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Jen Celotta is a writer, director, and producer for both television and most recently an animated feature. Her three most notable credits include The Office, Cobra Kai, and Abbot Elementary, but ask Jen and she will tell you the highlight of her career was when she got to fulfill her lifetime dream of playing a Schrute in The Office.

While Jen’s highly successful career is clearly impressive, what I find even more admirable is the fact that she has achieved it all while remaining kind, open-minded, team-oriented, and passionate. Being that both Jen and myself are creatives with ADD, it's fair to say this conversation will cover a massive range of topics including: following your passion (or not), how to fail forwards, why you should never “fake it til you make it”, and what specific quality will set you (and your career) up for success.

Jen is one of those people that has seemingly endless entertaining stories, and today you will hear several. But as a brilliant writer - and therefore storyteller - each story has a deeper lesson, meaning, and message that will add knowledge and inspiration to your life as you aspire to reach your own creative success. I absolutely loved the overall enthusiasm and inspiration of this interview, and know you will too.

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Here's What You'll Learn:

Should you really follow your passion in life? Or is doing what you love better reserved for the weekends…
The difference between offensive and defensive decision making (and which one accelerates your success)
What specific crew dynamics make an award-winning television series
Why the saying “how you do anything is how you do everything” matters so much to understanding your path towards success
Why you should shoot for the stars…but also keep your goals as small as possible
The thing that matters more than your job (especially in the beginning of your career)
Don’t “fake it ‘til you make it”. Do this instead…
The real secret to enjoying your career
Why admitting you’re wrong will put you on the fast track towards success
The one tool Jen uses that allows her ADD to be her absolute superpower

Continue to Listen & Learn

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Ep11: Making It In Hollywood as a "Creative" (What They Don't Teach You In Film School) | with Norman Hollyn

Ep106: On the Vital Importance of "Being Nice" | with Jesse Averna, ACE

Ep131: How Having a ‘Side Hustle’ Buys You the Freedom to Say ‘No’ | with Alex Ferrari

Ep191: Embracing Neurodiversity in the Workplace | with Simon Smith, ACE

Guest Bio:

jen-celotta-bio Jen Celotta

Jen Celotta is a writer/director whose TV writing credits include The Office, The Newsroom and Andy Richter Controls the Universe. She recently directed episodes of Abbott Elementary and Cobra Kai as well as episodes of The Office, People of Earth and Trial and Error. She has done joke passes for movies including Bridesmaids and Spy. She is currently working on her first animated movie. The highlight of her career, however, was playing a Schrute in the series finale of The Office.

Show Credits:

This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared by Debby Germino and published by Glen McNiel.

The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).

Ep206: Career & Life Advice from The Office Director & Producer | with Jen Celotta

The Zack Arnold Podcast