Episode 312: The Hazard of Making Excuses
Acting Business Boot Camp
Today I'm going to talk to you about the hazard of making excuses as an actor. And I'm going to start with perhaps something that if you were like me, or you are like how I used to be the idea of it's only me. So it's only me and therefore it doesn't count or, I'm tough, I can handle it. One of the things that making excuses as an actor does is it stalls personal growth. And anything that would affect me in a negative way, I used to be like, “Hey, I'm young. I can take it. Hey, no worries. I can overcome it.” Until I couldn't. And so the first thing I'm going...
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Episode 311: Interview with Tim Phillips
Acting Business Boot Camp
About Tim: With more than 60,000 coaching sessions and 40+ years in the business, audition coach and premiere acting teacher Tim Phillips knows what works. was written after 30 years of teaching and designed as a practical manual for the working actor. What Phillips is after are moment-by-moment, clear, specific, human truths that make you unavoidable on stage and screen, from character. Tim Phillips ignited the careers of Emmy award-winning Richard Schiff, Golden Globe nominee Wendy Malick, Nancy Travis, the excellent Robert Wisdom, James DuMont, Bruce...
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Episode 310: Unsupportive Family & Friends
Acting Business Boot Camp
Today I'm going to talk about what I find a sad subject, and it is about unsupportive friends and unsupportive family members. And I'm gonna give you a few points and things to think about. So that you can have the support, at least from me, and I'll talk about getting more support in a moment, that helps you when you're dealing with this. Now, the first thing, and I know because, man, I hated this word when I first learned it, was boundaries. Learning to set boundaries, clearly communicate your goals and values to others, and establish boundaries when necessary. This helps you to...
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Episode 309: Interview with Risa Bramon Garcia
Acting Business Boot Camp
About Risa: For the past 4 decades Risa has worked consistently as a director, producer, casting director, writer, and teacher, and is a founder of The BGB Studio, a training space and artistic home for actors. She’s had the great fortune to have collaborated with some of the most talented, passionate, and groundbreaking artists in the world. She’s continued to move successfully from one arena to another – from theatre to film to television and back. With two feature films in her directorial body of work – the cult classic, 200 CIGARETTES, and more recently, THE CON ARTIST, made in...
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Episode 308: Don't Quit 5 Minutes Before the Miracle
Acting Business Boot Camp
A subject that has come up with private clients of mine and in my weekly group class has been the subject of discussion of quitting. And the phrase that I have been coaching on, is don't quit five minutes before the miracle. Don't quit five minutes before the miracle. And I get it. Especially for those of us in the U. S. who have been struggling with the industry this year. Let's just be blunt. It's a bitch, okay? It's just been awful. I have a friend of mine who's a producer and he says the word he keeps using is brutal. It's been a brutal year. But here's the thing. We're...
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Episode 307: Making a Pivot In Your Acting Career
Acting Business Boot Camp
So today's podcast is going to be about making a pivot in your acting career. The first thing you want to do when you are making a pivot is you want to clarify your new career goal. I understand that the goal may be to be a working actor, but what exactly does that mean to you? And when you've made a goal, asking yourself that follow up question, that empowering question, what does that mean to you? What does that look like? How will it feel when you achieve it? You want to take time to identify exactly where you want to pivot, and I think those questions can really, truly...
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Episode 306: Reframing Disappointment as an Actor
Acting Business Boot Camp
Today I'm going to talk about reframing disappointment. One of my favorite quotes. It's from Dr. Wayne Dyer, he says “Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.” And in reframing disappointment, we need to look at it in a different way. So I'm going to give you a few tips. I'm going to give you some Action steps to do when you face disappointment and hopefully that will help you to move through it because again, another one of my favorite quotes, again, a top five is Robert Frost, which is the “best way out is always through.” So this...
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Episode 305: Quantum Manifestation with Jocelyn Sandstrom
Acting Business Boot Camp
Today I am talking with Jocelyn Sandstrom about quantum manifestation. About Jocelyn: Growing up in Hawaii, Jocelyn has lived and worked in 12 different countries. This experience has allowed her to realize that even though we may speak different languages or have different traditions, at our core, we are all the same. She has used this knowledge to help and support clients around the world in creating next-level success not just in their careers but in their personal lives as well. Since 2010, she has been providing Quantum Energy Sessions and teaching Neuro-Linguistic...
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Episode 304: Nepotism & Keeping The Focus on Yourself
Acting Business Boot Camp
Okay, so today's podcast is motivated by someone writing to me, wanting to me to talk a little bit about nepo babies, nepotism. Of course, I'm going to say that nepotism and keeping the focus on yourself is the key. The focus because there's nothing you can do about somebody else is, birthrights or relatives, but you can do something about keeping the focus on yourself because that is your birthright. So my wonderful listener gave me this topic and she asked what my take on nepo babies and their advantages and disadvantages are in booking roles or projects. Again, what I...
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Episode 303: Staying Tenacious as an Actor
Acting Business Boot Camp
Okay, so let's talk about being tenacious. The number one thing about being tenacious is actually embracing it. And I talk about this in terms of my own experience, which is that my biggest mistakes have been my best teachers. My biggest mistakes have been my best teachers. And really understanding, when you make a mistake or you have a roadblock, you don't get a role that you really thought you were going to, is looking at the situation and asking yourself, what can I learn from this? And if what you can learn from it is what my mom always told me when I was a little...
info_outlineSo today I actually, I've been just so intensely busy with so many different things and I was in New York City today and one of the things I used to do when I was in New York more than I am now is I would go into churches and I just happened to pass by an old church that I usually would go into and I just walked in.
And it was quiet, quiet.
And I have been noticing this past, I don't know, week, that my mind has been racing a lot.
Just tons and tons of talk and nothing negative. Just very busy.
And it's disrupted my sleep and it's been so unpleasant.
And then I went into that church and I noticed that in this church when I closed the doors and I sat in one of the pews and I've done this, you know, with other spiritual places of worship.
So I sat in the pew and I just closed my eyes.
and it was so wonderful. Because it was so quiet and almost instantaneously it was like my soul was soothed.
My soul was soothed with silence.
And so today, I wanted to do a podcast about prayer and meditation.
Now I need to stress that I am not a religious person.
My relationship is with the universe. And sometimes I do call the universe God, but for me, it is really a spiritual entity.
I think of it as my higher self. Because I so strongly believe that the universe is a part of me and I am a part of the universe.
So as usual, as per the usual, I am going to be doing a reading out of The Language of Letting Go.
I'm gonna alter it slightly for our purposes.
So the first thing that she says is she gives a quote by Emmett Fox The Sermon on the Mount.
And it says, “as a matter of fact, prayer is the only real action in the full sense of the word, because prayer is the only thing that changes one's character. A change in character or a change in soul is a real change.”
And although I felt that today while I was sitting in silence, because I felt a change in me.
And it's a change that I've kept with me for the rest of the day.
And I said to myself, well, why don't you do this more often?
But I don't even have to go into a church to do it. I just need to be quiet, which is something that I do. Not for as long as I was in that church. I probably was only there, I don't know, ten minutes.
But again, it was very soothing to my soul.
Melody Beattie goes on to say, “Erika Young has said that we are spiritual beings who are human. Prayer or praying and meditating are ways that we can take care of our spirit. Prayer and meditation are disciples suggested by the 11th step of 12 step recovery programs.”
And a prayer that I love, that I believe I, I shared with you recently, is I pray for the knowledge of your will for me and the power to carry that out.
I pray for the knowledge of your will for me and the power to carry that out.
And I can say that for my acting career, I can say it for anything, but you can also say it for your acting career, because sometimes we feel so lost and I want that word, I've told you before, it's my favorite word, wisdom to guide us.
Prayer and meditation are not necessarily connected to organized religion, prayer and meditation are ways to improve our personal relationship with higher power or the universe to benefit ourselves, our life, our growth.
And again, the, the, the phrases that come up for me are take care of yourself first and the rest will follow.
Take care of yourself first and the rest will follow.
And that means mentally, physically and spiritually. Praying is how we connect with our higher power, our universe.
We don't pray because we have to.
We pray because we want to.
It is how we link our soul to our source.
I remember when I was a very young girl, I wrote down on a piece of paper: go back to the source.
And at the time, I did not know what that meant. But yet I felt it. I understood it. And it's one of those pieces of paper in your life that you cherish.
Because at some young age, I knew there was something bigger than me.
There was something out there that was bigger than me.
I don't think I understood that I was a part of it and it was a part of me. But I understood that it existed.
“We're learning to take care of our emotions, our mind, and our physical needs”
Again, take care of ourselves first and the rest will follow.
“We're learning to change our behaviors, but we're also learning to take care of our spirit. We're learning to take care of our soul because that is truly where all change begins. Each time we talk to the universe, we are transformed. Each time we connect with our higher power, we are heard, touched, and changed for the best.”
It's funny, I can't prove to you that I was changed for the best by just walking into that church today and sitting for ten minutes in silence.
But yet, somehow, somehow I was.