A podcast about overcoming rejection and living your YES
ABOUT
As an actor, even if you're considered a relative "success", you're really unemployed for so much of your career. In 2017, after one of my longest stints of working non-stop, my storyline on Scandal dried up with no warning. Suddenly I was unemployed again, in the midst of a pilot season where I felt like I couldn't get arrested, let alone book a show despite feeling great in the (audition) rooms. No one wanted me. It was just a procession of “No”s. And I've always had a pretty positive attitude but it was like the industry had begun to beat me down. I felt like a shell of myself, until finally, I thought, 'F**k it. I’m done waiting for someone to hire me.' I figured I'd make my own little fiefdom. And even if it was tiny, I was going to be at the center of it. So no one could tell me I couldn't create. And that's how 10,000 NOs was born: the first episode I released was just me, a microphone, my laptop, and 17 minutes of riffing straight from the heart.
I had no idea what I was doing and or exactly where I was going. That was kind of the point. I was just following my creative impulse and, what started as a side-hustle for me, to stretch and express myself, ended up turning into one of the greatest adventures of my career. I have had incredible opportunities to sit down with some really unique, impressive people from all walks of life. When I began, I had a premise: that the people you think "have it made" put their pants on one leg at a time, just like you and me. Turns out I was right. And then some. It's been a great education. It's for anyone that’s heard the word “No”. Basically, I just keep relearning the lesson my Dad always taught me… that failure is just opportunity in disguise.
