Meet David LaDuca: Content Creator & Principal, David LaDuca Creative Services

David LaDuca Creative Services always looks at the quickly evolving social landscape in an effort to provide value and enrichment. Due to the recent Covid 19 pandemic, we are all experiencing a sense of isolation to varying degrees for employees, families, and especially to our senior population. Business “zoom calls” are now a regular feature of office interaction. Families “get together” for the holidays in virtual settings. And senior communities are no longer able to gather in community and take in live entertainment.This new paradigm has caused many of us to re-evaluate how we do what we do, acquire new skill sets and find new pathways for connection. So, I am creating more online content rather than live event production. And my executive coaching has gone from stage to computer screen, to what has evolved as ‘virtual coaching.’ It boils down to asking myself the big question: how can add value, and find joy doing it?

I’ve been a performing artist for most of my life. I was a musical theatre performer when I first started out. After two years performing in Sun City, South Africa’s version of Las Vegas, I moved to New York to do Broadway and the like. After a while, I decided I would like to try my hand at film and television work, which at that time wasn’t an easy transition from the stage as it is today. In fact, my agent at the time told me I would need to go away and build a new resume with some film credits, and then I could come back as a film actor. So that’s what I did. I started out getting smaller roles, but soon I was lucky enough to do starring roles in a few movies and commercials. I even appeared regularly on a tween sitcom for a couple seasons. But then I felt that need to switch gears again. As I have gotten older, I feel more driven to the work that will give me the most joy. I had a desire to sing more. So to that end, I am now performing concerts featuring music from The Great American Songbook. One of my pet projects is to perform in senior communities. It is so rewarding to see the smiles on their faces, knowing that a song I am singing might have been their favorite song when they were younger. It makes me wonder if years from now, will seniors will be requesting hip hop? I now work as a creative director, writing, directing, and creating video content. There are a few reasons I wear so many hats. First of all, I enjoy doing all of these things, but not all the time. I like the challenge of switching it up. Second, and more practically, it is a difficult thing to have steady work in just one aspect of the creative industry. Most actors have a day job like waiting tables or the like. I have worked hard to make sure my day job still falls within the parameters of the creative field. The truth is, I am a restless soul. And I don’t sit still well. I’ve learned important lessons and have gotten great advice along the way from some very wise people. The fear of being approved of can be debilitating. So I remind myself not to worry how good my work is. Rather, I simply trust that if I bring my whole self to whatever I’m doing, it will be coming from a place of my own personal truth. As it has been said, ‘to thine own self be true.’