Shanna Dempsey

I don't give up. I would say that's the number one thing. I'm really stubborn that way. I work really hard, and even times when I feel like I fail or kind of get knocked down, I always come back stronger, and I use those moments as ways to build myself, to learn, and to be stronger. I grew up on the reservation, so I'm a little bit like you gotta have that little bit of hunger in you, so I think I have that. I definitely have that drive and I'm just really grateful just to be able to work and to want to work, and to see where that can take me.

I think you miss 100% of the shots that you don't take, so I think that you have to push yourself, and especially as a woman in a male-dominated industry, you just can't be stuck in fear, so you really have to just kind of put yourself out there. And even if it's a sink or swim situation, you have to trust your gut and intuition, and trust that you know what you're doing. That's something that as an editor, there's a lot of pressure on you. You're kind of holding the energy of the room, you have intense deadlines, you gotta get things done quickly, everybody's looking to you, so you have to just always not give in to 'oh my god, what if I don't get this done' or whatever, and just trust that it's always gonna get done, and always will come together. Just trust the process.

If you know what you want to do really early on, especially as a woman, or especially if you're a minority woman, it's good to find a mentor in the industry, somebody that can kind of guide you. I think if you're even in high school, or you're going to college, or you're fresh out of college, and you reach out to somebody that's working at a place and they're willing to mentor you, I think that would be really beneficial. I've witnessed people that I've worked with that did that, and they took people in, and in an agency, not only just to get a little bit of a feeling for the vibe, it puts your name and your face out there. It shows that you take initiative, and I think it's also a good opportunity for you. My friend was a creative director, and she mentored this young woman out of college, and she took her to different parts of the agency to give her an experience to see what feels good to you, and to allow her to ask questions. I think anything that you could do to put yourself ahead is good, so that would be something that I would say is to find a woman in the industry that is more seasoned, that can kind of help mentor and guide you. Because there's just a lot of things to navigate, and just to help prepare for that.

I think the obvious thing is it's still a male-dominated industry. I mean, that's a challenge. I don't know if that's the biggest challenge. I think it's just how in my field, living in Detroit, when a big motor company removes their business from Detroit and seeks, like, so I'm in advertising, mostly, and they take their work outside of Detroit or whatever, that's something that can happen a lot. So I think just the ebbs and flows of the industry, because it's very reflective of kind of what's happening in the world. There's a lot of cycles, a lot of people get laid off and bounce back. I don't know anybody that doesn't have those stories anymore, and it's just part of it, so it's just kind of being prepared for kind of anything. And also, the film industry is always changing. The content's changing. It used to be bigger productions, now it's all this social media, there's all these little projects. So I think it's just riding the wave of the industry.

I would say to be kind to anyone that you work with, and that you're actually always going to be stronger if you have, collaborating with people than just standing on your own, so to really try to be open to finding those relationships, because it's just really amazing what can get done when you have all these different minds. I try to always just be really kind, and even in times where it's hard, I think just to always stay true to your values and just trust that in the long run, people are gonna respect you for that, and to not get too just caught up in the fray. For me, that's just to always try to have a level of respect and be kind with people.