March 11, 2025 • 36 mins
Laura Wachtel talks about how improv can make life—and work—better.
The principles of improv—like saying ‘yes, and,’ thinking on your feet, and embracing the unexpected—can transform how you communicate, lead, and handle challenges.
Laura is the owner of Zipline Improv, where she’s bringing improv out of the theater and into the real world—helping individuals, businesses, schools, and communities use play to sharpen listening, build connection, and get out of their heads.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I wish I'd discovered improv younger.
You know, I didn't discover ittill my thirties.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to how I Built my Small Business.
I'm Anne McGinty, and todaywe're talking with Laura Wachtel
about how improv can make lifeand work better.
The principles of improv, likesaying yes and thinking on your
feet and embracing theunexpected, can transform how
(00:32):
you communicate, lead and handlechallenges.
Laura is the owner of ZiplineImprov, where she's bringing
improv out of the theater andinto the real world, helping
individuals, businesses, schoolsand communities use play to
sharpen listening, buildconnection and get out of their
(00:53):
heads.
You can find a link through toher business in the episode's
description.
Laura, thanks for coming on theshow.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Thanks, anne, happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
So tell us, how did you first get?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
into improv, oh my goodness.
Okay.
So I was honestly a super shyand self-conscious person most
of my life and I started animprov class because a friend of
mine did it and the way shetalked about it.
I didn't want to do it but Ihad the sense that I should do
it, Like there was somethingthere I had to explore.
(01:31):
So that was almost 20 years agoand I went and it was just so
hard to do but it was so muchfun and, to be honest, it was
hard for me for a while becauseI was a very like perfectionist
and a lot of improv is you haveto get through that.
So it was a it was a little bitof a haul for me, but I stuck
(01:53):
with it and it totally changedmy life and I totally stopped
being shy and self-conscious.
It was super, super freeing.
So here I am, 20 years later.
It was super, super freeing.
So here I am, 20 years later.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
What about it makes it fun.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Well, there's a lot of things.
One is you're connecting withother people who are in your
position.
Like everybody's a littlenervous in the beginning because
we don't know what to expect.
And there's also thismisconception that improv is
about being the funniest,quickest, cleverest, most
outgoing person in the room.
And it's not.
There are improv styles thatpeople do that, but I trained at
(02:34):
BATS Improv in San Franciscoand I teach sort of that lineage
, if you will, which is improvis about teamwork.
It's about listening andresponding and allowing the
funny to come naturally withoutforcing it.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
When you say it is about teamwork.
Can you explain that further?
Like how exactly is teamwork apart of improv?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, so it's.
If it were one person, it wouldbasically be standup, right,
but with more than one person,what we have to do is build our
stories together.
So in order to do that, we haveto be open to one another.
We have to listen carefully sothat we can respond to what
they're saying.
We have to be willing to dropour own agenda, our own stories,
(03:26):
if things aren't going in thatdirection.
We have to be willing to bepresent in the moment with our
partners and be like oh, this ishappening.
Okay, I'm gonna add to that,I'm gonna build onto that, can
you?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
describe a little bit more and demystify the
experience for anyone who'slistening in.
For example, with me.
Yesterday was the first timethat I've ever participated in
an improv class and it was withyou for anyone that's listening,
and people would describe it tome before going.
(04:00):
And yet I still had all of thisnervousness and anxiety for
what to expect.
But when I got there and westarted doing the different
games and loosening up a bit, Ialso realized, like how much fun
it was and what the benefit wasof it.
So can you demystify that forlisteners?
(04:21):
Make them feel like they'rethere without being there?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
I understand what you're saying.
It's really people are, we'reafraid of being on the spot,
which I totally get, and becausethat was me as well, I teach,
knowing that, to be true, I'vetaught improv for introverts,
for instance.
So basically a huge part of itis demonstrating that we can all
(04:47):
just be silly together andlaugh and, above all, permission
to make mistakes.
And in fact a lot of the games,the warmups and exercises we do
are designed so that we can'teasily get it right, so that we
can practice just water off aduck's back or whatever, and
we're not putting people in themiddle of the room and saying,
(05:10):
okay, now be a cowboy orwhatever.
We're all playing together.
So it's an experiential thingof being in the soup together
and I had a student tell me onetime it's not that I'm not
uncomfortable, but now I'm morecomfortable with being
uncomfortable.
So it very quickly builds thesort of sense of things being
(05:36):
okay, self-confidence starts tobuild and people really bond
because they're in it together.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
And in your personal experience since you were shy,
you said to start, and nowyou're doing improv as a career.
What was that path like for you, the journey?
When did you start to open upand feel relaxed in that kind of
an environment, and what was itthat made you feel like that,
feel relaxed in that kind?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
of an environment.
And what was it that made youfeel like that?
Yeah Well, it took me severalyears to be willing to perform.
You know, when I started I waslike I'm doing this for me, I'm
never going to perform, I'mnever going to teach.
And one of my teachers realmentor, really Rafe Chase from
(06:27):
Bats Improv, he invited me to doa student show with him, with
some other students, and so thatwas a few years in and I did
that and it was scary andexhilarating and all that stuff.
But from then on I just keptperforming, little by little and
I was still just scared for along time.
But when you do anythingrepeatedly, you start to get
used to it, and I think thatthing happened to me where I
(06:48):
just got more comfortable withbeing uncomfortable because
nothing bad ever happened, Right, and you just build this muscle
of of trust in yourself andyour fellow players.
The teaching took longer.
When I moved back to SonomaCounty from San Francisco, I was
further away from my improvcommunity, so it was actually a
(07:13):
friend of my dad kept nudging meto teach a class.
I want to take a class, teach aclass.
And I was finally like, okay,fine, I'll teach a class and
from there people just keptcoming.
So it was sort of an accidentalbusiness.
I just I started it by request.
(07:34):
I didn't know it was going tokeep going and in the beginning
it sort of ebbed and flowed.
Some people would stay and keeptaking classes, other some
people would leave and then morepeople would come, and then
people just started staying andI had to add another class and
then I had to another, addanother class and another class,
(07:54):
and so now I have a bunch ofclasses.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Who would you say that improv is really for?
Like?
What kind of person out therecan benefit from taking improv?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So it feels kind of corny to say this, but improv is
honestly for everybody.
So you have people who areinterested in improv or
interested in performing, andthat's one set.
Then there's people who arecurious because they hear a lot
about improv and so they want tocheck it out, and then they get
(08:30):
addicted.
And then there's people who are, you know, like the me people
who have heard about sort of thelife tools that improv can help
with, like building confidence,public speaking, all kinds of
people who come just to sort ofexplore themselves and what
(08:51):
their possibilities are and whatimprov might do for them.
So I might have a class mixedwith all these kinds of people
and because there's an elementof starting to get comfortable
and okay with making mistakesand trying things.
And you know, we do this thingwhere if we make mistakes we go
(09:13):
woohoo and move on, which youlearned yesterday, and it feels
silly to do it first, and thenafter a while it just becomes
really natural.
We just say woohoo and we moveon, and we move on and we move
on, and so we're building thismuscle of accepting ourselves
however we show up.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I can definitely say that even going and attending
felt like I was expanding mycomfort zone.
And then, being there, you know, my friend walked in and she
just started laughing becauseshe could see the anxiety coming
off of me, which isn'tsomething that she normally sees
, and she just thought that washilarious.
If anyone is listening in,they're like I just don't think
(09:52):
that improv is for me.
I don't know.
They feel skeptical or overlyshy.
What would you say to them?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
First of all, I know what that's like, and trust
yourself, you've all got it inyou.
And we're not throwing peopleup on stage to do scenes, right,
we're doing games that relax usand get into it and you start
laughing and that becomescontagious and you start
laughing more.
And it's so interesting becauseI just I can remember that
(10:22):
feeling of dread and like neverin a million years, I mean, if I
had a dollar for every timesomeone said I could never do
that.
I can remember that feeling ofdread and like never in a
million years, I mean, if I hada dollar for every time someone
said I could never do that, Iwould be retired and wealthy,
except that I wouldn't.
Because I love teaching improv.
But you will really besurprised.
It's a very rare person whodoesn't enjoy it and we never
(10:42):
know till we try.
It's not what people think, itis.
What people think it is is whatI do with my colleagues on
stage, right.
So we're performing, we'regetting suggestions from the
audience, we're doing shortscenes, we're doing what we call
long form, full length,improvised plays and stuff like
that.
So that is not what beginningstudents are doing.
(11:04):
Beginning students are playingtogether.
It's like having a little gamenight with friends is what it is
.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I think it would be a really fun event or party to
have this facilitated with agroup of friends.
I just can imagine how funny itwould get and how quickly.
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, what I thought wassuper interesting was when you
had us go around and tell thestory of our names.
Yeah, because there were, Idon't know, maybe about a dozen
(11:32):
of us or something, and so we'reeach given what 30 seconds or a
minute to just say what ourname is, but then to say
something that will give contextto everybody else in the circle
.
And after we did that, Iremembered every single person's
name.
But in a normal setting, if Iwere to meet 12 people and just
(11:52):
get their names, I don't think Iwould remember necessarily.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Isn't that funny.
That's one of my favorites.
We can learn so much about eachother from just our names and
the story we choose to tellabout it.
The story we choose to tellabout it, you know it could be
the literal meaning of the nameor a nickname that you were
called instead, or something youdidn't like about your name
growing up, or whatever.
And you're right.
(12:18):
It does just sort of solidifiesthat person for us right away.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, and I think it deepens the connection a little
bit.
There is something about thestory that maybe takes that
pressure off of needing toremember the name.
There is something about thestory that maybe takes that
pressure off of needing toremember the name, because now
you have the story to helpsupport that.
But most of the people who arelistening in have probably never
done improv.
I imagine know it.
From whose line is it anyway?
But that's not what we'retalking about.
(12:45):
So how would you describe thecore principles of what you're
hoping people who come to yourclass take away?
Speaker 1 (12:52):
The core principles of improv as anyone who does
know a little about improv knowsis the phrase yes and so yes,
and whether an improv or life,is like such a game changer.
Because in improv what it meansis somebody says something to
us, which is what we call makingan offer.
(13:12):
Anything that somebody does ismaking an offer to us and we say
yes to it, and then we make anoffer back.
So we might just say yes, whichis great, but if we make an
offer back, then we're notputting the onus of the work on
our partner, we're giving themsomething to work with as well.
So anybody can take any toolsfrom improv and apply them to
(13:38):
their life in some way oranother.
Getting on board with oneanother is another thing.
So saying yes it doesn't meanwe say yes.
If somebody says so saying yesit doesn't mean we say yes.
If somebody says go walk infront of that bus, right, it's
like yes and I will die.
It's not about that.
It's about sort of a culture ofyes and hearing one another and
(13:59):
responding to one another.
There are very practicalreasons in life of being open to
things.
Really listening and respondingback and giving something back
is a real core heart of improvand what I said earlier letting
go of our agenda.
(14:20):
So I might have a really strongidea about something, but at
improv I need to hear whatyou're offering as well and not
push my agenda.
So together, if we're bothdoing that, we find the path to
the story and I think in life orwork, you can use these tools
(14:44):
to find your way in whateverprocess you're dealing with.
How?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
What do you?
Speaker 1 (14:49):
mean by that?
Well, so say, I'm doing acorporate training and one of
the issues of the team I'mworking with is a reluctance to
take risks.
You know they're afraid ofgetting shut down.
You know, obviously one improvsession isn't going to fix the
issue, but you can plant seeds.
(15:11):
So in that case, maybe theculture for the leaders who are
shutting down ideas to bewilling to listen.
So the deeper we go into improv,the more vulnerable we want to
get so that we can createtogether.
And by vulnerable I don't mean,oh, I have to sit here and tell
(15:35):
you something personal about mylife.
No, vulnerable is being willingto do what is needed in that
moment.
So in a scene, vulnerabilitymight just be accepting an offer
and letting go of my idea, orit might be oh, this scene
requires me to get upset or tolaugh hysterically, who knows?
(15:57):
In the workplace, beingvulnerable might be presenting
an idea or speaking up in ameeting and being willing to
take that risk, and what thatrequires is trust within the
team.
So how do you build trust withinthe team?
We learn to not shut thingsdown.
(16:18):
So that's where, yes, andlistening closely, accepting
other people's ideas.
You may not follow through onthose ideas, but let them be
valuable, let everybody's voicebe heard and valuable.
We do exercises in listening,say, and sort of exploring how
do you listen and what kind oflistener are you.
(16:40):
And that can be really mindopening for people because they
might realize, oh, I do that allthe time.
You know I can be a really badlistener and not even realize it
.
There's some things that I dowhere you can discover if you're
a leader or a follower, and tosort of bridge that gap.
So if you're a follower, trytaking the lead more, and if
(17:01):
you're a leader, try followingmore, and people can really
realize how much they wait forother people to do things you
know.
So they're afraid of thoserisks and they want to try more.
We want to find the sort ofVenn diagram of where people can
meet and what they have tooffer each other, noticing, oh,
(17:26):
I do take over a lot or oh, Ireally could offer more.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
It was definitely a self-learning experience, like a
self-discovery for me.
When we were there, I realizedhow quickly I jump into my sort
of analytical beta brain where Iam trying to come up with
something witty and quick.
But, as you were saying, it'snot really about that.
(17:51):
It's about actually justlistening and responding and
creating something together withyour partner or with your group
.
And that was discombobulatingto the brain Because when we had
to participate in a group, say,storytelling session, and we
could only say, you know, one,two, four words or a sentence,
(18:13):
when the story wouldn't go thedirection that I was trying to
nudge of situations in lifewhere you need to think quickly.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah.
Well, what I like to say isit's not about thinking quickly,
it's about getting out of yourown way.
So you're describing how youwere in your head.
I've got to say the right thing, I've got to be clever and, as
you recall, one of the firstthings I did was make everybody
say something boring.
So I really wanted to get toget out the idea from the outset
(18:57):
.
We're not here to be clever guys.
We're, in fact, be as dull asyou possibly can, and that in
itself becomes funny, right, itwas hilarious, yeah.
So the first thing was say aboring sentence, a boring
statement, and then we're allgoing to support you in that,
and so somehow somebody sayingI'm wearing tennis shoes becomes
(19:19):
the most hilarious thing in theworld because it's so not funny
, right?
So we really lower the stakeson what's funny to put people at
ease.
But about that, that mindset ofgetting out of your own way is
is really key, and so a lot ofthose games and the things.
(19:39):
It's not trying to learn tothink fast.
It's about getting out of yourhead, so stuff can just come out
your mouth, basically.
And and that's vulnerable,right, cause we're used we're
used to being able to controlwhat we say.
You know, we're not looking forsomebody to slip and say
something embarrassing.
We're looking for people to toslip and say something they
(20:03):
didn't know they could say.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah, like you're not trying to stump them, you're
trying to support them in theshared goal of the story, right?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah, and that idea of you know that you're talking
about the story a word at a timeor sentence at a time stories,
especially if you're withseveral people.
We cannot think of what we'regoing to say next, because we
don't know what we're going tosay next, because we don't know
what we're going to have torespond to when it comes around
to us again.
So there's that.
Oh, I got to let go of my ideaand just try to serve the story
(20:37):
that is emerging.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
There's something in that process that I think is so
valuable that it truly makes mewant to go again, because when
it was a two and a half hoursession and when I walked away,
I ended up just processing theexperience and thinking why was
that so fun, like it wascreative, and I just think you
(21:02):
got our brains to function in away that they don't normally in
our day to day lives.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
It's kind of an endless exploration.
I'm still exploring it, almost20 years in.
I have teachers who've beendoing it for 40 years.
They're still exploring it.
So it's sort of an endlessexperiment in a way, and I think
one of the things that it'sdoing is it's taking away our
adulting and taking us back to atime when we weren't
(21:30):
self-conscious about everythingwe did.
So we're not being childish,but there is a childlike quality
to just playing that a lot ofadults have lost, and so it's
touching back on somethingreally essential Just play.
Play is very essential in lifeand laughter is it's a cliche,
(21:55):
but laughter is very healing andit is opening.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
And to not take ourselves so seriously.
Right, Absolutely.
So what is your schedule likeas a business owner?
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah, you know it's like I mentioned earlier, having
Zipline Improv as a businesskind of snuck up on me and over
the past year or so it's reallytaken off and I've sort of had
to scramble to keep up with it.
So it's been a learning curveand you know it's it's just me,
it's a sole proprietorship, soit's not like I have a lot of
(22:29):
employees or that kind ofbusiness, but there is so much
admin involved, especially themore classes I add night you
know teach my classes orevenings, because you know
(22:51):
adults work.
I do a Sunday day class, butweekdays is when I do all that,
that admin stuff and I'm stillworking out how to not overwork.
You know how to schedule timefor myself, so I'm not
constantly just catching up.
It's probably a familiarproblem for a lot of people.
(23:13):
What's the bottleneck?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
What's causing the most amount of work?
That's clogging your flow.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Well, when it's time to schedule classes, you know
the way it is is you never knowwho's going to continue and if
you're going to have enough tohave that class continue or if
you have to blend that classwith another.
I have a very high retentionrate these days, but scaling
like how many classes, there'sonly so many slots in the week
(23:44):
that I can teach and that adultscan take classes.
I might explore a weekday classfor people who have odd
schedules or retired people, butotherwise it's weekday nights.
And then I often perform onSaturday nights and I'm also, by
the way, a company member atBats Improv in San Francisco, so
I have performances there andother duties there, so I'm
(24:08):
juggling rehearsals and stufffor them as well.
But the bottleneck you askedabout tends to come most when
it's scheduling time for thenext series of classes.
So I just finished a beginningclass and so I have to find out
how many of those people want tomove up to next steps.
(24:28):
Is it enough people to run theclass, or do those people have
to wait till the next beginningclass finishes and I blend those
classes.
Are there people who did abeginning class a few months ago
that are ready to do the nextsteps class, so it's reaching
out.
And patchworking classes, mymore advanced classes they're
(24:49):
just on a roll, they're justcontinuing, and so those just
seem to run no matter what.
Sometimes I need to movesomeone up into that class and I
have to make sure there's room,et cetera.
It's a Tetris-ing of studentssome of the time.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
How many people do you need to commit to a class
for you to feel like it's worthyour time and it covers whatever
the cost is to rent the spaceand make it worthwhile?
Speaker 1 (25:17):
So there's sort of a scale there.
My very minimum is eight.
It's more fun for everybodywith a larger group.
Ten or twelve is better, and Itend to max at 12, but sometimes
I go to 14 if there's demandfor a class.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
And then, how much does it cost for someone who is
able to commit, to say, a sixweek session?
Speaker 1 (25:39):
The beginning class is six weeks.
It's once a week for two hoursand that's a $200 class.
Beyond that they're eight weeksessions, because you can get
more into it with eight weeks,and so it's the same amount per
class.
It becomes $265 for the series.
I do offer, when I can, youknow, some scholarship help.
(26:00):
I want it to be available topeople and of course I have to.
You know now that this is mymain thing.
I have to make a living, but Ialso don't want it to be
impossible, so there's always aspace here and there for someone
who can't afford it.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
What do you do about getting the word out about your
classes, given that you are asolo entrepreneur and you don't
have a brick and mortar space,and you are then popping up in
different locations?
Like, how do you get the wordout to the community?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, Well, honestly, I will say my dream is to have
a brick and mortar space with myzip line improv in the window.
I think that would be amazingand rents are really really high
around here.
So I have not there yet.
But I'm terrible at socialmedia but I do have a zip line
Instagram account and Facebookso I post things there.
(26:57):
So I post things there.
(27:27):
I get a lot of just peoplelooking and Googling me and
getting a lot just from that,because I think Zipline comes up
first in Sonoma County and youknow people might look on
Eventbrite for an improv classor something Word of mouth.
I'm still working on that.
But on the other hand, rightnow I couldn't like until I
figure out that scaling how tomanage more classes I can't
necessarily handle more classes.
So it's sort of walking thatline of getting more people and
getting more people and thenwait how I can't be in two
places at once.
So still working on that.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
So you're growing at the pace that you can handle,
which sounds great.
Yeah, You've said a couple oftimes now how much improv has
really changed your life.
Can you give us a better ideaof what you mean?
You know?
Speaker 1 (27:53):
it's changed my perception of myself.
I feel more me.
I don't feel like I'm hiding.
I feel like I used to try to beinvisible and if I were visible
I'd want to be doing everythingjust exactly right before
anybody could see it, anyparticipation in things.
(28:15):
I just kind of wanted to be onthe outskirts watching and that
just went away.
And I'm not self-conscious.
If I'm silly or make a mistakein public, it's just really easy
to laugh it off and move on.
I don't attach to it in any way, it's just sort of I feel like
(28:36):
it's.
It was a path, for me at least,of finding my, my real
comfortable nature and likingmyself.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Oh, that would be terrible, and how could I pick
one?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
It's impossible to pick one.
So I will just say you'd haveto do a yes and exercise and
learn how yes and gets you somuch further in life than yes
but.
And we didn't do yes butyesterday in class, but I will
do it in the beginning class.
So learning the freedom of yesand and the sort of stuckness of
(29:33):
when we say but.
But then I'd also just want todo something just really playful
.
There's this game called BunnyBunny, which is just.
It's a rhythmic game thateverybody's playing and if you
continue taking classes you'regoing to learn it.
But it's a.
It's a sort of everyone's in acircle and saying and doing
(29:56):
different things in thisrhythmic way and it just gets
really silly.
So there's a couple I would do.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Now there are all these other games and ideas that
I'm like oh, there's so muchmore what?
Speaker 1 (30:09):
There's a yes, but oh , there's so much, it's just
kind of endless.
And in fact, you know thatconcept of beginner's mind.
It's like a Zen concept, whichis approaching things as though
you are a beginner.
I feel like improv allows that.
Like each time I do it, I canbe fresh.
(30:31):
You know, I teach the samegames and exercises over and
over and over and I'm nevertired of them.
There's just always somethingmore to be gained for me.
You know, I can lead anexercise and instead of telling
people what they should get outof it, I can offer so what did
you get out of it?
And I might learn something.
(30:52):
So it's the gift that keeps ongiving.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Advice for entrepreneurs.
So anybody that's listening in,who has a talent or skill that
could potentially be turned intoa class or an offering, what
advice would you give them?
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Well, a few things.
One I would say is let go ofthat imposter syndrome thing.
You know, for for a while I waslike, well, I haven't been
doing this for such and suchlong as my teachers, but there's
a point at which you're good atwhat you do and you have
(31:31):
something to offer.
But also what really helped mebecause I, you know it's very
much a creative person and notthinking of myself as a business
person I went to Small BusinessAssociation and got myself an
advisor, and for smallbusinesses they're just there to
help, it's free, and you get acertain number of sessions.
(31:54):
And I just didn't know where tostart when I went, you know,
into legal business zone, and soI needed the steps.
I needed to know do I need alicense, do I need this, how do
I file this, what about that?
And my advisor was just sohelpful in demystifying the
(32:15):
process for me, the process forme.
So I highly recommend them andI think too, just patience,
things don't happen overnight.
Like I said, for me it was sortof accidental until it wasn't.
Then I was like oh well, Iguess I'm going to pursue this,
(32:36):
and then, and then it became abusiness.
I think other people are moreconscious of starting a business
than I was, but find people whoare smart in ways that you
aren't to help.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Yeah.
And for a final question if youcould go back and have a
conversation with yourself whenyou were in your early twenties,
what would you say?
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Oh my gosh, so many things like that poor, that poor
shy girl.
I would say go take an improvclass because I would love to
have not wasted so much timebeing afraid to jump into things
.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Yeah Well, laura, thank you so much for coming on
the show and sharing your storywith us, and a little bit about
what to expect with improv too,thanks, Anne, thanks for having
me.
Today's key takeaways.
Improv is worth trying.
Whether you're a beginner or aperfectionist, improv can push
(33:39):
you to grow.
It's about teamwork, listeningand responding, a willingness to
drop your own agenda, gettingcomfortable with being
uncomfortable, and it's a way tobuild self-confidence.
It's worth giving a try ifyou're even remotely curious.
We can often get stuck in ourown heads, but the ability to
(34:01):
trust yourself in the moment canunlock clarity, fuel confidence
and move you forward.
Faster than overthinking canEmbrace mistakes.
Mistakes are part of theprocess.
The brain is a muscle and it'slike the reps.
You need to get stronger.
So mess up.
(34:27):
Learn to laugh at your ownmistakes and move on.
To build resilience, think onyour feet.
Life is not scripted.
The plan will change.
Your ability to adapt, pivotand problem solve in real time
will be your tools fornavigating uncertainty.
Growth often requires steppinginto situations that stretch you
(34:47):
.
If it feels uncomfortable,you're probably in the right
place.
Don't wait to feel confident.
Do the hard things first andconfidence will catch up later.
Listening is a superpower.
Genuine listening leads tobetter relationships, ideas and
(35:08):
outcomes.
Yes and wins.
No, but stalls.
So saying yes and opens doors.
It builds momentum.
No, but slams them shut.
Choose wisely, consider whenyou need to let go of your
(35:29):
agenda.
Your plan is great until itisn't.
Stay open.
Sometimes the best stuffhappens when you stay open to
what's happening in the moment,instead of forcing a
predetermined plan.
Play more.
You were good at it once.
Remember when you weren't soworried about getting it right.
(35:50):
That's still in you and all ofus.
Play leads to ideas and acreative way of thinking.
Maintain a beginner's mindset.
Expertise is great, butcuriosity gets you even further.
Stay open to learning like it'sday one.
Let go of self-doubt.
(36:12):
Imposter syndrome holds youback and trusting your abilities
moves you forward.
And lastly, small business helpis free.
The SBA Small BusinessAdministration offers free
advisors to supportentrepreneurs, so take advantage
of it.
That's it for today.
I release episodes once a week,so come back and check it out.
(36:36):
Have a great day.
I wish I'd discovered improv younger.
You know, I didn't discover ittill my thirties.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to how I Built my Small Business.
I'm Anne McGinty, and todaywe're talking with Laura Wachtel
about how improv can make lifeand work better.
The principles of improv, likesaying yes and thinking on your
feet and embracing theunexpected, can transform how
(00:32):
you communicate, lead and handlechallenges.
Laura is the owner of ZiplineImprov, where she's bringing
improv out of the theater andinto the real world, helping
individuals, businesses, schoolsand communities use play to
sharpen listening, buildconnection and get out of their
(00:53):
heads.
You can find a link through toher business in the episode's
description.
Laura, thanks for coming on theshow.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Thanks, anne, happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
So tell us, how did you first get?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
into improv, oh my goodness.
Okay.
So I was honestly a super shyand self-conscious person most
of my life and I started animprov class because a friend of
mine did it and the way shetalked about it.
I didn't want to do it but Ihad the sense that I should do
it, Like there was somethingthere I had to explore.
(01:31):
So that was almost 20 years agoand I went and it was just so
hard to do but it was so muchfun and, to be honest, it was
hard for me for a while becauseI was a very like perfectionist
and a lot of improv is you haveto get through that.
So it was a it was a little bitof a haul for me, but I stuck
(01:53):
with it and it totally changedmy life and I totally stopped
being shy and self-conscious.
It was super, super freeing.
So here I am, 20 years later.
It was super, super freeing.
So here I am, 20 years later.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
What about it makes it fun.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Well, there's a lot of things.
One is you're connecting withother people who are in your
position.
Like everybody's a littlenervous in the beginning because
we don't know what to expect.
And there's also thismisconception that improv is
about being the funniest,quickest, cleverest, most
outgoing person in the room.
And it's not.
There are improv styles thatpeople do that, but I trained at
(02:34):
BATS Improv in San Franciscoand I teach sort of that lineage
, if you will, which is improvis about teamwork.
It's about listening andresponding and allowing the
funny to come naturally withoutforcing it.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
When you say it is about teamwork.
Can you explain that further?
Like how exactly is teamwork apart of improv?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Yeah, so it's.
If it were one person, it wouldbasically be standup, right,
but with more than one person,what we have to do is build our
stories together.
So in order to do that, we haveto be open to one another.
We have to listen carefully sothat we can respond to what
they're saying.
We have to be willing to dropour own agenda, our own stories,
(03:26):
if things aren't going in thatdirection.
We have to be willing to bepresent in the moment with our
partners and be like oh, this ishappening.
Okay, I'm gonna add to that,I'm gonna build onto that, can
you?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
describe a little bit more and demystify the
experience for anyone who'slistening in.
For example, with me.
Yesterday was the first timethat I've ever participated in
an improv class and it was withyou for anyone that's listening,
and people would describe it tome before going.
(04:00):
And yet I still had all of thisnervousness and anxiety for
what to expect.
But when I got there and westarted doing the different
games and loosening up a bit, Ialso realized, like how much fun
it was and what the benefit wasof it.
So can you demystify that forlisteners?
(04:21):
Make them feel like they'rethere without being there?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
I understand what you're saying.
It's really people are, we'reafraid of being on the spot,
which I totally get, and becausethat was me as well, I teach,
knowing that, to be true, I'vetaught improv for introverts,
for instance.
So basically a huge part of itis demonstrating that we can all
(04:47):
just be silly together andlaugh and, above all, permission
to make mistakes.
And in fact a lot of the games,the warmups and exercises we do
are designed so that we can'teasily get it right, so that we
can practice just water off aduck's back or whatever, and
we're not putting people in themiddle of the room and saying,
(05:10):
okay, now be a cowboy orwhatever.
We're all playing together.
So it's an experiential thingof being in the soup together
and I had a student tell me onetime it's not that I'm not
uncomfortable, but now I'm morecomfortable with being
uncomfortable.
So it very quickly builds thesort of sense of things being
(05:36):
okay, self-confidence starts tobuild and people really bond
because they're in it together.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
And in your personal experience since you were shy,
you said to start, and nowyou're doing improv as a career.
What was that path like for you, the journey?
When did you start to open upand feel relaxed in that kind of
an environment, and what was itthat made you feel like that,
feel relaxed in that kind?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
of an environment.
And what was it that made youfeel like that?
Yeah Well, it took me severalyears to be willing to perform.
You know, when I started I waslike I'm doing this for me, I'm
never going to perform, I'mnever going to teach.
And one of my teachers realmentor, really Rafe Chase from
(06:27):
Bats Improv, he invited me to doa student show with him, with
some other students, and so thatwas a few years in and I did
that and it was scary andexhilarating and all that stuff.
But from then on I just keptperforming, little by little and
I was still just scared for along time.
But when you do anythingrepeatedly, you start to get
used to it, and I think thatthing happened to me where I
(06:48):
just got more comfortable withbeing uncomfortable because
nothing bad ever happened, Right, and you just build this muscle
of of trust in yourself andyour fellow players.
The teaching took longer.
When I moved back to SonomaCounty from San Francisco, I was
further away from my improvcommunity, so it was actually a
(07:13):
friend of my dad kept nudging meto teach a class.
I want to take a class, teach aclass.
And I was finally like, okay,fine, I'll teach a class and
from there people just keptcoming.
So it was sort of an accidentalbusiness.
I just I started it by request.
(07:34):
I didn't know it was going tokeep going and in the beginning
it sort of ebbed and flowed.
Some people would stay and keeptaking classes, other some
people would leave and then morepeople would come, and then
people just started staying andI had to add another class and
then I had to another, addanother class and another class,
(07:54):
and so now I have a bunch ofclasses.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Who would you say that improv is really for?
Like?
What kind of person out therecan benefit from taking improv?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
So it feels kind of corny to say this, but improv is
honestly for everybody.
So you have people who areinterested in improv or
interested in performing, andthat's one set.
Then there's people who arecurious because they hear a lot
about improv and so they want tocheck it out, and then they get
(08:30):
addicted.
And then there's people who are, you know, like the me people
who have heard about sort of thelife tools that improv can help
with, like building confidence,public speaking, all kinds of
people who come just to sort ofexplore themselves and what
(08:51):
their possibilities are and whatimprov might do for them.
So I might have a class mixedwith all these kinds of people
and because there's an elementof starting to get comfortable
and okay with making mistakesand trying things.
And you know, we do this thingwhere if we make mistakes we go
(09:13):
woohoo and move on, which youlearned yesterday, and it feels
silly to do it first, and thenafter a while it just becomes
really natural.
We just say woohoo and we moveon, and we move on and we move
on, and so we're building thismuscle of accepting ourselves
however we show up.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I can definitely say that even going and attending
felt like I was expanding mycomfort zone.
And then, being there, you know, my friend walked in and she
just started laughing becauseshe could see the anxiety coming
off of me, which isn'tsomething that she normally sees
, and she just thought that washilarious.
If anyone is listening in,they're like I just don't think
(09:52):
that improv is for me.
I don't know.
They feel skeptical or overlyshy.
What would you say to them?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
First of all, I know what that's like, and trust
yourself, you've all got it inyou.
And we're not throwing peopleup on stage to do scenes, right,
we're doing games that relax usand get into it and you start
laughing and that becomescontagious and you start
laughing more.
And it's so interesting becauseI just I can remember that
(10:22):
feeling of dread and like neverin a million years, I mean, if I
had a dollar for every timesomeone said I could never do
that.
I can remember that feeling ofdread and like never in a
million years, I mean, if I hada dollar for every time someone
said I could never do that, Iwould be retired and wealthy,
except that I wouldn't.
Because I love teaching improv.
But you will really besurprised.
It's a very rare person whodoesn't enjoy it and we never
(10:42):
know till we try.
It's not what people think, itis.
What people think it is is whatI do with my colleagues on
stage, right.
So we're performing, we'regetting suggestions from the
audience, we're doing shortscenes, we're doing what we call
long form, full length,improvised plays and stuff like
that.
So that is not what beginningstudents are doing.
(11:04):
Beginning students are playingtogether.
It's like having a little gamenight with friends is what it is
.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I think it would be a really fun event or party to
have this facilitated with agroup of friends.
I just can imagine how funny itwould get and how quickly.
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, what I thought wassuper interesting was when you
had us go around and tell thestory of our names.
Yeah, because there were, Idon't know, maybe about a dozen
(11:32):
of us or something, and so we'reeach given what 30 seconds or a
minute to just say what ourname is, but then to say
something that will give contextto everybody else in the circle
.
And after we did that, Iremembered every single person's
name.
But in a normal setting, if Iwere to meet 12 people and just
(11:52):
get their names, I don't think Iwould remember necessarily.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Isn't that funny.
That's one of my favorites.
We can learn so much about eachother from just our names and
the story we choose to tellabout it.
The story we choose to tellabout it, you know it could be
the literal meaning of the nameor a nickname that you were
called instead, or something youdidn't like about your name
growing up, or whatever.
And you're right.
(12:18):
It does just sort of solidifiesthat person for us right away.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, and I think it deepens the connection a little
bit.
There is something about thestory that maybe takes that
pressure off of needing toremember the name.
There is something about thestory that maybe takes that
pressure off of needing toremember the name, because now
you have the story to helpsupport that.
But most of the people who arelistening in have probably never
done improv.
I imagine know it.
From whose line is it anyway?
But that's not what we'retalking about.
(12:45):
So how would you describe thecore principles of what you're
hoping people who come to yourclass take away?
Speaker 1 (12:52):
The core principles of improv as anyone who does
know a little about improv knowsis the phrase yes and so yes,
and whether an improv or life,is like such a game changer.
Because in improv what it meansis somebody says something to
us, which is what we call makingan offer.
(13:12):
Anything that somebody does ismaking an offer to us and we say
yes to it, and then we make anoffer back.
So we might just say yes, whichis great, but if we make an
offer back, then we're notputting the onus of the work on
our partner, we're giving themsomething to work with as well.
So anybody can take any toolsfrom improv and apply them to
(13:38):
their life in some way oranother.
Getting on board with oneanother is another thing.
So saying yes it doesn't meanwe say yes.
If somebody says so saying yesit doesn't mean we say yes.
If somebody says go walk infront of that bus, right, it's
like yes and I will die.
It's not about that.
It's about sort of a culture ofyes and hearing one another and
(13:59):
responding to one another.
There are very practicalreasons in life of being open to
things.
Really listening and respondingback and giving something back
is a real core heart of improvand what I said earlier letting
go of our agenda.
(14:20):
So I might have a really strongidea about something, but at
improv I need to hear whatyou're offering as well and not
push my agenda.
So together, if we're bothdoing that, we find the path to
the story and I think in life orwork, you can use these tools
(14:44):
to find your way in whateverprocess you're dealing with.
How?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
What do you?
Speaker 1 (14:49):
mean by that?
Well, so say, I'm doing acorporate training and one of
the issues of the team I'mworking with is a reluctance to
take risks.
You know they're afraid ofgetting shut down.
You know, obviously one improvsession isn't going to fix the
issue, but you can plant seeds.
(15:11):
So in that case, maybe theculture for the leaders who are
shutting down ideas to bewilling to listen.
So the deeper we go into improv,the more vulnerable we want to
get so that we can createtogether.
And by vulnerable I don't mean,oh, I have to sit here and tell
(15:35):
you something personal about mylife.
No, vulnerable is being willingto do what is needed in that
moment.
So in a scene, vulnerabilitymight just be accepting an offer
and letting go of my idea, orit might be oh, this scene
requires me to get upset or tolaugh hysterically, who knows?
(15:57):
In the workplace, beingvulnerable might be presenting
an idea or speaking up in ameeting and being willing to
take that risk, and what thatrequires is trust within the
team.
So how do you build trust withinthe team?
We learn to not shut thingsdown.
(16:18):
So that's where, yes, andlistening closely, accepting
other people's ideas.
You may not follow through onthose ideas, but let them be
valuable, let everybody's voicebe heard and valuable.
We do exercises in listening,say, and sort of exploring how
do you listen and what kind oflistener are you.
(16:40):
And that can be really mindopening for people because they
might realize, oh, I do that allthe time.
You know I can be a really badlistener and not even realize it
.
There's some things that I dowhere you can discover if you're
a leader or a follower, and tosort of bridge that gap.
So if you're a follower, trytaking the lead more, and if
(17:01):
you're a leader, try followingmore, and people can really
realize how much they wait forother people to do things you
know.
So they're afraid of thoserisks and they want to try more.
We want to find the sort ofVenn diagram of where people can
meet and what they have tooffer each other, noticing, oh,
(17:26):
I do take over a lot or oh, Ireally could offer more.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
It was definitely a self-learning experience, like a
self-discovery for me.
When we were there, I realizedhow quickly I jump into my sort
of analytical beta brain where Iam trying to come up with
something witty and quick.
But, as you were saying, it'snot really about that.
(17:51):
It's about actually justlistening and responding and
creating something together withyour partner or with your group
.
And that was discombobulatingto the brain Because when we had
to participate in a group, say,storytelling session, and we
could only say, you know, one,two, four words or a sentence,
(18:13):
when the story wouldn't go thedirection that I was trying to
nudge of situations in lifewhere you need to think quickly.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah.
Well, what I like to say isit's not about thinking quickly,
it's about getting out of yourown way.
So you're describing how youwere in your head.
I've got to say the right thing, I've got to be clever and, as
you recall, one of the firstthings I did was make everybody
say something boring.
So I really wanted to get toget out the idea from the outset
(18:57):
.
We're not here to be clever guys.
We're, in fact, be as dull asyou possibly can, and that in
itself becomes funny, right, itwas hilarious, yeah.
So the first thing was say aboring sentence, a boring
statement, and then we're allgoing to support you in that,
and so somehow somebody sayingI'm wearing tennis shoes becomes
(19:19):
the most hilarious thing in theworld because it's so not funny
, right?
So we really lower the stakeson what's funny to put people at
ease.
But about that, that mindset ofgetting out of your own way is
is really key, and so a lot ofthose games and the things.
(19:39):
It's not trying to learn tothink fast.
It's about getting out of yourhead, so stuff can just come out
your mouth, basically.
And and that's vulnerable,right, cause we're used we're
used to being able to controlwhat we say.
You know, we're not looking forsomebody to slip and say
something embarrassing.
We're looking for people to toslip and say something they
(20:03):
didn't know they could say.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah, like you're not trying to stump them, you're
trying to support them in theshared goal of the story, right?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah, and that idea of you know that you're talking
about the story a word at a timeor sentence at a time stories,
especially if you're withseveral people.
We cannot think of what we'regoing to say next, because we
don't know what we're going tosay next, because we don't know
what we're going to have torespond to when it comes around
to us again.
So there's that.
Oh, I got to let go of my ideaand just try to serve the story
(20:37):
that is emerging.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
There's something in that process that I think is so
valuable that it truly makes mewant to go again, because when
it was a two and a half hoursession and when I walked away,
I ended up just processing theexperience and thinking why was
that so fun, like it wascreative, and I just think you
(21:02):
got our brains to function in away that they don't normally in
our day to day lives.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
It's kind of an endless exploration.
I'm still exploring it, almost20 years in.
I have teachers who've beendoing it for 40 years.
They're still exploring it.
So it's sort of an endlessexperiment in a way, and I think
one of the things that it'sdoing is it's taking away our
adulting and taking us back to atime when we weren't
(21:30):
self-conscious about everythingwe did.
So we're not being childish,but there is a childlike quality
to just playing that a lot ofadults have lost, and so it's
touching back on somethingreally essential Just play.
Play is very essential in lifeand laughter is it's a cliche,
(21:55):
but laughter is very healing andit is opening.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
And to not take ourselves so seriously.
Right, Absolutely.
So what is your schedule likeas a business owner?
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah, you know it's like I mentioned earlier, having
Zipline Improv as a businesskind of snuck up on me and over
the past year or so it's reallytaken off and I've sort of had
to scramble to keep up with it.
So it's been a learning curveand you know it's it's just me,
it's a sole proprietorship, soit's not like I have a lot of
(22:29):
employees or that kind ofbusiness, but there is so much
admin involved, especially themore classes I add night you
know teach my classes orevenings, because you know
(22:51):
adults work.
I do a Sunday day class, butweekdays is when I do all that,
that admin stuff and I'm stillworking out how to not overwork.
You know how to schedule timefor myself, so I'm not
constantly just catching up.
It's probably a familiarproblem for a lot of people.
(23:13):
What's the bottleneck?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
What's causing the most amount of work?
That's clogging your flow.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
Well, when it's time to schedule classes, you know
the way it is is you never knowwho's going to continue and if
you're going to have enough tohave that class continue or if
you have to blend that classwith another.
I have a very high retentionrate these days, but scaling
like how many classes, there'sonly so many slots in the week
(23:44):
that I can teach and that adultscan take classes.
I might explore a weekday classfor people who have odd
schedules or retired people, butotherwise it's weekday nights.
And then I often perform onSaturday nights and I'm also, by
the way, a company member atBats Improv in San Francisco, so
I have performances there andother duties there, so I'm
(24:08):
juggling rehearsals and stufffor them as well.
But the bottleneck you askedabout tends to come most when
it's scheduling time for thenext series of classes.
So I just finished a beginningclass and so I have to find out
how many of those people want tomove up to next steps.
(24:28):
Is it enough people to run theclass, or do those people have
to wait till the next beginningclass finishes and I blend those
classes.
Are there people who did abeginning class a few months ago
that are ready to do the nextsteps class, so it's reaching
out.
And patchworking classes, mymore advanced classes they're
(24:49):
just on a roll, they're justcontinuing, and so those just
seem to run no matter what.
Sometimes I need to movesomeone up into that class and I
have to make sure there's room,et cetera.
It's a Tetris-ing of studentssome of the time.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
How many people do you need to commit to a class
for you to feel like it's worthyour time and it covers whatever
the cost is to rent the spaceand make it worthwhile?
Speaker 1 (25:17):
So there's sort of a scale there.
My very minimum is eight.
It's more fun for everybodywith a larger group.
Ten or twelve is better, and Itend to max at 12, but sometimes
I go to 14 if there's demandfor a class.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
And then, how much does it cost for someone who is
able to commit, to say, a sixweek session?
Speaker 1 (25:39):
The beginning class is six weeks.
It's once a week for two hoursand that's a $200 class.
Beyond that they're eight weeksessions, because you can get
more into it with eight weeks,and so it's the same amount per
class.
It becomes $265 for the series.
I do offer, when I can, youknow, some scholarship help.
(26:00):
I want it to be available topeople and of course I have to.
You know now that this is mymain thing.
I have to make a living, but Ialso don't want it to be
impossible, so there's always aspace here and there for someone
who can't afford it.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
What do you do about getting the word out about your
classes, given that you are asolo entrepreneur and you don't
have a brick and mortar space,and you are then popping up in
different locations?
Like, how do you get the wordout to the community?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Yeah, Well, honestly, I will say my dream is to have
a brick and mortar space with myzip line improv in the window.
I think that would be amazingand rents are really really high
around here.
So I have not there yet.
But I'm terrible at socialmedia but I do have a zip line
Instagram account and Facebookso I post things there.
(26:57):
So I post things there.
(27:27):
I get a lot of just peoplelooking and Googling me and
getting a lot just from that,because I think Zipline comes up
first in Sonoma County and youknow people might look on
Eventbrite for an improv classor something Word of mouth.
I'm still working on that.
But on the other hand, rightnow I couldn't like until I
figure out that scaling how tomanage more classes I can't
necessarily handle more classes.
So it's sort of walking thatline of getting more people and
getting more people and thenwait how I can't be in two
places at once.
So still working on that.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
So you're growing at the pace that you can handle,
which sounds great.
Yeah, You've said a couple oftimes now how much improv has
really changed your life.
Can you give us a better ideaof what you mean?
You know?
Speaker 1 (27:53):
it's changed my perception of myself.
I feel more me.
I don't feel like I'm hiding.
I feel like I used to try to beinvisible and if I were visible
I'd want to be doing everythingjust exactly right before
anybody could see it, anyparticipation in things.
(28:15):
I just kind of wanted to be onthe outskirts watching and that
just went away.
And I'm not self-conscious.
If I'm silly or make a mistakein public, it's just really easy
to laugh it off and move on.
I don't attach to it in any way, it's just sort of I feel like
(28:36):
it's.
It was a path, for me at least,of finding my, my real
comfortable nature and likingmyself.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Oh, that would be terrible, and how could I pick
one?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
It's impossible to pick one.
So I will just say you'd haveto do a yes and exercise and
learn how yes and gets you somuch further in life than yes
but.
And we didn't do yes butyesterday in class, but I will
do it in the beginning class.
So learning the freedom of yesand and the sort of stuckness of
(29:33):
when we say but.
But then I'd also just want todo something just really playful
.
There's this game called BunnyBunny, which is just.
It's a rhythmic game thateverybody's playing and if you
continue taking classes you'regoing to learn it.
But it's a.
It's a sort of everyone's in acircle and saying and doing
(29:56):
different things in thisrhythmic way and it just gets
really silly.
So there's a couple I would do.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Now there are all these other games and ideas that
I'm like oh, there's so muchmore what?
Speaker 1 (30:09):
There's a yes, but oh , there's so much, it's just
kind of endless.
And in fact, you know thatconcept of beginner's mind.
It's like a Zen concept, whichis approaching things as though
you are a beginner.
I feel like improv allows that.
Like each time I do it, I canbe fresh.
(30:31):
You know, I teach the samegames and exercises over and
over and over and I'm nevertired of them.
There's just always somethingmore to be gained for me.
You know, I can lead anexercise and instead of telling
people what they should get outof it, I can offer so what did
you get out of it?
And I might learn something.
(30:52):
So it's the gift that keeps ongiving.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Advice for entrepreneurs.
So anybody that's listening in,who has a talent or skill that
could potentially be turned intoa class or an offering, what
advice would you give them?
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Well, a few things.
One I would say is let go ofthat imposter syndrome thing.
You know, for for a while I waslike, well, I haven't been
doing this for such and suchlong as my teachers, but there's
a point at which you're good atwhat you do and you have
(31:31):
something to offer.
But also what really helped mebecause I, you know it's very
much a creative person and notthinking of myself as a business
person I went to Small BusinessAssociation and got myself an
advisor, and for smallbusinesses they're just there to
help, it's free, and you get acertain number of sessions.
(31:54):
And I just didn't know where tostart when I went, you know,
into legal business zone, and soI needed the steps.
I needed to know do I need alicense, do I need this, how do
I file this, what about that?
And my advisor was just sohelpful in demystifying the
(32:15):
process for me, the process forme.
So I highly recommend them andI think too, just patience,
things don't happen overnight.
Like I said, for me it was sortof accidental until it wasn't.
Then I was like oh well, Iguess I'm going to pursue this,
(32:36):
and then, and then it became abusiness.
I think other people are moreconscious of starting a business
than I was, but find people whoare smart in ways that you
aren't to help.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Yeah.
And for a final question if youcould go back and have a
conversation with yourself whenyou were in your early twenties,
what would you say?
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Oh my gosh, so many things like that poor, that poor
shy girl.
I would say go take an improvclass because I would love to
have not wasted so much timebeing afraid to jump into things
.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Yeah Well, laura, thank you so much for coming on
the show and sharing your storywith us, and a little bit about
what to expect with improv too,thanks, Anne, thanks for having
me.
Today's key takeaways.
Improv is worth trying.
Whether you're a beginner or aperfectionist, improv can push
(33:39):
you to grow.
It's about teamwork, listeningand responding, a willingness to
drop your own agenda, gettingcomfortable with being
uncomfortable, and it's a way tobuild self-confidence.
It's worth giving a try ifyou're even remotely curious.
We can often get stuck in ourown heads, but the ability to
(34:01):
trust yourself in the moment canunlock clarity, fuel confidence
and move you forward.
Faster than overthinking canEmbrace mistakes.
Mistakes are part of theprocess.
The brain is a muscle and it'slike the reps.
You need to get stronger.
So mess up.
(34:27):
Learn to laugh at your ownmistakes and move on.
To build resilience, think onyour feet.
Life is not scripted.
The plan will change.
Your ability to adapt, pivotand problem solve in real time
will be your tools fornavigating uncertainty.
Growth often requires steppinginto situations that stretch you
(34:47):
.
If it feels uncomfortable,you're probably in the right
place.
Don't wait to feel confident.
Do the hard things first andconfidence will catch up later.
Listening is a superpower.
Genuine listening leads tobetter relationships, ideas and
(35:08):
outcomes.
Yes and wins.
No, but stalls.
So saying yes and opens doors.
It builds momentum.
No, but slams them shut.
Choose wisely, consider whenyou need to let go of your
(35:29):
agenda.
Your plan is great until itisn't.
Stay open.
Sometimes the best stuffhappens when you stay open to
what's happening in the moment,instead of forcing a
predetermined plan.
Play more.
You were good at it once.
Remember when you weren't soworried about getting it right.
(35:50):
That's still in you and all ofus.
Play leads to ideas and acreative way of thinking.
Maintain a beginner's mindset.
Expertise is great, butcuriosity gets you even further.
Stay open to learning like it'sday one.
Let go of self-doubt.
(36:12):
Imposter syndrome holds youback and trusting your abilities
moves you forward.
And lastly, small business helpis free.
The SBA Small BusinessAdministration offers free
advisors to supportentrepreneurs, so take advantage
of it.
That's it for today.
I release episodes once a week,so come back and check it out.
(36:36):
Have a great day.
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