Acting Business Boot Camp
🎧 Episode Summary: In this empowering solo episode, voiceover actor and coach Mandy Fisher poses a bold question that every actor must learn to answer with confidence: “Are you a good actor?” We’re taught from day one to expect rejection in this industry—but rarely are we taught to say yes to ourselves first. Mandy breaks down why internal validation is the foundation of success and how your energy, mindset, and self-belief shape every audition, job, and opportunity. 💡 Key Takeaways: Your Confidence Sets the Tone: If you walk into the room unsure...
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Hey there, it’s Peter Pamela Rose. In this episode, I’m getting real with you. After what feels like forever since I last recorded (even though I know that might not be true if you’re bingeing episodes!), I’m back to talk about something that’s been coming up a lot in my weekly classes—how to deal with fear, anxiety, and overwhelm when the world feels like too much. Whether you're feeling the pressure of what's going on globally, or you're just tired of asking yourself, “How the hell did I end up back here again?”—this episode is for you. Here’s what we get into: The...
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Thinking about attending a voiceover or acting conference? Conferences can be an absolute goldmine for networking, learning, and career growth—but only if you go in with a plan! In this episode, Mandy Fisher shares her personal experience attending (and now avoiding) conferences, including why she prefers virtual attendance due to being partially deaf. More importantly, she breaks down exactly how to make a conference work for you so you don’t just leave with a pile of swag and a drained bank account. Learn how to: ✅ Identify your specific goal before attending ✅...
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In today’s episode of the Acting Business Boot Camp Podcast, Mandy Fisher dives into a crucial topic for actors and entertainment professionals—the balance between authenticity and privacy online. With social media playing a major role in personal branding, many performers feel the pressure to share intimate details to connect with their audience and industry decision-makers. But where is the line between being real and oversharing? Mandy unpacks the risks and consequences of unchecked openness in the entertainment industry, including how it can impact casting...
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In last week’s episode, we explored the fascinating yet daunting world of AI in the entertainment industry. If you haven’t listened to yet, stop right now and go back! Everything we cover in this episode builds on what we discussed previously. In this follow-up episode, we continue our conversation with Erik Passoja—an AI expert and industry professional—who provides deeper insight into how AI is reshaping the acting world, especially in voiceover work. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the rapid advancements in AI, you’re not alone. But don’t worry—Erik offers...
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AI in Entertainment: Essential Insights for Actors The world of acting is evolving, and one of the most significant changes affecting performers today is the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). From digital likenesses to synthetic voices, AI is reshaping the entertainment industry at an unprecedented pace. If you're an actor, understanding how AI impacts your career is no longer optional—it's essential. In a recent episode of the Acting Business Bootcamp Podcast, hosts Peter Pamela Rose and Mandy Fisher sat down with Erik Passoja, a SAG-AFTRA leader and digital identity advocate,...
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Today we're talking about a phrase that might hit you right in the gut. “Work harder. Nobody cares.” And I say it with love because it's a funny phrase and it's also a tough pill to swallow because it's one of the most freeing truths that you can embrace as a person and as an artist. This episode is inspired again by one of my posts on Substack which you can find at the Actors Index and it's a mantra for anyone chasing a creative career or pursuing a big dream. It's a mindset shift that could be the key to unlocking your full potential. So buckle up. We're driving into...
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I'm excited to explore a concept that has sort of a strange and spooky and undeniable power in our lives, which is the power of three. This episode is inspired by one of my recent Substack posts that I called three, and if you haven't read it yet, please go check it out. But don't worry, I'm going to break it all down for you right here. So, why Three. Why does this number show up in storytelling, in structure, and even how we sometimes have to make sense of the world? Well, stick around and let's unpack it together. Let's start with that very basic, simple question:...
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About Diane: Diane Strand is a multi-award-winning serial entrepreneur, executive producer, best-selling author, nonprofit founder, and a TEDx and national speaker. Strand has over 22 years of entrepreneurial experience. She is the majority owner of JDS Video & Media Productions, Inc. and JDS Actors Studio, and the founder of the 501(c)3 nonprofit JDS Creative Academy (JDSCA). Strand is the creator, executive producer, and co-host of the locally broadcasted and nationally streamed magazine-style news and information television series, Spirit of Innovation: Arts...
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I am talking about all things voiceover and creative entrepreneurialism. Hope you are having a fantastic Wednesday. Let's jump right into today's topic, which is branding. And I want to sort of unpack the essence of what branding is because we are drawn in to people who do this for a living. People who create brands for actors. And I just want to get it out into the open. That if you don't have a catchy tagline, if you don't have a palette of colors, if you don't have a logo, it's okay. You don't have to have those things in order to be a successful actor business...
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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 to talk about in terms of the hazards of making excuses as an actor is just that. Stalling personal growth.
See, now, as a middle aged woman, I don't want to do anything that stalls me.
I don't want to have any energy that is moving against me.
I want everything moving for me.
Because you know what? I deserve it.
And so do you and this making excuses and stalling my personal growth, what it does is it prevents me from taking responsibility and it also limits opportunities for self improvement and for learning from my mistakes.
I've talked about how when we make mistakes, those can be our great learning opportunities.
The thing is that when I prevent myself from taking responsibility, what happens is that I'm saying I am not part of the problem.
And if I am not part of the problem, there is no solution.
I also have to say that when I stall my personal growth, I limit opportunities, because what I do is I'm so closed off in my thinking, and when I'm so closed off in my thinking, I don't know what to do.
I'm only seeing that little bit.
It's like I'm putting blinders on the side of my face.
I can't see anything except what is in front of me. And I want to be seeing everything.
I want to be looking at my life and moving things to work for me and the creating the potential for a better result. I want all of it. Not just some of it.
It's like when I talk about the two power systems, I have the ego power system, and I have the universal power system.
When I am in my ego power system, I have only finite energy.
Energy that begins and ends with me.
When I am in the universe power system, oh my gosh, it's infinite and what I want to do as a finite human is I want to hook up a a pipeline to the universe to that infinite energy.
The other thing is that making excuses does is it damages credibility.
It doesn't only damage credibility with other people, my credibility with others, but it also damages credibility with me.
One of the biggest things that I have learned in the pandemic and post pandemic is learning trust.
And that trust within myself is when I say I'm going to do something, actually doing it.
Like today I said, I'm going to record two podcasts today. So today I'm going to record two podcasts.
Now would it be a big deal if I only recorded one? No.
But the person who I most need to be building that trust with, she would know. And that is myself.
That getting trust from yourself is in some ways the hardest person to get it from because it's also the easiest per person to skimp it from.
So really, wanting to build credibility with me and not making excuses, even to myself, is so important.
Because if I don't do it, I erode trust.
I erode my own reliability with myself.
And I make others and myself doubt my commitment and my own integrity, building my own integrity with me.
It is of paramount importance.
The other thing that making excuses does, when I talk about, working for you and getting everything to work for you instead of against you, is that making excuses creates a negative mindset.
It creates a negative mindset.
Again, I want to have an anabolic mindset, which is filled with anabolic energy that works for me, that that is growing, is healing energy.
When I am in a negative mindset, I want to I am in catabolic energy, and that is, I just described it to my weekly class I describe that as being like having a really bad virus.
It feels like your body or something in you is working so hard against you and just making you feel so weak.
Also, when I make excuses and I create a negative mindset, I rely on those excuses to create something that I don't want to create, which is a defeatist attitude.
And that making excuses that create, that creates a negative mindset also it reinforces my own limitations and my own limiting beliefs in myself when instead I could be using it as an opportunity to do the thing that I want to make an excuse about to build trust in myself, build the ability to seek solution, and also build the self esteem that comes with it.
And I always talk about how building self esteem, building confidence, what does it do? It improves belief in the self and self esteem.
The other thing that making excuses does is it enables you to miss opportunities, and those excuses, what they do is that they feed into that dirty P word of procrastination.
They also feed into that other dirty word of perfectionism.
Perfectionism leads to procrastination, leads to paralysis.
And what ends up happening when I make an excuse and I have a missed opportunity is that causes inaction.
And it causes me to miss chances for success, or a learning, or an education, or an advancement.
Finally, the thing that making excuses does is it also hinders problem solving.
And it makes me think that I'm not that smart. Ouch.
And when I blame some external factor, like the person I read with in that audition, or the fact that the casting director just doesn't get me, instead of addressing the issues directly, and those issues are, if I'm not part of the problem, there is no solution.
What it does is, again, it erodes my ability to overcome challenges.
When I come to that fork in the road, do I make an excuse or do I find a way?
Finding a way, that increases my ability to solve problems, that increases my ability to let go of wanting to make an excuse and take the “easy way out” and go what may initially look like the harder way, but actually in the long run.
The easy way, because when I don't make excuses, and I take responsibility for my life, and I acknowledge that if I am not part of the problem, there is no solution.
I find ways of finding a way. I build self esteem. I build trust in myself. I build self confidence.
And also, just as a bonus, I diminish, I neutralize, I minimize any anxiety or self doubt I may have.
So today, let's find a way. Let's build self esteem. Let's believe in ourselves, just even for a moment.