We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Thomas Casey Zellers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Thomas Casey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The idea for my podcast came along when my outlook on the current society was at a boiling point for me personally. I was tired of people thinking they know everything just because they read an article or looked it up on Google. It was apparent that, seemingly, no one stops to ask anyone their story anymore. So the guests I have on my show are all people that I have mutually shared experiences with from my time and work done in the film industry or from other jobs I’ve worked on the side of filmmaking or they have taught me about their own experiences in an attempt to change people’s perceptions about things they think they already knew about. I hope that my audience is open-minded and listens to each guest’s given experiences and learns from it and challenges them to explore and talk to people for their stories in their own time.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I first got into entertainment from a young age after watching Jurassic Park and really tried to pursue a career in film and a career in writing as well. And while that has become my avenue, I’ve also enjoyed starting up my podcast as well and has really become the forefront of my work in recent months. I believe that God will continue to bless my work no matter where He takes me. I just hope that my work reflects my passion and determination to get the message and point across clearly. I believe it is important for everyone to remain open-minded into what seems to be becoming a more and more close minded society.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I was working originally in filmmaking, I thought I understood the business, the community, and the industry. So I would make films in a way that I thought were common business practices. Although they were, they weren’t honest because it was clear I was only trying to appeal to my audience. So I had to have an honest discussion and look at myself and why I was doing what I was doing. I needed to pivot and do stuff that I enjoy doing. Period. God changed my mind and changed my environment and I just had to obey Him and the rest will follow after. After applying that mindset, I found new followers and new people willing to work with me more than before because my art was now genuine and true to myself.

How’d you meet your business partner?

When I first was looking to start my podcast, I saw the money that was needed to do everything I wanted. The money for mics, lights, cameras, equipment, softwares, set design and all of that stuff, it was a lot! I knew that I would have to start saving up and even though I felt discouraged I was still dedicated to making it happen. One night I’m scrolling through social media and I see an ad for a podcast studio in Kokomo. I scrolled past it thinking it was too good to be true. Exactly 10 reels later, the same exact ad popped up again. I followed through with it this time. Then I met Ahmad and visited him at his studio, we cut a deal and ever since then, he’s been great to have as my producer.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.perceptionpodcast?igsh=NXo5aGRqbzYzYnlk&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@theperceptionpodcast95?si=jtxJZfOR0dlmbI1f