Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Kayla Windsor of Phoenix

Kayla Windsor shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Kayla, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Something outside of work that is bringing me joy lately is music and music festivals. I was really having a hard time and I used to work in the music festival industry and quit 9 years ago because of some serious internal issues so I had actually not been to a music festival in 9 years. One of my friends got me a free ticket to a 5 day festival in California and I went in order to relax and give myself a break from work and life in Arizona. That festival healed so many parts of me that I didn’t realize were broken and it brought me back to who I want to be. The EDM festival culture is so beautiful, full of such unique and incredible people. I am forever grateful for the experience and the reminder that I can give myself a break and surround myself with beautiful people again. Leave everything at home behind and just have a really good time for once. It really changed everything for me and now I’m going to make time for myself again because of it.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Kayla Windsor. I am 32 years old and have owned my own production company for 10 years, Emaginariumm Productions LLC. I’ve been working as a freelance camera operator for 15 years and work primarily on TV shows, movies, and commercials. I co-produced my first ever feature film called The Vast Lonesome that is set to release this October 2025.

I am on the board of the non profit organization, Arizona Production Association, as well as work as a Community Educator for the organization, Arizona Filmmakers. The APA is an online directory that vets our local AZ film crew so when productions come into town, they are able to hire quality crew members for their jobs. We also host workshops and networking events for our film community as well as work with the AZ Film Office and AZ Film Coalition to build the infrastructure so we can host bigger movies in Arizona. The Arizona Filmmakers also hosts huge networking events, workshops, and provides small productions in order bring in newer filmmakers to have access to sets they can learn hands on from professionals in the industry. We focus on the next generation of filmmakers and our mantra is “Community over Competition.”

I also produce my own podcasts as well. Arizona Filmmakers Roundtable, The Close Up, and Therapy Session. Roundtable gathers the best of the best of Arizona’s filmmakers to showcase our incredible talent in Arizona, how we have the ability to host big movies and tv out here, and talks about our AZ film history and what we’re planning for the future. The Close Up podcast showcases the upcoming local AZ filmmakers and what they’re doing to grow in their careers as well as talks about their future journeys in the industry. My favorite podcast, Therapy Session, focuses on diving deep into the realities of mental health.. aiming to break stigmas, provide support, and foster a greater understanding of mental well-being coming from those that suffer from mental health issues, not from the POV of doctors that have only studied the issues but don’t actually suffer from any of it.

I absolutely love what I do and am so proud to be a part of every single avenue building the Arizona Film Community as a local AZ filmmaker myself and for fostering a safe space for people to share their stories, grow as individuals, and build Arizona to be Hollywood’s next stop in the filmmaking world.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
The relationship that most shaped how I see myself is my parents. I was raised by two extremely hard working, incredibly smart individuals who taught me the importance of work ethic, respect, and common sense. Without them showing me the value of getting things done yourself, I don’t know who I would be today. Without even realizing, they taught me that if I wanted something, I could get it as long as I worked for it because that’s what they did. One thing that I really appreciate them for is they taught me work/life balance. They both had their own careers but when they were off on the weekends, we would travel or go camping or do something fun all together. They didn’t just pawn my brother and I off to babysitters, they took us everywhere with them which showed that children aren’t something that gets in the way of your life. We were just always there and always got to see them work so hard for the fun we got to have. It was truly inspiring and I have a lot of work to do to fill their shoes but I am on my way!

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I actually just recently stopped hiding my pain and made a podcast called Therapy Session which focuses on mental health issues coming from those that suffer from it rather than the POV of doctors that have only studied it rather than suffer from it themselves. It started with me just wanting to tell my story so I made a youtube video that explained that I have been suffering from Bipolar for years. I had a lot of issues in the beginning of my career that people did not understand why I was so sensitive when I was first starting out and I lashed out a few times which burned bridges that was detrimental to my career for a little while until I built myself back up. I wanted people to know that I wasn’t aware that I was Bipolar at the time and if I had known, I might have been able to handle things better. I wanted them to know that now that I am aware and was diagnosed with Bipolar, I have a better understanding of how to deal with myself and have grown so much since my original issues and hope that people can forgive me. I also hoped that now that people know, they can give me some grace when I can’t control myself as well.

In opening up and being so vulnerable about the truths of my bipolar diagnosis, the impact that video had in my community was so powerful and I had over 40 people reach out and say how grateful they were to see someone come out with such raw emotion that it encouraged them to speak up about their own struggles and they encouraged me to create the podcast and run with it. Since then, I’ve had 8 episodes come out with guests that I haven’t spoken to in years.. it’s bringing people out of the woodwork that I never realized I’d reconnect with and people have reached out saying how much my vulnerability has helped them understand their own needs to heal. I’m so grateful that my story was able to help so many people so far and I hope to continue this movement for a long time.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
The public version of me is mostly the real me. I have been the same person since I was born and you can ask my mom about that. I tell the truth, to my own detriment, and will never change for anyone because I love who I am and think that it’s a disservice to the world to be anything other than who you actually are. When I say the public version of me is mostly who I am, I’ve learned to hold myself back a little bit to protect myself from being attacked as who I am can be someone that may rub people the wrong way.. but that held back version of me is just out of respect for the situation or out of protection of myself depending on who I’m interacting with. I lost my confidence for a little while, I’m still trying to get that back.. because I was attacked for a long time about my outlook on life being so trusting that I will win and get everything that I’m working towards and unfortunately, people don’t tend to like when someone is that confident. I let them get to me really bad and actually started to believe them that maybe I didn’t deserve what I wanted but I’ve decided that I’m not going to let people hinder my growth anymore.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
The story I hope people tell about me when I’m gone is that I am someone that helped so many people in this life even when I couldn’t help myself. I hope they know how much I cared for them and that I did everything in my power to raise them up along with me. I hope that I can stick around long enough to make the two movies I’ve held in my heart for over a decade that I think will make a huge impact on the world and I hope that I was able to get the message across that the journey is mostly about who you have alongside you along the way.

I hope that I’ve done enough good that anything bad that I’ve done in my past is forgiven because the good I’ve done outweighed it and I hope that I can continue to be a source of inspiration in the act of resilience against all odds even after I’m gone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.emaginariumm.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/emaginariumm
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylaawindsor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaylaawindsor
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TherapySession.podcast