We asked insiders and experts from various industries to tell us something they think outsiders are unaware of and we’ve shared a few of those responses below.

Moses Meshack | Actor

It takes a lot of determination, skill and developing a thick skin when adversities are being thrown your way. Read more>>

Carmen Uribe | Professional Landscape Designer

Outsiders are unaware of the fact that being a landscape designer is not just about putting together a bunch of pretty colored plants but rather a very labor intensive job because there is a lot of planning from the minute we set foot on site we must pay close attention to every single detail. From the water lines, power lines, gas lines, overhead trees, topography ,climate, environment etc. and we must ensure that what we design is well planned and to the likes of the client. What we create is art and is often underpaid and under rated. Designers must be meticulous and have a very extensive knowledge in plants, botany, horticulture, soils, grasses, trees, local laws and the list goes on. Our industry is service based and requires lots of creative hours that many times go about unpaid. Most times the clients envision beautiful landscapes that they see on Pintrest and we must educate the client on the cost because most times they get sticker shocked because they have no clue what things cost and it is a very hard position we are put in. Read more>>

Daniel Mathews | Vocalist

The music industry is overly saturated and despite what you have heard there is almost no money in this industry. I mean there is, but far into the game. I guess it’s just like everything, there is a grind, but this one takes, to me, so much more time. If you do decide to start a band, have fun, but also take it serious if you want to make it. We as a band have always had fun and been serious, but never took it to the step that we are now. So if you want to do this, push, push and push because even if it’s not a huge return, you will eventually see some sort of success. Read more>>

Merlin Showalter | Cinematographer & Camera/Steadicam Operator

While working in the film industry certainly can be fun, it’s certainly a lot less glamorous than many people might imagine it to be. There’s a lot of “hurry up and wait”, you’ll be sweating and hustling one moment only to then find yourself sitting around waiting for another department to finish setting up their part of the shot, or for the sun to hit just the right angle, or for a plane to go by, etc etc etc. Read more>>

Deborah Dominguez | Artist

It is pretty and unfairly unknown the amount of time an artist of any kind must spend in reaching a peaceful, stable and spiritual inner state. The bet of pursuing an artistic career takes some courage, serenity and lots of love and passion. What might look as a constant colorful smile and happiness state for ‘no reason’, it actually is a long and tough learning process of how to embrace rejection on a daily basis, to grow, not to fall, no matter the effort; let’s be crystal clear here: rejection is no other than the most unnatural action for the human mind, soul and spirit to ever receive: definitely opposite and incompatible with the inspiration and strength needed to keep it all ongoing, which are also expected from us always and forever. This theory automatically disconnects happiness from ‘reasons of any kind’. Read more>>

Kay Pham-Nguyen | Photographer/Creative Director

More times than less, I’ve struggled a lot with creative burnouts and imposter syndrome. It’s a huge thing that many people outside of the art world are aware of but I don’t think they would ever fully grasp the entirety of the mental block. I know a lot of outsiders will attempt to reassure you as an artist and say “it’s okay that you’re feeling like this, maybe you should take a break” or that I’m still original when I don’t feel like it, and that’s really appreciated but I feel like creative burnout and imposter syndrome as an artist trying to pursue art as a full-time career can be detrimental, in a sense. At the roots of it, I feel like social media comes into a very large play factor. With so many creatives on Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok and any other platforms, it often feels like there’s a lot of competition out there when we should ideally be working together. Read more>>

Sebastian Ruiz | Creative Director/Videographer

This is a fantastic question, it’s important to answer this because a lot of the times, in any industry, our clients are unaware of the process that we go through to making something for them, and I get it, when you “the client” don’t have the same area of expertise as me when it comes to creating an audiovisual product, you tend to speculate and think that what ever someone does is very easy to do. We often find it funny for example when someone sees a video that has a warmer tone to it to portray a certain feeling through out the whole time but they come with comments during your revision such as “Can you make this a little warmer but bluer?” Other than that, editing sometimes takes time, not just moving things around or placing more layers on top of the timeline but also dealing with rendering (an editor’s biggest enemy). One bad habit that I developed was the habit of editing things in such a timely manner, faster than usual actually. Read more>>

Grace McGrade | Astrologer

I think a lot of people believe that astrologers are simply intuitive, and the work ends outside of one and one sessions. So much of my job entails doing mass research about the upcoming cycles, math, reading and observing the astrology occurring both in the past, future and present. Astrology is a language, and is one of the few things that. you can never learn enough about. I can continue to study til the day I die and still not know everything. When you pay for an astrology reading, you aren’t just paying for an hour of time, you are paying for years of learning, research and wisdom. Read more>>

Jay Horn | Indie Filmmaker

That i am a one man show. I write all of my content, direct, edit, shoot, cast, score, and produce. On top of all of that, i have to act in many of my productions. An i fund all my projects out of pocket. Read more>>

Lauren & Elena Vizzini, Buenrrostro | Antique Mall Owners

Our industry is vintage. It’s very trendy and popular right now, we have at points in building our business found it hard to keep our shelves stocked due to the demand. By the time the customer sees our items, they are clean, fixed, priced and displayed beautifully. One thing outsiders are probably unaware of is all that goes into sourcing these pieces. We specialize in Seventies furniture & housewares; wicker, rattan, dreamy floral patterns, orange and yellow everything. In order to get our hands on these goods a usual Thursday (the day estate sales are usually scheduled) starts at 4:30am when we head to an Estate Sale. Estate Sales are a homeowner generally an heir selling off the contents of a home in its entirety. We take our truck ready with boxes, bungee cords, & blankets for wrapping anything fragile to the location of the Sale we have chosen. Hoping to be the 1st ones there we usually arrive between 5 and 6 am depending on the locale. Read more>>

Renee Goodwin | Instagram brand ambassador ( @missezrenee ) , and Entrepreneur, CEO of Pretty As Fvck Clothing.

People are unaware of the struggle of the ups and downs. Some days you’ll sale out and some days you’ll sale the bare minimum there will be periods where you struggle. In the beginning it is always more going out than coming in, it takes a lot of money, dedication and Patience things do NOT happen over night. Then there is the mental part where Insecurities and anxiety comes in and sometimes it will start coming out in your work. You will fail a lot in the beginning and through your journey allow your self to make mistakes! Learn from them Don’t be so hard on your self you will come out of it. Read more>>

Jessica Cardenas | Wedding and Event Planner

From the moment of a clients first meeting or phone call it begins. Listening to how their weekend was, who they are, and how I can help plan an event gives so many details into a person’s life. This is how I tailor each individual event and go above their expectations to create a memorable experience. The hospitality industry is something quite beautiful when you think about it. Strangers coming to see you for an experience tailored to them specifically. A restaurant, a hotel, a theme park, an event you attend. These are some of the venues hospitality team members work in. Have you ever thought about the reasons one would go to these venues? A family dinner, an anniversary dinner, proposing at a restaurant. A vacation, a getaway, a honeymoon at a hotel. A reward for a good grade, a birthday, an adult escape into childhood to let go at a theme park. A corporate meeting, a birthday milestone or a wedding. These are all intimate examples of why we would interact with a hospitality team member. Read more>>

Anthony Omari | Actor

When outsiders step into the art of acting they should be aware that it takes hours of inner work and effort to get to the level amongst the best. Actors have to allow themselves to be vulnerable and transparent to explore dark places and emotions that need to be released in any given moment. The industry is tough and is not easy for everyone, and to be one of the best, you have to work harder than the best. Go for it, and live in the moment truthfully. Read more>>

Michael Coleman | Actor & Almost a Writer.

I started in the industry as just an actor. Unless you’re a walking Nubian statue and people can’t help but do everything for you. You’re going to need to be more than just an actor. You can literally have any other position in the industry, and that’s more than fine because you’re always bringing value to set. Not to say actors are useless, but we are if we don’t add anything else than our performance. I believe our performances can be much more powerful if we have more involvement to the project we’re on. Take up that screenwriting class so when you inevitably have that idea for a scene, short, feature what ever it is, you will less likely annoy the writers that will be handling the script– You will still annoy them though. but if you hand someone a spec script instead of a shooting script, you’ll be miles ahead of most other people. I guess that was a long winded way of saying, once you get further into the industry, you’ll see that the ones with longevity have multiple creative sides they pursue. Read more>>

Tiffani Nicholle | Singer|Songwriter|Author

The one thing about my industry I feel most outsiders aren’t aware of is the number of sacrifices you have to make and how most times you don’t see results from your hard work until later down the line. Being in the music industry you have to learn how to balance your creativity with discipline, which means most times you have to work really hard while also balancing everyday life. The crazy thing is when you write a song, you don’t always reap anything from it right away. Whether you’re shopping it to other artists or releasing it yourself to DSP’s, it takes time for these things to build momentum as well as being paid royalties. Most people think you write a song, release it (or it gets placed) and boom, it blows up.. that’s not the case at all. Read more>>