Meet Michelle Tomlinson

We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Tomlinson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I’ve been fortunate to have to start my entire life from scratch and rebuild it. In so doing, I learned a lot about my flaws, my insecurities, my strengths, my weaknesses, and how much inner strength I had in order to start a really serious healing journey that has led me to understand more about my self worth. The resilience that surfaced from this experience has been what has carried me through to the much better days that are my current reality. I now know I can walk through fire and although I might get burned on my way through, I will always find my way.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Working with actors of all ages brings me immense joy. My entire background has been acting, from obtaining a BFA in Theatre Performance from ENMU to acting in several theatre productions and feature films in Los Angeles to now coaching actors for 17 years and I’m also directing films. Acting is a very special and sacred journey that requires extreme focus, determination, dedication, training, perseverance, and vulnerability. When I have the honor of working with my students, I approach the work in a very holistic and focused way to help each individual actor peel back their protective layers and get to the artist within and understand what it takes to work in this industry. Watching actors grow and book and find their way is extremely inspiring.
I also love directing films. The teamwork and communication that goes into creating each project is beautifully passionate and inspiring. We are all working together to create something special that we will release in the world, so every step in the process is an incredible step. Casting and working with the actors in a film is an additional level to the job that I love to bring to my coaching students to illustrate the importance of a strong audition and strong work ethic for actors.
My passion project is something I’ve founded: Grounds for a Change. We collect empty coffee cans, collage them, and pack them with donated travel size toiletries and distribute them to a women’s shelter.
My worlds are very symbiotic to each other and my greatest joy is being a single mom to an incredible young girl who is the most incredible human I have ever known.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Humility, a voracious appetite to learn, and follow through of vision.

When we are new to something, we need to humble ourselves to the lessons of the journey.
(Humility also goes for those of us who are veterans!)
When we have a voracious appetite to learn, then we have an easier time focusing on what we came here to do and we take what we learn and create a vision for our lives.
When we have a vision for our lives, execution of the vision with follow through is key.
A vision without follow through becomes a dream that fades away into a memory of “I wish I had…”
If the film industry is what sets your soul on fire, then jump in with both feet and learn everything you can and find your path.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

The Four Agreements.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://MichelleTomlinson.Net
• Instagram: @its_michelle_tomlinson
• Facebook: Michelle Tomlinson
• Linkedin: Michelle Tomlinson
• Youtube: Michelle Tomlinson

Image Credits

Stephanie Girard
Linda Carfagno
Terry Futschik