We recently connected with Olander Wilson and have shared our conversation below.

Olander, appreciate you joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

Falling behind on rent for YEARS! Literally. It was only through the grace of God that we were able to stay in that Hamilton Terrace apartment in Harlem on 145th street for that long. After literally 2 years behind on rent, being in housing court almost bi monthly, we were finally evicted. NYC had my possessions of all our valubles and I was homeless living on the streets, gym, trains and after 3 weeks – I lived in my girlfriends (at the time) car. She still does not know til this day that I slept in her car. Moving to NYC to pursue a dream and being derailed by homlessness was the biggest, most unexpected issue that occurred during my early transition in nyc

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born and raised in Lake City, SC but always wanted to be and become something thats the complete opposite of an actor/artists. If you know anything about Black Astronauts, you would of course heard of the name Ronald E. McNair. He too was born and raised in Lake City, SC. Mr. McNair was one of the 8 that died in a the 1986 Space Shuttle Disaster on their way to outer space. Needless to say – i have always had a love for outer space and planets and life outside of earth and stars and the moon and all that jazzy cool stuff. So i graduated high school and went to college to study computer science and physics just like Mr. McNair. After a year of being tortured with math and sciences and computer science classes, I decided to throw in the towel as that major was extremely difficult. However, I still have a love for outer space. Anyway, i switched my major to Public Relations. On that journey I ended up taking a beginner theatre class with Professor Duffy. I’ve always had a big personality and has always been the funny guy but he saw something in me. He said that i should take this craft seriously. And I did. I picked up another major in Theatre, classically trained for 4 years, moved to NYC post graduating and the rest has been history.

Ten years later I’ve done local theatre, been off broadway, worked on television, commercials, award winning short films and am attached to a few film projects. My goal is to always tell meaningful stories. Whether they are 6 second commercials or 2 hour films. I love the art of telling and sharing stories.

In addition to acting, I own an acting studio where i teach acting for camera, onstage, acting techniques, filmmaking and much more. www.olanderwilsonactingstudio.com
At OWAS we solve all things acting related. Whether you are a beginning actor who has the desire to act or you are a series regular actor who just want to brush up on some different choices. We service all people of all types, from all walks up life.

I want everyone who crosses paths with me to know that I am someone that they can depend on. Im going to solve the problem and if i personally cant, i can guarantee that I will work my butt off to find the right solution. Being around me is a safe space and its a confidence builder.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My biggest goal is to serve the people and authentically deliver products and results that force them to come back over and over again. Result driven is how you can sustain a future but most importantly a legacy.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Paul McGee “How to Succeed With People”. This book broke down the barriers of winning over peoples interest. For me, I dont think i had a issue with making meaningful relationships. My challenge was how to sustain them. I think this self help book took my relationship building to another level. After reading the book, I noticed tools on how to approach people and how to succeed and establish long and short term interest.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.olanderwilson.com www.oalnderwilsonactingstudio.com
• Instagram: @Olanderwilsonactingstudio @BigO5_
• Facebook: Olander Wilson
• Twitter: @BigO5_
• Youtube: Olander Wilson

Image Credits

Yahoo Finance
Verizon Media