Paige denim, Boohoo sneakers, Forever 21 top
A few months ago, I cold pitched an executive from A&E Networks about a show I was looking to produce. Since A&E does a lot with similar show concepts, I wanted to give them my idea and get their vision behind it. When I was in LA earlier this year, I pitched my idea to someone at Warner Brother’s and they turned me down: hardcore. If you want to see the video I posted after that meeting, click here.
I went in to meet with A&E with a very optimistic mindset because I know how the industry works. I was pretty scarred from the LA meeting, so I was assuming they’d shoot my idea out the door and tell me to get the f*** out of their office. I talked about being more content with the way things are in my post yesterday, and I tried to keep that mindset in check before I went to meet with them. Just getting them to email me back might be enough for someone else, but I wanted to talk to them face to face and take things to the next level…
Once I talked to them, they told me the project probably wasn’t up their alley. In my attempt to believe patience is virtue, I wrote my regular follow-up email to thank them for meeting with me, and decided to hang tight in case a project popped up. In this particular scenario, A&E did have a project for me, and it came at the perfect timing with what’s happening with my nonprofit, M.I.N.T. Eventually, the team at A&E hired me to work with them on a secret show coming out and bring together a group of NYC influencers to give feedback and share their personal stories. We met in NYC at the A&E office on Monday evening from 6-9:30 PM, and I left the office feeling so incredibly inspired and proud of the influencers who I rounded up and how passionate they are about following their dreams and inspiring me to keep following mine, too.
Someone DM’ed me on Instagram the other day saying he had heard me talk about my experience being turned down by WB on the Purpose in the Youth podcast, and what my advice was for pitching the big guys. My advice? Don’t give up. 10000000 people will tell you no, and then 2000000 more people, and you just have to accept what is until you meet the person who says yes. Most of the time, people give up after the first 10000000 people say no. It’s the ones who never give up that end up where they always wanted to.
Xo,
Alexa
