The Kickass Author Poised To Deliver An Uplifting Punch
Ione Butler's New Book Is a Shot of Encouragement in a World Turned Upside Down
Her name is Ione Butler (pronounced “I own é.”) and we connected on Instagram. She is a British born actress, host, voiceover artist, speaker, entrepreneur, and founder of Uplifting Content, a digital media platform followed by over 1.4 million people worldwide.
Her personality? Well, let’s say that it’s akin to an effervescent light bulb. Based in Los Angeles, Ione can often be found traversing the globe for work or fun.
I was excited to learn recently about Ione’s soon-to-be-released book entitled “Uplifting Stories: 33 True Tales To Inspire You To Action,” (Simon and Schuster) a compilation of concise, inspiring story narratives to uplift readers of the book.
What an exquisitely well-timed read to get us through the COVID-19 doldrums that many of us are experiencing.
Ione tells me that if a reader is in the midst of a particularly rough patch in their life or is seeking perspective on a particular situation they are facing, this book is organized in a way to help them quickly identify the appropriate chapter for the inspiration and comfort they need.
Ione’s Quest To Figure Her Own Life Out
Back in November 2011, Ione was toiling away as a receptionist, struggling to get by, like so many others. She recounts that time:
It was a nine-hour workday, and I had to commute an hour each way. My earnings were a meager £250 per week after taxes. (For perspective, that’s less than four hundred US dollars. And London, of course, is super expensive with one of the highest cost of living places in the world).
Ione says that she had been out of drama school for three years, and while having a few acting gigs under her belt, my career trajectory was slow to develop. Says Ione:
“My life consisted of a daily routine of waking up and going to work while it was still dark. And then on the trek home, it was dark again. It was such a depressing existence.”
She recalls one dreadfully dreary day in London when she was sitting at her desk, exchanging Facebook messages with an actor friend of hers Tom Reed. Tom had recently booked a lead role on a prime-time CBS series, a mid-season replacement for CSI: Miami called NYC 22.
“A number of our mutual friends had gone to visit him on set in New York City. I enquired about how he was doing and he told me that he was having a blast. He also shared a bit with me about his struggles in getting a visa, which was hindering him from moving to the United States a lot sooner. This was a desire of his given that, in his opinion, there were many more roles and opportunities for actors of color there.”
Ione says that Tom’s news sparked a fire underneath her to get moving with her life.
“I’m eternally grateful to him for the motivation because that sparked my decision to move to LA. I knew that trying to bear the New York winters wasn’t my thing after all of the London gloom and doom. Besides, LA was where all of the important happenings in the entertainment industry was occurring anyway. And the city was blessed with an abundance of palm trees and sunshine, which suited me. So in my mind, it was now going to happen. I just wasn’t sure how.”
Navigating Life’s Next Chapter
Say Ione:
“My father was born in the Bahamas but has long been an American citizen. So my first thought was that it would be easy-peasy for me to show up here in the U.S. and grab a green card (apparently, if I had been under twenty-one, it would have been). But the reality was, it wasn’t. I’d have to wait.”
No problem, she thought.
According to Ione, she then began doing a bit more research. It was here that she discovered that the U.S. limits the number of green cards it issues per year for children of citizens over age twenty-one.
“I was astonished to find that the people who I thought were getting their green cards right away had been on the list for . . . wait for it . . . eight years! The thought occurred to me right then that there was no way on earth I was going to endure the status quo for the next eight years. So my mind was made up right then and there --I was going to move to LA and find another way to get there, without it becoming almost a decade.”
She says that in February 2012, she set off for a month-long trip to Los Angeles with a friend to see whether she liked it. And if she did, she would figure out how to obtain a visa allowing her to live and work there.
“Being that it was my first time being in LA as an adult, I fell in love with it immediately. The weather, the lifestyle, the amazing contrasts in terrain—the captivating mountains, the ocean, beaches, forests, and deserts. I even found solace in the vast, bustling city itself with so many positive, welcoming people. And while there will always be a special place in my heart for London, Los Angeles, with its majestic year-round sunshine and blue skies, represented a far better lifestyle for my mental health.”
Ione says that while connecting with friends of some friends on that trip, she met an immigration lawyer to discuss her options. She also took some acting classes while in her words “snagging a man” who was willing to sponsor me for an O-1 visa, allowing her to live and work as an actor in America.
“According to the US government, the O-1 visa is reserved for individuals who possess abilities in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or someone who has been recognized nationally or internationally in film or television. I read that and thought to myself, ‘that’s me!’”
She says that she then flew home to the U.K. bubbling with optimism because her plan was coming together. She would then spend the next few months gathering the required documentation to submit her visa application to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Six months later, her application was approved, opening the door for her move.
She says that it took a while to get acclimated to her new surroundings and that she missed her friends and family dearly. In 2013, she recalled getting her first break in an acting character role that was originally supposed to be for ten-weeks but lasted three and a half years.
“Suddenly I found myself jet setting all over the world, attending in-person player events and filming The Ingress Report.”
Ione delights in thinking back to that time of achieving something that had never seemed possible in London: living off of her acting. But, she says, as much as she loved the feeling of success and self-sufficiency, deep down inside of her was this desire to be working on something that had greater meaning and purpose. That in her mind involved creating something new rather than waiting to find roles to be cast in.
Depression As The Backdrop For Accelerating Forward
Depression is something Ione says she has experienced on and off throughout my life. In part, this is what led her in 2015 to start a podcast, (eventually The Uplifting Content podcast) creating videos about her journey in working through her challenges. Around that time, she said that her godbrother in New Zealand tagged her in a Facebook post by noted influencer and content creator Prince Ea. As it turned out, Prince Ea was looking for actors in LA to be in his next video, a spoken-word piece about relinquishing the labels we attach to ourselves and each other. She says that her godbrother encouraged her to apply.
“Honestly, I had no idea who this Prince Ea guy was, I remember thinking, Why not? Let’s see what it leads to.”
Ione says she sent a video audition and booked the job:
“It was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. I was blown away by Prince Ea’s brilliance, amazing videos, and powerful messages. He believed in the importance of doing the things you were born to do and sharing your gifts with the world now. That way you could avoid regret later.”
She says that after meeting on set he encouraged her along the way to keep producing video content and the podcast. Then came a major opening that exponentially accelerated her quest forward.
“He shared the video I had made about my experiences with depression with his many followers. And boy did it go viral. Suddenly I was inundated with messages from strangers thanking me for my honesty. On top of that my friends suddenly began confiding about how they had often had similar moments of depression and that I’d given them permission to let down their guard and open up about their feelings.”
Ione continued with this sobering yet uplifting thought:
“There is such shame around depression and mental illness. It shatters my heart whenever I’m reminded of the untold numbers of people who suffer alone when countless others are going through the same thing. The positive feedback I received from my video provided me with the courage to do more. So in March 2016, with Prince Ea’s help, we launched an early version of Uplifting Content called Unified Soul Theory. A year later, it evolved into Uplifting Content, an online community designed to create and share content with the purpose of inspiring people and delivering resources to anyone feeling depressed or low.”
Ione says that in the few years that she’s been curating the Uplifting Content platform, she’s connected with tons of incredible influencers and creative people like Jay Shetty, Goalcast, and Jason Silva. She says she has great pride over having produced over 125 episodes of The Uplifting Content Podcast featuring guests like Gabby Bernstein, Mastin Kipp, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Greg Braden, journalist Johann Hari, former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss, and many other remarkable folks.
In 2017, Ione went on a three-month adventure around South America, soliciting suggestions from her Uplifting Content audience about where she should visit and what activities she should engage in.
Turning The Page On Writing A Book
Ione shared with me how her book came to fore after reaching out to some authors she knew to ask for their recommendations on literary reps. In particular, she talked with Chris Voss who authored a bestselling business book, Never Split the Difference.
“He loved my idea for “Uplifting Stories”, and connected me with his literary agent, whom I was honored and excited to sign with. It took me about a year to develop a book proposal and to get it out there. So imagine my joy in May of 2019 when it was picked up by Tiller Press, a new imprint of Simon & Schuster. It is a perfect fit for Uplifting Stories.”
Ione says her hope is for the book to become an ongoing series.
“Sure, it’s taken a while for this to come to fruition, but the stories I’ll be able to share about the remarkable people I’ve interviewed have been well worth it.”
Asked about what she learned about yourself personally while writing it, Ione had this to offer:
“I learned that writing is hard. It was very difficult for me to sit down and focus on it. It's been one of the biggest challenges of my life. I knew I just had to do it, stop putting it off and get on with it. Because I had so much to share, I really had to get clear and be disciplined with my workload so that I wasn't too overwhelmed and had the space/time to do this.”
Ione states that every person I interviewed for the book is a remarkable human. There are 19 stories in the book, she says, including her own but that she interviewed a total of about 25 people.
“During the process, I got goosebumps because I was so moved and inspired by what people were saying. I know from this experience that the book has the potential to really help people because the messages and lessons are so powerful.”
According to Ione, the book in its essence is a collection of stories with a call to action or exercise after each one. It is broken into 6 chapters with the idea that if someone is going through something in life they’ll be able to read stories from the chapter relevant to what they’re needing help with.
“I wrote it, in part, for my own benefit, because most of my life I’ve dealt with depression. When I was feeling low, I’d seek out inspiring movies, TV shows, and online content, but found that these mediums were surprisingly difficult to find. I also learned some sad and shocking statistics—that nearly 1 in 5 American adults, or 60 million people, suffer from mental health issues. That there are 123 suicides per day in the United States; that’s one every 11 minutes. And that for every successful attempt, there are 25 failed attempts.”
Ione says that these struggles are likely to mount amid the crippling effect of the Coronavirus outbreak throughout the world.
“I’ve developed strategies over the years to cope with depression, and positive narratives are a huge part of that. I couldn’t believe how quickly they improved my mood and emotional well-being. This led me to gather healing messages and share them with the millions of people who needed to hear them.”
Ione is hopeful that “Uplifting Stories” when released will be a book that reminds us all of what is achievable. She concludes:
“I believe you have unlimited potential. You can make great changes in your life, fulfill your dreams, and make a positive impact on the lives of others and on our planet if you so desire. Humanity is at a crossroads, and we need you to keep shining your light and sharing your gifts, not to succumb to despair and fear.”
Ione’s book can be pre-ordered directly from Simon and Schuster.
Also, I encourage you to connect with Ione on your favorite social media channel @ionebutler.
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