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July 9, 2025 35 mins

Ever wondered how psychology and showbiz intersect? In Episode 248 of the Late Boomers podcast, we dive deep into this fascinating world with Albert Bramante, a New York talent agent, casting director, and psychologist. How did an internship at the Sally Jesse Raphael show steer him from clinical psychology to the entertainment industry? And what role does psychology play in overcoming the mental hurdles faced by performers?

Join us as Albert shares his journey from crisis counseling post-9/11 to founding his talent agency. Discover the secrets behind managing self-sabotage, the power of a "happy file," and why reframing rejection is crucial for actors. Plus, learn about the Big Five personality traits and their impact on success.

With actionable strategies for boosting self-esteem and creating opportunities, this episode is a treasure trove for anyone in the performing arts. Tune in for a blend of psychological insights and industry wisdom—perfect for aspiring and seasoned artists alike!

Albert Bramante's Bio:
Hypnosis & NLP Expert • Author of Rise Above the Script

I help performers, educators, and creators unlock their potential—by blending psychology, performance strategy, and AI to fuel unstoppable momentum.


With 20+ years at the crossroads of entertainment and higher education, I’ve coached actors to land life-changing roles, mentored students to become high-performing professionals, and developed systems that help people break through fear, imposter syndrome, and self-sabotage.

🎭 As CEO of Bramante Artists, I represent a diverse talent roster working across Broadway, film, television, commercials, and print. I don’t just book roles—I build careers. Using psychological insights and industry strategy, I help talent develop long-term, purpose-driven success.


📚 As a college professor, I’ve taught psychology at Union County College and BMCC (CUNY), designing and teaching courses in Child Development, Personality, and Human Growth. I focus on creating transformative learning experiences grounded in real-world application.


🧠 As a hypnosis and NLP practitioner, I bring deep mental performance tools to the work—whether coaching actors, mentoring students, or speaking to creatives. My work focuses on rewiring internal blocks and amplifying clarity, confidence, and focus.


🤖 As an AI educator and strategist, I teach fellow coaches, creatives, and educators how to use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Canva to produce better content, automate workflows, and stay ahead of the curve.


🤝 I’m actively seeking partnerships in:

🎭 Acting schools – Courses on the business of acting & mindset (based on my book)

🎓 Colleges & universities – Guest lecturing, curriculum development, and student success initiatives

🌀 Performance & wellness programs – Hypnosis + NLP integration for creative peak performance

⚙️ AI in education & content – Training educators and creators to work smarter with AI

🎙️ Available for Podcast Interviews

I regularly speak on topics like:

• Imposter syndrome & self-sabotage in creative careers

• Mindset, hypnosis, and mental performance for artists and educators

• AI for content creation, course design, and scaling thought leadership

• The truth about building a sustainable acting career

Connect with Albert:
Website: www.albertbramante.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/albertcbramante
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dralbramante
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/albertbramante

Thank you for listening. Please check out @lateboomers on Instagram and our website .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Merry (00:01):
This is the EWN Podcast Network.

Cathy (00:14):
Welcome to late boomers, our podcast guide to creating
your third act with style,power, and impact. Hi. I'm Cathy
Worthington.

Merry (00:24):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Join us as we bring you
conversations withentrepreneurs, entertainers, and
people with vision who aremaking a difference in the
world.

Cathy (00:34):
Everyone has a story, and we'll take you along for the
ride on each interview,recounting the journey our
guests have taken to get wherethey are, inspiring you to
create your own path to success.Let's get started. Hi. I'm Kathy
Worthington. Welcome to the lateboomers podcast.

(00:56):
Today, our special guest is NewYork veteran talent agent and
casting director Albert Ramante.He is also the author of Rise
Above the Script, ConfrontingSelf Doubt and Mastering Self
Sabotage for Performing Artists.

Merry (01:11):
And I'm Mary Elkins. Albert defies the conventional
image we may have of a talentagent. He's also a doctor of
psychology and hypnotherapistwho works to empower performers
to overcome psychologicalbarriers and achieve success.
Welcome, Albert, or shall I saywelcome, doctor.

Albert Bramante (01:32):
Yeah. Well, first want to thank you both for
having me on the show. I'mreally happy to be here. And I
was really looking forward allweek to having this conversation
with you both.

Merry (01:42):
Good, We it's

Cathy (01:46):
are too, thank you. Gave you the idea to fuse your work a
talent agent and psychologistand tell us how your background
led you to this unique careerchoice?

Albert Bramante (01:58):
Yeah. Well, I never really intended to be a
talent agent. That was not evenin the entertainment industry at
all. So was since high school, Ireally was intent on becoming a
clinical psychologist. That wasmy life path.
But I was also into the creativearts. I was involved in a drama

(02:21):
club in high school, and then myundergrad career, I took some
acting and theater classes aselectives. And I really enjoyed
the process. So I then decidedto, as I was going through my
master's degree, I happened toland an unlikely internship with

(02:44):
one of the New York staple talkshows at the time, so working
mainly with outreach and crisiscounseling and aftercare. And
that was at the Sally JesseRaphael show.

Cathy (02:57):
Oh. Uh-huh. Remember her? Sure.

Albert Bramante (03:00):
Yeah. I remember yeah. I really remember
her.

Cathy (03:04):
It was The a red glasses. Right?

Merry (03:06):
Red glasses.

Albert Bramante (03:07):
Red hair. Yeah. She it was a a a learning
experience. I'll say that. Aneye opening experience.
But that kinda gave me my firstexposure into the entertainment
industry. What did you think? Wecan have a whole show on that.

(03:29):
Was was amazing at the same timeto watch, but also very
disturbing at the same time.Like, I I have to that
experience, I vowed to neverwanna work in talk shows ever

Merry (03:40):
again. Oh. Oh.

Albert Bramante (03:42):
But it was also now that we're back into it, it
was kind of the norm, the way itworks. And I think for me being
I was only 24 at the time, so Iwas like naive and thinking
that, oh, these I was reallycare about the guests.

Merry (03:57):
Yeah.

Albert Bramante (03:57):
Not so much. And pretty much what I what
really kind of, I guess,solidified things was like Sally
was reading from theteleprompter and handed me a
piece of like telling feeding onwhat to say, what questions to
ask, what comments to make. Soeverything was scripted, which a

(04:18):
lot of people who don't wouldn'tknow that if they don't work in
there. It seems like she's justoff the cuff. But everything was
scripted.
And a lot of the guests weresurprised at that because they
were trying to talk to Sallywhen the cameras weren't rolling
and she wasn't really having it.So what I think the biggest wake

(04:41):
up call for eye opening thing wemade was a concept of the
persona and the real person canbe completely different things.
The persona that you see versusSally as the real person were a
little bit different.

Cathy (04:58):
Like a split personality too.

Albert Bramante (05:01):
Yes. Which is most of how the business works.
And so fast forward, after theinternship was over, I kept in
contact with the person that wasthe aftercare specialist at the
time. And right around thenineeleven happened, she's like,
I need some help with startingan organization called Operation

(05:22):
Healing America in New York, towork with rescue workers, to
work with doing some crisisintervention work. And we're
gonna work with some actors, youknow, helping some actors do
some outreach because she wasthe FPS wrestler, but she was
also an actress too.
A screen act, you know, it's

Cathy (05:39):
it's

Albert Bramante (05:40):
like after her. So I started being friends with
other actors and realized I loveI like this. And so I did a
little bit of spin to myself asan actor. And it wasn't for me,
but I liked being around actors.I liked being around creative
people.
That's what gave me energy. Ireally wasn't feeling

(06:03):
comfortable with other academiatypes. It was too stuffy for me
in that type of environment. SoI didn't But I identified more
with actors. So I did some soulsearching when I realized acting
is not for me.
So I came into one of my supportactors, why don't I first be an
advocate, and then I decided,why don't I represent actors?

(06:26):
And so 02/2004, I started myfirst company. And while at that
time, I also made a promise tomy family that I was going get a
PhD. And so I decided I might aswell go back to school. I'm
already halfway there.
I already had my Masters, so Ithen went for started my PhD
program. Now what got me toblend the two together was as I

(06:50):
was starting my talent businessand started working with actors,
one pattern that kept coming upwas these actors were self
sabotaging.

Merry (06:57):
That was my next question to you, because talking about
self sabotaging their owncareers. So is that what led you
to connect self sabotage withthe challenges that are faced by
performing artists?

Albert Bramante (07:15):
Yeah. I mean, because I one thing that I was
noticing and I kept banging myhead against the wall foreverly
was the fact that these actorswere telling me how much they
wanted to work and how much theywanted to to audition. Yet,
every time I'd get someappointments, they were not they
come up with excuses. I come upwith reasons why they can't do
it or that you would sometimesjust decide not to show up at

(07:37):
all. Wow.
Oh, brother.

Cathy (07:40):
I could be a bigger up That's the biggest nightmare for
an agent. You know, I've beenI've

Merry (07:45):
been an actor a long time. Yeah.

Albert Bramante (07:47):
And what I couldn't figure out, like,
there's so many actors thatwould be killing for this
appointment that you got. Mhmm.And you're not treating it well.
So but yet these were the sameactors that were complaining to
me before I went to work. Therewas no no audition.
So I'm like, well, I'm gettingyou then, and you're not. So and
this is a problem, and I've gotthis in one book with several.

(08:10):
So when I was in the midst of myPhD program, we had to come up
with a dissertation topic,because the dissertation is like
a monumental thesis, which isthat, you know, this is a
capstone to get into a PhD. Sothe advice that we received was
to pick a real problem that youfaced. And what's up with these

(08:34):
damn actors was kind of whatgoing in my mind.

Merry (08:36):
Yeah. I was going to ask, why do you think that is? What
causes that?

Albert Bramante (08:41):
So and when I mentioned it to my advisor,
like, this is a great topicbecause there's not a lot
written in the literature aboutcreative people and actors. So
great. So that was so mydissertation was on self
defeating behavior in performingartists. Oh. How

Cathy (09:00):
many words do you write in a piece like that?

Albert Bramante (09:02):
Yeah. Yeah. It was the size of a book. Would
say between thirty five andforty thousand.

Merry (09:12):
Wow. Wow. I hope Yeah.

Albert Bramante (09:15):
This was unlike any paper I've written. This was
at least 200 pages. Mhmm. It itwas a one thing that, like, I'm
really glad, you know, Azurasget to be achieved, but I'm
never doing that again. I'mdone.
I did it once. Because there'ssome people that are like, oh, I
got have two or three PhDs. I'mlike, no. One is enough.

Merry (09:39):
It's a marathon.

Albert Bramante (09:40):
It is a marathon. It's a process. So
that was so myself my project mytheme was self speaking behavior
and performing artists. Severalyears later, as I received my
PhD, like, you know, I might aswell turn this into a book. I a

(10:00):
lot.

Cathy (10:02):
What's one piece of advice you would give to an
actor who feels overwhelmed byself doubt and is considering
leaving the performing arts?

Albert Bramante (10:13):
Well, I would say to reconnect, the the first
thing I would ask them is like,did you become an actor?

Cathy (10:21):
Mhmm.

Albert Bramante (10:22):
And really start talking about the feeling
that come with that. So using alittle bit of a body work, you
know, where is it in your body?How does it feel? Mhmm. You
know, what what made you reallywanna become an actor?

Merry (10:36):
What kind of what kind of answers did you get?

Albert Bramante (10:39):
I wanna perform. I wanna tell stories. I
like helping other people. Iwanna inspire others. Okay,
great.
So let's go to that. And the onething that there's a lot of
things that you can do, likemental hacks and things with,

(10:59):
you know, working and improvingyour mindset because mindset is
extremely important. The onething you you know, going back
to the marathon, this is amarathon. This is not a quick
fix. This is not gonna be anovernight.
You know, the overnight successstories are they can happen, but
they're very rare. Very, veryrare. And a lot of times, what

(11:22):
they don't tell you is overnightsuccess stories, that they were
working for ten or fifteen yearsbehind the scenes as an actor.
Oh, yeah. Right.
Just happened to be at thatmoment that they just became a
household name from nowhere. Butthey were working maybe fifteen,
twenty years prior to themgetting major stardom.

Cathy (11:45):
So yeah, especially the ones that make it in their early
20s. They've already beenchildhood actors on set their
whole lives. Yeah, know on

Albert Bramante (11:53):
sets and or or they don't. You know, some
actors like Morgan Freemanreally didn't hit it big until
he Right. His right way in thelast quarter of life, you know,
the last third of his life.Yeah. You know, in the fifties
and sixties, you know, that soand sometimes it happens with a
lot of actors that they don't ittakes a long time.

(12:15):
And some of the actors,especially because I I work I
have from kids to all the waymature up until the eighties. I
have actors in my roster that inthe eighties. What I've seen a
lot, especially with some of themore senior actors, is a lot of
times I take breaks. So like,they may have been acting in

(12:36):
their twenties and or theirthirties, and then they had a
family, had children, and thentook maybe fifteen to eighteen
year break to raise their kids.And now the kids are grown or in
high school or even in college,Oh, let me go back Let me go

(12:56):
back and pursue my dreams.
So the one thing that'simportant is just to really the
mindset that this is gonna takea long time. And what I feel is
lacking in a lot of these dramaschools is that awareness and
teaching that, especially youngkids, that it's a marathon. It's

(13:18):
going to take a while. You'renot gonna just be graduating,
moving to New York or LA withsorry eyes and thinking, okay.
I'm gonna be on Broadway or I'mgonna be leaving a TV series.
It's not it may no. Forsometimes, it might happen for
the unicorn at one and a couplemillion chances or that may

(13:40):
happen. But most of the time,9.9% of the time, it's gonna
take a few years minimum beforeyou can see any little traction.
So I think that should be reallybeing being taught, reinforced
in the beginning of the studiesrather than because I see a lot
of these young 21, 22 year olds,you know, hitting the ground

(14:04):
mark and moving to New York,moving to LA with bright eyes.
Yeah.
And it's great. Yeah. But it'snot gonna work that way. You
have to work hard, and it's aprofession that built on
relationships, and and you haveand it's longevity. So that's
the one thing I would reallyreinforce that this is this is a

(14:27):
longevity.
This is not a sprint. This isnot gonna be a quick thing. What
I would also do is kindareframing. So using auto
hypnosis, weight gain hypnosisis to reframe something. So one
of the things I hear a lot from,especially people that either
want to be actors or justthinking about actors, they'll

(14:50):
say to me, I really want to bean actor, but I don't want all
the rejection.
And I think that word is amisnomer because when you're you
know, it's not rejection, numberone. Rejection would be
personal. It's not personal.It's a business.

Cathy (15:07):
Mhmm. You're just

Albert Bramante (15:08):
not gonna be right for that role.

Cathy (15:10):
Yeah.

Albert Bramante (15:11):
There's hundreds of actors sometimes
auditioning for the same role.Only one of them can get it.
Right. And only 30% of it isyour performance. So you can
give a really great audition,but you may not be the producer
or writer or director's visionof that character.
Yeah. But what you can controlis to give that 40% in your

(15:36):
favor by doing, you know, afantastic job.

Merry (15:39):
Yeah. But you know what else I I heard is that there's a
lot of people who were actors,and they became like producers,
directors, heads of studios,whatever. I mean, there's so
many areas to pursue for actors.But I'd like to ask you a
question about your book, RiseAbove the Script. I know you've

(16:02):
told us a little bit about it,but talk about what the happy
file is and

Albert Bramante (16:08):
Yeah. Yeah. And

Merry (16:09):
what it what you use it for to boost self esteem and
motivation. What is it?

Albert Bramante (16:16):
So well, it's it's really the whole purpose of
it is to remain connected to whyyou're doing this. So it's an
actual sort of like a anothername for a gratitude journal in
a sense. Oh. So you keep ajournal, and every day you
document things that you'regrateful for. Not only that, but

(16:36):
you take as an actor, you know,like I said, the book was
written in this context foractors.
So let's say you you give have,a great performance on an
audition, you get a goodfeedback from the casting
director, you get good feedbackin an acting class, you follow
acting student, you know,colleagues in the class or the
acting teacher. You documentthat. You get a callback, which

(16:59):
is like a second audition. Youknow, you get invited back to
audition again from your firstaudition. That's a win, a
callback.
Mhmm. So you document that. Evenif you're putting in what we
call the mix on hold, whichmeans it's a great thing. It may
not lead to a booking. A holdmay not lead to a booking or the
setting of you're in the mix.
It may not lead to a booking,but it's still a great thing.

(17:22):
You already made a huge stepforward. That goes should go in
your happy file. Mhmm. Know, ifyou're doing a theater
performance and you get thereview, or it only gets someone
who can left it to you and says,you know, your work inspired me.
That should go in your happyfile. So now when you start to
have those moments of selfdoubt, pull out the happy file.

(17:43):
Oh, I love that.

Merry (17:45):
I like that plan. I like that plan.

Cathy (17:49):
Having done all this myself, I really relate to what
you're saying because I've beenan actor, like, since I was a
teenager. So I mean, I know allof that. Yeah. And all of what
goes into it, and you you reallyspeak the truth.

Albert Bramante (18:05):
Mhmm. Thank you. And and that's it just
keeps you connected to your why.In a sense, don't lose focus on
that. So that's definitelysomething that I would say is is
important to do.
And I also like to turn aroundand tell and use a statement

(18:26):
that I've heard, and I can'ttake harder for this, but I've
heard a quote that reallyinspires me, and I think it
works well for actors. There'sno such thing as rejection. It's
just a gentle reminder that yourservices are not needed today.

Merry (18:40):
Today. Mhmm. That's operating word.

Cathy (18:43):
The

Albert Bramante (18:43):
keyword is today, and also it makes it less
personal. Because right now youracting services are not needed
for this character orcharacter's job. Okay? So that
next. Next.
And if you keep that mentalityinto it and one thing I also do

(19:06):
when working with hypnosis isthere's a process called that's
really important. It'sactivating your imagination.
Your imagination is verypowerful. It's a very powerful.

Cathy (19:19):
Do you work with him? No. Hypnosis on with your clients
very often

Albert Bramante (19:23):
and indirectly like I I really don't call it.
Most of the time a lot of a lotof people get nervous when they
do the word hypnosis.

Merry (19:31):
Yeah. Mhmm.

Albert Bramante (19:32):
Which it does get a bad book. You know, there
is that negative reputationassociated with that. Like,
you're gonna make people actweird and mind control them,
which is totally not what it is.It's completely opposite of
that. But one thing to do is toactivate your imagination.
So one thing I will say is like,okay, recall a time where

(19:57):
something was very powerful foryou. You know, what was it where
you really achieved somethinggreat? Okay, what did that feel
like? And then their eyes, ears,or laugh, they would say, It
feels great. Where do you feelin your body?
Okay. And most of them chest,stomach, or different areas.
Okay. Now imagine yourselfgiving that audition, and bring

(20:22):
those feelings back from thatprevious experience. And just
keep doing that over and overagain.
Keep visualizing that andimagining, just giving this
really dynamic audition. Linesare going flawlessly, You're
taking direction well. Becausethe one thing about the beamer

(20:44):
brain and human mind, it doesnot know the difference between
imagination and reality. Yeah.

Cathy (20:52):
Well, you Talk to us a little bit about the fear of
failure. You discussed that inyour book. How can always, or
for that matter, anyone reframetheir view of failure and think
of it as a stepping stone ratherthan a setback?

Albert Bramante (21:07):
Well, there's no such thing as failure, only
feedback. That's one of thetruth I kinda

Cathy (21:11):
say. So

Albert Bramante (21:14):
even if you make a mistake, that's part of
being the human experience.We're gonna make mistakes. Every
one of us makes mistakesconstantly. But if we use those
as feedback and learningexperiences, they get us closer
to success than they do tofailure. So the important thing
is to look at failure asfeedback, as important feedback

(21:37):
and important learningexperiences to how you can grow
and become better the next time.
And that's one way to look atthat. Because especially, no one
wants to fail. But if you lookat it like, okay, I'm learning
about work in progress.

Merry (21:57):
I think we're always a work in progress no matter how

Albert Bramante (22:00):
old we are. No matter how old we are. Exactly.

Merry (22:03):
Yeah. So how does looking at and understanding the
personality traits of famouspeople, of celebrities, and
people who are known as fineactors, how did the traits, the
personality traits that theyhave help artists who are trying

(22:25):
to get work or even who work alittle bit in their professional
and personal lives?

Albert Bramante (22:31):
Well, there's a couple of my book, I mentioned a
model called the big five.There's a five factor model,
which is universal traits ofopenness, conscientiousness,
extroversion, agreeableness,neuroticism. So openness to be

Cathy (22:48):
What was the last one? I couldn't understand the last
one.

Albert Bramante (22:50):
Neuroticism. To be a neuroticism. Oh. Yeah.
That's that word.
Okay. Open openness is importantbecause obviously to be
creative, you have to be openminded. Yeah. And you have to be
open to to to new ideas and opento trying out new things. So
that's that's I mean, that's theheart of creativity is doing

(23:12):
things differently.
So you have to be open minded.One thing that I noticed, in my
doctoral research, a lot ofactors lack the
conscientiousness and disciplinefocus. That's extremely
important. Discipline, focus,being conscientious,
hardworking. So you wanna behardworking, you wanna be
disciplined enough.

(23:33):
So that means keeping a planner,being focused in a sense, and
having a good work ethic.Because that's the biggest
predictor of success in anyindustry, the big consensus. You
also have to be agreeable tosome level because that's being
coachable, being trainable,being open to taking direction,

(23:55):
being open to be critiqued.Because as an actor, you're
gonna be sometimes givenredirections a lot or even
critiqued and say, you know,this you may have to do it this
way or do this performance inthis way. And I think in order
to be successful, you have to beopen to changing that and not
get offended when someone offersyou a critique.

(24:17):
Because I've noticed that toosometimes, you know, when
working with actors, you tellthem this is an adjustment, they
get really offended because Ithought they worked hard.
They're like, I don'tunderstand, this is the way I do
things. No. You have to bewilling to be adaptable and
coachable.

Cathy (24:32):
Yeah, flexibility.

Albert Bramante (24:34):
Right? And then their ostacity, a bit of
extraversion too. Now thatdoesn't mean you have to be the
life of the party, but a lot ofactors that I know are
indifferent by nature. So yeah,I think it's important to
network. You know, possible.
So there has to be a little bitof extroversion there. Then the

(24:55):
last trait is neuroticism, andthat refers to how easily phased
you are. Do you get anxiety veryeasily? Do you get flustered
easily? So what we can do towork with that is we want to
increase conscientiousness, butlower the temperature on
neuroticism.

Merry (25:15):
Because

Albert Bramante (25:16):
that's a recipe for self sabotaging. That kept
coming up in my doctoralresearch over and over again.
High in neuroticism aloneconscientiousness.

Merry (25:26):
Interesting. Yeah.

Cathy (25:28):
Well, how do you differentiate between toxic high
self esteem and healthy selfesteem? And why is that
important?

Albert Bramante (25:36):
Well, healthy self esteem is humility, but
still thinking highly ofyourself and still being humble.
Like, you don't think you'rebetter than anybody else and
that you but you still celebrateyour wins, and you still look at
yourself as deserving Yeah. Andworth it. But you don't it's not
like I'm better than you or, youknow, you look at people in a

(25:57):
condescending way. So toxic highself esteem is often related to
low self esteem because somepeople will will, like, walk
around with a grandiosity.
Like, I'm from Juilliard forinstance, I'm better than
everybody else in here. Now thereason why it's called fragile,

(26:18):
it's also the fragile stuff isseen because the moment you
offer something very critical,they get offended fast. How dare
you say this about me? Don't youknow I'm trained and I'm the
best? And then what winds uphappening is that's a form of
self sabotage.
Because they no one's gonnawanna work with somebody like

(26:40):
that and they're not coachable.So like sometimes I would meet
especially with some of some ofthe actors, mature actors, who
else, you know, ask them, sowhere are you trending at? And
they'll tell me, I don't needtraining. And I'm like Okay. I
don't need to be working withyou.
You

Cathy (26:56):
know, you like should never stop training.

Albert Bramante (26:58):
You should never stop training and never
No. I'm always learning. And Ithink that's the mentality too
of being humble. Yeah. Youalways should be learning.
And this is any profession,whether you're an actor, whether
you're a writer, a teacher, or acorporate, you said, I would be
learning.

Cathy (27:16):
Yeah, I was at a party with some people, and the lawyer
there was a woman, and she said,oh, in order to be a lawyer, you
have to be a student. You alwaysare a student. And of course,
that goes through foreverything. Right?

Merry (27:32):
Absolutely. Yeah.

Albert Bramante (27:34):
And and I tell people, like, I have a terminal
degree, a PhD, but I'm juststarting my learning process,
not ending. Know, maybe in aformal sense that I may not be
in class again, but I'm stilllearning daily, and that's the
important thing. And that's abig difference because usually
people that have that inflatedself or grandiosity feel like

(27:58):
they don't need to learn. Theyknow everything. Well And
usually

Merry (28:03):
Yeah. Would you I know that your book introduces
techniques for raising selfesteem. For those that you
haven't mentioned in ourconversation, can you give us
some more thoughts about that?And also, can you give us a few
success stories of people whocame in to your orb, shall I

(28:27):
say, and you worked with themand they they became success
stories. Well,

Albert Bramante (28:33):
the one of the big there's two things that I've
said that I can really recommendto raise self esteem. One is to
hang out or associate yourselfwith positive people only. So
the the the company that youkeep is extremely important. So
if you're around negative toxicpeople, you're gonna get sucked
into it And and and it'llrevolve on. So that's important.

(28:58):
What and also doing things thatare outside your comfort zone a
little bit. You know, doingthings that will make you a
little uncomfortable. That's areally good way to to raise
yourself steam. And and then oneother thing I'll mention, I know
it's a two, but the third onewould be do some volunteer
charitable work.

Merry (29:15):
Oh, well, yeah.

Albert Bramante (29:18):
So that'll really rate when you help other
people. Now success stories, Ican tell you both even from an
educator as well as a sort of atalent agent side. So I was
working for a while, was kind oflike guest instructor for an
acting school in New York. And Iteach the mindset in the

(29:43):
business of acting. I'm not anacting teacher.
There's plenty of great teachersthat can do that. So there was
this one student who actuallybecame a client of mine, who had
a very successful, still has avery successful corporate
career. She was a buyer at amajor company, and she was kind
of highly in the ranks. When shewas not performing, she had a

(30:05):
gravitas value that was verypowerful and grounded. When she
started acting, it was very weakand very like a submissive tone.
And for for nine or ten years,she just couldn't book. And I
kinda suspected that it wasthat. So with her acting, know,

(30:28):
I kinda worked on getting her touse the gravitas that she
already had, and just transforminto the roles that she was
playing. And once she did that,it was like a a a light bulb
went off, and she booked shestarted booking. So one of the

(30:52):
things I can say to anybodywho's who's active listening is
definitely treat the script andthe words and honor them and
definitely spread to the word,but always make the work your
own.
Bring your own experiences intothat character. Yeah. Because

(31:13):
that's what's gonna make itunique and memorable rather than
thinking what this what youshould do.

Merry (31:20):
Yeah. Mhmm.

Albert Bramante (31:21):
How would you act in that? So getting her into
her own power in a sense.

Merry (31:26):
Yeah. That's great. Everybody has a voice. Yeah.
Albert,

Cathy (31:34):
what would you like our audience to have as a takeaway
today?

Albert Bramante (31:38):
Just that you're powerful beyond belief,
and just my whole thing is thatyou deserve to be here. You
know, you deserve to have a seatat the table and take action.
Don't have to do this becausethere's a lot of people will
say, well, someday I'm gonna dothis, but someday I'm gonna do

(31:59):
that. And someday is not a dayon the calendar. So

Merry (32:05):
You're right. Someday not. And don't wait for people
to take action for you.

Albert Bramante (32:13):
Yeah. Exactly. Do it yourself and don't you
know, this is why I thinkputting things on a calendar is
important than doing a to dolist. Sounds good. When you put
stuff on the calendar, you takeaction.
It it's real.

Merry (32:27):
Yeah. Right? Yeah. Writing it down. Yeah.
I just I just have a I'm curiousabout one thing. How difficult
is it to get a talent agent inNew York?

Albert Bramante (32:41):
It depends on what type you are. It also
depends upon your experiencelevel. It can be challenging for
certain people, you know, nowunless they're a unique type.
And I think younger mean, thereality of it, I'm just gonna be
completely honest, the youngeryou are, it's a little easier.

(33:02):
Initially, unless you have aspecific brand and type already.
But there's also a lot of stuffthat I can tell you that you
don't really need an agent now.You can still do a lot of work
on your own as an actor even ifyou don't have representation at
the moment. So there's it's muchmore accessible than it was

(33:24):
years ago.

Cathy (33:25):
Yeah. Because people make their own TikTok shows and all
that

Albert Bramante (33:30):
stuff. Exactly. And so collaborate with other
actors too. That's the mainthing too.

Merry (33:37):
Yeah. That's great. Thank you. Well, I'm going to say
thank you, Doctor. Bramante.
Our guest today on Late Boomershas been Doctor. Albert
Bramante. You can purchase hisbook on Amazon, and you can
connect with him via hiswebsite, albertbramante.com. And

(33:57):
I'll spell that, a l b e r t,and then bramante.com.

Cathy (34:05):
And thank you for listening to our Late Boomers
Podcast and subscribing to ourLate Boomers Podcast channel on
YouTube. Listen in next weekwhen you'll meet another
exciting guest, themultitalented singer songwriter
and actress, Jan Daly. You canlisten to Late Boomers on any
podcast platform, and we doappreciate you so much. Just

(34:26):
please follow us on InstagramIAMKathyWorthington and
IAMMaryAlkinson LateBoomers. Andthanks again to Doctor.
Albert Bramante.

Albert Bramante (34:37):
Thank you.

Cathy (34:49):
Thank you for joining us on Late Boomers, the podcast
that is your guide to creating athird act with style, power, and
impact. Please visit our websiteand get in touch with us at late
boomers dot biz. If you wouldlike to listen to or download
other episodes of late boomers,go to ewnpodcastnetwork.com.

Merry (35:11):
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple
Podcast, and most other majorpodcast sites. We hope you make
use of the wisdom you've gainedhere and that you enjoy a
successful third act with yourown style, power, and impact.
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