This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Leah Walsh: Hi, and welcome to The Compass, the podcast documenting the struggles of life as an artist.

[0:05] Leah Walsh: I'm Leah Walsh.

[0:06] Leah Walsh: My guest today is Rachel Berger.

[0:08] Leah Walsh: Rachel is an actress and the founder of the Artist Co-op, a co-working space for artists that just opened up in New York.

[0:14] Leah Walsh: We met through mutual friends and the podcast, and I've been so impressed by her drive and generosity.

[0:20] Leah Walsh: She is amazing at bringing people together, and what she's accomplished with this project is really cool.

[0:25] Leah Walsh: Since the big thing she's been working on the past few years is an actual physical space, I thought it would be cool to interview her there.

[0:32] Leah Walsh: So we had a mini live episode with a handful of friends in attendance, and we got to tour the facility afterwards, which you'll hear at the end of the episode.

[0:40] Leah Walsh: Keep your eyes on the Facebook page and social media for video of some of our conversation in the space, which was taken by the lovely Dominique Taylor.

[0:49] Leah Walsh: She is the creator of The Story Scape, which is a really fun like reading rainbow for adults.

[0:55] Leah Walsh: Check it out at thestoryscape.com and on her YouTube channel for all things books.

[1:00] Leah Walsh: And if you want more information on the Artist Co-op, go to theartistco-op.com.

[1:06] Leah Walsh: I hope you enjoy the 80th episode of The Compass.

[1:32] Rachel Berger: It's isolation, what the dark side usually manifests for you.

[1:37] Leah Walsh: Hmm, yeah.

[1:40] Rachel Berger: Probably. I was really alone yesterday in the space here.

[1:45] Rachel Berger: Um, here in the Artist Co-op.

[1:48] Rachel Berger: And it was crazy. Like the first day that we opened, um, Tuesday, May 16th.

[1:54] Rachel Berger: People started rolling in, and I was like, still cleaning the floors, putting away the rugs, making everything look pretty.

[2:03] Rachel Berger: And um, yeah, yesterday was my first time I was like, I really like people, and I need people, and um yeah, as many connections as possible that I can make makes me happy.

[2:17] Leah Walsh: Do you feel like you've always been that way? Or is that something that like since you moved to New York, you were like, I need this?

[2:23] Rachel Berger: Maybe it was always in me, but it wasn't something that I was aware of because um my background, I'm trained as an actor, so definitely wanted the spotlight all the time, or wanted to uncover a story, um, but didn't understand that I yearned for connection.

[2:44] Rachel Berger: Um yeah.

[2:49] Rachel Berger: Um so we're gonna get to talk about all sorts of things, which I'm very excited about.

[2:53] Rachel Berger: But um when did this idea to open the Artist Co-op first come into existence?

[3:00] Rachel Berger: When did it pop into your head?

[3:03] Rachel Berger: So it all started um in uh March of 2015.

[3:11] Rachel Berger: I was sitting around with some friends from the Labyrinth Theater Ensemble.

[3:15] Rachel Berger: We had done the intensive um in 2013, and we're called the Thumb Thump, the Heartbeat Ensemble, and um a friend had done a poem and ended with um running his hand over his heart, and it became the thump thump.

[3:34] Rachel Berger: And we are a very close-knit group and went to our friend Cairo's house in the Catskills.

[3:41] Rachel Berger: He's this beautiful black man, and probably the only black guy in the Catskills.

[3:47] Rachel Berger: And we met up there and we went on a hike.

[3:50] Rachel Berger: And I pitched this idea to them how I was so frustrated auditioning for MFA programs and not getting the response that I wanted.

[4:00] Rachel Berger: And realizing I have this beautiful community of artists right here in that room.

[4:08] Rachel Berger: And um they're like, Yeah, Rach, go and do it.

[4:12] Rachel Berger: So I sat on it for a little while and then went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with a piece called Future Honey with three other ladies.

[4:21] Rachel Berger: Uh-huh.

[4:22] Rachel Berger: And I'm telling you the long story.

[4:25] Rachel Berger: I won it all.

[4:27] Rachel Berger: And so we're in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and we're doing this crazy futuristic physical device theater piece.

[4:27] Rachel Berger: And um, at night we're reading our tarot cards to each other because that's kind of when you're in Edinburgh.

[4:46] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[4:47] Rachel Berger: And um I asked the tarot cards, like, should I create this co-working space for artists?

[4:54] Rachel Berger: And it was pretty like, just do it.

[4:57] Rachel Berger: And came back, and then the third um validator was my best friend and roommate, um, rents office space out of WeWork, and I asked her, should I be a teacher or should I keep pursuing this acting thing?

[5:13] Rachel Berger: And or should I be doing this co-working for artists?

[5:17] Rachel Berger: And she said, Rachel, I just gotta try this crazy idea.

[5:21] Rachel Berger: And um, so I went to a small business development center and learned about pitch decks and financial projections, and was told to research.

[5:30] Rachel Berger: And I feel like that's kind of what you do as an actor.

[5:32] Rachel Berger: Like, we've got to research everything about that artist or the character to inform your decisions.

[5:40] Rachel Berger: So, yeah, September 2016 was like when I really went after it and was working, you know, babysitting, Physique 57, the bar studio.

[5:54] Rachel Berger: Uh yeah, doing a lot of different jobs to make ends meet, and um went on a lot of coffee dates just to like flush out the idea, and um realized that there was this disconnect between um artists and co-working space because I'd be like, you know, we were the WeWork, yeah.

[6:18] Rachel Berger: I mean, I've looked it up, and then I'm like, no, this is way too expensive for an actor.

[6:22] Leah Walsh: Right.

[6:22] Rachel Berger: Like that would be great.

[6:23] Rachel Berger: Like I've gone there once with a friend who uses the space, and I was like, this is amazing.

[6:27] Rachel Berger: There's beer on tap.

[6:28] Rachel Berger: No, no, no, no, no, too expensive.

[6:31] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[6:32] Rachel Berger: So um I realized I needed to bring friends to a co-working space, artist friends to a co-working space to kind of um help them understand the idea, and so um I was apprenticing at Center for Social Innovation, which is a co-working space for nonprofits.

[6:51] Leah Walsh: Oh, and um in June, we did this four-day event extravaganza called the pop-up, and every night we had something that started with a C word.

[7:01] Rachel Berger: I love branding.

[7:02] Rachel Berger: I'm realizing like that's my creative guide.

[7:05] Rachel Berger: So cultivate, collaborate, celebrate, and something else.

[7:10] Rachel Berger: There was another C word, but we had a round table discussion one night about what is representation in the theater with New York Deaf Theater, Girl Be Heard, Fire This Time Festival.

[7:20] Rachel Berger: And we had one night where like the bats and musical theater factory created performances inspired by the space.

[7:26] Rachel Berger: And then we had an art expo and a dance party, but all in the co-working space so that they can understand the thing.

[7:34] Leah Walsh: And so I mean that's a huge step.

[7:38] Leah Walsh: Yes.

[7:38] Leah Walsh: I mean, you're kind of it's because it's such a big story, you're kind of glossing over it.

[7:42] Leah Walsh: But when you had you went through all this research and then you had this pop-up event of the space of the Artist Co-op.

[7:48] Leah Walsh: Did you have a team with you at that point?

[7:50] Rachel Berger: Or was that just like I did powering through?

[7:50] Rachel Berger: I did.

[7:54] Rachel Berger: I had um a good friend Jessica who is part of the Labyrinth, and then she was on our honeymoon.

[8:01] Rachel Berger: So I felt like I was like the vortex of the tornado, but then I was like, who's gonna join me in this crazy thing?

[8:08] Rachel Berger: Succulent.

[8:09] Rachel Berger: Yeah.

[8:09] Rachel Berger: A friend who was working at La Mama, she helped with some programming.

[8:13] Rachel Berger: But it's like a people business.

[8:15] Rachel Berger: You gotta like get like go on those coffee dates and be like, you wanna do this anything?

[8:20] Rachel Berger: Great, come on.

[8:21] Leah Walsh: That's something charming.

[8:23] Leah Walsh: So impressed since we met, because I'm not always the best at networking.

[8:28] Leah Walsh: I like it to be genuine, and sometimes people can I feel can be very fake if you're like trying to network.

[8:34] Leah Walsh: And um everything I've experienced with you since we met is just very open and positive and generous, and it's not um sometimes I feel like people can be selfish with resources.

[8:44] Leah Walsh: They feel like there's only something for me, and I've just seen you connecting all these people just for the joy of seeing other connections.

[8:52] Leah Walsh: Feeling so it makes me so happy to watch.

[8:56] Rachel Berger: Thank you.

[8:56] Rachel Berger: Yeah.

[8:57] Rachel Berger: I had this moment when we were filming the Indiegogo video of like, and I think what the first thing that came out of my mind was like connection.

[9:05] Rachel Berger: My grandmother who passed away in November was um we her name's Matsy Berger but or Mirian Berger but she goes by Matsy and in our family we called her Bubby but she would always have people over at our house and just be the hostess with the most and like I'm trying to live in her glory of she would yeah it's that selfless like karma.

[9:33] Leah Walsh: Yeah I think that's awesome.

[9:35] Leah Walsh: So what was the what kind of response did you get after the pop-up?

[9:39] Rachel Berger: Um we got some really good PR which was cool.

[9:43] Rachel Berger: I even got interviewed by a New York Times journalist.

[9:46] Rachel Berger: Ooh but the week or the day after he was like yeah that's not gonna be I'm no longer working for the New York Times.

[9:46] Rachel Berger: Uh oh so the journalists run around from different um publications.

[10:01] Rachel Berger: Um the response uh a real oh this is interesting a real estate developer in Harlem reached out to me and um offered up a school uh that had been vacant but it was part of a low-income housing property the biggest one actually in North America it's on one uh I don't know if I should be saying this but it's okay on one thirty-third in Broadway and it's it had it was like uh at the basement, an old school that hadn't been touched in like 10 years, and would have been really cool, but I found myself really battling trying to get the Harlem artists involved with that, and I felt like I was an outsider trying to project something in that community, and I um for the co-op in my pitch deck, I was like, we it needs to be conveniently located by for all the boroughs, so by right prioritizing so it fell through and one learned about how gross some real estate people can be and tried to it was not pretty.

[11:14] Leah Walsh: That is the theme in New York City.

[11:16] Rachel Berger: Yeah, for sure.

[11:19] Rachel Berger: Yeah, it was a weird we need more business women and um and real estate women um because it was an uncomfortable situation where I felt jeopardized and used because I was cute or whatever and it was yeah, shitty.

[11:40] Rachel Berger: But yeah, that's gross. I'm glad that happened. So I when this came along, I was like, oh, they're not trying to wanna well and sometimes you can feel like oh this this is the only opportunity I'm gonna get. I have to I have to have to do it. Right. And but since you waited, you found something that was more what you needed.

[12:01] Rachel Berger: Yeah. Yeah, I kept having that monologue in my head of like, but I'm so desperate, like I've gotta make this thing happen. What um what what's the limit before it's like Rachel, what the fuck are you doing? Like step back. Yeah. So then w after the pop-up, what was your plan of attack? Um well, I was really hoping for that Harlem space, but then that happened. And then these guys, Clinton Housing Development Company, reached out to me. I had met them in February of 2016, and there were these two young bro Broey guys. Oh it was unexpected. I did um David Geis, who's the executive director of CSI Center for Social Innovation, um introduced me to them, and they were looking to bring co-working to Hell's Kitchen.

[12:53] Rachel Berger: So I do my pitch deck and talk about why we need a space for artists, blah blah blah. And I followed up with an email to them and never heard from them. This is in February. And then in October of 2016, um I get an email saying, hey, we have two spaces on 52nd Street, you want to check them out? Out of nowhere? Oh my god. So that happened, and one was 4500 square feet, but a seven-floor walk-up or a freight elevator access, and then this space, the 2,000 square feet, um, and now we're here. Negotiated a price and figured out a um a lease situation, and then had a guardian angel come in and said, Don't wait, just do it. And he helped me pay the first month's rent before we even launched the Indiegogo campaign, because raising money is crazy.

[13:55] Rachel Berger: See, that's the thing that's super overwhelming for me. So, like, how did you I know you kind of you went to that center and you got all this um business advice and business training? I still don't know what a pitch deck is, but like how did you break things down so that it seemed manageable for yourself? Like all these steps. Um especially the fundraising. The fundraising uh helped because I knew I had a budget, and especially I had dreamed up of a 10,000 square foot space with X amount of amenities and this amount of um what the Wi-Fi is, and I kind of like got specific about it, and I know I could have even been more specific about things, but once you have like that reference, you can make a so um the fundraising, um yeah, mmm well.

[14:55] Rachel Berger: I chose to go with Indiegogo and I met with a specialist, he actually lived in Jersey City where I used to live, and um helped filmmakers raise millions of dollars. And I was like, so I'm doing this thing, and he was like, cool. Um you're asking for way too much money. It was 25,000. And but we did it. So why did he say that? I don't he's like, you're you have a hard audience, and yeah, because other artists often don't have money to give. Right. Yeah. But I felt like we're offering a service to artists, so I didn't feel I felt like it was so valuable. And there was also donors and sponsors who wanted who want to support artists and see the benefit of it, um, that we could tap into as well.

[15:51] Rachel Berger: So he told you that's too much, and you were like, we'll see. Will I raise my glass too? Yeah, it's kind of what happened. It definitely made me doubt a lot. Yeah. Um how did you deal with that particular dark side in that time? Tears. Um I'll I'll be honest, like uh fundraising this thing felt very vulnerable. I remember talking to my therapist, and it just felt so connected to my identity. Like I was asking people to like I don't know, it's really hard to articulate. Um, money is so tricky already, it makes you feel vulnerable.

[16:41] Rachel Berger: Yes. And um, yeah, it's it was just a weird, weird and and the whole indie um publicizing it on Facebook and and it wasn't just like a company thing, it's like Rachel is doing this company, but it's really Rachel, but it's the company. So it felt um who has ownership of the artist co-op when we're trying to create something that is an umbrella for all artists, but you need somebody to be able to be the spearhead of this thing, yeah. Otherwise it won't happen. But you want to keep your moral compass.

[17:27] Leah Walsh: Well done.

[17:28] Rachel Berger: Thank you. Get a drink on that one. Uh yeah. Well, and now you're here, and it's been almost two weeks. Yeah. Since you opened. And you were saying that that first day felt kind of lonely when you were here. Have you been here every day? Yeah. Every day, I'm less live. Do you have other folks taking some of the hours or are you just here every day? I do. Keeping the doors open. Maybe this is some of my uh OCD or like I guess the first two weeks I I had in my mind that I need to set the operations of how this thing is gonna run.

[18:11] Rachel Berger: Uh-huh. What's nice is we're not booked to the book like crazy. So it has given me time to think about okay, how do we want to market this thing? And who are the people that we're bringing in? And I'm really um has allowed me time to think, and this idea of intentional community of who is coming through these doors and why. So we have a space, a physical, tangible place to live and breathe as artists, and it Joe Schmo is great, but I want it to be a specific type of artist, and I think I'm willing to wait for those people who are content creators that are working on their own shit and need a space that supports them because there are plenty of places they could go instead, and it has to be intentional.

[19:12] Leah Walsh: Yeah. You want it to be like a place people can really be innovative.

[19:16] Rachel Berger: Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So the two weeks, they've been pretty good. I is there anything that's surprised you in those two weeks? Yeah. Well, I'm an early riser, and I was like, yeah, eight to six. It's a great time for people to get their shit done. No, people don't wake up early. Um, like what it starts like moving and shaking at like 12. Yeah, these are actors. A lot of actors. Well, it's not all actors. Yeah, but like even writers, like um, people uh just finding the flow, and I don't want to you kind of have to set parameters first.

[19:55] Rachel Berger: It's interesting. We were talking about this earlier. But you have to set the rules, see if those rules work, and if they don't, okay, let's reevaluate. But it's it's very vulnerable to be like, these are the rules. You know?

[20:08] Leah Walsh: Because I say, but it's the yeah. What is your family make of you making a life in the arts as an actor, and then also with this whole endeavor? Did you meet my parents?

[20:24] Rachel Berger: I I met your dad and your brother at the party.

[20:27] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[20:28] Rachel Berger: I don't know if I met you.

[20:29] Leah Walsh: I met her briefly. I didn't really get to chat with her though.

[20:31] Rachel Berger: Good, good, good. Um so I feel like they're kind of the stereotypical Jewish family where like my dad is a neurologist, my mom teaches ESL, or did she retired. My oldest brother is a plastic surgeon, hand surgeon, went to school PhD. Blah blah blah blah blah. All the degrees, and then my other brother is a federal prosecutor.

[20:59] Rachel Berger: That's the one I met.

[21:00] Leah Walsh: That's the one you meant.

[21:01] Rachel Berger: Yeah. Who's gonna like he wants to get all those bad guys who stealing money? Um, very aspirational. So it was very easy for my dad to qualify us as this is my son, the doctor, this is my other son, the lawyer, and this is my daughter, the actress. And it's like great to wear that title and be like, yeah, and I'm like it's hard when you're not working on anything, but you're like, well, I'm taking this class and blah blah blah blah.

[21:31] Rachel Berger: But the first 12 it was actually it was only until that launch party that my dad was like, holy shit, Rachel's got this going. Look at her walk in the room, there's all these people here, I don't know them. It's nice that it's something tangible. It's when you're talking about auditions and stuff, it's hard for people to quantify. Yeah, my it's but they're a good gauge of like uh I'm my idea isn't getting across to their generation and understanding what's going on.

[22:03] Leah Walsh: Um yeah. Do they live nearby?

[22:06] Rachel Berger: They live in Philadelphia now.

[22:09] Leah Walsh: Okay.

[22:09] Rachel Berger: Um they moved from Kentucky to Philadelphia recently.

[22:14] Leah Walsh: So that's nice.

[22:15] Rachel Berger: They're not too far away.

[22:16] Leah Walsh: No, not too far.

[22:18] Rachel Berger: No.

[22:18] Leah Walsh: How do you feel like since you started working on this project, which seems very all-consuming in a great way?

[22:25] Rachel Berger: Um, how do you think it's affected you as an actor or like the kinds of where you want to put your energy as an actor as opposed to a founder and a producer?

[22:35] Rachel Berger: Yeah. I've kind of the first couple of months working on it, I was battling like who am I?

[22:48] Rachel Berger: Um I both and letting go of this past identity, like an identity, like who, yeah, and I'm kind of okay right now with not being an actor, which is scary, like not actively pursuing it. Not actively pursuing because it's always something right. It's something you can always you can always be a dancer and be graceful and or you can always be a musician, like yeah. I'm I'm willing to. Titles aren't important, but then it is when you think about like what you consider yourself and what you call yourself, what you identify as it is really important. Question that people ask you, especially in New York, is where do you live and what do you do? And those are like really vulnerable things when you don't know who you are or what like you don't feel confident.

Like I was from Jersey City. It's like what? Or like I'm an actor, okay. What have you been in? And then you working on what are you working on? You're like, I also am auditioning sometimes. Yeah, it's really uncomfortable.

[24:03] Leah Walsh: Yeah, it is.

[24:04] Rachel Berger: But I want this to be a place where you're like, well, I'm working on this thing, and I met that person and we're collaborating on something and it's it's happening. So do you feel like down the line you can give yourself the space to be like, I'm not just running this place, I can use it as an artist myself and give myself the time and space to be like I'm gonna work on this project. I'm gonna spearhead this in my rehearsal room that I built. I I kind of I don't want to impose I it's just a weird thing. It's uncomfortable to me because then it's like not that you would take all the rehearsal time for yourself. I'm just saying, you know.

[24:44] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[24:45] Rachel Berger: I'm cool with producing right now. Yeah. Um dreaming of this thing with Dominique of like creating an artist salon web series roundtable discussion with topics of like what is female friendship and what is technology and the arts. But finding a space to create for myself is gonna look different because it it scares me to be like to impose on a it feels a little precious and sacred right now.

[25:18] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[25:18] Rachel Berger: You're you're in a facilitating at the moment. I can see like we just gotta like make more spaces like this all over the world.

[25:28] Leah Walsh: And take over.

[25:30] Rachel Berger: It's so funny since we met through our friends who run arts on site.

[25:36] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[25:36] Rachel Berger: Which is like a diff which is where I did my first live episode, which is like another amazing, like two rehearsal studios, but they're also creating a community through classes and performance nights and stuff. But it's completely different from what you're doing here.

[25:51] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[25:52] Rachel Berger: It's just interesting. I don't know what I want to say about that, but no, I've been back siblings kind of. Yeah, and I've been playing with I like they're not it's not a competition.

[26:02] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[26:02] Rachel Berger: And like they're I mean, I'm dating Adrian, which is like one thing. But then like also the fact that they're they have rehearsal studios. They don't have co-working space. Yeah. They just and they do have like s I don't know, it's yeah, we're like siblings. And there's plenty of room in the world for more creative spaces.

[26:26] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[26:27] Rachel Berger: I think the less competitive it can be, the better actually. There's enough competition.

[26:32] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[26:33] Rachel Berger: Um, are there any mentors that you've found through this process that have really kind of stuck with you and been teaching you things?

[26:40] Leah Walsh: That's a great question.

[26:42] Rachel Berger: Because I found that in acting, sometimes you're you're trying to get that acting teacher to be like, be my mentor, be mine, my savior. And then they're like, I got 20,000 who were asking for my like you all take Yoda and I'm not. Right. But as uh entrepreneur, there's so many people who are like, I'll give you advice. You wanna you want to get coffee? Great. Uh yeah, I have so many people who are I can tap into like um, especially in the co-working space, um, like David Geis, who I mentioned from Center for Social Innovation. Um what's crazy, this girl, uh Marissa Feinberg, she started Impact Hub. Well, sh before I think it was called Green Desk, um in Brooklyn, and she's an actress and she started this co-working space.

Um, and it turned into Impact Hub, and we just started talking and she's like, let me help you with your PR. And now she has left Impact Hub and it's got bought out. And she has been like my go-to like PR is a whole other beast, which is amazing to like have press releases done for me and like who there it's yeah, that's great.

[28:09] Leah Walsh: Um awesome.

[28:11] Rachel Berger: Um other mentors, and it's it's interesting yeah and uh slash mentors slash like yeah the specific resources that you found um especially like as a woman entrepreneur that might be helpful to other people yeah for books you read or hmm yeah lots of like in the beginning like just self-helpy good good vibes like you're a badass we were talking about this earlier and um big magic and um that's a great one yeah it's inter like uh like this guy Jay Tapira he was he's um a financial consultant and he was willing to look at my books and my financial just being as curio I think that's uh I'm a curious person so yeah trying to not have any judgment I had this acting teacher just rant which is this French lady who studied Lecoq and the first thing she told us to do in our acting class she's like the got your notebooks uh write this down and my accent's always turned to Indian so please she's like uh write this down no judgment so it's something that's stuck in my head that like you can't yeah never know so this guy like people have come and gone um other mentors I don't know they're there have been a lot of people who just like freaking believe in me, which is weird.

[29:48] Leah Walsh: But wonderful.

[29:49] Rachel Berger: But wonderful. That's amazing how generous people have been.

[29:52] Leah Walsh: Yeah, and that's what I I what shocks me too is how this like in the business world, people like, I don't I can't help you right now, but I know somebody else who let me connect you via email. So if there's anything that I hope that we can gather from that as artists, is like you might not be able to be in that person's play right now, but fuck it, introduce them to some videographer or I mean like you said before, it's all karma.

[30:22] Rachel Berger: It's karma.

[30:23] Leah Walsh: It comes back.

[30:25] Rachel Berger: Yeah, for sure.

[30:27] Leah Walsh: Do you speak French? Because I was internet stalking you and it seemed like you might speak French.

[30:34] Rachel Berger: Oh, right before I went to college, I met a guy.

[30:39] Leah Walsh: It's funny because his name is Atrean.

[30:42] Rachel Berger: Really?

[30:44] Leah Walsh: You have a type.

[30:45] Rachel Berger: I have a type. Um yeah, and that kind of spawned this theater of French love.

[30:55] Leah Walsh: And uh You did plays in French?

[30:58] Rachel Berger: Yeah, I went to I I broke up with him before I went abroad in my junior year, but I was dating him from freshman year until junior year. And then I went to Paris and studied at the Sorbonne and did a class called Theatre d'Intervention. Where it's like uh interventional theater, but like flash mob weird, weird shit. Where we'd like take um what is it, the wrapping paper tubes, and we'd like whisper into people's ears as they came out of the trade.

[31:36] Leah Walsh: Exactly the kind of thing I love.

[31:38] Rachel Berger: Yeah. Another one is we'd we'd stop in the supermarket and freeze for like two minutes and people walked around.

[31:46] Leah Walsh: I was like, why?

[31:48] Rachel Berger: Four papa. But I think the French, so I I love French festivals. And I went to the Avignon Theater Festival. I performed in the Crisis Art Festival in Arezzo, Italy, and I was like, well I'm already over here. Might as well go up there. And the French love like performance theater. And they um I stayed at a hostel and there was it was all old people.

[32:17] Leah Walsh: They were nurses and at the hostel.

[32:19] Rachel Berger: At the hostel. It wasn't young. They were like smart. It's not a youth hostel.

[32:25] Leah Walsh: No I expected.

[32:27] Rachel Berger: But they were sitting around just like having their cigarette, talking about what they just saw. And I was like, we don't do that. Like why don't we just sit like okay we see a lot of art but I know it's so expensive, but we need to sit around and discuss what that we just saw in New York especially.

[32:45] Leah Walsh: I know I don't see enough French shows. Like even off Broadway or Broadway, just having us like a bar or a space afterwards to be like, well that was weird.

[32:57] Rachel Berger: What was it like for you to perform in a different language?

[33:00] Leah Walsh: Um I was so bad.

[33:05] Rachel Berger: They were just being kind like it was so it was one class there and then I took four classes at um American University and f um but they all the classes were in French. It was you know, you're studying with French the f the French system is totally different though.

[33:25] Leah Walsh: Like I try I sat in on a like history of uh opera of the nineteen hundreds and it's very lecture styled and not as like discussion discussion racing and the season.

[33:41] Rachel Berger: Yeah. But I was like, if I'm here I'm gonna like I'm gonna try and act.

[33:45] Leah Walsh: Good for you.

[33:46] Rachel Berger: That's scary.

[33:47] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[33:49] Rachel Berger: It was weird. Um is there like a lesson you've learned in the last couple years that you're really proud of through this whole process?

[33:56] Leah Walsh: You wanna tell me about?

[33:58] Rachel Berger: Um I guess the the first thing that came to mind was just do it.

[34:04] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[34:05] Rachel Berger: I know it's the Nike brandy. But sometimes you just have to take the first step.

[34:11] Rachel Berger: Yeah, that um it might be really weird and scary and don't be afraid to publicize and be vulnerable and ask people for their opinion and you can take whatever their opinion is and throw it down the garbage. But be gracious and listen to them. Um but you it's like yeah, just do it. Do the do the thing because I'm sure we all have like great ideas and I'm thinking of we were on the subway, Adrian and I, and we ran into a friend from the Labyrinth and he's an amazing playwright. And I'm just gonna use his example for just do the thing because he's waiting on getting Stephen Adler Gyrgas to read this one role so that he can get every other person involved. I was like, Well, there's no reason to just do it now, hear it aloud, and then there's so many reiterations of it that can happen. And Adrian looked at me and he was like, You're really harsh on that guy. Like I wouldn't respond to that kind of but it was more of a like sibling interaction. Um but yeah, just fucking do it.

[35:29] Rachel Berger: Um, if you are having a day when you're really in the dark side and feeling, you know, uninspired and down. Are there any concrete things that you reach for again and again, like a a book or music or somewhere you go? Something like that.

[35:46] Leah Walsh: I usually just disconnect from all technology and I walk.

[35:53] Rachel Berger: I like to walk a lot.

[35:55] Leah Walsh: Yeah.

[35:58] Rachel Berger: Doesn't exercise, she just walks.

[36:02] Leah Walsh: No, it's the Bolsonaro in New York City though. I don't know about for exercise, but yes.

[36:08] Rachel Berger: It's like a form of meditation.

[36:10] Leah Walsh: It totally walked 30 blocks or something.

[36:12] Rachel Berger: And um probably just check in with like a friend and call them, like, yeah. Or also just be alone and shut the door and cry.

[36:25] Leah Walsh: Is there anything that you've seen recently of any art form that you want to recommend?

[36:30] Rachel Berger: Yeah. Um I just saw Rotterdam at 59 East 59th Street. It's only there till June 10th, I believe. I was hesitant to go, but a friend had um directed it in um it's a they're doing the Brits off Broadway um series, and it was so powerful. It's uh about a lesbian couple who uh one partner is coming out to her family um via email and she has just can't do it she can't send it off and the other partner um realizes that she is trapped in a woman's body and she identifies as a male and how their relationship changes when one chooses to transition and what that means and what does what is love if are these genders and identities that we perform it's just so smart and beautifully written and funny I think I'm actually seeing that a friend of ours is coming in town from Toronto and has a friend in it.

[37:44] Leah Walsh: Good but I didn't know that much about it but I think that's the show that she got us oh it's yeah well it's stellar that's awesome.

[37:51] Leah Walsh: I was yeah well let's take a brief break and then Rachel's gonna give us a little tour of the space.

[37:59] Rachel Berger: Yeah thank you so much Rachel this name awesome all right crew well you want to tell us about this room and then we'll head in there?

[38:16] Rachel Berger: Sure. So this is rehearsal room number dos too and it's called the family room and uh it's about 10 by 13 square feet and it was built.

[38:33] Rachel Berger: Oh, I should tell you who built it.

[38:35] Rachel Berger: Okay, that's kind of cool. Um it's built by two set and carpenter, set designer, carpenter slashers um Kai Platt and Eli Reed.

[38:46] Rachel Berger: I know that Eli Reed is the technical director for the new school.

[38:50] Leah Walsh: Nice.

[38:51] Rachel Berger: Cool. And so they built this on the floor. They built the walls on the floor first and then put them up, but the floor is really uneven here.

[39:00] Rachel Berger: This building, I should have said this, is an old piano factory.

[39:04] Rachel Berger: So it has like history in it. So if you look a little closer to the floor, you'll see like divots and uh cement.

[39:16] Leah Walsh: Is that just from the weight of the piano?

[39:18] Rachel Berger: I guess so. That's what I'm assuming.

[39:21] Rachel Berger: Yeah, so the family room.

[39:23] Rachel Berger: The family room. We're gonna go through this beautiful wooden door.

[39:26] Leah Walsh: Beautiful into the larger rehearsal room.

[39:32] Rachel Berger: Yes. This is rehearsal room number one.

[39:35] Leah Walsh: Uh-huh.

[39:36] Rachel Berger: Um, otherwise known as Ron's Den.

[39:39] Leah Walsh: Thanks, who is Ron.

[39:40] Rachel Berger: And Ron is a friend, a mentor, and part of the board of directors, and uh beautiful human being, and he actually helped he built these custom-made doors that are sound proof.

[39:55] Rachel Berger: They're so pretty. Um insulation in them there.

[39:59] Rachel Berger: We're gonna sell them.

[40:01] Rachel Berger: We have to move for thousands of dollars.

[40:05] Rachel Berger: Um yeah, this room is beautiful. It's about I think it's bigger than 20 by 24. I think it's 28 by 24.

[40:13] Rachel Berger: Um it's got a piano, which is new.

[40:24] Leah Walsh: Did you get it tuned?

[40:26] Rachel Berger: I did.

[40:30] Rachel Berger: Um the tuner cost more than a piano.

[40:32] Rachel Berger: The tuner was $150.

[40:34] Rachel Berger: And the U-Haul, ha was another $50.

[40:38] Rachel Berger: But I actually hit a car driving the U-Haul.

[40:42] Leah Walsh: Oh no.

[40:45] Rachel Berger: Unexpected expensive.

[40:46] Rachel Berger: Unexpected. I thought I could fit, but it was a 15-footer and I only needed like the baby one, but it's June and everybody's moving.

[40:54] Rachel Berger: So I had an inanimate object, a trailer that was carrying a hundred fifty thousand dollar license convertible.

[41:01] Rachel Berger: And then I got out and was like, Oh my god, I can't die!

[41:08] Rachel Berger: So the piano is here.

[41:10] Rachel Berger: The long story short, the piano is here. Thank God.

[41:14] Rachel Berger: And the door closed and thing was fine, but I can tell that.

[41:18] Leah Walsh: Oh no.

[41:19] Rachel Berger: So we got the panel.

[41:21] Rachel Berger: So that's the screen with the track lighting, which is cool.

[41:27] Leah Walsh: You guys put this up.

[41:28] Rachel Berger: We did all the track ourselves.

[41:30] Rachel Berger: So if you wanted to like move them to make it like this is your s your your stage, and then this maybe is your your dressing room.

[41:42] Rachel Berger: I don't know.

[41:44] Rachel Berger: It's open space for you to create.

[41:46] Rachel Berger: Just give ideas.

[41:49] Rachel Berger: Um this is a storage unit.

[41:53] Rachel Berger: We got lockers.

[41:54] Rachel Berger: A B C D E F G blah blah blah to Z.

[41:58] Leah Walsh: Mm-hmm.

[42:01] Rachel Berger: Roll off of that.

[42:02] Rachel Berger: Mailbox kitchen.

[42:05] Rachel Berger: Um the couch.

[42:09] Rachel Berger: And now we're in the co-working space.

[42:11] Rachel Berger: And the seat's about 50 people.

[42:14] Rachel Berger: And everything is movable, so that if you wanted to host a an event here, you could do it anything you want.

[42:24] Leah Walsh: Yes.

[42:25] Rachel Berger: Right now they're doing CPR training.

[42:30] Leah Walsh: And you have the library over there?

[42:33] Rachel Berger: So you can rent out that specific area separately from the studio.

[42:37] Rachel Berger: So they're actually members and I said they could do that.

[42:44] Rachel Berger: The conference table has gotten a lot of apps.

[43:00] Rachel Berger: If you have any books you want to donate.

[43:05] Rachel Berger: And all the furniture was donated.

[43:07] Leah Walsh: No.

[43:07] Rachel Berger: Some of it.

[43:08] Rachel Berger: Some of it.

[43:09] Rachel Berger: Um mature we use material for the arts and then Yeah, that's a great great organization.

[43:15] Rachel Berger: The what was crazy is um two companies were moving two theater companies were moving to a co-working space to we work.

[43:24] Rachel Berger: So the Actors Institute, which is an improv company from 30 years ago, was um they teach uh executives how to be better communicators.

[43:34] Rachel Berger: So the majority of our the couch, the chairs, everything.

[43:39] Rachel Berger: The one other thing that we got from a production company, partisan, um moved to a we work and we got the printer from them.

[43:47] Rachel Berger: So that's but it was at a very subsidized price.

[43:52] Rachel Berger: We did pay.

[43:52] Rachel Berger: And I think there is value in another conversations.

[44:02] Rachel Berger: And the product.

[44:26] Rachel Berger: Oh yeah.

[44:27] Rachel Berger: Yeah.

[44:27] Rachel Berger: So just seeing the work.

[44:28] Rachel Berger: It's like yeah.

[44:31] Rachel Berger: Yeah, no, it's just it's good quality work.

[44:33] Rachel Berger: Some people come in here to like actually want to be a part of it.

[44:36] Rachel Berger: They see it's just like your value.

[44:39] Leah Walsh: Yeah, no, absolutely.

[44:40] Leah Walsh: Well, Rachel, thank you so much.

[44:42] Rachel Berger: This is really exciting.

[44:56] Leah Walsh: Thank you for listening to the Compass Podcast. I'm Leah Walsh. More episodes are coming soon. Please look for us on Facebook, in iTunes. I'd like to thank the following people for their generosity. The Compass Cover Art is by Kim Miller, music by Brendan Spieth, audio assistance from Nick Choxie, and a special thanks to Frankie J. Alvarez. See you next time.