Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Hannah Leigh. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hannah, thank you so much for joining us today and appreciate you talking about a sensitive topic. It’s unfortunately relevant to so many in the community as layoffs have been on the rise recently, and so we’d appreciate hearing your story and how you overcame being let go?
During 2020, pretty much everyone I knew was out of a job. I was no exception. At the time, I was still acting and pursuing a newly budding music career, but I was also engaging in the most stereotypical side gig in LA…waitressing. I worked three to four days a week at a French cafe and the rest of the time I spent auditioning, playing small shows and trying to keep my 23 year old head on straight. The day that I found out I was being sent home indefinitely from this job, I was carefully painting a chalkboard with the sentence “To Go Orders Only.” I was trying to draw a muffin (I can’t draw) when an older customer had just come in and sat down. She was very frustrated that I wouldn’t wait on her. “You have to order at the counter ma’m.” I would say politely three times before my boss would interrupt, informing both of us that we were actually closing. My stomach dropped. This survival job was supposed to be the job I could rely on when I wasn’t working as an actor. Now both of my jobs are shut down? What the heck was a girl to do? After many nights of anxiety attacks and identity questioning, I started seeing the potential for a new path. During Covid, everyone was using their time differently, but many were using their extra time to better themselves and to learn new things. So I thought to myself, what do I know more about than anything else? I went down the list: I know how to journal, I know how to pet dogs, I know how to dance, I know how to be an actress, I know what it’s like to be new to the industry, I know how to live in Los Angeles, and I know what I would’ve needed as a young actor myself. A mentor! I could be a Mentor! So I slowly but surely started my mentoring business and I haven’t looked back at restaurant apron since. I love my job so intensely because it not only gives me the flexibility to continue to pursue my main careers, but it also saved me from a very scary time. I get to practice my craft every single day with clients that I admire and adore, and I get to be there for young artists in the way that I wish someone had been there for me when I was going through the thick of my childhood/teen acting days. I am proud of myself for turning something as scary as being laid off into something as beautiful as creating my own business!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I have been acting since the age of four and have more recently been putting out music and playing shows here in LA. This year I was so grateful to have completed a sold out show at the Troubadour! Now, I am so excited to share two of my upcoming music performances with you. I will be performing with Breaking Sound at BreakRoom 86 on 12/6, and if this article comes out after that, you get a chance to come by The Hotel Cafe on 1/23 to catch a fun acoustic set! I am also excited to announce that I will be opening my books to new clients starting on January 1st 2024, so if you’ve been interested in furthering your artistic career and need a little guidance or audition coaching please reach out and I’ll send a new client form your way. I am also busy marketing and pitching a new feature film that I have co-written with my brilliant director friend, Mitchy McGhan – updates to come. I am grateful that it seems that my union is coming to a conclusive end with its 2023 strike and I am excited to get back on set!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Resilience. This industry can be brutal and to be able to pick yourself back up after rejection, a long period of down time, or to be able to work alongside personal struggles etc, is one of the most important skills to have. Because this industry can feel so personal, because what you’re selling is your likeness and emotional skill, it can be exhausting. Being able to have the strength to separate self worth from industry validation is pertinent. It takes time to figure out how to do it and everyone is different. But it is incredibly helpful to build that personal resilience.
2. To tag alongside of resilience: One of the things that helped me through this industry is understanding that I am more than my career. I am a full person who is allowed to have interests, relationships, hobbies and a full life outside of my pursuits professionally. This realization has only helped me become a better performer because of the life experience it has allowed me to collect and then later use for my craft. The societal guilt that I felt pre understanding this, was that if I did anything outside of my art, I wasn’t “passionate enough” or “didn’t want it enough” but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I want it so badly that I am willing to take care of myself to better my own soul with the understanding that it will then push me to be the best version of myself I can. My work only benefits from this.
3. Want it for the right reasons: I have clients that come to me with a total misunderstanding of what it takes to commit yourself to this level of artistry and/or how much time it actually takes. They come to me with hopes for fame and they look for the “easy way.” Unfortunately there is no easy way for most of us. The easiest way to succeed in this career is to do it because you can’t imagine wanting to pursue anything else. The percentage of actors that call themselves “working actors” work maybe a couple times a year. That is pretty normal. We see a very small percentage of actors in the media and then it’s easy to assume that this is the normal path for anyone aspiring to be an actor. Give yourself reasonable expectations for your professional career and then get pleasantly surprised when you and your dedication surpass it! The passion and the excitement that you receive from just working towards it should be enough reward for you to keep going. Love it and make it your life! 🙂
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
An ideal client is a client who is curious. There is no requirement of skill level or even interest, in order for me to consider a client an “ideal client.” All that I look for in students is their genuine curiosity to learn and to explore. That can look like many different things. That can look like an experienced actor just excited for some outside objective opinions on self tapes, a new actor having no clue where to begin, or it can be an artist who needs to navigate healing their inner child to then be able to pursue their dreams. Staying curious and open to new things is something that I also like to bring to my clients as their mentor. I equally want to know where they are coming from, where they are going, and what individual and unique new way I can help them get there. It is a wonderful challenge to walk alongside these beautiful artists and to come up with new tools and exercises every week. I am so excited to explore those roads with new and continuing clients because it helps me to expand my own as well!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://msha.ke/hannahleigh
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahleighofficial/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Dpo8OE2UE
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/29BXz0g1NRnhOA1Qa5OJyL?si=5k3w0H-wRBmIhebuRJwARA
Image Credits
Kirsten Albert Yising Kao Monica Mejia
