Unpacking Possibility - Interview With Actor Lana Young

Listen in as I interview your favorite TV doctor and mine, actor Lana Young. We talk about how she's listened to her intuition and manifested a successful acting career while breaking down racial and age-related barriers in TV and film.

Transcript

So,

Lana,

I am so excited to have you here today on my first ever episode of my new podcast.

You are truly the perfect person to be on this or any podcast.

I'm going to introduce you with your formal and spectacular bio,

But I want to say too that you are as every bit as engaging and lovely and nice in person as you are on screen and probably even more so.

You are an expert manifester.

That's one of the reasons why I was really excited when you said yes to being my first guest because you are so good at taking things from thought or inspiration and taking action and really making them a reality.

I actually manifested me coming on your show.

I did.

So without further ado,

I'm going to do the formal and very impressive bio.

Here we go.

So Lana Young started her acting career in her 30s after receiving her Master of Arts in Acting from the Arts Educational School in London.

Her career work includes the recurring roles of Dr.

Mary Oster in Fox's hospital drama,

The Resident,

As Inés Trujillo in Ambitions on OWN,

Dr.

Lopez in Tell Me a Story on CBS All Access,

Mrs.

Douglas in The Vampire Diaries on CW,

Dr.

Jacinta Butler in Greenleaf on OWN,

And Gloria Ruiz and The Inspectors on CBS.

She's had guest starring roles,

Including as Detective Michelle Hodiak in Gone on NBC,

Linda and Kevin Kinwade on CBS,

Debbie in The Act on Hulu,

Opposite Patricia Arquette,

And most recently,

Dr.

Hyland in WandaVision on Disney+,

Opposite Teona Paris,

And Dr.

Jansen in Lizzie's Story on Apple TV,

Opposite Julianne Moore and Clive Owen.

She's had co-starring roles,

Including on Jessica Jones,

Blind Spot,

Satisfaction,

Nashville,

Law and Order and Dynasty,

To name a few.

And in film,

Lana has been honored to work with some of the greats,

Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor in the Oscar-winning film Beginners,

Playing Gloria the Nanny,

Opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams in the boxing drama Southpaw,

And playing a fertility doctor opposite Emily Blunt and Justin Theroux in the feature film The Girl on the Train.

She currently lives in New York City with her cats,

Monkey and Lennon,

Who are totally adorable and doing tricks.

And I definitely want to mention that you are also somebody who is a writer,

A producer,

You're an acting coach,

And again,

You're an expert manifestor.

So welcome.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I don't know if you saw a recurring theme there,

But I play a lot of doctors.

So if you need medical advice,

Do not come to me.

I only play a doctor on TV.

And the next step is to have all ads where you're playing a doctor on TV and they have the little disclaimer.

It's uncanny.

It's uncanny.

I think I should be an honorary doctor by now.

Don't you think?

You should.

Yeah.

What's next?

So,

Juana,

I'm so struck by your journey because you wound up finding acting or pursuing acting later in life.

And I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about when you knew that acting was a passion or a calling and how you knew and when you decided or what helped you to decide to make the shift.

That's a great question.

And I think my response always starts as sort of the cliché.

I always wanted to be an actor.

I've dreamed of being an actor since I came out of the womb.

And that is true.

And I used to stand in front of the mirror and practice my over-the-shoulder look on the red carpet a lot.

That's not a lie.

So,

You know,

I guess I was sort of manifesting when I was a child without even really knowing it,

Realizing that that's what I was doing.

But I'm from Bermuda and it's a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

And you can't make a living as an actor on an island.

So I had to set about pursuing other things while continuing to dream about it.

And when I turned 28,

I'm very good at noticing universal breadcrumbs in my path.

You know,

Every little breadcrumb has led me to the next step,

To the next step,

To the next step.

And I feel like I'm very good at seeing those and then following them in faith.

And I was briefly married when I was 28 to an American,

Which took me over to Boston.

And I found myself in a place where I could start to dip my toes in,

Casting beyond the island.

And I think at first I was nervous because I was sort of a,

You know,

For all intents and purposes,

A big fish in a little pond on the island,

Doing local theater and so on and so forth,

But,

You know,

Certainly not a star by any means.

So being in the States all of a sudden made me feel like,

Can I do this?

Can I?

Am I a contender?

And everything I auditioned for,

I would book and it wasn't paying stuff yet,

But I would book it and I think,

Okay,

Another breadcrumb,

Another piece of validation,

Another breadcrumb,

Another piece of validation.

And then in 2003,

I auditioned for my first TV film.

So it was my first on-camera job ever.

And I booked it and it was as hospital administrator,

Janine Mackey.

So it started in the hospital.

And it was the validation I needed to make the leap from the corporate world into acting as pursuing acting as a career.

And I think that that's where it sort of started as a reality for me.

So following the breadcrumbs up into that point,

And then I realized,

Well,

I'm at a place in my life right now.

I was 33.

I'm in a place in my life right now where I could pursue this.

I was now divorced,

No children,

No commitments,

No,

You know,

Nothing tying me down.

That's a terrible way to put it,

But you know what I mean.

I don't mean to insult parents or anybody.

But you only had your own schedule to plan.

Yeah.

And that does give you more freedom.

It does.

Yeah,

Exactly.

Exactly.

So I figured if I was going to make this big leap of faith that I would need training.

Just like anything,

I want to be at the top of my game if I pursue it.

And I decided to look for training in London.

I found the school that I wanted to go to.

It had a master's program one year,

All intensive,

Acting all day long.

It was like a dream come true.

And I got in.

Another validation,

Another breadcrumb.

And I think once I got into that school is when I sort of really let my passion for it come out.

Because now I was truly on the path of my dream that I had been thinking about since I was a little girl.

I think I'm answering your question.

Am I answering your question?

I think you're answering it beautifully.

So I mean,

So even well before you actually took the plunge,

You were in terms of moving and auditioning for roles elsewhere,

Even at home,

You were doing community theater.

And I'm assuming,

I'm imagining you as a little girl,

Actually,

With your,

You know,

Your stage at home and imagining being a successful actor.

Well I think it's really important to look at the timeframe with all of that.

Like if that dream was happening until I was 28 when I moved to the States and then didn't go to drama school until I was 33,

I just want to point out that that is a long time for a dream to come true.

So timing is everything.

And I'm just,

I'm saying that to illustrate that if something doesn't happen right away,

Doesn't mean that it's not going to happen.

I think that's a lot of your,

Like the secret of your success,

Because I was thinking about this today before,

You know,

I knew we were speaking today and I'm thinking about how often we,

You know,

Read about or hear about people who are quote overnight successes.

And you know,

Maybe once in a blue moon,

That's true,

But often there are years and years of hard work and trying and not getting everything you want before you become an overnight success.

And I think I'm not that I'm an overnight success,

But you know,

Trent,

You know,

Fast forward to 2014,

Keep in mind that drama school was 2003 moved to Los Angeles in 2005,

Four and a half years of trying to make it in Los Angeles at a time when I was in my mid thirties and a mixed race actress at a time when casting was very Caucasian and young.

I literally showed up in Los Angeles,

This Bermudian fulfilling her dreams,

Like I'm here.

And it was like cricket cricket.

No one cared.

No one cared that I was there.

So and again,

Breadcrumbs,

Breadcrumbs,

Breadcrumbs.

It wasn't my time.

I took five years in Charlottesville,

Virginia.

I started an acting school.

I kept my eye on the prize though.

I did local theater and I did independent film.

And then in 2014,

It's like my time came.

I hopped back on the panel.

I got an agent and immediately booked a recurring role on the vampire diaries in the show,

Devious maids,

And then the film Southpaw,

Which then got me to New York.

So if anyone was going to say overnight,

I suppose that would be the moment I consider 2014 really being the beginning of my career.

And shortly after that,

I started to make a living at it.

But the journey before that was long and enjoyable.

I learned a lot along the way and it's all bankable experience.

And it all helps with my acting toolbox,

You know,

Experiences from which to pull the ups and the downs.

So yeah,

Important that you are willing to share that because again,

I think most things that feel worth working for you take a lot more effort than people realize.

But the other thing is,

I think,

From the outside looking in,

Like now we see a lot more people you refer to being mixed race and being,

You know,

Not,

You know,

Fresh out of high school.

And now we see much greater diversity and acting.

It's not diverse enough,

But you are not the only person that we see in important roles.

And,

You know,

Wondering if you could talk a little bit about that,

Like how you've seen things change or who was supportive,

Even when,

You know,

It just seemed like it would have been harder to get going or you could easily have been more discouraged.

Who was supportive and what were some of the things people said that were not helpful?

Well,

You know,

I believe that we all have immense,

Innate power.

And I have to say that while there was a lot of support along the way with sort of cheering sessions,

Friends saying,

You know,

This is great,

This is awesome,

You can do it.

And of course,

My mom always saying you can do whatever you put your mind to and so on and so forth.

A lot of my forward trajectory came from my own positive momentum.

Me continually telling myself or believing in myself that I could do this.

The business is very strange and I find that not everybody is eager to step out and help you because everyone's trying to help themselves move on in this business.

Which is why I think that I love to help other people because I kind of wish and I,

You know,

I'm afraid how this sounds,

But it's the truth.

I wish there had been someone there willing to guide me when I was first started.

But I didn't actually have a lot of that within the industry.

I had to figure out a lot of stuff on my own.

So I think that there were a few times in my life that sort of lit a fire under my butt in terms of belief in myself.

And that started when I was at school in Bermuda,

In high school in Bermuda,

My headmistress at the time told me that I would never amount to anything.

And which is tragic,

Right?

Because there might have been,

I could have been a child who believed that.

But it lit a fire under me and it made me move ahead.

Not to say that that little voice is still back there sometimes wanting to have a louder voice in my head and I push it aside,

Push it aside.

You know,

I've been described sometimes as fearless and I will be the first to admit I am not fearless.

I have fear.

I just use it as my fuel.

You know,

And sometimes it's daily where I have to sort of think,

Just do it,

Just do it or else you're not going to do it.

So that was a fire lighter for me,

The headmistress.

And then in Los Angeles,

A cashier told me once that I would never make it with my curly hair,

That I would have to start straightening my hair.

And you know,

Well that,

You know,

That's the industry where they have a standard of beauty or acceptance or what's considered professional.

And I tend to get cast in a lot of,

You know,

Professional roles,

Doctor,

You know,

Lawyer,

Judge,

Et cetera.

And I wanted to show that you can be all those things with curly hair.

And you have.

Like somehow my brains aren't affected by the curls coming out of my head,

You know?

So I chose not to listen to that.

I'm so glad.

Yeah,

Me too.

And we're slowly starting to see that it's not easy.

It's not easy when you're trying to break into an industry and everybody,

Not everybody,

But you know,

Even anyone telling you that,

You know,

The way you want to do it or the way you are or the way you want to be in this field is not the,

Not the way.

And almost like we're not going to open our doors.

Yeah.

And I think so many people can resonate with that.

I mean,

I,

Myself have had that experience.

Most people I know have had someone say something that was just,

If we took it in deeper or held onto it too long,

It would completely derail us.

It would stop us in our tracks.

Absolutely.

And it,

And it,

And it always threatens to as well.

That's why we have to really depend on our own inner power,

Right?

That we're all born with and that life muddles sometimes,

Right?

Societal norms,

What people think is successful,

What people think is a failure,

La la la la la la la la la.

It can become overwhelming if we choose to listen to it and not ourselves and our own instinct.

Right.

And so I,

When you talk about people who have been inspirations to me,

I love,

You know,

The Brené Brown's of the world,

Eckhart Tolle,

You know,

I'm now listening or re-listening to conversations with God.

It,

It all talks about our innate power and,

And the,

And,

And how okay it is to be vulnerable.

Oh my God,

Being vulnerable is so liberating.

When we bring on to try to be something that other people want us to be,

Or that things think we should be,

It's exhausting,

Isn't it?

It is.

And it's authentic.

Yes.

Yes.

Just knowing what that,

What that is for you.

Sometimes we forget because we're so caught up in what other people want from us or what other people think we should be and so on and so forth that we're like,

Wait a minute,

Who am I?

What do I want?

Yeah.

I,

You know,

I'm thinking back to,

You know,

You mentioned a few minutes ago,

You know,

Your inner strength and your ability to hear what the headmistress said,

Or other people have said.

And even if it kind of was still back there on the shelf,

Not to,

Um,

Drown in it.

And that's so hard,

Especially when we're young and especially when we want something and we're still discovering who we actually are.

Um,

And I'm wondering,

You know,

How do you think it's just your natural temperament that you naturally have this confidence and determination?

Do you think it's something that was instilled in you or that key people modeled for you?

You know,

That is a question that I continue to explore all the time,

Tracy,

Because people ask me that a lot.

I think it's a combination of a lot of things.

Um,

I was born as just a really happy child.

My mother said I would go up and talk to people.

The minute I could talk,

I would talk to strangers.

I would leave the rest,

You know,

Our table at the restaurant and go and talk to people.

Um,

So I've always had a big curiosity about other people and how they tick.

Um,

So that curiosity has never left me.

Um,

My mother,

My,

Both of my parents are,

You know,

Have had really wonderful,

Um,

Events happen in their lives that sort of made them stand out.

My dad was a,

You know,

An exceptional soccer player in Bermuda and he was pulled off the island when he was a teenager to play for knots County in England.

Um,

At a,

I think he was 17 or 18 and you know,

Due to different things like racism and,

And you know,

The weather,

Um,

And,

Uh,

Being so far away from home at a,

At a young age being,

You know,

The first time sort of really leaving home for a long period of time,

Played a big role in him coming back to the island probably before,

Um,

He would have,

If the circumstances had been better for him as,

Um,

As a,

As a black soccer player in England at the time.

Uh,

And my mother who is from Northern Ireland and left the left Northern Ireland on a ship to work her way around the world when she was,

I think 19 or 20.

Wow.

Um,

You know,

Already had a wanderlust about the world,

Ended up in Bermuda as her second stop and met my father.

And she only,

I shouldn't say only,

She had a secretarial certificate and she started at that place.

And now she's,

You know,

One of the most successful realtors in Bermuda.

So she modeled that for me,

I watched her,

Uh,

Grow and evolve in such a beautiful way and without complaint.

Uh,

And I know a lot of it had to do with supporting me and making sure that I had the life that I,

You know,

The education and the life that,

Um,

She wanted me to have.

And I think that a combination of those things and then maybe my own innate excitement and enthusiasm and childlike curiosity of the world has helped me keep moving forward like that with the belief that I can do it,

That it's possible.

So important.

Um,

You know,

And what you're describing really,

I mean,

I asked you before if it was temperament or having support and it really sounds like it's both.

Um,

And again,

Not that it means that you never have doubts,

But that you really trust yourself.

I've been struck by how much you trust yourself when you,

You know,

Some people would call it intuition.

Some people would call it like,

You know,

God or their higher power,

Or some people would just say,

You know,

I'm just listening to myself.

I'm paying attention to how I feel when I think about doing this versus doing that.

But you really listen and you really trust yourself.

You,

I'd never thought about it this way before,

But you treat yourself with respect.

And I,

I feel like I'm teary saying that because it's so important,

You know,

Because so many of us are raised not to respect our own,

Um,

Opinions or our own drive.

And I think,

I think women even more so,

Um,

But we are bombarded with things,

Bombarded with images of things that we don't have and that we need,

We need,

We need to be better.

And I fight that all the time.

So thank you.

And I,

And I,

I do respect myself and I appreciate you acknowledging that I also fight the same demons that everybody else does with the,

You know,

Being shown images of things that I should have,

That I don't have yet.

And I just want to,

I just want to paraphrase something that I was reminded about recently from conversations with God.

And that is,

You know,

You will not have that for which you ask because your very request is a statement of lack.

Just think about that for a second.

If you're asking and asking and asking,

It's basically saying you do not have this in your life rather than being grateful and coming from a place of gratitude and thanking,

Thanking the higher power,

God,

The universe,

Yourself for already having all of that abundance inside you as though it's already there.

That's something that I've practiced for a long,

That's something that I think came naturally to me,

But then was as life got harder and harder and challenges came,

I think that that stuff has been chipped away a little bit.

So I'm fighting harder to have that in my life,

But it's something that I'm always conscious of.

And I try to always think that way.

Shouldn't say try to always be that way.

I am always thinking that way.

Right.

Phrasing and words matter.

Yeah,

They really do.

You know,

And as a psychologist,

I think about how often even if we even if we took the more kind of metaphysical piece out of it,

Which we don't have to,

But,

You know,

Not everybody is coming from that place or is open to that interpretation.

But even if we just looked at it from a purely psychological point of view,

It's that,

You know,

The messages we tell ourselves kind of create this script,

Right,

That's always running in the back of our minds.

And where these kind of subconscious billboards that say,

You know,

I can only have this if I am or I'm only deserving of this,

But not that.

And these unconscious or kind of subconscious messages wind up steering the ship for better or worse.

If we say,

You know what,

Things can be difficult and I can still and I am succeeding and or I am able to find,

You know,

Joy and gratitude in every moment or,

You know,

Our affirmations that we wind up telling ourselves,

You know,

Both the ones we're aware of and the ones we're less aware of are so important.

And when you think about what you were talking about,

About,

You know,

Again,

It's manifesting,

Right?

And it's kind of such a it's a hot topic lately,

You know,

And the law of attraction and things like that.

But it's also something that I think people might,

You know,

Misunderstand or pigeonhole into this thing.

It's kind of like,

Well,

If I think it,

Then it happens and I don't have to do anything or then it's easy.

And that's not what you're saying.

And I think that's why you're such a successful manifestor in the sense that you,

You know,

You,

You are thoughtful about how you think about your life and who you are and what you want.

You're constantly educating yourself about other ways to grow so important.

And you are,

You're putting out there what you want and visualizing it as if it is so in this moment,

But you are also every day taking the steps and you're taking the steps even when it's really hard and really discouraging.

And that's when it's the hardest to keep on.

Boy,

Is it ever.

Yes.

And I actually,

I really love that.

I just want to touch on that because I get great joy in coaching.

I call myself the actor who coaches because I love paying forward all of the experiences that I,

That I have to people who,

Who may not have as much experience or may just be starting out.

And I really get great immense joy from doing that.

What I have noticed is a lot of people have been taught to expect the worst.

And I think that is an issue when we expect the worst,

Then we are drawing the worst to us.

How about just acknowledging that something may not happen and choosing to expect it to happen and be okay if it doesn't,

That's how I realize I make difference from some people is that I expect that things will work out.

And when they don't,

I already know that that's a possibility.

Right.

And I,

And so when I coach,

I try to help people shift that perspective.

There's no reason why this won't happen for me.

Right.

Like talk in terms of what you want to have happen and be prepared for every eventuality instead of expecting the worst.

And then if it works out,

Yay,

It's such a great,

It's such a,

A realistic but self protective kind of stance to take.

Right.

Because you're not being,

You know,

You're not trying to Pollyanna it and say,

You know,

Oh,

Everything's going to be great.

I'm not allowed to have a negative thought about it or,

You know,

You know,

Which I think is a complete misunderstanding or,

Or yeah,

Of manifestation.

Right.

But you're,

You're also saying it can be that this thing,

Even if it doesn't work out the way I am hoping it will,

It's a,

I always say that,

You know,

When I'm in session,

I'll say to patients,

It's a point on your timeline and you know,

Maybe we can learn something from it,

But it isn't the whole timeline.

You know,

The cloud in the sky,

Isn't the sky now going to be statically in that position forever.

I have to tell myself that all the time,

And I'm going to use that the cloud of the sky is not the sky.

Sometimes I will,

You know,

Especially during COVID was so difficult,

Right?

When it first hit,

No one knew what was happening.

We were scared.

We were,

We were,

You know,

In the dark.

Um,

And you know,

We were adapting sometimes almost moment by moment with our new circumstances.

And I had to constantly remind myself,

Okay,

It's not going to be always like this in this moment.

It's,

You know,

Tomorrow,

The next hour is a new hour.

The next day is a new day.

And next year is a new year.

You know,

You,

I am,

I don't sit here all day thinking life is peaches and roses.

No,

I'm very aware of all the challenges in life with social justice,

Racial justice.

Um,

You know,

Just how people are treating each other,

Love versus hate and all of those things.

And I'm constantly trying to figure out how to manage my feelings about all of those things without letting it break me because it does affect me deeply.

Um,

And I realized that my energy is,

Is something I can use to serve the collective energy,

Right?

The collective consciousness.

So if I can keep mind going in a positive direction while also coming up with positive solutions,

Then I am doing my little bit just by sharing good energy instead of bad,

Negative,

Horrible energy.

Absolutely.

But it's work and it's a conscious decision all the time.

You know,

Um,

My,

My,

I'm a manifesto.

I do Vedic,

Uh,

Vedic meditation.

Sorry,

I'm a meditator.

Did I say manifesto?

You're a manifestor,

But not everybody might know what Vedic meditation is.

So can you talk about that?

Yes,

They might know it better as transcendental meditation,

But your teacher will give you a mantra based on sort of where you are in your life,

The feeling that they get from you when they're training you.

And then that is yours alone.

You don't share that with anybody else.

And,

Uh,

A beginner would meditate twice a day for 20 minutes using this mantra to gently bring them to a deeper state of bliss.

Um,

And it's a lovely way to cycle out your,

Your stress thoughts.

You know,

You're not meant to have no thoughts.

It's welcoming in the thoughts and then gently focusing on your mantra and then allowing the thoughts to cycle through and go away.

And it's a great stress reliever.

It helps with aging.

It helps with,

With our,

Our body health.

Um,

And also to interact with life instead of react to life.

And my meditation teacher,

Tom Knowles once said,

Um,

There are no problems.

It's just information and how we,

How we deal with the information.

And I really try to practice that as much as possible because God knows it's easy to feel bogged down by the problems,

Right?

By the obstacles.

Especially now.

Especially now.

So I really,

When I ever have,

I have a complaint or thought like that,

I really make a great effort to pull back and think,

Okay,

What is this information I'm dealing with now and how can I handle this information?

How can I solve it?

How can I use this information and move on from there?

So yes,

It's,

It's work.

It's constant work.

It's self-awareness and it's worth every effort though,

Because the opposite,

The alternative is crawling into a corner and sucking my thumb and finding a happy place.

And that's no way to live life.

You know,

It's,

I want to live life as big as,

As big as I can.

So I love that.

Um,

I,

I,

And I,

Everything you said really resonates and you're absolutely right now,

Especially,

Um,

You know,

And I think,

You know,

Just given everything that's been going on in our country and in the world,

You know,

And not being able to get out of our homes as much and do things that would normally just take up a lot of our physical time and our emotional energy.

I'm wondering is,

Is meditation the primary thing?

Are there other things that you found that have been helpful?

I know you have been working on other projects.

I know you have been coaching and mentoring,

And that goes back to you being the person that you really wanted when you started out,

Which is incredible.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Talk about some,

Talk about some of the projects and things that you've been able to be working on or that you've been able to see come to fruition during this,

This time.

Yes.

Um,

It is harder to step outside.

Nature is a big one.

I've become an orchid mother.

Uh,

Since I can't get out as much,

I've got these beautiful orchids on my,

I never thought I'd be able to keep orchids alive.

And I feel like,

I feel like it's a symbol of like how well I'm taking care of myself.

If my orchids start to droop,

It's time to,

You know,

Do a little work on myself.

Um,

Getting outside and exercising as much as possible without,

You know,

Getting sick or getting the,

You know,

The virus or whatever has been very helpful to me.

Meditation has been good,

But also very,

Again,

It's a conscious decision because the last thing you feel like doing right is sitting down and being still and feeling all the stress.

Yes.

But in fact,

If you can do that at the end of the meditation,

God does it feel so much better.

So I'm constantly fighting,

Uh,

My,

My desire to not sit down and be still,

But then when I do,

I feel better about it.

Um,

Yes,

My students have been,

Uh,

Oh my God,

They've been a lifesaver to me.

Um,

They're,

They're all such hard workers and really dedicated to the craft and to,

To bettering themselves and to,

To making something,

Uh,

Happen for their,

For themselves that they,

They inspire me,

You know,

Every day and they give me purpose every day.

Um,

So I'm very grateful for them.

Um,

Friends like you and other strong women,

Uh,

And,

And men in my life who are out there making stuff happen,

Innovate,

Finding the answer to this new circumstance,

Inspire me every day and keep me going.

They keep me rising,

Rising,

Rising.

Um,

That has been such a great help,

Right?

My friends have been,

Have been so helpful and supportive during this time.

Um,

And there was something else and I can't,

I've just totally lost my thought now and I can't find it again,

But I'm sure it'll come back.

It will come back.

I mean,

You wrote a pilot.

Oh yes.

You can have a lot of exciting projects that you might want to talk about.

Yes.

Right.

Thank you.

Okay.

So,

Um,

I was speaking to a new dear friend,

Um,

Uh,

Ms.

Phyllis Dowling,

Who is Bermudian,

But has been living in the States for many,

Many years and it's quite a groundbreaker herself.

Um,

And she sent me a passage recently,

Uh,

That talked about looking back at on this time as the great awakening rather than the great pandemic.

And I am adopting that,

That is mine.

I,

And,

And anybody else feel free to use that.

This 2020 was the year it was the great awakening and it,

And it was the year of innovation.

Um,

And so I with,

Along with a co-writer decided to write a show.

That's just amazing.

You know,

So we wrote it,

We wrote an original comedy series pilot,

Um,

Called between us,

Uh,

Which my manager is,

Um,

Pitching right now as we speak.

Um,

And it taught,

Yeah.

So,

You know,

It's,

It's a matter of,

You know,

Hey,

Listen,

If I,

If I can't get a role for myself at the age that I am and the mixed race it,

And this,

That I am,

Then I will create it myself.

Uh,

And if,

You know,

Someone else is not interested in picking it up,

Which is a,

You know,

A possibility,

Right.

Then I will figure out how to make it myself.

Um,

Which would just mean an independent,

Maybe web series looking for investors and so on and so forth.

And whatever it takes,

I want to get it done because I really believe in this story.

And,

Uh,

I'm also also looking at creating some online classes and inspired,

Inspired by you,

Uh,

You know,

Trying to make use of knowledge I have to share and making it available for people online to just rent or buy whenever they need it.

Um,

So I'm currently working on that and the auditions have started to trickle back in again.

And,

Uh,

I actually have one that I just received last night,

Which is a role I'm really excited about.

I can't talk about it,

But it's like,

All I can say is it's not a doctor and it's a not so nice person.

Okay.

I just sound excited about that,

But all my roles are like kind and compassionate and all that stuff.

And I'm an actor.

I want to like dig in.

Yes.

So I'm excited about this,

This particular audition.

So I think in my mind,

There's no reason why I won't get this role.

Right.

I love it.

So yeah.

Um,

I'm just thinking,

I know you have lots on your plate,

So I won't keep you all day,

Even though I would very much enjoy,

Um,

Picking your brain.

You were honestly,

You are,

You're very inspirational and motivating because you are somebody who kind of grabs life by the horns as they say.

Um,

I think I might've mixed my metaphor,

The bull by the horns.

Right.

Um,

And you know,

I think so many of us have felt so,

Um,

Sluggy during a lot of this last year or immobilized.

And so it's so good and so refreshing to hear that it's okay to have the feelings we're having,

But we can also start to channel some of those energies into things that,

Um,

Are meaningful.

Yes.

Yeah.

It's an important,

You know,

Sometimes we need to just go within and other times we can just channel that and,

You know,

Get that energy to,

You know,

Become something that's really important to us.

So I'm wondering,

Um,

I guess,

Do you have any thoughts,

Advice for anybody who's thinking,

You know,

I'm really passionate about this,

But it's really daunting or I'm,

I'm too old or too this or too that,

Or to do the other thing,

Or,

You know,

How am I going to do this?

Um,

You know,

What do you have when,

First of all,

How do you think people will know that their authentic voice,

Their,

Their authentic wisdom or intuition is communicating with them?

That's kind of like a big question.

So you don't have to take that on,

You know,

But,

Um,

And,

And what's your advice to people who were like,

I really want you,

But I'm scared.

Mm hmm.

Mm hmm.

Um,

Well,

If I can come back to that in a minute,

I just want to go back to something I said earlier when you asked me about,

You know,

People who had been supportive,

I realized that it may have come across as like,

I did it all by myself.

You know,

I want to make sure,

Make it very clear that there were people along the way who I would look to for inspiration,

Like people who were doing things beyond,

You know,

Uh,

Beyond fear and et cetera.

So I was inspired by other people.

I was just saying people within the industry weren't necessarily that helpful on the way through.

Just wanted to make that clear.

Totally,

Totally understand.

I would,

I would challenge people to really take a step back and have a nice little audit of themselves inside.

And it's important not to get stuck in a cycle of suffering.

I think it's very important to feel a feeling when it's happening.

If I feel like crying,

I cry.

If I feel like laying on the floor and beating my fist on the ground,

I do it.

Don't ignore that.

Let that come out.

Let just let it out because if you hold it in,

It'll manifest in other ways and in not so positive ways,

Maybe partner or to a child or to whoever,

Honor your feelings and then make a decision to use those feelings to fuel you forward,

To change something,

Right?

If something's not working in your life,

You have the power to change it.

And only you can.

And I would really,

Really advise,

Like,

I think it's great that people talk to friends and family all the time to get advice,

But honestly,

Everybody is different and everybody has different reasons for advising you in certain ways.

Okay?

Some people might be fearful themselves and then be projecting their fear onto you,

Or some people may be envious of you even wanting to step outside of your comfort zone and may,

You know,

Advise you not to do it because then you would be doing something that they were incapable of doing or not willing to try.

So as much as you want to get advice from other people,

I think it's time to really start trusting yourself.

You wake up in your body,

You have to live your day.

So I say to live it the way you want to live it,

As long as it's not illegal and you're not hurting anybody.

There's a lot in that category.

It's a very bright category,

Not illegal and not hurtful.

Right,

Right.

There's all that stuff.

Let's just say that it's all positive things that make us feel good and that also add to the collective consciousness of the people and world around you,

Right?

Your words,

Your behavior,

Your deeds matter to everyone around you.

And so I would say if you're fearful of anything,

Maybe take stock about what it is you're exactly fearful of.

Are you fearful of success?

Then maybe break that down and find out why success meets you afraid and then figure out how to move beyond that obstacle.

Is it money?

Look at your relationship with money.

Do you think money is bad?

Do you think that money is not the answer to everything?

Look at your relationship with money because that also might be a block to you moving forward,

Right?

Money is great.

Do not be afraid of money.

Money is great.

It allows us to do wonderful things in the world,

Right?

Including help other people,

Including employee people,

Including purchase people's goods that help keep them,

Keep their ship for it.

Exactly.

Exactly.

So take a look at your relationship with money.

It's not the devil,

Only if it's being used for purposes that aren't noble or helpful in any way.

And then,

Hold on,

I just got my delivery.

Thank you.

The world of working from home.

Can you leave it at the door please?

Thank you.

Okay,

Great.

COVID delivery,

Touchless contactless delivery.

It could have just as easily been my dogs barking.

I forgot to put my do not ring the bell under any circumstances.

That's my slightly threatening sign.

You never know.

I have a sign for when we used to do auditions in my apartment with students and stuff like that,

Pre-COVID that says,

No one is getting killed.

No one is getting murdered.

I am just taping an audition,

I promise.

In case it was like a scary scene or where someone had to scream.

Don't tip off the murderers about how they can get there.

They just need a sign.

No one will bother you.

Oh,

Guys.

Yeah,

We don't want to do that.

But yeah,

I think that if you,

If we take an inner audit of ourselves and really find out what is blocking us and then set about breaking it down to understanding why we have those blocks and then figuring out how to move beyond them.

And sometimes it's just good old fashioned,

Kick that fear in the butt and just do it anyway.

Because what can happen?

What is the worst thing that can happen?

I try to get my students to get rid of the words failure,

Competition and rejection because there is no competition.

You are a unique being and you are you,

No one else is you.

Absolutely.

Don't be your own competition.

I love that.

Rejection,

Whatever.

Get rid of it.

Gone.

Just keep moving until you get to the place you want to be no matter what.

Okay,

No matter what is in your way.

Rejection only has power if you give it power.

And failure,

The only failure is not trying.

So just try it.

Keep trying it until you get where you want to be.

I love it.

Lana Young,

Ironically,

Successful actor and yet one of the most authentic people I know hands down,

Not kidding.

I am so glad that you were able to make time for me today.

I am so grateful.

I'm also so grateful that you will join me and my upcoming five week workshop on manifesting successful manifesting so that I'll be posting things on my website and social media and hopefully you'll post things on yours as well.

Tell people where they can find out about you.

You're acting,

You're coaching,

Anything else you want to share.

What are the best ways for people to connect with you?

Right?

Yes.

So I'm a recent addition to TikTok surprisingly.

You're not old if you're on TikTok.

Right?

That's what they say.

So on TikTok,

Instagram and Facebook,

I am actor Lana Young at actor Lana Young.

My website is also actorlanayoung.

Com and there you can see stuff about my career and then there's also a tab for my coaching and self taping services and you can go in there and see all the classes that I,

All the private coaching that I offer.

And I've recently embarked on doing very short inspirational interviews on social media as well.

So I'm not only going to focus on actors of note and casting directors and agents,

But I also want to interview people who are just inspiring to me.

So Tracy,

I'd be looking out for that sometime soon because you are such an inspiration to me.

You are constantly figuring out how to share your gifts with people.

You know,

Your,

Your,

Your desire to help people live with ease and confidence and to learn how to manifest beautiful things in their life is just remarkable.

And I,

I salute you and I'm inspired by you daily.

Well,

Look at you.

I mean,

You just,

You just keep going,

You just keep going and keep creating and I love it.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Right back at you,

Lana.

Thank you so much for being here today and I can't wait till we speak again.