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The Microsoft Lounge In Venice Hosts The Formula

Michelle Tak |
May 1, 2015 | 12:52 a.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

"Jane The Virgin" star Justin Baldoni spoke at The Formula (Michelle Tak/Neon Tommy).
"Jane The Virgin" star Justin Baldoni spoke at The Formula (Michelle Tak/Neon Tommy).

The Microsoft Lounge, situated at the end of Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice, CA, opened their space on Wednesday, Apr. 29, to a cohort of motivated guests for The Formula, an event dedicated to providing talks of inspiration, motivation and success.

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The CEO and co-founder of WeLink Nathan Chandra created The Formula, treating guests—friends of the entrepreneurto the debut event with an enlightening evening filled with thoughtful talk.

Chandra and "Jane the Virgin" star Justin Baldoni, the special guest interviewee for the evening, talked how to combine work life and personal life together and to treat work as a service at The Formula's inaugural event Wednesday night. The event boasted performances by Cameroon-born musician Andy Allo, spoken word artist Sean Hill, dancer and choreographer Natasha Hugger along with DJ Samsonite, who selected the music for the evening.

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Stars such as Ethan Peck, Charles Michael David and others were among the night's attendees.

But before guests were treated to the special talk and performances, they enjoyed a time of mixing and mingling and getting comfortable within the lounge's intimate walls that sparked conversations between attendees. Microsoft products were also available for them to use such as the company's Windows phones and laptops.

Sean Hill performs a spoken word at The Formula at the Microsoft Lounge in Venice, CA. (Michelle Tak/Neon Tommy).
Sean Hill performs a spoken word at The Formula at the Microsoft Lounge in Venice, CA. (Michelle Tak/Neon Tommy).

Guests were welcomed to write questions that they had for Baldoni on a giant Windows touchscreen using the Fresh Paint app, providing the ultimate Windows experience for all of the night's guests.

The first act of the night was spoken word artist Sean Hill, who delivered a thought-provoking performance with his poem "Only Human."

"It seems like being human is the best thing we could ever say we are," said Hill.

The title verse was repeated throughout the entire act as listeners were silent—enwrapped within the poet's charged words and eloquently crafted language.

Baldoni and Chandra took the stage after Hill's performance, leading in to the night's anticipated interview.

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First topic of the night: having a work life balance.

Baldoni revealed he doesn't try to balance his work and personal lives, but rather, he takes an approach to allow his personal life and work life to "bleed" in to one another. And one way the actor does so by allowing wife Emily Foxler, who is currently pregnant with the couple's first child, be a part of his two worlds.

"There's no way I can have a healthy and constructive marriage with my current schedule," he said. "In order to have a functional marriage, I ask her to be a part of everything."

The actor, who plays the role of Rafael Solano in CW's "Jane the Virgin," revealed the show takes up twelve to fourteen hours out of his day, which doesn't include the number of hours the young CEO dedicates to his media company Wayfarer Entertainment and his various other responsibilities.

That's why he tries to find a "holistic balance of love, life and work" by blending his different circles of friends together.

"So, my guys at the company are also friends, so it's like: 'Oh, I get to see friends,'" said Baldoni.

Andy Allo performing at the Microsoft Lounge (Michelle Tak/Neon Tommy).
Andy Allo performing at the Microsoft Lounge (Michelle Tak/Neon Tommy).

The talk then transitioned over to Baldoni's media company Wayfarer Entertainment, explaining how he's able to live out the idea of how "work can be our service" through the enterprise.

"I get a chance to be different. I get to talk about the things I care about. I get a chance to use analogies like explaining and showing people what's wrong," said Baldoni.

Although the actor has found great success in both his acting career with "Jane the Virgin," and personal life as a soon-to-be father, Baldoni ended his interview telling the audience about his fears of failure and success.

"My biggest fear is not having the inspiration or that gift from God come because of my attachment to success and to this world," the actor humbly admitted.

The event continued with a poetic dance performance by Hugger, as she lyrically danced in front of guests, until singer-songwriter Andy Allo took the stage performing two songs, one being her 2012 hit People Pleaser.

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And with that, The Formula came to a close. 

So, what is the formula?

"In essence, it's the process that each one of us go through to accomplish the dream, to accomplish the goal," said Chandra. "And what we're doing in this space is focusing on people who are accomplishing all those things, while having a positive impact on the world."

Reach Staff Reporter Michelle Tak here. Follow her on Twitter here.



 

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