– by Saint Nikole from Australia

Nikole:   Robert, you’re widely known for being the Boom Operator on The Walking Dead, but others would be surprised to know that you are much more than that;  you’re a speaker, writer, and photographer.  What motivates you to wear so many career hats?

Me:   I’m glad to hear I’m widely known.  Ha, I’m just another dude.  Though, I will admit that my secret little goal is…to reach out to large amounts of humans.  For many years I’ve had a sort of Mantra, or Mission Statement…”I am standing in the strength of my love, honestly creating joy and peace for me and you.”  All I’ve ever wanted to do for as long as I can remember is “…affect people in a positive way.”

Yes, I’ve always been a ‘Jack of all Trades’.  From the time I was in high school I realized that I could not “Pick just one thing and stick with it!”.  That’s what my Mom used to say to me.  I’ve always had a hundred and one things that I wanted to do.  My Mom also would say, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too!”  To this day I say to myself, “To hell with that Mom, I’m going to have, and eat, all of the cake I can get my hands on!”

I’ve had a passion for public speaking ever since I took a course in high school.  I went on to win numerous awards at various speech tournaments.  I seem to come alive in front of a crowd of listeners and watchers.  I don’t really care what people think in these settings, somehow I just trust that I can “affect them in a positive way”.  Entertaining is at the center of what I do, I learned a long time ago when I was in radio, and then TV, that the foremost thing is to entertain your audience.  You must capture their attention first, then feed them the message you want them to hear.

The passion to create and affect people is what drives me to wear many hats.  I have so many things I want to create…some will be for my pleasure, and many others will be for the shear excitement of igniting some sort of fire in other people’s passions.  It’s my purpose.

Nikole:    Of all of the skills you have obtained over the years, what to you has been the most rewarding?

Me:    Life is difficult, very difficult.  Work is difficult, at least my job is difficult, and it’s not just the work that challenges me…it’s the people and circumstances too.  Our work environment exposes us to a lot of different people with all types of personal issues, objectives, and personalities.  It’s as difficult to deal with people as it is one’s own job responsibilities.  So, I believe it is the skills I have developed to endure, persist, and persevere, that have served me the most in succeeding in what I do.  I haven’t necessarily liked it, but the truth is, when I look back, it is the sheer fact that I have stuck with it that has gotten me where I am today.  And I can’t say enough about how important is to be ‘liked’.  If you’re wanting to pursue, and succeed in any field that involves relating with other people, then you must be likable.  The people that make the decisions as to who gets one job or another are making their choices partially based on whether they want to spend a full day…or a week…or a year…working with you!  Moral to the story…Be likable!

Nikole:    How did you come to reach your goals?

Me:     Many times I feel like there are things that are unattainable.  I’m not a Capricorn…I’m just in love with one…, and they see every obstacle and challenge as just one more little mountain that they just have to climb.  They set their sights on the end result and begin working on achieving that goal.  Then they climb another mountain, and another…simple as that…in their mind.  I’m not like that, I have to ponder, analyze, envision, and persevere through trials and travails to then ‘hopefully’ succeed.

Nikole:    Who in your life have inspired you?  Or, who are the great people you look up to?

Me:    Many people, places, and things have inspired me.  I gain perspectives, dreams, passions, and ideas from everything around me.  I’m my mother’s little boy.  She was an interior designer.  She was so imaginative and talented.  I must have inherited her intuitions for wonderful colors, light, lines, patterns, and textures.

Nikole:    What advice do you have for the average person, such as myself and others, that struggle to define their mission in life?

Me:     I believe we all struggle to define our positions in life.  The reality is, it’s inside of us all, we just have to figure out how to cut through the clutter, the things that distract us from who we are, and we have to focus more time and energy on those few things that make us special.  We are all extremely unique, don’t you dare try to be someone else.  Focus on your passions and skills, and keep plugging away.  In time you look back at your life and go, “Wow, look what I’ve accomplished!”.  Just keep doing what you do best.  And do more of that and less of the things that don’t make you feel good.  That means the people you surround yourself with too!  And the jobs, the toys, the activities, and more.

Nikole:     You have a book coming out, what can you tell us about that?

Me:      My book is about my life, my personal apocalypse, my career in radio, TV, and film, and how I learned from all of those things to get to where I am today.  What’s cool about it is, it’s also a motivational and inspirational book that ignites passion in other people so that they can go out and become who they were meant to be too!  The book is filled with stories from my years in radio, TV, and mostly film production.  After 35 years, I have lots of stories to tell.  It’s a fun, entertaining, and educational type book that uses the principals of Hollywood storytelling to make a point about how people can get what they want.

Nikole:     You speak two languages and have traveled the world.  Where is the place you have enjoyed the most…apart from your home town?

Me:      Well one, I really only speak one language good, the other is mostly just for fun…Spanish.  And two, my home town where I grew up is a modest and historical type town in Missouri.  I haven’t lived there since I was about 22 years old.  Now, and in reality, I enjoy aspects of everywhere in the world I travel and work.  Because I gather my inspirations from everywhere, I have been able to embrace the reality that I am somewhat of a gypsy.  I don’t really have a home per say, I have lots of places that I love to visit and be a part of.  I have many personal struggles, but I’m also blessed with an ever changing life of adventure and exploration.

Nikole:      If you were the President for one day what would you do?

Me:       I don’t want to be a President for even one day, I affect and lead in more subtle and personal way.  I would most likely do that best in one-on-one situations.  But, if I had to answer the question I would say….tour all of the really cool secretive places that Presidents get to go to hide and run our country!  I’d love to know what things go on behind closed doors that none of us really know about.  There’s got to be some really awesome top secret stuff out there!

Nikole:       When I was a wee Chap, futuristic TV shows were somewhat Jetson’s themed…like ‘Back To The Future’ with hover boards and flying cars.  Now we have blockbusters like ‘San Andreas’ and ‘The Walking Dead’.  What do you think brought about this current apocalyptic craze?  How did we go from a revolutionary world that everyone wants to be apart of, to a dead world that nobody wants to be apart of?

Me:       I think we all fear that there will be some sort of apocalypse.  We’re probably all terrified that this crazy world, community, or life we live within, will one day collapse.  We are really worried that we will be taken over by someone, some people, or some other world.  I believe we all think that we may end up in a devastating situation.  If we have lived long enough to be impacted the history of the world, then we have developed fears that occasionally haunt us.  I grew up during the Vietnam War, where regularly we would witness brutality on our TV sets as our family sat together watching the nightly news.  It was a time when the Military Draft in the US was ever-present, and the threat of being called to go to war was imminently possible amongst we teenagers.  Kids lived in such fear that they would leave their families and move to Canada so as to avoid going to a terrible war.  This time period has always stuck with me as a time of apocalyptic type fear.  Now days, I’ve live in a time when even more wars, famine, terror, and fear go on daily.  I’m mostly aware of all of this because the immediacy of information that is transmitted through our electronic devices.  News, bad and good, is immediately available, and impacts us far to often during our day.  This scares people.  I don’t want to be apart of this, so I choose to not participate.  I don’t really watch the news.  I don’t pay too much attention to it.  I choose to focus on the things I can control, my skills, talents, and passions.  I suggest all people do the same.  Remember what I said, “Do more of what works of you, and less of what doesn’t!”

Nikole:       In 5 words, how can you motivate someone to reach their dream?

Me:        Motivating an individual?;  I really like to approach that on a one-on-one basis.  I can have a far greater impact if I work with someone individually.  I have a strong intuition that allows me to read and understand a person on a personal level that is unique only to them.  I can hit their trigger point, and push it in such away as to bring out their pain an suffering.  From there I can build them back up.  But, but, but, if I had to choose 5 words I’d say…WHAT…CAN…YOU…TELL…ME?

Nikole:      This is awesome Robert!   Thank you so much!

 

with Robert K. Maxfield

11/27/2015