We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Wadi Jones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Wadi below.

Wadi, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I started out as a dancer from the age of 12. Got my first teaching job at 16 as a breakdance instructor. From there a continued to study movements like martial arts, parkour and hip hop. When I turned 25 I auditioned for season 8 of SYTYCD and made the top 20 as one of their finalists. From there I began to work on more shows and commercials leading me to stunts. During all this I was also building my art business which turned into a custom clothing company. Where in which we do collabs with productions and create interactive apparel. I’m now one of NYC’s youngest stunt coordinators, currently coordinating for the power series Raising Kanan and for The Gilded Age on HBO.

Success takes time. Passion is instant. If we stick with our passion for enough time and are intentional with our goals. We can eventually make a living doing what we truly enjoy.

Wadi, 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?

I got started in my industry as a dancer but I was always an artist. Mainly Cartooning and graphic design. It seems the arts has always drawn my attention. Whether movement with a pencil or my body, I figured out how to be creative around it.

I currently help to train the stunt community and provide resources for them to enhance and better their personal careers. I aim to bridge the gap between talent and safety on sets while creating more opportunities for performers with the film industry.

I also own a clothing brand with my wife Amanda where we design apparel with the intention to shift the paradigm of connection with interactive wear.

What I’d like potential fans and followers to know about me is that I have been on a personal journey of self discovery for the past 8 years. And I’ve discovered that it’s not about what you do for a living but who you are being as a person.

I have been married for 13 years and have 4 children. I own two businesses and am trying to build a communities where people can breakdown the negative beliefs, replacing them with more positive ways of thinking. I want people to see that it is possible to make money and spend time with family. That you can play, bring out your inner child and connect to not just yourself but people around you. We all just want to have more fun. Some of us just grow up and don’t remember how. Amanda and I are on a new mission to help people discover who they truly are and to create a world where people feel free to authentically be themselves. To play, to dance, to love and enjoy life. Doing this for ourselves allows us to show up more powerfully for our children, community, family and friends. This is the core of what I want people to know about me.

That I want to play and enjoy life while bringing the most authentic empowering version of myself to this life experience. In the end encouraging and inviting others to do the same for themselves.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There are so many but I guess as an artist the biggest one was moving to Japan to dance and having my contract cut short due to the business owners passing. My son was just born and we had to go back home to America with nothing. We literally had to start all over. Living with family in basements and on couches until I was able to book my first big job back home in NY. I landed work on the Marvel Universe Live tour playing Spider-Man and Goblin.

Amanda always had faith and belief in me and I had to trust the process. I had to believe that we were going to be okay and that I can make something special happen.

Since then I’ve been able to build two successful businesses. One in stunts and the other in apparel. As an artist there is always ups and downs but no matter how down we are we never stop moving forward. The answer lays inside our creativity.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn everything I’ve come to understand and know about life. I came from a home of many limitations and no money or resources. I had a belief system that money was bad and because of that we’d never have any. That being an artist was a fools errand and not a way to make a real living. In 2018 I took a program called landmark that complete shifted the way I view life. I started to understand that I had a say in the outcome of my life. I was always in the driver seat and just didn’t realize I can put my hands on the steering wheel. I had to unlearn everything I thought I knew about life and myself. I had to begin the process of removing all my limiting beliefs and get a grasp on my ego. With this new found understanding I realize now it’s not about the art itself but about the creator. Who are we as people and how do we show up to everything we do. When we bring our best selves forward we usually create our best work.

We cannot control everything that happens to us but we can control how we react to what happens to us.

For me, in all the ups and downs life offers. Life is always good. Because there’s always something to learn and an opportunity to be better.

Do the things that feels most interesting to do. Go where it feels most interesting to go. Be what feels most interesting to be. Follow the voice of your heart as it calls to you. In that direction you will never get lost.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Skyelinepanda.com
• Instagram: Thejoneslab_
• Facebook: Wadijones
• Other: IG: @wadiskyejones_

Image Credits

Adeola Alao