Bianca Mitchell Avila started making her chess documentary, Madwoman's Game, at her dining table when she was just 15 years old - with no Hollywood connections, no budget, and one piece of advice from her dad: the worst thing that can happen if you reach out is a no.

Six years later, that cold email landed Keanu Reeves as executive producer, and the film is premiering at the Miami Film Festival.

In this episode, Bianca joins Sabrina to talk about building an all-star cast, what it's actually like having Keanu Reeves as a mentor, and why she refused to let the same handful of chess stories keep getting told. Sabrina also opens up about her own chess journey - being the only Black female chess master in the UK — and the very different way that story was received in the US versus at home.

Expect honest talk on rejection, betting on yourself, walking away from clients who don't respect your worth, and the long, messy road from a kitchen-table idea to a film festival premiere.🔗 Links Mentioned in VideoMadwoman's Game: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34704424/Show Notes and TranscriptVisit the website to get the transcriptions, notes and more insights from the episodes:https://n0bspodcasts.comWhat is the podcast?This podcast is for anyone who wants to learn what it’s really like running a business. A realistic view along with insightful and actionable advice. If you’re fed up of hearing the same stories about how successful entrepreneurs are and it just took a morning routine or a few simple steps, then this is the podcast for you. No Bullsh*t Talks is a podcast of REAL conversations between ambitious entrepreneurs, discussing both the highs and the lows of entrepreneurships and all the lessons learned along the way. 🎧 Listen For FreeApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/no-bullsh-t-talks/id1605759771

Spotify (You can also watch the video here): https://open.spotify.com/show/7mYsm8OcmGNnQCiyeKoFEE

Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/id4759866?country=gb

Radio Public: https://radiopublic.com/no-bullsht-talks-GA1ZbP

RSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/464e7ed8/podcast/rss🙏🏽 Leave A ReviewIf you enjoy this show, then it really helps if you leave a review. So, please do leave a review and let me know what you think of the show!https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/no-bullsh-t-talks/id1605759771Sabrina’s Socials🌏 Podcast Website: https://n0bspodcasts.com🌏 Sabrina’s Website: https://sabrinachevannes.com🎙 Sabrina’s Solo Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3E9VGj26UgMS04rYwXrJ22?si=a04c40eef9444de1📺 Sabrina’s YouTube: https://youtube.com/@sabrinachevannes👩🏽‍💻 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sabrinachevannes📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/sabzyc🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/sabzyc⏰ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/sabrinachevannes

Bianca's Socials🌏 Bianca's IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11039091/ 👩🏽‍💻 Bianca's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bianca-mitchell-filmmaker/📸 Bianca's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biancamitchellavila/📧 Get in TouchI love hearing personally from my viewers, so if you have any feedback on any of the episodes or you have a suggestion for someone you’d like me to interview, please feel free to tweet me @sabzyc or find me on Instagram with the same username!

What does it really take to build a creative career on your own terms?

In this episode of No Bullshit Talks, Sabrina sits down with Ajani Griffith - Miami-based film producer, music supervisor, director, and content creator who has worked with Warner Music, Sony, Universal, Heineken, and Red Stripe.

His work has contended for three Oscars, and he's been vlogging for over a decade. But none of it came in a straight line.

Ajani breaks down the real journey: from chasing a dream of running an independent music publishing company, to stumbling into film through a friend's project, to building his own monthly event series from scratch — and keeping it going even when the crowd doesn't show up.

💡 In this episode:

→ How a single conversation with a director friend launched his career in music supervision

→ Why he chose Miami over LA — and what that decision taught him about building a brand anywhere

→ The Music Club: his monthly event series combining live performances, a podcast, and community — and his plan to take it on tour

→ How to stay consistent when events don't fill up (and why the biggest promoters in the world have flopped too)

→ The truth about vlogging: what Gary Vee taught him, what 10 years of trial and error looks like, and why your audience decides what works — not you

→ The predatory side of production: late payments, net-30 traps, and how to protect yourself with contracts and deposits

→ Why LinkedIn still matters in 2026 — and how the algorithm has shifted

Show Notes and TranscriptVisit the website to get the transcriptions, notes and more insights from the episodes:https://n0bspodcasts.comWhat is the podcast?This podcast is for anyone who wants to learn what it’s really like running a business. A realistic view along with insightful and actionable advice. If you’re fed up of hearing the same stories about how successful entrepreneurs are and it just took a morning routine or a few simple steps, then this is the podcast for you. No Bullsh*t Talks is a podcast of REAL conversations between ambitious entrepreneurs, discussing both the highs and the lows of entrepreneurships and all the lessons learned along the way. 🎧 Listen For FreeApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/no-bullsh-t-talks/id1605759771

Spotify (You can also watch the video here): https://open.spotify.com/show/7mYsm8OcmGNnQCiyeKoFEE

Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/id4759866?country=gb

Radio Public: https://radiopublic.com/no-bullsht-talks-GA1ZbP

RSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/464e7ed8/podcast/rss🙏🏽 Leave A ReviewIf you enjoy this show, then it really helps if you leave a review. So, please do leave a review and let me know what you think of the show!https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/no-bullsh-t-talks/id1605759771Sabrina’s Socials🌏 Podcast Website: https://n0bspodcasts.com🌏 Sabrina’s Website: https://sabrinachevannes.com🎙 Sabrina’s Solo Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3E9VGj26UgMS04rYwXrJ22?si=a04c40eef9444de1📺 Sabrina’s YouTube: https://youtube.com/@sabrinachevannes👩🏽‍💻 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sabrinachevannes📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/sabzyc🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/sabzyc⏰ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/sabrinachevannesAjani's Socials🌏 Ajani's website: ajanigriffith.com👩🏽‍💻 Ajani's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajanigriffith/📸 Ajani's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajanigee/📧 Get in TouchI love hearing personally from my viewers, so if you have any feedback on any of the episodes or you have a suggestion for someone you’d like me to interview, please feel free to tweet me @sabzyc or find me on Instagram with the same username!

Jenna Zhang built Sipzen, a TCM-inspired sparkling wellness drink, after being diagnosed with PCOS and Hashimoto's and deciding Western medicine wasn't enough.

In this episode, we get into the real story behind launching a physical product from scratch, being turned down by 80% of development companies, managing a team of people twice your age at 23, and what happened when a marketing agency turned out to be running a quarter-million-pound fraud scheme - and Jenna went full CIA to expose it.

This is one of those conversations that just keeps going deeper.

We cover:

- Why 3,500 years of TCM data gets dismissed as old wives' tales in the West

- How Jenna designed packaging that's genuinely impossible to copy

- What it's like being a young woman managing older men who don't want to be managed

- Going from South Brooklyn to becoming CEO of a carbon credits startup at 23

- The marketing fraud that affected 18 businesses - and why Jenna was the only one who did anything about it

- Why the UK courts give you a judgment but don't actually help you collect

Show Notes and Transcript

Visit the website to get the transcriptions, notes and more insights from the episodes:https://n0bspodcasts.com

What is the podcast?

This podcast is for anyone who wants to learn what it’s really like running a business. A realistic view along with insightful and actionable advice. If you’re fed up of hearing the same stories about how successful entrepreneurs are and it just took a morning routine or a few simple steps, then this is the podcast for you. No Bullsh*t Talks is a podcast of REAL conversations between ambitious entrepreneurs, discussing both the highs and the lows of entrepreneurships and all the lessons learned along the way.

🎧 Listen For Free

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/no-bullsh-t-talks/id1605759771

Spotify (You can also watch the video here): https://open.spotify.com/show/7mYsm8OcmGNnQCiyeKoFEECastbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/id4759866?country=gb

Radio Public: https://radiopublic.com/no-bullsht-talks-GA1ZbP

RSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/464e7ed8/podcast/rss

🙏🏽 Leave A Review

If you enjoy this show, then it really helps if you leave a review. So, please do leave a review and let me know what you think of the show!https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/no-bullsh-t-talks/id1605759771

Sabrina’s Socials

🌏 Podcast Website: https://n0bspodcasts.com

🌏 Sabrina’s Website: https://sabrinachevannes.com

🎙 Sabrina’s Solo Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3E9VGj26UgMS04rYwXrJ22?si=a04c40eef9444de1

📺 Sabrina’s YouTube: https://youtube.com/@sabrinachevannes👩🏽‍💻 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sabrinachevannes

📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/sabzyc

🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/sabzyc

⏰ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/sabrinachevannes

Jenna's Socials

🌏 SipZen website: https://drinksipzen.com/

📸 SipZen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sipzen_drinks/

📧 Get in Touch

I love hearing personally from my viewers, so if you have any feedback on any of the episodes or you have a suggestion for someone you’d like me to interview, please feel free to tweet me @sabzyc or find me on Instagram with the same username!