April 2, 2025 • 38 mins
I would love to hear from you!
What happens when acting, singing, and writing talents converge into a single creative mission? Megan Murphy's journey provides a roadmap for anyone pursuing multiple creative passions.
From the moment fourth-grade Megan watched high schoolers perform "Guys and Dolls," she knew performing arts would shape her life. Now, with over 20 years of professional acting experience, she's channeled her diverse talents into "The Aunt Nay Nay Show" – a wholesome YouTube variety program for children that's quickly gaining momentum.
Our conversation explores the fascinating interconnections between different art forms and how life experiences enhance creative expression. Megan shares the fascinating story of portraying a mostly non-verbal autistic character, requiring extensive research to create an authentic, respectful performance. This dedication to genuine storytelling extends through everything she does – from writing children's books to producing weekly content for her growing young audience.
What makes this discussion truly special is Megan's perspective on creative perseverance and authenticity. When traditional acting opportunities were limited, instead of waiting for doors to open, she created her own platform. What began with a simple camp song video unexpectedly blossomed when her twentieth upload garnered over 54,000 views. Her experience proves that creative persistence often yields unexpected rewards.
Perhaps most powerful is her reminder that uniqueness is our greatest asset: "There's no one in the world like you, therefore no one is really competing with you. We've all got a seat at the table because we've all got different gifts and talents." For anyone navigating multiple creative interests, this conversation offers both practical insights and heartfelt encouragement to embrace all facets of your creativity.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Hi everyone, I'm Nate Shearer and this is Mind Force,
the podcast for love, life andlearning, where your mind truly
matters.
Today we'll be exploring somany fun things.
Today we have Megan Murphy, andtoday we'll be talking about
acting, singing and writing.
So we're going to start withthe background the who, what,
why and where.
So, megan, who are you?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I am a 39-year-old actress currently living in my
small town hometown of Alabama,in Alabama.
What?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I right now I'm getting ready for Christmas,
doing all the Christmas shoppingand stuff, all the Christmas
shopping and stuff.
And I'm a writer, I'm a singerI've been pursuing acting
professionally for about 20years now and I like to read, I
like to go to the beach and Ihave my own kid show, a YouTube
(01:18):
show for kids which we'll talkmore about later, called the
Aunt Nene Show.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Nice, that sounds like what you do.
Why are you here today?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Because I don't know.
I like going on podcastsbecause I like to get the word
out about the Aunt Nay Nay Show.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
And it's also fun.
That makes sense?
And where in the world?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You said Alabama, so we got that out of the way
(02:09):
no-transcript and she lost hermemory and she can't remember
who she is and that's why theycall her Sister Amnesia.
But anyway, it's a silly, goofycharacter that was fun to play
and there was parts of this playwere really funny like I made
(02:35):
the audience laugh, like I helda laugh for like over a minute.
They wouldn't stop laughing andI couldn't say my next line, so
finally I was just like so Ienjoy doing comedy the most, but
that was one of the mostenjoyable, fun moments I've ever
(02:56):
had on stage.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
That's fun.
So what was the line or thejoke that got people rolling for
a minute straight?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I can't say it because it's inappropriate.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Okay, well, we'll keep it clean.
Then the next question I hadfor you if you could duet with
any singer in the world, past orpresent, who would it be, and
why?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Judy Garland.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Oh, that's a solid one.
Why?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Because it sounds weird, but I'm not sure if I
believe in reincarnation exactly.
But she and I have a lot incommon in our careers, in our
personal life, in ourpersonality, in our talents and
abilities and I just like feellike I get her not just who she
(03:46):
was as a performer, but who shewas as a person in real life,
and not the drugs and everything.
I don't do that, but sometimesI feel like I was judy garland
in a past life and they say thatevery time.
(04:08):
People who believe inreincarnation say that every
time you go through eachlifetime, you learn something
from the previous lifetime andif you didn't learn the lesson
in the previous life, you keepexperiencing similar things in
your future lifetimes until youlearn the lesson.
(04:29):
So I feel that I don't know.
I don't necessarily believethat, but I think what if you
know?
Speaker 1 (04:39):
It would be pretty fun right.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Being someone.
Have you seen the new Wicked?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I haven't seen it yet .
Speaker 1 (04:46):
No, haven't gotten around to it yet I thought you
were gonna say you've seen itlike 13 times christmas nice.
Have you seen the broadway play?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
yeah, I've seen it.
Uh, I think I saw it threetimes, two or three times nice
what's your favorite favoriteBroadway play, or maybe play in
general?
Memphis the Musical.
It was on Broadway like 10years ago.
It takes.
Have you ever heard of it?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
No.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
It takes place in Memphis, tennessee, in the 19th
century and it's about rock androll, music in the like, the
origins of rock and roll, andthere's a love story to it.
And the finale of the song saysum, listen to your heart,
listen to your heart, heat it,you need it.
(05:39):
Listen to your soul and let itmake you whole.
Don't ever let anyone stealyour rock and roll.
It's just I just like that play, because I'm southern, I guess,
and the music is good and it'sjust a fun play sounds good.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, it sounds like a good one.
I'll have to check that out.
My wife loves musicals, not meas much, but you know I to do
some fun things with her fromtime to time.
And the last question in thissection what's one childhood
story or experience thatinspired your love for acting,
singing or writing what theanswer to this question is.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
When I was in the fourth grade, the students from
the local high school so thehigh school students came to my
elementary school.
This was the high schooltheater group and they were
doing the musical Guys and Dollsthat year and they came and
performed a few scenes for uselementary kids of Guys and guys
(06:44):
and dolls and you've heard ofguys and dolls, right oh?
yeah, absolutely so well, when Iwas in the fourth grade I had
never heard of it, and so Ithought that this group of act
singers and actors was calledthe guys and dolls.
But anyway, they came andperformed some scenes and songs
for for us and I loved it, and Iwhen I went home that day and I
(07:10):
was like mama, I'm gonna be inthe guys and dolls one day.
I want to do that when I growup nice, so you knew all the way
how old were you fourth gradefourth grade.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
you knew all the way back then, five years old
probably.
Nice, you found that calling.
I remember I used to go to workwith my dad and watch the jets
take off and then I ended up inthe Air Force at some point.
So I guess there was aconnection.
I don't know how far back itgoes, but it's always good when
you find your calling.
So that's it for the warm-upquestions.
Your calling.
(07:44):
So that's it for the warm-upquestions.
Before we get started in themain part of the interview, I
wanted to see if you had anyquestions for me.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
What's your favorite book?
Speaker 1 (07:50):
What's my favorite book?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Or what's your favorite.
Author.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So my favorite author is James Patterson.
I've been reading him since Iwas a kid.
They have the new Amazon seriesout for Cross, but I've always
loved Alex Cross, the detectivethat solves the crimes through
psychology and things like that.
Psychology has always beenreally interesting to me.
It's kind of funny, though,looking back.
There's some pretty graphicthings in those books so I
(08:15):
probably shouldn't have beenreading them, because I think I
started reading them at 12 or 13and there's torture and murder
and some other things.
So I just saw them as likecrime you know crime novels and
things like that.
So I guess I didn't think muchabout it.
But when the show is on, I'vebeen watching it with my wife I
think it's Amazon Prime rightand realized that probably
(08:35):
wasn't the best thing as a kid.
I also loved Redwall.
Redwall was great the storyabout the animals that talk and
stuff.
That was probably before that.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And then some anamorphs in there, but the the
leader is definitely jamespatterson, who's your favorite
author.
It's right there, a whole shelfof them.
Jrr tolkien hands down thatI've read.
He's my favorite author thatI've read so far, because I
haven't read a lot.
You know, I have a my fewthings that I like, like.
I like, um, there's harrypotter, there's hitchhiker's
guide to the galaxy, here's thewicked books right there.
(09:11):
I read that.
How many is there?
Speaker 1 (09:14):
is there three or four?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
there's four now.
Um, I'm still working onfinishing the fourth one, but I
read some of it and then I tooka break and put it down and
haven't picked it back up.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
So a little more than a trilogy.
I don't know what they callfour of a kind, but yeah, the
first one is about Elphaba.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
It's just the main wicked story that you see in the
musical.
The second one is aboutElphaba's son it's called son of
a Witch.
And the third one is about theCowardly Lion.
And the fourth one is aboutGlinda.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Interesting.
Okay, so we'll transition intothe first main theme of yours,
which is acting.
The first question is whatinspired you to pursue acting,
which you kind of alreadyanswered.
So how has your journey throughlife shaped this love of acting
?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
As far as my journey through life.
I guess experiences that I'vehad in real life have prepared
me to play certain types ofroles in acting, like I didn't
know what it was like to reallyget your heart broken until my
(10:30):
first boyfriend broke up with me.
That was like 15 years ago.
So now I know what that's like.
So now I can use that andtranslate it to a character on
stage or film or TV in actingand I forgot what the rest of
the question was.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
It was just kind of you know, how has your life
shaped your, you know, your,your ability to love acting,
which I mean you kind of touchedon already.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
On a more positive note, I used to watch a lot of
uh, I used to watch a lot ofmovies.
When I was a little kid I hadcertain movies that I would
watch over and over again.
One of them was the musicalAnnie, the version that stars
Carol Burnett as Miss Hanniganand it also has Bernadette
(11:20):
Peters in it and Eileen Quinn asAnnie Bernadette Peters in it
and Eileen Quinn as Annie.
That really inspired me todevelop a love for musicals,
like musical theater, and Iremember I would go around the
house singing tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you.
(11:41):
Tomorrow you're only a day away.
I would sing that over and overagain and my mom would be like
stop singing.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Also there was Mary Poppins.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, that's a popular one.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
All the Disney movies like Little Mermaid, aladdin,
pocahontas, lion King all thosewere some of my influences.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Can you share a story about arole that deeply resonated with
you or challenged you in anunexpected way?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
yeah, one time I played an autistic.
I played a savant in a play whowas autistic and my character's
name was louise and I've neverbeen diagnosed autistic before,
although I think I might havesome tendencies.
But it was just verychallenging.
I did a lot of research forthis role.
I spoke to some actual autisticpeople when I was doing this.
(12:53):
This was like in 2006.
So, but just getting themannerisms and the finding ways
to make my character a realperson rather than just autism
she's also a real personunderneath inside and finding
(13:15):
ways to bring that out, becausethe character I played was she
was mostly nonverbal, but Ithought the way that we did it
was sensitive to you know whatI'm saying.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense Because you have
movies like Rain man and thingslike that, where it shows an
extreme example of somethingthat's probably not the most
realistic of representing people.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
That was one of the most difficult roles to prepare
for that had that required themost preparation that I've ever
done, so we actually watchedrain man as part of the
preparation.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
The director had to watch rain man one day I feel
like that'd be really difficultto non-verbal.
How did you get through some ofthat just getting deeper in
character, because I mean goingfrom talking all the time to
non-verbal.
That must be pretty difficultmostly.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I just I had actually done a research paper on autism
like a couple years before Idid the play.
So I just use, I just did asmuch research as possible and
try to make it as authentic and,you know, not fake.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah, as genuine as possible.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, genuine, yeah that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
So the last question in this section is how does your
experience as an actressinfluence the way you approach
storytelling and other aspectsof your life?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I tell stories in like a like.
I'm also a writer.
I've written some children'sbooks this one's called the
Christmas Tree Farm but I guessI take storytelling into.
I tell my nephew stories.
That's storytelling.
I have a seven-year-old nephewwho calls me Aunt Nay Nay.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
That's where it comes from.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, that's where the name comes from, because
when he was a baby he couldn'tsay Megan, so he was like who is
this?
Nay, nay, nice?
And he still calls me that tothis day, even though he's seven
now.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
So you pull on your time as an actress and other
aspects in writing and singingand other things.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, as far as storytelling, acting is
storytelling when you approach arole or when I approach a role.
I don't just think I shouldmake this facial expression in
this moment, or I should havethis emotion in this moment.
It's about how can you tell thestory of the play through your
(15:59):
acting.
You have to tell the story.
You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Yeah, like you had said, you know trying to make
the person real and connect tothe people and things like that.
So you're really just trying toget that story across.
That makes sense.
I love me some storytelling.
The next main theme for you issinging.
What role does music play inyour creative process and how
does singing connect you to theaudience?
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Well, I love singing.
When I made the Aunt Nene show,I used some silly songs that I
learned at Girl Scout campbecause I used to be a Girl
Scout camp counselor and so Idon't know like ever since I
learned how to talk.
My mom said I started to singwhen I was like two and three
(16:47):
years old, so I always knew thatsinging was something that I
enjoyed doing.
So when I was like two andthree years old, so I always
knew that singing was somethingthat I enjoyed doing.
So when I got older I tooksinging lessons, I took voice
lessons to learn how to use myinstrument better, and now I do
a lot of.
I do the song of the day on myYouTube channel, Not every day,
(17:09):
but a couple times a week.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
What was the last song?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
It was actually today I did Blue Christmas by Elvis.
I'll have a blue Christmaswithout you.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Nice.
Can you tell us about aperformance or song that holds
special meaning for you and whyit holds that meaning?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
In the fourth grade.
I was in the fourth gradechorus, you know, like the
choral group yeah, the choir andum I had a solo and I my solo
was the first line of the showthat we were doing.
So I was.
(17:48):
I opened the show and Iremember I said it's Saturday
morning in Sunnyside Park wherethere's lots of goings on from
dawn until dark.
That was my line.
It was kind of more of a rap, Iguess Nice, but I just remember
.
I'll never forget those linesfor the rest of my life.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
It's deeply ingrained in you.
How has your passion forsinging influenced your work,
like the project the Aunt NayNay Show?
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Well, I do a lot of songs on the Aunt Nay Nay Show.
The tagline for the show is theAunt Nay Nay Show, a variety
show for kids that includessongs, stories, educational
content and more, so songs are abig part of it.
Let me think Tomorrow we'rehaving our Christmas.
I mean our holiday spectacularspecial premiering tomorrow,
(18:47):
where we're going to singseveral.
We've got several of the gueststars that I've had on my show
in the past that have come backfor the holiday special and
they're going to sing several.
Each one is singing a Christmassong, so we're going to have
like a medley of Christmas songsand we're also going to
(19:09):
acknowledge Hanukkah and talkabout Kwanzaa as well.
So it's like a December holidayspecial.
And then we're going to have aNew Year's episode the week
after next week, Not tomorrow,but the week after that.
I put out a new episode of theNNA show once a week every
Saturday morning, so tomorrow isthe holiday special, and the
(19:33):
week after that is the NewYear's special.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
How much time do you spend each week editing and
getting ready for it?
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Well, I have a great team behind me.
I have two producers that Iwork with, and one of them also
does most of the editing for me.
Well, I pay him to do it, butmy producers help me with the
editing and they help me come upwith ideas.
(20:02):
They help me find guest starsto be on the show, but his name
is Hugo, my editor.
He helps me with most of theediting because I'm not really
good at it.
I don't.
I'm not well versed on thattechnology.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Yeah, it's always something.
I'm trying to learn somethingnew every time with you.
Know voices and editing, andthere's so much that goes into
it.
Sometimes it's like I just jumpon the mic and do that part,
but there's so much that happensbehind the.
Sometimes it's like I'll justjump on the mic and do that part
, but there's so much thathappens behind the scenes.
The next section for you iswriting, so I'd like to ask you
some questions about that.
What inspired you to startwriting and how do you balance
(20:41):
it with your other activities?
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Well, I used to read a lot of books as a kid and I
guess I don't really rememberbecause I started writing books
like in the second grade, like Iwould write books.
We had a project at schoolwhere we had to write a picture
book and I remember my book gotawarded the best book in the
(21:04):
second grade out of the wholeschool and it excuse me, they
put it up on the bulletin boardin the foyer of the school where
everybody could see it and Istill have it somewhere, but I
don't know.
I used to write in a journal alot, so I guess writing was just
a good way for me to expressmyself, because I often don't
(21:28):
express myself well with justtalking.
Like sometimes when I want tosay something to somebody that's
important, I have to write itdown or put it in writing rather
than calling them on the phoneand telling them stuff like that
.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Yeah, different methods for everybody, right?
And so how do you balance thatwith your other things?
You got the show going, youdoing some doing some plays,
doing some acting.
Do you set time every day to dowriting, or how does writing
fit into the scheme of all thethings that are going on?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
um, I don't write every day.
I have like burst of creativitywhere there'll be a few days
where I'll do nothing but writeand you, you know, eat and sleep
and go to the bathroom.
I have some of the books that Iwrote a couple months ago right
(22:19):
here.
We actually did this one acouple weeks ago on the Aunt Nay
Nay show.
This is called the ChristmasTree Farm.
Then Spoiler alert.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
This is.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Jamie's New Year's Wish, which is going to be the
New Year's Special.
To answer your question, Iwrite a lot of these books and
then I read them On the Aunt NayNay show.
So there's like eight bookshere.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
It goes hand in hand.
How many books have you writtenin total?
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Let's see.
There's that one, probablyaround 10 or 12 children's books
so far, plus my children'snovel that I've started working
on when I was like 19.
I've written about half of itand I haven't worked on it in
was like 19.
I've written about half of itand I haven't worked on it in
like 20 years.
But I plan my goal before I, bythe end of my life, is to
(23:20):
finish it.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
And try to get it published.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
But I write, I like writing, a lot Writing, I like.
My major in college was actingand theater, but my minor was
literature, specifically becauseI like to write and I love
books.
And wait, no, my minor wasEnglish, that's what it was
(23:45):
called.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Can you share a moment where your writing
brought a story or character tolife in a way that surprised you
?
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah, I didn't think I could ever write a whole novel
.
And then I started writing oneand I was reading it earlier,
like a couple months ago, I wentback and read what I wrote like
20 years ago and I was like,huh, this is pretty good.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
I can do this.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Nice.
What's the brief synopsis ofthe novel?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
It's called Lita's Dream Journey.
It's about an 11-year-old girlnamed Lita who gets transported
to a magical realm calledDreamland and she has a lot of
magical adventures, dreamland,and she has a lot of magical
adventures and at the end of thebook she's like the chosen one,
who's chosen to go to battleagainst the nightmare king and I
(24:48):
don't know.
I haven't really written thesecond half of the book yet, so
I'm not sure I might change theending sounds like a lot of
adventures and fun.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
The the last question in this section how has writing
helped you expand your creativehorizons as both an artist and
storyteller?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I guess I'm just self-taught as far as how to
tell a story when you're writing.
The reason I write shortchildren's books is because it's
easier.
It's easier to do, but writinga novel was hard and it took up
a lot of time.
There's a lot of outlines andpreparation that I did.
(25:29):
I would only write like twopages a day because I had to do
the outline before I wrote thefinal draft.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
So what is the creative process for writing a
book?
I've always wondered like so Iguess you started to talk about
that with the outline and thingslike that how do you start from
not writing to finishing andyou know, how do you get through
that and organize all yourthoughts?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Well, first you have a moment of inspiration, when
you boom, you come up with thisrandom idea for a book, like for
Lita's dream journey.
I remember I just thought Iwant to write a book.
How can I write a book, andwhat's it gonna be about?
And I thought, well, it's gonnabe a fantasy novel because I
(26:18):
love, I love JRR Tolkien andHarry Potter and stuff like that
.
Then I sat down and I wrote theoutline, like the general
outline for the plot of thewhole novel, and then, when I
get ready to sit down andactually start writing it, I
(26:38):
write it's actually funnybecause I think of it as like
scenes in a play but you writedown the expanded outline for
those pages that you want towrite that day and then I would
write it out and then I wouldproofread it and it still
(26:59):
probably could use someproofreading, but that's my
process.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Okay, little bits at a time, making your way through
the different processes.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
It's less overwhelming if you just write a
few pages or a couple pages aday.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
That makes sense.
The last section we got for youis the Aunt Nene Show.
So what led you to create theAunt Nene Show?
We know where the name comesfrom, so what caused you to
start a show?
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Well, I started the show in March of last year, so
March of 2023.
I was in a place where not muchelse was happening in my acting
career.
I wasn't getting very manyacting jobs at the time, so I
decided that I was gonna takematters into my own hands and
(27:51):
create my own show and do what Iwant.
And so when I decided that Iwanted to create my own show, I
knew it had to be a kid's show,because I always loved kids and
I loved working with kids and Ihad a lot of experience working
with kids.
(28:12):
I used to be a summer campcounselor at Girl Scout camp for
many years and I also grew upwith a lot of younger cousins
that I used to babysit when theywere kids.
And now I have myseven-year-old nephew that I
babysit now and I don't have anykids of my own yet, and my only
sibling only has one childright now, so that kid is like
(28:36):
my child, basically for now.
So, anyway, I was influenced bya lot of the songs that I used
to sing at Girl Scout camp, soone day I thought why don't I
sing one of my Girl Scout campsongs and make a video of it and
put it on YouTube and see whathappens.
(28:57):
And so I did that, and it got amodest amount of views.
It did okay at first, but Ithought, well, this is fun, I'll
just keep on doing it.
I was doing it just for fun,excuse me.
But then I made a bunch morevideos and the 20th video that I
(29:17):
made got over 54,000 views onYouTube.
I'm not sure how it happened,but it did.
And so after that I thought,well, maybe this could really be
something, and I startedworking with two producers and
they're helping me to make thisshow bigger and better than it
(29:39):
is.
Slash was in the past and wegot some exciting things coming
up and I can't wait for peopleto see it.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
That's awesome.
What do you think's been themost rewarding part of the
journey?
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Just being able to do something as my occupation, to
do something that makes me happyand making inspiring kids and
bringing joy to children makesthe kids happy.
But doing that makes me happytoo, because I like doing it and
it's fun and it's rewarding,because you feel like you're
(30:14):
doing something.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
that means something, something worthwhile yeah, it's
always good when you can findsomething you love to do, right,
I feel like a lot of people are, you know, doing jobs they
don't love, but they haven'tfound that thing that really
clicks with them.
So it's awesome to hear thatyou have found, you know, that
thing that integrates all thedifferent things that you love
already and you're helpingpeople.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yeah, I think I finally found maybe what I meant
to like, the main thing that Imeant to do with my life, that's
good stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
How do you integrate acting, singing and writing into
the variety show to make itengaging for kids?
Speaker 2 (30:55):
I write, like I said.
I write books that we read onthe show.
I sing songs.
I guess sometimes I come upwith, well, the character of
Aunt Nene.
I don't really have to put on acharacter to play that role,
because it's just me.
It's just me like this and Iguess I just it's the easiest
(31:21):
role I've ever played because Ijust have to be myself.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
That makes it pretty easy, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
What do you hope kids and families take away from
watching your?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
show are inspired by the show.
I hope that it will inspirekids to find their talents and
find their gifts and inspirekids to learn new things and I
hope that, most of all, that itmakes kids happy.
And when I came up with theidea for the Aunt Nay Nay show,
(31:56):
I wanted to do something thatwas wholesome and healthy for
kids' minds, as opposed to someof the what I call junk TV
that's out there nowadays forkids, which is mostly just empty
nonsense.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
There's a lot of weird shows out there.
I got the 6, 10, and11-year-old and gee, some of the
things they're watching I justcan't quite understand.
Try to keep them watching stuffthat's educational and things
like that.
But there's a lot of weirdstuff on YouTube, so I'm glad
you're out there trying to makea difference and put some good
stuff out there, because thereis a lot of weird stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
So I'd like to move into wrapping it up, bringing
all this goodness that we talkedabout together.
So how do you?
You know how do you pull acting, singing and writing.
You know how does that cometogether in your everyday life
to help shape your creativevision.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I use a lot of improvisation in real life,
which is something that Ilearned in theater school.
In real life, which issomething that I learned in
theater school and it helps mewhen I'm trying to have a
important conversation withsomebody or when I'm doing these
podcasts.
I do a lot of podcasts.
I started doing podcasts in Mayof this year, so about six and
(33:17):
a half months, I guess nice.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
How many have you done?
Speaker 2 (33:19):
I lost count.
I do at least like 10 to 15podcasts per month oh, you're
cranking them out.
That's more than me and mypublicist, who you probably
spoke to, kevin higgins yeah, isthe one who helps book me on
all these things.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Nice, you got some help.
That's great, that is supernice.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
He finds all the podcasts for me to be on.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Nice, he is out there searching, trying to find them.
So you pull some of that stufffrom acting and you know pulling
on, you know some of thosethings that you do in
improvisation Wow, that's aweird word I just think of whose
line is it anyway?
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Yeah, I love that show.
That's an example ofimprovisation, yep.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
That's a great show and you pull that into all the
things that you're working on.
So what advice would you giveto aspiring creatives who want
to pursue multiple passions,like you have?
Speaker 2 (34:17):
First of all, if you do what you love, you'll never
work a day in your life.
I'm sure everyone's heard thatbefore, but it's true.
My most important advice wouldbe to start from what you know,
like what hobbies do you have orwhat subjects are you an expert
on and write about that.
(34:38):
Start writing a journal if youwant to be a writer.
It's a good writing practice.
Most importantly, my mostimportant advice is don't give
up on your whatever you're doing, don't give up, because if you
give up on your dreams, if yougive up, then you've got no
(35:01):
chance of achieving, of makingit big of achieving your dreams,
but if you don't give up,you've got a small chance of
making it big that makes sensebut you've got no chance never
give up.
The ones who the ones who makeit are the ones who never give
(35:24):
up that is a great message.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
If listeners would take away one message today
about creativity andstorytelling from you, what
would you want it to be?
Speaker 2 (35:34):
I don't know, I can't think of anything.
I guess what I just said isdon't give up and just use what
you know and be yourself.
And there's no one in the worldlike you, because each
individual person in the worldis different from everyone else.
So just be yourself, becausethat's your power Like no one is
(35:57):
like you.
So therefore, no one is reallycompeting with you.
We've all got a seat at thetable Because we've all got
different gifts and talents andpersonalities and appearances
and each individual person isdifferent.
So you see what I'm saying.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
I think that's a really good piece of advice.
I'll have to highlight thisclip out for the masses because
I think that's something superimportant to remember.
We always want to be better orcompete or things like that, and
I think that's one of thoseweird human nature things.
I don't know if that goes backto caveman days, trying to take
food from people or whateverthat goes back to, but I think
(36:36):
that's a really good reminder.
Like you are who you are andI've always been one that I've,
you know, felt weird and feltdifferent and you know, at some
points I've struggled with that,but other times I realized like
I was meant to be the way thatI am.
So, you know, I like that yousaid that and remind people out
there that are listening you arewho you are and I like that you
(37:03):
said you're not competingbecause you can't compete
against one, because you are theonly one.
So you're doing a great job.
Keep it up and don't give up,like you said earlier.
So, megan, I thank you forcoming out.
Please provide feedback on thepodcast.
The feedback makes the podcasteven better.
Drop your thoughts on questionsor questions sorry on Instagram
, facebook, tiktok, youtube orBuzzsprout.
And thank you for being a partof the Mindforce journey.
I love you all, see ya, thankyou you.
Hi everyone, I'm Nate Shearer and this is Mind Force,
the podcast for love, life andlearning, where your mind truly
matters.
Today we'll be exploring somany fun things.
Today we have Megan Murphy, andtoday we'll be talking about
acting, singing and writing.
So we're going to start withthe background the who, what,
why and where.
So, megan, who are you?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I am a 39-year-old actress currently living in my
small town hometown of Alabama,in Alabama.
What?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I right now I'm getting ready for Christmas,
doing all the Christmas shoppingand stuff, all the Christmas
shopping and stuff.
And I'm a writer, I'm a singerI've been pursuing acting
professionally for about 20years now and I like to read, I
like to go to the beach and Ihave my own kid show, a YouTube
(01:18):
show for kids which we'll talkmore about later, called the
Aunt Nene Show.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Nice, that sounds like what you do.
Why are you here today?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Because I don't know.
I like going on podcastsbecause I like to get the word
out about the Aunt Nay Nay Show.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
And it's also fun.
That makes sense?
And where in the world?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
You said Alabama, so we got that out of the way
(02:09):
no-transcript and she lost hermemory and she can't remember
who she is and that's why theycall her Sister Amnesia.
But anyway, it's a silly, goofycharacter that was fun to play
and there was parts of this playwere really funny like I made
(02:35):
the audience laugh, like I helda laugh for like over a minute.
They wouldn't stop laughing andI couldn't say my next line, so
finally I was just like so Ienjoy doing comedy the most, but
that was one of the mostenjoyable, fun moments I've ever
(02:56):
had on stage.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
That's fun.
So what was the line or thejoke that got people rolling for
a minute straight?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I can't say it because it's inappropriate.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Okay, well, we'll keep it clean.
Then the next question I hadfor you if you could duet with
any singer in the world, past orpresent, who would it be, and
why?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Judy Garland.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Oh, that's a solid one.
Why?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Because it sounds weird, but I'm not sure if I
believe in reincarnation exactly.
But she and I have a lot incommon in our careers, in our
personal life, in ourpersonality, in our talents and
abilities and I just like feellike I get her not just who she
(03:46):
was as a performer, but who shewas as a person in real life,
and not the drugs and everything.
I don't do that, but sometimesI feel like I was judy garland
in a past life and they say thatevery time.
(04:08):
People who believe inreincarnation say that every
time you go through eachlifetime, you learn something
from the previous lifetime andif you didn't learn the lesson
in the previous life, you keepexperiencing similar things in
your future lifetimes until youlearn the lesson.
(04:29):
So I feel that I don't know.
I don't necessarily believethat, but I think what if you
know?
Speaker 1 (04:39):
It would be pretty fun right.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Being someone.
Have you seen the new Wicked?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I haven't seen it yet .
Speaker 1 (04:46):
No, haven't gotten around to it yet I thought you
were gonna say you've seen itlike 13 times christmas nice.
Have you seen the broadway play?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
yeah, I've seen it.
Uh, I think I saw it threetimes, two or three times nice
what's your favorite favoriteBroadway play, or maybe play in
general?
Memphis the Musical.
It was on Broadway like 10years ago.
It takes.
Have you ever heard of it?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
No.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
It takes place in Memphis, tennessee, in the 19th
century and it's about rock androll, music in the like, the
origins of rock and roll, andthere's a love story to it.
And the finale of the song saysum, listen to your heart,
listen to your heart, heat it,you need it.
(05:39):
Listen to your soul and let itmake you whole.
Don't ever let anyone stealyour rock and roll.
It's just I just like that play, because I'm southern, I guess,
and the music is good and it'sjust a fun play sounds good.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Yeah, it sounds like a good one.
I'll have to check that out.
My wife loves musicals, not meas much, but you know I to do
some fun things with her fromtime to time.
And the last question in thissection what's one childhood
story or experience thatinspired your love for acting,
singing or writing what theanswer to this question is.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
When I was in the fourth grade, the students from
the local high school so thehigh school students came to my
elementary school.
This was the high schooltheater group and they were
doing the musical Guys and Dollsthat year and they came and
performed a few scenes for uselementary kids of Guys and guys
(06:44):
and dolls and you've heard ofguys and dolls, right oh?
yeah, absolutely so well, when Iwas in the fourth grade I had
never heard of it, and so Ithought that this group of act
singers and actors was calledthe guys and dolls.
But anyway, they came andperformed some scenes and songs
for for us and I loved it, and Iwhen I went home that day and I
(07:10):
was like mama, I'm gonna be inthe guys and dolls one day.
I want to do that when I growup nice, so you knew all the way
how old were you fourth gradefourth grade.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
you knew all the way back then, five years old
probably.
Nice, you found that calling.
I remember I used to go to workwith my dad and watch the jets
take off and then I ended up inthe Air Force at some point.
So I guess there was aconnection.
I don't know how far back itgoes, but it's always good when
you find your calling.
So that's it for the warm-upquestions.
Your calling.
(07:44):
So that's it for the warm-upquestions.
Before we get started in themain part of the interview, I
wanted to see if you had anyquestions for me.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
What's your favorite book?
Speaker 1 (07:50):
What's my favorite book?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Or what's your favorite.
Author.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So my favorite author is James Patterson.
I've been reading him since Iwas a kid.
They have the new Amazon seriesout for Cross, but I've always
loved Alex Cross, the detectivethat solves the crimes through
psychology and things like that.
Psychology has always beenreally interesting to me.
It's kind of funny, though,looking back.
There's some pretty graphicthings in those books so I
(08:15):
probably shouldn't have beenreading them, because I think I
started reading them at 12 or 13and there's torture and murder
and some other things.
So I just saw them as likecrime you know crime novels and
things like that.
So I guess I didn't think muchabout it.
But when the show is on, I'vebeen watching it with my wife I
think it's Amazon Prime rightand realized that probably
(08:35):
wasn't the best thing as a kid.
I also loved Redwall.
Redwall was great the storyabout the animals that talk and
stuff.
That was probably before that.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And then some anamorphs in there, but the the
leader is definitely jamespatterson, who's your favorite
author.
It's right there, a whole shelfof them.
Jrr tolkien hands down thatI've read.
He's my favorite author thatI've read so far, because I
haven't read a lot.
You know, I have a my fewthings that I like, like.
I like, um, there's harrypotter, there's hitchhiker's
guide to the galaxy, here's thewicked books right there.
(09:11):
I read that.
How many is there?
Speaker 1 (09:14):
is there three or four?
Speaker 2 (09:15):
there's four now.
Um, I'm still working onfinishing the fourth one, but I
read some of it and then I tooka break and put it down and
haven't picked it back up.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
So a little more than a trilogy.
I don't know what they callfour of a kind, but yeah, the
first one is about Elphaba.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
It's just the main wicked story that you see in the
musical.
The second one is aboutElphaba's son it's called son of
a Witch.
And the third one is about theCowardly Lion.
And the fourth one is aboutGlinda.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Interesting.
Okay, so we'll transition intothe first main theme of yours,
which is acting.
The first question is whatinspired you to pursue acting,
which you kind of alreadyanswered.
So how has your journey throughlife shaped this love of acting
?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
As far as my journey through life.
I guess experiences that I'vehad in real life have prepared
me to play certain types ofroles in acting, like I didn't
know what it was like to reallyget your heart broken until my
(10:30):
first boyfriend broke up with me.
That was like 15 years ago.
So now I know what that's like.
So now I can use that andtranslate it to a character on
stage or film or TV in actingand I forgot what the rest of
the question was.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
It was just kind of you know, how has your life
shaped your, you know, your,your ability to love acting,
which I mean you kind of touchedon already.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
On a more positive note, I used to watch a lot of
uh, I used to watch a lot ofmovies.
When I was a little kid I hadcertain movies that I would
watch over and over again.
One of them was the musicalAnnie, the version that stars
Carol Burnett as Miss Hanniganand it also has Bernadette
(11:20):
Peters in it and Eileen Quinn asAnnie Bernadette Peters in it
and Eileen Quinn as Annie.
That really inspired me todevelop a love for musicals,
like musical theater, and Iremember I would go around the
house singing tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you.
(11:41):
Tomorrow you're only a day away.
I would sing that over and overagain and my mom would be like
stop singing.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Also there was Mary Poppins.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, that's a popular one.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
All the Disney movies like Little Mermaid, aladdin,
pocahontas, lion King all thosewere some of my influences.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Can you share a story about arole that deeply resonated with
you or challenged you in anunexpected way?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
yeah, one time I played an autistic.
I played a savant in a play whowas autistic and my character's
name was louise and I've neverbeen diagnosed autistic before,
although I think I might havesome tendencies.
But it was just verychallenging.
I did a lot of research forthis role.
I spoke to some actual autisticpeople when I was doing this.
(12:53):
This was like in 2006.
So, but just getting themannerisms and the finding ways
to make my character a realperson rather than just autism
she's also a real personunderneath inside and finding
(13:15):
ways to bring that out, becausethe character I played was she
was mostly nonverbal, but Ithought the way that we did it
was sensitive to you know whatI'm saying.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense Because you have
movies like Rain man and thingslike that, where it shows an
extreme example of somethingthat's probably not the most
realistic of representing people.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
That was one of the most difficult roles to prepare
for that had that required themost preparation that I've ever
done, so we actually watchedrain man as part of the
preparation.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
The director had to watch rain man one day I feel
like that'd be really difficultto non-verbal.
How did you get through some ofthat just getting deeper in
character, because I mean goingfrom talking all the time to
non-verbal.
That must be pretty difficultmostly.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I just I had actually done a research paper on autism
like a couple years before Idid the play.
So I just use, I just did asmuch research as possible and
try to make it as authentic and,you know, not fake.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah, as genuine as possible.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, genuine, yeah that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
So the last question in this section is how does your
experience as an actressinfluence the way you approach
storytelling and other aspectsof your life?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
I tell stories in like a like.
I'm also a writer.
I've written some children'sbooks this one's called the
Christmas Tree Farm but I guessI take storytelling into.
I tell my nephew stories.
That's storytelling.
I have a seven-year-old nephewwho calls me Aunt Nay Nay.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
That's where it comes from.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, that's where the name comes from, because
when he was a baby he couldn'tsay Megan, so he was like who is
this?
Nay, nay, nice?
And he still calls me that tothis day, even though he's seven
now.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
So you pull on your time as an actress and other
aspects in writing and singingand other things.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, as far as storytelling, acting is
storytelling when you approach arole or when I approach a role.
I don't just think I shouldmake this facial expression in
this moment, or I should havethis emotion in this moment.
It's about how can you tell thestory of the play through your
(15:59):
acting.
You have to tell the story.
You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Yeah, like you had said, you know trying to make
the person real and connect tothe people and things like that.
So you're really just trying toget that story across.
That makes sense.
I love me some storytelling.
The next main theme for you issinging.
What role does music play inyour creative process and how
does singing connect you to theaudience?
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Well, I love singing.
When I made the Aunt Nene show,I used some silly songs that I
learned at Girl Scout campbecause I used to be a Girl
Scout camp counselor and so Idon't know like ever since I
learned how to talk.
My mom said I started to singwhen I was like two and three
(16:47):
years old, so I always knew thatsinging was something that I
enjoyed doing.
So when I was like two andthree years old, so I always
knew that singing was somethingthat I enjoyed doing.
So when I got older I tooksinging lessons, I took voice
lessons to learn how to use myinstrument better, and now I do
a lot of.
I do the song of the day on myYouTube channel, Not every day,
(17:09):
but a couple times a week.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
What was the last song?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
It was actually today I did Blue Christmas by Elvis.
I'll have a blue Christmaswithout you.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Nice.
Can you tell us about aperformance or song that holds
special meaning for you and whyit holds that meaning?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
In the fourth grade.
I was in the fourth gradechorus, you know, like the
choral group yeah, the choir andum I had a solo and I my solo
was the first line of the showthat we were doing.
So I was.
(17:48):
I opened the show and Iremember I said it's Saturday
morning in Sunnyside Park wherethere's lots of goings on from
dawn until dark.
That was my line.
It was kind of more of a rap, Iguess Nice, but I just remember
.
I'll never forget those linesfor the rest of my life.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
It's deeply ingrained in you.
How has your passion forsinging influenced your work,
like the project the Aunt NayNay Show?
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Well, I do a lot of songs on the Aunt Nay Nay Show.
The tagline for the show is theAunt Nay Nay Show, a variety
show for kids that includessongs, stories, educational
content and more, so songs are abig part of it.
Let me think Tomorrow we'rehaving our Christmas.
I mean our holiday spectacularspecial premiering tomorrow,
(18:47):
where we're going to singseveral.
We've got several of the gueststars that I've had on my show
in the past that have come backfor the holiday special and
they're going to sing several.
Each one is singing a Christmassong, so we're going to have
like a medley of Christmas songsand we're also going to
(19:09):
acknowledge Hanukkah and talkabout Kwanzaa as well.
So it's like a December holidayspecial.
And then we're going to have aNew Year's episode the week
after next week, Not tomorrow,but the week after that.
I put out a new episode of theNNA show once a week every
Saturday morning, so tomorrow isthe holiday special, and the
(19:33):
week after that is the NewYear's special.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
How much time do you spend each week editing and
getting ready for it?
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Well, I have a great team behind me.
I have two producers that Iwork with, and one of them also
does most of the editing for me.
Well, I pay him to do it, butmy producers help me with the
editing and they help me come upwith ideas.
(20:02):
They help me find guest starsto be on the show, but his name
is Hugo, my editor.
He helps me with most of theediting because I'm not really
good at it.
I don't.
I'm not well versed on thattechnology.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Yeah, it's always something.
I'm trying to learn somethingnew every time with you.
Know voices and editing, andthere's so much that goes into
it.
Sometimes it's like I just jumpon the mic and do that part,
but there's so much that happensbehind the.
Sometimes it's like I'll justjump on the mic and do that part
, but there's so much thathappens behind the scenes.
The next section for you iswriting, so I'd like to ask you
some questions about that.
What inspired you to startwriting and how do you balance
(20:41):
it with your other activities?
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Well, I used to read a lot of books as a kid and I
guess I don't really rememberbecause I started writing books
like in the second grade, like Iwould write books.
We had a project at schoolwhere we had to write a picture
book and I remember my book gotawarded the best book in the
(21:04):
second grade out of the wholeschool and it excuse me, they
put it up on the bulletin boardin the foyer of the school where
everybody could see it and Istill have it somewhere, but I
don't know.
I used to write in a journal alot, so I guess writing was just
a good way for me to expressmyself, because I often don't
(21:28):
express myself well with justtalking.
Like sometimes when I want tosay something to somebody that's
important, I have to write itdown or put it in writing rather
than calling them on the phoneand telling them stuff like that
.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Yeah, different methods for everybody, right?
And so how do you balance thatwith your other things?
You got the show going, youdoing some doing some plays,
doing some acting.
Do you set time every day to dowriting, or how does writing
fit into the scheme of all thethings that are going on?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
um, I don't write every day.
I have like burst of creativitywhere there'll be a few days
where I'll do nothing but writeand you, you know, eat and sleep
and go to the bathroom.
I have some of the books that Iwrote a couple months ago right
(22:19):
here.
We actually did this one acouple weeks ago on the Aunt Nay
Nay show.
This is called the ChristmasTree Farm.
Then Spoiler alert.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
This is.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Jamie's New Year's Wish, which is going to be the
New Year's Special.
To answer your question, Iwrite a lot of these books and
then I read them On the Aunt NayNay show.
So there's like eight bookshere.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
It goes hand in hand.
How many books have you writtenin total?
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Let's see.
There's that one, probablyaround 10 or 12 children's books
so far, plus my children'snovel that I've started working
on when I was like 19.
I've written about half of itand I haven't worked on it in
was like 19.
I've written about half of itand I haven't worked on it in
like 20 years.
But I plan my goal before I, bythe end of my life, is to
(23:20):
finish it.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
And try to get it published.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
But I write, I like writing, a lot Writing, I like.
My major in college was actingand theater, but my minor was
literature, specifically becauseI like to write and I love
books.
And wait, no, my minor wasEnglish, that's what it was
(23:45):
called.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Can you share a moment where your writing
brought a story or character tolife in a way that surprised you
?
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah, I didn't think I could ever write a whole novel
.
And then I started writing oneand I was reading it earlier,
like a couple months ago, I wentback and read what I wrote like
20 years ago and I was like,huh, this is pretty good.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
I can do this.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Nice.
What's the brief synopsis ofthe novel?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
It's called Lita's Dream Journey.
It's about an 11-year-old girlnamed Lita who gets transported
to a magical realm calledDreamland and she has a lot of
magical adventures, dreamland,and she has a lot of magical
adventures and at the end of thebook she's like the chosen one,
who's chosen to go to battleagainst the nightmare king and I
(24:48):
don't know.
I haven't really written thesecond half of the book yet, so
I'm not sure I might change theending sounds like a lot of
adventures and fun.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
The the last question in this section how has writing
helped you expand your creativehorizons as both an artist and
storyteller?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I guess I'm just self-taught as far as how to
tell a story when you're writing.
The reason I write shortchildren's books is because it's
easier.
It's easier to do, but writinga novel was hard and it took up
a lot of time.
There's a lot of outlines andpreparation that I did.
(25:29):
I would only write like twopages a day because I had to do
the outline before I wrote thefinal draft.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
So what is the creative process for writing a
book?
I've always wondered like so Iguess you started to talk about
that with the outline and thingslike that how do you start from
not writing to finishing andyou know, how do you get through
that and organize all yourthoughts?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Well, first you have a moment of inspiration, when
you boom, you come up with thisrandom idea for a book, like for
Lita's dream journey.
I remember I just thought Iwant to write a book.
How can I write a book, andwhat's it gonna be about?
And I thought, well, it's gonnabe a fantasy novel because I
(26:18):
love, I love JRR Tolkien andHarry Potter and stuff like that
.
Then I sat down and I wrote theoutline, like the general
outline for the plot of thewhole novel, and then, when I
get ready to sit down andactually start writing it, I
(26:38):
write it's actually funnybecause I think of it as like
scenes in a play but you writedown the expanded outline for
those pages that you want towrite that day and then I would
write it out and then I wouldproofread it and it still
(26:59):
probably could use someproofreading, but that's my
process.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Okay, little bits at a time, making your way through
the different processes.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
It's less overwhelming if you just write a
few pages or a couple pages aday.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
That makes sense.
The last section we got for youis the Aunt Nene Show.
So what led you to create theAunt Nene Show?
We know where the name comesfrom, so what caused you to
start a show?
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Well, I started the show in March of last year, so
March of 2023.
I was in a place where not muchelse was happening in my acting
career.
I wasn't getting very manyacting jobs at the time, so I
decided that I was gonna takematters into my own hands and
(27:51):
create my own show and do what Iwant.
And so when I decided that Iwanted to create my own show, I
knew it had to be a kid's show,because I always loved kids and
I loved working with kids and Ihad a lot of experience working
with kids.
(28:12):
I used to be a summer campcounselor at Girl Scout camp for
many years and I also grew upwith a lot of younger cousins
that I used to babysit when theywere kids.
And now I have myseven-year-old nephew that I
babysit now and I don't have anykids of my own yet, and my only
sibling only has one childright now, so that kid is like
(28:36):
my child, basically for now.
So, anyway, I was influenced bya lot of the songs that I used
to sing at Girl Scout camp, soone day I thought why don't I
sing one of my Girl Scout campsongs and make a video of it and
put it on YouTube and see whathappens.
(28:57):
And so I did that, and it got amodest amount of views.
It did okay at first, but Ithought, well, this is fun, I'll
just keep on doing it.
I was doing it just for fun,excuse me.
But then I made a bunch morevideos and the 20th video that I
(29:17):
made got over 54,000 views onYouTube.
I'm not sure how it happened,but it did.
And so after that I thought,well, maybe this could really be
something, and I startedworking with two producers and
they're helping me to make thisshow bigger and better than it
(29:39):
is.
Slash was in the past and wegot some exciting things coming
up and I can't wait for peopleto see it.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
That's awesome.
What do you think's been themost rewarding part of the
journey?
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Just being able to do something as my occupation, to
do something that makes me happyand making inspiring kids and
bringing joy to children makesthe kids happy.
But doing that makes me happytoo, because I like doing it and
it's fun and it's rewarding,because you feel like you're
(30:14):
doing something.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
that means something, something worthwhile yeah, it's
always good when you can findsomething you love to do, right,
I feel like a lot of people are, you know, doing jobs they
don't love, but they haven'tfound that thing that really
clicks with them.
So it's awesome to hear thatyou have found, you know, that
thing that integrates all thedifferent things that you love
already and you're helpingpeople.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yeah, I think I finally found maybe what I meant
to like, the main thing that Imeant to do with my life, that's
good stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
How do you integrate acting, singing and writing into
the variety show to make itengaging for kids?
Speaker 2 (30:55):
I write, like I said.
I write books that we read onthe show.
I sing songs.
I guess sometimes I come upwith, well, the character of
Aunt Nene.
I don't really have to put on acharacter to play that role,
because it's just me.
It's just me like this and Iguess I just it's the easiest
(31:21):
role I've ever played because Ijust have to be myself.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
That makes it pretty easy, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
What do you hope kids and families take away from
watching your?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
show are inspired by the show.
I hope that it will inspirekids to find their talents and
find their gifts and inspirekids to learn new things and I
hope that, most of all, that itmakes kids happy.
And when I came up with theidea for the Aunt Nay Nay show,
(31:56):
I wanted to do something thatwas wholesome and healthy for
kids' minds, as opposed to someof the what I call junk TV
that's out there nowadays forkids, which is mostly just empty
nonsense.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
There's a lot of weird shows out there.
I got the 6, 10, and11-year-old and gee, some of the
things they're watching I justcan't quite understand.
Try to keep them watching stuffthat's educational and things
like that.
But there's a lot of weirdstuff on YouTube, so I'm glad
you're out there trying to makea difference and put some good
stuff out there, because thereis a lot of weird stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
So I'd like to move into wrapping it up, bringing
all this goodness that we talkedabout together.
So how do you?
You know how do you pull acting, singing and writing.
You know how does that cometogether in your everyday life
to help shape your creativevision.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I use a lot of improvisation in real life,
which is something that Ilearned in theater school.
In real life, which issomething that I learned in
theater school and it helps mewhen I'm trying to have a
important conversation withsomebody or when I'm doing these
podcasts.
I do a lot of podcasts.
I started doing podcasts in Mayof this year, so about six and
(33:17):
a half months, I guess nice.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
How many have you done?
Speaker 2 (33:19):
I lost count.
I do at least like 10 to 15podcasts per month oh, you're
cranking them out.
That's more than me and mypublicist, who you probably
spoke to, kevin higgins yeah, isthe one who helps book me on
all these things.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Nice, you got some help.
That's great, that is supernice.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
He finds all the podcasts for me to be on.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Nice, he is out there searching, trying to find them.
So you pull some of that stufffrom acting and you know pulling
on, you know some of thosethings that you do in
improvisation Wow, that's aweird word I just think of whose
line is it anyway?
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Yeah, I love that show.
That's an example ofimprovisation, yep.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
That's a great show and you pull that into all the
things that you're working on.
So what advice would you giveto aspiring creatives who want
to pursue multiple passions,like you have?
Speaker 2 (34:17):
First of all, if you do what you love, you'll never
work a day in your life.
I'm sure everyone's heard thatbefore, but it's true.
My most important advice wouldbe to start from what you know,
like what hobbies do you have orwhat subjects are you an expert
on and write about that.
(34:38):
Start writing a journal if youwant to be a writer.
It's a good writing practice.
Most importantly, my mostimportant advice is don't give
up on your whatever you're doing, don't give up, because if you
give up on your dreams, if yougive up, then you've got no
(35:01):
chance of achieving, of makingit big of achieving your dreams,
but if you don't give up,you've got a small chance of
making it big that makes sensebut you've got no chance never
give up.
The ones who the ones who makeit are the ones who never give
(35:24):
up that is a great message.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
If listeners would take away one message today
about creativity andstorytelling from you, what
would you want it to be?
Speaker 2 (35:34):
I don't know, I can't think of anything.
I guess what I just said isdon't give up and just use what
you know and be yourself.
And there's no one in the worldlike you, because each
individual person in the worldis different from everyone else.
So just be yourself, becausethat's your power Like no one is
(35:57):
like you.
So therefore, no one is reallycompeting with you.
We've all got a seat at thetable Because we've all got
different gifts and talents andpersonalities and appearances
and each individual person isdifferent.
So you see what I'm saying.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
I think that's a really good piece of advice.
I'll have to highlight thisclip out for the masses because
I think that's something superimportant to remember.
We always want to be better orcompete or things like that, and
I think that's one of thoseweird human nature things.
I don't know if that goes backto caveman days, trying to take
food from people or whateverthat goes back to, but I think
(36:36):
that's a really good reminder.
Like you are who you are andI've always been one that I've,
you know, felt weird and feltdifferent and you know, at some
points I've struggled with that,but other times I realized like
I was meant to be the way thatI am.
So, you know, I like that yousaid that and remind people out
there that are listening you arewho you are and I like that you
(37:03):
said you're not competingbecause you can't compete
against one, because you are theonly one.
So you're doing a great job.
Keep it up and don't give up,like you said earlier.
So, megan, I thank you forcoming out.
Please provide feedback on thepodcast.
The feedback makes the podcasteven better.
Drop your thoughts on questionsor questions sorry on Instagram
, facebook, tiktok, youtube orBuzzsprout.
And thank you for being a partof the Mindforce journey.
I love you all, see ya, thankyou 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!