Today we’d like to introduce you to Jean Michel Waked.
Jean, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My mother is Venezuelan, and my Father is Lebanese, I was born in Venezuela where I lived most of my childhood until 2011 when the country’s situation worsened, and my family was forced to migrate to Lebanon to Pursue a safer environment. Here I Joined the Lebanese American University, initially enrolled in a Biology Pre-med program in my first year. I started hanging out with the “art dudes,” students enrolled in Fine arts and design majors and found myself helping these guys with their projects and Theater production plays than focusing on my own studies. It was clear to me that my calling was in the arts and design field. Secretly I changed majors to Graphic design and advertising where I flourished and found myself feeling comfortable and happy. Later on, all my projects were subject to exhibitions and international awards; this was exactly what I needed for my family to accept my new career path. I Lived in Lebanon until 2015; at this time, I was already very much involved in the Lebanese art scene building theater sets, painting murals, and being involved in multiple art movements, but sadly I realized there wasn’t enough “space” for my own growth, that’s when I decided to migrate to the USA to finish my studies and pursue more growth opportunities. For the next few years, I was part of what I consider the American Hustle; as an immigrant, this means the fight for immigration status and the pursuit of a balanced life initially, as I finished my studies, I was forced to work 3-4 jobs at the same time I had a full university load since it was the requirement for keeping my student’s visa. After these crazy years passed, I was hired by a Florida-based company that had an online store that sold all across the US as their in-house graphic designer soon I escalated my position into becoming Art Director, Product designer, and marketing specialist for the company, but still, I always had this fire within of going freelance, I just didn’t know how to redirect my energy. That’s When the Famous 2020 quarantine happened, Covid’s first appearance. We were all furloughed at the company, which at first sight felt like the end of the world, but in reality, it was a blessing in disguise for many. Having time in my hands allowed me to balance myself, reorganize my priorities and open myself to new possibilities, which helped me realize that I wasn’t happy, I had become part of a system I really didn’t want to be part of and I was willing to sacrifice anything in order to take a shift in the direction of my life. Alongside me, everyone in my community was being put in the same situation, a scenario where everyone just wanted to be happy and follow their dreams. That’s when a really good friend of mine, today known as Miss Galactica, decided to launch herself as a singer and pursue music as her path, and alongside her first released songs, she had asked me to help her make this dream of hers a reality by helping her produce the music video for her song Element. It was this project that catapulted me to my newfound destiny, being the set designer and wardrobe stylist for this project. It was in this project that the Hired director of photography saw in me a creative, hard-working individual and right away connected me to a few producers and was able to book my first Movie Production as an assistant to Art Director. After a few days involved in this project and after showing my hard work, passion, and attention to detail I was asked by the director and production designer to step in as the Art Director for the film, a position I gladly took. After 23 production days, I found myself receiving calls for all sorts of projects Commercials, TV shows, Music Videos, and Photoshoots where I was putting my art to practice and refining myself as an Art Director and Production designer. Eventually, after a lot of hard work, I started to get projects dealing with huge Artists in the industry, such as Jay Wheeler, Nacho, Yandel, Luis Fonsi, Pitbull, Daddy Yankee, Gilberto Santarosa, and many more, alongside working for production houses located in Los Angeles, New York, Puerto Rico traveling to become part of their projects or leading the Miami art team when they needed a Miami location. This brings me to today where I humbly believe I’m still learning, growing, and living happily and grateful for having taken a shot at my dreams though it was tough in the beginning, and even today sometimes it’s really challenging and stressful I trust the divine creative path we all have, and live in a state of what I call “Active Surrendering,” which consist in letting go of expectations, judgments and self-sabotaging and just surrendering to this life experience making the right moves that align with what I consider I want.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Everything that is truly worth it is never easy to achieve. First and foremost, I really want to highlight the challenge of getting a clear vision of what it is we want, a vision cleared from expectations. In today’s society, we are forced to pick a career and a path at such early age and “stick” to it for the rest of your life, or at least that’s the illusion we are all fed in the global school system, when in reality we are changing individuals, what interests us at 18 is not the same as 23, 27, 30, 45, etc… and on top of that, we have the pressure from family and ourselves to do well and stick to the plan. My first challenge was stepping out of this scenario, finding peace with the fact that it is ok to change plans and to pursue a future not based on making money. If you do what you are passionate about, money will come. My second challenge is actually an ongoing one; this is immigration status. Today I’m a legal resident of the USA, but those who come to this country to look for a better life know what a difficult battle filled with stress this is; it feels like an eternal wait where stress is a common factor until one finally becomes a Citizen. My third big challenge was back when Covid hit, and it consisted in breaking out and letting go of the reality I was building, a reality where I was not happy at my workplace, and my focus was making money so I could afford an illusion of stability in this country. This was the most important one since, for the first time, I allowed myself to let go of old beliefs and build new ones where my focus was my personal well-being and balance within myself and my surroundings. Lastly, the most important challenge is the challenge of always moving forward. It is a lie that you will ever reach the top of the mountain; those who have begun to climb for a better life soon realize there is never a top; in this abundant world, there is always a new goal, a new challenge, and a new obstacle to overcome. Being persistent is key, having a positive attitude is crucial and never giving up is the way to always keep climbing.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an Art Director and Production Designer that specializes in video production, from Music videos to commercials, Movies, Tv shows, photo sessions, etc. More specifically, I am in charge of Set designing & building and set dressing. With a focus on the design, thinking clients come to me with a vision for how they want their video project, or whichever visual collateral, to be, and it is my job is to bring their vision to reality. My work is known for the impeccable detail it has and the results taking into consideration the budget it was given. What I’m most proud of is my team, and it is what also set us apart from others; the energy, love, and good attitude we put into every project is what most clients highlight at the end of the experience. We create from the heart, and we are grateful to be able to do exactly what we do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wakedcreations.com/
- Instagram: @jeanwaked
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wakedcreations
