Navigating the Entertainment Industry with Kaylee Keller

Matt: 00:00:00

Alright, uh, welcome everybody to another episode of Faith and Family Filmmakers podcast.

Matt: 00:00:06

We are really excited today.

Matt: 00:00:08

Uh, we've got Kaylee Keller here with us.

Matt: 00:00:10

She is an actress, a recording artist, a public speaker, a digital marketer, and, and you seem kind of young to be, to have all those titles.

Matt: 00:00:19

So obviously you're, you, you've earned a lot so far in your career.

Matt: 00:00:22

You've been working hard.

Kaylee: 00:00:24

Thank you, Matt.

Kaylee: 00:00:25

It's a privilege to be here with you today, and thank you for the compliments.

Kaylee: 00:00:29

Been working for a long time.

Matt: 00:00:31

Absolutely.

Matt: 00:00:32

Well, um, I wanna start with your bio so people can kind, kind of get to know you.

Matt: 00:00:35

So this says here, imagine knowing your path at age five.

Matt: 00:00:39

Well, that's where your story begin.

Matt: 00:00:41

So you're more than just an award-winning actress, uh, an acclaimed recording artist and, uh, compelling singer songwriter.

Matt: 00:00:47

Uh, you as a divine calling towards performing even before kindergarten started.

Matt: 00:00:53

I, and I think when, when you feel a purpose that young, it obviously comes from somewhere outside of you.

Matt: 00:00:58

It obviously comes from God himself.

Matt: 00:01:00

So you're inspired by the, the pure joy of icons like Shirley Temple, uh, Kaylee dedicated or early years to.

Matt: 00:01:07

Honing her craft and voice and dance and theater.

Matt: 00:01:11

Uh, her journey gained significant momentum around the age of 15 when a showcase opened doors to industry professionals.

Matt: 00:01:17

And what followed was really a rapid ascent, graduating from high school early, uh.

Matt: 00:01:22

Signing on an artist development deal and, uh, releasing your first song to radio opening for national artists such as Josh Wilson, Gerald Nyman, Craig Campbell, and Joe Diffy.

Matt: 00:01:33

Uh, you simultaneously took your music and inspiring messages to festivals, schools, churches, across the US all before you could even.

Matt: 00:01:41

Drive anywhere legally.

Matt: 00:01:42

So that's, that's a pretty amazing, so I think the buyer really, uh, uh, really speaks to, uh, and, and underscores what we're saying.

Matt: 00:01:49

You've, you've done a lot so far in, in your, in your young career.

Matt: 00:01:52

So again, welcome to the podcast.

Matt: 00:01:54

And, uh, so just kind of t talk through a little bit of that, about that initial, um, kind of inspiration coming at such a young age.

Matt: 00:02:02

I don't think a lot of us get that.

Kaylee: 00:02:05

Yeah, I feel really grateful.

Kaylee: 00:02:07

When I was young, the Lord just told me what I was gonna do and I, there's been a series of confirmation since childhood in my life as I feel like God does when he really wants you to know something.

Kaylee: 00:02:18

But the actually the very first encounter with him telling me, I don't even remember.

Kaylee: 00:02:22

My mom told me that she, um, was at the house one day working on something and I came running in, I was five.

Kaylee: 00:02:29

She said I had toys in my hands and I was like.

Kaylee: 00:02:32

Mommy.

Kaylee: 00:02:33

God said, I'm gonna sing and act when I grow up.

Kaylee: 00:02:36

And then I ran out of the room to go play and she said it was so profound that I had said, God spoke to me and told me what I'm gonna do with my life from such a young age.

Kaylee: 00:02:47

And she said she also had had a series of dreams and visions about the same thing over my life, but she just didn't share it with me at that age.

Kaylee: 00:02:56

'cause I was really young.

Kaylee: 00:02:57

So I think between the both of us, there's just been a lot of confirmations that.

Kaylee: 00:03:02

God has a plan for me in this industry as God has a plan for all of us with what he's called us to do.

Kaylee: 00:03:10

Absolutely.

Kaylee: 00:03:10

And it's been, yeah, it's been an amazing journey in the music industry, in the acting industry, and just in my faith journey in my life as a whole since then.

Matt: 00:03:20

Yeah.

Matt: 00:03:20

Prophecy fulfilled already.

Matt: 00:03:21

Right.

Matt: 00:03:22

Well, talk to me about where, where did you grow up and how, and how did you kind of first start, uh, kind of fulfilling these, uh, these clear destinies?

Kaylee: 00:03:31

Uh, I'm from Garden City, Kansas, so, um, I get the joke a lot.

Kaylee: 00:03:36

Well, you're not in Kansas anymore, Kaylee.

Kaylee: 00:03:38

I currently live in Montana, but I grew up in a small town, garden City, Kansas, rural, rural state, and.

Kaylee: 00:03:46

I'm really grateful for that upbringing and growing up my mom put me in the local, you know, theater programs that my community had and local dance lessons and voice lessons, which I'm really grateful for.

Kaylee: 00:03:59

So from a young age, my mom recognized my passion for it and.

Kaylee: 00:04:04

Started watering that seed that we were told that I was gonna do this as I continued to grow up.

Kaylee: 00:04:09

So she just really invested in, in me from a young age in that way.

Kaylee: 00:04:12

So got invested, um, in singing and acting and music as a kid.

Kaylee: 00:04:17

And in high school I had a, an opportunity to be a part of a, a Christian showcase.

Kaylee: 00:04:22

And from there I was able to, you know, branch outside of my, um, you know, hometown Garden City, Kansas, and start doing more things in Nashville and New York and.

Kaylee: 00:04:32

The entertainment hubs.

Kaylee: 00:04:34

And that's really launched my career since

Matt: 00:04:36

I think a lot of people feel like I live in this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere.

Matt: 00:04:41

Um, but it's proof.

Matt: 00:04:42

Growing up in the flyover state of Kansas and Garden City, which is not a huge place, it just proves that if you're, if you're called to do something, it doesn't matter where you come from.

Kaylee: 00:04:51

Yeah.

Kaylee: 00:04:52

Have you ever been to Kansas?

Matt: 00:04:54

No one's been to Kansas.

Kaylee: 00:04:57

That's so funny.

Matt: 00:04:57

No, I've never been to Kansas.

Matt: 00:04:58

It's one of the states I gotta get to, to check off the list.

Kaylee: 00:05:01

I know it's funny, you know, it's, I wrote a song called Nowhere America, and it's kind of that play on words of what you just shared, that sometimes what may seem like a nowhere to somebody else is actually the starting foundation of your dreams.

Kaylee: 00:05:19

So the song goes, you know, even though I was born in nowhere America, I could leave, but I'm gonna stay in nowhere.

Kaylee: 00:05:25

America.

Kaylee: 00:05:25

It's a place where dreams are made and.

Kaylee: 00:05:28

I really, scripture says that we were all born for such a time as this.

Kaylee: 00:05:32

Mm-hmm.

Kaylee: 00:05:33

And I think sometimes in seasons of waiting, we feel like maybe God doesn't see us, or maybe we don't understand why we were born in the year that we're born, or the place that we are.

Kaylee: 00:05:45

Scripture says that God knows every hair on your head.

Kaylee: 00:05:49

He knows the name of every star in the sky.

Kaylee: 00:05:52

He feeds the birds of the air so he will take care of you.

Kaylee: 00:05:56

So you are seen and you are known by God, and he placed you right where you're meant to be for such a time as this.

Matt: 00:06:03

Yeah.

Matt: 00:06:03

And, and look, I come from a very small town as well, and what, what I, you're probably too young to have ever seen the movie.

Matt: 00:06:08

My cousin Vinny, you ever seen that movie?

Matt: 00:06:11

No.

Matt: 00:06:11

Okay.

Matt: 00:06:11

It's a great classic movie.

Matt: 00:06:13

It, it was shot in my hometown.

Matt: 00:06:15

I mean, it's about this, you know, big city lawyer who comes down to a small town to try a murder trial and, and that.

Matt: 00:06:21

Town kind of represents nowhere, USA as you've kind of, uh, alluded to as well.

Matt: 00:06:26

So I don't know.

Matt: 00:06:27

I think that it gives you, as an artist, it actually gives you a, a really great springboard, um, for art because I think people are just, it's a more authentic experience to grow up in a, in a small town than it is in, in somewhere like a rat race, like Nashville or LA or New York.

Kaylee: 00:06:46

Yeah, there's definitely.

Kaylee: 00:06:48

A slower pace to life and the opportunity to build strong community.

Kaylee: 00:06:53

And there's a lot of very valuable things that I am extremely grateful for.

Kaylee: 00:06:59

Where are you from?

Kaylee: 00:06:59

What town?

Matt: 00:07:00

Oh, it's called Monticello, Georgia.

Kaylee: 00:07:02

Georgia,

Matt: 00:07:03

yeah.

Matt: 00:07:03

A little, I love it.

Matt: 00:07:04

Little southern town.

Matt: 00:07:05

But, uh, it's just, you know, I, I find that the Midwest and the South are pretty much the same place.

Matt: 00:07:11

You, you got a little more corn than we have and we have thicker accents than you have otherwise.

Matt: 00:07:16

It's very, very similar.

Kaylee: 00:07:18

You got better sweet tea than we have.

Matt: 00:07:21

Oh gosh.

Matt: 00:07:21

It's diabetes in a cup.

Matt: 00:07:24

Yeah, I had to, uh, I had to get off the sweet tea my age.

Kaylee: 00:07:29

Oh, bummer.

Kaylee: 00:07:30

Bummer.

Kaylee: 00:07:30

Yeah.

Matt: 00:07:31

Well, um, so, okay, so you, you, you're involved, obviously, a mom puts you in, in as much, uh, you know, trying to enrich you as much as possible and showcases and lessons and things like that, and you hone your crafts.

Matt: 00:07:44

Um, I, I think it's.

Matt: 00:07:46

Obviously smart to kind of explore several different avenues of artistic expression.

Matt: 00:07:51

And you're, you're a singer, you're a dancer, you're an actor.

Matt: 00:07:54

Um, so you go through school and you graduate early.

Matt: 00:07:57

Were you homeschooled as a kid?

Matt: 00:07:59

Is that how you could graduate early?

Kaylee: 00:08:00

No, I, I was public schooled, so when I was in high school I was on track to graduate by my junior year anyway, through the school system.

Kaylee: 00:08:10

And, um, I had went to freshman and sophomore year of high school and my sophomore going into junior year, summer is when I signed a artist development deal in Nashville.

Kaylee: 00:08:22

And music opportunities started opening for me.

Kaylee: 00:08:25

So I went online to finish off my junior year.

Matt: 00:08:28

Oh, that's cool.

Matt: 00:08:28

Okay, so you were already.

Matt: 00:08:30

Already in the business before you even graduated in, in Nashville.

Matt: 00:08:33

Yeah.

Matt: 00:08:34

How, how did that, how did that deal go?

Matt: 00:08:35

So obviously you, you know, your first, uh, I guess, taste of professional artistry was in the music business.

Matt: 00:08:41

So h how, how did that deal go for you?

Matt: 00:08:43

Did it, you hear a lot of horror stories about development deals and labels kind of taking advantage of, of young artists and, and, and, and not helping to, you know, financially mostly.

Matt: 00:08:55

So I did.

Matt: 00:08:56

Was it a good deal for you?

Kaylee: 00:08:58

I am one of those stories.

Kaylee: 00:09:01

I, um, yeah, I signed with a pretty major, uh, record Labor ca uh, capital Records sent me to a development company that definitely has a track record of taking advantage of artists and scamming artists.

Kaylee: 00:09:16

Mm-hmm.

Kaylee: 00:09:16

And when I was signed with them, I did get to work with a lot of top industry professionals and I was making a lot of.

Kaylee: 00:09:23

Industry connections and um, even in the Christian faith-based world.

Kaylee: 00:09:28

And really at that time in my life, I started to see the importance of being grounded in your faith.

Kaylee: 00:09:36

And I started to hear a lot of the language, even in the Christian entertainment industry of, you know, I know we're Christians, but this is just business.

Kaylee: 00:09:45

Or don't take this personal, but this is just business.

Kaylee: 00:09:50

And really the separation of.

Kaylee: 00:09:53

You know, in my, if you knew me personally or outside of business, I would be an honorable, righteous person, but because this is a business deal.

Kaylee: 00:10:02

It, maybe it gives you the right to behave in an un-Christian-like manner in an, un- honest manner.

Matt: 00:10:08

Mm-hmm.

Kaylee: 00:10:09

And so I just, I, yeah, I got the opportunity to start to see some of that from a young age.

Kaylee: 00:10:14

And I ended up realizing that this development deal wasn't going to be good for me long term.

Kaylee: 00:10:19

So I ended up getting a lawyer and breaking out of my contract early.

Kaylee: 00:10:24

And going independent.

Kaylee: 00:10:26

And staying independent.

Kaylee: 00:10:28

I've gotten to meet with a couple of major labels and look at some contract deals, and I've just felt the Lord tell me that he is a better label and he's a better author, um, and that he's going to direct my steps and it's not gonna be maybe like what we see.

Kaylee: 00:10:47

Standard.

Kaylee: 00:10:48

You know, we there, we think there's like a cookie cutter way.

Kaylee: 00:10:50

There's not to make it, but God's like, let me direct your path and let me direct this and follow me even when you don't understand.

Matt: 00:10:58

That is so wise of you to be able to see that at such a young age.

Matt: 00:11:02

But how old are you by the way?

Kaylee: 00:11:03

I'm 27.

Matt: 00:11:04

Okay.

Matt: 00:11:05

Well, you're young to me anyway, but just to, to experience that and see that before you're even 30.

Matt: 00:11:10

It's very wise because, um, yeah, I think that the whole studio model, especially in the music industry, it, it wasn't great for artists in the nineties and, and even before that.

Matt: 00:11:20

But now you, you don't need it.

Matt: 00:11:22

Right?

Matt: 00:11:22

If you're great and the Lord has blessed you with, with talent.

Matt: 00:11:26

You can get out there and, and grow your own following, and then you don't, you don't need that.

Matt: 00:11:31

I'm listening to Oliver Anthony's story.

Matt: 00:11:33

Uh, if you know who he is, he's the guy who did that song, "Rich Men North of Richmond".

Matt: 00:11:38

You know, he has labels offering him $8 million to sign right now, and he doesn't, he says, I'm staying independent for that very reason.

Matt: 00:11:46

And then when he, I've, I, I went to one of his shows recently.

Matt: 00:11:49

The dude walks out, the first thing he does, doesn't play a note, opens the Bible and, and reads from.

Matt: 00:11:56

I think he read from the book of Psalms the night I was there.

Matt: 00:11:58

But he'll read New Testament sometimes too, but he, he'll say, I couldn't do this if I were under the thumb of a label.

Matt: 00:12:05

Even a Christian label sometimes, like you say, they, they don't necessarily always behave in, in the, uh, in the proper manner.

Kaylee: 00:12:14

Yeah, I love that.

Kaylee: 00:12:15

I think ultimately we follow the Lord, right?

Kaylee: 00:12:19

Yeah.

Kaylee: 00:12:20

And I think that.

Kaylee: 00:12:21

With the industry, it's so just with anything that you do in life, it is so important to follow him.

Kaylee: 00:12:28

Yeah.

Kaylee: 00:12:28

And sometimes like this artist you're talking about, you know those, I'm sure those big label.

Kaylee: 00:12:34

Deals are really tempting.

Kaylee: 00:12:36

And so he's gotta sit there and really pray about it and discern, Lord, is this really an opportunity for me?

Kaylee: 00:12:42

Or is this not an opportunity?

Kaylee: 00:12:44

And I think that with my own journey, the thing that I've grown the most in, and the thing that I continue to want to grow in is just hearing from the Lord in those ways.

Kaylee: 00:12:54

Because sometimes an opportunity comes around that sounds really great, but isn't really good for you and what God's calling you to do.

Kaylee: 00:13:01

And it's being able to not get so blindsided by, Ooh, a label.

Kaylee: 00:13:06

Ooh, money.

Kaylee: 00:13:08

Ooh, a really big acting opportunity.

Kaylee: 00:13:11

Ooh, a really big movie.

Kaylee: 00:13:12

Ooh this, Ooh that.

Kaylee: 00:13:14

It's being able to say, Lord, I'm doing this because you've called me to do it, and I'm gonna go towards the things that you have for me, and I'm gonna close the doors to the things you don't.

Kaylee: 00:13:25

And so like with this artist, I really.

Kaylee: 00:13:29

Admire his strength to say no to labels and choose to stay independent because he knows that that is how God's calling him to do ministry.

Kaylee: 00:13:37

And I really respect that.

Kaylee: 00:13:39

And like you said, in this day and age.

Kaylee: 00:13:43

You know, it's easier to be independent.

Kaylee: 00:13:47

I don't know if I would say easier, it's, it's hard work, but, um, there's a lot more freedom to grow an independent following and to not be under a label if, if that's not a good fit for you, because the last thing you wanna do is get into a crooked deal.

Kaylee: 00:14:02

Or I feel like you need to make compromises to make it.

Matt: 00:14:05

Yep.

Matt: 00:14:06

Sharks patrol these waters, they're everywhere.

Matt: 00:14:08

You have to watch out for that.

Matt: 00:14:10

So, um, that's, that's such great advice for people listening because I'm telling you one of the pitfalls of, of.

Matt: 00:14:19

Those of us who are Christians who are going into this is that I've, I, I've seen this at, uh, at, at festivals and things.

Matt: 00:14:26

People who are just so certain that, that God has called them to, to do this and that, that's probably true.

Matt: 00:14:33

However, uh.

Matt: 00:14:34

That doesn't mean that God is going to flip a light switch and you're going to be immediately successful in what you do.

Matt: 00:14:41

We also have to, to grow in our, our knowledge of the, of the industry, knowledge of the craft.

Matt: 00:14:46

And so I think it that a lot of times we people are, are tempted to take these shortcuts.

Matt: 00:14:52

Um, by, you know, taking bad deals so that they can feel like they're, they're fulfilling their calling when in fact, um, sometimes their calling is a, is a, it's a much more difficult road.

Matt: 00:15:02

Let's talk about your road.

Matt: 00:15:04

Uh, where has, where has he led you in your independent journey?

Kaylee: 00:15:08

I really love what you just said about really knowing where God's called you.

Kaylee: 00:15:12

Um, in my own journey, I, I feel like, you know, I, you know, we're coming from signing.

Kaylee: 00:15:20

Staying independent.

Kaylee: 00:15:21

Um, I got to do many years of traveling and touring and opening for different artists that you've mentioned and having songs out, which that was a blessing.

Kaylee: 00:15:30

And I did music pretty much like full-time up till COVID.

Kaylee: 00:15:33

And then during COVID, the music industry really changed as a whole and I ended up doing more music.

Kaylee: 00:15:41

Like youth group, church oriented music endeavors as well as marketing.

Kaylee: 00:15:48

And then since COVID, I, I've kind of done more marketing music lessons and then acting the Lord has really reopened acting doors for me where I've gotten to be a part of different TV shows and films.

Kaylee: 00:16:03

And I'm in a season of having a little bit of all of that in my.

Kaylee: 00:16:11

My resume and just going where the Lord leads each step of the way.

Kaylee: 00:16:14

So I still do music, I still do some shows, I do some teaching, I do some marketing, and I do some acting projects as the Lord opens the doors for them.

Matt: 00:16:25

Well, I noticed that when you have a, a talent like music, it also allows you to bring that into your acting.

Matt: 00:16:31

One of the first things on your reel is you sitting on a front porch and kind of.

Matt: 00:16:36

Looks like you're, you're working on writing a song, so I, I think that helps you as an actress to be a highly skilled artist and singer, uh, in order to, uh, to, to, to play certain roles.

Kaylee: 00:16:47

Yeah, absolutely.

Kaylee: 00:16:48

That has really opened up a lot of doors.

Kaylee: 00:16:50

It's been amazing to see how music has opened so many doors in my life, both in church and worship.

Kaylee: 00:16:56

Because I am, I'm a worship leader.

Kaylee: 00:16:58

I get to do a lot of like worship conferences and programs and stuff, but also in the acting side, people will reach out to me directly for a role because it's a singer songwriter part, and I'm considered for that, which is really, really cool.

Matt: 00:17:11

That's awesome.

Matt: 00:17:12

Well tell, let's talk about some of your acting roles and some of the things that you've enjoyed.

Matt: 00:17:15

What's, what's been going on there lately?

Kaylee: 00:17:18

Uh, the most recent thing that I'm in is called Warden's case Files.

Kaylee: 00:17:21

It's on the outdoor channel, and that's currently, uh, it's an episodic and I'm in multiple episodes and it's currently premiering on the, uh, on the outdoor channel now.

Kaylee: 00:17:31

And then I am filming a couple projects that are in the works that hopefully will be out, you know, either by the end of the year or by next year.

Matt: 00:17:39

The one on the outdoor channel, is that a narrative or is that more docuseries?

Kaylee: 00:17:43

It's a docuseries.

Kaylee: 00:17:44

Okay.

Kaylee: 00:17:44

Yeah.

Kaylee: 00:17:45

I get to play a warden, a Canadian and a United States warden, and I get to play an attorney.

Kaylee: 00:17:51

So that

Matt: 00:17:51

same character they got, you play different characters.

Kaylee: 00:17:53

Different characters, which is really fun.

Kaylee: 00:17:56

So each episode I get to be somebody different.

Matt: 00:17:59

Oh, cool.

Matt: 00:18:00

And that's already out, you said on the,

Kaylee: 00:18:01

yeah, yeah.

Kaylee: 00:18:02

It's currently, it's currently showing.

Kaylee: 00:18:04

It's season one.

Matt: 00:18:06

Very cool.

Matt: 00:18:06

Very cool.

Matt: 00:18:07

Well, uh, what, what do you feel more drawn to, I mean, obviously you feel drawn to where you're called, but sometimes the drawing is the calling.

Matt: 00:18:14

So are are, do you feel more drawn toward acting or drawn toward music, or are you just planting all the seeds and, and watering them and seeing which grow?

Kaylee: 00:18:24

I think over the years I've been drawn to, you know, during the music stuff it was more my focus.

Kaylee: 00:18:29

Right now, acting's been a strong focus as that opportunity comes.

Kaylee: 00:18:34

But I really love what you said a little bit ago about, you know, being called and feeling called from the Lord and learning how to wait on God.

Kaylee: 00:18:42

And for me, I've really wanted to come to this place in my own walk and faith of being able to lay it down.

Kaylee: 00:18:49

I think from a young age.

Kaylee: 00:18:51

Feeling such a strong call in acting and music.

Kaylee: 00:18:55

If I am doing something in a season, you know, if I'm having a season, I'm staying busy with that, I'm like, great, I'm living my purpose.

Kaylee: 00:19:02

But in the seasons like we all have where the work is slow or you know, COVID hit or you know, just seasons where the work isn't what you thought it would be or you don't feel like the success is looking like what you pictured it to be.

Kaylee: 00:19:16

I realized in some of those seasons over the years, I've questioned if I'm living the calling God has placed in my life.

Kaylee: 00:19:22

Like am I living my purpose because of my purpose is to sing and act and be in entertainment, and I'm not doing that full time in this season?

Kaylee: 00:19:29

Am I falling short of what God's called me to do?

Kaylee: 00:19:33

And he's really spoken to me and told me that what he has called us to do, first and foremost is to know Him.

Kaylee: 00:19:41

Period.

Kaylee: 00:19:43

And like that's truly the call of every person in this world is to know God and to have him like he knows you and he is like, know me.

Kaylee: 00:19:51

Open your Bible.

Kaylee: 00:19:52

Spend time with me.

Kaylee: 00:19:53

And from that place of knowing me, I will direct your path.

Kaylee: 00:19:57

And like you said, walking with the Lord means.

Kaylee: 00:20:00

When he opens the doors and you're working a lot and you're seeing things happen, great.

Kaylee: 00:20:04

But also in the seasons where the door is closed and you're not seeing as many opportunities, instead of being like discouraged or downcast or feeling like you're not living your purpose and just jumping on the label deal or jumping on that show, you weren't called to be a part of just jumping into opportunities for the sake of thinking you're doing it because God called you to do.

Kaylee: 00:20:26

You have the kind of faith and the kind of.

Kaylee: 00:20:29

I don't know, conviction, faith, and just ability to, to lay it down for him and to sit there and spend time with him.

Kaylee: 00:20:37

I often am reminded him of the story with Moses and the Israelites, where God spoke to them.

Kaylee: 00:20:45

Through a cloud of glory led them by day and a pillar of fire by night.

Kaylee: 00:20:51

And even when they didn't understand why they're, you know, in the desert or where, why, why they're not moving, you know, maybe they're staying in a place for a long time.

Kaylee: 00:20:59

We, we read the complaints of like, why aren't we going anywhere?

Kaylee: 00:21:03

They weren't called to move without God.

Kaylee: 00:21:06

They were called to stay.

Kaylee: 00:21:08

And in that is protection and in that is purpose.

Kaylee: 00:21:11

Even in when we don't understand.

Kaylee: 00:21:14

So when then God moves the next day, they're like, Hey, the cloud's moved.

Kaylee: 00:21:18

We gotta follow the cloud.

Kaylee: 00:21:19

You know?

Kaylee: 00:21:21

And that's really how I want to look at entertainment.

Kaylee: 00:21:24

That's how I wanna look at the calling of this in my life is God, you are the, you are the cloud of glory.

Kaylee: 00:21:30

You are the pillar of fire.

Kaylee: 00:21:32

And if it's acting, if it's singing, if it's none of that, and it's something completely different, as I've also experienced in life in seasons, it's serving at my local church, it's doing worship at church, it's helping a friend, it's doing nonprofit work, it's doing marketing work, whatever that looks like.

Kaylee: 00:21:49

I don't want the passion.

Kaylee: 00:21:52

To overview the purpose of this, I just wanna be able to walk with you, God, and lay it down.

Kaylee: 00:21:58

I don't want acting or singing to be the thing that I wake up and imp purposed about.

Kaylee: 00:22:02

I just want it to be you.

Kaylee: 00:22:03

So it's like if you open a door, great, and if you don't.

Kaylee: 00:22:07

That is okay.

Kaylee: 00:22:08

And I'm gonna follow you.

Kaylee: 00:22:10

And I was actually looking up what the word weight means in Hebrew and there's a couple meanings to, I actually wrote it down, um, I don't know how to say the Hebrew word, so I'm not going to, so I encourage listeners, if you're interested, Google it.

Kaylee: 00:22:24

Um, it's got letters

Matt: 00:22:24

I don't even recognize.

Kaylee: 00:22:26

It's got sounds I can't say.

Kaylee: 00:22:28

Yeah.

Kaylee: 00:22:28

Um, but the word wait actually is combined of like several words.

Kaylee: 00:22:34

And it means to wait with hope, with expectation, and a sense of active participation.

Matt: 00:22:42

Hmm.

Kaylee: 00:22:42

And I thought that was so profound because.

Kaylee: 00:22:46

Do we wait often with excitement or with anticipation?

Kaylee: 00:22:50

And I know in my own life, sometimes it's like I'm excited and I anticipate when I have that audition, when I'm on that film set, when I am opening for that artist, I am excited.

Kaylee: 00:23:00

But do I always have the hope and expectation and participation when I am waiting and I don't see the things coming in?

Kaylee: 00:23:09

And I think at times in my life I haven't, sometimes I've waited kind of discouraged, waited, kind of angry at the Lord and been like, Hey, you, you, you told me when I was five.

Kaylee: 00:23:19

This is what I was gonna do with my life.

Kaylee: 00:23:21

Where are you?

Kaylee: 00:23:22

And.

Kaylee: 00:23:23

I look back in hindsight and I see that those times sometimes that was a no was actually for my protection.

Kaylee: 00:23:30

You know, that talking about what I saw in the Christian entertainment industry, there was a few moments in that season where I felt like, why am I saying no to this label?

Kaylee: 00:23:40

Or why am I saying no to this?

Kaylee: 00:23:41

Or why is this happening to me?

Kaylee: 00:23:43

I look back with complete gratitude and I see his provision and I see his protection, and I'm grateful I didn't end up in a legal contract that I'm still to this day trying to get out of.

Kaylee: 00:23:54

I see that by following the Lord, more opportunities have been opened, more freedom has been opened in my life and more influence because it's, it's done God's way.

Kaylee: 00:24:05

So I think, yeah, I just, I love what you said about that artist.

Kaylee: 00:24:08

It sounds like a very similar journey.

Matt: 00:24:11

We'll have to play "Rich Men North of Richmond" on the podcast later on.

Matt: 00:24:15

But Kaylee, this is, this is amazing.

Matt: 00:24:17

It's so, it's really is inspiring for a lot of us who are more seasoned in life to hear such wisdom, um, and such patience.

Matt: 00:24:26

Um, coming from such a young artist, uh, it's, uh, it's, it's has everything to do with the, the level to which you are, are surrendered to him.

Matt: 00:24:35

So, uh, you know, just keep that up for sure.

Matt: 00:24:38

I wanna dive into, um, I wanna dive into the acting Side of things a little more with you.

Matt: 00:24:44

Uh, we're out of time on this episode, but we're gonna bring you back for another episode so we can really get into acting.

Matt: 00:24:50

When I talk to actors, I wanna dive deep.

Matt: 00:24:52

I like talking, really getting nerdy with acting, so we're gonna do that next time.

Matt: 00:24:56

But thank you so much for joining us today on the Faith in Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Kaylee: 00:25:00

Thank you for having me.