“The Hustle Is the Prestige” — Andrew Robert Colom on Art, Anger, and the Business of Truth

The CHOW Interview: In an unflinching, personal conversation, the writer-filmmaker-entrepreneur shares how legacy, loss, and rebellion shape his mission for justice and storytelling.

In my most honest, most real CHOW interview to date, I talk to Andrew Robert Colom. He’s so raw and sincere, he rubs some the wrong way. But isn’t that the sign of an artist finding the way?

Andrew is a multi-faceted, multi-talented, multi-disciplinary... well, he is a multi-multi writer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. Raised in Columbus, MS, the child of a civil rights lawyer and a judge, Andrew spent his spare time in his early years shooting films on the family Panasonic camera, he dreamt of one day becoming a businessman and a filmmaker: understanding the importance of continuing in his parents and grandparents’ footsteps and forging his own community’s voice.

A writer by training, and one of the first students from his public high school to ever attend an Ivy League university, Andrew graduated from Columbia University in 2005 with a degree in English Literature. Through reading works by James Baldwin and W.E.B. Du Bois, he gained insight into the generational impact of words, which crystallized his dedication to writing and storytelling.

After years living in New York City, thriving in and around the nation’s most prestigious, elite institutions, Andrew returned to his home state of Mississippi in 2009, taking his first, concrete steps towards fulfilling his promises to himself years before. There, he ran a syndication company for Black films and built out his first real estate company, going from a portfolio of five single-family homes to over 200 homes and apartment units.

Andrew continues to work as an entrepreneur and artist. For the last ten years, he has lived in Detroit and founded a real estate company that continues the battle for racial equality in home ownership. He also directs short films and writes on Substack.

[VW] Andrew, this is one of my longest introductions for the CHOW, but I found your background so fascinating, I couldn’t find anywhere to cut. Thank you for joining me.

[AC] Thanks for having me and giving me a chance to shine a light on my work as a fiction writer and artist.

[VW] I am intrigued by the two halves of one brain. On the one hand, you have such a savvy business mind. Conversely, you are expressing yourself through your words and your films. Do you find it hard to separate? Or do they flow into each other?

[AC] I’m just a hustler, honestly. A lot of these book nerds and literary gatekeepers don’t understand that in America, if it don’t make money, it ain’t real. A lot of them are learning, though, with the way the current administration is scalping that free money they been living off for too long. So yeah, I work. I make money. I hustle to create opportunities for myself and others. I am not lazy and entitled like a lot of these fake prestige writers who need 7 hours to write 50 words. I live in the real world, and I take real risks.

I have had real losses. A lot of these prestige writers and editors, cause a lot of these prestige editors are just failed writers who decided to become gatekeepers, don’t know the real world. Also, there is nothing worse than a gatekeeper. I tell you, the experience is most certainly worse, but as far as the badge on my coat, I would rather be a homeless person than a gatekeeper. So yeah, both flow together, hustle. Work. Do the hard part. Fix what really needs fixing. I don’t need to gravitate towards comfort and prestige cause I was born with it. Not money, either, but history, making a sustainable difference while connecting to the broader historical currents that matter in your time. I had to learn to internalize this truth. The way I live my life, the way my ancestors been living their life, that is the real prestige. That’s why I hustle harder than anyone else in the game to spread what God gave me. That’s how I see it.

[VW] And your “mission” for racial equality permeates both sides. You have tremendous clarity on your “Why.” Has that always been there, cultivated by your parents?

[AC] My why has sustained me through so much, because despite the way a lot of coastal elite act, Black Americans, Black citizens of this great country, have always supported me and wanted me to win. They have challenged me, though. And yes, that is my parents, and my grandparents, who are very accomplished and service-oriented people, but I must say it was also my neighborhood. I grew up on just the right side of the railroad tracks (literally), and I really saw both worlds, and I can say, despite being tough on me, holding me to hard standards, my neighborhood prepared me for the world and what people are like. A lot of these prestige writers and editors don’t understand those values and those codes. They are very southern and very focused on honor and they get a lot of things wrong, but there are things they get right over the north, who pretend dignity is for all, but actually hate themselves and act to spread that self-hate. Leaving Dignity for no one.

[VW] For me, the “Why” is everything. It keeps me focused. It drives me when I’ve had a hard day at the regular job. It keeps the discipline in check and keeps me away from “the shiny things.” How do you maintain that clarity when you’ve got so many things going on simultaneously?

[AC] I have a lot of anger. I spend a lot of time trying to channel that anger into productive outcomes versus destructive outcomes. I feel very angry right now answering these questions. I just had an editor gaslight me for months with gross incompetence and insult me with ritualistic BDSM absurdity. What I mean is this person googled me, had all these assumptions made about me, clearly was haunted by my story, but pretended to engage in good faith when their later actions proved otherwise. I can handle rejection. The story was rejected 77 times, but sorry editor, I submitted my story for it to be considered for publishing, not to play some bizarre BDSM game with you, where you get me to submit to talking to you on the phone, just so you can humiliate me more, that’s not right.

[VW] Your essays on Substack are raw and vulnerable. And your films have the same vibe. You go for it. You seem ready to leap, even if you don’t know there is a rope ready to grab onto. Is that true? Where does it come from?

[AC] I play for eternity. I live in my truth. I accept the outcome. But yeah, I go hard in the paint. You know, it’s what I said earlier. I was prestige before I was even born. I have that heroic, changed America through sacrifice and strategy and loyalty, blood in me. A lot of people want to know about themselves what I already know about myself, and I didn’t need anyone to tell me. I just know I am going to win. It’s like that in business for me, too. I know I am going to win. I work the hardest, I am the most innovative, and I am the most strategic and determined. And I am unafraid to live in that truth. I don’t know where that comes from. It’s bizarre. It’s like no matter what happens to me, I know it works out for me in the end. I know I have a destiny and that destiny can’t be changed by haters, gatekeepers, or mediocre editors who networked their way to a little bit of power and enjoy hurting others with it because someone hurt them. Real R. Kelly shit.

[VW] I met you as I was invited to participate in your flash fiction battle that you hold on Substack. Two writers get the same prompt decided in real time by other writers. Then, we write for two hours and return, and others pick the story they liked most. It was great fun. How did you come up with the concept?

[AC] Haters. Getting rejected from these mediocre dying gatekeepers. I just wanted to build something to show them how real writers interact with the written word. We write it, not talk about writing it, not talk about our writer’s block, not stand in front of some lame gate we inherited from someone else, we write. Any of the magazines that have ever rejected me, nobody on their staff wanna see me in 3 hours on the clock. Cause a lot of them are worse than AI. That’s what the substack community gotta realize, the gatekeepers is worse than AI. AI kinda honest. It’s less bullshit than these gatekeepers. So yeah, Flash-style was an anti-gatekeeper move, and I must say a little about my wider concept of Post Social Media Fiction; it fits into the iSpeed race thing. Streamers racing each other in the streets. The lack of that type of energy has hurt fiction, and the big writers know that. George knows. Saunders knows. He knows I am right. He just is not ready to take that leap. Which shows that unlike these streamers, for him it’s not about testing his skills, it’s about keeping his ego safe. These social media influences got way more courage than a lot of artists. They actually settle shit. They talk shit and they call each other out, and then it’s resolved, and it is what it is after that. But a lot of these writers could never. They too pampered. They too coddled. They need some gatekeeper to stand in front of them and protect them from barbarians like me.

[VW] I also like that there is a little smack-talking leading up to the battle while waiting for the public’s decisions. What has been your reaction to this format?

[AC] I love it. I wish people talked more smack, but writers are so sensitive, it’s hard. Also, a lot of writers love losing in the dark. That’s part of how the editors get them. They actually believe the bullshit and they deal with the pain in the dark, and never admit to themselves that the industry is gaslighting them, abusing them; that they have a BDSM relationship with the publishing industry. These are even successful writers, too. The industry isn’t working for anyone. The people inside it, just haven’t realized how they are getting screwed yet, or they haven’t admitted it to themselves because they are too busy trying to hustle money out of some poor writer for a map to a gate that’s gonna stay locked anyway.

[VW] What do you like about Substack as a platform and a tool for writers and creatives?

[AC] I’m trying to figure out what I think about Substack. I just know that the relationship between the established writers and the ones working the grind on Substack needs to become more dynamic. For now, the established writers—many of color and women—get to hide behind the gate that old white men built for other old white men and pretend like that represents change or revolution. When many of them shamelessly hustle the worst type of capitalism, false dreams. Well, it’s actually ideal. You can make money forever, and you don’t have to provide any value. But some of us fell in love with writing and reading fiction because of its intellectual, emotional, and spiritual healing power. Not because we wanted to be in a small club. For some of these gatekeepers, literature is only about keeping people out, keeping them down, feeling good by putting someone else down. They hate when people succeed. They hate ambition. Hate themselves. They just hate, hate, hate. Safely behind their gate.

[VW] I don’t know how you find the time, but I know you’re working on a novel. Tell us a bit about it, and how do you plan on releasing it to the world?

[AC] I gave my entire life to the game. I am going to be the first of my kind to win it.

[VW] How is writing long-form fiction compared to filmmaking or building a real estate empire? Similarities?

[AC] Filmmaking is collaborative so it’s about the best team. Real estate is about money, so it actually follows logic. Writing is a desert with no water filled with a lot of people standing behind dried up wells with tall gates.

[VW] I am excited to hear more from you. Thanks for joining today.

Side of Mustard

Oh Canada!

As I shared last week, I made my first international trip to our neighbors to the North, visiting Victoria, British Columbia. I am enamored.

This may be a “Hot Take,” and apologies to the people of the Aloha State, but for my money, I think I’d take a week in Victoria in the summer over a week in Hawaii.

WHAT??!!!!

I know, I’m shocked to say it too. And I love Hawaii. I’ve been to all the main islands: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii. I love the tropical weather, the people, and the Aloha Spirit.

But…

Victoria is a great place to relax, and it’s an affordable destination. We stayed in a lovely VRBO in Oak Bay, twenty minutes away from downtown. We watched the ocean and read, and passed along the lazy days. The neighborhood grocery, pubs, and other shops were close by.

Downtown Victoria seems to be taken out of Europe (or what I suspect from watching movies and TV) and plopped down on the Pacific Coast. Between the Parliament building, the Empress Hotel, and a downtown area lined with pubs, shops, and more, including a water taxi to take us to other places, we made the most of our time. Walking through Beacon Hill Park, I felt transported back to the Victorian era with its endless gardens, fountains, and trees. I half expected a lady with a parasol to walk by us.

Only 20 miles away is Butchart Gardens, with enough flowers to pollinate the entire world, and another 20 miles in the opposite direction, we completed our adventure on a long zipline through the forest. Yes, the beach and forest are that close.

The one thing I wish Victoria weren’t? A cruise ship port. There was a vibe with a port of call that I wished wasn’t there. Nevertheless, we returned to our patio and watched the ocean in solitude.

John Adams Rewatch

In honor American Independence Day, for the next eight weeks, I’m rewatching the 2008 HBO Miniseries on our second President John Adams, and his rise from humble Boston lawyer to a signee of the Declaration of Independence, to an envoy to Europe to gain French support, to the war years, the Vice Presidency, and the growing pains of a new nation.

This is a poignant time to rewatch this eight-part miniseries. As we grapple with the meaning of tyranny, freedom, and liberty, and the differences between rhetoric and integrity in modern America, we see the struggle of a new nation finding its way forward.

Episode 4: Reunion (1781-1789)

The war is over, and John Adams (Paul Giamatti) can get back home to America and see his beloved Abigail (Laura Linney) and their kids, right?

Not yet. First, Adams goes back to France, where Abigail meets him. Their reunion accentuates their love and honesty for each other. At one point, Adams reveals he never wrote home because he couldn’t share his failures. She replies, “Do you think I would love you any less?”

With the war over, Adams is then asked to be America’s first ambassador to England. Awkward. The scene between Adams and King George III (Tom Hollander) is delightful in both sides’ situational awareness, with Adams and the King forging a new diplomatic relationship between the former foes.

Finally, Adams is done with Europe and comes back to Boston to a triumphant return. However, he finds the children he left more than 10 years ago are now full-grown. John Quincy (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who we now know from The Bear and the new Fantastic Four) is the dutiful son and breaks off a relationship at his father’s request. Charles has become a precocious revolutionary bro, while young Abigail has the eye for Adams’ personal secretary (Andrew Scott).

By the end of the episode, Adams is convinced to run for President, loses to George Washington, but understands the moment as he watches the first president be sworn into office.

I’m interested in the next episode, which will show the trials and tribulations of Washington’s administration. And after seeing the musical Hamilton, I can’t wait to see the same drama play out in this miniseries.

If you’re tasting the Salted Wetzel for the first time…

Welcome! My name is Vince Wetzel. I’m the author of two novels and write this weekly Substack, which includes fiction, fridge philosophies, interviews with other authors, and more. Enjoy, and be sure to subscribe to stay up to date.

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Thank you for being part of this journey—now let’s lose ourselves in the story once again.