Today we’d like to introduce you to Travanti Waller.
Hi Travanti, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Was an academic all-state football player in high school where I was also 2nd Leg sprinter on the 4x1oo & 4×200. Had to train one time a day for football, one time a day for track & field, and then I’d train by myself after those two practices ended when everyone else went home.
Born in Cincinnati & raised in Kentucky.
I am a Martial Artist that specializes in Wing Chun Kung Fu, but my Sifu encourages me to blend style so I do a ton of training.
Fun Fact: I have a younger brother Chuck who was born on the same exact day that I was born but we’re 4 years apart.
Got accepted into the University of Louisville on a full academic scholarship where I had become an RA at Billy Minardi Hall.
I had also become the Vice President of the Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB) which was an organization geared toward critical self-development of self and business acumen. I was then appointed to President of the organization.
Concurrently, I coached an all-girls collegiate flag football team to a championship. Studied abroad & adventured all over Mexico & at the University of the West Indies St. Augustine in Trinidad & Tobago. I also studied at California State University Northridge for a National Student Exchange.
Had a stint as a teacher of at-risk youth in Marian Wright Edelman’s Freedom Schools where I trained at the legendary Alex Haley’s farm in Clinton Tennessee.
Starred as a tour de force in the late great playwright & university professor Richard Fewell’s Ghosts with Insomnia (Vietnam War Drama), He had traveled from Connecticut to see the show during its run at the University of Louisville.
AND THEN I got accepted into Syracuse University’s Television Radio & Film Program and was also awarded a Fellowship to support my studies where I graduated in 2011 with a Professional Masters.
I studied with such titans of industry as Dr. Roosevelt “Rick” Wright of iHeart Radio et al, a renowned comedy writer & former television exec Richard Dubin as well as Evan Smith, I cannot failed to mention the legendary Pop Culture & Cinema icon Bob Thompson! During that time, I created a one-man show under the tutelage of Dr. Micere Mugo.
Upon graduation from Syracuse, I hopped on a plane & ended up back in LA where I was stabbed three times on my 26th day there. Random, yes.
That only fueled the fire.
Eventually was featured on HBO Project Greenlight as I starred in a viral comedy (Beanie Bros) that Peter Farrelly, Ben Affleck, & Matt Damon championed when HBO Greenlight made its return after a long hiatus. I’ve starred in the unofficial Suicide Squad Trailer that opened ComicCon in 2015 that I filmed with Nerdist. I’ve been seen in Pace Salsa Commercials as a cowboy, of course, starred in a Sundance Festival Lab indie that went to Diversity at Cannes, and did well enough to be featured on the Mental Health Channel & garnered myriad awards. I’ve starred in a comedy short on TBS’s digital platform.
Co-owner of a media company (Jazzy Comedy Media) & just launched a third podcast after the success of my first one that was listened to in +50 countries around the world & reached a level of monetization that only 1% reach.
I’ve had podcast guests such as my friend & mentor Ernest L. Thomas (legendary star of the hit 70s show What’s Happenin’) you might’ve known him as Raj.
George Wallace is another comedy icon & mentor that I’ve had the honor of podcasting & riffing with. I love my guests no matter their CV, of course— because I can riff with anyone. Absolutely love it.
I’ve served as a creative consultant with CEOs in the podcast space and startup app space as well.
I am a podcast host and pod producer these days and the newest comedy podcast is known as the Jokernauts & that is available on all platforms…
I’ve only just begun!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No road is smooth, but your will can smooth it some… it takes a while to lay down the tracks that you need to get things rollin’.
Some of the challenges involved levels of perspective that I lacked because I had yet to have the life experience needed to arrive at said perspective.
Most of the struggle was internal, and sometimes it takes some years to get out of your own way— realizing that you are more than enough although you can’t do it all alone.
The journey is the reward.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Comparison is the thief of joy, so I define success by whether or not I am living the life that I would like to live doing what I want to do with the people that I love going through this entire life experience with. Everyone in my life is essential and instrumental, and they are some of the ingredients to the broth of my life’s success. Success should have a definition far broader than that of business accolades & dollar signs, but if you flow powerfully and authentically— the aforementioned will certainly follow. No attachment to the outcome can lead to infinite possibilities… what is for me is for me, and if I’m claiming what was mine from the very beginning then my success inevitable so I need not worry. I am happy. What’s more successful than that?
Pricing:
- $4K for Creative Consult
- $10k for Jokernauts Live
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jokernauts.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/travantiversustravanti
Image Credits
Michael Roud
