Be A Blessing...

Hello, beautiful people! I havent posted in a few days. Well, since New Years Eve to be exact. Forgive me. In my attempt to always be an honest person, part of the reason why I havent blogged is that I have been super-hecka busy. (Yes, I used "super-hecka" and yes, my English professor would die if she saw it!) With auditions coming up in both NY and LA within a few months, I have been doing intensive scene work and studying, coupled with a massive amount of memorization. The other reason why I havent posted in awhile is because I really didnt know what to post. (Having a blog isnt as easy as those bloggers make it seem...thanks Necole Bitchie for the set-up!) Anywayyyyyy...as I was at my desk working today (I know real actors dont work 9-5's, but I am "up and coming" pretty well), I realized that something has been happening to me on a steady basis and it required my blog platform. People (friends and strangers alike) have been inboxing me on Facebook asking for help, or direction, with their acting career. Now, by no means, (and I mean none), am I saying I am your go to person for acting advice. I am an actor working hard, making sacrifices, and going broke to reach a dream just like any other actor who feels this is their purpose. (Actually, I know it is mines, but thats just because I know me.) My grind for acting causes my mind to always be on, I cant sleep, sometimes I cant eat, and all I want to do is work work work. So I thought to myself "Maybe that is what others see? They see my grind." So I asked my trusted friend Kim "What do I do? I dont know what to say or if I can even be of any help..." and she said "Share what you can. Just like God is making a way for you to get ahead, others want to get ahead as well. No one can stop your blessing!" So here I am people. I am going to use this blog to do just that. Share some of how I think, do, move. Now, some of you may want to stop reading at this point if you are content with where you are, but for those acting or not, who want to find purpose and push it with all they have to reach their dreams here is what I do....
1. Know what you want and why you want it. - You want to act? Why? For fame? Money? Both? I am here to tell you some very scary news. The industry only breaks in less than 1% of new actors a year! That means we stand better chances of being eaten by an alligator or being struck by lightening. I act because growing up pretending was an outlet for me. I love it! It brings me peace and purpose. You choose why for you.
2. Set goals. - No, really. Set them. I set goals in this business every year by 12/31. I literally write them down. Build on top of them. One year it may be I want good acting lessons. Make it happen! The next year it may be I want to star in a play at such and such theatre. Make it happen! Next it may be I want to go to NY. (I'm going to NY!!!) Make it happen! Just remember you have to see it to believe it.
3 Write it down. - Nothing beats having your goals written down on paper. Got a journal? Use it. Heard Tyler Perry say something inspirational? Quick! Write it down. Heard your acting coach mention something that stood out? Write it down. This has helped me tremendously.
4. Online is your best friend. - I research everything. EVERYTHING! Someone may think they are having a general convo with me about acting...there is NEVER a general conversation with M.E. My mind is business 24/7! I am a business woman. Everything I hear has opportunity. If I dont know what it is, I bet I know how to find it. Depend on yourself to find out everything!
5. Get GREAT headshots. - Not good headshots. Great headshots. Remember that 1%? Yeah. Great headshots!
6. Build a solid resume. - Do you want to know how to get work? Your headshot and your resume. I am going to help you with something. there are 4 headings to your resume; TV, FILM, THEATRE, COMMERCIAL. Fill them as best you can.
7. Train. Train. Train. - I have classes and instructors and instructors and classes everywhere! One cant work? No problem, another one can. Group classes, individual classes. Did you see "Being Mary Jane"? Gabrielle Union's scene with the wife? Intense...and so real. Yes, you have to train for that!
8. Network all day. - You should know a new name in this business everyday. EVERYDAY! You should know who they are, where they are, what they do...I can roll off names of industry people I never even met before. Their IMDB, where they went to school, who they worked for. Do you think I am going to these auditions in NY and LA and not know about these casting directors...Oh! I have done my howework!
9. Get business cards. - Pretty self explanatory. Never leave someone wondering "Who was she?' Let them know who you are and where they can find you.
10. Pray. - Whether you are the praying type (I pray and meditate every morning for my family and my acting career which right now receive the same amount of attention) or youre not, prayer never hurt anyone. Not saying you have to pray, but I cant explain how I have gotten this far except by the Grace of God and prayer! For Him I am eternally thankful for all my blessings.
I dont know if this extra information explains me a little bit more but I am a true Aries. Everything you read about them (Google it now if you like) is true about me! I have never met a lying Aries horoscope. I am business minded first, even when it comes to my family.
WHEW!!!! There! Now whenever someone asks me for advice I will refer them to this blog post dated 1.8.14 titled "Be A Blessing"! Thanking my Father for even putting me in a space to have to do this right here. It means that there are greater things in store!
Enjoy your day, everyone and remember...This is acting and ACTING IS MY BUSINESS!

Who's Year Is It?

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!!! Yes! We made it! In a few hours (depending on where you are reading this) we will be ringing in 2014!!! I feel HAPPY, EXCITED, and JOYFUL at seeing what the new year has to bring with it. Now don't get me wrong. 2013 has been nothing short of AMAZING for my acting career (a lil' ole Baltimore girl like me), but there is just something about 2014 that just makes me want to get my praise on and it hasn't even arrived yet! 2014 will receive all I have to offer towards my ACTING career which includes financially investing in my TALENT a WHOLE LOT MORE. So I say to you...Lets vow to make this our BEST YEAR EVER! Lets go after EVERYTHING that makes us HAPPY and keeps us HEALTHY in the new year! Lets vow to hurt less, LOVE more. To have closed mouths and OPEN ears, OPEN arms and OPEN hearts. To those who consciously put their best foots forward WELL DONE. To those who know that they are sick of the negativity and want to live a more positive life...NO MORE EXCUSES! After all, it is proven that when we maintain a positive attitude, the Universe will send everything positive our way. Who doesn't want that? Lets not get in our own way. In 2014 lets let FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, JOY, PEACE, our DREAMS, & HARD-WORK show up & SHOW OUT! 2014 is OUR year!!! OWN IT!

XO

My goal was to sit down and to write about the new play I was just cast in with Director, Randy Smith called "Black Diamonds". That was the goal. Key word: "was". However, when I woke this morning geared to write on what I thought would be new news, I began to fill with so much gratitude that it brought real tears to my eyes (that happens alot though). I immediately realized that as I looked back on the last year of my life in acting, that my purpose driven life has taken me farther than any plans I originally had for myself this time 12 months ago. Just to think that this all started with a dream to act when I was 8. Just to attempt to abandon that dream to do what everyone else said was "normal". However, I realize that in certain ways I have never been normal and instead of trying to fit in have decided to stand out with dreams that are larger than life! A life filled with prayer, gratitude, hardwork, networking, and never looking back has put me in a space where I have met some of the greatest and most talented people ever! Where I can hardly fall asleep for the urge to work and to become a better actor. Just this goal alone keeps me up doing so much through the night. I have been cast in shows that I never expected, for lengths of time that I could never imagine, worked on sets of shows that I thought I would only see on tv, met a few celebrities who have inspired me, been treated like a star even if I was only a feature, and received encouragement from those who continue to support me on this crazy journey. So, you see, what started out as a plan to tell you, my readers, about what I have coming up, turned into a post to be thankful! Thank you! Yes, Thank YOU! Y. O. U. You who take the time to read my blog posts. You, my friends on FB. You who follow me on IG. You who re-tweet me on Twitter. Thank you to you who have cast me in your productions and gave me a chance to project your vision. You whom I have shared a stage or a scene with. You, the photographers, who were gracious enough to put a camera on me and make me feel like I was looking at someone else but in actuality you brought out the best in me. Thank you to those who inbox, text, call or email me to say "I see you! Keep it up!" THANK YOU! I have always been ambitious, but the outpouring of love and support is, well, to say the least, OVERWHELMING! (No, I am not crying now but by the end of this post I probably will be *insert smiley face*) Go with me as I take a look back at my year, and just remember that YOU ARE APPRECIATED!

XO,
Starring_Alesia

Where Dreams Are Made Of....

I AM GOING TO NY PILOT SEASON!!!! I AM GOING TO NY PILOT SEASON!!!! Just got the call from a well known agency that I have been extended the opportunity to audition during pilot season!!! OMG!!! OMG!!! I think I am hypervwentilating!!! (Wait! Did I spell that right??? Oh well!!!!) It is a week event... actors are coming from all around!!! I am going with a connection. Yall have no idea. I grind in my sleep!!!! 2014!!! A year of Elevation!!!! Nomore comfort zone!!!! I am so excited!!! Just the networking opportunity alone is MAJOR!!!! I am gonna bring my A+ game!!! This is the best Christmas gift EVER! Thank you to everyone who follows my blog and encourages or supports me. I AM GOING TO PILOT SEASON!!!! GOD IS AWESOME!!!!

EXCUSE ME WHILE I WAIT

Can I tell you what is the one thing that drives me crazy about being an actor? Seriously. JUST THAT ONE TINY THING? It has got to be the wait! Even as I type the word "wait" it brings butterflies to my stomach. The wait. (Ugh!) Not the wait involved on the road to becoming some Hollywood starlet ( honestly, for some actors that never happens). It, instead, is the wait that comes after you have auditioned for a role. That agonizing wait. Have you ever waited for something? Of course you have. A package, a loved one, maybe even to check your tickets from that $636 million dollar Mega Million drawing the other day (still cant believe I only had one number out of $13 in tickets. Oh well!). Anyway, *insert deep sigh* the wait. I had several auditions in the last few weeks. I cant say I haven't heard back, because I have. Do you want to know what I heard? I heard the alert of an email. That's right! An email! Not even an email saying I have received any parts, but more like an email from mostly all the casting agents that read the same way "Thanks for auditioning. The selection process will take a few weeks and we will contact you soon blah blah blah...". Geez! A few weeks?!!! (Is this a universal casting agent script?) Do you want to know what I have done in these few weeks while I "wait"? Drove myself insane! I have replayed each and every audition, monologue, and script I read every single night in my head. Every. Single. Day. I have imagined getting that phone call or email saying "You have been chosen..." (I wont say which part I really want but I will say when I imagine the chosen part I immediately envision that role being mines). Want to know what else I do while I wait? I read Stanislavski. I know you may ask why? Honestly, I cant tell you why. All I know is that his words make sense to me as an actor and I always seem to find something that speaks to me about every single audition. (Don't judge me). Oh! The last thing  I do while I "wait"? I train. That's right, I train with one of my acting coaches (right now I am working with a film, tv, commercial coach in downtown Baltimore who is awesome to say the least) and I try to act like the auditions I did never happened at all. Soooooo, long story short, (or judging by what I have typed so far long story a bit longer), that's what I am doing now. Busying myself while I wait. Typing a blog about waiting while I wait. WAITING patiently, while I wait for the wait to be over with! (Yeah, its that bad!) I do, however, have some good news to close this out with!!! MY BUSINESS CARDS ARRIVED TODAY!!! You guys know I don't sit still. Every day, every single day, I devote time to my talent. To networking it, Training it. Learning about it. Seeing it. Reviewing it. (You get the picture!) So I am happy to share them with you guys. A picture of the front and back of the card. I am taking a class with Samuel L. Jacksons acting coach the beginning of next year (this man has also trained Liam Neeson & Harrison Ford) and I am going with these cards in hand when I travel to meet him. I am hitting 2014 running! You know why don't you? Because this is acting...and ACTING IS MY BUSINESS!

THE BUCK STOPS HERE!!!!

Have you ever heard the saying that people who hit the lottery tend to go through feelings of guilt? I have. Do you want to know what I think when I read those stories? Its probably nothing different than what anyone else would think. I say to myself, "If I ever hit the lottery for millions of dollars, I am sure I will feel alot of things, but I am almost certain none of them WOULD BE GUILT!
Hmmmm. No? Are you sure? Now stay with me. I know its the holidays and you are probably still stuck on what you could do with a million, or millions, of dollars, but I do have a story to tell.
Let me explain to you where I am right now with this "acting business". I am an actor. I do things that actors, or anyone who has a dream and any type of talent they believe in, would do. I take a lot of acting classes (some free and some wayyyy from free). I do alot of auditions, volunteer for alot of plays,  and network with alot of people. Some of my efforts move me a notch closer to living my dreams, and sometimes, well, I mean, there is a learning experience in everything I do. (Two steps forward, one step back my nana used to say, or was that Ms. Chancelor from Young & The Restless?) Anyway. I am okay with that. I am okay with working hard, praying hard, losing sleep and sometimes not having time to eat. What I am not okay with is others trying to make me feel guilty.
Now understand that when I say others for the most part I don't look to anyone to "give" me anything. I expect the occasional "naysayer", and where would my motivation be without a "hater" or two. (I hate the word hater, but its typed so lets move on). What I don't like is when "certain people" who have never even so much as taken the time to acknowledge anything else in my life be it good or bad, that now feel the need to directly or indirectly make me feel like I owe them or anyone else something because I am "chasing a dream" and having fun doing it.
First it started with the guilt trip inbox's on Facebook. Then it started with the guilt trip phone calls. At one time, it was a little bit of both (sometimes form the same people). It had gotten to the point where I even considered changing my cell number (a good friend talked me out of that one)! I notice that the more acting work I do that gives me more "exposure" the louder the "guilt trippee's" get.
Well, no more guilt trips! Absolutely NO MORE! I am a giver from the heart. My time, my home, my money, but I will not be backed into feeling like I owe anyone anything when it comes to chasing my own success. I sweat the blood and cry the tears. I take the gains and the losses. At the end of the day I want to be a blessing but on Gods terms and no one else's. So here's a toast to you guilt trippers, I know you are reading this, its not happening! Not today! Not tomorrow! Not ever! My dream, my goals, my talent on my terms. This is acting and ACTING IS "MY" BUSINESS!

Little Girl: My Open Letter

They say what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. They also say no need in worrying about something that hasn't happen yet. "Live in the moment" I think the saying goes. Well today, I got a taste, or shall I say a dose, of both sayings. The interview dropped today.  *takes both hands and covers eyes*Now before you go off asking "Where is it?" *peaks from behind one hand* first let me just say that today I learned that I am my own worst critic. Now, I know you may look at it and have your own opinions, some good some bad, but let me just say that there is nothing you can say or ask that I haven't already criticized myself over, for or about. However, as the day went on, the love and support poured in, as I replayed the youtube clip a number of times, something interesting began to happen, I began to love me. Not me the everyday Alesia, but me the aspiring actor Alesia. I thought what better way to end the night but to say a few things to the little girl in me that I must let die. The one who still has all the, well, let me just do this...

"Little Girl, Little Girl its okay, you dont have to cry/Little Girl, Little Girl pay attention and let me tell you why/You are brown skinned, pretty and you are very very smart/You will have your feelings betrayed but still maintain your heart/Little Girl, Little Girl dont be so hard on those you love/God placed them there as your angels also from the heavens above/I know you carry hurt it will pass with you over the years/I know you are afraid, youve seen so much, it sometimes brings you tears/but Little Girl, Little Girl there is so much out there for you to do/so many lives to be touched, inspired, these words I speak are true/Little Girl, Little Girl dont fight who you are, we are human, we all have our flaws/Just know that others you meet can be a lesson or a blessing and will eventually show you their cause/So Little Girl, Little Girl be gentle, happy, loving and kind/And when you find that thing you do well and love you stay on your grind/For one day you will remember Little Girl all the things you thought you couldnt do/And you will read this and remember that your biggest supporter was you!" 

~With love to myself~

Enjoy and thank you for your support!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPr_fS4XBSY