October 28, 2025 • 40 mins
What if the biggest barrier to your next role—or your next chapter—is your own mindset?
In this episode, Dr. Al Bramante blends psychology, hypnosis, and NLP with decades of experience as a talent agent to help people rise above self-sabotage and finally step into their potential. His unique approach helps artists, career changers, and high achievers overcome internal blocks that keep them stuck.
💡 In this episode, you’ll hear:
- How subconscious patterns shape your success and how to reprogram them
- Why talent and hard work aren’t enough without inner alignment
- How to move from fear and self-doubt to clarity and confidence
Visit Al's website to purchase hypnosis recordings: www.albertbramante.com
Connect with Dr. Al Bramante on Instagram @dr.albramante to learn more about his work in performance psychology and mindset coaching.
Subscribe to Your Next Success so you never miss an episode.
Watch full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextSuccessMethod/
Learn more about Next Success www.nextsuccesscareers.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Caroline (00:00):
What if the biggest barrier to your next role or
your next chapter is your ownmindset?
Dr.
Al Bramante blends psychology,hypnosis, NLP, and decades as a
talent agent to help performersrise above self-sabotage.
This episode is for artists andcareer changers who feel stuck
(00:23):
second guess themselves, or wantpractical ways to rewire their
thinking and move forward.
Dr.
Albert'Al' Bramante, is aveteran talent agent and CEO of
Bramante Artists a psychologyPhD, a professor, a certified
hypnotist, and an NLPpractitioner.
He is the author of Rise Abovethe Script and helps performers
(00:46):
overcome fear, impostersyndrome, and self-defeating
patterns.
Today we trace Al's journey frombook loving kid in a sports
family to psychology scholar9/11 crisis responder, professor
and talent agent, and we diginto the mindset tools he now
uses to help creatives thrive.
(01:08):
In this episode, we cover howearly doubts and labels shaped
Al's drive and how he rewrotethem.
What 9/11 crisis work taught himabout resilience and purpose,
why actors self-sabotage, andthe mindset shifts that unlock
thriving, how hypnosis NLP andidentity language help turn a
(01:33):
struggling artist into athriving artist.
Welcome Al.
I am so thrilled to have you onYour Next Success today.
Thank you for being part of ourshow.
Albert (01:44):
Well thank you so much, Caroline, for having me.
I'm so happy to be here.
Caroline (01:47):
Yes, absolutely.
I'd love to kind of get to knowa little bit about your career
story and how you ended up fromthen to now.
I know of course now you areextremely talented, you help a
lot of actors with their talent.
You are an author, you havehypnosis things, so we are gonna
get to that of how people canwork with you and how you work
(02:10):
now.
But let's dial it back to thebeginning.
Can you tell me a little bitabout your childhood growing up.
And were there any career thingsthat you were interested in at
that time?
Albert (02:23):
Sure.
Well, I was always aninquisitive child and I was
always kind of like the childthat daydreamed a lot and was
very nosy.
And I think that kind of leadnow to where I'm at, in a sense
because, just curious aboutpeople.
I'm just curious about things.
I still daydream a lot too.
I still, meditate and daydreamand all of that.
(02:47):
So I started off, I was a verydifferent type of child in my
family, so I grew up in apredominantly blue collar
family.
As athlete, family.
My brothers, my father were allinto the athletic life.
There were coaches, my oldestbrothers, both of them were like
in football and very active inthat.
(03:09):
Football coaches as well asbeing playing football.
I had no interest.
I was a reader.
I love to read no interest inplaying sports and of course,
naturally being the male in thefamily, they tried to suit me
up.
They tried to, you know, put theball in my hand and bring me out
in the field and all of that,thinking that they were gonna
toughen me up, which goodintentions.
(03:30):
It just wasn't for me.
So I think for me, I was so muchmore into reading and that was a
big thing.
Reading was such an important,it still is, but even as a
child, that was like mysanctuary.
I spent a lot of time in thelibrary.
Whereas, again, remember, myfamily may be on the sports
games or playing sports.
I was in the library.
(03:51):
So during this time I startedreading a lot of books when I
was in high school aboutpsychology, the human mind, one
of my classic books that I readthat got got me into therapy.
The idea of therapy was, aclassic by David Burns called
Feel Good.
And it's kind of like a primernow on cognitive behavioral
(04:11):
therapy when it was first comingout and so I just became very
interested in this.
I was like, this is interestingand exciting, and so I read some
more psychology books and then Ijust decided that I was gonna
major in psychology.
I made a determination by theend of my sophomore year in high
school.
Caroline (04:29):
So your family, your dad, your brothers, they were
very into sports.
How about your mom?
What was that influence?
Did she like reading?
What were her interests?
Albert (04:38):
Her influence.
My mom's influence got be kindof instilled the educator in me.
For 31 years she was a schoolteacher.
So she taught a combination oflike kindergarten and first
grade.
So I think that's where theteacher's side of me comes from,
and also the coach, because likeI said, my father and my older
(04:58):
brother were football coaches.
So I think combining theeducation and the coach kind of
led me to some degree where Itook after my family because
Caroline (05:09):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
That
Albert (05:09):
what instilled that.
But I think my mom encouraged meeven like when I think my dad
started to, when he realizedthat I wasn't gonna be an
athlete or into sports, so theyreally encouraged me to thrive
in school in which I did and theinteresting thing about me was I
really didn't awaken to mypotential of like, what I can do
(05:31):
academically until I was in myjunior year in high school.
So I was always kind of like theB C student.
I never failed anything.
But I was never, like the A's.
Very rarely did I get A's inmiddle school and until I hit my
junior year in high school, itwas just interesting like a
(05:53):
switch just flipped in me.
That I became the B C student tolike the A student overnight.
And
Caroline (06:04):
Oh wow.
Albert (06:05):
Throughout the rest of that time I was just getting
straight A's.
Caroline (06:07):
Were you also involved in any kind of extracurricular
activities throughout yourschool?
What were your interests in thatarea too?
Albert (06:15):
I was involved very much in anything and everything,
especially even in college, butI was like, in high school, they
had the Rotary Club, the KiwanisClub.
I was all involved in that.
The drama club, debate club,future business leaders of
America.
I was in that organization inhigh school and then in college,
(06:36):
I was in different charitableorganizations, different
community services, even thepledged a fraternity.
Caroline (06:43):
Oh wow.
Had you always envisionedcollege as part of your plan,
and what did you choose tomajor?
How did you do that?
Because I think that you endedup adding on.
Albert (06:53):
Of course.
It was always instilled to me togo to college because I was kind
of a pioneer in that aspectbecause my oldest brother didn't
do well in college and then oneof my other brother kind of
dropped out of collegeinitially.
So I was the first in my family,immediate family to go to school
(07:14):
and it was always instilled togo to college.
I mean, that was the one thingmy family really was on and I
didn't necessarily feel likewhen I was first in high school,
I probably didn't think I wasgoing to thrive in college.
It wasn't until, like I said, myjunior year when I switched was
flipped that I was like, reallynow looking forward to college
(07:34):
and not only just college, Iwanted to be a PhD.
That was like junior and highschool onwards.
So I then went to college and Idid well, I mean, I liked it.
And one of the things about likewith classes wise, even like the
latter part of my high schoolyear.
(07:55):
The best teachers and professorsthat I've had were the most
feared
Caroline (08:00):
Yeah.
They're really strong, stern,high expectations, teachers
similarly.
I wanted to do so well for them,you know?
Albert (08:09):
When I look back to, especially there are two
teachers in high school, junioryear, english, and my senior
chemistry teacher.
People told me my senior yearwhen I like, especially with
chemistry, avoid this guy likethe plague.
That, was what was told to me.
This guy's a nightmare.
And then of course, you know,'cause I wanted to go to
(08:29):
college, the news came to me myjunior year when my guidance
counselor sat down and said, Ineed to break it to you, but
you're gonna have to get intochemistry.
Now most people take chemistrytheir junior year.
I took it my senior year, so Iwas like, I gotta do this.
I was terrified because everyonewas telling me to avoid this guy
and there was no way,'cause hewas really the only one that
taught it that year.
(08:50):
So when I got in there, itturned out to be the best class
of my high school studies.
Caroline (09:01):
Oh wow.
Albert (09:02):
I got A's you know, was sometimes the only one and my
entire class that received an Aat the end of every marking
period.
I had so much fun in that classwith chemistry and I almost went
down that route for a majorbecause I was like, this is a
lot of fun.
And I think it's the analyticalpart of my brain, and that's why
(09:24):
I think I was, because I was soattracted and drawn to that
field.
So then when I was in college, Imajored in psychology, minor in
communications.
Each one of those departmentshad the professor you didn't
want to get.
And in both situations I had nochoice.
(09:47):
Let me tell you, it was the bestdecision I've ever made.
Caroline (09:52):
Oh wow.
That's great.
Albert (09:52):
They were amazing.
They really taught me a lot.
I channel a lot of them, even tothis day.
Yes, the classes weren't easyand by a long shot.
However, it was so enriching,those are like my highlights of
my college years was thoseprofessors and I took more
(10:15):
classes with them towards theend too, when I was doing my end
of my year.
Caroline (10:20):
What do you think was different for others having, you
know, maybe not so positiveexperiences and not enjoying it.
What do you think was differentfrom you versus them, your
experience with these toughprofessors versus the others?
Albert (10:34):
I think because I had high standards for myself
towards the end, that I waslike, okay, this is what's, and
I wasn't looking for the easy Abecause consequently, I also
took classes where people weretelling me.
This is the best professoryou're gonna have.
And I thought I really wasn'timpressed either.
Caroline (10:51):
Okay.
Okay.
Albert (10:52):
I then started to get, well, maybe I should do the
opposite or what people tell mewhat to do.
And I think that's what reallystood out for me.
Plus, I learned so much in thoseclasses.
I cannot tell you how
Caroline (11:05):
Yes.
Albert (11:05):
much information I learned when I was challenged.
And of course, you know, all oftheir research will tell you
about learning is when you're.
You learn the most when you'rechallenged.
I thrive, but I just always havethe mentality where it's like,
was I scared a little bit, but Ikind of looked at mentality
where look, I'm here and this is
Caroline (11:28):
Yeah.
Albert (11:29):
the best.
So, even now that I teach, Ieven encourage my students to
run to those classes that peopleare telling you to avoid?
'Cause I work a lot with nursingmajors and one of the classes
that they're told to avoid likea plague is anatomy and
physiology, you know.
Caroline (11:49):
I think I'd want nurses that do well in that.
Albert (11:52):
I would too, but I think the reason why are running away
from that is because theprofessor is very, very tough
supposedly
Caroline (11:59):
Okay.
Albert (11:59):
And very, you know, has a high kind of like failure rate
and I kind of say, well, here'san alternative explanation to
it.
If I'm gonna go to a nurse, Iwould want them to be working
really hard.
I'd want them to be in that hardanatomy class.
Caroline (12:14):
If they can get past that, they can take care of me.
Albert (12:17):
Of course.
And so that's like if I were togo back, I probably would be
running to that class myself andI'm gonna take it just because I
know I'm gonna learn.
So I think this is where a lotof that comes in.
I think just the hard work andperseverance comes in because
not only did I learn a lot, butI got along so great with these
professors
Caroline (12:38):
Now you mentioned you knew you wanted to get a PhD.
Did you know anybody that had aPhD, or how did you even think
that was possible?
Albert (12:48):
Well I mean, just from the learning stuff, obviously,
when I was in high school, withthe exception of maybe like a, a
supervisor of a department.
Very rarely was anybody a doc,at least in a high school or
secondary school.
but I think just the idea ofhaving a doctor by my name,
would be excellent.
Caroline (13:06):
Yeah.
Albert (13:06):
and I did as, as a kid, uh, flirt with the idea of being
a doctor.
And even my, when my grandmotherwas alive, she was like I wish,
You know, and she told me shewas nothing in the world for me,
but to become a doctor.
Now.
Caroline (13:20):
But you achieved that.
Just maybe not
Albert (13:22):
in
Caroline (13:23):
what she thought,
Albert (13:23):
in
Caroline (13:24):
you know?
Albert (13:24):
I,
Caroline (13:24):
Yeah.
Albert (13:25):
I think she would still be proud.
I know that to this day,'cause Istill have Dr, know, name,
surname, but
Caroline (13:32):
Yeah.
Albert (13:33):
the thing that I, I think it was just about
achievement and, and I wasreally trying to improve a lot.
So, one thing I want to kind ofgo back to, I was born with a
lot of health challenges andinitially because I was a
premature baby.
I had a lot breathing problems
Caroline (13:47):
Oh.
Albert (13:47):
as an infant, a newborn.
So one of my pediatricians hadpulled my parents aside and
said, we need to have a hardconversation with you.
your son is not rarely gonnapass the mentality of a
10-year-old,
Caroline (14:03):
Oh wow.
Albert (14:04):
so you need to be prepared for that.
Yeah.
And of course thankfully myparents didn't listen.
I'm glad
Caroline (14:11):
Yeah.
Albert (14:12):
they didn't, and I thanked them to this day for not
listening, and I even had,teachers would sometimes tell my
parents look like don't expectmuch from Albert.
Wow.
And again,
Caroline (14:23):
And they refused to believe it, and you refused to
believe it.
And did you use that, uh,disbelief of, of others in your
capabilities?
Did you use that as like, fueland fire or, or just ignored it?
Albert (14:36):
Um, I kind of both.
I,
Caroline (14:40):
Okay.
Albert (14:40):
I, I, I somewhat ignored it.
Um, not necessarily think aboutapplying it towards the end.
Now, of course, I'm just like,yes.
definitely.
Now here I am.
and,
Caroline (14:55):
Yeah.
You can do anything.
Albert (14:56):
Prove these people wrong, not from an anger
standpoint, because I look at itlike in hindsight, and now as a
professional myself, this wasagain, the early eighties, so
that we didn't know too muchabout neuroplasticity and the
brain and the
Caroline (15:13):
Yes,
Albert (15:14):
yes.
So I could have been quiteshowing signs of delayed
development or developmentalchallenges that might have
looked irreversible at the time.
So I think that's where, like Idon't hold any malice or any ill
will towards the pediatricianstold my parents that.
(15:34):
I could have easily been shownsigns of that, and even with my
teachers I was a little slow,you know, developmentally,
compared to my peers at leastphysically.
So on the surface it could haveshown that my results weren't so
good.
But one of my significantturning points and really didn't
hit me till a couple yearslater.
(15:55):
The first week of my seventhgrade studies, my English
teacher had called my parentsand all my teachers in for a
meeting.
Caroline (16:04):
Oh.
Albert (16:04):
And of course they didn't, the teacher didn't tell
me what the meeting was for, soI found this out later and that
was because they didn't thinkthat I was gonna be equipped to
handle a regular classroom, thatI should be in a self-contained
classroom.
And my parents really had torestrain themselves from like
cursing this teacher out andwalking out on her.
(16:28):
And so of course they pulled meout of her English class.
They put me in the other Englishclass and, that same year when
we took the placement test forthe next grade, I placed it to
the honors section the nextyear.
Caroline (16:42):
Hmm.
Albert (16:43):
So that was kind of like my way of proving this teacher
wrong.
Caroline (16:47):
And your parents knew you.
They saw greatness in you.
They believed in the bestpossibilities.
And yeah.
Interesting.
'cause maybe she was trying tohelp or maybe she was just,
it's, because now I feel likeyeah, some of that, helping
children to get the educationalneeds that meet them, to help
them overcome.
(17:08):
I, I get that.
But for her to just be like, wegotta, back when you grew up and
I grew up, it wasn't as helpfulas now with like 504 plans and
individual education plans andactually supporting students.
Then it was like, yeah, therewas this whole other classroom
of kids that I didn't understandwhy they weren't sitting with
us, you know?
Albert (17:25):
and nowadays
Caroline (17:26):
Yeah.
Albert (17:27):
I mean, we did have IEPs.
I did have the IEP for a couplenumber of years in school.
Now of course, that teacher wasfired a couple years later.
Caroline (17:38):
Maybe she just didn't wanna work, Who knows?
Yeah.
Albert (17:40):
know, that's not, but I look at that now, now that was
motivation for me, I kind of usethat as a motivation.
I go, yeah, I'm gonna prove youwrong.
Caroline (17:49):
Hmm.
Albert (17:49):
that's what I did.
And At the time I didn'tconsciously I was only 12, 13,
so I really didn't have thatinsight yet.
And then when I was in highschool, I think just again,
something just flipped a switchwhere I was like, okay, you know
what?
I can do this.
And then, my senior year I tookAP honors classes and you know,
received A's in those.
So that's when I knew like, Ican do college.
Caroline (18:10):
And when did this?
Did was your junior year whenyou were introduced to the
psychology class, or which yeardid that fall in?
Albert (18:18):
Now, I didn't take any psychology classes in col in
high school.
They didn't offer them,
Caroline (18:22):
Oh wow.
Albert (18:23):
I,
Caroline (18:23):
Oh, but but how did you know you wanted it to?
You were interested.
Albert (18:27):
I was reading and I read the book David Burns, you know,
so it was like
Caroline (18:31):
yes.
Albert (18:32):
And then of course I was reading other psych books
Caroline (18:35):
in,
Albert (18:35):
in the library.
This has became something veryinteresting to me.
Plus I was also in like a peermentoring group after school,
like confidential and that
Caroline (18:45):
Very cool.
Albert (18:46):
Really got me into it, into, um, Oh wow.
working with other people and, Ihave been doing ever since, and
I think because my idols in highschool were other academics, I
was not like other kids, so Iwas like very much into the
academic.
and so that's why I think reallyI was so bent on becoming
(19:07):
getting a PhD and, and I'm gladI did it.
One of my proudest moments in mylife was walking on that stage
in my robe getting,
Caroline (19:17):
Yeah,
Albert (19:18):
you know, getting an honor.
absolutely.
And what did you study?
What was your dissertationfocus.
So my dissertation, because Ialso work with actors, was on
self-defeating behavior inperforming artists.
Caroline (19:31):
Okay.
How did you choose that?
Albert (19:33):
So I chose that because after I received my master's
degree, I kind of got back intouch with the creative side of
me, you know?
Did take some acting classes incollege and I was in a drama
club, and
Caroline (19:45):
Nice.
Albert (19:46):
I kind of pursued a little bit of acting myself, but
I realized I loved working withcreatives more so than other
academics.
It was like, I feel more alignedwith actors.
Caroline (19:59):
Okay, and then help me understand the influence of,
around the time you're gettingyour master's degree and, maybe
doing some of your PhD work, but9/11 happened, so what was the
influence on being in that area
Albert (20:16):
I, I,
Caroline (20:17):
9/11 and this psychology interest?
Yeah.
Albert (20:21):
I, I, I.
You know, first of all, my heartgoes out.
That should never have happened.
But at the same time, it alsolaunched where everything that I
started doing, I still think Iwould've been in the same place,
but, that kind of catapultedeverything, because after 9/11 I
got recruited to help do somecrisis intervention counseling
(20:42):
for people I knew.
so I started doing that and thenI started meeting other actors.
And then I landed my first jobfor like, American Red Cross,
which I worked in socialservices for for a little while.
Then I moved on to the MentalHealth Association in New York
City.
I did that for a year.
It was a grant funded 9/11position doing crisis
(21:04):
intervention.
And then I, you know, was laidoff'cause the grant ended on
that one.
So I, I had to look for anotherjob.
I consequently got hired to beadjunct professor at the time,
at a community college'causethey were so impressed with my
work around 9/11 that they hiredme to teach you know, some
(21:26):
introductory classes at thiscommunity college.
I wound up staying there for 10years and it had a huge impact
on my life.
Caroline (21:35):
how did you handle regaining your energy while
spending your days or asignificant part of your day
trying to help others cope with9/11 and the after effects?
How did you recover so that itdidn't take a toll on your
(21:55):
mental health?
Albert (21:56):
I did a little bit.
Uh, not, not gonna lie.
I mean, when I worked for theMental Health Association of New
York City, they really took goodcare of us.
they gave us like a generousvacation like four weeks out of
the year, which is consideredrare, you know, in most cases.
And they also had at least, oncea week.
it was mandatory that we go anddo some group, counseling, which
(22:16):
I thought was brilliant
Caroline (22:18):
Oh wow.
Albert (22:19):
you know, now looking back.
Caroline (22:20):
Yeah.
Albert (22:21):
it was
Caroline (22:22):
Yes,
Albert (22:23):
you know, just doing self care plus, you know, now I
also had my interest in acting.
So I think that kind of balanced
Caroline (22:28):
yes.
Albert (22:29):
it out to where I could focus on so many other things
when I wasn't at the job.
Caroline (22:36):
you.
Albert (22:37):
because there were times were some certain things that
would tug at my, theheartstrings, you know, mean
you're dealing with people insuch immense throws of grief and
trauma.
So but what kept me grounded wasthe self care, the acting.
And I realized after about ayear or two that I really don't
(22:57):
have the interest or the passionfor being a performer, or the
discipline that was reallyrequired.
Looking back in hindsight, But Ididn't wanna leave completely
because I love actors.
So that's where I kind oftransitioned to supporting them.
and then that went torepresenting them.
So 2004, I started my firstcompany.
(23:19):
in 2005, I was like, I want togo back for a PhD.
I'm halfway there.
Now in 2001 before 9/11 that'swhen I graduated with my
master's.
I had applied to four PhDprograms locally.
I underestimated how,competitive PhD programs are.
(23:43):
So even though I had a very highGPA, and letters of
recommendation.
I had research experience.
I didn't get into those fourprograms.
So now I was kind of facing myown little identity crisis,
because this is my first time in24 years that September was
gonna roll around and I wasn'tgonna be in school.
I was 24 at the time.
Caroline (24:04):
Oh, interesting.
That's so interesting becausewhat you wanted, and your plan
would've been starting your PhDin September, however you
didn't, so you were working, butthen that made you available to
be supporting these peoplethrough 9/11.
Albert (24:23):
Yes.
Caroline (24:24):
Wow.
It's like, it's like, you know,God's plan or universe's plan,
whatever somebody wants to say,but like.
Albert (24:30):
totally,
Caroline (24:31):
That p plan is, is different and better.
Like, you know, even when wehave a challenge or something,
it ends up being in hindsight,oh, I'm so glad that happened.
And, you know, not that anybodycould say, I'm glad 9/11
happened, but I'm glad 9/11happened because it helped your
ability to fuel this passion andand get this, this work.
(24:52):
Wow, that's interesting.
Albert (24:54):
100% and I think it just kind of like was a domino
effect.
Caroline (24:59):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Really setting things in motionfor who you became and who you
are, now.
Okay, so then you reapplied thenin this like before 2005 and
then got in, and then, but nowyou had been working, did you
stay working while also gettingyour PhD or did you,
Albert (25:18):
I sure did.
Caroline (25:19):
that work?
Oh wow.
Yeah.
Albert (25:22):
Uh, like full transparency, the PhD program
that I was in was online, so
Caroline (25:28):
Okay.
Okay.
Albert (25:29):
that made things tremendously easier.
Caroline (25:31):
But still a lot of work.
Albert (25:33):
no doubt.
and I'll be the first to tellyou that if anybody thinks that
online education is easier,you're gonna be mistaken on that
one.
I think it was even sometimeseven more challenging than.
like a brick and mortarface-to-face program would've
been
Caroline (25:48):
Absolutely.
Even in 2005, because it wasn'tlike the world wasn't
necessarily as set up for thesevirtual interactions as now, and
so,
Albert (25:57):
yeah.
I mean, looking back inhindsight, we had no virtual
direction.
Everything was on your own time.
You, you know, it was all dis,
Caroline (26:06):
Oh, wow.
Isolated
Albert (26:08):
very
Caroline (26:08):
a little.
Albert (26:09):
discussion boards, papers.
And very little.
interaction with professors.
Very little.
Caroline (26:15):
Oh, and even the support of other students.
So that was a,
Albert (26:19):
just email
Caroline (26:20):
really had to want it.
Yeah.
Wow.
It took a lot
Albert (26:23):
of discipline and I had to struggle with that in the
beginning.
and I'm very disciplined
Caroline (26:27):
Hmm.
Albert (26:27):
but at that time was like really a struggle because
you have to keep your ownschedule.
There's nobody there over yourshoulder reminding you
Caroline (26:36):
Yeah.
Albert (26:36):
at least when you're in class, you're, you're going, no.
So I had those challengingissues.
Now the interesting thing withthat, um, with learning to
balance both was a challenge'cause I was teaching, starting
my company and working withactors.
So one thing I noticed when Istarted working with actors and
(26:58):
even when I was teaching, therewas a lot of self-sabotage
happening.
Caroline (27:06):
Okay,
Albert (27:07):
and that's what led me
Caroline (27:08):
but you recognized it or, or now looking back, you
realize it,
Albert (27:13):
I, I may not have
Caroline (27:14):
okay.
Albert (27:14):
you know exactly what I would refer
Caroline (27:16):
Yeah.
Albert (27:16):
now, but I was noticing things were just like confusing
the heck outta me.
Like, why are, are so manyactors telling me that they
wanna work?
And yet their actions weretelling me so many things and
why were so many students justgiving up without even putting a
fight into their education.
So I was like, this issomething, A good idea to study
(27:37):
for my PhD,
Caroline (27:38):
Yes.
Albert (27:39):
dissertation.
Now, I was initially going infor clinical psychology there
were a couple of challengesthere.
Now this is back in early to midtwo thousands.
So online education wasn'texactly viewed as it is today,
and part of to get a clinicalPhD, what we have to do is a 750
(28:01):
hour practicum followed by a2000 hour internship.
there was
Caroline (28:06):
no way I
Albert (28:07):
had time for any of that.
I would have to give up Yeah.
Yeah.
Caroline (28:12):
my job and
Albert (28:13):
my business if I was gonna do that.
So that was obstacle number oneand obstacle number two, because
it wasn't taken seriously.
I was kind of almost gettinglaughed at when I was going to
the in internship interviews.
Maybe not explicitly but I couldtell implicitly like, you're an
online.
Caroline (28:31):
Like they didn't respect the online part of it.
They maybe thought it was a jokeand in reality it was a lot of
hard work
Albert (28:37):
and I was literally told like several times, you know, we
are giving preference to peoplein, uh, a traditional PhD
program.
And I'm, I'm wow.
So what am I supposed to do?
And then right around this time,I, I, there's an opening at my
college.
I was an adjunct for severalyears at this.
(28:58):
previous college I taught at,There was now an opening for a
full-timer,
Caroline (29:03):
Oh wow.
Yeah.
Albert (29:05):
three openings actually.
So, three people in mydepartment had retired.
So I put my application in and Igot the job.
So now I'm at a crossroadswhere.
Okay, how am I gonna do afull-time job and a full-time
internship?
First of all, I can't even finda
Caroline (29:21):
Yeah.
Albert (29:22):
So I came to the kind of decision, which is thankfully
did it now, where it's like, I'mgonna switch out of clinical
Okay.
I'm now gonna just get theeducation and research, you
know, component.
'cause I wasn't, I was aneducator, so all I needed to do
was like take three other extraclasses and just put in my
dissertation.
I said, I'm gonna just do that.
Caroline (29:43):
Yeah, it's a win.
Albert (29:44):
It's win.
major win and I'm done.
So that's what I did.
So I'm a clinical, I considermyself a clinical psychologist
by training, not by practice.
Um,
Caroline (29:54):
Got you.
Albert (29:55):
so, and it's the best thing I've ever done.
Like I said, everything worksout for a reason.
I mean, that's a, I am a, I willspeak that from the rooftops
now.
Yeah, in hindsight, right, it'slike, it's like I know looking
back everything that happened,I'm so glad it happened that
way.
But looking forward, I stillstruggle with trusting that it's
(30:17):
gonna be okay when I look backlater, right?
Because I'm just like, how doesit make sense?
Like I know, thank you forsetting this up and that up and
that up and that, and I'm glad Igot laid off because of this,
and I'm glad I did this becauseof that.
And yet.
I wanna get to the point where Ihave that same forward thinking
trust like.
I know it's gonna be awesome.
So God is in control ofeverything and everything is
(30:37):
good sometimes working on it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
Okay, so you get your PhD andyou have learned how to be
disciplined enough to have afull-time job and had gotten the
PhD and you have your ownbusinesses also.
So I guess that,
Caroline (30:57):
uh,
Albert (30:57):
discipline was great for entrepreneurship as well, and
you.
Help actors.
And so how does that bring us towhat, I guess, when did the
whole,
Caroline (31:07):
um,
Albert (31:08):
neurolinguistic programming, NOP kind of
interest and hypnosis, where didthat fit in to your timeline?
I think a lot of it, I.
um, started to transpired whenI.
knew that clinical psych wasn'tgonna be really in the cards for
(31:28):
me anymore.
Okay, I was, I
Caroline (31:32):
and explain what, what NLP is for those that that don't
know.
Albert (31:36):
It's neurolinguistic programming.
It's more of a system of the useof, of like optimizing your
yourself by using language andusing other tools, like other
psychological tools to.
You know, rewire your nervoussystem.
You know, like coming from acomputer standpoint, like
(31:57):
reprogramming your brain,reprograming your mind.
And it, and what's theinteresting thing about NLP is
it does utilize, it started outof like, you know.
Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson,um, you know, Fritz Pearls who
are icons in the psychologymovement.
(32:19):
And so there's an applicationYeah.
of, you know, psychology there.
And I think what, what really Iliked about, I, I became, I
didn't really notice I wasinterested in NLP.
I didn't realize until, likelooking back in hindsight,'cause
high sch in, well not in highschool when I was going for my
(32:40):
master's degree, I took someclasses in marriage and family
therapy.
And the models that we weretaught were solution-focused
counseling, which a very quick,brief And unconventional
therapies, which was VirginiaSatir or work of Virginia Satir
Milton Erickson, who even thoughthey may, they may not consider
(33:03):
themselves NLP practitioners,they started, they, their work
led to the discovery of NLP.
And so I think I knew that Iwanted to this type of work
beforehand because it's veryquick, it's very solution
focused rather than years oftherapy.
Caroline (33:23):
And so how do you incorporate that now as you work
with actors?
Find talent and support them?
Albert (33:31):
I think just re helping rewire the mindset, so like.
know, coming from the place ofself-doubt and self-sabotage,
which often comes in there, um,Changing your identity as an
actor, you know what, um, ratherthan, you know, referring to
yourself as a struggling orstarving artist it's all about,
(33:54):
about as a thriving artist, and,and, the language that we use
and, and the identity that weuse.
And refer to ourselves as itmakes a huge deal.
and I think even going back incollege, if I looked at myself
as just the average C student, Idon't know if I would've
achieved what I did.
(34:15):
certainly wouldn't have made mean honor student, you know, if I
didn't believe that and didn'ttake that identity into, into
play.
So I think that's sort of likewhere I, that comes into.
So.
It's more rapid and it's more,um, again, uh, solution focused.
(34:36):
So,
Caroline (34:37):
I see.
Albert (34:39):
And that's what kind of led me down that route in a
sense.
Caroline (34:44):
And you've written a book.
Uh, I think it's rise above thescript.
Is that what, so does that givemore insight or tell us what
rise above the script is about?
Albert (34:55):
So it.
Kind of is based, loosely basedout of my, um, doctoral
dissertation work.
Oh.
And, and so I did, you know,again, like I said, I did the
doctoral dissertation, um, onRise above the script and, you
know, which was again dealingwith self, uh, self-sabotage.
(35:19):
And so what book kind of deals,first of all, it's kind of like
my way of making the.
Work that I did for my PhD intoa more relatable format, you
that, you know, can, again, canmake people, uh, really, you
know, identify with it ratherthan just looking at the PhD as
(35:41):
being very technical.
So I wanted to take Yeah.
results that I found and kind ofput it in a readable format and
kind of, so I, I utilize bothresearch and my own experiences
In the book, uh, like evenperformance, I looked at, you
know, I, I discussed personalityfactors, how, you know,
(36:02):
conscientiousness is extremelyimportant.
You know, how, know, the companywe keep is very important.
Yeah.
So how do you work with peoplenow, aside from still being a
professor and teaching?
(36:22):
How do you.
Serve people or
Caroline (36:25):
how do people find you and what would they find you to
get help with?
Albert (36:28):
a lot of it is just re rewiring the mindset coming
from, you know, surviving, tothriving and Unlocking any, you
know, blocks or recovery woundsor any blocks that are holding
you back.
So like, kind of like the thesisof my book and my dissertation
or my main point behind it isthat we can sometimes get in our
own way and be our own worstenemy.
(36:52):
And sometimes we are harsh Yeah,definitely.
on ourselves, you know, ratherthan, than what's needed, you
know, rather than other people.
Sometimes we're the ones thatare hard on ourselves.
Caroline (37:05):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Um, I'm big on authentic successand to me, I say authentic
success is however you defineit.
So I.
Albert, how do you defineauthentic success for you in
this moment?
Albert (37:22):
Authentic success means living in the moment and doing
you know, your own thing.
Now, success could be lookeddifferently from everybody else.
And I, don't, you know, a lot oftimes people look at success as
conventional things, having ajob, having income, but I look
at it like, are you living yourdream?
(37:43):
Are you happy?
I.
Are you doing what you love?
Are you doing what you'repassionate about?
That is what we mean byauthenticity.
It's about doing what you wantto do, not because somebody else
wants you to do something or notbecause you think it's the right
thing to do.
What do you want to do and whatmakes you passionate?
(38:08):
every morning,
Caroline (38:12):
Absolutely.
I wholeheartedly, Iwholeheartedly agree.
What advice would you have forsomeone who is struggling right
now or unsure of if what they'redoing is what they really love
to do?
I.
Albert (38:27):
the, the main thing is.
Um, first, you know, I, we wouldexplore what do you want to do,
what do you love?
What, what, what gets you up inthe morning?
Um, and, and what can, how canyou do that?
More of that.
So the first thing would Bereally discovering what you
want.
And again, I, I'm not talkingabout what other people want you
(38:49):
to do, what do you want to do?
And then we would kind of lookat what are your past
achievements?
'cause a lot of times.
When we're in the midst ofstruggling, we delete or we
downplay our achievements.
So it's, it's okay to brag.
It's okay to, you know, I callit like the humble brag.
You can brag about yourself
Caroline (39:12):
Be proud of, of who you are and what you've become.
Yes.
Yes.
Well, definitely.
Well, it has been such a joy tohave had this conversation with
you.
I am so genuinely appreciativeof you sharing this part of
your, your story.
And we'll put some links in theshow notes for anybody that
wants to connect with Albert andbe in touch.
(39:35):
And, uh, really, if you're anactor, you're struggling, you
need to find something great todo, you need to work on your
mindset.
Al is your guy.
So thank you so much Al, forbeing part of your next success.
Albert (39:48):
Thank you so much for having me,
Caroline (39:50):
Al reminds us that the stories we repeat become the
scripts we live.
When we change the language, wechange the identity and the
outcomes follow.
Think better, choose better andcreate your next success.
Al, thank you for sharing yourstory and tools with us.
(40:13):
To connect with Al or grab hishypnosis recordings, visit
albertbramonte.com and followdralbertbramante on Instagram.
And if you enjoyed this episode,make sure to follow rate.
Review the podcast and share itwith someone who needs a boost
today.
Here's to your next success.
What if the biggest barrier to your next role or
your next chapter is your ownmindset?
Dr.
Al Bramante blends psychology,hypnosis, NLP, and decades as a
talent agent to help performersrise above self-sabotage.
This episode is for artists andcareer changers who feel stuck
(00:23):
second guess themselves, or wantpractical ways to rewire their
thinking and move forward.
Dr.
Albert'Al' Bramante, is aveteran talent agent and CEO of
Bramante Artists a psychologyPhD, a professor, a certified
hypnotist, and an NLPpractitioner.
He is the author of Rise Abovethe Script and helps performers
(00:46):
overcome fear, impostersyndrome, and self-defeating
patterns.
Today we trace Al's journey frombook loving kid in a sports
family to psychology scholar9/11 crisis responder, professor
and talent agent, and we diginto the mindset tools he now
uses to help creatives thrive.
(01:08):
In this episode, we cover howearly doubts and labels shaped
Al's drive and how he rewrotethem.
What 9/11 crisis work taught himabout resilience and purpose,
why actors self-sabotage, andthe mindset shifts that unlock
thriving, how hypnosis NLP andidentity language help turn a
(01:33):
struggling artist into athriving artist.
Welcome Al.
I am so thrilled to have you onYour Next Success today.
Thank you for being part of ourshow.
Albert (01:44):
Well thank you so much, Caroline, for having me.
I'm so happy to be here.
Caroline (01:47):
Yes, absolutely.
I'd love to kind of get to knowa little bit about your career
story and how you ended up fromthen to now.
I know of course now you areextremely talented, you help a
lot of actors with their talent.
You are an author, you havehypnosis things, so we are gonna
get to that of how people canwork with you and how you work
(02:10):
now.
But let's dial it back to thebeginning.
Can you tell me a little bitabout your childhood growing up.
And were there any career thingsthat you were interested in at
that time?
Albert (02:23):
Sure.
Well, I was always aninquisitive child and I was
always kind of like the childthat daydreamed a lot and was
very nosy.
And I think that kind of leadnow to where I'm at, in a sense
because, just curious aboutpeople.
I'm just curious about things.
I still daydream a lot too.
I still, meditate and daydreamand all of that.
(02:47):
So I started off, I was a verydifferent type of child in my
family, so I grew up in apredominantly blue collar
family.
As athlete, family.
My brothers, my father were allinto the athletic life.
There were coaches, my oldestbrothers, both of them were like
in football and very active inthat.
(03:09):
Football coaches as well asbeing playing football.
I had no interest.
I was a reader.
I love to read no interest inplaying sports and of course,
naturally being the male in thefamily, they tried to suit me
up.
They tried to, you know, put theball in my hand and bring me out
in the field and all of that,thinking that they were gonna
toughen me up, which goodintentions.
(03:30):
It just wasn't for me.
So I think for me, I was so muchmore into reading and that was a
big thing.
Reading was such an important,it still is, but even as a
child, that was like mysanctuary.
I spent a lot of time in thelibrary.
Whereas, again, remember, myfamily may be on the sports
games or playing sports.
I was in the library.
(03:51):
So during this time I startedreading a lot of books when I
was in high school aboutpsychology, the human mind, one
of my classic books that I readthat got got me into therapy.
The idea of therapy was, aclassic by David Burns called
Feel Good.
And it's kind of like a primernow on cognitive behavioral
(04:11):
therapy when it was first comingout and so I just became very
interested in this.
I was like, this is interestingand exciting, and so I read some
more psychology books and then Ijust decided that I was gonna
major in psychology.
I made a determination by theend of my sophomore year in high
school.
Caroline (04:29):
So your family, your dad, your brothers, they were
very into sports.
How about your mom?
What was that influence?
Did she like reading?
What were her interests?
Albert (04:38):
Her influence.
My mom's influence got be kindof instilled the educator in me.
For 31 years she was a schoolteacher.
So she taught a combination oflike kindergarten and first
grade.
So I think that's where theteacher's side of me comes from,
and also the coach, because likeI said, my father and my older
(04:58):
brother were football coaches.
So I think combining theeducation and the coach kind of
led me to some degree where Itook after my family because
Caroline (05:09):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
That
Albert (05:09):
what instilled that.
But I think my mom encouraged meeven like when I think my dad
started to, when he realizedthat I wasn't gonna be an
athlete or into sports, so theyreally encouraged me to thrive
in school in which I did and theinteresting thing about me was I
really didn't awaken to mypotential of like, what I can do
(05:31):
academically until I was in myjunior year in high school.
So I was always kind of like theB C student.
I never failed anything.
But I was never, like the A's.
Very rarely did I get A's inmiddle school and until I hit my
junior year in high school, itwas just interesting like a
(05:53):
switch just flipped in me.
That I became the B C student tolike the A student overnight.
And
Caroline (06:04):
Oh wow.
Albert (06:05):
Throughout the rest of that time I was just getting
straight A's.
Caroline (06:07):
Were you also involved in any kind of extracurricular
activities throughout yourschool?
What were your interests in thatarea too?
Albert (06:15):
I was involved very much in anything and everything,
especially even in college, butI was like, in high school, they
had the Rotary Club, the KiwanisClub.
I was all involved in that.
The drama club, debate club,future business leaders of
America.
I was in that organization inhigh school and then in college,
(06:36):
I was in different charitableorganizations, different
community services, even thepledged a fraternity.
Caroline (06:43):
Oh wow.
Had you always envisionedcollege as part of your plan,
and what did you choose tomajor?
How did you do that?
Because I think that you endedup adding on.
Albert (06:53):
Of course.
It was always instilled to me togo to college because I was kind
of a pioneer in that aspectbecause my oldest brother didn't
do well in college and then oneof my other brother kind of
dropped out of collegeinitially.
So I was the first in my family,immediate family to go to school
(07:14):
and it was always instilled togo to college.
I mean, that was the one thingmy family really was on and I
didn't necessarily feel likewhen I was first in high school,
I probably didn't think I wasgoing to thrive in college.
It wasn't until, like I said, myjunior year when I switched was
flipped that I was like, reallynow looking forward to college
(07:34):
and not only just college, Iwanted to be a PhD.
That was like junior and highschool onwards.
So I then went to college and Idid well, I mean, I liked it.
And one of the things about likewith classes wise, even like the
latter part of my high schoolyear.
(07:55):
The best teachers and professorsthat I've had were the most
feared
Caroline (08:00):
Yeah.
They're really strong, stern,high expectations, teachers
similarly.
I wanted to do so well for them,you know?
Albert (08:09):
When I look back to, especially there are two
teachers in high school, junioryear, english, and my senior
chemistry teacher.
People told me my senior yearwhen I like, especially with
chemistry, avoid this guy likethe plague.
That, was what was told to me.
This guy's a nightmare.
And then of course, you know,'cause I wanted to go to
(08:29):
college, the news came to me myjunior year when my guidance
counselor sat down and said, Ineed to break it to you, but
you're gonna have to get intochemistry.
Now most people take chemistrytheir junior year.
I took it my senior year, so Iwas like, I gotta do this.
I was terrified because everyonewas telling me to avoid this guy
and there was no way,'cause hewas really the only one that
taught it that year.
(08:50):
So when I got in there, itturned out to be the best class
of my high school studies.
Caroline (09:01):
Oh wow.
Albert (09:02):
I got A's you know, was sometimes the only one and my
entire class that received an Aat the end of every marking
period.
I had so much fun in that classwith chemistry and I almost went
down that route for a majorbecause I was like, this is a
lot of fun.
And I think it's the analyticalpart of my brain, and that's why
(09:24):
I think I was, because I was soattracted and drawn to that
field.
So then when I was in college, Imajored in psychology, minor in
communications.
Each one of those departmentshad the professor you didn't
want to get.
And in both situations I had nochoice.
(09:47):
Let me tell you, it was the bestdecision I've ever made.
Caroline (09:52):
Oh wow.
That's great.
Albert (09:52):
They were amazing.
They really taught me a lot.
I channel a lot of them, even tothis day.
Yes, the classes weren't easyand by a long shot.
However, it was so enriching,those are like my highlights of
my college years was thoseprofessors and I took more
(10:15):
classes with them towards theend too, when I was doing my end
of my year.
Caroline (10:20):
What do you think was different for others having, you
know, maybe not so positiveexperiences and not enjoying it.
What do you think was differentfrom you versus them, your
experience with these toughprofessors versus the others?
Albert (10:34):
I think because I had high standards for myself
towards the end, that I waslike, okay, this is what's, and
I wasn't looking for the easy Abecause consequently, I also
took classes where people weretelling me.
This is the best professoryou're gonna have.
And I thought I really wasn'timpressed either.
Caroline (10:51):
Okay.
Okay.
Albert (10:52):
I then started to get, well, maybe I should do the
opposite or what people tell mewhat to do.
And I think that's what reallystood out for me.
Plus, I learned so much in thoseclasses.
I cannot tell you how
Caroline (11:05):
Yes.
Albert (11:05):
much information I learned when I was challenged.
And of course, you know, all oftheir research will tell you
about learning is when you're.
You learn the most when you'rechallenged.
I thrive, but I just always havethe mentality where it's like,
was I scared a little bit, but Ikind of looked at mentality
where look, I'm here and this is
Caroline (11:28):
Yeah.
Albert (11:29):
the best.
So, even now that I teach, Ieven encourage my students to
run to those classes that peopleare telling you to avoid?
'Cause I work a lot with nursingmajors and one of the classes
that they're told to avoid likea plague is anatomy and
physiology, you know.
Caroline (11:49):
I think I'd want nurses that do well in that.
Albert (11:52):
I would too, but I think the reason why are running away
from that is because theprofessor is very, very tough
supposedly
Caroline (11:59):
Okay.
Albert (11:59):
And very, you know, has a high kind of like failure rate
and I kind of say, well, here'san alternative explanation to
it.
If I'm gonna go to a nurse, Iwould want them to be working
really hard.
I'd want them to be in that hardanatomy class.
Caroline (12:14):
If they can get past that, they can take care of me.
Albert (12:17):
Of course.
And so that's like if I were togo back, I probably would be
running to that class myself andI'm gonna take it just because I
know I'm gonna learn.
So I think this is where a lotof that comes in.
I think just the hard work andperseverance comes in because
not only did I learn a lot, butI got along so great with these
professors
Caroline (12:38):
Now you mentioned you knew you wanted to get a PhD.
Did you know anybody that had aPhD, or how did you even think
that was possible?
Albert (12:48):
Well I mean, just from the learning stuff, obviously,
when I was in high school, withthe exception of maybe like a, a
supervisor of a department.
Very rarely was anybody a doc,at least in a high school or
secondary school.
but I think just the idea ofhaving a doctor by my name,
would be excellent.
Caroline (13:06):
Yeah.
Albert (13:06):
and I did as, as a kid, uh, flirt with the idea of being
a doctor.
And even my, when my grandmotherwas alive, she was like I wish,
You know, and she told me shewas nothing in the world for me,
but to become a doctor.
Now.
Caroline (13:20):
But you achieved that.
Just maybe not
Albert (13:22):
in
Caroline (13:23):
what she thought,
Albert (13:23):
in
Caroline (13:24):
you know?
Albert (13:24):
I,
Caroline (13:24):
Yeah.
Albert (13:25):
I think she would still be proud.
I know that to this day,'cause Istill have Dr, know, name,
surname, but
Caroline (13:32):
Yeah.
Albert (13:33):
the thing that I, I think it was just about
achievement and, and I wasreally trying to improve a lot.
So, one thing I want to kind ofgo back to, I was born with a
lot of health challenges andinitially because I was a
premature baby.
I had a lot breathing problems
Caroline (13:47):
Oh.
Albert (13:47):
as an infant, a newborn.
So one of my pediatricians hadpulled my parents aside and
said, we need to have a hardconversation with you.
your son is not rarely gonnapass the mentality of a
10-year-old,
Caroline (14:03):
Oh wow.
Albert (14:04):
so you need to be prepared for that.
Yeah.
And of course thankfully myparents didn't listen.
I'm glad
Caroline (14:11):
Yeah.
Albert (14:12):
they didn't, and I thanked them to this day for not
listening, and I even had,teachers would sometimes tell my
parents look like don't expectmuch from Albert.
Wow.
And again,
Caroline (14:23):
And they refused to believe it, and you refused to
believe it.
And did you use that, uh,disbelief of, of others in your
capabilities?
Did you use that as like, fueland fire or, or just ignored it?
Albert (14:36):
Um, I kind of both.
I,
Caroline (14:40):
Okay.
Albert (14:40):
I, I, I somewhat ignored it.
Um, not necessarily think aboutapplying it towards the end.
Now, of course, I'm just like,yes.
definitely.
Now here I am.
and,
Caroline (14:55):
Yeah.
You can do anything.
Albert (14:56):
Prove these people wrong, not from an anger
standpoint, because I look at itlike in hindsight, and now as a
professional myself, this wasagain, the early eighties, so
that we didn't know too muchabout neuroplasticity and the
brain and the
Caroline (15:13):
Yes,
Albert (15:14):
yes.
So I could have been quiteshowing signs of delayed
development or developmentalchallenges that might have
looked irreversible at the time.
So I think that's where, like Idon't hold any malice or any ill
will towards the pediatricianstold my parents that.
(15:34):
I could have easily been shownsigns of that, and even with my
teachers I was a little slow,you know, developmentally,
compared to my peers at leastphysically.
So on the surface it could haveshown that my results weren't so
good.
But one of my significantturning points and really didn't
hit me till a couple yearslater.
(15:55):
The first week of my seventhgrade studies, my English
teacher had called my parentsand all my teachers in for a
meeting.
Caroline (16:04):
Oh.
Albert (16:04):
And of course they didn't, the teacher didn't tell
me what the meeting was for, soI found this out later and that
was because they didn't thinkthat I was gonna be equipped to
handle a regular classroom, thatI should be in a self-contained
classroom.
And my parents really had torestrain themselves from like
cursing this teacher out andwalking out on her.
(16:28):
And so of course they pulled meout of her English class.
They put me in the other Englishclass and, that same year when
we took the placement test forthe next grade, I placed it to
the honors section the nextyear.
Caroline (16:42):
Hmm.
Albert (16:43):
So that was kind of like my way of proving this teacher
wrong.
Caroline (16:47):
And your parents knew you.
They saw greatness in you.
They believed in the bestpossibilities.
And yeah.
Interesting.
'cause maybe she was trying tohelp or maybe she was just,
it's, because now I feel likeyeah, some of that, helping
children to get the educationalneeds that meet them, to help
them overcome.
(17:08):
I, I get that.
But for her to just be like, wegotta, back when you grew up and
I grew up, it wasn't as helpfulas now with like 504 plans and
individual education plans andactually supporting students.
Then it was like, yeah, therewas this whole other classroom
of kids that I didn't understandwhy they weren't sitting with
us, you know?
Albert (17:25):
and nowadays
Caroline (17:26):
Yeah.
Albert (17:27):
I mean, we did have IEPs.
I did have the IEP for a couplenumber of years in school.
Now of course, that teacher wasfired a couple years later.
Caroline (17:38):
Maybe she just didn't wanna work, Who knows?
Yeah.
Albert (17:40):
know, that's not, but I look at that now, now that was
motivation for me, I kind of usethat as a motivation.
I go, yeah, I'm gonna prove youwrong.
Caroline (17:49):
Hmm.
Albert (17:49):
that's what I did.
And At the time I didn'tconsciously I was only 12, 13,
so I really didn't have thatinsight yet.
And then when I was in highschool, I think just again,
something just flipped a switchwhere I was like, okay, you know
what?
I can do this.
And then, my senior year I tookAP honors classes and you know,
received A's in those.
So that's when I knew like, Ican do college.
Caroline (18:10):
And when did this?
Did was your junior year whenyou were introduced to the
psychology class, or which yeardid that fall in?
Albert (18:18):
Now, I didn't take any psychology classes in col in
high school.
They didn't offer them,
Caroline (18:22):
Oh wow.
Albert (18:23):
I,
Caroline (18:23):
Oh, but but how did you know you wanted it to?
You were interested.
Albert (18:27):
I was reading and I read the book David Burns, you know,
so it was like
Caroline (18:31):
yes.
Albert (18:32):
And then of course I was reading other psych books
Caroline (18:35):
in,
Albert (18:35):
in the library.
This has became something veryinteresting to me.
Plus I was also in like a peermentoring group after school,
like confidential and that
Caroline (18:45):
Very cool.
Albert (18:46):
Really got me into it, into, um, Oh wow.
working with other people and, Ihave been doing ever since, and
I think because my idols in highschool were other academics, I
was not like other kids, so Iwas like very much into the
academic.
and so that's why I think reallyI was so bent on becoming
(19:07):
getting a PhD and, and I'm gladI did it.
One of my proudest moments in mylife was walking on that stage
in my robe getting,
Caroline (19:17):
Yeah,
Albert (19:18):
you know, getting an honor.
absolutely.
And what did you study?
What was your dissertationfocus.
So my dissertation, because Ialso work with actors, was on
self-defeating behavior inperforming artists.
Caroline (19:31):
Okay.
How did you choose that?
Albert (19:33):
So I chose that because after I received my master's
degree, I kind of got back intouch with the creative side of
me, you know?
Did take some acting classes incollege and I was in a drama
club, and
Caroline (19:45):
Nice.
Albert (19:46):
I kind of pursued a little bit of acting myself, but
I realized I loved working withcreatives more so than other
academics.
It was like, I feel more alignedwith actors.
Caroline (19:59):
Okay, and then help me understand the influence of,
around the time you're gettingyour master's degree and, maybe
doing some of your PhD work, but9/11 happened, so what was the
influence on being in that area
Albert (20:16):
I, I,
Caroline (20:17):
9/11 and this psychology interest?
Yeah.
Albert (20:21):
I, I, I.
You know, first of all, my heartgoes out.
That should never have happened.
But at the same time, it alsolaunched where everything that I
started doing, I still think Iwould've been in the same place,
but, that kind of catapultedeverything, because after 9/11 I
got recruited to help do somecrisis intervention counseling
(20:42):
for people I knew.
so I started doing that and thenI started meeting other actors.
And then I landed my first jobfor like, American Red Cross,
which I worked in socialservices for for a little while.
Then I moved on to the MentalHealth Association in New York
City.
I did that for a year.
It was a grant funded 9/11position doing crisis
(21:04):
intervention.
And then I, you know, was laidoff'cause the grant ended on
that one.
So I, I had to look for anotherjob.
I consequently got hired to beadjunct professor at the time,
at a community college'causethey were so impressed with my
work around 9/11 that they hiredme to teach you know, some
(21:26):
introductory classes at thiscommunity college.
I wound up staying there for 10years and it had a huge impact
on my life.
Caroline (21:35):
how did you handle regaining your energy while
spending your days or asignificant part of your day
trying to help others cope with9/11 and the after effects?
How did you recover so that itdidn't take a toll on your
(21:55):
mental health?
Albert (21:56):
I did a little bit.
Uh, not, not gonna lie.
I mean, when I worked for theMental Health Association of New
York City, they really took goodcare of us.
they gave us like a generousvacation like four weeks out of
the year, which is consideredrare, you know, in most cases.
And they also had at least, oncea week.
it was mandatory that we go anddo some group, counseling, which
(22:16):
I thought was brilliant
Caroline (22:18):
Oh wow.
Albert (22:19):
you know, now looking back.
Caroline (22:20):
Yeah.
Albert (22:21):
it was
Caroline (22:22):
Yes,
Albert (22:23):
you know, just doing self care plus, you know, now I
also had my interest in acting.
So I think that kind of balanced
Caroline (22:28):
yes.
Albert (22:29):
it out to where I could focus on so many other things
when I wasn't at the job.
Caroline (22:36):
you.
Albert (22:37):
because there were times were some certain things that
would tug at my, theheartstrings, you know, mean
you're dealing with people insuch immense throws of grief and
trauma.
So but what kept me grounded wasthe self care, the acting.
And I realized after about ayear or two that I really don't
(22:57):
have the interest or the passionfor being a performer, or the
discipline that was reallyrequired.
Looking back in hindsight, But Ididn't wanna leave completely
because I love actors.
So that's where I kind oftransitioned to supporting them.
and then that went torepresenting them.
So 2004, I started my firstcompany.
(23:19):
in 2005, I was like, I want togo back for a PhD.
I'm halfway there.
Now in 2001 before 9/11 that'swhen I graduated with my
master's.
I had applied to four PhDprograms locally.
I underestimated how,competitive PhD programs are.
(23:43):
So even though I had a very highGPA, and letters of
recommendation.
I had research experience.
I didn't get into those fourprograms.
So now I was kind of facing myown little identity crisis,
because this is my first time in24 years that September was
gonna roll around and I wasn'tgonna be in school.
I was 24 at the time.
Caroline (24:04):
Oh, interesting.
That's so interesting becausewhat you wanted, and your plan
would've been starting your PhDin September, however you
didn't, so you were working, butthen that made you available to
be supporting these peoplethrough 9/11.
Albert (24:23):
Yes.
Caroline (24:24):
Wow.
It's like, it's like, you know,God's plan or universe's plan,
whatever somebody wants to say,but like.
Albert (24:30):
totally,
Caroline (24:31):
That p plan is, is different and better.
Like, you know, even when wehave a challenge or something,
it ends up being in hindsight,oh, I'm so glad that happened.
And, you know, not that anybodycould say, I'm glad 9/11
happened, but I'm glad 9/11happened because it helped your
ability to fuel this passion andand get this, this work.
(24:52):
Wow, that's interesting.
Albert (24:54):
100% and I think it just kind of like was a domino
effect.
Caroline (24:59):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Really setting things in motionfor who you became and who you
are, now.
Okay, so then you reapplied thenin this like before 2005 and
then got in, and then, but nowyou had been working, did you
stay working while also gettingyour PhD or did you,
Albert (25:18):
I sure did.
Caroline (25:19):
that work?
Oh wow.
Yeah.
Albert (25:22):
Uh, like full transparency, the PhD program
that I was in was online, so
Caroline (25:28):
Okay.
Okay.
Albert (25:29):
that made things tremendously easier.
Caroline (25:31):
But still a lot of work.
Albert (25:33):
no doubt.
and I'll be the first to tellyou that if anybody thinks that
online education is easier,you're gonna be mistaken on that
one.
I think it was even sometimeseven more challenging than.
like a brick and mortarface-to-face program would've
been
Caroline (25:48):
Absolutely.
Even in 2005, because it wasn'tlike the world wasn't
necessarily as set up for thesevirtual interactions as now, and
so,
Albert (25:57):
yeah.
I mean, looking back inhindsight, we had no virtual
direction.
Everything was on your own time.
You, you know, it was all dis,
Caroline (26:06):
Oh, wow.
Isolated
Albert (26:08):
very
Caroline (26:08):
a little.
Albert (26:09):
discussion boards, papers.
And very little.
interaction with professors.
Very little.
Caroline (26:15):
Oh, and even the support of other students.
So that was a,
Albert (26:19):
just email
Caroline (26:20):
really had to want it.
Yeah.
Wow.
It took a lot
Albert (26:23):
of discipline and I had to struggle with that in the
beginning.
and I'm very disciplined
Caroline (26:27):
Hmm.
Albert (26:27):
but at that time was like really a struggle because
you have to keep your ownschedule.
There's nobody there over yourshoulder reminding you
Caroline (26:36):
Yeah.
Albert (26:36):
at least when you're in class, you're, you're going, no.
So I had those challengingissues.
Now the interesting thing withthat, um, with learning to
balance both was a challenge'cause I was teaching, starting
my company and working withactors.
So one thing I noticed when Istarted working with actors and
(26:58):
even when I was teaching, therewas a lot of self-sabotage
happening.
Caroline (27:06):
Okay,
Albert (27:07):
and that's what led me
Caroline (27:08):
but you recognized it or, or now looking back, you
realize it,
Albert (27:13):
I, I may not have
Caroline (27:14):
okay.
Albert (27:14):
you know exactly what I would refer
Caroline (27:16):
Yeah.
Albert (27:16):
now, but I was noticing things were just like confusing
the heck outta me.
Like, why are, are so manyactors telling me that they
wanna work?
And yet their actions weretelling me so many things and
why were so many students justgiving up without even putting a
fight into their education.
So I was like, this issomething, A good idea to study
(27:37):
for my PhD,
Caroline (27:38):
Yes.
Albert (27:39):
dissertation.
Now, I was initially going infor clinical psychology there
were a couple of challengesthere.
Now this is back in early to midtwo thousands.
So online education wasn'texactly viewed as it is today,
and part of to get a clinicalPhD, what we have to do is a 750
(28:01):
hour practicum followed by a2000 hour internship.
there was
Caroline (28:06):
no way I
Albert (28:07):
had time for any of that.
I would have to give up Yeah.
Yeah.
Caroline (28:12):
my job and
Albert (28:13):
my business if I was gonna do that.
So that was obstacle number oneand obstacle number two, because
it wasn't taken seriously.
I was kind of almost gettinglaughed at when I was going to
the in internship interviews.
Maybe not explicitly but I couldtell implicitly like, you're an
online.
Caroline (28:31):
Like they didn't respect the online part of it.
They maybe thought it was a jokeand in reality it was a lot of
hard work
Albert (28:37):
and I was literally told like several times, you know, we
are giving preference to peoplein, uh, a traditional PhD
program.
And I'm, I'm wow.
So what am I supposed to do?
And then right around this time,I, I, there's an opening at my
college.
I was an adjunct for severalyears at this.
(28:58):
previous college I taught at,There was now an opening for a
full-timer,
Caroline (29:03):
Oh wow.
Yeah.
Albert (29:05):
three openings actually.
So, three people in mydepartment had retired.
So I put my application in and Igot the job.
So now I'm at a crossroadswhere.
Okay, how am I gonna do afull-time job and a full-time
internship?
First of all, I can't even finda
Caroline (29:21):
Yeah.
Albert (29:22):
So I came to the kind of decision, which is thankfully
did it now, where it's like, I'mgonna switch out of clinical
Okay.
I'm now gonna just get theeducation and research, you
know, component.
'cause I wasn't, I was aneducator, so all I needed to do
was like take three other extraclasses and just put in my
dissertation.
I said, I'm gonna just do that.
Caroline (29:43):
Yeah, it's a win.
Albert (29:44):
It's win.
major win and I'm done.
So that's what I did.
So I'm a clinical, I considermyself a clinical psychologist
by training, not by practice.
Um,
Caroline (29:54):
Got you.
Albert (29:55):
so, and it's the best thing I've ever done.
Like I said, everything worksout for a reason.
I mean, that's a, I am a, I willspeak that from the rooftops
now.
Yeah, in hindsight, right, it'slike, it's like I know looking
back everything that happened,I'm so glad it happened that
way.
But looking forward, I stillstruggle with trusting that it's
(30:17):
gonna be okay when I look backlater, right?
Because I'm just like, how doesit make sense?
Like I know, thank you forsetting this up and that up and
that up and that, and I'm glad Igot laid off because of this,
and I'm glad I did this becauseof that.
And yet.
I wanna get to the point where Ihave that same forward thinking
trust like.
I know it's gonna be awesome.
So God is in control ofeverything and everything is
(30:37):
good sometimes working on it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
Okay, so you get your PhD andyou have learned how to be
disciplined enough to have afull-time job and had gotten the
PhD and you have your ownbusinesses also.
So I guess that,
Caroline (30:57):
uh,
Albert (30:57):
discipline was great for entrepreneurship as well, and
you.
Help actors.
And so how does that bring us towhat, I guess, when did the
whole,
Caroline (31:07):
um,
Albert (31:08):
neurolinguistic programming, NOP kind of
interest and hypnosis, where didthat fit in to your timeline?
I think a lot of it, I.
um, started to transpired whenI.
knew that clinical psych wasn'tgonna be really in the cards for
(31:28):
me anymore.
Okay, I was, I
Caroline (31:32):
and explain what, what NLP is for those that that don't
know.
Albert (31:36):
It's neurolinguistic programming.
It's more of a system of the useof, of like optimizing your
yourself by using language andusing other tools, like other
psychological tools to.
You know, rewire your nervoussystem.
You know, like coming from acomputer standpoint, like
(31:57):
reprogramming your brain,reprograming your mind.
And it, and what's theinteresting thing about NLP is
it does utilize, it started outof like, you know.
Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson,um, you know, Fritz Pearls who
are icons in the psychologymovement.
(32:19):
And so there's an applicationYeah.
of, you know, psychology there.
And I think what, what really Iliked about, I, I became, I
didn't really notice I wasinterested in NLP.
I didn't realize until, likelooking back in hindsight,'cause
high sch in, well not in highschool when I was going for my
(32:40):
master's degree, I took someclasses in marriage and family
therapy.
And the models that we weretaught were solution-focused
counseling, which a very quick,brief And unconventional
therapies, which was VirginiaSatir or work of Virginia Satir
Milton Erickson, who even thoughthey may, they may not consider
(33:03):
themselves NLP practitioners,they started, they, their work
led to the discovery of NLP.
And so I think I knew that Iwanted to this type of work
beforehand because it's veryquick, it's very solution
focused rather than years oftherapy.
Caroline (33:23):
And so how do you incorporate that now as you work
with actors?
Find talent and support them?
Albert (33:31):
I think just re helping rewire the mindset, so like.
know, coming from the place ofself-doubt and self-sabotage,
which often comes in there, um,Changing your identity as an
actor, you know what, um, ratherthan, you know, referring to
yourself as a struggling orstarving artist it's all about,
(33:54):
about as a thriving artist, and,and, the language that we use
and, and the identity that weuse.
And refer to ourselves as itmakes a huge deal.
and I think even going back incollege, if I looked at myself
as just the average C student, Idon't know if I would've
achieved what I did.
(34:15):
certainly wouldn't have made mean honor student, you know, if I
didn't believe that and didn'ttake that identity into, into
play.
So I think that's sort of likewhere I, that comes into.
So.
It's more rapid and it's more,um, again, uh, solution focused.
(34:36):
So,
Caroline (34:37):
I see.
Albert (34:39):
And that's what kind of led me down that route in a
sense.
Caroline (34:44):
And you've written a book.
Uh, I think it's rise above thescript.
Is that what, so does that givemore insight or tell us what
rise above the script is about?
Albert (34:55):
So it.
Kind of is based, loosely basedout of my, um, doctoral
dissertation work.
Oh.
And, and so I did, you know,again, like I said, I did the
doctoral dissertation, um, onRise above the script and, you
know, which was again dealingwith self, uh, self-sabotage.
(35:19):
And so what book kind of deals,first of all, it's kind of like
my way of making the.
Work that I did for my PhD intoa more relatable format, you
that, you know, can, again, canmake people, uh, really, you
know, identify with it ratherthan just looking at the PhD as
(35:41):
being very technical.
So I wanted to take Yeah.
results that I found and kind ofput it in a readable format and
kind of, so I, I utilize bothresearch and my own experiences
In the book, uh, like evenperformance, I looked at, you
know, I, I discussed personalityfactors, how, you know,
(36:02):
conscientiousness is extremelyimportant.
You know, how, know, the companywe keep is very important.
Yeah.
So how do you work with peoplenow, aside from still being a
professor and teaching?
(36:22):
How do you.
Serve people or
Caroline (36:25):
how do people find you and what would they find you to
get help with?
Albert (36:28):
a lot of it is just re rewiring the mindset coming
from, you know, surviving, tothriving and Unlocking any, you
know, blocks or recovery woundsor any blocks that are holding
you back.
So like, kind of like the thesisof my book and my dissertation
or my main point behind it isthat we can sometimes get in our
own way and be our own worstenemy.
(36:52):
And sometimes we are harsh Yeah,definitely.
on ourselves, you know, ratherthan, than what's needed, you
know, rather than other people.
Sometimes we're the ones thatare hard on ourselves.
Caroline (37:05):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Um, I'm big on authentic successand to me, I say authentic
success is however you defineit.
So I.
Albert, how do you defineauthentic success for you in
this moment?
Albert (37:22):
Authentic success means living in the moment and doing
you know, your own thing.
Now, success could be lookeddifferently from everybody else.
And I, don't, you know, a lot oftimes people look at success as
conventional things, having ajob, having income, but I look
at it like, are you living yourdream?
(37:43):
Are you happy?
I.
Are you doing what you love?
Are you doing what you'repassionate about?
That is what we mean byauthenticity.
It's about doing what you wantto do, not because somebody else
wants you to do something or notbecause you think it's the right
thing to do.
What do you want to do and whatmakes you passionate?
(38:08):
every morning,
Caroline (38:12):
Absolutely.
I wholeheartedly, Iwholeheartedly agree.
What advice would you have forsomeone who is struggling right
now or unsure of if what they'redoing is what they really love
to do?
I.
Albert (38:27):
the, the main thing is.
Um, first, you know, I, we wouldexplore what do you want to do,
what do you love?
What, what, what gets you up inthe morning?
Um, and, and what can, how canyou do that?
More of that.
So the first thing would Bereally discovering what you
want.
And again, I, I'm not talkingabout what other people want you
(38:49):
to do, what do you want to do?
And then we would kind of lookat what are your past
achievements?
'cause a lot of times.
When we're in the midst ofstruggling, we delete or we
downplay our achievements.
So it's, it's okay to brag.
It's okay to, you know, I callit like the humble brag.
You can brag about yourself
Caroline (39:12):
Be proud of, of who you are and what you've become.
Yes.
Yes.
Well, definitely.
Well, it has been such a joy tohave had this conversation with
you.
I am so genuinely appreciativeof you sharing this part of
your, your story.
And we'll put some links in theshow notes for anybody that
wants to connect with Albert andbe in touch.
(39:35):
And, uh, really, if you're anactor, you're struggling, you
need to find something great todo, you need to work on your
mindset.
Al is your guy.
So thank you so much Al, forbeing part of your next success.
Albert (39:48):
Thank you so much for having me,
Caroline (39:50):
Al reminds us that the stories we repeat become the
scripts we live.
When we change the language, wechange the identity and the
outcomes follow.
Think better, choose better andcreate your next success.
Al, thank you for sharing yourstory and tools with us.
(40:13):
To connect with Al or grab hishypnosis recordings, visit
albertbramonte.com and followdralbertbramante on Instagram.
And if you enjoyed this episode,make sure to follow rate.
Review the podcast and share itwith someone who needs a boost
today.
Here's to your next success.
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