Quick Action Taker Nathalie Rivera

Can you tell us about your story?

Who are you, and what are your goals with the entertainment industry?

Nathalie: My name is Natalie Rivera, and I’m 19, turning 20 in April.

I was born in Miami, Florida, but I didn’t really live there.

I was only there for two months.

Then my mom wanted me to move to Columbia, so I came.

I was on and off to Hartford; Columbia to Hartford, Hartford to Columbia.

Then I finally started here when I was 11.

I stood back because I didn’t know English.

Then I moved to New York after meeting Alycia in Los Angeles, and she was telling everybody that the big city isn’t going to come to you.

You have to go to the big city.

So I decided to move to New York.

Deneen: That’s fantastic.

You went to our event this weekend.

Were you not on set yesterday?

Nathalie: Yeah, yeah, I was actually.

Deneen: That’s crazy.

I have so many questions for you, so let’s talk a little bit about that.

You went to our event this weekend in New York City.

First of all, tell me how it was!

I know it wasn’t your first event, so tell us about how the event went for you.

STAYING PREPARED FOR EVENTS

Nathalie: I think this event was so much better for me, because at the first event I was a little bit lost.

I didn’t really know anybody, but after the first event, you learn so much and you go into the second event way smarter and way more prepared.

So I think this event for me personally was better, because I felt like I was like, “Oh, this is Part 2.”

This is a sequel.

Deneen: That’s awesome.

That’s a great attitude to have.

It’s so true!

I know you did a lot of preparation because while we were at dinner, you kind of shocked me.

When you asked me what book totally transformed your life, I thought, “Where did you hear that?”

Can you talk a little bit about the preparation that you did for the event, and how preparing for New York has been a little bit different than preparing for when you went to LA last time?

Nathalie: I watched the videos both times, but I feel like this time I did more research, and I listened in closer.

So I was listening, and then I was constantly listening and rewinding in case I didn’t get something.

I wrote, and took notes down, even on the two hour podcast.

I’m not just going to go into that event.

I’m prepared.

I saw a lot of other people do that too; you can’t go to an event unprepared.

This event could change your life.

Deneen: There was one point when someone was asking me a question, and you stood between us.

You thought, “Oh no, no, no. Deneen is not going to answer that question for you.”

Go check your email right now.

I thought “Wow, I think maybe you should do my job.”

I don’t know, if the whole acting thing doesn’t work out, you could totally be the runner of the events because I was so impressed with that.

Nathalie: No, no.

You’re the best at that.

You’re very patient.

I had thought, “This guy doesn’t know the itinerary.”

I knew this last time.

I have to say, at least know your itinerary.

That just means you didn’t really care if you’re not prepared enough to do your research.

You’re just coming.

THE NECESSARY ATTITUDE FOR GETTING THINGS DONE

Deneen: The awesome thing is you literally signed up three days before the event, and you said “Okay, I want to be there.”

So what do you do?

You made it happen.

Can you talk to me a little bit about that attitude too?

So many times I talk to people and they say, “I want to go to Hollywood in six months, but I don’t know if I can.”

But you think “The event is in 72 hours, sign me up and I’ll be fully prepared.”

Can you talk about how you get that kind of attitude?

Because I want everyone to have that attitude.

Nathalie: I got her email and she said she was going to be in New York.

Closed mouths don’t get fed, so let me ask.

Maybe there’s a spot for me, and at least I asked.

It’s a long shot.

I was crossing my fingers.

I was outside, and as Alycia and I were talking about how she wanted me to do Inner Circle, I was just walking.

I remember walking down the same block in circles.

I just kept walking and walking and she finally said yes, and then I thought “Oh, good, I was nervous she was going to say no.”

I thought she would say “Oh, you know it’s too late.”

I was really excited when she said I could attend.

I just started jumping towards the end of that.

Deneen: I was totally amazed when she said “She’s gotta go to the event and she’s Inner Circle.”

What does Inner Circle mean to you, Nathalie?

Nathalie: It just means I’m fully focused, I really want this, and I’m really going to work hard for this.

Before I was doing it, I was really doing it as a side job.

Now I actually want to do this full time.

It’s not as if I’ll do this sometimes.

No, I actually saw some people that were saying that and I thought “If you’re like that, you’re not gonna make it.”

You actually have to give 100%, and that’s the Inner Circle.

Giving your 100%.

GETTING STARTED ON A SET

Deneen: That’s awesome.

Let’s talk about how you got on set so fast.

I literally just left you less than a week ago!

So how did you get on set?

Nathalie: There was one of the speakers with this casting agency that I had worked with before, a week or two ago.

I was talking to her, and she’s the boss.

I had worked for the company.

She said “You’ve been with us.”

She sent me an email for the next event.

She gave me her card and she said “Yeah, I’ll look you up.”

She looked me up on her email and sent me for the next shooting, and all I could say was thank you.

She said “Oh, you’re already in the system, and you can come to the next one.”

That was great because I met one of the casting directors, and now she said she’s going to keep me in mind for work in February for stunt work and stuff.

I’m a very active person, so I’m really excited for that.

If I don’t do anything all day, I feel like I just wasted the day.

Deneen: Yeah, that’s really cool.

If you had not gone to our events or met with her on Saturday, do you think you would’ve been on set yesterday?

Nathalie: No.

Because I went to the event, she has me in her mind now, she could see me in further projects, and she will directly email me.

Deneen: That’s awesome.

Here’s a question I have for you, Nathalie, as a talent too.

Do you think that you could have made that connection without being at the event?

Would you have been able to get her face to face?

Nathalie: No, no, no.

Absolutely not.

She’s not even on the set.

She’s not even on the set at all.

She’s the casting director that sends people to set, but she’s not on the set at all.

I would have never met her face to face, and would have never been able to give her my folder for further projects.

Deneen: Awesome. How cool was it that there was a familiar face on that too, right?

You were working with another person who’s also in the Inner Circle.

Nathalie: That was so fun.

I was literally screaming.

It was really funny.

Deneen: That’s cool.

That must’ve been fun, because I know you spent a lot of time together at the events and then you got some fun time together on set.

You were actually doing the things that you went to the event to achieve.

That’s pretty cool.

Nathalie: It was really fun.

I thought “Yes, she’s here too.”

One of my Inner Circle friends.

PUTTING TIME AND RESOURCES WHERE THEY MATTER MOST

Deneen: So, Nathalie, say there’s someone who’s listening to our podcast and they’re a little bit on the fence about this.

Or a guy thinking, “That’s really good for Natalie, but I don’t know.”

What piece of advice would you give them?

Would you recommend that they invest their time and their resources into VIP Ignite, and go into one of our events?

Nathalie: Yes, definitely.

If you really want this, you should go for it.

I was talking to Deb yesterday.

We’ve become really close, and James Johnson even made us download this party app since we all like partying.

It’s like a big Face Time almost every night.

I was telling her that a lot of people are really skeptical.

They told me they didn’t know if they should be in Inner Circle.

They were really lost at the LA event.

But look at us now.

We are Inner Circle. 

We went to the New York event, and we got this.

Now we really know what we’re doing.

So definitely join us.

This is something you can see yourself in a hundred percent, and this is something you really want.

Deneen: So how excited are you now to go to Hollywood in June?

Nathalie: Super excited now.

I’m even more prepared, and since I met the casting director, I’m going to have even more on my resume this time.

Deneen: You’re going to be the person that, if anyone ever asks me a question, I’ll say to just go see Nathalie.

She knows the answer.

She’ll give you the direct answer.

How about that?

Nathalie: You have to check your emails.

I’ll see what’s going on.

Deneen: I love everything that you said Nathalie.

Because again, you really put 100% in, even though you made the decision a couple of days before.

You were fully prepared and you did your research.

One of the things that I found from a couple of speakers was that they really appreciated the people that did the research.

They recognize that.

I was talking to one person in particular and she said, “Most of your people did the research.”

There were three or four I had to yell at, but I love that someone like yourself is so prepared to do your research, and you were a quick action taker.

You have to do the research in order to know who you’re talking to, so that you come off as someone who’s really prepared.

And that’s something that really impressed me with you, Natalie.

I’m very rarely rendered speechless, but you definitely rendered me speechless for basically the whole weekend.

It was fantastic to see you come in with your confident self.

Like you said, when you were in LA, you were a little bit lost.

You thought, “God, I’m not sure.”

But coming into New York because you had the two events, you were also the mastermind.

You were so much more prepared and it was a pleasure to work with you.

I’m really excited that I got to have you on the podcast today.

Nathalie: Me and Deb were talking yesterday, saying “We love Deneen!”

Deneen: Oh, I love you guys.

You can’t make me cry on the podcast.

That’s not fair. Geez.

Nathalie: When you asked me to be on the podcast, I was nervous.

I don’t know what you were going to ask me.

What if I’m not prepared?

I have to think a lot!

This is gonna take up too much time.

Deneen: No, no.

Michael says on the podcast, never throw people for a loop or ask people crazy questions.

My goal is always to make sure that this is a positive experience.

First of all, it’s your press.

But the other thing is I’m not Maury Povich.

I’m not really going to pull out some secret out of my pocket.

That’s not what this is designed to do.

So I’m glad that I didn’t ask you any trick questions today, Nathalie.

Nathalie: Thank you.

Deneen: You’re welcome.

Well, thank you so much for taking the time to be on the podcast.

I really appreciate it, and I can’t believe I have to wait until June to see you again.

But I’ll come up and hang out in New York with all of you guys.

That’ll be so much fun.

Nathalie: You definitely have to!

Deneen:  Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast.

I really appreciate it.

Nathalie: All right.

Thank you Deneen.

Deneen: You’re welcome!

Have a great day.

Nathalie: All right, you too. Bye!

Deneen: Thank you for listening to the VIP Ignite podcast!

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