Category Archives: Artists

Preparing vs Going “All In”

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When I first moved to Los Angeles from Chicago, I had no plan, no agent, nor any connections. Within the year, I booked three major network co-stars and a national commercial. I tend to “jump off the edge” so to speak, exhilarated to see what happens next. Hence my love for improv.

There’s a difference between investing in preparation/education and going all in. For instance, back in 2003, I delivered a Carmen Miranda impersonation

for my theatre company’s fundraiser, and it brought down the house. I had the movements, the music, the voice and the outfit – none of which I had the month prior. A veteran company member stared at me backstage and softly said, “I bet you put 110% into everything you do.”

Make no mistake – this had nothing to do with working hard. It may look like I work hard, but at it’s core, it’s always been about me going all in. There’s nothing more fulfilling that going fully in. Even at junior high dances, my sisters and I were the only kids who actually dressed up – making it a real event – and danced every dance.

My career coach has a saying: “Part-time actors produce part-time results.” In 2015, I was years into a dry spell that left me financially dependent on my boyfriend, and sadly, the relationship was no longer working. Not knowing where I was going to live or how I was going to support myself, I ended the relationship. I hired a coach. I fully committed to my career, and showed up to the world in a way I hadn’t before. In eighteen months, I added five more network credits, two national commercials, and signed with a better agent.

If we circle around in our heads, trying to figure out the “how to’s” of this and that, we create obstacles that weren’t even there before. Nowadays, everyone is trying to sell us the “Top 10 Secrets of How To – (fill in the blank)”. We know people who collect these “secrets”, who have a personal library filled with “how to” instruction manuals, but it doesn’t bring them any closer to their goal. The truth? Solutions appear when we go all in.

When I returned to college (for the second time), I didn’t know how to pay for it, how to fit in with classmates 20 years my junior, nor how to use my new degree. I threw myself completely into academia, loving every minute of it. During my second year, I (coincidentally?) booked several commercials which paid for my fees, new computers, and design software.
The Greek Theatre
Who could have predicted that I would give the graduation speech as class valedictorian, and that my graphic design degree would lead me to start my own business? I went all in, and the world laid itself at my feet.

MARKETING – What’s the Point?

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This marketing thing can (suck) be overwhelming. There’s so much to consider: what to say, who to send it to, is this the right photo? Five years ago, I  made a video called “Why Actors Want to Send out Postcards”.

In it, I talk about outside reasons/ business reasons why to send postcards, and it still holds up.

What I want to talk about now is the point of the connection. Whaaaat?

With every marketing piece, drop off, or phone call there is a point of connection. That moment when you’re talking to another human being  – in person, on the phone or via mail. This can be the biggest block for most of us. Too often we put the kibosh on taking action because we are so in our head about how the other person is going to perceive our outreach. The easiest way to solve that problem is to see the purpose of your action.

Sherlock used her Halloween card as an ice-breaker for her drop-offs.

“Following Doreen ‘s advice to meet CD’s in person was rewarding.

As it was before the Thanksgiving Holiday it gave me the idea to go in, drop off a little nosh and say Thank you. I had a purpose. NOT to ask to get cast or to be called in, but the sole purpose of thanking them (regardless of how long ago they called me in or if at all) I just wanted to thank them. I even got weepy with one as it hit me that I have a pension and it started with this one CD with whom I booked the biggest job of my life. It was an “us” moment. We did it together. I actually had fun because I like to thank and acknowledge those with whom I had/have/or wish to have a working relationship. I wouldn’t have done this on my own without Doreen’s support.”  ~ Sherlock Ganz, Actor

Be clear. Have a purpose. Dropping off to casting directors because they’re on your list is not good enough. Mailing a warm letter to a show creator because you truly appreciate their work is exactly enough. You get the idea.

So focus on the point of connection. Visualize that moment when someone reads your card, answers your call, or sees you in front of them. What is the real message you want to give? Now plan the perfect action that will create that!

Tune in to FACEBOOK LIVE every Tuesday 12pm PST!  You can participate in the discussion and ask questions on this or any other topic! So don’t wait until the last minute. Get on my Facebook page, “Like it”, and set your calendar alert!

April 15th is About Me, Not the IRS.

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Tax season is about more than just my finances. It’s a time to dig out all the stuff I did last year. When I’m gathering all my data, I find stuff I forgot about…and some stuff I’d like to forget about. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Tax Day is in the Springtime. I see it as a kind of Spring Cleaning when I can see what I want to keep in my life and what to throw out. If not for taxes, I’m sure I wouldn’t do it at all.

The value of life reflection is underrated if not completely dismissed. I learn from my mistakes (OK, maybe not always the first time around), and I learn from my successes. Especially now that I’m in a career “drought” it’s good to be reminded that last year was pretty darn good. When we review, we remember the crappy things that we survived, and we remember the wonderful things that came to fruition.  Reviewing my life patterns gives me perspective on the Big Picture.

I’m a big fan of looking at the Big Picture. It provides clarity when I can otherwise get caught up in the daily noise of survival. I see why I’m willing to undertake some projects and  why it would be wise to eliminate others – not easy for A-Types. It’s kind of like purging the closet. I can identify patterns that will either help me move forward or continually keep me stuck. Try this: open your calendar and review everything you did last week. What patterns do you see? Look around your home and do the same thing. What patterns do you see? Your refrigerator. See a pattern? Your car. See a pattern there? What one thing can you do today to improve your life flow?

The best person to tell us about our lives is us. The trick is listening to that person…that wise, wise person. So when you dread pulling out all your paperwork to do your taxes, look at it as an opportunity to make new decisions about the rest of your year.

 

 

Daylight Savings…or Losings?

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As a Chicago kid, I loved it when Daylight Savings rolled around. While the adults grumbled about “losing” an hour, I got excited about the prospect of warmer weather and the school year coming to an end! So now I consistently ask myself: When I “lose” something, what do I gain? Here are some “losses” that actually merit gains:

SOCIAL MEDIA. I tracked how often I picked up my phone in a four hour span, and it was embarrassing. The biggest trap was picking it up for “business”, but immediately getting pulled into irrelevancy, and then forgetting why I got on in the first place! When I chose to spend less time on social media, I gained opportunities for real connections: writing a letter, making a phone call, meeting for coffee. Connecting to just one person in any of these forms made more of an impact than any “like” or “post” ever could.

MONEY. I would probably shock most people with how much money I do not spend. This is not always a virtue. I got to the point where I couldn’t see the difference between spending and investing, so I spent nothing – and earned nothing. Then I had a change of heart. Last year I invested in a career coach and made a 500% ROI (Return On Investment). Then when I hired an office assistant, my stress level went down and my productivity went up! Money is energy. Investing in yourself is not an indulgence, it is a necessity.

TELEVISION. Years ago, a good friend referred to TV as the “opiate of the masses”, but I justified it as a business need. With today’s technology, we can either use it to watch as much as possible or watch what is important. I’ve auditioned for and been on more television shows this past year than is usual for me, but ironically I’ve been without a TV! February 1st marked my year anniversary of being TV-free. I can now look back and see how I had used it not as a form of entertainment, but as a form of distraction – distraction from my own goals and desires! Paying more attention to my thoughts and emotions, provided the necessary space for working creatively and participating in healthy relationships.

“Springing Ahead”, always coincides with that time of year for planting seeds. Once I have a clear idea of my desired future, I begin to organize the steps of how to make it happen. Living life without clarity (of goals) confuses decision making on a daily basis. When I “lose” a little bit of time to prioritize my life, I gain the freedom to move full steam ahead!

 

 

She Wants to Lead a Glamorous Life

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Giving "Rosie" some information.

Giving “Rosie” some information.

So last week, my episode on FOX’s Rosewood aired. I took my time seeing it, because doing a one-liner is no big deal. And yet it is.

It had been way too long time since I booked a TV gig. When I finally did, it felt like I had climbed out of a well, was hanging over the edge, and trying to catch my breath. And the sun felt good on my face.

When I got the call for the co-star audition, I was looking forward to seeing the casting director again, because it had been years, and he was one of the kindest CDs I met when I first came to town. On the other hand, I hated going in for “the maid”. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem going in for a domestic, but I never get cast in that type of role no matter how hard I try. I started to think that not only was it a waste of time, it was (geez) only one line, I wasn’t gonna get it anyway, and I should really just call my agent to say I can’t make it.

Wait. WHAT?

I was actually talking myself out of an audition! And I’d been subconsciously doing this kind of stuff for some time, which is what had kept me down in that dark-yet-comfortable well to begin with.

The actual shoot was less than glamorous. I was immediately put into a maid’s outfit, and my hair & make-up were  . . . “domestic”. I sat in my trailer far, far away from the actual shooting, so I just read my book. The trailer got colder as the hours went by. It was five hours before I was called to set. By the time they shot my scene, the cast & crew were ready to go home. I made a point of just doing my job with no fuss, thinking that no one should really notice me. Yet the writer immediately approached me for a line adjustment, the director introduced himself, the guest star generously shared fancy soaps with me (we were in a hotel), and the star of the show was . . . gorgeous. I was out in under an hour, then drove the 50 miles home. Yes, that day I worked doing what I love.

Externally, it wasn’t such a big deal, but internally, it really was.

 

Transforming Work into Play

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So I’ve been re-listening to the philosopher, Alan Watts, talk about the concept of turning work into play, and this always excites me. He lays out examples of how tasks that are usually approached with a sense of dread and suffering, can instead be approached with a sense of playfulness and freedom. He illustrates the difference between work and play. The former must have a purpose/outcome, and the latter is done simply for joy (weeeee!). Our culture teaches us not only to separate one from the other, but to prioritize work over play. Watts suggests we blur the lines between the two.PLAY

So how do we do that? Take anything that we “have to” do. That’s what we call work. First notice how anticipating it makes us feel (yuck), and let it go. Let. It. Go. That dreadful feeling is entirely unnecessary, and just creates stress. Now, as we begin the actual work, the game is to focus only on that tiny bit we’re doing right now. Yes, this is Zen. This is being present: One moment at a time, with no self-critique and no urgency. IMPORTANT – the minute the mind wanders into thoughts of deadlines and judgment, we lose our sense of play.

That being said, I must mention there are immediate results to this. I can point to two amazing things that come out of play:  1.) Work becomes stress-free, and   2.) Magically, there is time for everything. I’m not kidding. I could try to convince you of these benefits  but that would just be too much work.

Is Inertia a Dirty Word?

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I’m walking through mud.

It literally feels like I’m walking through mud.

There’s this sudden, inevitable halting that is part of growth. Ugh, where did this mud come from, and why didn’t I see it coming? There’s no way I thought, “Hey, here’s some mud. I think I’ll slow down my trajectory, push my goals further off, and walk around in this crap for awhile.”

Resistance only occurs with movement.

Our blessing and curse as humans is our desire for more. Not more “stuff” (yet don’t get me started on the lie that is Black Friday), but more out of life. More energy. More recognition. More challenges. Cool, I know I can do that thing, now I wanna move on and do that other thing! It never ends. More more more. What we forget – every time – is that getting to the next level requires change. Everybody wants change. Nobody wants to go through change.

In order to become more than what we were yesterday, we must accept change. It’s a vicious, delicious, singularly human cycle. MUDIf you’re feeling sluggish, heartbroken, hopeless, angry, humiliated, resentful, rejected, etc. know that you’re definitely growing through something. Question is, are you going to see it as something that is happening to you? Or are you going to plant your ass down, push your fingers through the mud, and say, “Thanks, Yin – it’s because of you I will also have Yang. Bigger, better Yang.”

What Makes Your Acting Career Grow?

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All of my life, I’ve been so devoted to my career that it would take me by surprise when I’d see some actors not do obvious things like submit for auditions or mail the headshots they just paid hundreds of dollars for, or even trying to learn about the business. They never understood the value and the payoff of “planting seeds”.

Beware impatience.

For instance, when I was working in Chicago, a theatre director called me in for a lead in a show I never submitted for, and was ultimately cast. My roommate, a fellow “actor”, said, “Hunh – must be nice.” Her tone implied how “it must be nice not to have to do anything and still get a called in”. I was speechless. Had she not seen me bust my butt over the last several years, auditioning, auditioning, doing staged readings, auditioning, performing, auditioning, doing free work, performing, etc? Did she not see how it made perfect sense that my name would come up for this kind of role, because I had already worked so much around town? I mean, we’re talking years. (Truth is, she never submitted for anything.)

So what I’m saying is, it’s vital to plant seeds. Yet doing activities that are supposed to get us ahead when they have no immediate result, is the hardest thing to do. So we don’t, and we’re back to where we started for another day . . . another week . . . another month . . . another year.

This is why I hold Action Groups. This is why my programs do the things that actors just can’t bring themselves to do. Even if you don’t work with me, do something that will hold you accountable. Do something that will make the tasks easier for you. Just don’t do nothing. Nothing grows from nothing.

 

The Golden Rule of Marketing

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I receive several newsletters from entrepreneurs and/or artists in LA. They come in several different forms, and some are better than others. I may not read them all, but I tend to open them all because they are my colleagues. But what actually entices me to read them? Content.

The Internet, at the beginning of this 21st century, is essentially the “Wild West” with no law enforcement and it’s free to anyone willing to travel it! How awesome is that? This has, however, created a sea of “experts” in social media, but who has the best advice? The one that applies to you. But how can you be effective unless you know who/what you ARE!

"Who . . . are . . . YOU?

“Who . . . are . . . YOU?

Better than giving you a list of “10 Dos and Don’ts” (the most common device used in e-marketing), I’m going to cut to the Golden Rule of Self-Marketing: Share who you ARE.  This is too often confused with sharing what you do. While I don’t pay much attention to where my musician friends are gigging this month, I do care how much they love what they’re doing, and this sets the tone of their entire newsletter. I don’t practice yoga, but I read my friend’s yoga news, because she shares her world travels and spiritual experiences.

So if you’re sending out newsletters as a form of self-marketing, always ask, “What can I share about myself, and how does this help others?” I think actors make the most mistakes, when they just send a list of recent bookings. Ask yourself, how does this help others? Instead, share an on-set story, or something you learned along the way.  It doesn’t matter what you do, it matters who you are.

I Have Too Much Money

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Yep, that’s my problem – I have more money than I can handle.losing-money And as long as I continue to believe that, it will forever slip through my fingers.

Over the last 5 months, I’ve taken money education classes through the Actors Fund in Los Angeles. The first seven weeks we examined our earliest money memories, our family history, our assumptions about money, and more. This was not easy, but with carefully guided homework and weekly discussions led by a professional social worker, we saw things more clearly. We discovered that while we (all artists) claimed to be broke or bad with money, none of us had the same amount of it. None of us had the same parenting around it, and none of us had the same “script”.

For years, I thought my script was one of 'Rent an auditorium and charge $39.95 a seat. Thank you for coming.'“scarcity issues”. Turns out, that’s just a catchphrase used to sell wealth seminars. When I discovered what my true script was, the clouds parted, and I was ready to take on the next phase of unearthing my real numbers. Discovering exactly what I earned and spent each month – down to the penny – was both terrifying and liberating. Louise Hay says, “In order to clean your house you have to see the dirt.”

Money is just one facet of our lives that needs identification. It also applies to our talents – if we don’t know what are talents are, we will never use them wisely. When I work with entrepreneurs and artists (one in the same, really) I say,  It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you. And we must begin with ourselves. What do I want? What kind of person do I want to be known as? What brings me joy? When we recognize who we really are, it frees us to fully express it. We no longer give away or talents, but instead we use them wisely, and life no longer slips through our fingers.