The Grand Finale
“Momma I made it!” Honestly, I wish I could put into words how I feel about finally getting to the finish line in my mastery journey. This has been a journey I never thought I would complete, and yet here I am. In 2015, when I started this program, I admit to being naïve as to what I would learn and what information I thought I would be able to retain. I was concerned about the instructors I would encounter and how well I would obtain the information being taught to me by them. After reviewing my younger self and how minimal my expectations were of each course, I am glad that I have exceeded, learned, observed, and had positive experiences with all my instructors beyond what I had previously thought.
I will admit that I feel like I was spot on with what I wanted to learn to what I have learned throughout this course. While these three points are extremely broad, they each have extremely technical nuances to pay attention to and be mindful of when creating and presenting a business plan. After creating my business plan for this course, I sat down with my father who had to create and present his business plan to multiple banks and investors many years ago when he first started. Although we are in two different industries, it was interesting to hear his perspective and how things ended up for him.
My professor for my Final Project Business Plan class was everything I could want from a teacher. He was well versed in the language of business and explained thoroughly how some business plans fall through the cracks while others get picked up by investors off luck. One thing I took away from this course was that often investors are sold off your personality, who you are, what you have to offer rather than an actual product you might be trying to push.
During my elevator pitch I realized I missed an opportunity to be more personable at the beginning of the conversation and ended up running long by failing to be more personable. I say “failing” because to get personal and be personable an exchange of information or cards should have taken place, and I was disappointed because in the real world I may not see that person ever again. That could have been an important contact, lost. When I was an actor, I was taught that we have five to seven seconds from when we walk in the audition room for the Casting Director to decide if they want to work with that actor or not. I wish I had remembered this tad bit of information before I started my elevator pitch, I feel like now I could absolutely do so much better and would be more comfortable for the next time that I find myself with a similar opportunity.
When putting together my final business plan I realized how unsure of myself and business plan I really was. My business plan is a big venture and I feel as though I created a very safe business plan when what I envision for my business is so much grander. This is where humble kicked in and reminded me that I was not born with trees that grew money in my back yard, and that I would have to start my business on a smaller scale. The financial part always terrifies me the breaking down each cost for employees, rent, and equipment fees then having to assume what profits the company might make never ends up well for me. I am a big dreamer.
During my presentations I always just hope that I provide accurate, important, and captivating information. My business plan presentation is only going to be more of a personal presentation because this business is something I believe in, and I think could work and be an amazing asset not only to the Florida Film Industry but the entire industry. The confidence I have in myself after finishing this long journey has sparked a light inside of me, and I just want to keep creating things for the world, the future of art and entertainment, and for my family.









