Speaker 0 00:00:00 From Romano Leadership, I'm Oscar Romano. This is Learn Reflect Lead Leadership and D E I A development for mission-driven individuals and organizations. This episode is titled our 22 Minutes of Theme on House Centers International. It's time for a special episode, as you can tell by the title. This episode is for you if you're interested in what House Centers International might look like behind the scenes. If you'd like to learn a little bit more about me or if you're interested in what it's like to move to another country. Today we're gonna focus on my experience on House Centers International, well also my then girlfriend and current fiance's experience too, since she was on the episode two. Here's how it all started. You should apply to House Hunters International so they can help you find a place. I love that show, and you two are perfect fit. As soon as Lexi's uncle suggested this, Lexi got on her phone and headed to their website. Within minutes, she submitted our initial email application. All that asked for was a photo of us and a description of the movie we were making. This all took place at a going away party that Lexi's family threw for us before we moved to Madrid for her NBA program. Finding an apartment was the one detail we were, we hadn't quite figured out yet. We were almost there, but not quite there, and we never would've thought about it. House, house center's, international. If her uncle hadn't semi jokingly, brought it up
Speaker 0 00:01:30 And then came the response, babe, we got the email. They want us to send him a video. Let's sit down and do it right now. Lexi was literally jumping for joy. Wait, we really got it. You see, while Lexi was excited, I was a bit nervous about the whole idea. I didn't know what to expect, but a part of me thought it would be cool to be on tv, so I went along with it. Let, let's share more about the interviews though.
Speaker 1 00:02:00 Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:02:00 Where do you to anticipate conflict? Coming up into home search, our interviewers asked us, they really wanted to know everything about us. They explained that the show is more than just touring houses in a foreign country. It's about relationships. We think it's important for you to know that being interviewed doesn't mean you're automatically in. These recordings will be reviewed by team to see if you two are a good fit. Our interviews made sure to reiterate that with us, and I know those words were said, but I don't think Lexi ever heard them. For some reason. She was certain we were assu now about the selection and preparation process. When we got the acceptance email, I was excited, but Lexi was over the moon. I'm pretty sure she was certain this would be a big break and she would become a movie star.
Speaker 0 00:02:52 Lexi and Oscar, it's nice to meet you. I'll be the producer for your show. We have a lot to cover to make sure you're ready. I mean, it was really cool to hear those words from our producer. I mean, we had a producer that's pretty awesome. Our producer regularly met with us via Zoom to make sure we were on track for filming. He drove deeper into our backgrounds, our relationship, and our interests. They wanted to know about anything that could help them select the right homes for us to view. It was really cool to see how intentional they were about everything. They really cared about making a great show for us as much as for themselves. Make sure you are wearing solid and bright color tops with no logos. Anything with small patterns doesn't look good on tv. You know, we, we got that in the message from the production team, and I never realized how many of my tops were in solid, bright or logo list until we had to pick our wardrobes for filming.
Speaker 0 00:03:46 We weren't as camera ready as we thought. Our experience filming was unique to say the least. I don't like this feeling. What is it? My stomach feels weird. I remember Lexi asking anxiously as we waited in between shooting scenes. I think you're nervous. I told her, which is odd because you're never nervous. It turns out that I had a lot more fun in front of the camera than Lexi did. Neither one of us expected that since usually the theatrical one. However, I always did feel like a performer when I was in front of the classroom as a teacher or leading an assembly as a principal, and I think it paid off this time. Remember to meet us at the address in the email. Tomorrow at 8:00 AM We won't be done until late in the afternoon, so bring everything you'll need. Our director told us on a call, man, that experience was crazy.
Speaker 0 00:04:39 Our days were a lot longer than we thought. I never realized how much work went into creating a 22 minute segment, just 22 minutes for House Centers International. They shot four days worth of footage just to create one episode. The film crew did their best to make sure they took quality shots from every angle. We want this show to be something you're proud of. We do this all the time, but it's your only show. We're going to do our part to make sure you look at our director shared with us. Since we were new to Madrid, they helped us feel at home. They gave us great recommendations on what to do, where to eat, and what to see, and you know what? They were right about the relationships. What was it like being a principal? One of the crew members asked me, oh, I loved it.
Speaker 0 00:05:21 It's like, wait, how did you know I was a principal? I asked them and then it hit me. It hit me right after I asked them that question. They watched all the interviews. It turns out that certain members of the crew spent as much time as possible reviewing all the information we gave them. They knew everything about us even before we met them. During our downtime, Lexi and I got to know the crew. They were awesome people with incredible stories. By the end of our time together, I felt a little sad. We had built these amazing relationships and then it was over. Our producer was right. The show really is about relationships, both on and off the screen. I hope you enjoyed this special episode about my time on House Centers International. Now, let me ask you, are you interested in making a move overseas? What's holding you back? If you wanna talk about it with me, please just shoot me an email, you know, add a comment, let me know. Thanks.
Speaker 2 00:06:22 That's it for this episode of Learn, reflect Lead. Thank you for watching on YouTube or listening via podcast. If you're interested in more, you can find
[email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn Ever, mono Leadership. If you like this episode,
Speaker 0 00:06:39 Please
Speaker 2 00:06:40 Share it with your friends. Subscribe and leave a review. I'm Oscar Romano. Until next night.
