Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kevin Herrera. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Kevin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
To explain what my parents did right I will break it down with what both my mom and dad did right individually and then what I think what they did right together.
Mom:
I am very similar to my mom, we are both pretty timid and shy. However that never stopped my mom from taking risk. If something scared her or she was wasn’t sure if it would work out in her favor. She would look at the situation and see if the possibility of the outcome would be worth it. Even if the chance of failure was higher than the chance of success, she would try because the she would want what would be on the other side of the risk. My parent’s relationship wasn’t the best, and they were on the road of separating. My mom was a stay at home mom so she didn’t money saved or a job that would be able to provide for herself. She was however craving independence and freedom from a relationship that she wasn’t happy in. Even though the cards were stacked against her, she decided that what she wanted was more important than staying in a situation that she was currently in. She found ways to make it work and she prioritized how she felt and how she wanted to feel over the logical reasons as to why she shouldn’t what she wanted. I take that with me in life.
Dad:
When I was a kid, my dad would take us and we would want to tag along where ever he would go. I spent a lot of my childhood being around my dad and his friends not always knowing what was happening or what people would be talking about. I just remember people would always be having a good time either conversing, laughing, or just simply shooting the shits. This was with friends, family, and even complete strangers. He wasn’t doing it with the intention of showing me how to act as a person or how to connect with people. He was just being himself and himself connected with everyone I saw him interact with. Years later when I was studying film in college one of the best pieces of advice I got was, “People will want to work with with you if they like you and think you are cool”. That is true, people will sometimes choose someone who they prefer to work with because they like them over someone who may know a bit more but is a bit of an asshole. I always try to connect with people in some way, not because of that advice, but because throughout my childhood I saw my dad connecting with everyone and I wanted to be like my dad.
Parents:
Even though my parent’s relationship didn’t work out, for majority of my life they worked really well together. I saw my parents make decisions about life, their kids(us), or any situation they were in as a unit. They talked to each other and would take each other’s opinions into account and would say if they agree or disagree. It was them working as a team and be united on the choice they were making. I try to take this with me in the ventures I go in. Whether it is on set working with a team I know or working with new people, or if it is for my talk show Ringville, I try to approach it as a team and take people’s input and listen to what they have to say.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Kevin Herrera Sanchez and I am Mexican-American born and raised in the Bronx, NY. I went to Bronx Community and Brooklyn College and got my degree in Film Production. Since then I have been working in the film industry as a full time freelancer. I tend to be in the G+E department which means grips and electrics. I tend to be the Gaffer which is in charge of lighting and power distribution. I also Key Grip where I would be in charge of any rigging that would be needed on set such as rigging a car to a camera or throwing up 20×20 feet frames safely. Both departments are very team based and being organized and working safely while still being efficient and doing the task in a certain amount of time is very important. I also Produce projects such as short films when there is a project I really believe and like.
I am really proud of being able to freelance full time in film. It is not an easy thing to do, and I am very grateful, humble, and thankful that I am able to do it.
I also host and produce a talk show called Ringville where I sit down and have high production interviews with independent wrestlers and people in the wrestling industry to build the connection between the talent and the audience. I release episodes every Monday and Youtube and then from Tuesdays through Friday I release reels, and shorts on all social media platforms. I started this in February of 2024 and it has been growing at a faster pace than I have expected. Super thankful for that.
The proudest feeling is how accepting and welcoming the wrestling industry has been to me. I have had the pleasure of meeting and connecting with so many people that have also turned into friendships. It is a really exciting part of my life.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Something that goes under the radar is how much work it goes into being a creative. People assume that when we are creating, that is the only time we are actually creating. But there is so much work that goes into it before and after. Thinking about ideas, finding inspirations, and figuring out what you are working on can be very exciting of course but also take so much time and work. So much of the work creatives do goes unseen and it isn’t always noticed until the work is being released.
In film when I was first starting, I was going to school full time, working at a rental house full time, and then being on set every weekend that I could. At various occasions I did not have a healthy lifestyle when it cam to work life balance. I wanted to work very hared early on so I can set myself up. I was so tunneled vision on setting myself up that it was all I thought about and all I wanted to do. If I wasn’t being creative, and doing something that was helping me in my film career, I didn’t always pay attention to it. I think non-creatives don’t think creatives do that, but it is something they could understand when it comes to work ethic.
When i comes to Ringville, there was so much work that went into it before the first interview was even scheduled. I am always behind the camera so I knew I had to be comfortable with the fact that I was going to be on camera. for 90 days I recorded myself talking into my phone and just getting comfortable in front of the camera. I was working with a very talented artist and graphic Designer TEDF where he was helping me make logos for the channel and getting my ideas across wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I had to learn how to communicate how to the ideas in my head to other people. Researching how to interview as well and studying people was a big part because I wanted to be good at it and really approach it in a way that people would watch the interview and go, that was a good and insightful conversation.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Consistency is really what is helping. I can post content that is great, but if it is only every now and then it is very hard to grow. Posting at a consistent time and date will grow an audience and get them to start incorporating your content into their schedule because if you always post at 2 pm they will start to go to whatever platform you use and go see the new content.
Learning how each social media platform works and what engages that audience. Facebook, works very differently from Instagram which works differently from Youtube that’s different from Tik Tok and X. There are based things that work for all platforms which such as consistent posting, but each platform has a different audience and a different way of engaging them and understanding that and learning the landscape of the audience will help a tremendous amount. It is something I am just now realizing and making the effort in working and posting work on every social media consistently.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notbadkev/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570298799860
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-herrera-4666401b3/
- Twitter: https://x.com/RINGVILLE
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Kevinherrerasanchez
- Yelp: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570298799860
- Other: Ringville Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kevinherrerasanchez_/
Image Credits
N/A