We’ve all felt the unyielding pressure of the times over the last year and a half plus. A time that has dragged on forever, yet simultaneously feels like it’s passed in the blink of an eye. We’ve witnessed seismic shifts in our culture, our communities, and shifts within ourselves. We look back to the long Winter of 2020 and remember old whispers of gratitude for a pause, the naive thanks for having time to reassess our directions in life, to reflect, to contemplate, to just be. After all, it would all be over in a few short months, and we could go back to life as we knew it … or so we thought. Not much was known about our microscopic threat at that time, nor could we have known how it would turn our world upside down
Many of those early wishes were in vain as life in the times of Covid quickly became a living hell for a lot of us. Some went through the gut-wrenching loss of loved ones, while others suffered the economic ripple effects from the pandemic and shutdown. Restless, stir crazy, isolated and lonely; emotions and states of being many of us had never experienced for so long and so close. We held our breath as we watched the great unraveling. Unprecedented wildfires and environmental catastrophes, political turmoil, a union divided, mass shootings.. one after the other, gross stories of injustice.
We weren’t anticipating starting our first blog with an ominous tone, but don’t believe that without going through this pressure cooker, Superbloom would exist. It was birthed in a time of collective crisis. It was born in a time when we needed to believe in each other, we needed to believe in ourselves. For my creative and business partner Drummond and myself, this new journey and the stories of impact we aim to create, are a direct response to a world on fire. We NEED, now more than ever, seeds of hope. Superbloom represents that burgeoning spirit of expansion. It’s super-powered transformation. It’s the growth that happens through the cracks in the pavement — Both resilient and persistent.
…It was born in a time when we needed to believe in each other, we needed to believe in ourselves.
Now get-to-know the forces behind Superbloom
Feel free to call me Jessie. My path that has led me to film has been a zig zagged one to say the least. It all began in 2004 when I was assigned a project over my senior year to research a career I was interested in pursuing. At the time I was a serious, classically-trained ballet dancer and on track for a professional contract, but I chose to spend my year researching.. Drum roll.. Film Directing. Up until that point of my life, I hadn’t really had much experience behind the camera, or even much with creative storytelling, but I loved movies and how immersive the worlds they created could be. I knew and believed in the power of storytelling even from a young age.
A few years later, and 1,400 miles to the West, a parallel track emerged that was equally demanding my attention at the time, and that was the concept of social entrepreneurship during my time at University of Colorado Boulder. The moment I learned about the “Triple Bottom Line”, (People, Planet and Profit), and the potential to use business as a vehicle for positive change in the world, I was hooked. It doesn’t sound sexy to most, but it charged me to the core. There was a creative, enterprising spirit inside of me that wanted to make a positive mark on the planet during my lifetime.
It was during a coffee meeting with one of my mentors that a few things clicked into place for me; That the core thing that was calling me forward was to create something to inspire people to become the happiest and most fulfilled version of themselves. That was it in its simplest form. The egotistical and cynical side of humanity literally gives me a rash, and I’m an optimist through and through. I believe that all people can be more loving, caring, kind if they chose to, and that this sentiment would translate into collective care for our community and collective care for our planet. The second thing that clicked for me was that Film was my answer to that something to inspire people. It was the medium to deliver a message that moves a person to their core. It’s the place where our motivation comes from, and the place where decisions are made. Somewhere between the heart and the gut.
This personal realization set my purpose in motion. At 27 years young, I was still searching for clarity, but couldn’t stand in one place for long enough to figure it out. So I did the most rational thing, I started my first video production company Siren Vid in 2016. Talk about a crash course in video production and small business ownership! By the end of year one, we had a sustainable, web video production company specializing in brand, product and lifestyle videos. Over 7 years, I fine tuned my skills as a producer, director and editor, worked with talented cinematographers and animators, and produced some great projects with some wonderful people, but something was slightly askew. It was the reason why I set on this course in the first place, it was to make films that moved and inspired people. Film’s that made a tangible impact in the world. I couldn’t shake that desire.
Superbloom was calling. It was calling Drummond too.
Music was my introduction to storytelling. I was a singer and guitarist in several bands in my late teens & early twenties. I loved writing songs, performing was such a rush! I dreamed of being a rockstar. Fortunately, life had other plans and at the age of 22 I lost my singing voice and was forced in another direction. Luckily, I didn’t have to despair long. I took an intro to video class, got a camera in my hand, and boom! A new path was born. All of the instincts I developed as a songwriter and performer channeled gracefully into directing, cinematography, & editing, but this time I would use my skill set to amplify the voices and stories who deserve it most.
In 2010, while attending the writing/directing immersion program at the Colorado Film School, I met a professor that was very inspiring. He made documentaries, and he was always talking about the role and responsibility of the filmmaker, especially considering the power a good film can have. He emphasized how it is our duty to tell stories with truth and clarity, and the passion in which he delivered his lectures touched my heart in a very deep way. I knew if I was going to pursue filmmaking it had to be rich in purpose and meaning.
After film school, I launched my own production company, Mond Entertainment, and simultaneously started a job on the video team at a publishing company called Sounds True. Through Mond I developed my entrepreneurial ambitions, and through Sounds True I worked with some amazing spiritual teachers and thought leaders including Thich Nhat Hanh, Eckhart Tolle, Pema Chödrön, Adyashanti, Brené Brown, and Michael Singer, and these experiences had a profound impact on me. More significantly during this time, another blessing entered my life. My life partner, Kara, and I had a baby! Talk about responsibility, my world got flipped upside down in all the right ways.
Over the past 11 years I’ve learned a lot about this craft and myself, and there’s a quote that I love, it goes something like, “bring forth what is inside you, and it will save you, do not bring forth what is inside you, and it will destroy you.” This is my motto in life and in filmmaking. I believe if each of us show up and bring all of ourselves to the table, we’ll find a way through whatever challenges lie ahead.
Here’s to all of our stories, may they flow like water, nourishing the seeds inside, sprouting like wildflowers, truths only revealed in a superbloom.
