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

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/]

63. Reclaiming Your Life Narrative: Are You the Author of Your Own Story?

Someone has been narrating your life — and there's a real chance it isn't you. In this episode, I'm sharing a conversation I had with a close friend that completely cracked me open. She's a painter trying to make the leap into paid creative work, and when a roadblock came up, what stopped her wasn't the obstacle itself — it was the story she'd built around it. A story that wasn't even hers. We get into the comfort of denial (and why it costs you more than you think), how to tell the difference between something you genuinely want and something you're just speed skating in your head about, and why fear is, truly, the worst writer in the room. This episode is an invitation to pause, question the narrative, and ask yourself: who is actually holding the pen right now? TIMESTAMPS [00:00] — Someone is narrating your life right now — is it you? [00:58] — The conversation that started it all: a friend who felt like absolute shit [03:56] — A painter trying to go from free work to paid work — and the wall she kept hitting [07:49] — "Everyone who does digital art started at 18 or 19" — and the story hiding inside that [09:11] — The moment I stopped being shocked by the roadblock and started being shocked by the story [01:18] — Welcome to Get Messy [04:41] — Denial is comfortable — not in a luxurious way, more like a padded cocoon with a nail in it [06:22] — Why complaining is more comfortable than change (and what it's actually costing you) [06:17] — Have you ever handed someone else the pen to your life story? [07:24] — The story my mom told me about the 2006 Olympics — and why she was right [07:51] — "You're speed skating in your head" — and the difference between loving a dream vs. actually wanting it [07:49] — Do you love it enough to sacrifice for it? [09:31] — When the real answer underneath "I'm too old" is actually just fear of failing [09:32] — By not trying, you are failing before you even give yourself the chance to fail [10:01] — Failing your way into success — why failure is information, not a verdict [10:01] — Do not let fear be your narrator. Fear is a terrible writer. [10:58] — You are the lead of your own life story — everyone else is a side character [11:12] — Whenever you hear an opinion about your life, pause before you absorb it as truth [12:09] — How different would her story look if she picked up her own pen? [13:04] — This is your story. Tell it like you mean it. [13:14] — If this episode stirred something up — send me a DM, leave a review, share it RESOURCES MENTIONED * Listen to Get Messy: Do You Want the Goal or Just the Glory? A Real Talk on Sacrifice, VO Life & Knowing Your Season [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/get-messy-with-maddie/id1765146695?i=1000751371960] * 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] ✨ Connect with Maddie ✨ Explore Maddie's Website [https://maddiemcguirecoaching.com/] | @messywithmaddie [https://www.instagram.com/messywithmaddie/]

62. Redefining Success and Happiness with Stella Stephanopoulos

This one felt like a therapy session and a masterclass in joy — all in one conversation. I sat down with Stella Stephanopoulos, innovation consultant at Accenture, yoga instructor at Equinox, and the founder of Everyday Endorphins — a happiness podcast and wellness community she's been building since high school. Five-plus years, nearly 180 episodes, and a perspective on happiness that genuinely stopped me in my tracks. We get into what it actually means to choose happiness (spoiler: it has nothing to do with forcing positivity), why we're living in a loneliness epidemic and what's really driving it, the difference between chasing labels vs. building an identity, and how to move from limiting beliefs to liberating ones. Stella is brilliant, warm, and so deeply thoughtful — I came out of this conversation feeling genuinely lighter. In This Episode We Cover: * The "discovery" chapter — why Stella feels younger at 26 than she did at 22, and what it means to finally give yourself time * Holding two identities — being a corporate consultant and a wellness community builder without losing yourself in either * Building something from the beginning — how Everyday Endorphins started as a high school Instagram account and became a 180-episode blueprint for how Stella wants to live * The loneliness epidemic — why connection is the common denominator of joy, and why we've lost our ability to create it * We don't experience the world, we experience our nervous system — what this actually means and how to use it * Happiness is a choice — and the burnt toast theory that will change how you respond to everything * Limiting vs. liberating beliefs — the framework from Beyond Belief that helps Stella flip self-doubt into confidence * The Kid Cudi quote that hit different — "The victim and the villain are the same" * Asking for what you need — why advocating for yourself is the thing Stella is still learning, and why so many of us are right there with her * Signing your own permission slip — the difference between seeking advice and seeking validation * Rapid fire: the messiest thing about Stella (it's the hair — and her mom will back me up on this) Timestamps * 0:00 — Introducing Stella Stephanopolous! * 0:30 — Stella's current chapter: "Discovery" — and why she feels younger at 26 than she did at 22 * 4:08 — The pressure to rush through life & what patience actually means as a practice * 7:52 — "Wherever you go, there you are" — holding two identities: corporate consultant and wellness community builder * 8:08 — How Stella cross-pollinates her day job and Everyday Endorphins * 15:44 — How the podcast started in high school and evolved into 180 episodes * 25:08 — What people are actually needing to hear right now: we're in a loneliness epidemic * 25:08 — Why we've socially atrophied and lost the skill of talking to strangers * 35:57 — We don't experience the world — we experience our nervous system * 41:40 — Happiness as a choice: the burnt toast theory * 33:20 — "This is not a dress rehearsal" — presence, impermanence, and being happy now * 33:27 — Limiting vs. liberating beliefs and the Beyond Belief framework * 42:35 — The Kid Cudi lyric Stella lives by: "The victim and the villain are the same" * 42:35 — What Stella is learning to trust: having conviction behind her choices without outside permission * 44:29 — Signing your own permission slip (and why we keep asking others to do it for us) * 44:29 — The fear of accountability behind seeking validation * 49:37 — What's next: putting her needs first and advocating for herself * 44:29 — Rapid fire: the messiest thing about Stella * 45:37 — What Stella is most excited about right now — personally and professionally ✨ Connect with Stella ✨ * Podcast: Everyday Endorphins [https://everydayendorphins.com/] — on Apple, Spotify, and all listening platforms * Instagram: @everydayendorphins [https://www.instagram.com/everydayendorphins/] * TikTok: @everydayendorphins [https://www.tiktok.com/@everydayendorphins] * Personal Instagram & LinkedIn: * @stellastephanopoulos [https://www.instagram.com/stellastephanopoulos/] * LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stellastephanopoulos123/] ✨Connect with Maddie✨ Explore Maddie's Website [https://maddiemcguirecoaching.com/] | @messywithmaddie [https://www.instagram.com/messywithmaddie/]