April 16, 2025 • 53 mins
I would love to hear from you!
Anne Alexander-Seder shares her journey as an American actor who reinvented her career in Germany after following love abroad and taking a 16-year detour through voice-over work and motherhood. She reveals how asking one simple question launched her career and how organizing acting workshops became her pathway back to on-screen performance at age 47.
• Moved to Germany for love rather than career but managed to make both work
• Discovered the power of asking for help when a simple question led to voice-over opportunities
• Built a successful 15-year career as one of Germany's top American voice talents
• Created her own opportunities by bringing acting coaches to Munich when she couldn't travel
• Transformed her perceived limitations (age, being American in Germany) into her unique strengths
• Used workshops as tools for training, income generation, and strategic networking
• Developed a strategic approach to acting as a business rather than just an art form
• Found that "the problem presents the solution if you know which questions to ask"
• Encourages everyone to get comfortable with being uncomfortable
• Believes dreams have no expiration date and it's never too late to pursue your passion
For more information on Anne's work or to download her free workbook on turning passion into profession, visit actboldtraining.com/p2 or find her on social media under Anne Alexander-Seder or Act Bold.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Hi everyone, welcome to Mindforce.
I'm your host, nate Shear, andthis is the show where love,
life and learning come together,because your mind is what
matters most here.
Today we have AnneAlexander-Seder, and today we'll
be talking about reinventionand resilience, creating
opportunities, pursuing yourpassions without limits, without
(00:46):
limits.
So we're going to start withthe easy stuff the who, what,
why and where.
Who are you, what do you do andwhere in the world are you and
why are you here today?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, yeah Well, my name is Anne Alexander-Seder.
I am an American actor who hasbeen living and working out of
Germany for almost 30 years now.
I came here for my love, not mycareer, but I have managed to
make both work.
In fact, I'm still here workingas an actor and I'm still with
(01:12):
my husband.
So there you go.
I don't know which one I'm moreproud of.
When I first I was a workingactor back in America, I was
SAG-AFTRA, working on my equitycard meeting.
I was making just enough moneyso I didn't have to work a side
hustle as an actor.
I even had my health insurancepaid for by SAG and you know, I
was in my twenties, so I felt Iwas doing pretty darn good.
(01:34):
And then life threw me a curveball in the shape of a hot
German guy, and that was kind ofthat.
And then I ended up here veryquickly, pregnant and, you know,
starting a brand new life in abrand new country where I didn't
speak the language andinitially excuse me getting over
a cold.
I was really excited to be amom.
(01:55):
I've.
It's something I've alwayswanted to do, and so I was.
I was very distracted by all ofthat, was very distracted by
all of that, and but you know,after our son was born, a couple
of years into it, he started togo to preschool and I started
to look around for ways to bemore useful, more creative, more
(02:18):
fulfilled, to be very honest,and I also don't like being
dependent.
So I was always looking forways, you know, to.
I didn't want to have to ask myhusband every time I saw a pair
of shoes I wanted to buy orsomething.
So there were a lot of thingsthat kind of came together.
But I had seen a poster for theAmerican drama group in Munich
(02:39):
and I thought, aha, perfect, letme go check them out.
So I called them up, I made anappointment, I auditioned, it
went really well, and when Ifinished he was like well,
welcome to the family, you know.
And he pulls out this touringschedule which I had no idea it
was a touring group.
So he's showing me.
You know, they tour nine monthsout of the year and that was
(03:01):
just out of the question.
So I apologized and got up toleave and I was disappointed
because I thought well, theregoes.
You know, that avenue is a deadend.
And then, on a whim, I kind ofleaned in and just asked him you
don't happen to know anybodyhere in Munich, do you, that I
could talk to?
And he gave me two names andthat taught me something really
(03:23):
valuable that I don't think Ihad ever learned before, and
that is ask, ask and make iteasy for people to help you.
I don't recall that he evengave me the numbers for these
two people.
I believe I had to look it up.
It was 30 years ago now, almost30 years ago, but still it was
an easy ask, it was no skin offhis nose and he was happy to
help.
So sometimes just having thecourage to ask can change
(03:46):
everything, and it certainly didin my case.
And from that point on Icontacted both of them and one
of them gave me a shot with aradio play and from there I just
started working tons, in fact,so much so that I was probably
one of the top American,definitely one of the top female
American voices out of Germanyfor a good 15 years.
(04:10):
But I had a really good run withit, where I was at times
working, you know, fivedifferent jobs a day.
First of all, it was reallyflexible, so I could show up at
(04:32):
the studio with my son and mydog and still be home in time to
take my son to the playgroundand make dinner and do all that
stuff.
But it was also as much fun asit was, it wasn't creative in
the way that I had wanted to becreative, so there was always
kind of something missing for me.
Missing for me.
And the voiceover led topresenting work and I did all
sorts of hosting game shows thatwere broadcast into Canada or
doing corporate television for,like Audi TV, for example.
(04:53):
I did their thing for sevenyears and think different things
like that, which led tocommercials and again kind of
like I would feel guilty becauseI wasn't happy with the way my
career was going, and yet Iwould also feel like I was being
ungrateful, like look, you know, there's so many actors that
(05:14):
would be thrilled to be making adecent living as an actor,
which I was technically, but itjust wasn't the kind of acting I
signed up for that I wanted andI still had this beautiful
family and it was kind of astruggle, I have to say, for
about 16 years and I was reallylooking for something to fill
that void.
(05:35):
And then, when my son was about16 years old.
We had a standing movie dateevery Friday.
And he came to me on Thursdayand he was like mom, it's nay on
the movie date A or whateveryou say, right, I don't want to
do that anymore with you, I wantto hang out with my friends.
(05:57):
And it was like, of course, asa parent, you know, this day is
coming, but I had really put myfamily first for 16 years and I
had never really thought justwhat do I want?
Just me alone, what do I want?
And I thought well, you know,I'd love to take an acting
workshop.
That's my idea of a good time.
And so I just sat down on 901,I Googled it acting workshop,
munich English and one popped upand it was the next day coach
(06:19):
out of LA, one spot open.
I whipped out my credit card, Ibought it and I left that three
days later knowing there was noturning back.
It was like a pilot light justcombusted and I was on fire.
And that's when I told myhusband I need to relaunch my
acting career.
And now I'll pause.
(06:39):
That's all.
The monologue is over.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
I love the Friday movie night.
Yeah, we got a few kids overhere and, yeah, we love that
Friday movie night.
One thing I love that you saidis you know you got to ask the
question.
One thing that always drives menuts a little bit when you know
you get a promotion or you getan assignment or you get
something that you're lookingfor and you're happy for,
(07:04):
inevitably there'll always beone person that always seems to
write on social media or whatnotand they'll use the word lucky,
lucky.
But you have to ask thequestion, put yourself in the
right spot, do the research.
Like you said, you need totrack down the phone numbers to
get that.
(07:25):
So sometimes I feel like peopledon't see the grind and the
things that happen behind thescenes, which is kind of
frustrating, because to me,lucky sounds like it's
cheapening it, like it was justluck.
But you had to do things to bein the right room with the right
people to ask the rightquestions or even ask the
question at all.
So I love that you bring thatup.
One question I wanted to askyou just out of curiosity.
You know being out of thecountry and things like that
what's your favorite part ofbeing out of the United States
(07:48):
and what are?
Some things that are a littlemore shocking or, you know, are
a little more difficult toprocess.
Well, let's see, I guess it'sbeen 30 years so.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, it has, and I've.
I lived in Italy, I lived inthe South of France, I lived in
Paris, I lived in London.
So I've lived actually inEurope longer than I ever lived
in the US.
But I go back all the time andyou know I'm there at least now
it's probably twice a year,sometimes three times a year,
but there were times that I wasthere five times a year, you
(08:17):
know.
So, just, I still have a verydeep connection to America.
You can take the girl out ofAmerica, but you can't take the
American out of the girl,absolutely.
So what do I love about livingin Europe?
Well, you know what I love?
The proximity to other culturesand the differences in other
cultures, and we definitely makea lot of use of that.
(08:38):
We go to Spain a lot, we go toItaly a lot, france once in a
while.
We're going to England nextmonth, so we definitely do make
use, and even just like drivingdistance, like we're in Austria
all the time.
I never get tired of the beauty.
To be honest, it's a beautifulplace and Munich is.
(08:59):
I grew up in Detroit and I grewup in Detroit.
Detroit was a beautiful cityand I think it has the past.
You know, it's like the rosethat lost its bloom right.
Detroit was the richest city inall of America at one point so,
and you can see it in thearchitecture, in the beautiful
turn of the century homes andbuildings and all of that.
(09:22):
But when I was growing up thatwasn't there and it was really
like when I would think ofWoodward Avenue, which was the
main kind of street goingthrough Detroit, I would think
of like newspaper tumbleweedsand boarded up stores and that
was kind of my memory of Detroit.
So, living in Munich and youknow, driving my son around this
(09:45):
gorgeous city, I mean it reallyis a beautiful city and I would
always say to him you know, youjust don't know how lucky you
are, but I mean for him it was.
Yeah, whatever, mom, get overit, you know, it's completely
normal, you know, because it wasfor him.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I think it's difficult for kids to realize,
and maybe that's just as you getolder.
I think it's difficult for kidsto realize, and maybe that's
just as you get older.
We did a cross-country triplast summer, so we were in Japan
, stationed recently or lastyear, a year and a half ago, and
then we did a year in Florida.
But to get to Florida we flewin from Japan, landed in
Washington, where I'm from,picked up the car from my sister
Washington State.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Washington State, nice, that's a beautiful trip.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
On the border of Oregon closer to Portland and
then we drove the whole way andso it was kind of funny.
The kids.
We stopped and saw the GrandCanyon and I am just in complete
shock and awe and I just wantto sit there and maybe I just
wanted to be out of the car, butit was kind of funny.
They were like okay, we're good.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I was like what I'm shocked, though Because to me as
well I drove cross country whenI was maybe 19.
My then boyfriend we stopped atthe Grand Canyon as well.
He snapped a picture of me.
I was so in awe of the GrandCanyon that the picture he
snapped of me there's literally.
I don't know how woo woo youget, but there was literally
(11:02):
like a white aura around me, andmaybe I don't know, maybe it
was a film.
It was filmed back then, Idon't know, but no other
pictures have that.
I was so in awe of it and Ithink it was just like literally
glowing.
It's so gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
When you're six and 10, I guess it's not that
interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
It's all on the ground, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you should have rentedthe donkeys.
You know that would have beenthat's the kicker right there
right, no pun intended.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Before we get started with the interview, I'd like to
ensure the guests can ask me aquestion, because I feel like a
lot of times these are onedirectional, so I want to make
sure these are organicconversations.
Anne, what do you have for me?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
All right, Nate.
Well, the name of my company iscalled Act Bold.
So when was a time in your lifethat you acted boldly and
something positive came?
Speaker 1 (11:54):
OK, this is one that's probably a little
controversial, at least maybe inthe military sector.
I feel like I should avoid it.
But I'm going to act bold andnot avoid it.
But I've been going with facialhair in the military.
It's illegal without a waiverfor medical or religious
purposes.
I've struggled with my skin mywhole life and so I've had
different agonies and differentthings, and so for the longest
(12:16):
time I was kind of pushing onand cutting through you know the
different skin conditions andthings like that, because I was
trying to look the part and dowhat I was quote unquote
supposed to.
But about a year and a half agoI finally went in and got my
waiver and it's something that'sbeen really difficult for me,
because you walk in a room andyou know you're the only one of
30 or 35 when you're in thestaff meeting or things like
(12:37):
that, and so looking differentand sticking out is really
difficult.
I've always been kind of anoddball so I didn't think it
would really affect me becauseI've always been a little bit
different.
But the military is such aspecific mold and things like
that.
It just really feels, I don'tknow feels really ostracized and
really on the outside.
But I've had at least threepeople reach out to me in the
(12:58):
last year and a half and thankedme for, you know, taking the
step and and walking forward,because they were able to go and
get help and and not have tocut through things and you build
up scar tissue and things likethat.
So all the days where it's likesuper painful and hard to walk
in the rooms and feel weird andfeel on the outside is
completely overpowered by thefew people that have reached out
(13:20):
and said it's really helpfulthat you took the step.
I didn't think I could, I didn'tthink we were supposed to and
things like that, because that'sthe exact reason I didn't.
I didn't because people thatare successful don't do it and
things like that.
And so I'd like to considermyself somewhat successful
within my area, not to like tootmy own horn or whatever, but
that was kind of.
(13:40):
The purpose is to do what'sright and hopefully convince
people and, you know, try topush through some of these rules
and things like that.
Rules need to be there.
There needs to bestandardization for certain
things, but I think we shouldalso be taking care of ourself.
And that was probably way morethan you wanted, but what do you
think about that?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, I think it flies in the face of like what
is expected and all that, and itdoes take courage to be
different and to like make usyou know I don't know that it's
a stand because you did it foryour health, I mean really and
to feel better literally in yourown skin, and so that's a fair
point.
But as you were talking, I alsokind of wondered if, I mean, if
(14:23):
you're dealing with acne, thatcan also make you feel
ostracized and feel like you'restanding out in the wrong way.
So I think, whatever you can doin that situation, we all want
to literally feel good in ourown skin and we all deserve to
feel good in our own skin.
And if the shaving wasaggravating that, then I think
(14:44):
it's.
I think it's good and I'm usedto like.
Being the different one is likea part of my life, you know.
So, yeah, it's also a recurringtheme, like when I write, like
being the fish out of water,different doesn't quite fit and
all of that.
So I definitely empathize withthat.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I'm good with it.
We, you know, just walk to thebeat of a little different drum.
It is what it is.
I feel like I've had tooverpower it for 37 years and I
guess at this point I shouldjust quit, because I'm just
going to be a little different.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
That's okay, it is what it is and you do grow out
of it.
You can live forward to that.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yes, at some point I won't have to, but good stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Well, we'll move into the first section of the show.
So we're going to move intoreinvention and resilience.
So, on the show, I'm huge.
I love stories.
I feel like that's how weconnect with other people and I
think for the longest time,cavemans and you know things
like that.
That's how we pass information.
So can you share a story ofyour acting hiatus and what led
you to finally step back intothat spotlight after all that
(15:50):
time?
I think you started to touch onit.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yeah, I started to tell you.
So for me, when I took thatworkshop there were, first of
all, I didn't know If it hadn'tbeen good.
I often wonder how thetrajectory of my life would be
different right now, because Iwould have been like, eh, that
wasn't so great, but because itwas so good and the instructor,
(16:14):
the coach, could see it.
I don't know if you know themovie Reservoir Dogs.
His name is called Kirk Baltz.
I always give him a shout outbecause he really is a great
coach.
He's the one who gets his earcut off in Reservoir Dogs and he
even said you know, you, youand you.
You guys are in fire.
You need to get together, andI'm still really good friends
(16:37):
with one of the women who hesaid that to.
I didn't know what it meant atthe time.
I was 47 years old.
I didn't know how I was goingto relaunch my career, I didn't
know anything right, and Ididn't have any of the tools
that actors need to relaunchtheir career or to launch their
(17:00):
career.
So, as an actor, you needheadshots, you need a showreel,
you need some industry contacts,and I didn't have any of that,
and the main thing you need areheadshots and a showreel, though
, and I didn't have any currentshowreel material because I
hadn't acted in 16 years, notreally.
So for me, the first dilemmathat I saw, or the first
(17:23):
challenge that I ran into, was Iwas rusty and just like an
athlete, a singer, whatever youneed to keep your instrument in
tune, otherwise it's not goingto sound or look or be very good
, and so I knew I needed sometraining, and the obstacle
always presents the solution ifyou know which questions to ask.
(17:45):
So the first thought was well,okay, let me check into this.
I wanted the training to be inEnglish, because I didn't want
to add the extra layer of Germanon top of it.
I just wanted my responses tobe organic.
So I started to look intocoaches in London, la, new York,
and they're amazing coaches Ihad always wanted to work with,
(18:09):
but that was very quicklyoccurred to me.
It was going to be really,really expensive to be flying
around, and also not justmoney-wise but also time-wise,
and even though my son didn'twant to hang out with me on
Friday nights, I was still hismom.
I was still making himbreakfast, getting him up for
school, making sure he did hishomework, grounding him when he
broke his curfew, all that stuff.
So I thought, okay, again, theproblem presents a solution if
(18:34):
you just ask the right question.
So I didn't have it in Munich.
That was the problem.
That also became the solution.
So I just reached out to thosesame coaches that I wanted to
work with and I said what's itgoing to take to get you here?
And they told me I thought okay, next challenge what do I need
to make that happen?
(18:55):
And I figured out that if Ijust was going to like, my only
goal at that point was just topay what I would pay if they
were already in Munich.
So if I could just get ahandful of actors to take the
workshop with me, then I'd begood to go.
And what very quickly happenedwas I not only was getting the
(19:17):
workshops for free, I wasearning between $1,000 and
$2,000 per workshop, and I wasbuilding a community Excuse me,
and community back then we'retalking 13, 14 years ago was not
the buzzword that it is today.
And I had no idea how much of asupport that was going to be
(19:38):
for me.
Later on, when I finally didlaunch my career and I did that
for about a year and a half Iused to call it when I brought
in a coach.
That was the big workshop, andthen I would organize little
workshops in between.
So if you took the big workshop, you were invited to the little
workshops just to work onwhatever we had learned.
(19:59):
And the little workshops, Ididn't charge anything for them
and we just paid for the room orwhatever it was.
And so and I was doing that Iwas doing a big workshop one to
two times a month, and then thelittle workshops, sometimes six
days a week.
So I was working out betweenthree and eight hours a day, six
days a week.
So I was working out betweenthree and eight hours a day, six
days a week, and I did that fora year and a half, as I said.
(20:21):
So I was really like gettingretrained as an actor.
But even more than that, I waspicking my curriculum.
I was curating my curriculumbased on what I wanted to learn
and what I felt like I needed tolearn, and when I felt like I
was ready, when I felt like,okay, you know, like my
confidence is back, my skillsare sharp again, I'm ready to go
(20:44):
do this thing, then for me, atthat point I was kind of done
with the workshops, and so theylater did make a reappearance,
and maybe we'll talk about thatagain, because there were many
different ways that I learned touse them throughout my past 11
years since having relaunched mycareer.
But the first phase was allabout bridging, building a
(21:08):
bridge from my passion to makingit a truly meaningful,
sustaining part of my life again.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
That's powerful, they say.
You know if you find somethingyou can get paid to do that you
love, you never work a day inyour life.
So you really found a way tomerge and bridge the thing that
you were already doing and thatyou wanted to learn about and
that you know.
If you wanted to learn about it, I'm sure others wanted to
learn about it, so you're reallyable to bring others along with
you.
You know you also got, you know, a little bit of a discount or
(21:38):
made some money along the way,so that's really cool that you
were able to find a win-win.
I don't feel like there's asmany win-wins as we would like
in this world, so that's prettyamazing.
So that's really thatreinvention.
I'd love to hear a little bitabout resiliency and how
resiliency played a role in yourpersonal and professional life
especially during those times ofuncertainty.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Well, I mean, the reinvention just keeps on going.
To be very honest, I'm alwaysreinventing myself right.
Part of it is like moving todifferent countries, you know,
figuring out what I'm going tolike, when my career was I don't
want to say taken away, but itwas for a time made impossible,
you know, until I found a wayback to it, until I found a way
(22:20):
to reinvent it for myself herein Munich, going from being, you
know, a voiceover actor whichis pretty much, you know,
voiceover presenter, that kindof a thing back to becoming a
working actor again was anothertime when I reinvented myself.
For me, the most powerful thingthat I did, honestly, and the
(22:42):
thing that I think anybody cando, is find something that they
love, because in this day andage, most people think that they
need, in order to make a livingfrom what you love, if you're
not actually doing that thingright, if you're not, like, just
as an actor, sure, I could makea living doing that, I do make
(23:04):
a living doing that.
But there are other actors, youknow, who are also mostly
coaches, and there's nothingwrong with it.
But I think often, especially inthe creative field, because it
can be difficult to make aliving, people feel like, well,
their only other option is toteach it, and I think you end up
(23:28):
running into a couple ofproblems imposter syndrome
because you, you know, we'vesort of been sold this bill of
goods that you only need to staytwo steps ahead of the person
behind you, but then you'realways kind of looking over your
shoulder and making sure thatthey're not catching up, and it
also puts you in the position ofnot being able to say I don't
(23:50):
know, I'm just learning, likeyou.
You know, let me look into thator something, because you feel
like you need to have all theanswers.
So, which feeds into theimposter syndrome.
So, with the curating ofcoaches and experts to whether
your passion is, you know,tuning pianos or foraging for
(24:14):
edible fauna in the forest, orcake decorating or furniture
refurbishment or acting orwhatever it may be, you are able
to make a living from somethingthat you love.
But you don't have to be thecoach or the expert.
You put yourself in theposition of being a beginner or
(24:35):
a learner, just like everybodyelse.
In fact, I really had to fightfor not to be put in a position
of authority during that yearand a half, because I was the
one hanging out with the coaches, I was the one organizing
everything they were paying me,so I think there was a lot of
(24:56):
hesitancy to give me feedbackand I was always fighting for it
.
You know, like, hey, why do youthink I did all this?
I want the feedback, I want thecritique, I want to get better,
just like you do, and I can'tget better unless I get the
feedback.
And so there's so much freedomin it, and you will.
(25:17):
The more you learn, you willnaturally be becoming an expert
in whatever it is that you'reinterested in, until one day,
and you will know when you'reready to take on that mantle of
coach or expert, if you sochoose.
Coach or expert, if you sochoose.
(25:38):
You may not, because you mayfind that it's super fulfilling
just to have a community ofpeople who are into what you're
into and learning from otherpeople.
But so I think that that is, ina sense, the answer for
resiliency, also for me.
You know, no matter what I facein life, whether it's a serious
illness or, you know, difficulttimes I always kind of look at
(25:59):
it as I just got to get throughthe ring of fire that's what I
call.
It is the ring of fire andthere's no way around it.
You just have to go through thefire.
But on the other side of thatfire it's not going to be
burning anymore, you're going tobe okay again, and I guess part
(26:20):
of it is just faith.
I'm kind of an eternal optimist, so I know that.
You know the sun will come outtomorrow.
And the other thing is, Ireally believe from the bottom
of my heart that every challengeyou know we live in a universe
of where there's light, there'sdark.
What goes up comes down Everyproblem has a solution.
(26:42):
You just need to ask the rightquestions.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Absolutely.
I think there's always like thecontrast on both sides.
I actually just wrote aboutthis on Facebook.
As a kid, I never really likedbeing cold.
I was at a work trip inLithuania and it was very cold
about a month ago I think, and Iwas out and I was in the
Christmas markets and you know,the lights were up and it was
beautiful and it just helped mereally like stop and reflect,
(27:10):
because as a kid I just hatedbeing cold.
I always, you know, made thejoke that I was born in Northern
California, so I came out whenit was hot.
I'm supposed to be hot all thetime, I'm supposed to be in
shorts and a flip-flop, but itreally was like a powerful
moment to stop and reflect.
You have the cold at some timeswhere you bundle up, but then
other times you're on the beachand flip-flops.
So you have different thingsthat are happening at different
(27:31):
times and if you had everythingthat was always the same, you
wouldn't get a chance to cherishit because it would all be the
same.
It'd be kind of boring.
And so I think, you know, wesay like you can't have the
sunny, bright, fun day withouthaving the rain.
You know you have to have thedifferent things, the ups and
the downs, and so I think that'sa really good connection there
and I love that you talked aboutbeing able to love the stuff
(27:52):
that you do and you get paid for.
I feel like so often we want towork in an office job and then
you do your hobby as woodworkingor whatever you do the office
mundane thing that you hate tofund the thing that you actually
love, that you actually love.
But could you just line up thething that you love if you're
(28:13):
good at woodworking or whateverthat may be like transform that
into the thing that makes youthe money and you get to do both
, I'm sure you know or learnmore and more about it by being
the one that's setting up rightthe workshops and that way, you
know.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
The other thing was, I did it all on my schedule,
right, I wanted to do it sooften, but if you want to do it
once every two months, once ayear, once a week, once a day,
it's up to you, you know.
So yeah, I think that too manypeople just don't.
I don't know, I'm honestly mindblown that more people don't do
(28:47):
it, because it just to me waslike the obvious solution.
It's like, well, of course youknow they're not here.
I need them here, I'm going tobring them here, I'm going to
get what I need, you know.
So yeah, but the interestingthing was too, like with
resiliency you were mentioningthat so I kind of had to
reinvent myself as an actor aswell, because when I left the
(29:10):
industry I was a woman in her,and when I came back I was
almost 50 at this point, and sothe world is not open to a
50-year-old woman the same wayit is open to a woman in her mid
to late 20s, and I had to firstkind of come to terms with
where I was and what that meansor doesn't mean, you know, like
(29:32):
what is all this and who am I asan actor?
And also I started, so I, youknow I did all the things that
we do, but I as a young woman,even though I was a working
actor, I don't think that wasdown to any strategy, it was
probably down to luck.
(29:53):
And we talked a little bitabout luck in the beginning.
And I am not taking away frommy talent, because I do believe
in my talent and I believe thatmy talent got me the jobs.
But I got auditions because Iknew some people and so luck,
(30:16):
skill both, I don't know, in anycase not repeatable because I
didn't know anybody here.
So what I realized here was Ineeded to have a strategy.
What I realized here was Ineeded to understand what it
meant to be in the business ofbeing an actor.
And I think as a young woman, Ididn't realize not only did I
(30:37):
not realize, I don't even think,I wanted to realize that you
know, if you are want to make aliving at anything, you are in
business for yourself.
And I think I was like, no, I'man artist, thank you.
But as a grown woman I was like, okay, let's look into this
because I really am seriousabout my career.
(30:59):
So I realized there were acouple of things which came to
be the five pillars of my coursethat I, you know, now teach
other actors also about thecareer, about the business of
being an actor.
I don't teach acting, but I doteach about the business of
being an actor.
I don't teach acting, but I doteach about the business of
being an actor, because too manyactors just don't even.
They're like I was.
They're getting their training,they've got an agent, and then
(31:20):
they complain a lot.
It's like, yeah, you know, thecasting directors only want to
see the same people.
Whatever it is, my agent sucks,you know, those kind of things.
It's like, yeah, yeah, maybe,but there's also stuff that you
could be doing.
So that's when I really startedto look into that.
But my first problem that Irecognized was that I had some
(31:41):
limiting beliefs around my ageand around my lack of perfect
German.
And so I because I was tryingto, you know, I wanted to be
cast as a German woman.
I live here in Germany and I'mnot, you know, I'm not going to
do that, they're not going to dothat, and so.
But I really fought against itin the beginning, and then I
became a life and career coach,initially, only to get over my
(32:04):
own limiting beliefs.
I knew that if I could reallylearn those skills, that I could
apply them to myself, and whichis what I did, and it did
definitely help.
Now I truly believe that, youknow, whatever you think is up,
whatever most people think isthere, they're the thing that's
holding them back, is probablyone of their superpowers.
So, and that kind of turned outto be my case when I embraced
(32:29):
my age and my you know, I'm anAmerican, I live here in Germany
, you know, and all of thosethings, and really started to
approach it from that point ofview.
That's when I started to get alot more auditions, a lot better
auditions.
But again, I kind of ran upagainst a wall at a point where
I kept getting typecasts I don'tknow if I can swear on this,
(32:51):
but you can beep it out, I guess, as the bitch in charge, the
witch in charge, the witch witha B in charge, right and I felt
like, okay, yeah, I meanobviously right.
I mean, if you're seeing thison YouTube or wherever it is,
nobody's going to be surprisedthat I can play that.
But what they weren't seeing,what I felt they weren't seeing,
(33:14):
was my heart, my humor, myplayful side, my maternal side,
which is also there.
And I thought, okay, again, theproblem presents the solution.
Well, if they're not seeingthis, what can I do to show it
to them?
And that's when I really setabout working on my branding
though I don't think I had thewords for calling it branding at
(33:35):
that point and that's when myauditions and booking started to
really become much morethree-dimensional, which led to
other actors saying, hey, how'dyou get this?
Who do you know?
And that's when I startedhelping other actors to
understand the business of beingan actor based on kind of
(33:56):
everything that I had mademyself learn.
But one of the things that Iwas doing this is kind of back
to resilience, I guess to one ofthe things that I was doing to
change my branding was I haddecided I guess I'm like a once
a month type girl or something,I don't know because I had
decided I'm going to shoot ashort film once a month, once a
month, and so that's going to beon brand for me, and so I did
(34:20):
this probably six, seven months.
But filmmaking is expensive.
Even when everybody is donatingeverything, it is still
expensive.
You still have to pay for food,at the very least for a crew of
people, and sometimes you haveto rent equipment, locations,
pay for lodging, pay for travel,so it can be expensive.
So it was like all of a suddenI remembered that I was earning
(34:42):
a few thousand doing theworkshops.
So then that became kind ofphase two of the workshops where
it was purely like let me makesome quick money learning
something that is also useful tome.
Obviously it was alwayssomething to do with what I
wanted to learn and that wasgreat and it served its purpose
(35:03):
again.
And then I would say phase three, which is what I'm in now and I
think I'll probably be in thisphase for the foreseeable future
, is I still use the workshops,but I use them as a networking
tool.
So if there's somebody I wouldlike to work with a casting
director, producer, showrunner,director, whatever it may be
(35:26):
I'll ask them would you beinterested in doing a workshop?
And then that way I'm offeringsomething of literal value to
them money Also.
I'm giving them a platform toshare their expertise and their
knowledge and to get to knowsome other actors, and from my
point of view, I'm able to meetthem on even playing ground.
(35:51):
They're not me, this littleactor, and then this big casting
director.
We are two people who arecoming together and we both
happen to love the film industryand we're having great
conversations around that, andsome of them have even become
really good friends and someothers have just become
professional friends, butcertainly more than just an
(36:12):
acquaintance, and so that wasalso eye-opening that you can
use these workshops as a way tonetwork with people.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
That's perfect.
The next segue is creatingopportunities.
So the question I wanted to askyou can you share a specific
moment when building connectionsopened a new door for you?
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Yeah, right.
Well, I definitely have gottendirect requests to audition from
, I would say, six castingdirectors who I can attribute
directly to having theserelationships with, who might
not have even considered me hadit not been for our relationship
(37:00):
and because of that, not to saythat that puts me.
What it does is it puts youcloser to top of mind, right?
So I'm always sort of notsaying that I'm they're always
thinking of me or anything, butI certainly pop up in their
heads when it comes to someonewho fits my character breakdown,
who fits my character traits,and often even when it comes to
(37:21):
people who fit the charactertraits and they're open to like
if they know the director islike open to having someone
who's not maybe 100% German 100%German is the wrong word, not
natural born German, because Iam 100% German.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Now, you are now I have both citizenships now.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
But yeah, so that definitely has led to that, I
mean.
But there's so many thingswhere you know even the first
example right of asking.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Like and I think that it's underestimated you know,
just like asking for what youneed.
Now there is a fine line,because you don't want to be
that person who's just like thegimmicky guy.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Takes and takes and takes.
Yeah, I was going to saysomething about that.
When you do network and you'rein the room, I think we've got
to make sure that we're givingand helping with other people
and educating and I think a lotof the things you're doing,
because, yeah, it would bepretty easy if you're just going
to take, take, Then after thethird time in a row, the
person's like, okay, cool,You're just the one that kind of
(38:32):
takes all the time.
So if you're going to dosomething, definitely, you know,
make sure you're you're givingand taking.
If you're helping somebody withsomething, make sure there's a
little bit of give and take.
I wanted to ask a question wekind of touched on it earlier,
but maybe a little bit moreexpansion what advice would you
give to someone who wants toturn their passion into work but
doesn't know where to start?
(38:53):
How do you start?
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Well, nate, I happen to have a workbook that they are
happy to.
You know it will literally getthem started to curating coaches
.
You don't have to want to be anactor.
It's really for anything thatdoesn't require a higher degree,
anything that you could learnby curating your curriculum, so
(39:16):
to speak, or by taking workshops.
So whether that's acting orsinging, or woodworking, or
meditating, holistic medicine, Idon't know midwifing, I don't
know if you have to go to schoolfor that or not, but I know
that there are a lot of likeapprentice type things, right.
So I mean being a death doula.
(39:37):
I have someone who's interestedin taking taking my course is
called Passion Project to Pro,so who is interested in learning
more about being a death doula?
Another one who's interested inpsychedelics.
I mean, really there, there'skind of no end to what it is.
But what I would suggest is,when you are, I truly believe
(40:03):
that your passion is the key tofinding your purpose, and if you
don't know what your passion is, then follow your curiosity,
because your curiosity is goingto put you on the road.
And if you just keep followingyour curiosity, sooner or later
you're going to run intosomething that keeps your
interest for a while, yeah, andit may turn into your passion,
that's good stuff.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
So what I?
Speaker 2 (40:24):
would suggest is learn right.
First figure it out, because Ithink a lot of people also think
that they want to do something,but because they haven't
actually really done it, theydon't know.
So first figure it out.
Do you really want to be apotter?
You know they always have dryhands and all that stuff and the
(40:45):
clay it's very drying.
Do you really want to?
You know jewelry design?
It's hard on your eyes, I don'tknow, but do it.
This is what I always tellbeginning actors who reach out
to me.
You know and want to be in mycourse is not geared for
beginning actors.
It's really geared for trainedactors who've been in the
industry for at least a coupleof years.
(41:06):
But I always say go, go, youknow, take some workshops, go do
it and see if you even like it.
You may just have this ideaabout what it is and it doesn't
match the reality at all.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Yeah, I always find it wild that you're supposed to
go to college and get thisdegree.
You're supposed to be 18 and at18, you're supposed to know,
like, what you want to do forthe rest of your life.
I really think there should bea better way where, like, you're
not supposed to enter schooluntil 22 or 24.
Something where you can go and,you know, try some things.
(41:41):
Or, you know, go to the PeaceCorps, travel, learn other
cultures.
I think just going and eatingand learning languages and
things like that is superpowerful.
But yeah, it's always beenreally odd to me that 18, where
you're just not very mature atall, you're supposed to.
Yeah, I want to.
You know.
I'm sure there's, you know, avery few people.
Like from the very beginningthey wanted to be a doctor and
(42:03):
like they went all the waythrough and made it all the way
through and it was exactly whatthey wanted.
And but that's gotta be just asmall sliver of people, I think
the majority.
Like I even went to school forprogramming, I was like, oh, I
want to do computers, that'd beso cool, and I take the first
programming class and I'm, youknow, in the room trying to do
this.
It never works and it's, youknow, all bugged up and I'm
(42:23):
trying to run the code.
I'm like this is miserable, butyou don't know because you
haven't done it, so you go to doit.
You're like this is enjoyableat all.
You thought from the outside itlooks cool.
I could do a little HTML in myMySpace page back in the day,
but you know that was about theextent of it.
But yeah, it's just sointeresting to me.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
You're supposed to decide so early?
Oh my God, do you know?
In Germany it's even younger.
Yes, when they finished gradeschool.
So they're in the fifth grade.
And then there are threedifferent types of schools here.
So there's the gymnasium, whichwould be the equivalent of our
ap high schools.
Then there's uh, real shula,which is like normal high school
(43:03):
, missing grade 11 and 12 though.
So it goes up to grade 10.
And then there's uh, but theygo from sixth grade to ninth or
tenth grade, I guess it is.
And then there's a Hauptschule.
So the kids in Gymnasium, theyall go on to university.
The kids in Realschule, theysometimes go on to university.
(43:24):
They have to take another stepin between to get there, and
sometimes they'll become handworkers.
Hand workers, do we say that?
So you know, they'll work withtheir hands like carpenters,
tile, whatever.
It is right, but.
But this is a trade.
They will become tradesmen.
But because they've gone toreal shula, then they also have
the option to become what theycall a meister, which is mean
(43:46):
they can also own their ownbusiness.
And then there are the kids whogo to helpuptschule, which is
basically like they're alwaysgoing to work for somebody else
doing a trade job, yeah, andthey need to figure that out at
10.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Dang 10.
That is early.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
I mean it's insane yeah that is yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
I mean it's insane.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Yeah, that is.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
Yeah, and then our last category, as we come to a
close, is pursuing your passionwithout limits.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
This is going to be some good stuff, so what's your
idea on ideas and dreams thathave no expiration date?
Well, I think the thing ispeople have everybody has dreams
when they're young, and thenlife gets in the way and
obligations and family andpriorities need to be set so
(44:40):
that you can take care of thoseobligations and family and then
by the time you have time tothink about, you know the kids
leave the house or whatever itis.
By the time you have a chanceto think about what do I want?
Like most people think it'sjust too late, and the truth is
it's never too late and what Ialways really encourage people
(45:02):
to do is you remember debateteam in high school?
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, argue the other side, because we are
confirmation bias idiots, right,I mean, we will.
Whatever we believe, whateverwe think, we will look for the
confirmation to make sure thatthat is true and that is right,
and we will stick with it.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
And the algorithm doesn't help right.
Speaker 2 (45:27):
Right, right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
It only shows you what you like to see.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
It only shows you what you liketo see.
Yeah, yeah, so true.
And so if you play the devil'sadvocate, argue the other side.
Like you know, I thought I wastoo old to relaunch my acting
career, even though I was doingit.
But like I had this you know,this limiting voice at the back
of my head saying that to me, soit was like I started to look
(45:52):
for the evidence of no.
There are people who aresuccessful, who have launched
their career later in life.
Peter Dinklage is always a hugeinspiration to me.
I mean, my God, if anybody likeyou could have said, like dude,
hang it up, forget it and lookwhat he's done.
And he's done it amazingly.
(46:14):
And he has not only that, buthe's met the rules, like he's
gotten cast where it didn'tnecessarily say you know a tiny
person, right?
So I think if you know OprahWinfrey, look at her.
You know Davins.
There are so many people who,kind of against the odds, really
(46:38):
just kept at it and I think ifthey can do it, it's just proof
that you can do it too.
They're not any more specialthan you are or than I am or
than any of us are.
They just maybe are moredetermined and they don't give
up on their dreams.
A lot of people do.
And I really think it's sadbecause at the end of the day,
(47:03):
you know, when we close our eyesfor that final time, I want the
movie that plays in my head tobe one I'm happy to see and I
don't want to be like, no,change the channel, I don't.
This isn't what I wanted, youknow.
You know really what it is iswe want to matter, we all want
(47:28):
to matter, and what that lookslike, whether that's for three
people, 300 people or threemillion people, it doesn't
matter.
But it's why we have theseexistential questions like what
does it all mean?
But really, what does it allmean?
Speaker 1 (47:46):
so it doesn't mean anything if you don't make it
mean something I think one thingwe do a kind of a poor job at
is defining success.
Like we want success to be thecar and the house and all these
things, and I wish we had abetter definition.
Where you're content, you havea good home and the movie that
plays at the end of your life,is that happy movie, I mean
(48:07):
that's really success.
It's not the dollar amountsthat you can't take with you,
it's not the Lamborghini thatyou also can't take with you.
I wish we had that betterdefinition of success and then
maybe that is the definition youknow, that movie that you are
content and and feel great aboutas you expire, maybe, maybe
that's it.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Yeah, and I think you know when it does come down to
the people always, because youknow, as I said, we all want to
matter, but to whom we want tomatter?
To somebody else.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
Yeah, the loved ones, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (48:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
Let's try to bring it all together.
I'm curious what's one mindsetshift or piece of advice you'd
like listeners to take away fromyour journey?
Speaker 2 (48:58):
Okay, so there are actually a couple.
One is don't let fear stop you.
Recognize that fear.
You know, I thought as a youngwoman, grownups didn't have fear
.
Grownups just did great stuff.
And you know, and I'm talking,home alone.
Speaker 1 (49:16):
He's talking to the guy that does the thing and he's
like oh, you're too old to beafraid.
And he said you're never tooold to be afraid.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
I love home alone, sorry but it's true, you know,
you, you are never too old, itdoesn't go away, so you need to
make peace with it.
And the way I've need to makepeace with it and the way I've
kind of made peace with my fears, I used to think of it maybe as
a bit of a saboteur, and now Ithink of it more as like a
helicopter mom and it's like youknow, I don't think that my
(49:44):
fear is trying to sabotage me.
I think my fear is trying tokeep me in my comfort zone
because that's comfortable,that's safe.
It fear is trying to keep me inmy comfort zone because that's
comfortable, that's safe.
It's trying to keep me safe andit doesn't want me to fall flat
on my face.
It doesn't want me to, you know, do the scary stuff, because
that's that limbic reptile brainright, it wants you to be safe
(50:05):
and, you know, happy and fat,and that's what it is.
So that's the first thing isrecognize that and then start
making it a daily practice toget comfortable with being
uncomfortable.
Like look for the answers toyour challenges within the
challenges themselves, because,as I pointed out, I tried to at
(50:28):
least again and again the answerwas always the challenge, like,
if this is the problem, thenthat's the answer.
Just how are you going to do it?
That is the only thing left toask.
That's perfect, yeah, and sojust practice taking small steps
and stretching the boundariesof your comfort zone a little
(50:51):
bit every day.
And then what lays you knowwhat scared you yesterday is
going to be behind you andyou're going to be building that
confidence and expanding theboundaries and expanding your
life.
Because your comfort zone, youknow your big dreams, no matter
how quietly they're snoring inthe background, you know they're
(51:12):
not in your comfort zone.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
And I think you said that the things that you find
are your roadblocks, or thethings that are unsurmountable,
are the things that are yoursuperpower.
So I think that really is agreat way to envision that the
thing that you think is holdingyou back is probably the thing
that's going to get you throughit all.
Well, anne, thank you forcoming out.
It was a great time.
(51:35):
I encourage listeners to sharetheir thoughts or let me know if
you'd like to be a guest on theshow.
Please let us know how thingsare going on social media
Facebook, buzzsprout, tiktok,youtube, all those fun things.
We'll keep making episodes,episodes.
I love you all.
See ya.
Before we close out the show,we're going to allow Anne to
(51:56):
tell us a little bit about wherewe can find more information
and connect with her.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
Yeah well, if you'd like to download that free
workbook, you can find that atactboldtrainingcom.
Backslash P as in passion 2.
So small case P2.
And then otherwise.
Otherwise, I am on all thesocial medias.
My name and Alexander Cedar, oryou can also find me under act
bold.
I'm the one responding in theDM.
(52:20):
So if you want to reach outYouTube, I also have my own
podcast called act bold.
So, yeah, I would love to hearfrom you.
Speaker 1 (52:28):
Awesome, you can contact her directly.
It's really her.
She doesn't have a social mediamanager.
Speaker 2 (52:33):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (52:34):
It's Anne, really Anne.
Well, check her out.
Speaker 2 (52:37):
Yeah, thank you.
Hi everyone, welcome to Mindforce.
I'm your host, nate Shear, andthis is the show where love,
life and learning come together,because your mind is what
matters most here.
Today we have AnneAlexander-Seder, and today we'll
be talking about reinventionand resilience, creating
opportunities, pursuing yourpassions without limits, without
(00:46):
limits.
So we're going to start withthe easy stuff the who, what,
why and where.
Who are you, what do you do andwhere in the world are you and
why are you here today?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, yeah Well, my name is Anne Alexander-Seder.
I am an American actor who hasbeen living and working out of
Germany for almost 30 years now.
I came here for my love, not mycareer, but I have managed to
make both work.
In fact, I'm still here workingas an actor and I'm still with
(01:12):
my husband.
So there you go.
I don't know which one I'm moreproud of.
When I first I was a workingactor back in America, I was
SAG-AFTRA, working on my equitycard meeting.
I was making just enough moneyso I didn't have to work a side
hustle as an actor.
I even had my health insurancepaid for by SAG and you know, I
was in my twenties, so I felt Iwas doing pretty darn good.
(01:34):
And then life threw me a curveball in the shape of a hot
German guy, and that was kind ofthat.
And then I ended up here veryquickly, pregnant and, you know,
starting a brand new life in abrand new country where I didn't
speak the language andinitially excuse me getting over
a cold.
I was really excited to be amom.
(01:55):
I've.
It's something I've alwayswanted to do, and so I was.
I was very distracted by all ofthat, was very distracted by
all of that, and but you know,after our son was born, a couple
of years into it, he started togo to preschool and I started
to look around for ways to bemore useful, more creative, more
(02:18):
fulfilled, to be very honest,and I also don't like being
dependent.
So I was always looking forways, you know, to.
I didn't want to have to ask myhusband every time I saw a pair
of shoes I wanted to buy orsomething.
So there were a lot of thingsthat kind of came together.
But I had seen a poster for theAmerican drama group in Munich
(02:39):
and I thought, aha, perfect, letme go check them out.
So I called them up, I made anappointment, I auditioned, it
went really well, and when Ifinished he was like well,
welcome to the family, you know.
And he pulls out this touringschedule which I had no idea it
was a touring group.
So he's showing me.
You know, they tour nine monthsout of the year and that was
(03:01):
just out of the question.
So I apologized and got up toleave and I was disappointed
because I thought well, theregoes.
You know, that avenue is a deadend.
And then, on a whim, I kind ofleaned in and just asked him you
don't happen to know anybodyhere in Munich, do you, that I
could talk to?
And he gave me two names andthat taught me something really
(03:23):
valuable that I don't think Ihad ever learned before, and
that is ask, ask and make iteasy for people to help you.
I don't recall that he evengave me the numbers for these
two people.
I believe I had to look it up.
It was 30 years ago now, almost30 years ago, but still it was
an easy ask, it was no skin offhis nose and he was happy to
help.
So sometimes just having thecourage to ask can change
(03:46):
everything, and it certainly didin my case.
And from that point on Icontacted both of them and one
of them gave me a shot with aradio play and from there I just
started working tons, in fact,so much so that I was probably
one of the top American,definitely one of the top female
American voices out of Germanyfor a good 15 years.
(04:10):
But I had a really good run withit, where I was at times
working, you know, fivedifferent jobs a day.
First of all, it was reallyflexible, so I could show up at
(04:32):
the studio with my son and mydog and still be home in time to
take my son to the playgroundand make dinner and do all that
stuff.
But it was also as much fun asit was, it wasn't creative in
the way that I had wanted to becreative, so there was always
kind of something missing for me.
Missing for me.
And the voiceover led topresenting work and I did all
sorts of hosting game shows thatwere broadcast into Canada or
doing corporate television for,like Audi TV, for example.
(04:53):
I did their thing for sevenyears and think different things
like that, which led tocommercials and again kind of
like I would feel guilty becauseI wasn't happy with the way my
career was going, and yet Iwould also feel like I was being
ungrateful, like look, you know, there's so many actors that
(05:14):
would be thrilled to be making adecent living as an actor,
which I was technically, but itjust wasn't the kind of acting I
signed up for that I wanted andI still had this beautiful
family and it was kind of astruggle, I have to say, for
about 16 years and I was reallylooking for something to fill
that void.
(05:35):
And then, when my son was about16 years old.
We had a standing movie dateevery Friday.
And he came to me on Thursdayand he was like mom, it's nay on
the movie date A or whateveryou say, right, I don't want to
do that anymore with you, I wantto hang out with my friends.
(05:57):
And it was like, of course, asa parent, you know, this day is
coming, but I had really put myfamily first for 16 years and I
had never really thought justwhat do I want?
Just me alone, what do I want?
And I thought well, you know,I'd love to take an acting
workshop.
That's my idea of a good time.
And so I just sat down on 901,I Googled it acting workshop,
munich English and one popped upand it was the next day coach
(06:19):
out of LA, one spot open.
I whipped out my credit card, Ibought it and I left that three
days later knowing there was noturning back.
It was like a pilot light justcombusted and I was on fire.
And that's when I told myhusband I need to relaunch my
acting career.
And now I'll pause.
(06:39):
That's all.
The monologue is over.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
I love the Friday movie night.
Yeah, we got a few kids overhere and, yeah, we love that
Friday movie night.
One thing I love that you saidis you know you got to ask the
question.
One thing that always drives menuts a little bit when you know
you get a promotion or you getan assignment or you get
something that you're lookingfor and you're happy for,
(07:04):
inevitably there'll always beone person that always seems to
write on social media or whatnotand they'll use the word lucky,
lucky.
But you have to ask thequestion, put yourself in the
right spot, do the research.
Like you said, you need totrack down the phone numbers to
get that.
(07:25):
So sometimes I feel like peopledon't see the grind and the
things that happen behind thescenes, which is kind of
frustrating, because to me,lucky sounds like it's
cheapening it, like it was justluck.
But you had to do things to bein the right room with the right
people to ask the rightquestions or even ask the
question at all.
So I love that you bring thatup.
One question I wanted to askyou just out of curiosity.
You know being out of thecountry and things like that
what's your favorite part ofbeing out of the United States
(07:48):
and what are?
Some things that are a littlemore shocking or, you know, are
a little more difficult toprocess.
Well, let's see, I guess it'sbeen 30 years so.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, it has, and I've.
I lived in Italy, I lived inthe South of France, I lived in
Paris, I lived in London.
So I've lived actually inEurope longer than I ever lived
in the US.
But I go back all the time andyou know I'm there at least now
it's probably twice a year,sometimes three times a year,
but there were times that I wasthere five times a year, you
(08:17):
know.
So, just, I still have a verydeep connection to America.
You can take the girl out ofAmerica, but you can't take the
American out of the girl,absolutely.
So what do I love about livingin Europe?
Well, you know what I love?
The proximity to other culturesand the differences in other
cultures, and we definitely makea lot of use of that.
(08:38):
We go to Spain a lot, we go toItaly a lot, france once in a
while.
We're going to England nextmonth, so we definitely do make
use, and even just like drivingdistance, like we're in Austria
all the time.
I never get tired of the beauty.
To be honest, it's a beautifulplace and Munich is.
(08:59):
I grew up in Detroit and I grewup in Detroit.
Detroit was a beautiful cityand I think it has the past.
You know, it's like the rosethat lost its bloom right.
Detroit was the richest city inall of America at one point so,
and you can see it in thearchitecture, in the beautiful
turn of the century homes andbuildings and all of that.
(09:22):
But when I was growing up thatwasn't there and it was really
like when I would think ofWoodward Avenue, which was the
main kind of street goingthrough Detroit, I would think
of like newspaper tumbleweedsand boarded up stores and that
was kind of my memory of Detroit.
So, living in Munich and youknow, driving my son around this
(09:45):
gorgeous city, I mean it reallyis a beautiful city and I would
always say to him you know, youjust don't know how lucky you
are, but I mean for him it was.
Yeah, whatever, mom, get overit, you know, it's completely
normal, you know, because it wasfor him.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I think it's difficult for kids to realize,
and maybe that's just as you getolder.
I think it's difficult for kidsto realize, and maybe that's
just as you get older.
We did a cross-country triplast summer, so we were in Japan
, stationed recently or lastyear, a year and a half ago, and
then we did a year in Florida.
But to get to Florida we flewin from Japan, landed in
Washington, where I'm from,picked up the car from my sister
Washington State.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Washington State, nice, that's a beautiful trip.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
On the border of Oregon closer to Portland and
then we drove the whole way andso it was kind of funny.
The kids.
We stopped and saw the GrandCanyon and I am just in complete
shock and awe and I just wantto sit there and maybe I just
wanted to be out of the car, butit was kind of funny.
They were like okay, we're good.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I was like what I'm shocked, though Because to me as
well I drove cross country whenI was maybe 19.
My then boyfriend we stopped atthe Grand Canyon as well.
He snapped a picture of me.
I was so in awe of the GrandCanyon that the picture he
snapped of me there's literally.
I don't know how woo woo youget, but there was literally
(11:02):
like a white aura around me, andmaybe I don't know, maybe it
was a film.
It was filmed back then, Idon't know, but no other
pictures have that.
I was so in awe of it and Ithink it was just like literally
glowing.
It's so gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
When you're six and 10, I guess it's not that
interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
It's all on the ground, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you should have rentedthe donkeys.
You know that would have beenthat's the kicker right there
right, no pun intended.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Before we get started with the interview, I'd like to
ensure the guests can ask me aquestion, because I feel like a
lot of times these are onedirectional, so I want to make
sure these are organicconversations.
Anne, what do you have for me?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
All right, Nate.
Well, the name of my company iscalled Act Bold.
So when was a time in your lifethat you acted boldly and
something positive came?
Speaker 1 (11:54):
OK, this is one that's probably a little
controversial, at least maybe inthe military sector.
I feel like I should avoid it.
But I'm going to act bold andnot avoid it.
But I've been going with facialhair in the military.
It's illegal without a waiverfor medical or religious
purposes.
I've struggled with my skin mywhole life and so I've had
different agonies and differentthings, and so for the longest
(12:16):
time I was kind of pushing onand cutting through you know the
different skin conditions andthings like that, because I was
trying to look the part and dowhat I was quote unquote
supposed to.
But about a year and a half agoI finally went in and got my
waiver and it's something that'sbeen really difficult for me,
because you walk in a room andyou know you're the only one of
30 or 35 when you're in thestaff meeting or things like
(12:37):
that, and so looking differentand sticking out is really
difficult.
I've always been kind of anoddball so I didn't think it
would really affect me becauseI've always been a little bit
different.
But the military is such aspecific mold and things like
that.
It just really feels, I don'tknow feels really ostracized and
really on the outside.
But I've had at least threepeople reach out to me in the
(12:58):
last year and a half and thankedme for, you know, taking the
step and and walking forward,because they were able to go and
get help and and not have tocut through things and you build
up scar tissue and things likethat.
So all the days where it's likesuper painful and hard to walk
in the rooms and feel weird andfeel on the outside is
completely overpowered by thefew people that have reached out
(13:20):
and said it's really helpfulthat you took the step.
I didn't think I could, I didn'tthink we were supposed to and
things like that, because that'sthe exact reason I didn't.
I didn't because people thatare successful don't do it and
things like that.
And so I'd like to considermyself somewhat successful
within my area, not to like tootmy own horn or whatever, but
that was kind of.
(13:40):
The purpose is to do what'sright and hopefully convince
people and, you know, try topush through some of these rules
and things like that.
Rules need to be there.
There needs to bestandardization for certain
things, but I think we shouldalso be taking care of ourself.
And that was probably way morethan you wanted, but what do you
think about that?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, I think it flies in the face of like what
is expected and all that, and itdoes take courage to be
different and to like make usyou know I don't know that it's
a stand because you did it foryour health, I mean really and
to feel better literally in yourown skin, and so that's a fair
point.
But as you were talking, I alsokind of wondered if, I mean, if
(14:23):
you're dealing with acne, thatcan also make you feel
ostracized and feel like you'restanding out in the wrong way.
So I think, whatever you can doin that situation, we all want
to literally feel good in ourown skin and we all deserve to
feel good in our own skin.
And if the shaving wasaggravating that, then I think
(14:44):
it's.
I think it's good and I'm usedto like.
Being the different one is likea part of my life, you know.
So, yeah, it's also a recurringtheme, like when I write, like
being the fish out of water,different doesn't quite fit and
all of that.
So I definitely empathize withthat.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I'm good with it.
We, you know, just walk to thebeat of a little different drum.
It is what it is.
I feel like I've had tooverpower it for 37 years and I
guess at this point I shouldjust quit, because I'm just
going to be a little different.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
That's okay, it is what it is and you do grow out
of it.
You can live forward to that.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yes, at some point I won't have to, but good stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Well, we'll move into the first section of the show.
So we're going to move intoreinvention and resilience.
So, on the show, I'm huge.
I love stories.
I feel like that's how weconnect with other people and I
think for the longest time,cavemans and you know things
like that.
That's how we pass information.
So can you share a story ofyour acting hiatus and what led
you to finally step back intothat spotlight after all that
(15:50):
time?
I think you started to touch onit.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yeah, I started to tell you.
So for me, when I took thatworkshop there were, first of
all, I didn't know If it hadn'tbeen good.
I often wonder how thetrajectory of my life would be
different right now, because Iwould have been like, eh, that
wasn't so great, but because itwas so good and the instructor,
(16:14):
the coach, could see it.
I don't know if you know themovie Reservoir Dogs.
His name is called Kirk Baltz.
I always give him a shout outbecause he really is a great
coach.
He's the one who gets his earcut off in Reservoir Dogs and he
even said you know, you, youand you.
You guys are in fire.
You need to get together, andI'm still really good friends
(16:37):
with one of the women who hesaid that to.
I didn't know what it meant atthe time.
I was 47 years old.
I didn't know how I was goingto relaunch my career, I didn't
know anything right, and Ididn't have any of the tools
that actors need to relaunchtheir career or to launch their
(17:00):
career.
So, as an actor, you needheadshots, you need a showreel,
you need some industry contacts,and I didn't have any of that,
and the main thing you need areheadshots and a showreel, though
, and I didn't have any currentshowreel material because I
hadn't acted in 16 years, notreally.
So for me, the first dilemmathat I saw, or the first
(17:23):
challenge that I ran into, was Iwas rusty and just like an
athlete, a singer, whatever youneed to keep your instrument in
tune, otherwise it's not goingto sound or look or be very good
, and so I knew I needed sometraining, and the obstacle
always presents the solution ifyou know which questions to ask.
(17:45):
So the first thought was well,okay, let me check into this.
I wanted the training to be inEnglish, because I didn't want
to add the extra layer of Germanon top of it.
I just wanted my responses tobe organic.
So I started to look intocoaches in London, la, new York,
and they're amazing coaches Ihad always wanted to work with,
(18:09):
but that was very quicklyoccurred to me.
It was going to be really,really expensive to be flying
around, and also not justmoney-wise but also time-wise,
and even though my son didn'twant to hang out with me on
Friday nights, I was still hismom.
I was still making himbreakfast, getting him up for
school, making sure he did hishomework, grounding him when he
broke his curfew, all that stuff.
So I thought, okay, again, theproblem presents a solution if
(18:34):
you just ask the right question.
So I didn't have it in Munich.
That was the problem.
That also became the solution.
So I just reached out to thosesame coaches that I wanted to
work with and I said what's itgoing to take to get you here?
And they told me I thought okay, next challenge what do I need
to make that happen?
(18:55):
And I figured out that if Ijust was going to like, my only
goal at that point was just topay what I would pay if they
were already in Munich.
So if I could just get ahandful of actors to take the
workshop with me, then I'd begood to go.
And what very quickly happenedwas I not only was getting the
(19:17):
workshops for free, I wasearning between $1,000 and
$2,000 per workshop, and I wasbuilding a community Excuse me,
and community back then we'retalking 13, 14 years ago was not
the buzzword that it is today.
And I had no idea how much of asupport that was going to be
(19:38):
for me.
Later on, when I finally didlaunch my career and I did that
for about a year and a half Iused to call it when I brought
in a coach.
That was the big workshop, andthen I would organize little
workshops in between.
So if you took the big workshop, you were invited to the little
workshops just to work onwhatever we had learned.
(19:59):
And the little workshops, Ididn't charge anything for them
and we just paid for the room orwhatever it was.
And so and I was doing that Iwas doing a big workshop one to
two times a month, and then thelittle workshops, sometimes six
days a week.
So I was working out betweenthree and eight hours a day, six
days a week.
So I was working out betweenthree and eight hours a day, six
days a week, and I did that fora year and a half, as I said.
(20:21):
So I was really like gettingretrained as an actor.
But even more than that, I waspicking my curriculum.
I was curating my curriculumbased on what I wanted to learn
and what I felt like I needed tolearn, and when I felt like I
was ready, when I felt like,okay, you know, like my
confidence is back, my skillsare sharp again, I'm ready to go
(20:44):
do this thing, then for me, atthat point I was kind of done
with the workshops, and so theylater did make a reappearance,
and maybe we'll talk about thatagain, because there were many
different ways that I learned touse them throughout my past 11
years since having relaunched mycareer.
But the first phase was allabout bridging, building a
(21:08):
bridge from my passion to makingit a truly meaningful,
sustaining part of my life again.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
That's powerful, they say.
You know if you find somethingyou can get paid to do that you
love, you never work a day inyour life.
So you really found a way tomerge and bridge the thing that
you were already doing and thatyou wanted to learn about and
that you know.
If you wanted to learn about it, I'm sure others wanted to
learn about it, so you're reallyable to bring others along with
you.
You know you also got, you know, a little bit of a discount or
(21:38):
made some money along the way,so that's really cool that you
were able to find a win-win.
I don't feel like there's asmany win-wins as we would like
in this world, so that's prettyamazing.
So that's really thatreinvention.
I'd love to hear a little bitabout resiliency and how
resiliency played a role in yourpersonal and professional life
especially during those times ofuncertainty.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Well, I mean, the reinvention just keeps on going.
To be very honest, I'm alwaysreinventing myself right.
Part of it is like moving todifferent countries, you know,
figuring out what I'm going tolike, when my career was I don't
want to say taken away, but itwas for a time made impossible,
you know, until I found a wayback to it, until I found a way
(22:20):
to reinvent it for myself herein Munich, going from being, you
know, a voiceover actor whichis pretty much, you know,
voiceover presenter, that kindof a thing back to becoming a
working actor again was anothertime when I reinvented myself.
For me, the most powerful thingthat I did, honestly, and the
(22:42):
thing that I think anybody cando, is find something that they
love, because in this day andage, most people think that they
need, in order to make a livingfrom what you love, if you're
not actually doing that thingright, if you're not, like, just
as an actor, sure, I could makea living doing that, I do make
(23:04):
a living doing that.
But there are other actors, youknow, who are also mostly
coaches, and there's nothingwrong with it.
But I think often, especially inthe creative field, because it
can be difficult to make aliving, people feel like, well,
their only other option is toteach it, and I think you end up
(23:28):
running into a couple ofproblems imposter syndrome
because you, you know, we'vesort of been sold this bill of
goods that you only need to staytwo steps ahead of the person
behind you, but then you'realways kind of looking over your
shoulder and making sure thatthey're not catching up, and it
also puts you in the position ofnot being able to say I don't
(23:50):
know, I'm just learning, likeyou.
You know, let me look into thator something, because you feel
like you need to have all theanswers.
So, which feeds into theimposter syndrome.
So, with the curating ofcoaches and experts to whether
your passion is, you know,tuning pianos or foraging for
(24:14):
edible fauna in the forest, orcake decorating or furniture
refurbishment or acting orwhatever it may be, you are able
to make a living from somethingthat you love.
But you don't have to be thecoach or the expert.
You put yourself in theposition of being a beginner or
(24:35):
a learner, just like everybodyelse.
In fact, I really had to fightfor not to be put in a position
of authority during that yearand a half, because I was the
one hanging out with the coaches, I was the one organizing
everything they were paying me,so I think there was a lot of
(24:56):
hesitancy to give me feedbackand I was always fighting for it
.
You know, like, hey, why do youthink I did all this?
I want the feedback, I want thecritique, I want to get better,
just like you do, and I can'tget better unless I get the
feedback.
And so there's so much freedomin it, and you will.
(25:17):
The more you learn, you willnaturally be becoming an expert
in whatever it is that you'reinterested in, until one day,
and you will know when you'reready to take on that mantle of
coach or expert, if you sochoose.
Coach or expert, if you sochoose.
(25:38):
You may not, because you mayfind that it's super fulfilling
just to have a community ofpeople who are into what you're
into and learning from otherpeople.
But so I think that that is, ina sense, the answer for
resiliency, also for me.
You know, no matter what I facein life, whether it's a serious
illness or, you know, difficulttimes I always kind of look at
(25:59):
it as I just got to get throughthe ring of fire that's what I
call.
It is the ring of fire andthere's no way around it.
You just have to go through thefire.
But on the other side of thatfire it's not going to be
burning anymore, you're going tobe okay again, and I guess part
(26:20):
of it is just faith.
I'm kind of an eternal optimist, so I know that.
You know the sun will come outtomorrow.
And the other thing is, Ireally believe from the bottom
of my heart that every challengeyou know we live in a universe
of where there's light, there'sdark.
What goes up comes down Everyproblem has a solution.
(26:42):
You just need to ask the rightquestions.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Absolutely.
I think there's always like thecontrast on both sides.
I actually just wrote aboutthis on Facebook.
As a kid, I never really likedbeing cold.
I was at a work trip inLithuania and it was very cold
about a month ago I think, and Iwas out and I was in the
Christmas markets and you know,the lights were up and it was
beautiful and it just helped mereally like stop and reflect,
(27:10):
because as a kid I just hatedbeing cold.
I always, you know, made thejoke that I was born in Northern
California, so I came out whenit was hot.
I'm supposed to be hot all thetime, I'm supposed to be in
shorts and a flip-flop, but itreally was like a powerful
moment to stop and reflect.
You have the cold at some timeswhere you bundle up, but then
other times you're on the beachand flip-flops.
So you have different thingsthat are happening at different
(27:31):
times and if you had everythingthat was always the same, you
wouldn't get a chance to cherishit because it would all be the
same.
It'd be kind of boring.
And so I think, you know, wesay like you can't have the
sunny, bright, fun day withouthaving the rain.
You know you have to have thedifferent things, the ups and
the downs, and so I think that'sa really good connection there
and I love that you talked aboutbeing able to love the stuff
(27:52):
that you do and you get paid for.
I feel like so often we want towork in an office job and then
you do your hobby as woodworkingor whatever you do the office
mundane thing that you hate tofund the thing that you actually
love, that you actually love.
But could you just line up thething that you love if you're
(28:13):
good at woodworking or whateverthat may be like transform that
into the thing that makes youthe money and you get to do both
, I'm sure you know or learnmore and more about it by being
the one that's setting up rightthe workshops and that way, you
know.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
The other thing was, I did it all on my schedule,
right, I wanted to do it sooften, but if you want to do it
once every two months, once ayear, once a week, once a day,
it's up to you, you know.
So yeah, I think that too manypeople just don't.
I don't know, I'm honestly mindblown that more people don't do
(28:47):
it, because it just to me waslike the obvious solution.
It's like, well, of course youknow they're not here.
I need them here, I'm going tobring them here, I'm going to
get what I need, you know.
So yeah, but the interestingthing was too, like with
resiliency you were mentioningthat so I kind of had to
reinvent myself as an actor aswell, because when I left the
(29:10):
industry I was a woman in her,and when I came back I was
almost 50 at this point, and sothe world is not open to a
50-year-old woman the same wayit is open to a woman in her mid
to late 20s, and I had to firstkind of come to terms with
where I was and what that meansor doesn't mean, you know, like
(29:32):
what is all this and who am I asan actor?
And also I started, so I, youknow I did all the things that
we do, but I as a young woman,even though I was a working
actor, I don't think that wasdown to any strategy, it was
probably down to luck.
(29:53):
And we talked a little bitabout luck in the beginning.
And I am not taking away frommy talent, because I do believe
in my talent and I believe thatmy talent got me the jobs.
But I got auditions because Iknew some people and so luck,
(30:16):
skill both, I don't know, in anycase not repeatable because I
didn't know anybody here.
So what I realized here was Ineeded to have a strategy.
What I realized here was Ineeded to understand what it
meant to be in the business ofbeing an actor.
And I think as a young woman, Ididn't realize not only did I
(30:37):
not realize, I don't even think,I wanted to realize that you
know, if you are want to make aliving at anything, you are in
business for yourself.
And I think I was like, no, I'man artist, thank you.
But as a grown woman I was like, okay, let's look into this
because I really am seriousabout my career.
(30:59):
So I realized there were acouple of things which came to
be the five pillars of my coursethat I, you know, now teach
other actors also about thecareer, about the business of
being an actor.
I don't teach acting, but I doteach about the business of
being an actor.
I don't teach acting, but I doteach about the business of
being an actor, because too manyactors just don't even.
They're like I was.
They're getting their training,they've got an agent, and then
(31:20):
they complain a lot.
It's like, yeah, you know, thecasting directors only want to
see the same people.
Whatever it is, my agent sucks,you know, those kind of things.
It's like, yeah, yeah, maybe,but there's also stuff that you
could be doing.
So that's when I really startedto look into that.
But my first problem that Irecognized was that I had some
(31:41):
limiting beliefs around my ageand around my lack of perfect
German.
And so I because I was tryingto, you know, I wanted to be
cast as a German woman.
I live here in Germany and I'mnot, you know, I'm not going to
do that, they're not going to dothat, and so.
But I really fought against itin the beginning, and then I
became a life and career coach,initially, only to get over my
(32:04):
own limiting beliefs.
I knew that if I could reallylearn those skills, that I could
apply them to myself, and whichis what I did, and it did
definitely help.
Now I truly believe that, youknow, whatever you think is up,
whatever most people think isthere, they're the thing that's
holding them back, is probablyone of their superpowers.
So, and that kind of turned outto be my case when I embraced
(32:29):
my age and my you know, I'm anAmerican, I live here in Germany
, you know, and all of thosethings, and really started to
approach it from that point ofview.
That's when I started to get alot more auditions, a lot better
auditions.
But again, I kind of ran upagainst a wall at a point where
I kept getting typecasts I don'tknow if I can swear on this,
(32:51):
but you can beep it out, I guess, as the bitch in charge, the
witch in charge, the witch witha B in charge, right and I felt
like, okay, yeah, I meanobviously right.
I mean, if you're seeing thison YouTube or wherever it is,
nobody's going to be surprisedthat I can play that.
But what they weren't seeing,what I felt they weren't seeing,
(33:14):
was my heart, my humor, myplayful side, my maternal side,
which is also there.
And I thought, okay, again, theproblem presents the solution.
Well, if they're not seeingthis, what can I do to show it
to them?
And that's when I really setabout working on my branding
though I don't think I had thewords for calling it branding at
(33:35):
that point and that's when myauditions and booking started to
really become much morethree-dimensional, which led to
other actors saying, hey, how'dyou get this?
Who do you know?
And that's when I startedhelping other actors to
understand the business of beingan actor based on kind of
(33:56):
everything that I had mademyself learn.
But one of the things that Iwas doing this is kind of back
to resilience, I guess to one ofthe things that I was doing to
change my branding was I haddecided I guess I'm like a once
a month type girl or something,I don't know because I had
decided I'm going to shoot ashort film once a month, once a
month, and so that's going to beon brand for me, and so I did
(34:20):
this probably six, seven months.
But filmmaking is expensive.
Even when everybody is donatingeverything, it is still
expensive.
You still have to pay for food,at the very least for a crew of
people, and sometimes you haveto rent equipment, locations,
pay for lodging, pay for travel,so it can be expensive.
So it was like all of a suddenI remembered that I was earning
(34:42):
a few thousand doing theworkshops.
So then that became kind ofphase two of the workshops where
it was purely like let me makesome quick money learning
something that is also useful tome.
Obviously it was alwayssomething to do with what I
wanted to learn and that wasgreat and it served its purpose
(35:03):
again.
And then I would say phase three, which is what I'm in now and I
think I'll probably be in thisphase for the foreseeable future
, is I still use the workshops,but I use them as a networking
tool.
So if there's somebody I wouldlike to work with a casting
director, producer, showrunner,director, whatever it may be
(35:26):
I'll ask them would you beinterested in doing a workshop?
And then that way I'm offeringsomething of literal value to
them money Also.
I'm giving them a platform toshare their expertise and their
knowledge and to get to knowsome other actors, and from my
point of view, I'm able to meetthem on even playing ground.
(35:51):
They're not me, this littleactor, and then this big casting
director.
We are two people who arecoming together and we both
happen to love the film industryand we're having great
conversations around that, andsome of them have even become
really good friends and someothers have just become
professional friends, butcertainly more than just an
(36:12):
acquaintance, and so that wasalso eye-opening that you can
use these workshops as a way tonetwork with people.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
That's perfect.
The next segue is creatingopportunities.
So the question I wanted to askyou can you share a specific
moment when building connectionsopened a new door for you?
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Yeah, right.
Well, I definitely have gottendirect requests to audition from
, I would say, six castingdirectors who I can attribute
directly to having theserelationships with, who might
not have even considered me hadit not been for our relationship
(37:00):
and because of that, not to saythat that puts me.
What it does is it puts youcloser to top of mind, right?
So I'm always sort of notsaying that I'm they're always
thinking of me or anything, butI certainly pop up in their
heads when it comes to someonewho fits my character breakdown,
who fits my character traits,and often even when it comes to
(37:21):
people who fit the charactertraits and they're open to like
if they know the director islike open to having someone
who's not maybe 100% German 100%German is the wrong word, not
natural born German, because Iam 100% German.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Now, you are now I have both citizenships now.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
But yeah, so that definitely has led to that, I
mean.
But there's so many thingswhere you know even the first
example right of asking.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Like and I think that it's underestimated you know,
just like asking for what youneed.
Now there is a fine line,because you don't want to be
that person who's just like thegimmicky guy.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Takes and takes and takes.
Yeah, I was going to saysomething about that.
When you do network and you'rein the room, I think we've got
to make sure that we're givingand helping with other people
and educating and I think a lotof the things you're doing,
because, yeah, it would bepretty easy if you're just going
to take, take, Then after thethird time in a row, the
person's like, okay, cool,You're just the one that kind of
(38:32):
takes all the time.
So if you're going to dosomething, definitely, you know,
make sure you're you're givingand taking.
If you're helping somebody withsomething, make sure there's a
little bit of give and take.
I wanted to ask a question wekind of touched on it earlier,
but maybe a little bit moreexpansion what advice would you
give to someone who wants toturn their passion into work but
doesn't know where to start?
(38:53):
How do you start?
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Well, nate, I happen to have a workbook that they are
happy to.
You know it will literally getthem started to curating coaches
.
You don't have to want to be anactor.
It's really for anything thatdoesn't require a higher degree,
anything that you could learnby curating your curriculum, so
(39:16):
to speak, or by taking workshops.
So whether that's acting orsinging, or woodworking, or
meditating, holistic medicine, Idon't know midwifing, I don't
know if you have to go to schoolfor that or not, but I know
that there are a lot of likeapprentice type things, right.
So I mean being a death doula.
(39:37):
I have someone who's interestedin taking taking my course is
called Passion Project to Pro,so who is interested in learning
more about being a death doula?
Another one who's interested inpsychedelics.
I mean, really there, there'skind of no end to what it is.
But what I would suggest is,when you are, I truly believe
(40:03):
that your passion is the key tofinding your purpose, and if you
don't know what your passion is, then follow your curiosity,
because your curiosity is goingto put you on the road.
And if you just keep followingyour curiosity, sooner or later
you're going to run intosomething that keeps your
interest for a while, yeah, andit may turn into your passion,
that's good stuff.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
So what I?
Speaker 2 (40:24):
would suggest is learn right.
First figure it out, because Ithink a lot of people also think
that they want to do something,but because they haven't
actually really done it, theydon't know.
So first figure it out.
Do you really want to be apotter?
You know they always have dryhands and all that stuff and the
(40:45):
clay it's very drying.
Do you really want to?
You know jewelry design?
It's hard on your eyes, I don'tknow, but do it.
This is what I always tellbeginning actors who reach out
to me.
You know and want to be in mycourse is not geared for
beginning actors.
It's really geared for trainedactors who've been in the
industry for at least a coupleof years.
(41:06):
But I always say go, go, youknow, take some workshops, go do
it and see if you even like it.
You may just have this ideaabout what it is and it doesn't
match the reality at all.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Yeah, I always find it wild that you're supposed to
go to college and get thisdegree.
You're supposed to be 18 and at18, you're supposed to know,
like, what you want to do forthe rest of your life.
I really think there should bea better way where, like, you're
not supposed to enter schooluntil 22 or 24.
Something where you can go and,you know, try some things.
(41:41):
Or, you know, go to the PeaceCorps, travel, learn other
cultures.
I think just going and eatingand learning languages and
things like that is superpowerful.
But yeah, it's always beenreally odd to me that 18, where
you're just not very mature atall, you're supposed to.
Yeah, I want to.
You know.
I'm sure there's, you know, avery few people.
Like from the very beginningthey wanted to be a doctor and
(42:03):
like they went all the waythrough and made it all the way
through and it was exactly whatthey wanted.
And but that's gotta be just asmall sliver of people, I think
the majority.
Like I even went to school forprogramming, I was like, oh, I
want to do computers, that'd beso cool, and I take the first
programming class and I'm, youknow, in the room trying to do
this.
It never works and it's, youknow, all bugged up and I'm
(42:23):
trying to run the code.
I'm like this is miserable, butyou don't know because you
haven't done it, so you go to doit.
You're like this is enjoyableat all.
You thought from the outside itlooks cool.
I could do a little HTML in myMySpace page back in the day,
but you know that was about theextent of it.
But yeah, it's just sointeresting to me.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
You're supposed to decide so early?
Oh my God, do you know?
In Germany it's even younger.
Yes, when they finished gradeschool.
So they're in the fifth grade.
And then there are threedifferent types of schools here.
So there's the gymnasium, whichwould be the equivalent of our
ap high schools.
Then there's uh, real shula,which is like normal high school
(43:03):
, missing grade 11 and 12 though.
So it goes up to grade 10.
And then there's uh, but theygo from sixth grade to ninth or
tenth grade, I guess it is.
And then there's a Hauptschule.
So the kids in Gymnasium, theyall go on to university.
The kids in Realschule, theysometimes go on to university.
(43:24):
They have to take another stepin between to get there, and
sometimes they'll become handworkers.
Hand workers, do we say that?
So you know, they'll work withtheir hands like carpenters,
tile, whatever.
It is right, but.
But this is a trade.
They will become tradesmen.
But because they've gone toreal shula, then they also have
the option to become what theycall a meister, which is mean
(43:46):
they can also own their ownbusiness.
And then there are the kids whogo to helpuptschule, which is
basically like they're alwaysgoing to work for somebody else
doing a trade job, yeah, andthey need to figure that out at
10.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Dang 10.
That is early.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
I mean it's insane yeah that is yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
I mean it's insane.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Yeah, that is.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
Yeah, and then our last category, as we come to a
close, is pursuing your passionwithout limits.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
This is going to be some good stuff, so what's your
idea on ideas and dreams thathave no expiration date?
Well, I think the thing ispeople have everybody has dreams
when they're young, and thenlife gets in the way and
obligations and family andpriorities need to be set so
(44:40):
that you can take care of thoseobligations and family and then
by the time you have time tothink about, you know the kids
leave the house or whatever itis.
By the time you have a chanceto think about what do I want?
Like most people think it'sjust too late, and the truth is
it's never too late and what Ialways really encourage people
(45:02):
to do is you remember debateteam in high school?
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, argue the other side, because we are
confirmation bias idiots, right,I mean, we will.
Whatever we believe, whateverwe think, we will look for the
confirmation to make sure thatthat is true and that is right,
and we will stick with it.
Speaker 1 (45:25):
And the algorithm doesn't help right.
Speaker 2 (45:27):
Right, right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
It only shows you what you like to see.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
It only shows you what you liketo see.
Yeah, yeah, so true.
And so if you play the devil'sadvocate, argue the other side.
Like you know, I thought I wastoo old to relaunch my acting
career, even though I was doingit.
But like I had this you know,this limiting voice at the back
of my head saying that to me, soit was like I started to look
(45:52):
for the evidence of no.
There are people who aresuccessful, who have launched
their career later in life.
Peter Dinklage is always a hugeinspiration to me.
I mean, my God, if anybody likeyou could have said, like dude,
hang it up, forget it and lookwhat he's done.
And he's done it amazingly.
(46:14):
And he has not only that, buthe's met the rules, like he's
gotten cast where it didn'tnecessarily say you know a tiny
person, right?
So I think if you know OprahWinfrey, look at her.
You know Davins.
There are so many people who,kind of against the odds, really
(46:38):
just kept at it and I think ifthey can do it, it's just proof
that you can do it too.
They're not any more specialthan you are or than I am or
than any of us are.
They just maybe are moredetermined and they don't give
up on their dreams.
A lot of people do.
And I really think it's sadbecause at the end of the day,
(47:03):
you know, when we close our eyesfor that final time, I want the
movie that plays in my head tobe one I'm happy to see and I
don't want to be like, no,change the channel, I don't.
This isn't what I wanted, youknow.
You know really what it is iswe want to matter, we all want
(47:28):
to matter, and what that lookslike, whether that's for three
people, 300 people or threemillion people, it doesn't
matter.
But it's why we have theseexistential questions like what
does it all mean?
But really, what does it allmean?
Speaker 1 (47:46):
so it doesn't mean anything if you don't make it
mean something I think one thingwe do a kind of a poor job at
is defining success.
Like we want success to be thecar and the house and all these
things, and I wish we had abetter definition.
Where you're content, you havea good home and the movie that
plays at the end of your life,is that happy movie, I mean
(48:07):
that's really success.
It's not the dollar amountsthat you can't take with you,
it's not the Lamborghini thatyou also can't take with you.
I wish we had that betterdefinition of success and then
maybe that is the definition youknow, that movie that you are
content and and feel great aboutas you expire, maybe, maybe
that's it.
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Yeah, and I think you know when it does come down to
the people always, because youknow, as I said, we all want to
matter, but to whom we want tomatter?
To somebody else.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
Yeah, the loved ones, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (48:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
Let's try to bring it all together.
I'm curious what's one mindsetshift or piece of advice you'd
like listeners to take away fromyour journey?
Speaker 2 (48:58):
Okay, so there are actually a couple.
One is don't let fear stop you.
Recognize that fear.
You know, I thought as a youngwoman, grownups didn't have fear
.
Grownups just did great stuff.
And you know, and I'm talking,home alone.
Speaker 1 (49:16):
He's talking to the guy that does the thing and he's
like oh, you're too old to beafraid.
And he said you're never tooold to be afraid.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
I love home alone, sorry but it's true, you know,
you, you are never too old, itdoesn't go away, so you need to
make peace with it.
And the way I've need to makepeace with it and the way I've
kind of made peace with my fears, I used to think of it maybe as
a bit of a saboteur, and now Ithink of it more as like a
helicopter mom and it's like youknow, I don't think that my
(49:44):
fear is trying to sabotage me.
I think my fear is trying tokeep me in my comfort zone
because that's comfortable,that's safe.
It fear is trying to keep me inmy comfort zone because that's
comfortable, that's safe.
It's trying to keep me safe andit doesn't want me to fall flat
on my face.
It doesn't want me to, you know, do the scary stuff, because
that's that limbic reptile brainright, it wants you to be safe
(50:05):
and, you know, happy and fat,and that's what it is.
So that's the first thing isrecognize that and then start
making it a daily practice toget comfortable with being
uncomfortable.
Like look for the answers toyour challenges within the
challenges themselves, because,as I pointed out, I tried to at
(50:28):
least again and again the answerwas always the challenge, like,
if this is the problem, thenthat's the answer.
Just how are you going to do it?
That is the only thing left toask.
That's perfect, yeah, and sojust practice taking small steps
and stretching the boundariesof your comfort zone a little
(50:51):
bit every day.
And then what lays you knowwhat scared you yesterday is
going to be behind you andyou're going to be building that
confidence and expanding theboundaries and expanding your
life.
Because your comfort zone, youknow your big dreams, no matter
how quietly they're snoring inthe background, you know they're
(51:12):
not in your comfort zone.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
And I think you said that the things that you find
are your roadblocks, or thethings that are unsurmountable,
are the things that are yoursuperpower.
So I think that really is agreat way to envision that the
thing that you think is holdingyou back is probably the thing
that's going to get you throughit all.
Well, anne, thank you forcoming out.
It was a great time.
(51:35):
I encourage listeners to sharetheir thoughts or let me know if
you'd like to be a guest on theshow.
Please let us know how thingsare going on social media
Facebook, buzzsprout, tiktok,youtube, all those fun things.
We'll keep making episodes,episodes.
I love you all.
See ya.
Before we close out the show,we're going to allow Anne to
(51:56):
tell us a little bit about wherewe can find more information
and connect with her.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
Yeah well, if you'd like to download that free
workbook, you can find that atactboldtrainingcom.
Backslash P as in passion 2.
So small case P2.
And then otherwise.
Otherwise, I am on all thesocial medias.
My name and Alexander Cedar, oryou can also find me under act
bold.
I'm the one responding in theDM.
(52:20):
So if you want to reach outYouTube, I also have my own
podcast called act bold.
So, yeah, I would love to hearfrom you.
Speaker 1 (52:28):
Awesome, you can contact her directly.
It's really her.
She doesn't have a social mediamanager.
Speaker 2 (52:33):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (52:34):
It's Anne, really Anne.
Well, check her out.
Speaker 2 (52:37):
Yeah, thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!