We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maya Harris a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Maya, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
The year was 2021. It was a late August warm day in LA and I decided to dance outside of the monotony and take myself on a date. Why? Because we were still living in the obscurity of; long grocery lines, hand sanitizer more valuable than water, and a collective energy of exhaustion and precariousness that filled the air like a lingering aroma you just can’t put your finger on. At the time, I had been laid off and living off of my dwindling savings, so the date had limits. I took myself to Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. A friend of mine had briefly mentioned rose gardens and grassy patches of shade for a low cost and I thought that sounded exactly like what the therapist… and the financial consultant had ordered. So I went alone, unusual for an extroverted butterfly like myself, but I was much more in my cocoon season. After strolling through bonsais and tulips and walking barefoot through those grassy patches of shade, I was feeling more connected to myself.
I found myself ending the experience with a quick graze through the gift shop. I am not one for tchotchkes or, “as seen on TV,” items that function simply as dust collectors, but somehow I felt a pull inside. With ZERO funds to purchase anything in the store, I found myself in the book section. I love to read and during this adverse time in my life, I was hopeful to snag some quick self help book tid bits I could ruminate on, on my drive home. I flipped through several books with no real nuggets I wanted to keep. Until, a book found me. A book published almost two decades ago that had no real recognition. A book about Black women, most of whom were born slaves in the south, who traveled west in the 1800’s and all died as affluent self made women. Yes, you read that right. I could not put the book down. I skimmed through and read the first 10 pages and within seconds I found myself at the checkout stand checking my bank account and moving things around to ensure I wouldn’t get declined on this act of faith. I remember whispering to myself, “I am going to own the rights to this book and I am going to make this a series.” Here is where the big risk enters stage left. I had never, emphasis on NEVER, gotten the rights to anything. I had no idea how to do this and googling the costs to option a book is like WEB mding your symptoms when you have a headache. It ain’t pretty.
The following day I reached out to my writing partner, dropped the book on his desk, and said, “I am making this.” At the time we were already trying to sell several different scripts of our own in a rather unstable and risk adverse industry. It made zero sense to put up money I did not have to buy the rights and invest in a new project. I would also have to write a new pilot that would be a period piece, something I have never done before. Before fully jumping I reached out to veteran producers for advice. All in which said to me, “don’t do this on your own, it’s too hard and expensive.” Or things like, “why would the average audience member want to watch this? It’s just not that interesting.” These were the G rated bits of advice. There is more, but I will spare you. Because the resistance and the no’s were endless.
Running on persistence and fueled on faith, I pushed forward. I genuinely felt the support from these pivotal women from the book, telling me to keep on keeping on. So I did just that. I set up a meeting with the publishing company and gave them my backstory as to why this project was so important to me. Explaining to them I come from a line of Black women who were born in the south with little to no opportunity and who eventually settled in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1950’s, because that was the only place in the country hiring people of color for higher up positions. My very foundation and why I had anything as a child was because of the decisions my grandparents made to venture west. While the publishing company felt connected to my story and intention with the project, they still quoted me a number that made my eyes pop out of my head. I took a risk in the meeting and gave a verbal acceptance. Unsure of how I was going to get the funds or the lawyer I needed to legally get this done. There was no plan. I just knew it would happen.
Several months later, I had written the pilot and made the pitch deck but I was unable to pitch anything because I still did not legally have the rights. I was becoming defeated, as friends and family would check in and I had to find new and creative ways to say, “not yet! but soon!” Thankfully my writing partner found us a great and affordable lawyer to handle the contract, but I was still short on the funds. Once the legal contract was complete and the publishing company didn’t want to hold off any longer, they were going to send the invoice. That morning, I had thought how peculiar it was that they had not mentioned the price in a while. I was advised by seasoned colleagues, “that’s just how business is done sometimes.” I shrugged it off but internally something felt different. They sent the invoice that afternoon for only 10% of the original cost. I was in SHOCK. I was able to immediately pay the invoice and attain the rights. To this day, I have no idea what happened but I believe my faith and persistence to keep going paid off. Pioneers is the name of the project and prior to the strike, was in the works to be made. This project will happen and this risk during the most tumultuous season of my life was so worth the reward to come.
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.
My name is Maya. I am a storyteller, lover of people, writer, actress, and recently a real estate investor. I have been able to fully tap into the duality of my gifts. I grew up as a dancer and always felt very creative. But I have always also had a deep curiosity and passion for academia and business as well. I don’t believe we only get to be one thing in this life. I believe in the vastness of our humanity and the permission to explore areas of yourself. But how did I get here? In a position where I am only doing things I love and am connected to?
I got a job right after graduating UCLA. Most of my friends were going to law school, med school, B-school, or already immediately crushing it in finance. I felt like I was paying a mortgage I could not afford in high achievement city! While I was inspired by their trajectory, none of those shoes seemed to fit me. I knew there was a thirst within in me that had yet to be quenched. I was curious about storytelling and acting, but I simply did not have the moxy to jump into a world that comes with so much uncertainty. I spent a desolate year working at a startup before I had had enough of my weekly Sunday tears because I so dreaded my life Monday- Friday. This wasn’t me. Who was I doing this for? My parents? Friends? Strangers? I had lost count. I finally hit rock bottom mentally. When you are out of alignment and not living in your OWN purpose it can feel visceral and crippling. So I leapt. I swallowed my pride with a large slice of humble pie and I walked around the corner to the first restaurant in my neighborhood I could see. I said a prayer, “God if I get this job, I will go for my creative endeavors, if I do not, I will take it as a sign and go back to being miserable.” Turns out I wasn’t supposed to be miserable.
I got the job at a prestigious restaurant in LA after never working in the service industry in my life. I signed up for acting classes, took workshops weekly, joined creative groups, and started working at a gym so I could nourish myself physically and mentally for free. That season of my life, I am most proud of. There I met colleagues that have helped me in my writing and acting career tremendously, but it also gave me a foundation to launch new ideas from. I started a women in sports podcast, an event based apparel company, and a women of color mini series that I hosted and produced. But mostly, the life skills I learned during this building season that have transitioned into every aspect of my life today. I had a lot of ego to quell. My life looked nothing like those around me and that was painfully hard to not feel judged. But the only thing harder than being judged is living a life that isn’t yours. I was so insecure that I would be looked down upon for working at a restaurant post college, and maybe I was. But none of my success now would have happened without those formative years.
During that time, I met my writing partner. He was about 8 years my senior and already had quite a bit of success as a writer and an actor. We would joke about the innate hilarity of working in the service industry from time to time and eventually he said to me…” you’re funny. you should write.” The flashy little fear head popped out again and told me to say, “No way, I am just an actor!” Yawn. Only because I was too afraid to start something new that I had no real training in. Eventually, he wore me down and we started to write. I quickly found how much I loved creating as a writer and could not get enough. Eventually, our script led us to getting a manager, who then got us into some pretty big rooms to pitch our project. With success adding on, our manager asked me if I had any material on my own. *Crickets…* I was at a place comfortable to say I was a writer but only with my partner. I couldn’t do it on my own…could I?
A very heart wrenching painful unexpected but long over due quarrel I had with a family member of mine left me utterly broken one day. I had so much emotion and so much to say that I realized I had never really gotten the chance to release before. After wallowing for a bit and numbing the pain no longer worked. I found myself at the computer typing. I wrote a 60 page drama pilot in three weeks that eventually led me to generals and opportunities with the most prominent studios and networks today. I was home. That first script written on my own led me to now having a portfolio of seven different scripts that are all being pitched or attached to producers today.
Due to the strike and the current climate in the industry, I knew this was going to be a once in a lifetime season where I could explore other avenues without any guilt. So in the past few months I have taken classes, read many books, listened to podcasts, watched YouTube videos and joined several groups and countless seminars to teach myself how to be a real estate investor. I have learned so much and am on my way to closing two deals this month. This moment of pause in the entertainment industry has given me space to use new gifts and explore new ways to flex my business brained muscles. Sometimes the most bizarre plot twists ends up producing the most fruitful of seasons. The greatest thing I have learned thus far, is to surrender and to continue to remain open because you never know where your gifts just might take you.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
That there is more than one way to succeed and there is more than one way to do things in life. Things are not so black and white. We live much more in the gray. I grew up learning there really was only one way to succeed and while that helpful at a certain time in my life because it was so linear, it is not always the case. There are a variety of ways to look at success and how to achieve it. There are also a variety of ways on how to define it. I have had to unlearn a lot of my linear ways of thinking and give more space for things to fall into place in their own natural rhythm.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I don’t believe there are enough stories being told by women of color through different lenses. We are all a multitude of things and I think sharing the same type of stories for women of color is monotonous and quite frankly harmful. Fitting us into a box with limits curtails the opportunity for younger women of color to see the vastness in their humanity and in their future. This goes for all types of stories. I am driven by the stories that have yet to see light and I want to be apart of the storyteller who shift the industry away from the regurgitations of the same story and the risk adverse choices. After all, this is an art form. And art evolves and inspires. 
Contact Info:
- Instagram: mayaaaaaharris