Meet Richard Lawson | Actor and owner of The Richard Lawson Studios

We had the good fortune of connecting with Richard Lawson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Richard, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
How do you know whether to keep going, or whether to give up? The answer for me is very much aligned with the first part of the question. I think every journey in life is a challenge, I don’t care what journey you take. It’s a challenge. The difference between a journey and an adventure is that a journey has a destination. An adventure basically where you wait to see whatever comes and you don’t know what’s next. Because you really don’t have a plan. You’re leaving it in the hands of other forces, other than your own determination.

This is one of the things that I teach, and one of the things I learned from being in this business as long as I have, and from the blessing of being able to have taught 10s of 1000s of people over the years. I have been teaching since 1980. I was Milton Kitselas’s protege, and he had classes of 110 people. And I would teach anywhere from four to sometimes nine classes a week. And so I would have touched between 500 and 600 people during the week. I’ve had the benefit of teaching some very, very famous actors who had substantial careers. And one of the things that I saw very clearly was the difference between the actors who ultimately became successful, and the actors who didn’t, is the fact that the ones who had careers had a vision and a plan. They could see the future for themselves. They postulated the future, they knew what they wanted to do, who they wanted to work with, what kind of projects they wanted to be involved in. They had a clear dream. Those that didn’t were sometimes the better actors, and sometimes were great artists, but they just didn’t have a vision for themselves.

Every business has to have a vision for themselves. I always like to use the example of Fatburger restaurants. Fatburger started on Western Ave and Adams Blvd in south Los Angeles in this little shack, but the burgers were so good, people would be down the corner around the block. They didn’t have a place to actually sit and eat, they had one little picnic table, so people woul dhave to take it to go, but that didn’t stop them for getting in line. If I remember correctly, the owner’s daughter went to UCLA business school and she was able to work with her mother to see a bigger vision for herself. So they opened a second store, which was extremely successful, and they could continue to expand from there, because the daughter had a vision for expansion. She was able to see it and plan it out.

An actor coming into the business oftentimes has no real belief that they can plan and chart the course of their career. And that is not true. I’ve experienced it myself. I’m still experiencing it today. As a working actor, a teacher, a creator, and a businessman with a brand and a vision. What I’m creating today are things that I have envisioned and created a plan for. I created technology, which I call the “Declaration of InDependence (DOIN)”, which gives you the structure to chart your future, and based on what I saw for myself years ago, my vision is right on course. Some of the things I’ve accomplished. Some of it I’m still putting in play, successfully.

Going after a dream, a vision, is not a straight line, it’s a roller coaster, it’s up and it’s down. And it’s failure after failure after failure. You can give up and you feel like you want to quit, but someone who is connected to their purpose, that light is their North Star, and it will never go out. Versus someone who’s on an adventure, and they’re just hoping things will happen.

It’s easy to give up, because the world is going to convince you that you should do something else, go to plan B, and it’s unfortunate, because they’re not connected to a purpose nor ar they surrounded by people who are like-minded. And so therefore, they will fail. But those that are connected to their purpose will reconnect. That purpose is going to reawaken them and rehabilitate them when challenges arise. One of the most important things to survive this career, and survive this world is find your purpose. Connect to it. And your Northstar will never go out.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I wear a lot of hats, I’m an artist, an inventor, a teacher, a dreamweaver, a creative, a visionary, a fighter and I’m a lover of life. So, I think the one thing I do that is as good as anything is in terms of the dreamweaver.

I help people to identify their dream and then help them provide them the tools that help them to achieve those dreams and I do that using my art and my knowledge of art in order to do that. I understand that dreams don’t have expiration dates and as long as you do your best and forget the rest that the journey will be riding that bull as I was talking about. But you will be moving toward the very thing that you were destined to do on this earth. That’s what I’m all about, even if I include all of the other things that I do. Acting, directing, writing, producing, inventing it is at the basis of it, it is to motivate people to achieve their dreams.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The Serving Spoon (https://theservingspoon.net/)

Sattdown Jamacian Grill (https://sattdownjamaicangrillca.com/)

Laemmle Theater in North Hollywood for movies

Nate Holden Theater for live theater

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would love to dedicate this shoutout to the amazing artistic community that has been built, both in my life and at The Richard Lawson Studios.

Website: https://www.richardlawsonstudios.com

Instagram: rl_studios

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/rl_studios

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richardlawsonstudios

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/richard-lawson-studios-north-hollywood

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYxwOzsPbv75RL2XcVn8m8Q

Image Credits
Drea Nicole (@dreanicolephotography)
Dan Warner