Shows / Working Actor Life
Episodes
- Working Actor Life
50. costar pay, the union, and comic sans
Sam landed her first TV role in five years on a show she's auditioned for eight or nine times, Gab is mid-shoot on her own show, and we get into what it…
- Working Actor Life
49. being out of touch actors, memorization requirements, and actor money: the comments section returns
Bringing back The Comment Section, where we finally respond to the rogue comments and DMs that land on Instagram, the podcast, and everywhere in between. We…
- Working Actor Life
48. get a better actor side hustle
Join us for our three day workshop for $5 (yes correct) to help you start your actor side hustle! Side Hustle Bootcamp (that's all, this is a mini ep, tks bb)
- Working Actor Life
47. you can't give two things 100%
Gab gets called to set in the middle of our Nashville membership retreat, and we talk through what it really looks like to hold a business, a booking, and…
- Working Actor Life
46. new levels, new devils: navigating career growth and everything that comes with it
what happens when your career starts moving but your brain hasn't caught up yet? sam walks through a rough stretch that stacked a big series regular audition…
- Working Actor Life
45. the celebration(s) of booked and busy women
Gab is officially booked and busy, and this episode kicks off with it! We reflect on what it felt like to sit in that uncertainty before the news came through…
- Working Actor Life
44. ACTUAL tools for Imposter Syndrome as high achieving actors (with therapist Stevon Lewis)
stevon lewis, a licensed therapist who specializes in imposter syndrome is HERE! he works with a lot of high achieving people, including actors, who feel like…
- Working Actor Life
43. on hold, avail check, right of first refusal...aka the WAITING part of this job
gab is on network test for a series (yes there's a nudity rider, yes there's a lawyer, yes we break down a lot of it, and YES spoiler alert she booked RIGHT…
- Working Actor Life
42. wtf is up in actor life: summer 2026
back from our little podcast break (which, tbh we recorded right before we left, so nothing actually changed). this week we're catching up: from rewatching old…
Working Actor Life41. book the f*^k out (the july break episode)
Why we're stepping away from the podcast for the month of July, and why we think you should be looking at your own schedule for what can come off your plate…
- Working Actor Life
40. Sam's first commercial booking in 3 years: full behind-the-scenes from ATL.
We are literally in the car on the way to set. Sam booked her first commercial in three years, and Gab is along for the ride. Sharing exactly how this booking…
- Working Actor Life
39. "I am special" and other lies we tell ourselves.
one of our members just hit a massive milestone:first co-star, first rep, SAG-E status, woo hoo! but instead of feeling on top of the world, she's feeling the…
- Working Actor Life
38. Step-by-step headshot planning.
Get in on the LIVE class! EDIT: it is now JULY 7th! *Everything you need to know before your next headshot session, and how to build your headshot plan from…
- Working Actor Life
37. BTS on our next headshots + how we make them better every time.
Join the LIVE Headshot Class! We're sharing exactly how we're approaching our upcoming headshot sessions, including why we booked two different photographers…
- Working Actor Life
36. Surviving the internet (and general rejection) as over-sharing actors.
Gab shared a post this week about the "thanks but no thanks" emails that come with the job, and the internet had...feelings. Which brings us into difference…
- Working Actor Life
35. (trigger warning) How auditioning can bring up survival mode.
Trigger Warning: we discuss eating disorders and sexual assault in this episode. Please only listen if this is a safe space for you. Two real booking stories…
- Working Actor Life
34. The "momentum" Conversation: Using your bookings and wins with reps, casting, and the the media.
So you booked and want to know how to turn that momentum into something more.PR? Get a Deadline article? Rebrand? We're getting honest about what actually…
- Working Actor Life
33. From Sides to Deadline: Vas Saranga on His Netflix Booking and What Gets Actors Cast
Our in-house Coach Vas is back on the pod, and we brought him on at exactly the right moment: his Deadline article just dropped for his brand new booking on…
- Working Actor Life
32. Current audition situation: zero comfort-zone.
We're pulling back the curtain on two very different audition-challenges we're each navigating right now: Sam took a leap on an audition that requires her to…
- Working Actor Life
31. Zero Auditions = doubling down on the good stuff
Sometimes the universe clears your calendar for a reason. So what happens when auditions go quiet? We think that silence might be exactly what you needed. We…
- Working Actor Life
30. Do you really need a manager?
We are about to get so for real. MANAGERS and AGENTS. When and why actors should consider adding a manager to their team, the differences between managers and…
- Working Actor Life
29. The "Waiting" Trap: reps, readiness, and releasing the pressure
We pulled real comments from our Working Actor Express Bootcamp participants and broke down what we would say to each of them if we were coaching them live…
- Working Actor Life
27. Redirects, Callbacks, & why the acting career doesn't really have LEVELS.
Everything we knew about this industry two years ago is probably already outdated...We are back after a week off because auditions came first, and that is…
- Working Actor Life
26. This is unlikeable: What we are actually think mid-audition
Doors to The Membership are opening soon. If you’re tired of spiraling alone after auditions, this is where we fix that! What actually goes through our heads…
- Working Actor Life
25. Why we stopped prepping every audition the same way
Doors to The Membership are opening soon. If you’re tired of spiraling alone after auditions, this is where we fix that! We break down exactly how we prepped…
- Working Actor Life
24. Actor Emotional-Whiplash: From booked & busy to SILENCE in one week.
Last week we were on actor HIGHS: SEVEN auditions between the two of us. Voiceover sessions. Commercial callbacks. Zoom auditions with five-minute slots…
- Working Actor Life
23. The Actor Scoreboard for 2026: Momentum & Success Metrics
If you’re only measuring your career by bookings, you’re going to feel like you’re failing.Booking signifiers are getting rarer. Callbacks, avails, pins…
- Working Actor Life
22. Managing rejection in all actor-forms: how to "get over it".
Managing losses without letting them define you will be the thing that makes this all do-able. So let's talk about the difference between a setback and a…
- Working Actor Life
21. Redefining "success" in a career you can’t control.
How have our definitions of success have shifted over time? Trust in our reps. Financial breathing room. Free time. Staying in the work when things are quiet…
- Working Actor Life
20. We were WRONG about: all the acting advice we would like to take back
We’re talking about the acting advice we used to give, fully believed, and would absolutely change or nuance now. We break down why blanket advice ignores…
- Working Actor Life
19. The acting industry outlook for 2026 + in rooms and on sets in January...we're BACK!
We're back to break down the current state of the acting industry after sitting in on a closed-door TM only “state of the union” style call with casting. We…
- Working Actor Life
18. finding your actor system focus (aka why we’re giving fewer f*cks this year)
starting the year in person and doing something radical: caring less. we talk about why giving fewer f*cks is not laziness but can help you get further…
- Working Actor Life
17. Why "working harder" won't fix your Acting Career + Exactly how much $ Gab has made from two National Commercials
Rest in an industry that rewards blurred boundaries and convinces actors they can control outcomes they absolutely cannot....is it possible? Let's discuss how…
- Working Actor Life
16. What is booking in self tapes for 2026 (ft. Vas from The Online Actor)
We brought Vas back from The Online Actor, nobody breaks down auditions, industry waves, and self tape strategy like he does. And we hit on the standard of…
- Working Actor Life
15. Agents and managers gifts in 2025 + This sh*it is [nano] bananas
actors panic over AI and cookies: post-holiday talk through the latest AI freakout and finally answer the question everyone DM’d us about (should you be buying…
- Working Actor Life
14. Surviving the holidays as an actor without losing your mind.
Holidays as a working actor hit different. No one is looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner with a side of getting-grilled-about “what you’ve been in.” This…
- Working Actor Life
13. Twilight, Depression TV, and Actor Color Therapy
if you’ve ever wondered why certain shows hit your actor soul and others feel like emotional sandpaper, this one is for you. what started as a polite…
- Working Actor Life
12. Our five "actor types" and how it shapes your next move/actor focus.
Take the free Actor Type Quiz (like super 100% free) We made our Actor Types: Dreamer, Drifter, Doubter, Developer, and Disruptor and today we're talking…
- Working Actor Life
11. Human Design for Actors: why you’re not lazy, you’re just wired differently
11. Human Design for Actors: why you’re not lazy, you’re just wired differently Ever wonder why some actors thrive on chaos while others burn out after two…
- Working Actor Life
10. Actors: no one’s coming to save you. So here’s what to do instead.
What happens when you stop waiting for someone to “pick” you and start making your own opportunities. Sam went from not booking anything since 2021 to writing…
- Working Actor Life
9. Audition Coaching & Acting Process (feat. The Online Actor)
Welcome to our very first guest, actor and coach Vas Saranga from The Online Actor! We talk about how coaching fits into an actor’s process, what it means to…
- Working Actor Life
8. Actor Money Mindsets (from $0 to national-commercial $$$)
We get wonderfully off track on purpose so skip the first 18 min if you just want to hear about actor-stuff. There’s a humiliating music game for Sam, how Gab…
- Working Actor Life
7. Being "Yourself" on Camera + AI Actors and "job security"
Sam brought a real audition dilemma to the pod: do I tape as my true self, or try to guess what the casting director actually wants? We also dive into the…
- Working Actor Life
6. Audition Breakdowns and Mental Breakdowns: how we reset
If you’ve ever stared at a character description and thought, “This is so not me,” or if you’ve spiraled mid-tape wondering if you’re good enough to book the…
- Working Actor Life
5. "Slow Seasons" + the best $5 you have ever spent.
Get on the 3-Day Momentum Challenge asap! Actors love to call something a “slow season.”...we think that term might be the problem. We talk about how the…
- Working Actor Life
4. Can working actors afford a mortgage?
In this insane job with the ups and down of booking and payment, is it smart to BUY A HOUSE as a working actor. You’ll hear: Why Sam almost moved to Atlanta in…
- Working Actor Life
3. the pressure to be perfect actors
Shape-shifting with our own demons… that’s the part of the acting process nobody teaches you. Sam and Gabrielle crack open a deeply honest convo about the…
- Working Actor Life
2. acting techniques, turning off the actor-brain, and why Gab + Sam would NOT have been friends while getting their BFA's
we are BACK, this time recording from opposite coasts (sam in oregon, gab in florida) and proving that actor brain never takes a vacation. in this episode we…
- Working Actor Life
1. Audition rules (RULES?!) Self Tape Tricks to try + why we need to talk about what we're watching
sam and gabrielle kick off the very first episode of working actor life by pulling back the curtain on what it’s really like to be working actors. about viral…