Check out Simo Benbachir's Interview with Victoria Summer

As a blogger, sometimes I want to tell everyone about a particular interview I've done. It can be especially exciting to interview an artist toward the beginning of their already simpressive career, when you have the strong feeling that this person is only going to become more and more successful as time goes on.

So I want to share the good news of Dubai TV Alarabiya News English reporter Simo Benbachir (aka Simobb), as he recently enjoyed the opportunity to interview popular British actress Victoria Summer. You can see a video of the interview by clicking here to visit the English language site for Alarabiya. The interview was hosted at Lab Art Los Angeles by Iskander Lemseffer and directed by Brian Patamakanthin.

While their conversation took place as part of the publicity that Victoria Summer is doing for her new starring role in Game of Aces, you probably know her from two other very popular films in which she had supporting roles. She played Julie Andrews in in Walt Disney Pictures' Saving Mr. Banks starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers. She also appeared in Paramount Pictures' Transformers: Age of Extinction, directed by Michael Bay.

In Game of Aces, directed by Damien Lay, she plays the lead role of British nurse Eleanor Morgan. The movie is set during WWI and is described as both a romance and an adventure. It has received good notices in the L.A. Times and other media.

I think you will enjoy the engaging interviewing style of Simobb. He is a Moroccan TV reporter who covers entertainment and "gossip" stories in a fun and upbeat way. He has over 18 years of experience in media and is a well-known presence at many glamorous international events.

You can see that he enjoys sharing Victoria Summer's story of perseverance as she spent a number of years funding her acting career by working as a nanny and personal trainer. She worked in musical theater in London for some time before moving to Los Angeles to follow her dream of breaking into American film and television.

In her own words, "The secret is persistence and staying focused; I just keep going, and I do not stop. You have got to take off any poky barrier that comes your way and staying on that one path knowing where you are going and keep it going.”

For the full conversation between Simo Benbachir and Victoria Summer, click here.

Introducing Englanti Editing, a Useful Site for Writers and Readers

Englanti Editing is a Finland-based business offering services for people who need documents, websites, and other materials edited. The cool thing about their website is that it also provides a variety of free resources for writers and readers.

The site showcases good writing and helps to promote the work of up and coming authors. On the Featured Books page, you can read about books from independent authors, learn about the authors themselves, and read excepts of their work. The genres/topics of the book vary, and I found some interesting selections including flash fiction, historical fiction, and a coming of age novel. Authors are invited to contact Englanti Editing to ask about having their books featured on the website as well as on Facebook.

Authors can also contact Englanti Editing to ask about having one of their short stories published in its entirety on the website. The site has a nice selection of stories, all of which are suitable for readers of all ages. You can also find author interviews by clicking the Interviews and Insights link on the site. I always like to find another website which features author interviews, so it was a pleasure for me to visit this link in particular!

Writers who visit the site are invited to participate in the Leaf Writing Challenge; writers can share stories written from the perspective of "a leaf being carried on the breeze," and the editors at Englanti Editing will feature selected stories on their website and also give award certificates to the best stories received by December of 2015.

It's always nice to find a business that gives back to its community--in this case, the business gives back by providing a platform to help authors get their work out into the world, and by providing readers a place to find new authors and works to enjoy. I'll be interested to see what other literary content EnglantiEditing.com features over time!

Meet Jonathan Real, Magician and TV Host

Jonathan Real, a master magician from New York, performs close-up magic for small, intimate audiences that often include chart-topping musicians and celebrities. You may have seen Jonathan on Real Magic TV (RMTV); the show features Jonathan's magic skills as well as his ability as a celebrity interviewer.

Jonathan has performed for a variety of celebrities, from Maroon 5 and Jason Mraz, to Dan Aykroyd and Kevin Bacon. He also donates his time and magic skills to coaching youngsters as a Director at the Society of Young Magicians.

Learn more about RMTV on Hulu and YouTube.

1. How did you first become interested in magic?

I was always enamored with magic. When I was four or five, I saw a magician perform at a birthday party and was immediately hooked. There is something about it: it has the ability to take an audience on a journey. It makes us realize that there is much more in life than what we see. To be able to bring that feeling to people, and more recently, mainstream celebrities, is just amazing.

2. Would you tell us a little bit about the concept behind Real Magic TV and how you got involved with the show?

Real Magic TV was born from a film project called "Real Magic New York." The original film followed me around the state of NY performing magic in support of the Twin Towers Fund. At the tail end of the benefit project, I was invited to perform for the com band Sevendust. The band's appearance opened the door to a host of record labels and artists wanting to get involved with a magic/music show. We originally called it "RMNY Backstage" but quickly changed the name to "Real Magic TV" after the third taping, and it has stuck ever since.

The concept itself is extremely original. In a nutshell, I am invited backstage at popular music shows to do magic for the bands. The show captures both the magic and a relaxed conversation I have with each band.

A few years ago we added live music performances to the show as well and had the honor of debuting Jason Mraz's hit "I'm Yours" with an exclusive acoustic multiple-cam recording four years before its release. The performance has been viewed millions of times worldwide and launched a whole series of acoustic sessions that we continue to do to this day.

3. How can viewers of RMTV interact with you online and share suggestions of tricks they want to see you perform?

We have just launched a special website for just that purpose: http://www.challengethemagician.com. Viewers can submit their own magic idea videos for me to view and tackle on the program. The site allows the public to see all of the submissions and vote on their favorites. We've seen everything from card tricks to mentalism/seeing through blindfolds and escape requests come in so far.

4. What do you find to be the most fun--and the most challenging--about performing magic?

The fun part is easy: performing magic is extremely rewarding. Seeing the smile on someone's face is incredible and what I strive for in every performance.

The challenging part is practicing and keeping on top of your game. I'm in a really unique place with this show because unlike most magicians performing on stage or in front of a large crowd, I am most often performing for an audience of one. And that one person is a well-known celebrity with a loyal following. The first few tapings we did were extremely nerve-wracking, realizing that if I mess up an effect, not only will this person know about it, but potentially millions of their fans as well. But with risk comes reward, and my career was launched by so many mainstream artists that shared with their fan bases the great stuff I was able to do for them.

5. For people who want to improve their own skills as magicians, what's your best advice?

Practice makes perfect. As secretive as magic is, there are groups across the country that can help you learn the art and perfect it. I joined one such organization (The Society of Young Magicians) at the age of 12, but they welcome people as young as seven who have an interest.

Other than that, you need to perform for as many people you can once you have perfected a trick. And before you have it down perfect, perform for yourself, for a video camera or for other magicians. It's a lot like music: you aren't going to be very good at it at first, but with experience you can really create great and memorable performances.

Thanks, Jonathan!

Meet Aaron S. Robertson, Freelance Journalist

Aaron S. Robertson, MSM, currently serves as both a trainer and the head of online marketing at Spectrum Communications, an award-winning and industry-recognized answering service and call center in the metro-Milwaukee area. Additionally, he is a freelance journalist primarily concentrating in the realm of music, and has interviewed a number of nationally-known artists from the classic rock and pop genres of the 1960s and 70s.

Learn more about Aaron on his IMDB page, and read some great interviews by visiting his blog.

1. As someone with a background in management and marketing, how did you first become interested in writing and publishing interviews?

Well, the interest in writing and interviewing actually came along first. I've been working as a freelance writer and journalist since graduating from college in 2007. These days, though, I mostly just stick to self-publishing my works through my blog. And for the last two and a half years or so, since late 2011, I've focused primarily on interviewing musicians from the classic rock era. That's become a fun niche for me. But I've had stints in the past with the Muskego, Wisconsin (my hometown) affiliate of Patch.com, as well as the Muskego Chronicle, a traditional print newspaper. With both of those publications, I covered anything from local city government news to business and human interest stories. Occasionally, I would write an editorial.

Simultaneously, for a six-year stretch that spanned the end of 2007 to the end of 2013, I served as president of Intrepid Innovations Inc., a small Internet marketing firm consisting of myself and two old college buddies. This experience in online marketing came to complement my writing/journalism quite well, since a lot of my work was, and remains to be, published for an online audience. So the two largely went hand-in-hand.

I joined the team at Spectrum Communications, a Milwaukee-area answering service and call center, during the summer of 2012. In addition to taking calls from time to time, I handle the company's online marketing efforts and also serve as a trainer, training our operators on our various client accounts. I earned a master's degree in management this past December from Milwaukee's Cardinal Stritch University, where I also earned my bachelor's in 2007.

2. You've done a number of interviews with musicians from 1960s and 70s bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Buckinghams. What sparked your interest in music of this era, and how did you start making contact with the musicians themselves?

I would largely credit listening to the local oldies and classic rock stations as a kid, thanks to my parents and other relatives. And I love just about the whole package, just about the entire deal--most of the surf rock, southern rock, R&B and soul, pop, blues and blues rock, folk rock, British Invasion material, some disco, etc.--that came out of that period. As I grew older, I naturally started attending concerts with my parents, their friends, and other relatives that featured groups from this era.

The thing about this period, it's simply good music. And good music is timeless. It doesn't really know what time and age is. I'm 31 right now, and CCR, The Steve Miller Band, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Cream, Grand Funk Railroad, Canned Heat, Jimi Hendrix, The Allman Brothers Band, The Kinks, Spencer Davis Group, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and Motown material, among countless other groups and artists of the 60s and 70s, were still being played in college dorm rooms and at parties when I graduated in 2007. We hear this music in movies and commercials to this day. It's all around us, and that's a testament to the quality that came out of the era. It really resonates with people. Both Doug Clifford and Stu Cook of CCR described the era as a renaissance in my interviews with them. All the musicians I've interviewed have commented on how they're seeing many younger fans coming out to shows. Doug told me he's even noticing fourth-generation fans emerging at CCR shows, kids that are seven, eight, nine years old.

As far as making contact with the musicians themselves, a lot of it is centered around e-mail or even Facebook communications, believe it or not. I've become personal Facebook friends with a number of my interviewees, some before the interview, some after. Some added me first, some I added first. When Facebook is not much of an option, I'll start looking around for e-mail addresses. In many cases, I've found the musicians I'm interested in talking with to be pretty accessible--the e-mail really goes to them. In other cases, I've had to work through publicists at first. But that's to be expected.

The above photo shows Aaron on the left with Nick Fortuna of The Buckinghams, taken in December 2012.

3. One of your most popular interviews was with Rebecca Romney of Pawn Stars. How did that interview come to be, and what did you find most interesting (or surprising?) in talking with her?

I'm a big fan of the show. Not only is it entertaining, but, for me, I also take the educational opportunity it presents very seriously. For me, it's a history lesson on the go. I get a lot out of the show in that regard. So one evening, while watching an episode, I thought to myself how neat it would be to interview any of the show's visiting experts. They all bring such valuable experiences and insights to the table in their respective lines of work.

Rebecca works for the Las Vegas gallery of Bauman Rare Books. One day, I just e-mailed her at her Bauman e-mail address requesting an interview, and the rest is history, no pun intended. It was really as simple as that. I was somewhat surprised, admittedly, that I received a quick and personal reply agreeing to the interview. I guess I expected maybe a publicist and/or some other vetting process at the beginning. And then again, there was always the chance that I would not hear back. But I would never know had I not tried.

Rebecca was very friendly and down to earth. It was a great conversation. She's a top-notch professional, and I could tell right away at the beginning of the interview that she truly loves her work and is genuinely interested in sharing her thoughts and insights with others.

I've put out requests to some of the show's other experts, but so far, Rebecca has been the only one to respond. I'm happy it worked out with her. Out of all of the show's experts, I'm probably a little more partial to her anyway because I serve on my hometown's library board and love to read every chance I get, which, ironically, is pretty rare these days.

The interview with her is definitely my most popular so far, in terms of sheer traffic. It averages around 1,000 hits per month.

4. In addition to providing a home for your interviews, does your blog also provide your perspective on living and working in Milwaukee?

Not as much as I would like it to, and that's largely due to time constraints. I'm working on that. I like to do the occasional business review. From time to time, I'll put together lists of fun places or events to try based around certain themes. I like to share my online marketing expertise when I get the chance. I'll share my thoughts on major economic development projects and initiatives happening around the metro area once in a while. Additionally, I post information on business networking groups and events around the greater area, and I have feeds that draw from other news sources. It's a nice mix I have, overall. But I would love to do a lot more with it. Like I said, time is a big factor.

5. Who are some of your "dream" interviewees, and what are some of the questions you'd most like to ask them?

There are too many to count! Off the top of my head, I would say Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Gregg Allman, and Derek Trucks. I'd ask each of them about influences growing up, how they came to the realization that music was their calling, and what advice they have for aspiring musicians.

Thanks, Aaron!

Meet Andy Gray, Podcast Host and Entrepreneur

Andy Gray is the host of A Congruent Life, an interview project that explores themes and stories of authenticity and happiness, particularly when people reinvent and live their lives in a way that is more congruent for them. Andy is also a software entrepreneur, helping small businesses and non-profit organizations bring their ideas to life.

1. What inspired you to start A Congruent Life?

A Congruent Life is a project that's been gestating for a long time, and has finally taken shape over the last couple of years. Like many projects, it started with a whisper and a tiny flash of inspiration: late one night several years ago, the phrase "a congruent life" popped into my head, and I registered the domain name on a whim, not having any idea about what I might do with it.

The dots started connecting a couple of years ago during a Vision Quest experience. I spent several days alone in the wilderness at a time when my work in the corporate world wasn't very aligned with the work that made me the happiest. I was looking for guidance and inspiration from others who had managed to align those successfully, and one important insight that came from that contemplative time was the realization that I could be of service to others in similar situations by simply sharing the very same stories that I wanted to hear, rather than keeping them to myself.

2. I was impressed in looking at your website because it seems that you've found a way to align your professional work with your personal and spiritual interests. What do you see as the intersections between your career in software development and your spiritual work?

Thanks, Mandy--it's nice to hear that's the impression that you have from the podcast and the website.

I think, though, that really what I'm trying to live out is a perspective of seeing spirituality as something that's integral to the way that we are in the world, not something that is separate and that we need to try to find a way to intersect with the other parts of us.

I know that words like "spirituality" can be pretty loaded for many people, and I sometimes wrestle with people associating that word with the A Congruent Life podcast. The reality, though, is that we're all spiritual beings--and I don't mean that in a religious way (though that can be a meaningful path for some).

Rather, I see spirituality as about connecting our individual lives to something bigger than ourselves--recognizing that your life is really not just about you, and living that out in a meaningful way. I find it fascinating and inspiring to hear stories of people who have found a way to align their personal skills, passions, and values with some larger purpose that's meaningful to them, and especially seeing how much more happiness that they experience in doing so.

And sharing those stories with others is exactly what A Congruent Life is all about.

3. What particular resonance does the word "congruent" have for you?

Well, congruence is a key concept in mathematics and geometry, so that works well for my engineering mind. This project isn't about geometry, but that's actually a good analogy.

I'm not a big fan of "work-life balance"--as if these are separate competing things to be weighed and traded off against one another. But I love the phrase "congruent life" because it implies alignment: putting the various pieces of our life--our values, our passions, our relationships, our skills, our body of work--together into a coherent whole.

4. In your own life, have you had some turning points where you saw an opportunity to make a shift--and based on your own experience, what is your advice to people who are feeling a sense of crisis, tension, and/or change?

Yes, these turning points that you describe come up all the time! Life is a series of opportunities to learn, grow, transform, and reinvent--some big, some little; some relatively easy, and some way more challenging.

Some of what I've learned from others and through my own experiences: when you're feeling a sense of crisis or tension, it can be really helpful to reground yourself with your values. Deep down, what are the things that are most important to you--and equally important, what are the things that are truly not important to you? Clarifying and prioritizing your values can provide a helpful framework for making decisions and staying steady when your world gets tumultuous.

And when it's time to make a change, take action. There is great power in action, and even the tiniest step in the direction of your dreams can combat that feeling of being stuck and start a snowball of positive momentum. And when the doubts start creeping in, trust your instincts to keep you on course; your intuition will provide far more wisdom than the naysayers (who will be quick to tell you why your dreams are silly).

5. I like your idea about sharing "tiny stories" that can inspire and motivate us. What do you think it takes for ordinary people to realize that they are capable of doing--or maybe realize that they are already doing!--extraordinary things?

That's a really great question, Mandy. It's a simple concept that can be oh-so-hard to remember and actually apply! And I know that it can sound trite, but it's absolutely true that we all have genius inside, and we are all capable of doing extraordinary things.

I think that a lot of it is who we surround ourselves with and the messages that we feed to our minds. And the question that you raise is exactly why I interview the people that I do on A Congruent Life. Most of my guests aren't "famous," just ordinary people with some inspiring stories to share. I personally find it encouraging to hear those kinds of stories, which reinforce the fact that whatever the challenges and discouragements we encounter along the way, everyone can reinvent and construct authentic, meaningful lives.

Thanks, Andy!

Meet John Shea, Writer and Host of Voices of Marketing

John Shea is the host of the online show Voices Of Marketing where he interviews successful online marketers and bloggers.

John also writes and contributes to The Blueprint Entrepreneur on iTunes, an Apple Newsstand magazine for smart entrepreneurs who want actionable content to start and grow their business.

He focuses on providing value to the marketing world both with written content and interviews. Find him on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter.

1. What gave you the idea to start Voices of Marketing?

I started Voices Of Marketing because I enjoy connecting with others and picking people's brains about their success. I wanted to find something online to focus most of my time into, and I liked the idea of podcasting after reading about it, so I decided to get focused and start my own interview show.

2. What do you look for when choosing someone to interview?

Lately I look for various success stories that sound interesting so I can share them with others, people who are having any sort of success online. I typically look for people that are successful with online marketing, but I have interviewed people in other niches as well.

3. As an entrepreneur yourself, what are a couple of important things that you've learned about marketing that you wish you had known when you were first starting out?

I think the biggest thing that has helped me is being surrounded by the right kinds of people. You are most like your five closest friends, and the same holds true for marketing online. When I started out, I was finding a lot of people who were doing things I was not very fond of such as spamming on Facebook. Once I started following the right people, I started to learn a lot more about the right way to market myself online.

4. For someone with an online business who wants to improve their marketing efforts, what advice would you give?

Focus. I struggled a lot with jumping from one thing to another and sometimes still do. I didn't start seeing success until I really started to focus on one thing. Once I got focused on my interview show, I ended up landing a paid gig involving doing interviews and started to actually generate a profit online from all my hard work. Find something you enjoy, and then focus on that.

5. Going into 2014, what projects do you have planned for the new year? 

I am currently learning about product creation as a lot of people who tend to have success have launched products or training courses. I would like to do a lot more interviews and eventually create my own unique product that people will enjoy. I am also working on my first Kindle book which I hope to release soon, and I am hoping to see some success with that.

Thanks, John!

Meet Melody Beals, Musician, Songwriter, and Host of FlipCamWebisodes

She is a musician and a songwriter. She is an interviewer gone web designer. She is a mother. She is Melody Beals. Singing always came easy to her because she loved it more than most teens her age loved sports, or dating, or friends. Melody's mom would scream across the house as Melody was proudly singing whatever choir medley that was stuck in her head, "Life is not a musical, Melody!” And Melody would retaliate with, "Then why did you name me 'Melody,' Mom??!!!" It was an on-going battle.

Melody was born and bred in Austin, Texas, home of South by Southwest, the world's largest music festival. Her real dream was always to be a backup singer for a major act, but a lot of that is meeting the right people, which never happened. Her love for music never died, but she decided to take things in a different direction rather than performing. Her new website, flipcamwebisodes.com, launched March of 2013.

She interviews solo artists, instrumentalists, bands of all genres, people who have had YouTube Videos go viral, etc. As long as these artists are not on any major labels at the time of interview, she is taking them on! Her idea is really to give indie musicians the chance to shine because if this kind of thing were around 10 years ago, she would have wanted somebody to help her! Melody wants to give people a voice, a platform, bragging rights, or whatever the musicians want to do with it to help them along the way.

If there is anything that she wishes to create other than a place to promote other than their music, she has creatively designed her website to let each artist shine as an individual and as the person that they are. She wants to catch the artists before they make it big, so they can all look back someday to see where they started.

Keep up with Melody and her flipcam on Twitter and Facebook.

Note: The photo of Melody was taken by Stephanie Featheringill.

1. How did you get the idea to focus your website (mostly!) on flipcam interviews with bands/musicians?

It was kind of an accident really. I wanted to create a blog originally. I just wanted to write about the things that really interested me, such as indie music. But after thinking about it for a day or two, I knew that I would have to bring a LOT more to the table if I were going to actually get people to come to the blog. So I decided that I still wanted to be immersed into the music scene and I knew it would help the musicians out if I interviewed them, as well as it would help my site gain traffic. I chose to do the Flipcam interviews, well... because I already had a flip cam, haha!

I just hadn't seen anything like it. I wanted to create a place where anybody and everybody could be themselves without judgment and have it be a relaxed environment. I liked the idea of kind of having an amateur feeling so everybody could be at ease, and I would be able to travel to them to get the interview.

2. What are some key elements to a good interview, in your opinion?

I really like to try to ask musicians about their learning experiences. I think that it creates a place where they can talk about their trials, and it could really help other hopefuls out there who are trying to do the same things. For me a good interview is one where people who watch can walk away like they have either gotten a chuckle out of it, or REALLY learned from it. The Aly Tadros and Tom Meny interviews are great examples of that.

3. With such a busy music scene in Austin (and so many great artists accessible online, too), how do you choose the musicians to feature on your site?

I am in the most wonderful position ever with this! When I go to do an interview, I ask them who they would recommend for me to look into next. Then I go home and look them up. I only literally interview the people whose music I actually love. So when they get interviewed by me, it's like they already know I'm a huge fan. And not mentioning any names, but this has made things a little awkward at times, haha! I try not to geek out, but I'm human. I pick the people I want to know the most about first because that makes it so easy to strike up the conversation.

4. What's your own background in music, and what motivated you to start your site?

My background is singing and playing ukulele, guitar, and some piano. Most of it has been unprofessionally, as I never really kicked my ass into gear hard enough to get out there like I had always dreamed. I'm not good enough at the instruments to even call myself a beginner, but it gets me through when I write a flippin' sweet lyric. I really got into music about 15 years ago.

Having a daughter who is 4 years old really has made me stop and think about whether I want to go on tour with her at home with her daddy. I know that's crazy to think about... but it could happen. The site came to mind because I'd be working from home with my daughter, Harmony. It just seemed more feasible to create a website instead of running out the door four nights a week to band practice or performances. With this, I choose my schedule. I also don't take too kindly to the band life anymore, because if I'm spending time away from my daughter, then it better be worth it. Most of the bands I was involved in never really made it out of the garage anyway, so I am really paying attention to where I am spending my time.

5. What projects do you see yourself taking on in the next couple of years?

I see this growing and more people getting involved with wanting to be a part of it. I do not see any limits to it. I will not stop. New ideas come to me every single day about things I want to do and things I want to add. I think about the people I want to talk to and how I can help them out. I take time to listen to opinions and ideas, and will also take help (in return for mine) from anybody interested in what I have going on. Oddly, I have been getting into acting more which is crazy because I never really saw myself doing that! Opportunities keep knocking and it's a shit ton of fun! I have no idea what my next step will actually be, but I do know that ANYTHING is possible and I am open to ALL opportunities (within reason, lol).

Thank you so much for being the very first person to interview me!

Thanks, Melody!