Do you dream of helping others reach their goals? Are you not sure where to start? Adrienne Rose White is a successful actress, producer, and writer who helps creatives pitch and sell their television show to big-time networks!
In this episode, Adrienne shares her beginnings as a struggling artist, how she found her true purpose, and how she monetized her passion for helping others and built a thriving business!
Listen now to learn the tips Adrienne shares with those looking to pivot their careers, and how you can help others and build a business at the same time!
Ina Coveney
Today we're talking with Adrienne Rose White. Adrienne, I'm so excited to meet you. Welcome to the podcast.
Adrienne Rose White
Ina, I'm so excited to meet you. I'm excited to be here.
Ina
Okay, before we get started, why don't you tell everybody what it is that you do right now and who you help right now?
Adrienne
So right now, I help creatives put together their TV ideas as pitches so that they actually sell to aligned partners. I'm an actress, a writer, and a knowledge worker. I’ve sold TV shows, and now I help other creatives put together their ideas so they can actually sell them as TV shows.
Ina
Out of all the different types of coaching and courses out there, this one just blows my mind. I’m just going to confess right now—I'm obsessed with the entertainment industry. I know as much as I’ve been able to gather from reading a whole ton of books, and I can’t wait to dive into this. But before we get there, can you please tell us—we’re going to go way back, get ready—tell me, where were you born and what were you like as a kid?
Adrienne
I was born just outside of Los Angeles.
Ina
What were you like as a kid?
Adrienne
I had a pretty big personality. It’s funny—I actually just reconnected with a friend from preschool, and she was telling me what she remembered about me from back then. She said, "You had a lot of big ideas, and when you had an idea, you were committed to it."
Ina
So what do you remember from growing up? Were you always in LA?
Adrienne
No, no! Funny story—I moved to Missouri when I was almost 8 years old. My dad used to read us *The Chronicles of Narnia* every night and would say, "We're going to a magical place where it snows." My brother and I would say, "No!" So one day he says, "We're going to a place where it snows," and we say, "Yeah!" And he says, "No, we’re going to Missouri."
It was such a different pace and culture from what I was used to on the coast. It was challenging at times—I often felt like a fish out of water—but I also really appreciated the freedom we had in the Midwest. I grew up near a creek and a farm, and we’d run around in the woods, playing manhunt and hiking. I don’t think I would have had that kind of freedom if I had grown up outside of Los Angeles.
Ina
You mentioned how challenging it was to move to Missouri. Do you remember any specific stories about those challenges?
Adrienne
Yes. I went to an elementary school in St. Louis, which can be a pretty segregated city. I moved to the suburbs, and on the first or second day of school, someone asked me, "Where are you from?" I said, "I'm from Los Angeles, I just moved to Chesterfield." And they were like, "No, no, where are you *really* from?"
Because St. Louis is so segregated, kids were bussed from the city to come to these public schools, and I didn’t fit into anyone’s idea of who I should be. The Black kids would say, "What’s wrong with you?" and the white kids would say, "What’s wrong with you?" I didn’t understand why they thought there was something wrong with me. It was really isolating.
Ina
I can relate. I’m from Venezuela, but when I speak to Venezuelans, I sound more Puerto Rican because I’ve been in the U.S. for so long. And when I speak English, I have an accent. It’s like there’s no place where people sound just like me or relate to me exactly the way I am. So I can imagine how hard that must have been for you at such a young age.
Do you think that experience shaped how you interact with people now? Did you build a protective sense of how to talk to people or present yourself?
Adrienne
At the time, I learned to be a chameleon. I felt like I had to present myself differently in different spaces to gain acceptance. It’s hard to feel like you have to contort yourself to be worthy of approval. But on the flip side, I think it made me more empathetic. As an actor, I enjoy finding different points of connection with people.
However, basing my internal self-worth on external acceptance wasn’t healthy. I would be so happy when someone liked me and so sad when they didn’t. Now, I see it differently. I believe our greatest obstacles can become our greatest strengths.
For example, the first TV show I sold with my creative partner was called *How to Be a White Guy*. It was about two female entrepreneurs of color who couldn't get funding for their startup, so they get their white bartender to pretend to be their CEO. They get the money but are stuck with him, so they have to teach him how to be a white guy to help them get ahead.
That story came from my personal experiences of feeling misjudged and "othered." I don’t think we would have been able to create that story if we hadn’t experienced those things ourselves.
Ina
That’s fascinating. There are people out there who’ve had similar experiences but don’t walk away with that "make lemonade" mentality. How do you think you developed that? Were you always optimistic, or did you go through dark times?
Adrienne
I’ve generally been an optimistic person, at least consciously. Subconsciously, I can get anxious or down. But consciously, I choose to believe that things happen in my favor, even the difficult ones.
That doesn't mean bad things are okay or that people who hurt me were right—it just means I get to decide what meaning to take from those experiences.
A few years ago, I went through a particularly dark time. I had sold a show, was in a relationship, and everything seemed to be coming together. Then, one by one, it all fell apart. The show fell through, the relationship ended, my dog needed surgery—it was a rough time.
It made me question whether everything was really working in my favor. But as I worked through it, I realized those things weren’t aligned with my deeper values. The relationship didn’t meet important needs, and I had lost my own voice in the creative partnership.
Once I understood that, I started connecting with stories and people who were much more aligned with how I wanted to show up in the world. That reaffirmed my optimism, but on a deeper level.
Ina
That makes so much sense. Thank you for sharing that. I think it’s so important to remind people that we all have those moments, but it’s the optimism that helps you rise above them.
Do you think your optimism came from your upbringing? Were your parents optimistic?
Adrienne
My dad was really into Tony Robbins. He would go to Tony Robbins conferences, and when I was in preschool, he would start the day with, "Yes, yes, whoa, yes!" He’d get the whole family to stand in a circle and chant with him. His mom always told him to "bring joy into the world," so he was very positive.
Ina
What’s your dad’s name?
Adrienne
His name is Rick.
Ina
Rick, you’re an amazing dad! That’s such an incredible story. I’m so glad I asked.
What did you want to be when you grew up? What was your plan in high school?
Adrienne
In preschool, I wanted to be a nail technician because I wasn’t allowed to paint my nails, and I thought they were so pretty! By senior year of high school, I was planning to go to college for visual and environmental studies, which is basically art. I knew I liked film, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be an actor, director, or cinematographer.
Ina
Where did you go to college, and did you end up studying film?
Adrienne
I went to Harvard and studied visual and environmental studies, which included film theory, photography, and animation. I created my own track.
Ina
What’s your favorite Harvard story?
Adrienne
It’s about my friends. The big game at Harvard is against Yale, so my freshman year, a bunch of my friends came to my dorm room to get ready. One of them said, "Hurry up! We’re going to be late!" I said, "Wait, let me get some tissues." My friend replied, "Okay, grandma." I said, "You’re going to call me grandma, but who are you going to call when you need tissues?" Sure enough, it was freezing, and she said, "You, grandma."
That same friend and I are about to start a podcast together called *Two Queens, Two Crowns*. It’s about women who are pitted against each other but are actually both queens in their own right.
Ina
That’s amazing! We’ll definitely link to it in the show notes.
So you graduated from Harvard. How did you end up in Korea?
**
[Adrienne
One of my good friends is half Korean, and she wanted to meet her mom’s side of the family. We had traveled a lot together, so she asked if I’d go with her to Korea after graduation. I figured there would never be another time in my life when I had no obligations tying me down, so I said yes.
I ended up getting a job at a prep school in Seoul for the summer, teaching AP U.S. History, even though I was completely unqualified!
Ina
That’s such a great story. But now, I want you to bridge that gap for me—how did you go from teaching in Korea to selling your first show?
Adrienne
It was a long journey! I decided I wanted to be an actor and even studied Kung Fu in China because I thought I wanted to be an action star. Then I went to acting school at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York, which teaches you to create your own work instead of waiting for someone to say yes.
That mindset helped me see myself as a creator, not just an actor. I wrote a short film called *MiraMira* that was shot in Brazil and New York. That film was my "grad school," and it went to some film festivals and won some awards.
After moving to LA, I worked at a boutique production company and honed my skills in writing and producing. Eventually, my creative partner and I wrote a pilot for a web series called *Quirky Protagonist*. We got it into the LA Film Festival, and that’s where we started meeting production companies and producers.
Then we got a call from Lakeshore, asking if we had any TV shows. We wrote a pitch in a week, and despite people saying you can’t option a show in December, we got a yes!
Ina
That’s incredible! What made you decide to start teaching others how to sell TV shows?
Adrienne
It was a combination of things. I had been tutoring for years in LA, and I had teaching skills. I also had the production experience and the knowledge of how to sell a show, which not many people talk about in a systematic way.
I wanted to create something that was financially sustainable for me as an artist, and building a course was a way to help others while also freeing up my time for my own projects.
Ina
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from creating and selling a course?
Adrienne
You have to make peace with failure. Some things won’t work, and you’ll have to adjust or try something new. Other times, you have to keep doing something that doesn’t seem to be working yet because it will work in time. It’s all about accepting that you don’t always have the answers and treating it like an experiment.
Ina
Can you tell us more about your course and who it’s for?
Adrienne
Sure! My course teaches how to go from an idea to putting together a complete pitch and package that you can sell. We cover everything from knowing if it’s a good idea, how to talk about it, writing the initial documents, and what to say in a meeting.
It’s for anyone who wants to sell a TV show—you don’t have to be a writer. I’ve helped people from all kinds of backgrounds, including a lawyer who sold a show to CBS!
Ina
I love that you can teach anything online these days. I didn’t even know this niche existed!
Adrienne
You should take the course, Ina!
Ina
I might! Before we wrap up, what’s the biggest misconception people have about you as a successful woman in the industry?
Adrienne
I think people assume that because I’m successful, I have all the answers. But really, I just know the right questions to ask. The advice that works for one person might not work for another. You have to find your own way, even if you’re following someone else’s principles.
Ina
That’s great advice. Finally, if everyone listening had to do one thing in the next 24 hours, what would it be?
Adrienne
Put one hand on your chest, one on your stomach, and take a deep breath in. Let it go. Take another deep breath, and let it go. Notice how your body feels and where your emotions are. Can you accept what’s happening right now? Whether you can or can’t, that’s okay too.
Ina
That was wonderful! Adrienne, this conversation has been so cool. You’re such a light! Where can people get more of you—your course, your social media?
Adrienne
Thank you so much, Ina! For those who want more, you can go to sellashow.com. My course is called *Strike Gold*, and you can find it at sellashow.com/strikegold.
You can follow me on Instagram at @adriennerosewhite and my business account @somethingtrulybrilliant.
Ina
I’ll put all those links in the show notes. Adrienne, thank you so much for being with us today!
Adrienne
Thank you so much, Ina!
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