Meet Patty Rowan

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Patty Rowan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Patty , so great to have you on the platform. There’s so much we want to ask you, but let’s start with the topic of self-care. Do you do anything for self-care and if so, do you think it’s had a meaningful impact on your effectiveness?

The most beautiful and positive growth that I’ve seen in my life, has largely been a result of my self-care practice.

Every morning, while I’m still in bed, I practice gratitude. I found that for a while there, when I woke up, my mind would immediately go to problems or a running list of what I had to do that day. Not a very peaceful way to start the day. So I started listing 5 things in my mind that I’m grateful for. If my mind gets pulled into a problem or negative thought along the way, I’ll start again at number one until I’ve made it all the way to 5. Just like anything else, it’s a practice, but one I’m so glad I was consistent with, because now I often wake up naturally with positive thoughts!

I also prioritize taking peaceful time for myself for meditation and journaling each morning. I then move my body with strength training or yoga and follow that up with a walk outdoors. And lately, I feed my spirit by listening to Ekhart Tolle on those walks. I find that I get so much clarity while walking. I try to do at least the meditation and journaling before I get sucked into the ether of social media. We all know there are so many random negative things you can see while scrolling on instagram, and I don’t want to see some of that stuff ever, let alone first thing in the morning.

These practices, along with therapy, have transformed my mindset and my life on so many levels. Having a positive mindset is so paramount to sticking it out in the entertainment industry. The ability to show up with confidence and belief in myself, and the courage to continue to show up as my authentic self, rather than fit a mold of who I think “they” want me to be, makes the world of difference. I used to operate a lot out of fear. Fear that I wasn’t enough—talented enough, worthy enough. Fear that if I didn’t show up as what they were looking for (which what the hell does that even mean!?), I wouldn’t be enough.
There’s a quote that says “Both faith and fear demand that you believe in something you cannot see. You choose.”
Doing all of this work, has allowed me to live in faith, and when you’re operating out of faith and love, that’s when the good stuff happens!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m an actor living in Los Angeles. I grew up doing theatre as a child in Pennsylvania, and went on to study acting at the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. Shortly after graduating, I made LA home and have since begun teaching acting as well!
I started my production company ‘Starshadow Pictures’ in 2018, and produced the short film “There’s No Word for Us” – a call-to-action film about our country’s growing social issue of gun violence, which I also wrote and co-directed.
While our industry seems to be in a strange limbo right now, I’m so grateful that I have my self-care practice that keeps me in a state of hope and belief that good things are still to come!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The most impactful things on my journey as an actor have been my training, my vulnerability and my mindset. And getting to a place where all three of those are working in concert.
For actors who are just starting out, first and foremost, train! Actors are never done learning, so training should be ongoing. Take a ton of classes, and find what works for you. Practice vulnerability in your day to day life. Most people are closed off, but as actors we can’t afford to operate that way. Prioritize this as much as you do your training. This can be a scary thing for someone who is not used to being vulnerable, but it’s completely necessary for the craft. Develop a practice that helps you maintain a positive mindset – which for me looks like prioritizing self-care. If you’re the most vulnerable well trained actor but you have a negative outlook on life, yourself or the business, I don’t know how far you’ll get! Most importantly, it’s just a lighter and happier way to live.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

Letting go of perfectionism, which looking back, had been very inhibiting. I think for a long time I saw it as a positive thing – laboring over every last detail of every single thing I did, making everything so precious. All it really did was take a mental toll on me. When I learned that perfectionism is really born out of fear – fear of not getting it right, or of anything not being “enough”, it made me really want to start living differently.

How liberating it is to be allow yourself to not be perfect. To relinquish the need to control every last thing. To say “that’s good enough”, and move on, and see for yourself that the world did not stop spinning. Now I find myself taking bigger swings, allowing more room for myself to make mistakes, and gaining so much more in the realm of experiences and joy.

“Faith over fear” is the constant teacher I always find myself coming back to!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pattyrowan.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patty_jane_rowan/?locale=en_US%2Cen_GB%2Cen_US%2Cen_GB%2Cen_US%2Cen_GB%2Cen_US%2Cen_GB&hl=am-et
• Other: https://imdb.me/pattyrowan

Image Credits

Matt Kallish