Meet Kiana Moattari

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kiana Moattari. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kiana below.

Kiana, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?

This is something I have been working through quite a bit this year and the thing I’ve found that has been helping is to find moments of fun and joy in my life, even if they are small. I have read the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron a few times and something we do in that book/course is an Artist Date. Essentially, it’s time blocked out once a week to do something for yourself – whether that’s creative or purely just silly fun. I re-instated that into my life and I have found it’s been incredibly helpful for periods of burnout. For me it can be anything as simple as getting ice cream or just browsing a bookstore. I have found that life and the industry moves fast and there’s always so much to do and can be done, it’s up to me to set time aside for myself to find the fun.

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 am an actor and I absolutely love it. I’m currently working on a project and every time I go on any set I’m in awe of how many different types of artists come together to make a film. The thing that I find is so special about acting in particular is that you get to step into someone else’s shoes, and while it can be a huge responsibility to tell that character’s story and take the audience with you on that journey, it’s also so rewarding. The more I work on the craft, with my coaches and on set, I feel like I am able to immerse myself in different worlds with more ease so it’s just been a really great journey so far, when I give myself the chance to step back and look at how I’ve evolved throughout the years as an actor.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

There are definitely so many skills that I’ve worked on and continue to work on. Three that come to mind right now are being able to always be a learner, knowing how to navigate working with all types of people, and learning not to get jealous and compete with others, but redirect that energy to improve your own craft and compete with yourself in a sense. These are all things that I continue to remind myself of, and some days it’s easier than others, but the overall thing is to be able to throw your ego out the door and be able to take on feedback and work with a variety of people, knowing that the goal is to improve your own work.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

I mentioned it earlier, but as an actor the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron was absolutely vital in me officially committing to acting as a career and just going for it! It’s a 12 week course and it’s for anyone and everyone, not just people who consider themselves some form of an “artist”. It really helped me reconnect with that little kid in me that just loved to perform and play pretend, and it helped me finally admit to myself that I wanted an acting career. The exercises in the book are all about shedding the judgement over being an artist and working through blocks that affect your creativity. There is of course so much more to it than just that, but overall it’s been a very significant book in my own artist journey so far.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kianamoattari/

Image Credits

Chris Jon Photography