Mindset Artistry
Mindset Artistry Empowers Corporate Creatives and Fashion & Entertainment industry professionals to discover their purpose and achieve career fulfillment through inspiring content, personalized coaching, and a supportive community.
Mindset Artistry
Finding Clarity and Growth through Coaching and Self-Care with Justin Smith
Unlock the key to personal and professional growth with our latest episode of the Mindset Artistry Podcast, featuring the inspiring journey of Justin Smith, one of Janels former clients. Ever wondered how to build genuine relationships in the acting industry and leverage social media for effective networking? Justin shares his transformative experience, offering actionable insights on reaching out to casting directors and presenting oneself authentically. Discover the pivotal role of self-care in boosting confidence and well-being, and how dedicating time to oneself can be a game-changer in both career and personal life.
Feeling hesitant about the idea of coaching? You're not alone. Join us as we dive into the emotional and mental hurdles that often come with pursuing a career in the arts. Justin opens up about his initial reservations and how coaching provided the accountability and support he needed to navigate his path with clarity. Through heartfelt personal stories, we highlight the importance of processing emotions and avoiding the trap of comparison. This episode is a testament to the power of coaching in achieving substantial growth and self-awareness, making it a must-listen for anyone seeking inspiration in their creative journey.
This is the Mindset Artistry Podcast. I'm Amanda DeWoe, an actor or actress per your reference, and an inner voice life coach, and I'm Janelle.
Speaker 2:Pulaski, an actor and career and mindset coach. We're your hosts and we're here to flip your mindset, to teach you the artistry. Hello everybody, welcome back to another episode of Mindset Artistry Podcast. I'm super excited for the guest we have today, mr Justin Smith. He means so much to me, one of my former clients, so inspiring. That's what I love about coaching. We come in and we want to help from all of the past mistakes we made and offer some outside perspective and support, but I am always inspired by my clients, so thank you so much for existing and for coming on our show.
Speaker 2:A lot of times people are kind of confused about the idea of coaching specifically around career. If they're creatives, they will go to an acting coach. Maybe they've played sports and they go coaching for sports, or they play an instrument and they get tooting around that. Well, we talked about a lot during your time of coaching, but you said that building relationships and the self-care component really stood out to you and really helped you over those three months. I would love if you could speak about what you learned about building relationships through working through the coaching container first of all, thank you, guys, for you know having me on.
Speaker 3:You know working with janelle, so it's been a whole lot easier um but yeah no. So I have, you know, been working for a while and, like known, about like the networking and everything.
Speaker 3:But, like you had said, like some things, like specifically to where I was, like oh, that makes a lot of sense and like I don't know why I didn't think about it. And some of those things were like you know, um, you go to casting director workshop so you get the contact information and they tell you like I'll reach out, like once every six months or so. But I didn't know that you could take it a step further and like all them on social media and like content, comment on you, engage with their posts, so like they can see that you're living, breathing, human, and then you also have genuine, um interest in the content that they create and you know you're commenting and stuff like that. And then even just like, the people that you audition for are also a part of the network and that's something that I realized that you have to specifically go in and meet them in person for you to get their contact information. But now they know if I'm calling for an audition, they are now a part of my network and I can add them to my list and look up their contact information. Look, I'm a detective. I'm like calling for an audition. They are now a part of my network and I can add them to like my list and, like you know, look up their contact information. Look, I'm like a detective, I'm a pilot, so I'll look that up and then you know, just remember, like what they called me in for, how the audition went.
Speaker 3:You know what my feelings about the whole work were, like genuinely like. You know, just putting on any airs just to be like, and then like just I don't know, like again, like with those reach outs, just knowing how to write them so that you sound like, you know, an actual human being, um, and not like you're, you know, wanting to get something out of it, but like just looking for those moments of like you know where the true human connection is and you know just keeping in contact with them. I mean, sometimes they're not going to say anything, but I have had success and, like Janelle knows, like, when somebody actually like responded to my email, I was like, oh my God, it works. So it actually like 100% works. And so, like you know, I thank you for that because that was like a game changer for me.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 2:It is definitely very exciting when it works, yeah, and you were so great about the consistency and breaking it down to bite-sized pieces, and this is what I'm going to do this week, and this is a little scary. I'm going to work through that and do it anyway, and that's really what it's about. So thank you for sharing that and it just it was lovely to watch your confidence build in general. But around that is, you know, as actors, when we want to work with fellow actors maybe even a director or writer we feel pretty cool about reaching out to them because we feel like we're the same level playing field. But there's something about casting directors that many of us myself included years ago are so afraid of, but they want to collaborate with us too, as they've said on our podcast. So I'm excited for you with that. And the second point we want to talk about is the self-care and making space and time just for you and working through things as they come up, without judging yourself. So I'd love if you could tell us more about that.
Speaker 3:Of course. So my self-care was like okay until I met Janelle and she was like, so when do you take a break for yourself? And I'm like I was like, oh, okay, um, so I just didn't like have a day that I kind of set for myself. I'd probably take, like you know, breaks within the day to where, yes, I kind of use that for myself, but like for me, I like to call myself an extroverted introvert, like like being around people and like get energy from that. But then there's also like ones where I like need my own time. I can't really be like people that much and I need to kind of like pour back into myself.
Speaker 3:So I noticed, like when I did take care of myself, like set aside like just one day of the week to where I need to do nothing and like stay in all day or like maybe I'll do something for me, like you know, go on a walk, or like go to you know a bakery or something like that, or I can have, you know, a conversation with a friend, but like I go down how many conversations I'm having. I know you and I had talked about like my long hour plus conversations with friends how I was not getting anything done, um, and just blocking off time to where, like, okay, okay, I'm going to get work done at this specific time and, you know, once I get you know, into more people will be. But I think what really helped was like blocking okay, these hours I'm going to be, you know, doing this. And having a specific day. I chose to be able to be like, okay, this is going to be, you know, doing this. I think a specific day chose to be able to be like, okay, this is going to be, and sometimes that changes depending on, like, what the week looks like. So, instead of you know, sunday, maybe it's saturday or maybe it'll be wednesday, because you know that just happens to be the day I'm like the most free. But I mean, it's definitely a lot, and even just in the mental side of it just is also my, you know.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, I talked a lot, and even just on the mental side of it, just as also, you know, we had talked a lot about like you getting to the point of like, where inspiration, where, when you look at other people and where they are in their career, when does it stop being inspiration and starts being like, why am I not there yet. The advice that you gave me is like, you know, all those things are valid and I've heard, like you know, times and times again like everybody's journey is different, like you'll get there when you get there. But you know what you said that helped out a lot was just you know, you're allowed to feel it. You can sit down, like lay down, literally physically lay down, and like all those things rush into you and it's not necessarily like feeling has like underlying layer. It's not always like what it appears on the surface, but it's not necessarily like feeling has like underlying layer. It's not always like what it appears on the surface, but it's like there's like the underlying tone like underneath it.
Speaker 3:So I could see someone who's like this like they're booking all these co-stars and guest stars and it's not necessarily you don't like that that they're doing that, it's more so you're like wow, I feel like I'm putting in a lot of work and like just not seeing the roots of my labor.
Speaker 3:I feel like I'm putting in a lot of work and like just not seeing the roots of my labor.
Speaker 3:I feel like I'm behind or you know, whatever have you and it's okay. If I think about it, I really don't know how long they've been doing this. I don't know, you know who their agents are. I don't know what kind of pull they have, like, if they're, you know, just like really killing it in these auditions and have mastered something you know in terms of like being able to like put a lot of themselves into it and have just like cared about, like, what casting thought was right. Um, you know, or you know whatever, maybe they're going out for roles that are exactly right for them and you know they're just, you know, killing it in that department. So it's a lot of different components and like, just because it's not happening right now doesn't mean it won't happen. You know, ever Like, I'm really just like allowing myself to like wonder what are these feelings, and then I've been able to move on to the next thing and it's like made a world of difference for me.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, You're making me almost cry over here, your life's changed.
Speaker 2:Well, I see it Well, because I know exactly what it's like. I had a cry earlier today because I'm exhausted and things are changing in my own life. It's, yeah, it's always gonna keep happening. But like you're speaking to, which I appreciate you start to gather tools along the way and you're just like all right, you lay down and you feel it, and you always feel better after and you have clarity. So, oh, my goodness, you're so amazing. Thank you for sharing all this. We see the coaching works.
Speaker 1:Dustin, thank you so much for sharing your story. I think a lot of people have hesitations around coaching. There's like the stigma behind coaching.
Speaker 1:Like what is it? Is it therapy? Are you going to have me dive into my childhood and like, go deep into it? It's like it's not, that yes and no right. We're not certified for that. We're not therapists, we're not psychologists. We do have backgrounds in it, myself and Janelle and we have an interest in it, but I'm curious on what impact have you had in the connection and relationship with yourself that you would recommend for someone else who is hesitant about coaching From the three months that you started I mean from the first time you started with Janelle and the hesitation to that end of the three months.
Speaker 1:What is your advice for someone who was like I don't know if coaching is for me? Is your advice for someone who was like I don't know if coaching's for me and listen, we're not for everybody. The way she coaches and the way I coach are very different but yet very similar, but what would you recommend to them? Who's someone who is hesitant about coaching and wants to coach but doesn't understand what it's like or what it is, and what's your best advice for them?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so like for me, I felt like and Janelle knows like my hesitation, like we went back and forth for a while.
Speaker 2:I wasn't going to say it. Amanda was talking. I was like, oh, I tracked him down.
Speaker 3:But, like great backstory, we met through a mutual friend who was working at a co-working space and I met Janelle. She told me that you know, she was a full time working actor and model and I was like, how the hell did she do that? So I wanted to learn from her and she told me that she did like mindset and like career coaching type thing and I was like, okay, that sounds like really interesting and, like you know, she's gonna hold you accountable and blah, blah, blah. And so I was just really hesitant about it because this was like a real, like deep dive into it and I think, because it was a financial commitment there, I was like, oh fuck, because it was a financial commitment there, I was like, oh fuck.
Speaker 3:So, like, really, like, really, like you know, beyond myself and I have to really hold myself accountable, and this is going to be another person that, like I report to like every week, every other week, who's going to be saying like, so, what have you done? Have you worked on the things that we were assigning? No, okay, why not? So, but I think for me, like, what ultimately like got me there was the point like I could no longer. I reached a point to where I could no longer do it by myself. And I recognized that and I was like so point, like am I going to keep rummaging around in the dark trying to figure this out by myself or am I going to rely on, like a community and I don't know how spiritual everyone is, but I'm dipped into. You know, a lot of things that were coming up for me was like this is going to be the year for you to rely on, like Nadia, which is scary because I'm meeting all these new people and you're letting these people into your life and like showing them, like your vulnerability, your insecurities and like you know, but they also get to be a part of your triumph and your strength.
Speaker 3:And like you know that, like I appreciate that so much about Janelle, because she's like look, call me, text me when you're with me when you're not with me, and like not, a lot of people do that. The people are like okay, you have an hour. Okay, stop, that's it. I'll see you next week and that's it. But she actually genuinely cares about making sure that you get what you need out of these three months and I love that. She's been through it so she actually knows how to talk to people. She knows what it feels like, she knows how to just get her point across and then also kind of listen to like where you're at and you know, sometimes I felt like maybe I was like saying the same thing in terms of like struggles and stuff, like texting her, like or whatever.
Speaker 3:Um, but she like reassured me that it really wasn't, it was, it was really just me and like me being in my own head. But I definitely say, like you're going to get to a point to where you can't do it by yourself and like it's better for you to enlist the help of someone else and like make sure, like if it's someone that you even have an inkling that you might vibe with, like test it out and if it, if it doesn't you, that's fine. You can like search for another coach or like just be open to like you know what happens. But I definitely think that you know coaching is like a really good tool If you just have a lot of questions. Like especially, go to somebody who is a place where you want to be, because they're going to like know where you, they're going to know where you are, know how to get there. I mean, of course your little anecdote is going to be a little different, but they can give you a general basis and then you can fill in the pieces like yourself.
Speaker 2:Well, my goodness, thank you, Justin. Oh, my God, I'm so happy it was helpful, because Amanda and I were like we just want to help so much. Am I asking the best questions? Am I helping guide them so well? Thank you so much for coming on and sharing this and answering everything so beautifully. That's all we have for you at this time, but I'm very excited to share with our listeners that we're going to have Justin again for a whole hour talking about all the amazing stuff that he does, and so please make sure you come back for that episode. And yeah, so, justin, we're going to say bye now, but thank you. Yeah, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you, justin.
Speaker 1:And that's a wrap on this episode of Mindset Artistry Podcast.
Speaker 2:Don't forget to like share and subscribe on this episode of Mindset Artistry Podcast. Don't forget to like share and subscribe.
Speaker 1:Catch us every Thursday for a new episode to help you master the art of your mind.