Christina Flygstad

I still don't feel like I've reached the pinnacle of my success. I still have a lot of learning to do. But I feel like the people that I've worked with in a creative sense have been a huge key into where I am, and the type of content that I create and my skill set. I've had a couple really great mentors in my life. One right now being my boss, Shane Wright-Zammer, who's the owner and CEO of Cinema Story. I attribute my success to the people around me, but also to myself. I worked really hard, and I've put myself in a position to learn, and to be humble about where I want to go, and how I want to grow and learn. And how to swallow my ego and pride to get there, to a place where I want to be. So I attribute it to some of my mentors along the way, the people that... the other creatives that I... and the clients that have stuck with me over the years.

I still think the best advice is that you're not the only creative in the room, and to lean on the other creativity around you is really important. It's really important to learn how to take constructive criticism. That was a surprise to me when I started in the industry, when people were reviewing my video edits. I didn't expect to take it so personally. But most of the time, those reviews and comments are coming from a good place, because they want to elevate what you've created. That doesn't mean you've done it wrong. It just means that they have ideas to elevate what you've already done. For being a woman specifically, I remember when I took a management class online with UT, University of Texas, and there was one program that I took in it called Women in Leadership. A lot of the women were uncomfortable confronting conflict, and that's where 'be comfortable being uncomfortable' comes from. These women were uncomfortable hurting people's feelings. My mantra is, if I were a man, would you feel the same? We have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Women are wired a little differently, and that's okay. But we cannot just let things happen to us because we're uncomfortable talking about it. Be a little bit more assertive, gain your confidence a little bit more, and sometimes you don't have inherent confidence, you have to practice it. It's gonna feel wrong, and that's where, same with positive affirmations, sometimes it feels like a lie until you say it so much that you start believing it.

We're in a male-dominated industry, and that does not discount the voice that you have in the room. Gain your confidence, and become comfortable being uncomfortable. That's probably the big thing: be comfortable being uncomfortable speaking up, or saying, speaking your mind. You want to be kind, respectful and collaborative, but we're gonna have to work a little bit harder to do that. You're not the only creative in the room, so collaborate and lean on others. Their creative toolbox can help fill your creative toolbox. It's important to learn how to stand up for yourself and stand up for others if need be. It's important to not let people walk all over you. We've been doing that enough in history. You are the only you. Stop trying to be everybody else. Stop comparing yourself to others, you are uniquely you. Life is too short to care about what other people think. We need to grow our confidence, we learn how to speak up for ourselves. A lot of men would not need to do all this, right? We should be doing it just like that. They're gonna be uncomfortable with us doing that, and that's not our problem. That's their problem.

A big challenge in my industry is that there are not a lot of women in creative leadership roles. A lot of producers, directors, or creative decision makers in the field are men. I'd like to see more women, and we see this in Hollywood, right? A lot of male directors, not a lot of female directors. I'd like to see more female creative decision makers, so directors and producers in the field, also in the conversation with the men. And also having the men support and ally with their female counterparts. We want to elevate and support everyone, and that means creating space for everyone to come in, and maybe taking a little bit more consideration to the people you probably wouldn't think about. Other than the job market being totally trash, that's also a big challenge in my industry. The creative job market is really tough right now. It's an oversaturated industry and not a lot of jobs. A lot of opportunities that I see others taking is freelance, taking their expertise and building their own network out of that.

Respect, kindness, and collaboration are probably my big three. Especially in the creative industry, there are a lot of egos at play, so it's important for people to remember that you're not the only creative in the room. It's important to be open-minded and lean on others, because their creative toolbox can help fill your creative toolbox. It's important to collaborate. It's important to be kind all the time. As much as you can, just being considerate of others. That goes hand-in-hand with respect. You have to have inherent respect for the people who have more experience than you, the people who have been in the industry just as long as you, or have been going through the same struggles as you, or even different struggles, and then people who are getting into the industry, too. We were there at one point. It's important to be respectful of all experience levels, all genders, all roles and positions. It's okay to disagree and have a conversation about it, but it's important to be respectful about that as well. Creative is subjective. It's not like you're putting in equations and people are checking your work. Creative is a personal industry. It's your creativity that's being out there, and you're being judged for your writing, or how it looks, or how it's edited. Those are people's talents that are paying their bills. It's important for people to check themselves sometimes, and know that even if you have all the experience in the world, that does not discount other experiences in the room, even if it's less than yours. It's important to be respectful, especially to the next generation. We're gonna be working with them in 10 years, 15 years, or less. They have new ideas that can help us elevate. We shouldn't discount experience, even if they don't have a lot of it.