Candid Off-Camera - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 62

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 1 - January 23, 2026

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 61 - June 12, 2026

In some ways, my deficiencies in the world of television were compounding, with the first big mistake from 2013—no network written agreement—now spilling into where I found myself at the end of 2015 after American Rehab Charleston earned us a chance to do more. This hole in my capabilities was like a dark cloud, following, hovering, sometimes sprinkling and other times pouring down rain. My ignorance, my inability to take the right steps left me ill-positioned to focus as needed on my next thing, another weak area for me: effectively making my points clearly understood for producers in other parts of the country.

Even though I’d beefed up my efforts, I came up way short again. Too many of my calls to action went unaddressed. I’m pleased to remember times when my attempts to motivate have hit marks consistently. But not this time. They mostly fell flat, touching down inconsequentially like led balloons. I was hoping folks would dig into what I saw as urgent necessities. But I was unable to adequately stress the win-win-win of my viewpoints, how it was in everyone’s best interests to heartily consider how my input would benefit them big-picture. I was open to counterpoints, compromise or rebuttal leading to other steps that were better than what I felt strongly about. Yet I mainly found myself with good listeners, that were perhaps more inadequately supported and equipped than I imagined.

As I’ve mentioned throughout this series of posts, the producers I worked with were impressive. They were experienced, well-traveled, and talented. I overheard them mentioning household name celebrities, politicians, and entertainers they’d worked with. This was presented mundanely, while they were simultaneously discrete and professional, leaving me holding them in even loftier regard.

Yet being candid, I was surprised with how skittish many in vital positions seemed over the notion that we all could move up and ahead together, something I had wrongly considered more commonly understood than it was. This exemplifies some of my inexperience or perhaps overly wishful thinking. They came across as suspicious that I may be casting some sort of Jedi-mind trickery on them. I’m not sure if this was industry wide, just critical folks I’d been matched up with, or simply me in my own head too much. We would all be missing out, but since it was my big chance, it was on me more substantially.

I needed to rally the Scripps assigned troops and I wasn’t moving the needle. At least not nearly or quick enough. This might be me excusing my own inabilities, trying to sooth ego or conscience, but I began to form an impression that they’d been trained to think more win-lose, as if me and others they were working with needed to benefit measurably less in order for them to achieve worthwhile success.

Since I felt strongly that I knew better than these amazing people, at least in this critical area, this was tough for me to accept and move through. And in this period, I was left feeling powerless, outnumbered or outmatched once again, for some means of inspiring them on the importance to at least think about the key details that would help get us on track and make the most of this opportunity we had been given.

Rightfully so, it was more important to me than it was for them. They didn’t live near in or around Charleston. Their lives, families, and friends were spread throughout other parts of the country. They were going to keep working in TV regardless and I was in no position to help them see how it was in their best interests to get ARC on HGTV in Charleston and be more renovation minded with us all leaning into organic authenticity as a team.        

It’s unnecessary to write this in a way that might make a reader hopeful that I would eventually right this ship since most know it ran aground.

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 63 - Coming Soon