We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Veronica Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Veronica , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Though I don’t like to talk about these things prematurely, but the most meaningful project is something I’m currently working on. I’ve been a part of numerous comedy and film festivals, as well as hosted the Santa Fe Springs film festival that my friend and fellow creative Reyna Torres asked me to be a part of.

So I thought one day, why don’t I curate a film and arts festival for the city of Long Beach. I ran this idea by one of the city’s council members, as well as the president of the art council for Long Beach, both were on board and excited about starting the preliminary process of this awesome project, that is sure to be a staple event that people not only locally look forward to, but also nationwide.

Veronica , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Well, I’ve been acting since I was 15, you know theater plays, acting classes etc. I started pursuing more television work while I was in college for digital design which was a lot because I was doing plays, going to auditions and going to school full-time, while trying to keep a job after my unemployment ran out. No wonder every semester I would fail or get a D in at least one class lol.

I did get an agent during that time, but I wasn’t being submitted or going out on auditions with them, come to find out they were close to closing their doors anyway and didn’t have the connections they used to like in the ninety’s and early 2000s.

Some years went by, after college I was out in the workforce trying to find my way through graphic and web development contract gigs. I had taken a voice over class to add to my skill set, but at that point I was pretty much done with perusing acting as far as being repped and auditioning etc. I just got burnt out with trying, the constant rejection at the time just got too much for me.

So I decided to pursue stand-up comedy because it was something I was scared to do for almost a decade. What encouraged me to finally go for it was me seeing somebody from my church do standup comedy who I never seen tell a joke let alone be funny, so I said hell if they can do it, I know I can.

Again I wasn’t completely done with acting but instead I decided to write and produce my own sketch web series called “Veronica Who?” under my production company called VABtv productions. During this time I was still part of a actors Facebook group, and I saw a post about an agency opening up a voiceover division. Now mind you I had submitted to over 50 agencies after I took my voiceover class and did not get a reply. But I decided to try one more time… so I replied to the post next thing I know, I think a month later I got a call from Pacific Talent and one of the agents named Vincent really light my voice over reel.

So now, at this point, I have representation for voiceover. Since I was signed to them, I needed to keep my actors access, casting networks, etc. profile up, so they can submit me for different voiceovers. Now that my profile showed I had representation and sag-eligible I was able to submit for better roles that would come up occasionally, so now I started to get a little re-motivated to submit sporadically.

I put on my profile that I was represented for everything, commercial and theatrical, not just voiceover. I was thinking “what’s the harm in that?”I book a gig and they get paid a percentage? So long story short, I started to book commercial and voice over gigs, and for the first time for a while, I was solely living off of my talent.

As far as stand-up, I am now, six years in the game, it is quite a roller coaster. I also got the opportunity to write for a digital platform for a little while, my published writings incorporated both lifestyle and comedic storytelling. It’s one of the irons I’m glad I put in the fire. Stand-up can be that amplifier of the creative parts of you, such as writing, stage presents, improvisation and much more. There’s so many lanes when it comes to comedy and standup is definitely one of those art forms that can move you as a creative in many directions.

My goal is to have creative freedom, my own entertainment entity, that would become a platform for not just myself but other creatives. As I build this, I intend on continuing to share my art (writing, producing, acting ) make people laugh, while providing a safe place for escapism.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Living in my purpose, and some former fashion is rewarding. When I don’t, I feel like something will always be missing.

So when I’m feeling unmotivated, or starting to second, even third guess myself on this journey, I remember two quotes to help me. Write your purpose in pin and write your path and pencil. Your dreams and plans on getting there will change and evolve in different forms. It doesn’t mean you lost your purpose it just means be flexible with your plans.

My second one is: “if you don’t sacrifice for what you love, then what you love will be the sacrifice”. This crosses my mind whenever I feel like giving up, which is at least once a month lol..

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

When I was on my creative journey in the beginning, I was told you can only be one thing in order to succeed in that you can only look one way, etc. I wish YouTube and other social platforms were in existence and accessible like they are now. I think I would have had more access to knowledge, Instead of it being so exclusive, making the journey harder.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/VeronicaABrown
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/veronicaabrown/
• Facebook: Facebook.com/vabtelevision
• Youtube: YouTube.com/vabtv

Image Credits
Image still from Veronica Who Ep. 2?