Welcome to another episode In Search of Excellence! My guest today is Danielle Vasinova. Danielle is an actor, model, producer, entrepreneur, avid equestrian, and drummer, she has been in more than 50 movies and TV shows and is best known for her colorful action-adventure rolls. And she has graced the cover of many magazines, including Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar.

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In this episode, Danielle shares her story of overcoming shyness through cheerleading, starting a modeling career, and landing her first movie role. Randy discovers how he unexpectedly landed a role in a movie alongside Sharon Stone despite having no acting experience and emphasizes the importance of taking advantage of every opportunity you get in life.

Time stamps:

01:23 Danielle’s background

• Her grandmother was an actress and singer in Prague
• Escaped communism at 17
• Met her future husband at displaced persons’ camps in Germany
• They came to New York City together
• Her mom worked for American Airlines
• Dad tested airplane engines for Pratt and Whitney
• Fell in love and moved to Connecticut

03:46 Childhood memories

• Dad bought her a pony
• Farm animals became her friends
• Painfully shy as a kid
• Creating a character is a form of protection
• Reluctantly became a cheerleader
• Helped her to break out of the shell
• A training accident

11:12 Modeling at 13

• Competition at the local mall
• The scout came up to her and offered her to be a model
• Went to New York and signed a contract
• Castings, auditions, rejections and bookings

18:23 Taking advantage of opportunities

• Danielle’s bucket list
• Randy’s advice on how to get to people
• Randy’s story about meeting a famous actress
• People do respond to bold moves
• Myocarditis on a date

29:16 Do you need education to be an actor?

• UConn collage
• Was a waitress the whole time
• Became a Patriots cheerleader
• Coming to Santa Barbara

32:31 Young and Restless casting

• Called for casting through her mom
• Went to LA and auditioned
• Got the part

• 35:05 Randy’s hilarious experience with the movie industry
• Becoming friends with Bruce McNall
• Casting for the role in the movie
• Getting the role of a police officer
• Meeting Sharon Stone
• Shooting the scenes
• Becoming friends with a certain director
• Being offered a role in his show

50:53 Randy’s first podcast guests

• Meeting Sam Zell and becoming friends
• Sharon Stone and
• Cliff Kingsbury, a football coach
• Mark Cuban responded to his email
• The greatest piece of advice Randy got from his mentor
• Doing things that no one else has done before

Sponsors:

Sandee – https://sandee.com/

Bliss: Beaches – https://www.amazon.com/Bliss-Beaches-Randall-Kaplan/dp/1951836170/

Want to Connect? Reach out to us online!

Website – https://insearchofexcellencepodcast.com

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/randallkaplan/

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/randall-kaplan-05858340/

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