We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shawn Roundtree Jr. a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Shawn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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.
It’s the Spring of 2019, I had just finished my final year of college basketball at Central Michigan University. I completed my career with over 1,000 points, All-Conference honors in the Mid-American Conference, multiple Player of the Week Awards, and more. Now, I finally have the opportunity to “Go Pro”. I signed with an agent, I graduated, and now it was time to see what was next for me. However, I was conflicted: “Did I want to keep playing?”, “What do I truly want?”. See, for the past year, an old love of mine had rekindled an old flame. This old love was ACTING. When I was younger, I was in numerous plays and musicals. I loved performing on stages. That feeling of completely embodying a character for two hours and bringing the character to life was magical! This feeling had resurfaced throughout the year as I was put in front of the camera to do various commercials, interviews, and specials for the men’s basketball team. That summer I was torn between putting the ball down and pursuing an acting career. Fast forward to me signing to go play professional basketball in the Republic of Georgia in Europe. I had a rough time internally because at this point, I knew that basketball had ran its course and I knew acting was what I was passionate about. I could feel it in my spirit; whenever I thought or spoke about acting my body would just heat up. I was afraid because I knew that retiring from basketball and just starting an acting career was a risk. So, there I am in Georgia, was selected to the All-Star Game, and yet, I was unhappy because I’m not doing what I’m truly passionate about. Well, here came the pandemic… that’s when I decided to take risk; I was done playing basketball and I was going to do it…BE AN ACTOR! I had no clue where to start, no job, no knowledge of how the “real world” worked due to me being a student athlete for so long. My life as a basketball player was over, and now it was time to rebrand. For the past two years, I have been a professional actor. I studied, took classes, I networked, put out content, signed with an agency, and more. The risk in this industry is more than I ever thought. You deal with so much rejection, self doubt, and the uncertainty that this dream you have WILL NEVER HAPPEN. I’ve been fortunate to be on TV (Chicago PD-Season 8,Episode), feature films, commercials, and more. It’s been a battle and it’s still a risk. However, taking that risk to stop playing basketball and go after what was in my heart has been the best decision.
Shawn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Shawn Roundtree Jr. I am an actor and entrepreneur. I am from Edwardsville, IL which is suburb in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. I also founded my business Great Wave in August 2021. Great Wave is a platform/brand that promotes positivity and encourages trailblazers to be fearless. As I was on my acting journey, I was trying to figure out how I can live a life of purpose. I’ve always promoted “Be Great”. That phrase means so much to me as it was always something that I spoke to myself when I was feeling down. I was heavy on social media promoting being great and having a positive mindset. I wanted to figure out how I could spread positive messages and impact masses of people. I also knew that I have been given a gift. My gift is being able to bring people together, make people feel what I’m saying, be a light. This gift has led to plenty of public speaking opportunities. I knew that combining this gift with the positive messages I could use my voice to be an inspirational speaker. For the past year, I have had over 10 speaking engagements spreading positive words and encouraging greatness. The inspirational speaking has allowed me to live out purpose. I believe that I have been placed on this earth for other people; to help others, be their lesson, and be a guide. Most recently, I had the opportunity to speak at my Alma Mater, Central Michigan University. There were 100 plus students that I had the honor of talking to. The significance of this was that a year before when I first created Great Wave, I went back to Central to get the word about my new venture. To have the opportunity a year later to come back to a second home and give back was just amazing. It helped me see not only the growth of my business, but also the growth that I had gone through personally within the year. I am proud of the direction Great Wave is headed. Young people whom I’ve spoken in front of have personally came to me or messaged me saying how my words have impacted their lives, mindset, and how they feel. In my eyes, mission accomplished. I have so many aspirations for Great Wave. I plan on releasing apparel, creating programs and camps that people can attend, and more. So BE ON THE LOOKOUT! Ultimately, I would like the platform to grow and speak on some of the biggest stages. From a business standpoint, my goal is to continue to network, build relationships, and also grow financially. That has been the biggest hiccup. Due to me also being a professional actor and having to invest in that side of my career, it has been difficult trying to propel Great Wave financially. Have a business partner or investor that share the same values and vision would be great. I firmly believe that this aspect of the business will grow in due time as well. Great Wave has an instagram page, @_greatwave. If anyone would like to get in contact with the business, the email is [email protected].
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding thing as a creative is seeing your idea come to fruition. I think people don’t realize how difficult it is create and generate idea from your mind and bring into the real world. First off, you have to have the faith and vision to begin and start. That’s one of the hardest parts; starting your idea. Another aspect is putting in the work. Plenty of people have ideas or visions, but the groundwork it takes to produce and execute the play is what can separate an artist or creative. For instance, I audition for acting projects so much and hear no 98% of the time. I hear a thousand “no’s” just to get one “yes”! What people don’t see, is me working in classes, reciting monologues in front of the mirror, all the self-tapes, watching and studying cinema. That is the groundwork that goes into getting one “yes” to be booked. Then you prepare to film for that booking. The feeling after you do THAT, is the greatest feeling in the world. When you’re able to complete an idea, you have this reassurance that this is what I am supposed to be doing. That feeling is addicted, and it is the feeling you constantly pursue. Whenever I feel stuck or lost, I remember how I felt after filming Chicago PD, or after working on production for the Field of Dreams MLB game, or after I filmed a Google Chromebook commercial with Toronto Raptor’s point guard Fred VanVleet (who I played against in College as well). I remember those moments. This summer, I wrote and filmed my first short film, “A Bel-Air Story: My Brother’s Keeper”. I remember being so excited about the plot idea and how it was a clever take on a character from “The Fresh-Prince of Bel-Air”. I could see the vision so clear. From writing the script, to going to Chicago to film it, to putting it out into the world was such a moment for me. I was so proud of myself for following through with an idea that just started in my head. I believe that with the right resources and ambition, I can create anything. With that being said, be sure to go check out my very first short film on YouTube now, “A Bel-Air Story: My Brother’s Keeper”.
How did you build your audience on social media?
After retiring from basketball, I had to rebrand myself. Personally, I had to work on myself figure out who I was outside of basketball. I believe that’s another conversation about athletes having to find their identity after their sport. On social media platforms, I had to shed “Shawn Roundtree Jr, the athlete” and show “Shawn Roundtree Jr, the actor and young man”. I began posting monologues and comedy skits. It was a great transition because I was forcing myself to share my talents with everyone. This would give me the self-confidence to “perform” in front of audiences. I focused on making content that was authentic to me. That’s the advice I would give to those starting to build their social media presence. There are so many people that create content that goes against who they are, their values, and it’s not authentic. People will do anything just for views and likes. People risk their freedom and lives sometimes just to create content for likes and views. To me, that is the corniest thing to me. Put out content that serves you, and that you can look back on and be proud of. One time, I put out a comedy skit and good friend of mine messaged me and said, “You’ve put out funnier videos”. Now, I can’t take that personally because that’s his opinion. However, my response was, “It’s not about being funny. As long as there’s someone out there who can relate, then I’ve done my job.” That’s how I think about my content. If I can make people feel something when they watch my content or say, “Hey, that’s happened to me”, “I feel like that sometimes”, “Shawn is doing it, I can too”…than I’m using my social media platform the way I intended. The main goal is to remain yourself and put out content that is authentic and real to who you are.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/ShawnRoundtreeJr
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/shawnroundtreejr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shawn.roundtree.96
- Twitter: www.Twitter.com/Tree2Round
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/ShawnRoundtreeJr
- Other: Here is the link to my first short film “A Bel-Air Story: My Brother’s Keeper” https://youtu.be/YkvnMw3GI94 Also, Instagram link for Great Wave is www.Instagram.com/_greatwave
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11668297/
Image Credits
Lawrence Sulley (Chapter 8 Studios) Ethan Worley (Snapsvisuals)