggle all because Student loans hit my credit account I did not know about. That would have broken many but I know deep down inside the path and journey I am on will lead me to the full success I want and will receive and I have to continue to be consistent and persistent with my talents and push and fight for what I want especially as a gay man of color. After that I got my first opportunity to work in Entertainment on the production side and from there it was history working my way up to become one of the best Executive Producers in the industry with one day one of the best production companies out there. This led to me opening my company called BEARable to incorporate and help promote others who are achieving and become success stories in their own ways. So staying consistent and being persistent when bumps get in your way is my key to becoming successful. Also I am from NY so I have that HUSTLER mentality engraved in my soul.

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 was born in in Puerto Rico and moved to the Bronx, NY as a young child. Grew up in the “Hood” but it thought me so much that I use as an adult from being around so much that was always very active. As a child I witnessed one of the worst things a child should see. I seen a close friend get murdered in front of me which impacted my life tremendously. I was so traumatized I was actually put into a mental institution because the trauma became too much. After being released my mom said it was time for a move. We moved around a lot as a kid from state to state, but with that I tried to make sure to keep my NY roots intact as much as I could. I grew up in the normal struggle for many who grew up in the hood but I say it was a true honor to do so. I got into dance which truly became one of my passions that helped guide me through a lot as a young adult. I graduated from high school and became the first ever in my family to attend a University. 4 years later I became the first in my family to graduate college with a Accounting Degree which I got as a back up because deep down I knew I wanted to be in entertainment, so the goal was to become a professional paid dancer. I was working local shows and dancing for local artist but I wanted more for myself after college which I took the chance to move to Los Angeles with $3,000 and 2 suitcases and a Body full of Hope.

Upon getting to LA it was a bit of a struggle trying to find a job so I was going from Temp job to Temp job. Then I got an accounting position which offered amazing pay and benefits and a consistent check. This was just not enough for me I became unhappy because I am a huge creative at heart. Towards the end of this journey I was in the process of moving into a new apartment when I got denied because a student loan was reported by my university that was independent I knew nothing about. They reported to my credit I was 5 months late and that tanked my credit score which screwed me with getting the apartment. This truly almost broke me because I had nothing and nobody in Los Angeles. After a month of crying and fighting my demons and truly getting to know me for what I am and what I wanted I found anew apartment and moved into my first 1 bedroom in LA. After that I quit my accounting job after working it for 1.5 years and I took my chances working multiple jobs at once from Uber On-Boarder, Overnight Gas Station attendant, and small dance gigs I could pick up trying to figure out my next move. During all of this I kept dancing to help with releasing stress from not knowing my next move that I got the chance to work with a fellow Puerto Rican artist Daddy Yankee as a back up dancer in Shaky Shaky. This was just not paying the bills as a dancer which truly sucked because it was truly a passion of mine. I had a friend who was an Associate Producer in the tv industry and I reached out to her to have lunch and catch up because I really wanted to work my way in and work behind the scenes since thats where the better pay was starting off and was a huge foot in the door. 30 min into the chat someone called her phone and I got my first opportunity as a Production Assistant on Cake wars and the rest was history.

I have been working in the TV industry going on 7 years this yeas in December. I started from the bottom and worked my way up started as a Production Assistant then into Executive Assistant, into Associate Producer, into Coordinator, into now Producer and in the future EXECUTIVE PRODUCER. I have worked on many shows from Cake Wars, to every show on the MTV network, worked on the Award Winning Dave Chapelle: Equanimity on Netflix, worked on the first season of Legendary a true iconic show, worked on a ton of cooking shows on Netflix and the Food Network, had the privilege to work on the Five Foot Two and Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Documentaries, had the honor to work on a Issa Rae show Sweet Life LA as a Talent producer, worked on a couple new shows with Amazon Cosmic Love and Twin Love, had the privilege to work with the phenomenal Lavern Cox on her new E Show, and now finishing up the Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 15 show. I am truly blessed and honored and privileged to be able to be working, hustling, and living the life I am living after going through many struggles growing up. I currently have done Non Scripted content and looking into transitioning to the scripted side.

While developing my skills as a Producer my friend purchased a Birthday gift for me that was a little Gummy Bear pendant that I fell in love with. I started to create them myself because I wanted specific colors and that turned itself into my Embroidered Clothing Line called BEARable after falling in love with it. It became very symbolic for me because as a Bear they can be sweet and tender but also ferocious and I feel the symbolism embodies me. I am sweet but can get very serious very fast just like a bear. So I took that and ran with it. Create my first collection called BEARy Close which was created with the embodiment of my family away from home. Every color was chosen by one of my best friends to represent them and give each chosen bear a color and small description of who they are and who the bear has become. Every drop I want to use a group of special people to tell who the bear is and will become like a personalized CareBear but its BEARable. Also the definition of bearable is able to be endured and that also embodies me as well as a Bear because to survive you have to endure some of the worst to be the best. This is where BEARable became alive and although it is only starting off I can see big things happening with the line in the future.

My proudest moment is being able to be happy and doing what I do being the creative I was born to be and living all the dreams I aspire to accomplish. MY goal in life is to change someone life for the better and I think I am doing that being able to create shows that are relatable and life changing not just to my cast but to the viewers. As well as continuing to develop BEARable to become aa household name.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

While working for MTV for 4 years it began to feel that there would not be any more growth unless someone left the company and it did not seem it was going to happen any time soon. I began to AP but felt that the producers they had would be the same ones they would use and I would not be able to take any of their spots because they were the same producers the Exec always used. I had to decide to move away from the comfortability of always working and sometimes multiples shows at once in order to grow in my career. I needed to build a bigger and wider network outside of the MTV family. Do not get me wrong I loved working with the team and they are all family and I still stay in contact with many of them but I wanted to start to work with people like ME. I wanted to start working with people of color and not be the Token Minority in the group. Although the industry is already limited on us but just wanted to move into things I really strived to be working. Through my network I had built I started to reach out to folks to see if anyone knew of any openings, It was tough because after leaving MTV it took me about a month to book another gig which was scary because LA is not a cheap place to live and bills do not stop coming. I had to do what I needed to do to grow and move up in this industry.

The month after leaving MTV I booked one of the most amazing shows I got to work on called Legendary which was on HBO Max which I got to work with a very diverse group of individuals and got to see others like me in places we deserved. It was my people and being a Gay Man on Color to be able to be apart of such a show that was a hit for the LGBTQ+ Community was a true honor and blessing. This is where I came alive and got to live my best life at work. Huge Thank you to the cast and the Team for making it one of my All Time Favorite experiences ever in the industry.

Always have to remember when one door closes a BETTER one opens as long as you believe in it!

Any advice for managing a team?

As a person who has had managerial roles as Lead Production Assistant, Coordinator, and Producer I have always tried to keep the same energy with people. One thing about me is when I go into work I try to be the fun person who acts up but gets his job done and makes work fun. I hate going into work and people are extremely stressed out and snapping on people but we are not saving anyones lives if we do not do something the world is not going to end. So I enjoy being the Work Clown lol. Do not get me wrong, work can be stressful and irritating at times but if your morale is down it will bring everyone around you down as well. So it is about making sure to enjoy and have fun doing what you do especially if you love what you do. Also get to know others around you. Being able to relate with your counterparts truly makes the environment more welcoming and calming for people to be more open. The goal is always to make sure to have a positive space!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bearable.store
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iam_karlosmiguel/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlosmiguel/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/bearable.store/

Image Credits
BEARable Photos taken by Freddy Lopez but I own the rights to the photos. Childhood photos taken by my mother Ana Flores but I have the rights to the photos Ocean shot taken by Melanie Rae Middleton but I have the rights to the photo All other photo I have rights too (Selfie Sticks/Stands)