Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Peck. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kelly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Any advice for creating a more inclusive workplace?

My advice is; give people a chance.

Early in my career as a producer, I hired an all female crew for a production. The energy on set was incredible, and you could tell our female talent felt exponentially more comfortable. To this day, I am still so proud of that work (Shoutout Kajal and Tehillah). After that, I made it a point to ensure my teams were always diverse and inclusive. One time, that meant learning sign language to direct talent that was profoundly deaf. I know I go above and beyond. My experience has made me acutely aware that graduating from a city college with no connections made it very, very difficult to get ahead. So, when I did, I wanted to make the journey different for others.

In the entertainment industry, your experience is everything. Your credits, your resume, your portfolio. That is what gets you hired. But, if you don’t get certain opportunities because you didn’t go to a great college and followed that with an amazing internship and agency training, it can be incredibly difficult to build your resume. On top of that, those in positions of hiring often want to hire someone they feel has above and beyond the experience they’re looking for, or they hire the same people they’ve worked with over and over again because they know they can do the job. Well, the truth is, a lot of people can do the job (yes, I know this doesn’t apply to all jobs). And the more you diversify, the better and more creative the work will get. Being in a hiring position should mean you have experience. So, if the person you hire needs a bit of extra support or guidance the first go around, you can be that. You can work on that treatment with them and give them feedback. You can be someone to bounce ideas off of or give suggestions. That’s all it takes. I take on that role with pride knowing that the opportunity may change everything for that person. When I was at Netflix, I felt a huge responsibility to do this. I knew just how impactful that Netflix credit on someone’s resume would be. For me, it’s always been the best feeling as I climb the ladder to turn back and give a hand to someone behind me. That makes all of the late nights, hard years and painful growth worth it to me. You have to be comfortable taking a chance on someone. And, be careful not to hire diverse talent only when the project calls for it. Do it all the time. If you’re in a position to hire, it is a moral responsibility to spend a bit more time finding your candidates. Do your research, ask around, start building a roster of people you like in a spreadsheet for the next project that comes up. Instagram is a huge resource for me. I follow people whose work I like and when they post new work, I see who they tag that worked on that project. Then I follow them. And so on. Hire. diverse. Department heads. They will always hire diverse teams. Build relationships with diverse mentors in the industry and work with them to find out who is coming up. We cannot always control who is in front of the camera, but we can control who is behind it. And this absolutely includes people living with disabilities.

Kelly, 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?

My name is Kelly (She/Her). I’m a Producer & Entrepreneur based out of Los Angeles (born and raised in New York). Watching my parents, and grandparents work really hard as a child instilled in me a work ethic that drives everything I do. I started my career in fashion PR, as an intern/assistant to Kelly Cutrone. After a month, I realized that going back to college in North Carolina was not going to help my career so I dropped out (with a game plan). I worked the rest of the summer for Kelly as a now compensated employee and gained invaluable experience working in a high intensity environment, often client-facing. I produced multiple fashion shows when I was just 20 years old, and continued to build my work ethic. When that time was over, and I realized I really liked producing, I began school at a city college in their documentary program and started doing set production assistant work on the weekends and when I didn’t have class. About a year later I finally graduated and got a job at a boutique agency called Definite Films that mainly focused on digital content for beauty brands.  This job is where I really did it all. I was a camera operator, coordinator, PA, AC, Gaffer, Audio Mixer, Director and Editor. I learned so much about equipment, how long it takes to set up and breakdown sets, crew positions, costs, shooting for edit, etc. The next step was a bigger commercial agency called Mustache.  I started as a coordinator, but my previous experience helped me to stand out from my peers and I was quickly promoted to Associate Producer and then Producer. I learned about large scale and union productions with multi-million dollar budgets and smaller campaigns with shoe-string budgets. Staying on schedule for tight deliveries to clients and keeping them happy during all phases of the project. I then was offered a supervising producer role at Meredith Corporation, where I oversaw a team of producers and editors working on a variety of brands including; People, InStyle, Food & Wine and Martha Stewart. I learned how to develop successful repeatable format series for YouTube, budgeting for entire departments on a year over year basis, and building big teams to handle all of this work. My biggest dream has always been Netflix. And, when that opportunity came I couldn’t believe it. It happened much sooner than I thought, and I can remember leaving those interviews with my shirt soaked with sweat (TMI). When I got that job, everyone that has seen my career growth thus far said things like “Oh I knew you’d get it”. When people always see you growing and achieving they don’t see the sweat and tears that go into it. I didn’t know I’d get it. I prepared for days for those interviews. I stressed and lost sleep. The years prior to that were no different. I often don’t talk about what it takes to constantly be moving up in your career so quickly. It takes everything you’ve got. All the time.

What I didn’t expect was, after a year at Netflix I started to want more. I realized what I was craving was not bigger companies to work for, but to have the flexibility to go as big as possible, working for myself. So again, I was faced with a decision (exactly like when I dropped out of school to work for Kelly) where I was going to risk it all to go bigger. And I will say, the thing about me is, I’m not scared of the risk. Because, I’ve learned over the years that I can take on anything in front of me. So, I quit my job at Netflix and launched my company, Studio Cloy. My goal for Studio Cloy was to operate like a small studio (that could eventually grow bigger) minus the distribution. We could finance, develop, produce and sell content. In my first year of business, I financed 5 projects and have 7 in development. I did learn that these projects are slow to come to fruition so I’ve been able to also run small digital and commercial projects through my company, and also do work for hire projects as a line producer and producer. That gives me the flexibility to work with and for people I admire and can learn from. Building relationships and credibility takes time, but they are the most important assets you can have.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m always pivoting. Recreating myself. Learning, growing, taking it all apart and putting it back together. I don’t think the saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” should apply to how we do things. When you try and do something differently is when the best ideas and innovations come about. If we all do things the same way, we cease to grow.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I’ve always been extremely calm under pressure. I think part of that comes from preparation. I’m always prepared and therefore know I’ve done the absolute best I could. I also know most of this work is not life or death, so while I care a lot, freaking out when something goes wrong really is never justified for me. People gravitate towards this energy and know they can trust me to handle anything.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kellypeck.com
• Instagram: @_kellypeck
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyapeck/