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[0:02] Jennifer Apple: Hello, welcome to this week's episode of the Empowered Artist Collective Podcast.

[0:06] Jennifer Apple: My name is Jennifer Apple, she/her.

[0:09] Jennifer Apple: And this week is the first time I have ever recorded a solo episode.

[0:15] Jennifer Apple: I am having a lot of feelings about it.

[0:17] Jennifer Apple: And I have been thinking about it for a while and wondering what I would talk about.

[0:22] Jennifer Apple: And after 41 episodes since we launched in March, every single Tuesday, popping into your earbuds.

[0:29] Jennifer Apple: And as we are about to conclude our first season of this podcast, I figured, what better time than for me to pop on in and share my feelings, my thoughts, be vulnerable with all of you the way that all of our guests have done thus far.

[0:45] Jennifer Apple: So I'm gonna take it back just a hair to when this whole entire thing began so that we can kind of get back up to speed together.

[0:52] Jennifer Apple: When Empowered Artists Collective first started in fall of 2020, it came out of an idea that I had in the summer of 2020 during the pandemic when everything switched to virtual.

[1:05] Jennifer Apple: And like so many other artists, that was a huge pivot for me.

[1:08] Jennifer Apple: I had been on the road on tour for over 10 months.

[1:12] Jennifer Apple: I was winding down that chapter of my life, really excited to come back to New York, see what was in store for me next, and like so many other artists, found myself in a you no longer have a job because everything has shut down space.

[1:26] Jennifer Apple: And if there's one thing that us artists are good at doing, it's learning how to be flexible, pivot, make change on the fly.

[1:34] Jennifer Apple: And so I did.

[1:35] Jennifer Apple: I really leaned hard into coaching, which is what I had done pre-pandemic, but in a virtual space.

[1:42] Jennifer Apple: And most of these artists were using this time to dig their heels into the ground and get really comfortable with the materials they were going to bring into rooms when things started coming back, or to find new material for themselves that they could use once things came back.

[1:56] Jennifer Apple: And it was really all about the craft.

[1:58] Jennifer Apple: And yet, all of us, myself included, were struggling to exist as humans and to find community and I had this light bulb moment of no one had empowered me when I was younger to feel connected to other people in this kind of way.

[2:13] Jennifer Apple: No one was giving me these tools about living as a human being.

[2:17] Jennifer Apple: No one was setting me up to have a long and thriving career where I felt supported and not isolated alone.

[2:25] Jennifer Apple: And thus Empowered Artist Collective began.

[2:28] Jennifer Apple: At first it was a three-month incubator program and then we worked out some minutiae and it became a two-month incubator where we had panels and workshops and accountability and art shares and artists from all over the country and internationally joined us in this space to create a community when community was so hard to find during this pandemic.

[2:48] Jennifer Apple: And throughout that entire time and even before we started the incubator program, I had this idea for this podcast.

[2:54] Jennifer Apple: And as we ran the incubator programs and the focus really went towards them, a shift as the world started to reopen again had to be made and the podcast idea came back into my brain and it was like okay we've been having these conversations with incredible trailblazers from around the industry.

[3:11] Jennifer Apple: We had over 35 incredible trailblazers talking about topics ranging from mental health to boundaries to asking for things to activism to balancing your creative self to how to be a multi-hyphenate, honestly all the conversations that we're having on this podcast.

[3:25] Jennifer Apple: And it was like okay we've had these conversations behind closed doors so now let's make it something that anyone who wants to have these conversations can participate in and be a part of.

[3:36] Jennifer Apple: But more importantly, I wanted these episodes to have takeaways.

[3:41] Jennifer Apple: I wanted them to have tangible tools or new ways of thinking or new ways of approaching this industry, one's career, one's way of existing as an artist in this really challenging world.

[3:52] Jennifer Apple: So bringing guests into this space who shared those same ethos was incredibly important to me to be able to cultivate a safe space to be able to have these difficult conversations, to be able to not have the answers necessarily, but to be able to put these things into the light and into the ether that so many of us have thought about while sitting at home alone, thinking that no one else has ever thought this thing besides ourselves, or perhaps unpacking it with our therapists, or perhaps with an incredible group of close friends.

[4:23] Jennifer Apple: But having a space to know that there are other individuals who are now connected because you've all listened to this type of conversation.

[4:31] Jennifer Apple: That was something that I had not really experienced for myself as an artist.

[4:35] Jennifer Apple: And I really, really wanted to create that for artists moving forward.

[4:39] Jennifer Apple: And what I did not anticipate was just how much of a connector this podcast would become.

[4:44] Jennifer Apple: Granted, I did not have many expectations whatsoever for it.

[4:48] Jennifer Apple: I just wanted to have these conversations.

[4:50] Jennifer Apple: But the way in which all of y'all have shown up for each other and amplified the words of these guests to your community, have started to have different types of conversation and think about your journeys in a perhaps different light.

[5:04] Jennifer Apple: All of these small little shifts on a micro level are what will hopefully change things on a macro level.

[5:11] Jennifer Apple: Now, if you've been following us on our socials, on our emails, or just been around the community for a while, you know that we love a quote.

[5:20] Jennifer Apple: We love a takeaway, we love a tangible tool, we love something that feels like you can put it in your back pocket and bring it out whenever you might need it.

[5:29] Jennifer Apple: So this is my preemptive offering to maybe take out a notes app or a pen and paper or your fingers on a keyboard, or just listen, and if something inspires you, you can always stop, rewind, and go back again, which is one of the many joys of listening to podcasts.

[5:46] Jennifer Apple: You can always go back and listen.

[5:48] Jennifer Apple: This might feel like a recap in some way, which I don't know about you, but at the end of the year, I always feel like this is a wonderful time for me to just think back to things that I might not have otherwise processed or wanted to take a second to recalibrate or incorporate into my life.

[6:06] Jennifer Apple: But it's also a time for me as your host to reflect on these incredible conversations that we have had and these topics that we have navigated and the tools that have been shared in this space so that we can continue growing, learning, expanding, and cultivating more as we venture into season two.

[6:27] Jennifer Apple: I want to preface that going back and pulling just a single takeaway from any of these episodes was nearly impossible.

[6:35] Jennifer Apple: I was overwhelmed with how many gorgeous nuggets of insight were dropped.

[6:39] Jennifer Apple: It feels somewhat unfair to just pull one little sentence from any of them.

[6:44] Jennifer Apple: So this is my invitation to you to go back and listen, especially to those episodes that perhaps you skipped over for whatever reason.

[6:51] Jennifer Apple: I promise you there is something in each and every single one of them, if not more than a single thing, for you to take away into your life.

[6:58] Jennifer Apple: With that said, there were major themes and topics that ran through most of our episodes.

[7:04] Jennifer Apple: Sometimes there were things that I hoped we would talk about, and other times they just came up naturally and organically with our guest.

[7:11] Jennifer Apple: And frankly, most of these things are not things that we don't already know.

[7:16] Jennifer Apple: But it can't hurt to hear them in a consolidated form, the way that I'm about to do for you right now.

[7:22] Jennifer Apple: And also sometimes we need to find ourselves in a headspace to be able to receive these types of reminders.

[7:30] Jennifer Apple: There's about 10 overarching themes that I am going to introduce into this space, and I will share quotes, tips, tools that were given from all of the guests in all of our episodes that feed back into these themes, and these will be introduced in no particular order.

[7:48] Jennifer Apple: Here we go.

[7:49] Jennifer Apple: The first is about relationships, cultivating relationships, especially in this industry.

[7:55] Jennifer Apple: In episode two with Adriana Mitchell, we talk about the importance of surrounding yourself with people who remind you of your humanity.

[8:02] Jennifer Apple: In episode three, casting director Erica Hart talks about the fact that you're not booking the job, you're booking the room.

[8:09] Jennifer Apple: Rachel Sussman in episode 18 talks about the importance of understanding all creative sides to be a better collaborator.

[8:17] Jennifer Apple: Lily Narbonne in episode 23 talks about putting yourself in circles you want to work with and surrounding yourself with people you're inspired by.

[8:26] Jennifer Apple: In episode 27, theater manager Danny Barlow talks about being kind to people and the importance of forming genuine positive relationships because you never know how opportunities are going to pop up and who knows you and who can vouch for you and give you a chance.

[8:42] Jennifer Apple: And Chichi Anyawu in episode 30 talks about how strong communication with others is key so that you can communicate what you need and vice versa.

[8:52] Jennifer Apple: Obviously, there are so many more takeaways about relationships and cultivating relationships and building relationships, and every single person who has been on this podcast talks about their relationship sphere for what it is that they do.

[9:05] Jennifer Apple: But the thing to remember is that this is a collaborative art form that we are a part of.

[9:11] Jennifer Apple: We work with other people all the time.

[9:13] Jennifer Apple: We are sharing of ourselves and expressing of ourselves.

[9:17] Jennifer Apple: We are storytellers by nature of what it is that we do.

[9:20] Jennifer Apple: So the importance of genuinely being curious about others, forming those connections, really cultivating those relationships is key.

[9:30] Jennifer Apple: The next theme that came up often was that you cannot pour from an empty cup.

[9:35] Jennifer Apple: This came up with Dr. Elisa Hurwitz in episode four, as we talked about destigmatizing the conversation around mental health.

[9:41] Jennifer Apple: It came up in the next episode after that with Joanna Carpenter in episode five about understanding the limits of your own capacity, because if you don't understand those, how are you able to give of yourself and more specifically to others?

[9:54] Jennifer Apple: It came up with Maggie Berra in episode 14 about letting go of wanting to control every aspect of your life and just letting life happen so that you are able to continue coming back to yourself in that way.

[10:05] Jennifer Apple: And it also came up again with Jessica Ram Foster in episode 37, in that we all have things we do to cope.

[10:12] Jennifer Apple: So give yourself permission to let yourself do those things so that you are able to then refill your own cup in order to continue putting back out yet again.

[10:22] Jennifer Apple: We are in an industry and more specifically in a world that takes and takes and takes a lot from us. So preserving what you have of yourself, coming back to who you are as a human being, making sure that your cup is full first before you are able to give to anyone else, right? It's the same thing that they talk about when you're flying in an airplane and they say when the oxygen mask drops, to put yours on first before you help others. It is that exact same adage just put into your own real life. Make sure you put your own oxygen mask on first before you give to anyone else because you literally can't if you don't have your own oxygen. Next is this idea of standing in your values. Generally speaking, this is an incredible exercise to go through what your value system is.

Brene Brown actually has an entire process to discover and uncover what your values are. It's called living into our values. You can find it on her website. There's a PDF, there's a podcast episode that can walk you through all of this. But the importance of discovering what your value system is is that it allows you to put yourself in rooms where you know you are not compromising a part of who you are and what you believe in, the people that you surround yourself with, the projects that you decide to take on or not. All of these can stem from your value system, and it will hopefully be a way for you to process what actually feels in alignment to you and what is not in alignment with you. In episode eight, Chia Morieta talks about budgeting as a value statement when you are looking into creating a budget for yourself or a project, and how by doing so, you are fighting for what you believe in in the world.

In episode 17, all about boundaries, Tanise Divya Johnson talks about how we can always change our minds, that consent is reversible. In episode 20, Isabel Pasque talks about how our value is innate, that there is nothing we can do that will increase or decrease our value. So do the things that fill you up with joy and are in alignment with what you want. In episode 35, Afra Heinz talks to us all about swinging, understudying, covering, and how you don't have to say yes to everything. We feel this obligation and somehow this responsibility that we have to say yes, but we don't. This is coming back to what it is that you want, what it is that you need for yourself. Another theme that came up was celebrating the process.

Kate Lumpkin in episode 11 talks about taking time to celebrate our processes. So often we are zipping by and looking onto the next thing and wanting to get towards this next adventure and the next opportunity, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But taking time to celebrate the process, to be in process, to reflect on what you have accomplished in said process, not the result, but the process itself is only going to cultivate self-love, care, creativity, all of those beautiful things that come when one embraces the process and taking time to celebrate one's process. Liz Kimball in episode 24 walks us through the creative cycle. When you take the time to celebrate that transitional space between who you've been and who you are becoming, you are giving yourself an opportunity to become more aligned or to learn things about yourself that perhaps you didn't know beforehand.

It is such a key part to this creative cycle. Sarah Dacey Charles in episode 36 also talks about how everything is a process and that sometimes it's really hard to make sense when things don't make sense. And it's not always going to be fun or rewarding to be in process. Sometimes it can be really, really messy, but to keep one's eyes on one's own path and to learn to be able to see that journey as its own beautiful thing is part of the process of being an artist and frankly, what it means to be human. Life is really nothing but process. Another theme that came up was the idea of holding space. Brooke Shapiro in episode seven talks about this in regards to one's emotions and how emotions are fluid and the importance of giving yourself space to feel whatever you are feeling and invite these feelings with you on your journey.

Dr. Angelica McCarthy talks about this on episode six from the physical perspective, and that the only thing you truly have control over is yourself and your reactions, and to allow those to take up space as well. Hold space for these things that come up for yourself. Nicole Ferguson in episode 22 talks about the importance of learning what you need so that you can then create more space for what you need and put yourself in environments to hold space for what you need. Nor Pinna in episode 28 talks about that whatever you're feeling is valid. Let it take up the space that it needs. And Christine Schneider in episode 33 talks about that you are so much more than a diagnosis. You are so much more than what somebody prescribes to you.

Hold space for the way in which it makes you feel, hold space for the way in which it impacts your life. The next theme is there is no right way, only what is right for you. I know that I have said this so many times in so many of these episodes because I truly believe this in my core, especially when it comes to our industry. You didn't go to med school and became a doctor, you didn't go to law school and became a lawyer. There really is no one path in this field. And it's very, very hard to maintain optimism or to keep your eyes on your own path because it feels like there has to be some trick or way to make it happen faster or sooner for you. But truly, there is no right way, only what is right for you.

Heidi Marshall in episode 41 talks about trusting that you have what it takes and that you know what you're doing and just get out of your own way. And I really think that this advice is so so key into really unlocking who you are and your uniqueness. Jazz Hall in episode 13 talks about every individual having to define quote unquote success for themselves. The industry wants us to believe that there is a single version of what it means to be successful, and yet that really is an individualized thing for yourself. In episode 29, all about pitching a TV show, Sarah Lampert also talks about how every single person's journey is different. And that could not be more true if you were to compare, which leads to despair, 10 people's career right in front of you.

Not a single one of them will look the same. For me, that is a huge relief off of my shoulders because it's impossible for me to curate a life that looks like any other person's in this field. What a relief it is to know that there is no one right way. Only the right way for you. The next theme came up often as I asked guests to share things that they wish that they knew or advice that they wish that they were given. And that is the idea that you don't need to know everything. You don't need to have all the answers, you don't need to have it all figured out. Jumping into the unknown. Diana Gonzalez Moret and Aquila A.K. Walker in episode 9 talk about this idea of letting go when you have to know every step of the way, and that it's okay to just jump into the unknown because you know more than you think you know.

This idea that somehow we are floundering all the time, it feels true. I get it. I'm I'm there with you. But we actually know far more than we think we know because we are consistently second-guessing ourselves because the world is telling us that that is what we're supposed to do. But you know, your gut knows, your intuition knows. Trust that. In episode 12, Sarah Kafner tells us to just try it. You never know what could happen when you try something new for the first time. Annalisa Lemming in episode 16 talks about that there's a lot of things that you can't control. So just release attachment to outcomes in your life. Heidi Dean in episode 21 says, you don't have to get it right. You just have to get it going.

Lauren Knoll in episode 26 talks about how it's okay to feel like you don't know what you're doing, and that that feeling, for better or for worse, as an artist specifically doesn't end. Just making sure you check in with yourself to hold space for what you're feeling, but don't let that stop you and just simply do it anyway. And Stephanie Hogan in episode 34 talks about even if you're wanting to create something, even if it's the worst thing that you've ever done before, it will always get better. Another theme that was a huge undercurrent for so many of these episodes was the idea of being a human. And when I say it out loud, it sounds kind of wild because it's like, yeah, duh, we're all human beings.

But the idea of really getting back in touch with what it means to be a person living and breathing on this planet. In episode 15, Amy Joe Jackson says, everything you do as a human being informs all that you do as an artist. And I could not agree more. In episode 31, All About Disability Inclusion, Ali Bigori talks about how we are all human and make mistakes, and that is inevitable. But there are ways to set reminders for yourself or work it into your life so that these mistakes will eventually feel more seamless. By the same token, Andrea Prestonario in episode 40 talks about recognizing that we're humans and that sometimes we do mess up. But doing the work means making mistakes. And in doing so, we are only strengthening our empathy, our connections, and our vulnerability to a larger community.

Jules Latimer in episode 32 talks about when you're the most human, that is when others can really see who you are. This can be in or out of the audition room space. From the perspective of headshots, Shani Haji in an episode 25 talks about the importance of letting the headshot just simply be a tool to show who you are.

[20:31] Jennifer Apple: In episode 38, Corey Leger and I have a conversation about your artist self, is your creative self, which is your artist self, which is your creative self, which is your human self. All of this is yourself. And to keep oneself compartmentalized and separate is actually only robbing yourself of becoming a more full living human being who may struggle, who may fall, need assistance, and may not always know. But to keep yourself compartmentalized and not get in touch with your human self is only taking away from your artist's self, which again, is just going to feed back and forth between each other. And in episode 39, Giselle Jimenez talks about what we do being a reflection of life, and that life has so much more to offer than our jobs.

Two other noteworthy themes of mention were this idea of rest and stillness, as well as the overarching theme of imposter syndrome. When it comes to resting and being still, not only is it okay to stop, but trust that you know what your body needs. Go with that. You know more than the external world knows. Trust when you need to rest, when you need to be still, when you need to take a moment to reflect and be with yourself. An imposter syndrome, you are exactly where you are supposed to be at that moment. There is something for you there. Every single person in that room next to you, near you, if you are in a collective space, is feeling the same way you are feeling or has felt that way at some point in their lives as well.

There is something unifying about the idea of imposter syndrome, that every single person knows what it feels like to be that. And in that feeling, that is something that unifies all of us. And probably one of the most important themes that was again another through line through so many of these episodes is the idea that you matter. In episode 19, Marissa Corcoran talks about the fact that the best role you're meant to play is yourself. Carlita Victoria in episode 10 talks about not being afraid to ask for what you need so that you can show up for yourself. And Alicia Albright in our first episode talks about the fact that you have the choice to show up. You have the choice to show up fully.

And we have the choice to show up with our light. No one else has that light other than you. And we have the choice to recognize that no matter where we are, we matter. You matter. And I know it sounds trite, and I recognize that I'm simply in your ears as a podcast, but there is no one on this planet who is you. No one. No one does what you do and can do what you do and simply exists the way that you exist because of your life and your circumstances and how you were brought up and how you were raised and your ethos and your values and your morals, all of these things. No one on this planet is you and will ever be you. You matter. And that is what makes you the artist that you are, the human that you are.

That is your special sauce. No one can take that away from you. Now I want to caveat that for every single one of these themes that has been brought into this space that has been touched upon for the 41 episodes of our season one. I do not claim to be an expert. I do not claim to know a damn thing about any of them. I, like you, am on my own journey in discovering who I am as a human, who I am as an artist, the work that I want to continue doing, the rooms that I want to find myself in, the people that I want to collaborate with. This is still a journey for me. I do not claim to know. And frankly, I don't ever want to know it all because then what is the point? The whole point for me of living on this gorgeous, beautiful earth that we live on is to continue learning and growing and expanding and being uncomfortable in the best ways and surrounding myself with people who have different perspectives than mine and challenge me to think beyond myself and my vision and the things that I know.

And I was able to do that in this space with the unbelievably generous, brilliant guests that we had in these past 41 episodes of our first season. Thank you, if you are listening, for your vulnerability, your kindness and generosity, your thoughtfulness and bravery, the wisdom and perspective that you shared has already begun to change the narrative around this industry, this field, this career, and is inspiring a whole generation of artists to think perhaps a bit differently. Besides our incredible guests, I do not do this podcast in a bubble. It is not just me. There are three other individuals who make this possible. Amy Lefkowitz, who created the theme song. If you have listened to this a bunch, you hear it in the beginning and you hear it at the end, you hear it in our little middle sections as well.

Amy composed this music just for the Empowered Artist Collective podcast. And I met her as part of our incubator programming. Amy was one of our cohort members, and she is an unbelievable musician, and the music makes a huge difference to your listening experience. And I'm so grateful to Amy. Next is Hannah Duran. Hannah was also another cohort member in our incubator programming. And Hannah does all of the closed captions for our YouTube. If you tune in to the YouTube ever and you look at it with the closed captioning, that doesn't just happen automatically and certainly not in the way that we would like for it to happen. And Hannah goes through all of that. It is a difficult and relentless task.

And I'm so grateful to her for giving time in that way. And finally, the person who actually this podcast would not exist without is Nayara Alexis. I virtually met Nayara over pandemic summer when I was coaching and teaching. And then she became part of our inaugural cohort with the AC and has been instrumental since then in maintaining, growing, expanding Empowered Artist Collective. It is truly because of Nayara that you are able to listen to this, tune in on our social media. Anything that you really experience from this world, this little empowered artist collective family is because of Nayara. We have troubleshot a lot. She has dealt with so many hurdles, and she does so with grace and compassion and patience and humility and selflessness.

Her creativity is unparalleled, and I genuinely do not know what I did in this lifetime to find someone like her with whom I get to collaborate in this way. And how I can continue growing and expanding and creating and cultivating a community and a space for all of us to continue being in process together. So thank you for trusting in me. Thank you for trusting this space. Thank you for trusting each other and believing in the fact that despite the fact that you can't see another person who's listening to this podcast, you know that there is a conversation that is bigger than you happening because every single one of you is tuning in. And as I've said at the end of every episode thus far, if you've liked what you've heard, if you've enjoyed tuning in weekly to this podcast, it would mean the absolute world to us here at the Empowered Artist Collective for you to leave us a positive review on Apple Podcasts or even just a little five-star rating.

This makes a huge difference for us expanding this community, being able to bring on more guests and have these conversations in an ongoing fashion. And if you are unable to do that, or you are able to do that and you want to do something else as well, please send an episode that you love to a friend, family, mentor of yours. Start a conversation with them in real life about a takeaway that you have that has been resonating with you, or a tool that you learned that you'd love to start working on together. We can forget that we live in our own little bubbles so often. And this is just another little way for you to connect to your community. And while you are doing that, know that we here at Empowered Artist Collective are curating the next season for you, and it is bound to be an epic one at that.

41 episodes when you've never produced a podcast in your life before is an exhausting feat. One that we did not set out to do, but kind of just happened as we were in it and talking to incredible people and realized the impact that this was having. But we also are humans, and in an effort to practice what we are preaching, we are going to rest to come back full for you. With that said, we will be on hiatus for the first time since March of 2022. And we will be back again in January of 2023. From the bottom of my heart, I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for you that you keep on coming back. And we will be back with you soon enough. Until then.