BSM: Have you experienced chal-
lenges as a woman from men who
question your role to expand the
film and entertainment industry
here?
CR: Every month I am standing in
front of a group of diverse people in
our task force and board. Houston
is diverse. We have men and women
from different backgrounds, Paki-
stani, Asian, Hispanic, Black, or Cau-
casian. We have them all. There have
been people who have come to the
meetings and challenged me with
their inappropriate comments and
disrespect. Mind you, I am standing
in a room for two-hours, and guid-
ing individuals and someone walks
into my studio and decides they are
going to disrespect me. My thought:
I’m from New Orleans, don’t come
for me because I can come back.
22 | BSM MAGAZINE | APRIL 2020
But then I look around the room
and think, how can I respectfully
respond and get everyone back on
track.
I’ve had someone ask, what gives
you the authority to create a task
force when even the Mayor hasn’t
given you the right? The city govern-
ment is who creates a task force. You
have to have their approval. When
someone comes at you like that, you
know inside you’re hot. The first
thing you want to do is lash out, but
I have to remember I am a leader.
My response to comments like that
is I am a big fan of not asking any-
one for approval for something I can
do myself. There are businesses and
task forces, erected all the time that
do not have a city mayor or anyone
behind them. But you have people
who believe in you. For what needs
to be done, so I move away from
those types of comments. I’ve had
men come up to me and say, so, who
else is helping you run this compa-
ny, and I’m like, what? Or when they
come to my office and don’t let me
speak. They will ask me a question
about capital for my film studio, and
when I answer, they will start talking
again. I remember being at city hall
and sitting down with leadership
there from Houston television and I
asked, has a woman ever attempted
to do this? And the response was no.
BSM: Who or what resupplies your
energy when it gets depleted from
the things you do with your company
and the task force?
CR: First, it comes from my creator.
When my Godmother passed away
in 2014, I didn’t want to be here any-