65. I Almost Quit Acting… | Experiencing Burnout, Therapy, and Creative Revival

69. Why Therapy Works: Hero's Journey, Nervous System Regulation & Donald Miller's “StoryBrand”

I need you to stay with me for a second — because I'm about to tell you that a business book accidentally explained why therapy works. A dear friend gifted me Building A StoryBrand by Donald Miller, and as I started doing the assignments, something clicked. Here's the core idea: we all want to be the hero of our own story. And therapy? Therapy is one of the only spaces in your life that is entirely built around that. No shared spotlight. No performing. No managing anyone else's feelings. Just you, your obstacles, your goals, and a guide helping you take action toward the life you actually want. We also get into survival vs. thriving, what your nervous system is actually trying to do for you, and why understanding that difference might be the thing that's been standing between you and the version of yourself you're trying to reach. TIMESTAMPS: [0:00] — A business book accidentally explained why therapy works [0:37] — Welcome to Get Messy [0:55] — The core idea: we all want to be the hero of our own story [1:01] — Why businesses get their messaging wrong — and what it means for you [1:26] — Therapy as the only one-sided relationship in your life [1:57] — Addressing obstacles, goals, and devising a plan [3:23] — The exit signs analogy — survival before thriving [4:25] — Why your nervous system might be the obstacle standing in your way [4:27] — Therapy as a way of finding your exit signs [5:27] — Unpacking the why behind your goals [6:05] — Real examples: audition rituals, letting go of control, creative careers [6:31] — The hero's journey has defeats, pivots, and wrong turns — and that's okay [6:41] — Therapy puts you in the hero role — the therapist is simply the guide [7:37] — Why this book clicked for me — and why therapy works [8:34] — I'm rooting for you today and always TOPICS COVERED * Why Building A StoryBrand accidentally explained therapy * The hero vs. the guide — and why you need to know which one you are * Therapy as the only truly one-sided relationship in your life (and why that's a good thing) * Survival mode vs. thriving — and why your body prioritizes one over the other * The exit signs analogy and what it means for your nervous system * Why being a faulty hero is still being a hero * The hero's journey has defeats, pivots, and wrong turns — and that's the point RESOURCES MENTIONED * Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller [https://www.amazon.com/Building-StoryBrand-2-0-author/dp/1400251303] ✨ Connect with Maddie ✨ Explore Maddie's Website [https://maddiemcguirecoaching.com/] | @messywithmaddie [https://www.instagram.com/messywithmaddie/]

68. Nathalie Holmes on Breaking Up with Show Business, Training Teen Crisis Counselors, and Why Creativity Is the Best Therapy Tool

This one felt like catching up with a best friend who also happens to have the most fascinating brain you've ever encountered. Nathalie Holmes is a creative-turned-mental-health-professional — actress, comedian, writer, former magician's assistant — who pivoted into crisis work during the pandemic after realizing her own experiences had given her something rare: the tools to hold space for others. She now trains teens to support their peers through a youth-led crisis hotline, brings expressive arts into therapy, and is in the final stretch of grad school pursuing her LMFT and LPCC. We get into what it really means to break up with the creative career you always thought would define you, the grief of an identity shift, and how to let your dream evolve without losing yourself. We also talk about mask-making as therapy, what teens are actually carrying, the gap between being taught a craft and being taught a career, and why the most healing thing you can do might be a really long walk. Nathalie is warm, hilarious, and deeply wise — this one is a permission slip to honor every version of yourself. In This Episode: * Breaking up with show business and the identity grief that follows * The ocean metaphor: same human condition, different wave * Mask work, grief postcards, and expressive arts as a therapeutic entry point * Artfelt Collective — using pop culture and nostalgia to make mental health accessible * What acting school and grad school both forgot to teach (the business of your craft) * Being the jazz musician in a music theory class * When confidence and doubt show up at the same time — and what to do * All the Natalies in the car: a framework for your inner child and past selves * "You can't go through a life-changing event without your life changing" * The fear she's still sitting with: returning to being seen, neurospicy self-discovery, and showing up for her own ideas * Rapid fire: the messiest thing about Nathalie ✨ Connect with Nathalie ✨ Instagram: @prettyfunnynat [https://www.instagram.com/prettyfunnynat/] ✨Connect with Maddie✨ Explore Maddie's Website [https://maddiemcguirecoaching.com/] | @messywithmaddie [https://www.instagram.com/messywithmaddie/]

66. Tamra Meskimen on Self-Trust, Drama Without Trauma, and Why Confidence Is the Only Acting Skill That Actually Matters

This one is for every actor who's ever walked out of a class feeling smaller than when they walked in — and for anyone who's ever wondered if there's a better way. Tamra Meskimen is an actress, teacher, and co-founder of The Acting Center in Los Angeles. She's worked across New York and LA on everything from American Crime Story: Impeachment and Physical to Bel-Air, 9-1-1, and General Hospital — plus a career in voiceover that spans TV and radio commercials. She's also trained Oscar nominees. And now, alongside her co-founders, she's channeling everything she's learned into reshaping the way acting is taught. Their philosophy — drama without trauma — is unlike most acting schools out there, and I think it might be exactly what actors everywhere have been waiting for. We get into what drove Tamra to build something new, the problem with notes-based training and why it quietly kills originality, how self-confidence (not talent) is the real skill casting directors are looking for, and why "your job is auditioning" is the most freeing reframe in this industry. We also talk about surviving COVID and the strikes, what it means to let your dream evolve with you, and how Tamra recharges her creativity — spoiler: no screens involved. She is warm, wise, and so thoughtful — this one is a permission slip to trust yourself again. In This Episode We Cover: * "What would you title this current chapter?" — Tamra's answer and what it means to channel decades of experience into helping other artists * Juggling acting and entrepreneurship — how The Acting Center and her acting career dovetail instead of compete, and why that's the key * The moment she saw the problem — watching actors come in "broken" from other classes, and the impetus to build something different * Drama without trauma — why method-based training is damaging, and what it means to build emotion from the present moment instead of painful personal memories * The no-notes philosophy — how withholding critique unlocks originality, and why giving notes is directing, not teaching * "Your job is auditioning" — reframing the audition as the work itself, and why the only thing you control is how you show up * What actors struggle with most — self-confidence in the room, and self-promotion outside of it * The power of promotion — why two of Tamra's bookings last year required no audition at all, and what that actually tells us * The hardest part of being a creative no one warns you about — finding the time to keep creating, and why action quiets the inner critic faster than thinking does * Holding confidence and doubt at the same time — and why commitment is the thing that conquers both * Letting the dream evolve — working more now than earlier in her career, and why the dream expanding to include other people's success is the best thing that ever happened * A fear she's still rewriting — and the mission to change the way acting is taught on a global scale * How she recharges creativity — live theater, art museums, gardening, and guitar (not a single screen in sight) * Rapid fire: the messiest thing about Tamra — life at the Meskimen household sounds like beautiful, hilarious chaos * What she's still figuring out — embracing AI and staying ahead of technology without losing herself in it * What's next — a new website, an app in development, and a dream to reach actors everywhere RESOURCES * Listen to Get Messy : The Art of Persistence: Jim Meskimen on Acting, Creation, and The Role of Curiosity [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/get-messy-with-maddie/id1765146695?i=1000737398580] * Listen to Get Messy: How to Actually Make It as a Multi-Hyphenate Artist (Without Waiting for Permission) with Taylor Meskimen [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/get-messy-with-maddie/id1765146695?i=1000749239160] ✨ Connect with Tamra & The Acting Center ✨ * Instagram: @theactingcenterla [https://www.instagram.com/theactingcenter/] * YouTube: @TheActingCenterLosAngeles [https://www.youtube.com/@TheActingCenterLosAngeles] * Website: theactingcenterla.com [https://theactingcenterla.com/] ✨Connect with Maddie✨ Explore Maddie's Website [https://maddiemcguirecoaching.com/] | @messywithmaddie [https://www.instagram.com/messywithmaddie/]

65. I Almost Quit Acting… | Experiencing Burnout, Therapy, and Creative Revival

There's a version of yourself that keeps showing up — even when everything feels broken. This episode is about her. In 2022, I almost quit my creative career. Not in a dramatic, "I'm out" kind of way — more like a slow, disorienting fog where nothing felt aligned, my voice felt restricted, my compass felt completely off, and I didn't trust a single thought I had. I was in the messiest of middles, and I want to tell you about it. We go all the way back — from a painfully shy kid in Chicago, to grinding in LA from seventeen years old, to the season when voiceover, acting, and my sense of self all seemed to crumble at once. I talk about what burnout actually feels like from the inside, what a worthiness and identity crisis looks like when you've wrapped your entire self around a creative career, and the one phone call from my agent that cracked something open. This episode is also a love letter to anyone currently in the messy middle — the place where you feel bold and completely directionless at the same time. (Spoiler: that's not a contradiction. It's what choosing yourself actually feels like.) TIMESTAMPS [00:00] — There was a time in 2022 I almost quit — and I want to tell you about it [01:06] — Welcome to Get Messy [01:48] — The origin story: a painfully shy kid who found acting at 10 [06:45] — Pounding the pavement in LA since 17 — what "all in" really looked like [09:37] — Years of grinding, and things slowly starting to come together [13:22] — Voiceover takes off — signing with my agency and booking my first job March 2016 [16:27] — The floodgates open: campaigns, momentum, and making real money for the first time [16:27] — When unresolved stuff started bubbling up and restricting my voice [17:47] — The slow creep of burnout I didn't have a name for yet [20:06] — COVID as a permission slip to finally slow all the way down [20:47] — Yoga With Adriene, meditating, and unearthing things I never wanted to unearth [23:12] — Leaving LA — the decision I never thought I'd make [25:44] — Moving to Virginia Beach, getting my coaching certification, and a fresh start [26:55] — Moving to Miami: trying on a completely new identity in a very loud city [26:55] — "What is your Mount Kilimanjaro?" — and not having an answer [31:40] — The coaching sessions that felt amazing, then the crash back to just being with myself [31:42] — Questioning everything: 2022, $15K in VO, scared shitless, and not trusting myself [33:20] — I just questioned a lot what I was gonna do [33:15] — My agent Vince calls — and a conversation that changed everything [33:51] — "It's not about if it happens — it's how long you choose to stay down" [35:05] — Booking a session with Carol Kimball and feeling the first spark in months [37:01] — Booking the biggest campaign of my voiceover career a month later [40:48] — A worthiness and identity crisis — naming what 2022 really was [41:14] — Acting is a slice of the identity pie, not the whole thing [42:29] — I was in the messiest of middles. None of it felt cute. [42:29] — If you're in a messy middle right now, here's what I want you to remember [42:31] — You are not behind. You're building something entirely yours. [43:51] — Feeling bold and directionless at the same time is not a contradiction [45:08] — Being in the game still counts — even when it looks nothing like before [47:12] — You always got you. Not as a cute thing to say — as a commitment. [48:38] — I'm rooting for you today and always RESOURCES MENTIONED * Carroll VO Casting Co. [https://www.carrollcasting.com/?utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnY_c4ZXOT5WZi9U8UoQPygLDYEcw6u1eHWfdiJrNOm5nI8iHMZlMkZPuc-Bc_aem_YWdncwC-9-unxD_zO1Bb76WtE_S7&brid=YWdncwFTYcUb2ZvNAmdqgccqARXg] * Yoga With Adriene [https://yogawithadriene.com/] * Listen to Get Messy: You Got You: Building Self-Trust and Impact as a Creative [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/get-messy-with-maddie/id1765146695?i=1000741672238] * Listen to Get Messy: Finding Success in Screenwriting: Kim Kressal on Craft, Community, and Perseverance [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/get-messy-with-maddie/id1765146695?i=1000740644947] ✨ Connect with Maddie ✨ Explore Maddie's Website [https://maddiemcguirecoaching.com/] | @messywithmaddie [https://www.instagram.com/messywithmaddie/] Key topics: creative burnout, how to get out of a career slump, building self-trust as a creative, mindset for actors and performers, creative career, overcoming fear of quitting, self-worth

64. Limiting Beliefs, Career Growth, and What It Really Means to Double Down as an Actor with Amy Austin

This one hit me differently — because I got to witness so much of what Amy talks about in real time. Amy Austin (formerly Amy McNabb) is a voice actor, singer, and the founder of Actors Encouraged — a coaching community dedicated to supporting ambitious actors in building their happiest, most sustainable careers. She is also my mindset coach, and I can genuinely say this conversation is everything I've wanted to put into the world for a while now. We get into her intentional, strategic approach to building her voiceover career — the classes, the community, the network — and what it actually looks like to “double-down” in your acting career. We also talk about the seismic mindset shift that happened in a Broadway theater in New York, the difference between "showboat" classes and classes where you actually get to fall apart, core desired feelings, and why we all tend to miss our own growth. Amy is warm, wildly wise, and so honest — this one is a love letter to every creative who's still figuring it out. Timestamps * 0:00 — Introducing Amy Austin (formerly Amy McNabb)! * 1:38 — "What would you title this current season of your life?" — Amy's honest answer * 2:15 — Figuring it out: being 36, being in a new chapter, and not having the title yet * 3:55 — How Amy spent the last year strategically building her VO toolbox * 5:57 — The Voiceover Academy: starting from the beginning and trusting her instincts * 9:39 — Showboat classes vs. learning classes — the framework every actor needs * 13:47 — Doubling down in your acting career * 14:37 — The Broadway trip that changed everything * 15:00 — Operation Mincemeat and the seismic shift: "Oh, I can still do this" * 17:01 — The vocal injury at Hershey Park and the limiting belief it created * 17:01 — What "doubling down" means practically: doing all the auditions, taking dance class again, not giving yourself an out * 21:35 — Core desired feelings and The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte * 23:00 — Amy's four core desired feelings for this chapter * 24:25 — Saying yes to the 6:15 AM hike — and why work begets work * 33:48 — Do actors still feel behind? Amy's 2.0 answer two years later * 36:37 — We tend to miss our own growth — and why old voices come back at new levels * 38:35 — GLP-1s, AI, and the things surfacing old noise for millennial women * 38:35 — ChatGPT is great for planning your Disneyland trip. Please don't use it to process your emotions. * 44:09 — Zooming in and zooming out: what it feels like to be content without having the things * 46:00 — A final message for anyone who's not in a delicious season right now * 47:22 — Where to find Amy and follow the doubling down in real time RESOURCES MENTIONED * Listen to Get Messy: Amy McNabb on Investing in Your Own Dreams, Gamifying Your Career, and Being Right On Time [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/get-messy-with-maddie/id1765146695?i=1000668315197] * The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-desire-map-a-guide-to-creating-goals-with-soul-danielle-laporte/ca77f847a116c17c?ean=9781622032518&next=t] ✨ Connect with Amy ✨ * Business Instagram: @actorsencouraged [https://www.instagram.com/actorsencouraged/] * Personal Instagram: @itsamy_austin [https://www.instagram.com/itsamyaustin/] * TikTok: @actorsencouraged [https://www.tiktok.com/@actorsencouraged] * Website: actorsencouraged.com [https://www.actorsencouraged.com/] ✨Connect with Maddie✨ Explore Maddie's Website [https://maddiemcguirecoaching.com/] | @messywithmaddie [https://www.instagram.com/messywithmaddie/]