Rising Stars: Meet Jalen Williams

Jalen, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am from Pontiac Michigan. I’ve always grown up wanting to get into acting but never had the courage or even thought I’d be in the position to peruse it. In July of 2018 I actually moved to Atlanta. After about a month of being here, I would see so many casting calls and I eventually just went for it. I was casted as an extra on a show called American soul which I later went back and did a robbery scene with R&B singer Kelly Price! After that I ended up getting casted for a bunch of projects including rapper Iggy Azalea’s music video “Sally Walker”. While I love acting, I told myself I needed to get my hands onto something else so I started my own podcast entitled “Sip&Chat”. It took months for me to get my podcast off the ground because there were a lot of complications but by me not letting them get in the way, I was able to launch it in April of 2019. My podcast has been shouted out on different radio stations and by a couple television personalities! All it took was for me to reach out and tell them my vision! They loved my energy and my vision and were down to support! To sum this up, most of my opportunities came from me just believing in myself and not being afraid to reach out and tell people my visions!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. A certain struggle as far as acting has been me not being recognized the way I would want to (or I at least at times have thought that I wasn’t). It caused me to be discouraged. Also, the times I have auditioned for different projects and did not get the part caused me to be discouraged but I have had to remind myself to keep going. As far as my podcast, the original plan was to start it with two friends which was a headache because it took months to get them on the same page. After people couldn’t agree, they decided not to do the podcast anymore. I was extremely discouraged and felt like I had wasted months of putting my energy into this podcast. One day I told myself I could do it by myself and as of now, I would not want to have it any other way.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am known for acting and for having a podcast. I am most proud of the acting gigs that I’ve had (small or large) and I am proud of my podcast. What sets me apart from others is that I try my hardest to produce the best quality that I can. I will literally take months if I have to, to perfect my craft as much as I can.

Any big plans?
My plans for the future are to get back into acting once this quarantine is over and to relaunch my podcast for season two! I am in the process of gathering guest and prerecording! I am also writing a mental health book!!!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://linktr.ee/sipandchatpodcast
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jalenrw/