Meet Xenia Rollinson | Creative Producer

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

Hi Xenia, how do you think about risk?
Risk taking, to me, is akin to the idea of being a beginner again, of the transformative power of starting or trying something new.

Learning something new or branching out in your field to expand on your current capabilities and can feel awkward and scary, and the same pertains to risk taking-when you don’t know whether the risk will pan out or not, it’s the same as being a beginner at something again where you don’t know whether you’ll master the skill or not.

Both a risk and learning a new skill can either end up paying off or failing. With both, you never know what will happen until you try.

For me, when I started to produce motion on top of stills, it felt like both scenarios-a risk to do something I felt I didn’t have experience in while simultaneously feeling like I was a beginner having to learn a whole new set of skills. Without having taken that risk, I’d still be stuck working in an environment where I no longer felt challenged and was no longer enjoying.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I never set out to be a producer or be in the creative world. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do honestly until my 30s, and some days I still feel like I don’t know what I want to be doing! But all I wanted to do before, and was doing, was skiing halfpipe and slopestyle around the world. Then when it was time to try to grow up and do something, I moved to NYC at the ripe young age of 27 with the intention of becoming a photojournalist. Quickly learning that being isolated in war torn countries would probably be not the right move mental health wise, I then slowly figured out that I was good at and enjoyed running things behind the scenes. After spending 8 years working primarily in the editorial world in NYC, the pandemic bought with it a quick and unplanned exodus to the west coast. Having been wanting to get out of working in editorial for quite some time, within my first three months in LA I was able to have that break through when I landed a Nike project. Now I’m in a happy place of getting to work both on photo and motion projects most of which are in the active lifestyle space, which aligns perfectly with my athlete background. I’m also taking the next step and working to bringing to life and directing a short film idea.

All the good things in life are never easy, and getting to where I am certainly wasn’t. I never had any mentors in the industry so everything along most of the way was self-taught-I definitely feel self-made. For 90% of what I’ve done there was never any connections or recommendations, just copious amounts of hustle and outreach met with lots of non replies. But as they say all you need is one yes. There were also far too many days in NYC in the first few years that involved me rummaging through every pocket and nook and cranny of my apartment trying to find enough quarters to be able to afford some Vanessa’s Dumplings for my one and only meal of the day. Epitome of the ‘starving artist’ definition. While I never had any mentors, I’ve never been afraid to ask questions or for help when I don’t know something and that is one of the biggest lessons i’ve learned-there’s really no such thing as a stupid question.

The biggest surprise and lesson, and what I would want to impose is never write off your past experiences-maybe at a first pass you might not think that degree or your first job/career had anything to do with what you’re doing now, but take a minute, day, week or a few years and then when you reflect back and do a fresh pass, you’ll be surprised as to the influence, be it direct or indirect, that something as seemingly unrelated as a BA in Sociology and Political Science has had on what you are doing now.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I moved to LA to take advantage of the good weather and the outdoors so for me the ultimate adventures and best things to do are primarily outdoors.

A perfect Sunday outing would consist of:

-Picking up a coffee at Gnarwhal on Main St, Santa Monica then a leisurely drive along the PCH to a trail run or hike at either Ray Miller or Malibu Creek State Park, followed by pulling up to the Old Place/Cornell Winery & Tasting Room-the best spot for grabbing a bottle of wine, some food and people watching

As a huge mid-century modern architecture nerd, mid-week I would take friends to the Eames House and the Stahl House and then grab a drink/snack at golden hour at the Santa Monica Proper or the 1 Hotel.

Other favorite spots on any given day include Great White, Gjusta, Venice Beach Wines, Destroyer, Small World Books, Topanga State Park, Inn of the Seventh Ray.

Then of course I would end any day with a run towards Will Rogers along the Marvin Braude bike path followed by a dip in the ocean.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I constantly feel inspired and supported by so many people I meet and have in my life but in particular, my parents for putting up with me while I got my life together; Andi Elloway for a friendship and creative partnership that’s gone from coast to coast; Pip Cowley for inspiring me to embark on a new chapter; Conscious Minds for opening the door to me working in LA and the women of GirLab for the unwavering support, both in running and in life.

Website: http://www.xeniaalexandra.com

Instagram: @xeniarollinson

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xenia-rollinson-71275a52/