Yours truly...

is going to be speaking on this panel:

CLICK HERE!

Last fall, a writer by the name of Simi Horowitz interviewed me for a Backstage article on actors who quit their day job. She asked how I decided to do it, what I did to make it happen, and how things have gone since then.

Shortly after the article ran in the paper, someone from the SAG Foundation called me and asked if I would be interested in speaking on a panel. I was flattered, and eager to share what I know with other actors who are stuck in a rut and ready to take the next step. I got another call saying that the event had been postponed until February. A couple of days ago I received another phone call, and today, confirmation went out.

I'm excited, flattered, and a little nervous. I was told that I didn't need to prepare anything beforehand, after all - it's my life experience that they want to hear about. I really just want to give back.

In...2003 I walked away from the latest of a long line of cushy corporate America jobs that I hated. The people were nice, I had benefits, the paycheck was healthy and steady... and I was ready to gouge my eyes out with the spoon that my cubicle neighbor was using to unceremoniously slurp his mid-afternoon snack. Seriously. If the windows hadn't been sealed, I might've jumped.

I am NOT saying that corporate America was inherently bad or anything like that - I'm all for making an honest living however you choose. It just wasn't for me and I was very unhappy. I didn't move to LA to be a secretary (however "executive"), I moved to LA to act, and I wasn't doing any acting. So, I lowered my cost of living, quit my job, finished a 2-year acting program, picked up freelance production gigs when I could, and launched my career.

It can be done.

Actually, with this experience under my belt, I really feel like anything is possible. And not just for myself, but for anyone.

Y'all know how much I love quotes, let me share one with you:

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
Anais Nin
US (French-born) author & diarist (1903 - 1977)



--Nicole