Acting Business Boot Camp
In this episode, I dive deep into one of the most important and misunderstood parts of an actor's journey: confidence. Without confidence, you're benched. Without humility, you're a liability. Confidence is essential in the entertainment industry, but it has to be real—not performative, not overblown, and definitely not hubris. I break down how to build real, grounded confidence that will keep you moving forward in your voiceover or acting career, using neuroscience-backed tools and personal experience from over two decades in the industry. Key Topics Covered: Why confidence is essential,...
info_outlineActing Business Boot Camp
Today I want to talk about something that comes up in almost every coaching session I have with actors. Fear. Not just nerves before a big audition. Not just that pit in your stomach when you hit “submit” on a self-tape. I mean the kind of fear that quietly shapes your entire career. The fear that keeps you playing small, second-guessing yourself, or holding back in moments when you need to be bold. The fear that convinces you maybe this dream isn’t really for you. If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “What if I’m not good enough?” or “What if I can’t handle...
info_outlineActing Business Boot Camp
Episode Summary: In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on something I think we all struggle with at some point—especially if you’re a voice actor, on-camera actor, or creative trying to “make it”: shiny object syndrome. You know the feeling. You see someone post about a fancy new mic, a game-changing workshop, a big booking, and suddenly you're wondering… should I be doing that too? I’ve been there. I’ve spent the money. I’ve chased the dopamine hits. And I want to talk honestly about how jealousy, comparison, and impulse spending can quietly erode your confidence,...
info_outlineActing Business Boot Camp
How to Land Acting Work in Smaller Markets (And Why It’s More Accessible Than You Might Think) Have you ever thought that real acting work is only found in big cities? Like you have to be in New York or LA to make it? I used to think that too. But my conversation with actor Aaron Marcus on the Acting Business Boot Camp podcast really shifted that perspective. About Aaron Marcus Aaron Marcus has been a full-time actor for over 40 years, with nearly 1,300 bookings across film, TV, commercials, and more. You might have seen his scene with Tom Hanks in the film A Man Called Otto. Aaron...
info_outlineActing Business Boot Camp
It’s Mandy Fisher here, your Voiceover actor and creative coach. Today I want to dive into something that’s been on my mind a lot: how the neuroscience of decision-making can help us as actors and creative professionals. Because we’re not just making choices in auditions or on stage. We’re making decisions every single day that shape our careers, relationships, and—let’s be real—our self-worth. How the Brain Guides Our Creative Decisions Let’s talk brain science for a sec. The prefrontal cortex? It’s the part of the brain handling complex thoughts and decisions, like our...
info_outlineActing Business Boot Camp
When we talk about acting tools, we usually mention headshots, reels, technique, or coaching. But punctuation? Not so much. And yet, punctuation—something you probably haven’t questioned since middle school—might be interfering with your most natural, honest performances. The Problem Most Actors Don’t Know They Have You get a script. Maybe it’s commercial copy, maybe it’s a scene. And without realizing it, your brain starts obeying the punctuation. Comma. Small pause. Period. Full stop, drop your pitch. Exclamation mark. Boost the energy, punch the line. Your body responds to those...
info_outlineActing Business Boot Camp
Feeling behind in your acting or voiceover career? You’re not alone. But you might be burning through your creative energy in the wrong ways. In this blog, we’ll unpack something that rarely gets talked about in the entertainment industry: desperate energy. What it looks like, how it sneaks into your process, and why it might be the real reason you feel stuck. What Is Desperate Energy? Desperate energy is that anxious, frantic feeling that shows up when you think you're falling behind. It's applying to projects far below your rate just to stay busy ...
info_outlineActing Business Boot Camp
Episode Summary: Feeling stuck? You are so not alone. In this episode, I’m diving into one of the biggest roadblocks I see actors (and creatives of all kinds) face: procrastination. I’m breaking down my signature framework—the **3 P's: Perfectionism, Procrastination, and Paralysis—**and showing you how procrastination is often just fear wearing a clever disguise. I’ll help you reframe your stuck-ness, understand what’s really going on underneath the delay, and—most importantly—take messy, imperfect, courageous action. And yes, I’m also sharing how the energy behind...
info_outlineActing Business Boot Camp
Welcome back to the Acting Business Boot Camp podcast! 🎙️ I'm Peter Pamela Rose — casting director and certified life and career coach for actors. My mission? To help you break down the business of acting into clear, actionable steps that move your career forward. In today’s episode, I dive into a powerful concept from Energy Leadership by Bruce D. Schneider — the idea that we are constantly choosing between two mindsets: the dream and the nightmare. 💭 Are you focused on the dream of your acting career? Or are you unconsciously living in the...
info_outlineActing Business Boot Camp
Episode Summary: In today’s solo episode, Mandy Fisher gets real and raw about something that far too many actors and creatives are experiencing but not talking about enough: burnout. This isn’t your typical “self-care” pep talk. This is a grounded, honest conversation about the soul-deep exhaustion that can hit even the most passionate, high-achieving creatives. Mandy shares her personal experience with burnout — how it feels, why it happens, and what it actually means — and offers a compassionate, human-first way to start recovering. You’ll learn: Why burnout isn’t a...
info_outlineAn actor shared that they had turned down an opportunity because, ultimately, they felt that they didn't deserve it.
And, I think that is an incredibly painful place, especially when she realized afterward what had been done and why they had done it.
It brings up the question, how many times have I turned something down or walked away from a potential opportunity because I felt I didn't deserve it?
And that programming that we have in our, as I put it, motherboard, in our belief system is so deep within us because that is what we operate out of.
And yet, what I am trying to do in these weekly classes is to make you more conscious.
And what do I mean by more conscious?
What I mean is when you are conscious, you are operating out of what the Universe sees you as, who you truly are, as opposed to who you think you are or how you were taught to be.
So there's who you really are, how the Universe sees you in all of your glory, in all of your greatness, in all of your incredible wisdom, and then there's who you think you are, or how you were taught to behave or to act or to think. And most of the time, that is two very different things.
It's really about success and deserving success.
You deserve success.
And a wonderful affirmation that she talks about is every experience is a success.
Now, why is every experience a success? Because I learn something for it. I either gain something in terms of a win, or if I don't is an experience for me to learn.
"What does failure mean anyway?
Does it mean that something did not turn out the way you wanted it to or the way you were hoping? The law of experience is always perfect. We out-picture our inner thoughts and beliefs Perfectly. You must have left us out a step or had an inner belief that told you that you did not deserve or you felt unworthy."
What are you out-picturing, out-feeling, out-believing?
Are you thinking positively and with the Universe's thoughts behind you and the Universe's strengths and Truths with a capital T behind you, or are you operating out of "the motherboard" because somebody told you only deserved "X" amount of success?
Or you told yourself that because you are (fill in the blank), you only deserve Y.
Your beliefs can be changed from someone who feels they don't deserve to someone who very much knows it is their right to.
She says, "It is the same when I work with my computer..."
If there is a mistake, it is always me, which I find very frustrating. It means that something has not been done to comply with the laws of the computer. And what it ultimately means is that there is something for me to learn.
If you think of the Universe that same way, that is really powerful.
Because there are laws of the Universe.
My job is to get myself in line with them, but I can always ask for help in doing that.
I can invite the Universe into making this podcast, guiding me to think more positively, guiding me to get on my own side so that I feel I am deserving of that success.
And it takes attempts at this.
I never did this perfectly.
I have been doing this work for 28 years. And guess what? I've never done it perfectly, but I've always aimed in that direction.
When a plane is on autopilot, It's only on course 10 percent of the time. The 90 percent it's trying to find its course.
In my learning to be deserving of success, I've probably only been on course about 10 percent of the time, but ultimately, I have headed to a much more happy and successful life.
Thomas Jefferson said, "The only time we ever really fail is our last attempt at trying."
And the old saying that Louise Hay talks about here is, "If at first you don't succeed, try again."
And it's true. It doesn't mean to beat yourself up and try this old same way again.
It means to recognize your error and try another way until you learn to coordinate with the Universe.
Adjust yourself to the station of the Universe if you think of a radio dial. Tune myself in to the station of deserving as opposed to the beating up of not.
Which, again, is how I may have been programmed in my past.
Louise Hay says, "I think it is our natural birthright to go from success to success all our life. If we are not doing that, either we are not in tune with our innate capabilities,
because I so strongly believe. That we are smarter and more capable and greater and wiser than we think we are. That was today's lesson in the weekly coaching group.
And if we don't believe that is true for us, We're not going to even recognize our little successes along the way, which is so important.
I think another thing that I keep talking about in my weekly coaching group is this idea of being your own best friend, of having your own back.
And that's when good stuff happens, and also when not-so-great stuff happens, but having your own back in all areas throughout the day.
When we set standards that are much too high for where we are in this moment, standards we cannot possibly achieve right now, then we're going to always fail.
But I'm a big one about teaching people how to baby step. Because with each little success, we get something that we cannot buy, and that is self-esteem, and that is confidence.
Self-esteem and confidence are magnetic. They are magnetic. People are drawn to them.
When a little child is learning to walk or talk, we encourage and praise them for every little improvement they make. Why are we not doing that with our life today?
And the child will beam, and they will eagerly try to do better. Is this the way you encourage yourself when you are learning something new, or are you beating yourself up?
Are you working for yourself instead of against yourself in your quest for success?
In your quest for knowing that you deserve all the good and the abundance the Universe has to offer you.
Or do you make it harder to learn by telling yourself you're a failure, or you're stupid, or you're not good enough in some way?
And I love this because Louise Hay goes on to talk about actors and actresses.
"Many actors and actresses feel they must be performance perfect when they arrive at the first rehearsal. I remind them that the purpose of rehearsal is to learn. Rehearsal is a period of time to make mistakes, to try new ways, and to learn.
Only by practicing over and over do we learn the new and make it a natural part of us."
When you watch an accomplished professional in any field, you are looking at innumerable hours of practice.
And it's the same thing if you hear truth in my podcast. If stuff is resonating, understand I have spent countless hours, decades, almost three decades of my life devoted to practicing this, to practicing opening myself up to Consciousness.
The Consciousness that I am a part of the Universe and it is a part of me. I deserve all the good and the abundance the Universe has to offer me. I am deserving of success.
If you say that out loud if you write that down, see what other things follow up.
It's taken me a long time to say I deserve success.
And the answer that comes right after it is yes because it used to be, "No, you don't. Are you kidding me? You're such a loser."
That is the kind of stuff that used to come up. Everything that I coach in the weekly coaching group and in these podcasts, everything that I coach, I have guinea pigged on myself.
And I share it truly because if I can help you, if I can share with you one moment less of the agony that actress I spoke about at the beginning of this podcast felt when she realized she turned down something because she felt she didn't deserve it.
But you know what? She learned something from it.
She learned that she actually does.
So that when that next opportunity comes up, she'll say, "Yes, of course, I'd love to."
This is why we refuse to try things that are new.
Because, on some level, they scare us.
I encourage you to try new ways of thinking and new ways of acting that are in line with that belief that you deserve success.
Affirmations to think of are, "divine intelligence gives me all the ideas that I need."
"Everything I touch is a success."
There is enough success to go around for everyone. It's not that if Jane gets success, I won't. It's not that if Bob gets success, I won't. There is enough success out there for all of us.
You deserve success.
"I am a magnet for success."
"Golden opportunities are everywhere for me."