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Next On Scene: The Human Behind The Brand
Every Body Belongs: Bridging the Gap for Individuals with Disabilities
00:20:20
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- [00:00]
Jackie Zook
Welcome back to Becoming Next on Scene, everybody. It is your host, Jackie Zook. It is another awesome day for another awesome episode of how to become Next on Scene in your field of business or in your passion. Before I bring on my amazing guest, I always like to start with some marketing PR assistance that I think you can incorporate into your day to day. So my marketing advice today is I really think it's important to think out of the box box. I think not enough people, like, it's, it's totally understandable to stay in your comfort zone, do what you're comfortable doing and stick with your day to day. But sometimes it takes one little tweak in what you're doing to make a significant difference. And this is on a personal and professional level. So if I could share any advice today. Change a little bit of something the way you're doing something. Maybe it's like waking up five minutes earlier or maybe it's making five minutes for yourself at the end of the day. Maybe it's no screen time. Like, I'm just thinking, like many steps that can make significant differences with how you're feeling. Maybe it's meditating for five minutes. I've just been doing that for myself and I love to share through life experience and it's been super significant and I think that really ties into my amazing guest today with Thinking outside of the Box. So my amazing guest is Chrissy Raymond. She is an incredible casting agent, has her own agency, and she's making such a difference in the world of inclusive casting, defining what that is for you all and how you can really help her grow and make a difference. You're helping yourselves by spreading the word, but also helping her get the word out to give more people in all sorts of areas more opportunities. And so I'm really excited for you to learn from her. Stay tuned for the amazing Chrissy Raymond.
- [01:54]
Unknown
The ups, the downs and all the in between, what it takes to become Next on Scene. Are you next? Follow us at Next on Scene.
- [02:14]
Jackie Zook
Welcome back to Becoming Next on Scene, everybody. I'm so excited to be here with the amazing Christy Raymond. She is the founder of Humankind Casting. Chrissy, I am so excited to have you today. You are such a rock star. Welcome to the podcast.
- [02:27]
Chrissy Raymond
So much, Jackie. I'm thrilled to be here, of course.
- [02:29]
Jackie Zook
So let's talk first about like, what humankind casting is and how you fell into it.
- [02:34]
Chrissy Raymond
Absolutely. So we are a casting and production company supporting creative teams that might be creating photos or videos for advertising or any type of medium. And we Focus especially on inclusive casting and production practices, looping in the disability community into mainstream media. And I have been doing this very proudly in the industry for over 35 years. My background includes a modeling agency owner, production company owner, and now a casting and production company owner.
- [03:08]
Jackie Zook
Amazing. So when was the first experience you had placing, like, doing inclusive casting? Do you have a memory that would be cool to share?
- [03:16]
Chrissy Raymond
Yes, absolutely. So this happened while I was doing contract work with Hasbro, the toy company, and working with an incredible team at the Baby Alive brand team. And as they were developing these really amazing dolls, you know, finally incorporating boys, different colored skin tones, different hairstyling. In talking with the team, they really saw the opportunity to increase the diversity of the children that were being seen on the packages. So as we talked about skin tones, we brought up the concept of kids with disabilities, because all kids play with toys. And it was really a great opportunity to open up the door with an organization that exists still currently called Changing the Face of Beauty. And it was there that we developed the concept on their platform of setting up a photo shoot, setting up a video shoot. We used it as a guise for a casting, and we were able to bring in children from all over New England for the brand team to see in action. And that's kind of an important thing because, again, this is still professional work that we are trying to accomplish. And being able to see how children behave and react on set allows the team then to be prepared for whatever child is going to walk on set that day. Yeah, so that was really where I first got the bug for it. And then once I saw the impact of it, I said, oh, this. This really needs. This needs a full force behind it.
- [04:44]
Jackie Zook
I want to talk briefly, too, about a commercial you'd done recently with Staples about how, like, it was so nonchalant. It was like people in the workspace, and there was somebody in the wheelchair that you thought about to. Can you talk about, like, that creative process that you bring so people understand better?
- [04:59]
Chrissy Raymond
Well, when that team came to me with their casting specs, because I cast everybody in that, in that particular project that you're referencing. So when they come to me and they start describing the scenarios and the types of individuals that they're looking for, it's there where we have that conversation. Where can a disability, a person with a disability, fit accurately and authentically? And it is supposed to be not like they're in the front of the picture pointing and say, look what we did. We put in a person with disabilities in our photo or in our video it's more like a pan of the scene of life. And there they are. What that type of approach does, and I think we talk about this a lot, is it turns disability from an anomaly into being normal. And that's where we as able bodied people need to widen our own lens because they are normal. This is part of our normal life and society. And the more we accept that, I think the more we will have an ability to see each other a little differently.
- [06:05]
Jackie Zook
I love that, love that so much. And I'm like, we need to give the casting agents like you more public credit, Kristi, because you are amazing. I'm just telling you.
- [06:13]
Chrissy Raymond
I agree. I mean, casting hasn't. It's just getting its due at the Academy Awards and there is nothing like that for advertising. You know, we. And we do a lot of casting where everybody else gets a lot of credit and we don't often get that credit. And that is a little disappointing. But we are right there to repost it and put it up and show it.
- [06:33]
Jackie Zook
How did you fall into casting? Like how. What's the backstory?
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Chrissy Raymond
I think it came from my first job at a modeling agency and that when I opened Models Inc. With a business partner in 1991, I can't tell you the number of hours I spent riding the tee just looking at people. And I think as a woman, I had probably a little bit of an easier time approaching people. I didn't seem as scammy or as, you know, weird. But finding those faces and then actually spending some time to develop them if they were interested in working with us, you know, really spending time with them, with photographers, with hair and makeup people, with wardrobe people really guiding them. Because we all know portraits and things are very different from the types of pictures you'd see in a modeling portfolio.
- [07:20]
Jackie Zook
Sure.
- [07:22]
Chrissy Raymond
About, you know, how you can transition from, you know, the beautiful face I found on the subway to, you know, to a model that's in a major.
- [07:30]
Jackie Zook
Campaign, which I want you to talk too about. Beauty has no limits. And congrats on your recent grant. I'm psyched for you. So tell us about this amazing offer you have and what the goal is.
- [07:41]
Chrissy Raymond
So through our partnership with Changing the Face of Beauty, we had put on many photo clinics over the past few years. Once we felt it was appropriate to jump back in after Covid. Covid changed a little bit. A lot of things in our industry. And unfortunately, the leadership at Changing the Face of Beauty really has not been able to continue to support the photo clinics. Like know they are needed and want to do so, we've launched our own series of clinics called Beauty has no Limits, where we are just picking that same platform. We are bringing in commercial lifestyle photographers and makeup artists, wardrobe stylists to work with children and adults with disabilities who want to give it a try, see what it's like to be in front of the camera. Because it is harder than you think. It is a lot harder than you think. But do they like it? And then what do those pictures look like? And are they interested in pursuing more opportunities in the modeling and acting world? And so by providing people with this experience, it's not just a portrait, it's not just a simple photograph. There's a whole process that's involved. And it's really important to educate not only people who want to get into the industry, but for us, it's important for me to educate those that are already in the industry. Those photographers, those hair and makeup people, those wardrobe folks who likely have never worked with someone with a disability. This gives them an opportunity to do that and then feel more empowered when they are in the room with other creatives to say, hey, I've done that. I have no problem. Let's make that happen. So these clinics are the way to build the talent pool so that creative teams have somewhere to go to book accurate and authentic talent.
- [09:29]
Jackie Zook
And something that you're not throwing in there that I'm here to like. You wanted to spread it out. So right now you've done it in Boston. The goal is now Rhode island and then you're going to bring it. Tell us more about this.
- [09:39]
Chrissy Raymond
We do have a pretty big five year plan to actually have this on the west coast within five years. I love it. Oh, thank you. So we really want to focus on secondary markets. So we know about New York and we know about la. Right? Great markets. However, a lot of the commercial lifestyle work, and by that I mean work for companies like Shark Ninja or maybe their financial companies or their insurance companies or their pharma companies. There's many, many more clothing companies, brands across the country. A lot of their work happens in the secondary markets. Boston, Philadelphia, Charlotte, North Carolina, Atlanta. You go to Austin, you can go to Houston. So if there's no talent pool from the disability community there, they're never going to get seen or heard. So by into those cities and partnering with the existing modeling agencies and the organizations that support the disability community, we can create photo clinics in each of these markets, building the talent pool and having formal representation of individuals. Because if you build it, they will come.
- [10:48]
Jackie Zook
I love That I think that theory is so true. So thank you for sharing that. Like, so true. So I want you to talk to about. You have two different areas of clientele. You have the talent, and then you have the. The creative producers and agencies. So can you walk us through that too, of how people can work with you?
- [11:05]
Chrissy Raymond
So let's talk a little bit about the modeling side. So let's say you are an individual of a disability, but. And you would love to have an opportunity to. To shine in front of the camera and see what it's all about. Those are the people we want to talk to. Maybe you're the parent of or the friend of or the caregiver of. Those are the folks we want to talk to. We want to give opportunities to anyone with. Who identifies as someone with a disability. So that could be a child, it could be a senior adult. Because across the community, there's nothing. There doesn't exist in the talent pool. So in order to get there, we want to encourage anyone who's interested in coming. So once they come to one of our clinics, we also offer additional workshops if someone's interested in getting some additional training on Runway walking or model posing. All types of activities that do, I think, help enhance personal presentation skills, help enhance how you walk into a room. I mean, it really has a lot to do with confidence building. And there's a lot of tricks in the modeling industry that we can sort of bring out to everyone and everyone can use that wherever they are. On the other side is obviously our clients where people who are hiring us to do their casting or support their production. And I would say that, you know, we have a wonderful base of clients here in New England, institutional clients that continue to work with us. Cvs, Shark Ninja are two of my favorites. They. I enjoy working with them tremendously. And, you know, we're looking for more clients who, you know, might be just on the edge of saying, what does this look like for us? How can we incorporate this type of storytelling into our marketing or advertising campaign? But it has to be real, right? It has to be authentic. It has to be in line with their brand. And I think that that's where we come in. And we do some digging and we do some conversations with the marketing teams, with merchandising teams, with branding teams, and really help to guide that authentic voice so that it doesn't appear like a checked box of we've put this person in. But it feels like a really true, authentic approach to storytelling.
- [13:27]
Jackie Zook
I love that. And now I want to tie that into Wicked. Because obviously it's very relevant right now. Everyone's seeing the movie, loving it. I haven't seen it yet, but I know. Have you seen it yet? Was it awesome?
- [13:37]
Chrissy Raymond
I sure have. It was amazing. So 10 years ago I took my daughter to Wicked off Broadway and we were impacted by it then and loved, loved, loved the story. And one of the things I continue to bring up and talk about is the fact that the role was written that way, right. This is not something that came after the fact that said, oh, we should put a person in a wheelchair in this role. She was written that way. And I think that that's such a vital point because that gets back to the ideation and storytelling because when it comes from that place of truth and sort of like art, real, a real widening of the typical lens, you get such an impact because you, you can feel the authenticity. You can feel that it is right. And I think that that felt so right in that movie, beginning to end.
- [14:39]
Jackie Zook
I love that. And as you were sharing too like in the beginning about how it's written, like what even goes into that, like how can we educate, how can you educate more people? That needs to be written in it, right? Like what take on this?
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Chrissy Raymond
I don't know. I feel like we just keep talking about it. We just, and, and then it becomes part of the vernacular, right? It, it really, we just keep talking about it.
- [15:02]
Jackie Zook
Well, recently you talked about in a video that only 2% of the disability community felt heard. Right. Can we elaborate more on that? Like in terms of like feeling visible and seen on big screens and things.
- [15:13]
Chrissy Raymond
Like that when feeling seen in mainstream advertising. When I think the, the disability community knows how big they are, they abso. Know the power that they have. The fact is though, as able bodied individuals, we are the gatekeepers or we don't. That we as a community, especially as a creative community, has to open the door and allow the conversations to happen freely. And inclusivity, you know, or inclusive casting maybe, right. For projects. And then there are points where it might not be and that's okay. It has to be authentic. It has to come from a place of wanting to see people and know that they exist. Number one, know that they exist. But number two, realize that they could be part of a consumer base that you didn't even know you had, that you didn't even know is out there. And I think that it is just, it really is just a continued conversation because again, if you look at the top of organizations, there are no C suite executives across the globe. If I'M correct. If is. And maybe it's like a 1% that identifies someone with a disability. Yeah. Come from the top down. So the top has to say, this is important. This consumer base is important to us. And then you will see that trickle down into the storytelling and into really the branding and the identifying of. Of who they are.
- [16:48]
Jackie Zook
And this also ties into your backstory, which I love, which is like, you grew up with a friend that had down syndrome. Right. So can you talk a little bit about that, too, or.
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Chrissy Raymond
Christopher and I grew up together as a couple years older than I was. And, you know, we were a very outdoor family, as was Christopher's family, so camping and biking. And Christopher had Down syndrome, but he was just with us all the time. It was never, like, pointed out, although we often heard the whispers and the rumblings of, he shouldn't be here. He can't do that. He'll never get there. This will never happen. And I believe that as I grew up and I saw Christopher, you know, just kick it over and over and over again and become a decorated Boy Scout, become an Eagle Scout, work very diligently for an employer for years and years, be active in his community as a civic leader. So I think he sort of took all the, you can't and very quickly said, I am. And I think that that's just always kind of been there. And I never really thought about it more until I started ideating on humankind and what that was going to look like. And that happened in 2020. And unfortunately, Christopher passed away in 2020, so he was not able to see us launch this business. But I believe, you know, what Christopher taught me was truly that everybody belongs. The mantra for humankind.
- [18:21]
Jackie Zook
I love it. I think it's. I think your story is amazing and, like, so inspiring. I think you're educating so many people that, like, we're all the same. We might not all. All look the same, but we all are the same. At the end of the day, we all have souls and good hearts and like, I love that so much. I think you are amazing. Truthfully.
- [18:38]
Chrissy Raymond
I want to live independent lives. Right. We all want to make. Make a difference, maybe. Right. You know, we all want to and heard. And I think for many of us, you know, who. Who have a bit of privilege, and I will say that for sure that we have to look at that and say again, as gatekeepers, how can we open the door and say, you are welco. We want to hear you, we want to see you, because we know with you we will be a better community. That's the truth.
- [19:11]
Jackie Zook
You're amazing, Christy. How can people get in touch with you? Follow all the things share and find.
- [19:18]
Chrissy Raymond
Us on Instagram at humankindcasting. You can find us on TikTok at humankindcasting. You can find us on Facebook @ humankindcasting. Plus sign talent. Our website is you are humankind. And that is all spelled out. Y O U A R E humankind. And if you really want to call me, you can call me.
- [19:40]
Jackie Zook
I love it.
- [19:42]
Chrissy Raymond
She means that.
- [19:43]
Jackie Zook
She genuinely means that, too. Chrissy, thank you so much for your time today. Everyone needs to check out humankind casting and stay tuned for who's next on scene.
- [20:00]
Unknown
The ups, the downs, and all the in between. What it takes to become next on scene. Are you next? Follow us at Next on scene.