Why I’ll Never Make It - An Actor’s Journey

Thanks for coming back to join me and Kristen Hetzel again! This is a bonus episode to the previous conversation, where we cover topics and five specific questions that we didn’t address on the last episode. Today, Kristen talks about her athletic and acting bucket lists and shares wisdom from her Aunt Zee. 

The time and expense needed to bring these guests and conversations to you each week is sometimes challenging but always rewarding. 

Make your one-time or monthly donation at donate.winmipodcast.com. There you can become a WINMI Producer and get your members-only episodes.

Follow WINMI: Instagram / Twitter / Website 

• Find out more about Chaz and James dance classes: resources.winmipodcast.com 

In this podcast’s continuing series, Bettering Ourselves, Bettering Our Careers we’re finding ways to improve how we work and create, how to push through challenges we face. So far we’ve looked at ways to better our public relations, our mindset and deliberate practice as well as branding strategies and how best to use social media.

Join the WINMI newsletter: whyillnevermakeit.com 

Today, as we head into a long Thanksgiving weekend, we’ll be tying it altogether by talking about persistence and gratitude with Team USA silver and bronze medalist Kristen Hetzel. She’s a runner and cyclist who is also an actress, personal trainer, and holds a doctorate in physical therapy. She shares her secret to getting it all done and how she overcomes what stands in her way.

Follow Kristen: Website / Instagram / Twitter 

Follow WINMI: Instagram / Twitter / Website 

• Donate to the podcast and gain access to members-only bonus episodes: pod.fan/winmipodcast 
• Don't forget to check out all the helpful offers available to you through WINMI guests and partners: resources.winmipodcast.com 
• WINMI is a Top 20 Theater Podcast thanks to you!  blog.feedspot.com/theatre_podcasts/  

Become a WINMI Producer today: donate.winmipodcast.com 

This interview was conducted back in August 2020, hence the reference to my air conditioner. Tony also mentions his episode with Lea Salonga, which has since been released.

He goes on to rant a bit about podcasting and getting interviews, and we discuss online classes from Domestika and General Assembly. And once again, the title of this podcast comes under the microscope.

Take Tony's Digital Wellness Survey, a quick self-assessment of your online presence and learn more about his classes and seminars at tonyhowell.me.

----------

As always, thank you for supporting and donating to WINMI. I couldn't do this without you! Sign up for the monthly newsletter or reach out to me, I'd love to hear from you!

When it comes to our lives and our careers, perhaps no shift has been more dramatic or significant as our increase in time online and on our phones. The biggest driver of this is social media. Digital strategist Tony Howell pays another visit to the podcast as we talk about branding, online presence, and our use of social apps.

Sign up for the WINMI newsletter...

In part three of the month-long series bettering ourselves bettering our careers, this episode is a continuation from the previous conversation about deliberate practice and the 10,000 hours rule. Another psychologist, Alisa Hurwitz, PsyD, joins me today to dive into mindset and how we actors can deal with rejection and the challenges we face in this business.

Her moniker Dr. Drama comes from her many analytical interviews, discussions, and articles on theater, specifically her lifelong passion for musical theater. She’s even consulted on regional and off Broadway productions on elements related to psychological concepts and mental health issues. So she is the perfect person to help us face some of the realities of this make-believe world of theater, a profession that can bring us tremendous joy but also sorrow and frustration.

Follow Alisa: Website / Instagram / Twitter 

Follow WINMI: Instagram / Twitter / Website 

• Donate to the podcast: pod.fan/winmipodcast 
• Don't forget to check out all the helpful offers available to you through WINMI guests and partners: resources.winmipodcast.com 
• WINMI is a Top 20 Theater Podcast thanks to you!  https://blog.feedspot.com/theatre_podcasts/  

When it comes to bettering ourselves as artists, it involves a lot of training, coaching, and practice. One popular strategy is called the 10,000 Hours Rule, popularized by Malcolm Gladwell. But today’s guest, psychologist Brooke Macnamara, has done research showing the importance of quality over quantity.

Get the WINMI Newsletter: whyillnevermakeit.com

On this special bonus episode all about the recent Tony Award Nominations, I’m so happy to introduce music director, conductor, and fellow podcaster Nate Patton. Nate and I first met when he was associate conducting Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Broadway. And his podcast called Booked It.

The title to one of his episodes was “Broadway is broken and I alone can fix it.” And it's this kind of witty, tongue in cheek and knowledgeable opinions that I wanted to bring on the show as we talk about these Tony nominations:

• The lone best actor nomination of Aaron Tveit
• The complete snubbing of the lightning thief
• Only plays being nominated for best original score

Nate and I will also get into these topics and more, including what these nominations in general say about the state of theater today, and even make a few Tony predictions.

• Broadway reaches for normalcy with Tony Award nominations 
• Snubs and Surprises: The Tonys Point a Middle Finger at The Lightning Thief 
• Tony Award Snubs, What Ifs And That Strange Case Of Aaron Tveit
• The 2020 Tony Award nominations were weird and sad 
• Tony Awards Announces 2019-2020 Nominating Committee
• Outer Critics Circle Honorees 
• Tony Nominee Reactions 

Support WINMI and get access to a members-only private podcast feed.

Join the monthly WINMI Newsletter by going to whyillnevermakeit.com 

---------

Music in this episode provided by Chad Crouch and Admiral Bob.

Meredith and I continue our conversation from the previous episode as she answers the Final Five questions. She shares her national tour ambitions and her love of interior design as well as what she learned from Ali Stroker.

Make your one-time or monthly donation at donate.winmipodcast.com

     ----------     

The time and expense needed to bring these guests and conversations to you each week is sometimes challenging but always rewarding. 

• For further insights on the topics covered in this episode: twitter.com/winmipodcast/ 
• Quotes and unreleased audio clips: instagram.com/winmipodcast/ 

In honor of Dysautonomia Awareness Month, Meredith Aleigha Wells joins the podcast to share her struggles and challenges onstage and in life all from the vantage point of a wheelchair. After becoming disabled at the age of 19, Meredith performed in a college workshop production of the new musical Donny Johns, making UMass Amherst history as the first actor who uses a wheelchair to perform in a Mainstage production.

Meredith graduated with a Bachelor's Degree with Individualized Concentration in Musical Theatre. Immediately after graduation, Meredith moved to Cleveland, Ohio to dance with Dancing Wheels, a physically integrated touring repertory company.

In this episode, she opens up about the hard-fought lessons she has been through and how much more there is learn, both in herself and for others.

Topics discussed in this episode:
 - Mayo Clinic Physician Philip Fischer, MD 
 - 10 Facts about POTS 
 - Dancing Wheels Company founder Mary Verdi-Fletcher 
 - What does the 30th anniversary of the ADA mean to youth with disabilities? - Youth Today 
 - Able-Bodied Actors Play 95% of Disabled Characters - Variety 
 - Ali Stroker's Tony Award acceptance speech 

• Follow Meredith: Website / Instagram / YouTube 
• Follow WINMI: Instagram / Twitter / Website 

Support WINMI through monthly or one-time donations.

• Don't forget to check out all the helpful offers available to you through WINMI guests and partners: resources.winmipodcast.com 
• WINMI is a Top 20 Theater Podcast thanks to you!  https://blog.feedspot.com/theatre_podcasts/