Creatives in the Industry: Q&A w/ Rechmail Miller

31 January 2023

Tell us about yourself

My name is Rechmial Miller. I’m a multidisciplinary creative based in South London – where I spent most of my time growing up and where I continue to draw much of my inspiration from. I take pride in my ability to find creative ways to capture the essence of a story and would describe my work as authentic!

What recent projects are you most proud of?

I’m really proud to have played a part in ‘Young Fire, Old Flame’ - a BBC 1xtra series produced by Antonia Odunlami from Silver Music Entertainment – which I found out from my mentor Josh Ryan (founder of Silver Music Entertainment).

One of my aims is to help create content that allows us to see athletes as humans by revealing who they are away from sport.

Having a background in track and field myself, and being able to help facilitate a conversation with Dwain Chambers and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake on BBC 1xtra is something I think was important for the culture. We rarely capture moments like this and it’s definitely something I would have loved to hear as a young athlete!

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

When I was growing up, like the majority of the boys in the country, I wanted to be a footballer. This is when I first became interested in reading magazine/ newspaper articles and interviews on my favourite players. This interest gradually progressed to biographies and autobiographies, as well as documentaries. I found the more I learned about someone’s character, the more invested I became in them. As I got older, I became passionate about music, and it was a similar thing – I would watch interviews or documentaries about artists I listened to and that would give me a deeper appreciation for their music.

Once I became an athlete myself, I realised the importance of telling your story and this led me to where I am now; trying to help people do exactly that.

What have you found useful when building your career?

One of the most useful resources I’ve found is YouTube. Making sure the information is actually worthwhile is difficult at times, but I found that you can usually tell by looking into the credibility of the source.

I’m definitely a student of ‘YouTube university’ and so many things I have done and continue to do I’ve picked up from YouTube. Not just me though... you’d be surprised how many people we all look up to who are doing the same thing. Don’t underestimate the information you can get just because it’s free and easily accessible.

If someone asked you why they should sign up for Creativity Works, what would you tell them?

My main reason for applying for the audio production programme was to learn how to create on a professional level. Before applying, I had started my own podcast and created other bits of content myself, but I didn’t study anything creative, so I’ve mostly learnt along the way. I thought this would be a great chance for me to learn how people in the industry work and develop skills that take my projects to the next level.

If someone asked me why they should sign up for this opportunity, I’d say “because it’s a great opportunity to grow with support”. Creativity Works and the Good Growth Hub are very supportive throughout the programme and there is no pressure or stress! You also get to meet loads of people with industry experience and you’re doing it all in a group with similar interests and backgrounds. It’s a great opportunity to either get you into the industry or gain some new skills.

What are some key learnings that you share with our audience?

Not feeling swamped or overwhelmed can be a challenge when researching or editing. The key learnings I took away from my experience were structured organised ways to create.

What’s the most useful advice you have received related to your career?

Just go out and make things. Sometimes we have a perfect concept and we know exactly how we want it to be executed. This is good and I don’t believe we should lower our standards or change our expectations ever, but we have to also work from where we are, with what we have, to get to where we want to be. This means getting creative and being resourceful so people can see your vision and you can start to build your network and experience. You don’t want to be the greatest to never do it!

If there is anything you would have done differently starting out, what would it have been?

I’d step out of my comfort zone and put myself out there more. It can definitely be intimidating when you feel you’re not ready to take a chance and put yourself forward, but that’s often the best way to learn. Something I’ve realised is that a lot of people are winging it half the time too. We all make mistakes but that’s a part of learning. Theory can only take you so far and we usually know a lot more than we think or give ourselves credit for. We’ve all heard the saying no risk no reward and it’s true. I’m not saying we should just go out and be irresponsible, but I would recommend accessing situations and taking calculated risks just out of your comfort zone.