“You have to learn to take pride in being the first one to say no.”

- Lisa

Lisa Robison CCE, is a camera assistant turned award-winning editor best known for her work on "Loudermilk," "My Life Without Me," "The L Word" and "Firefly Lane,” and most recently she edited the Tribeca feature, "American Dreamer.” Even more impressive than her credits, however, is Lisa’s story of growth and perseverance in the face of massive adversity.

While we will each have our own unique paths to success, you'd be hard-pressed to find a story more unique or inspiring than Lisa’s. While it’s certainly rare to make the transition from the camera department into post-production, what is even more amazing is that this transition was because of a near-death experience that Lisa shares candidly in today’s conversation. Not only has Lisa persevered through extremely difficult times, she has come out of each experience with a greater understanding of who she is. What really inspired me from this conversation above all else was Lisa really recognizing the true cost of being a ‘people pleaser’ and over committing to too many projects her entire career and how she can set better boundaries in her career going forwards.

If you find yourself making the same mistakes over and over (particularly when it comes to burnout and overcommitting to too many projects), or if you feel as if you’ve been ‘paying your dues’ far longer than you anticipated, this conversation is for you. You’ll not only learn how to better determine your non-negotiables in order to set yourself up for more sustainable success (and less burnout), but you’ll also learn that success is never lost at the placement of your boundaries. In fact, setting boundaries is in fact where your success will most likely begin.

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Here's What You'll Learn:

The story of Lisa’s near death experience and how that was the transitional point between her career as an aspiring Camera Operator to an Editor
The mindset it takes to push past the limiting beliefs of others and not adopt them as your own
How to handle the identity shift that occurs after a sudden career change (whether it was planned or not)
The mindset and steps it took for Lisa to make her shift into the Editor’s chair, and STAY there
A simple way you not only stand out, but advance your career on any show you are working on
KEY TAKEAWAY: We all have times in our career when we are overworking simply for the sake of not letting ourselves and other people down. This is normal, but it doesn’t mean it’s the it needs to be
The deeper reason to why you might be people pleasing, even to your own detriment
What signals you can look out for within yourself (and others) that mean you’re headed towards burnout
What actually leads to burnout and outbursts, and what you can do about it
KEY TAKEAWAY: If you want to prevent burnout, you have to develop the skill of saying ‘NO’ to protect your boundaries around proper workload expectations
The importance of determining (and sticking to) your non-negotiables when it comes to your job so that you can maximize creativity and lessen the amount of time you’re ‘surviving’
KEY TAKEAWAY: Harsh deadlines and extreme working hours keep happening because people keep saying, “Yes.” We have to learn the only way the industry changes, is with us sticking to our non-negotiables
The ONE thing to ask yourself when you’re deciding whether or not you should work for free (and yes, sometimes it’s okay to work for free)

Useful Resources Mentioned:

Ep75: The Four Tendencies’ (aka ‘The Matrix’ For Understanding Yourself & Others) | with Gretchen Rubin

Dear Hollywood...We Create Entertainment For a Living. We’re Not Curing Cancer.

Lisarobisoneditor.com

Lisa Robison: IMDb

@lisarobison100 • Instagram photos and videos

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Guest Bio:

lisa-robison-bio Lisa Robison

Lisa Robison has been in the film industry since 1987. At the start of her career, Lisa worked as a camera assistant for 7 years. “Little Women” (Winona Ryder, Christian Bale & Susan Sarandon), “Short Time” (Dabney Coleman) & “Gold Diggers” (Christina Ricci and Anna Chlumsky) are a few of the many productions she assisted on. In 1995, she changed careers and started working in Post Production. She was very fortunate to get her first editing job in 1998 and has been editing since. Fierce determination & strong work ethic as an editor has bestowed Lisa with 17 nominations and 11 awards. She is particularly proud of her work on "Firefly Lane” Seasons 1 & 2 (Netflix), “My Life Without Me”(Sony Classics), “The L Word” Seasons 1-5(Showtime), Loudermilk Season 2 & 3 (Amazon Prime),“Unspeakable” (CBC Limited Series, R.L. Stine’s "The Haunting Hour” Seasons 1-3(Discovery Family), and “Continuum" Seasons 2&3 (Syfy). Lisa is a member of IATSE 891, A.C.F.C., Canadian Cinema Editors, Vancouver Post Alliance, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

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).

Ep195: When Being a “People Pleaser” Goes Too Far (and How to Set Boundaries) | with Lisa Robison, CCE

The Zack Arnold Podcast