Here’s Your Answer

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In September 2024, I was nearly broke. Despite having learned financial discipline (fifteen years ago!) from Abundance Bound, I found myself slipping again. I thought I was doing all the right things, but something was off. I knew something — not sure what — had to change. Hiring a financial coach was out of the question—what sense did it make to spend money I didn’t really have? So, I crossed my fingers, closed my eyes, and hoped for the best.

My passion – my business – is helping those who know they have something they want to do, or have, or change, but need a way to see it through. When those people come to me, we sit together, and things start to quiet down. The noise of “shoulds” fades. The pressure lifts. Clarity takes shape. They stop spinning, and finally they focus on one true want—the one that actually excites them. And from that moment on, things start to move. Unless… they’re left to their own devices.

So why don’t we take the necessary steps even after finding our one true goal? One client expressed their block as the weight of childhood trauma. With me and money, it’s a sticky kind of embarrassment that whispers: How can I be so smart… and still be so dumb? My identity feels threatened. It freezes me.
But here’s what I’ve come to understand: (Analysis)Paralysis is a symptom of limited consciousness. We’ve come to believe the stories we’ve made up in our heads:

I can’t afford it. 
I’m not ready yet.
People won’t like my choices.

Indiana Jones contemplates taking the first step.

In spite of all of this, I managed to take off the lens of financial scarcity and took a step forward — hey, if your boat is sinking, you don’t haggle about repair costs. I re-invested in the financial wellness program, and once again, began the hard work.

A funny thing happens when we take that first step — we get answers, and our consciousness expands. It’s so obvious, yet we doubt it.

The Answers are in the Doing.

Until we take meaningful actions, we doubt that we ever could. But only after we do, do we see how capable we actually are. So then we take another next step. Then another.

By the end of December 2024, I was steadily on my way to financial wellness—and I had even managed to save money! The moment I took that first step, my energy shifted, I was open to new opportunities, and I booked several acting jobs.

By starting with just one step forward, I found the answers and the clarity I had been desperately seeking.

Random Asks of Kindness

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Be willing to receive the riches that are already there.

An open hand is willing to receive the treasures of the Universe.

One New Year’s Eve, I was desperate to join my friends at a concert—but I was stuck waiting tables. Knowing it was a long shot, I asked my manager if I could be cut early. To my surprise, he said yes. A senior waitress nearby overheard and asked, “Why does she get to go home early?” He simply shrugged and said, “Because she asked.”
That moment stuck with me.

I’d made small asks all my life—some big ones too—but something about his response reframed everything. It showed me how powerful it is to just ask. It’s a lesson I’ve carried with me ever since. I’ve gotten such delight in getting yes-es. Most recently:

I asked the top commercial agency in L.A. to sign me – they did.
I asked the director/producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm for a direct booking — and he gave it to me!
I asked the L.A. SAG-AFTRA Conservatory to add me to their faculty – and they did!

I must admit that I was fully qualified for the yes-es, including at the restaurant where I was a reliable, long-time employee. But here’s the most common, heartbreaking thing:

Too often, we decide that
we don’t deserve it, aren’t qualified, or simply not good enough —
so we never even bother to ask.

Are you afraid of a ‘no’? Don’t be. “No” doesn’t move you backward, it simply leaves you where you are – no harm, no foul. But a “yes” has the power to unlock something new! Fear turns into neutrality and opportunity turns into self-care when you practice random asks of kindness on yourself. Just look into the eyes of a baby, and you’ll see that we’re all born deserving. We’re all born good enough.

“Sometimes it takes only one act

of kindness and caring
to change a person’s life.” —Jackie Chan

What is Real About Censorship?

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Me carrying the message , “R U Next?” in front of ABC/Disney, 9/19/25.

On September 17, 2025, ABC/DISNEY suspended the Jimmy Kimmel Show. What followed was shock, and anger, and a lot of fear. The worst had happened, censorship was real. Then six days later the Kimmel Show was reinstated.

So what is real in all of this?

We often enter the world feeling like victims of circumstance—believing the cards we’re dealt are all we’ve got, and there’s no real choice in the matter. At its worst, we get stuck in a cycle: fearing what’s coming next, then growing angry because it feels like there’s nothing we can do about it.

Sometimes, we reach a point where we realize—we can do something. We start to see choices, possibilities, and actions we can take to improve our lives. We feel empowered. But when does that sense of empowerment become just another weapon in our arsenal against what we label as “bad”? A subtle clue is when we still feel like a victim to life, even as we wear the cape of empowerment. In the worst case, we get caught in a cycle of constant resistance—a fighting cycle—where we’re always battling something. Eventually, the toll adds up: exhaustion, burnout, even illness.

And then there’s Enlightenment. The Path of Enlightenment unfolds through you, and is available 100% of the time. You’re never more than one thought away from clarity. Even if you occasionally fall off the path, you can return in an instant. Let go of trying to change circumstances in order to be happy. Instead of chasing results, allow Wisdom to guide you through whatever shows up. It always has your back.

“You’re living in the feeling of your thinking, 
not the feeling of the world. 
So you don’t need the world to be a certain way 
to live the richest life that is available for you.” 
-Michael Neill

So, I thought about my worst case scenario. What if – what if – I could no longer work in television, which is my primary source of income? As I settled down, I began to see the many options available to me — film, theatre, public speaking, etc. As I settle down even more, I know that possibilities exist far beyond my current limited vision, and if I am open to New Thought, Wisdom will reveal Infinite possibilities to me. .

Who Knows the REAL You?

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Back in the day, when I was running my marketing business, I came up with a tagline that reflected more than just branding — It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you. It captured what I was learning firsthand. Self-marketing was teaching me a lot, and it made me think back on some pivotal, gleeful moments from my early theatre career:

Like when The Steppenwolf Theatre called me in — and I booked the role — without an agent submission.
 Or when a director from The Second City personally recommended me — and I was hired.
 Or when roles came directly to me, no middleman, no insider connection.

None of those doors opened because I “knew someone”. They opened because someone knew me — through my work, my reputation, and how I put myself out there.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve noticed more and more branding companies using the same tagline I coined years ago. I don’t think they intentionally copied it—more likely, they’re just starting to see what I saw back then. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. I’ve moved on.

The Recognized Actor started to shift around 2018, the moment I saw the tagline was missing something very important — me. Or if you were my client, it was missing you. So the new version might be something like, It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you — most importantly, it’s you knowing you.

I never used this new version of the tagline — I gave it a complete makeover. When I say “you knowing you,” I’m not just talking about self-awareness or brand identity. I mean something deeper: recognizing the essence of who you are — beyond name, culture, or upbringing. It’s about seeing You — the infinitely creative You. The genius You. The You who lives at the center of Infinite Possibility. And when you live through that You, the world responds — not just people, but everything. Chance meetings. Perfect timing. Opportunities that seem to appear from nowhere.

Recognize yourself, and
the world recognizes you.

DECISIONS

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The only difference between an action and a decision is the time spent thinking about it.

At the risk of not telling you to quit thinking so much, think about this: Actions become decisions the moment we begin weighing options.

Have you ever spent any real time deciding:
* how should I hold my fork?
* should I pee?
* how quickly should I hit my brake pedal?

Most likely you haven’t. But we often spend time deciding:

  • which outfit will get me the job?
  • which workshop/class will make me more hire-able?
  • which agent will get me in the right rooms?

Whenever we make a list of pros and cons regarding an action, all we’re doing is listing predictions either how something will turn out or how we’ll feel depending on how it turns out. It can be so agonizing that hiring other people to make our decisions for us has become common practice. Spiritual Intuitives have replaced the I Ching reader, while Tarot readers and Astrologists continue to thrive.

If we only knew how connected to Infinite Wisdom we truly are. Whenever things turn out perfectly, we tend to toss it off as a fluke, but it’s not. Our ability to act without hesitation is activated the moment we settle down.
There is beauty in the phrase just do it. It personifies flow. The key to “just doing it”, however, is in knowing that – no matter what – all is well.

Stress is 100% thought generated.

1. Quit thinking so much
2. Just show up, and
3. Play!

The Access to Unstoppable Flow

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Before I drove to L.A. from Chicago, I did the Artist’s Way workbook. I don’t remember the exact lessons I learned over that twelve-week period, but I do remember that Week 4 opened me up to unstoppable flow. Blocks were removed, and I did cool things over the next several months that I had neither planned nor thought I could ever accomplish. When I moved to Los Angeles, I booked TV work very quickly without an agent or connections.

Several years in, things had changed. I stopped booking, I was dropped by three agents in a row, and life felt heavy. Determined to stay afloat financially, I enrolled in a junior college to learn a new skill. While there, my mind and heart opened up to new worlds. I had forgotten how hard it was to be an actor, because I had immersed myself in the joy of learning. Suddenly, I started to book again. By the time I graduated, I had landed several commercials and served as my class valedictorian. I was buoyant.

Four years later, I was blocked again. I wasn’t booking, my new business was stressful, and my money had run out. I couldn’t understand why if I was working so hard, nothing was working (including my primary relationship). After much reflection, I broke up with my boyfriend and invested in career coaching. Exactly one month later, I was booking again, because I had regained my sense of play and my sense of self.

What I noticed: When life wasn’t going well, I froze.

When life was going well, I flowed.

But wait – turn that around.

When I froze, life didn’t go well,

but when I flowed, life went well.

Over the past five years, I’ve come to understand how life actually works, and so my life has become easier. I no longer try to predict my future with worst or best case scenarios. I welcome the unknown full-on, blank slate, and that had allowed me to thrive during the pandemic (working the entire time). Now, during the current actors’ & writers’ strikes my life continues to be easy, because no matter the outcome, I know all is well

STRESS – it’s what you think.

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On the regular, I hear people apologize for their unfocused, rude, or emotional behavior. “I’m just under a lot of stress,” they say. Then they list everything that’s causing them stress.

“My workplace is short staffed, so now I’m doing two jobs instead of one”.
“I got hit with an unexpected bill that I can’t afford”.
“I’ve got this thing coming up that’s gonna totally suck”.
“Whenever I try to get finish something, I hit a new road block”.

Contrary to popular belief, stress is NOT caused by life circumstances, but we can tell when it’s coming by our reactions to life circumstances. Such as:

  1. Being too rigid with our expectations.
  2. Taking things personally.
  3. Dreading an activity before we even do it.

Let’s look at the first one, If we go through life, leaving no room for mishaps (computer crashes, car troubles, cancelled appointments, etc.), clinging to the notion that “this shouldn’t happen”, we’ve become too rigid with our expectations. What if we let go of all expectations, knowing that life is unpredictable no matter how well we plan? And with that knowing, what if we also knew that we are built to handle any situation?

If you’re familiar with Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements, then you know that taking things personally is one of the worst energy sucks we can experience. So then why do we do it? Why do we take it personally when a person cuts in front of us? Or a friend makes us wait when we were on time? Or a co-worker leaves us to do all the work? It’s because we’ve forgotten that we’re gonna be just fine. We’ve put meaning where there is no meaning. If someone is thoughtless, it has nothing to do with us – that is how they choose to go through life. We’ll be fine. We’ll get our turn, we’ll go on with our day, and we can choose to set boundaries. But we forget.

Finally, when we’re about to do something we don’t want to do – like a project that’s gonna take a lot of time, or an activity that’s out of our comfort zone – we’ve already decided that we’re gonna be miserable doing it. We’ve chosen to predict the future in a worst case scenario. Stress is created by imagining how awful something will be long before we actually do it. Believe me, the more I fly, the more I know this to be true.

Stress is 100% thought generated.

1. Quit thinking so much
2. Just show up, and
3. Play!

Get 20 Minutes of coaching for FREE: https://calendly.com/recognized/20min

There’s No Such Thing as a Self-Made Success

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What if you won the lottery? The really big one.
Would you take a different approach to your career? You might take more risks knowing you had a safety net. What if, as a child, you went to a private school for gifted students? You might have more confidence. So the next time you compare yourself with someone who’s more “successful”, remember they got there because they had help – as far back as a well-supported childhood.
 
 

For most of my life I’ve worked in a “dysfunctionally independent” manner. I foolishly believed that if I asked for help, it meant that I was

Fifth Grade Me

incapable or lazy. I actually believed that successful people were those who only did everything on their own. If it’s meant to be, then it’s up to me! …..right? When I was a working in Chicago, I had it in my head that if I took a class from a casting director, then I was “cheating”. For me, the only way to be a respectable actor was to get an agent, audition, and prove myself worthy with a long resume. Yeah…

In preparation for my move to L.A., I took an on-camera class from a casting director’s assistant, but never expected him to help me. Turns out, that’s how life works. While I did well at my first TV audition, it was his good word to the CD that tipped the scales in my favor, and I got the job. (Some gal named Tina Fey was also up for that role. I wonder whatever happened to her?)
 

Once I landed in L.A., a friend turned me on to CD workshops, and by gum, they worked! Later, an acquaintance cast me in a staged reading of his screenplay which got me an audition/booking for a national commercial! So random. An old friend from Chicago got wind of my little successes and walked me into her agency where I landed an agent! Then the dry spells came, then success, then – you know the drill. I started to wonder if there was something missing, something that I still didn’t know? At my age, what else could there possibly be? Turns out, a lot.
 
So I invested in career coaching. I used a system that worked well for awhile, but doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for different/better results eventually lost its flavor. Without knowing were to go next, I released the need to figure it out. And as life would have it, a perfectly timed email arrived in my inbox that gave me my answer.
 
I immersed myself in a higher level of coaching. It taught me the difference between being a “list doer” and being an explorer. When we explore, we learn through real-life experience. We move from knowing about something to actually knowing something. My decisions came more quickly, my creative flow became easier, and my definition of success completely changed. But it’s not just the exploration that brought me rewards. It was the letting go of the idea that everything was solely up to me.
 
I no longer resist the undeniable give-and-take between me and my wisdom, all of mankind, and the Universe.

Getting PAID to Play!

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“The mark of an educated man is one who gets paid to play.” ~ Alan Watts
 
In 1986, Dire Straits released, Money for Nothing, a song that compared the easy life of musicians to the working class. “I should have learned to play the guitar”, whines the manual laborer in the song. It’s a perfect lyric articulating the myth that artists don’t work. Really? An artist’s life is actually so challenging that most humans would rather dream about it than live it. Yet, our work can be easy if we play the game full on.

Trailer shot / on location for #hbo #hbomax “White House Plumbers”

 
I was shooting a scene with two movie stars last month. The production was HUGE, and they’d already been filming for five months. While I was excited to work with these famous actors, I had an entirely different feeling once rehearsal began. I felt no awe when we and the director were playing, I simply felt at home. Even the scripted scene was playful. It was very “meta” to see four artists play in order to create a scene about….playing.
 
Why we get paid to play.
I got this particular job without an audition, which pleased me, but then I kept questioning why I got hired. Anyone could have done this simple role. Why me? Then it hit – I got this job because I know what I’m doing. My years of experience assured them I’d be comfortable working with stars. (Trust me, not every actor can do that). I know camera set-ups / on-set lingo, and my comedy skills guaranteed that I’d know exactly what the scene needed from me. It takes a lot before an actor can play in front of an entire crew while cameras are rolling. Yes, our job is to play, but it’s built on education. So yeah, pay me.

On Set / Trailer shot for #allblktv “For the Love of Jason”.

Alan Watt’s quote, “The mark of an educated man is the one who gets paid to play” has been modernized into “work smart, not hard”. But his phrase isn’t about working, it’s about play. I think we get paid to play as soon as we live life like a game. What I mean by that is, if we just “roll the dice” (try stuff), wait our turn (be present), “pull a card” (explore), place a bet (take a risk), etc. while knowing there are no real consequences – because we always get more turns – then our lives will overflow with delight. We educate ourselves on how the game of life works only when we play, and inevitably, we get better. So get in it, win a few, lose a few, and keep playing!
 

Balancing Money and Art

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Well-meaning coaches everywhere are telling actors to treat their careers like a business. We’re told to be the “CEO of our own Company”. We’re expected to spend a minimum number of hours working hard at our business. But working towards a bottom line “at all costs” is a prescription for anxiety and depression.

Here’s what this prescription neglects to include: Acting careers don’t exist without both the business and the art, plain and simple. They are two inseparable sides of the same coin. While most actors intuitively know this, they still believe that the only way to get work is by sacrificing and grinding away at marketing, networking, and self-submitting 24/7. Look back – haven’t we all gotten some good gigs just from doing our art? Work begets work, as the saying goes.
 
When I was just out of Conservatory, I worked hard “doing the rounds”, checking in personally with every office on a regular basis. It paid off with auditions and jobs by the end of that first year. But I also experienced the fun work of doing theater (often for free) that got me auditions and jobs as well. (I still do it.)
The key to living in our art and thriving in our business is not balance, but harmony. When we try to force balance by scheduling times and assigning days for either art or business, we muck it all up. Balance is natural. The idea that we can control desired career outcomes based on time spent, is an illusion. The business (and life) impersonally shifts, but we insist on taking it personally. When finances are low, we experience anxiety, guilt, shame, and when our creative skills go unused, we become depressed. The pain lasts as long as we distrust the natural ebb and flow of life. The pain deepens when we think we’ll never get out of anxiety (no money or job) or depression (no artistic fulfillment).
 
Ebb and Flow.
An actor’s life is filled with so-called good years and bad years. This is a constant. While we know the thrill of getting that big check from an acting gig, we also know the pure bliss of doing creative, ensemble work with no pay at all. Yes, the possibility of that dream job — both financially and creatively fulfilling — always exists, but once we see the natural ebb and flow of things, we begin to trust and allow it.
 
Instead of trying so hard to live up to soul-killing standards of being a business first and an artist second, just notice the obvious thing to do. You know when your business needs marketing. You know when your art needs a Viewpoints class. We are just so bombarded with outside voices telling us how to be a “successful actor” that we’ve stopped listening to our own voice.
 
You are genius. You are wise. Listen to your own voice.