We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kyle Shaw a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kyle, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
My parents did everything under the sun for me. Both of them taught me very valuable lessons that apply to my life personally and professionally. My father taught me the element of hard work, I remember spending time at his house on the weekends and seeing him go into a smoldering hot factory to make sure my siblings and I had everything we needed. I did not understand it at the time but he was making a sacrifice to make sure I was able to mold my life into whatever I wanted and for that I will forever be grateful for him. Now my mother she taught me compassion, one thing they never teach in school is how far you can get in life by simply being nice and kind to people. I’ve opened many doors for myself just by being compassionate and listening to what someone has to say it never hurts to look at it from the other persons point of view. I remember one particularly cold winter, it was one of those days where if you took a deep enough breath you can feel your lungs tense up from the frost thats in the air. My mother was out Christmas shopping for the family and happened to run into a homeless lady, so my mom being my mom paid for her for a hotel for the night. That was very impactful to me not only for the gesture but knowing our financial situation. I come from humble and hard working class family so money can be tight at times. But my mother knew that woman would likely freeze if she didn’t get shelter. That taught me that you always look out for your community and the people around you, you truly can only be as strong as your weakest link. So once I got into acting I came in Disciplined, hard working and ready to do it all with a smile on my face thanks Mom and Dad
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?
Well If you ask the people that know me they will tell you Im a “Chill” person and for the most part I absolutely am I enjoy a good cookout and spending time with friends and family. I love reading and going to the gym and watching my fantasy football team lose every week. But to be completely honest thats just the surface of who I am as a person the deepest depths of my soul come alive through acting and that is what keeps me waking up and giving 150% every single day. But I did not know at the beginning that acting would unlock all of this until I got into it and how I got into it is a whole different story. I was at a pretty low point in my life I hated my job and was tired of living life how other people thought I should live it. So one day I called my job and told them I quit and that is when my life began. I started taking acting classes and have been been working hard ever since. I think what separates me from most people is Im not separated from the people. Im not coming out here trying to be something Im not I play my characters like I live my life and thats with 100% authenticity. Im not trying to be hero or above anybody Im standing right here with you.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson I had to unlearn was always thinking inside the box. When I went to high school I always felt out of place even if it did not look that way on the surface. Everything was so directed towards college well what if you didn’t want to go to college? What if it was hard to afford college? We all take part in the race to success and happiness but the sad and humbling truth is not of all us get the same starting point. I learned more in 1 year of out of high school then the four I was there and thats the truth. In that 1 year I was out I learned that I was a very creative person and a freethinker and I could learn to weaponize that in my journey to success. Had I learned to utilize that early and had someone allow me to think my way I could’ve possibly learned about my strengths sooner. But the past is the past and it was part of my journey so I hold no Ill feelings towards it. You have to do things wrong a lot of times to get it right Just look at Thomas Edison.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I remember there was a night me and my significant other at the time were taking a drive to my mothers house, and we were talking about our futures and what we wanted it to be and I said I wanted to be an actor. To my surprise It was thrown back in my face and was told it was not possible and I needed to get serious if I was ever to get her fathers approval.That was a heartbreaking thing to hear, not for the fathers approval I really didn’t care if I got that honestly but for the simple fact that she couldn’t see what I see and I should have known at that moment that it was never going to work out. But what once was a statement that was a knife to my heart is now merely a piece of my past that use to my fuel my forever burning fire of motivation. Thats what i’ve always done throughout my life if life hits you with one punch you have to throw two back at it. You have to keep pushing no matter what happens.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: kyleshaw740
- Other: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm11788132/
Image Credits
Linville Photography