Meet Marie Finch

We were lucky to catch up with Marie Finch recently and have shared our conversation below.

Marie , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I feel that I was born with a spirit of resiliency. To be honest, I feel that I received it from my father who was the most resilient person I know. He was born during the Depression and did not know to read nor write. I did not know this until I was 15 years old. But, he worked hard and was very smart to become a spec home builder and owned many real estate properties. I saw first hand how he worked around his disability to obtain his goals. I cultivated resiliency further throughout my life with playing sports and competing with others and within myself. Competitive sports harnessed that mental strength to overcome my obstacles to perform at higher levels. So as life created challenges, I was able to train, practice and pivot to do what ever it took to obtain a goal.
I had many challenges in life, but one particularly at a very young age was my speech impairment . I stuttered as a child and could not pronounce many words. I was in speech classes for the first 4 years of elementary school. Although, my stuttering subsided after therapy, I continued to struggle pronouncing certain words so I challenged myself to speak with others. I would not shy away from getting up in class for presentations in High School. I was determined to not let this impairment stop me from communicating and sharing with others. Eventually, I became a public speaker and a representative for a state agency that created affordable housing throughout the State of California before working full time as an actor. I spoke in front of hundreds of people on panels at conferences, press junkets, public forums and meetings. I met and spoke with with Appointed Officials, Attorneys, and CEO of Companies. I don’t think of myself as having a speech impairment anymore. My impairment became my appointment. I carefully use words that I know I can pronounce correctly and that’s ok. As an actor, I know I have to work harder, do more research and practice on some script language than others. Pivoting is key.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I was born and raised in Sacramento , California. Prior to working as an actor and host of Up and Comers of Hollywood, I had a long and successful career in banking, real estate and mortgage lending. After my daughters became adults, I was given the opportunity to get back into doing what I love to do and that is to utilize my body, mind and soul to tell stories. I jumped right into theater before acting in independent films. It’s definitely been a ride!

Just before the pandemic, I produced my first short film “Month to Month.” and I played the lead role Diane. In the midst of the pandemic, the film was selected in 13 virtual film festivals and received the “Critics Choice Award” at the Iowa Independent Film Festival 2020. That was very exciting! I am producing my second film “Mistaken.” It is in post-production now, and will be submitted to film festivals in 2024.

One of my favorite roles was Captain Terry in a Sci-Fi feature film “Ultra Red” I shot last year in Los Angeles in a studio directed by Michael Fredianelli. I love sci-fi movies! It will also be be submitted to film festivals in 2024.

During the WGA and subsequently the SAG-AFTRA strike, I began a podcast called Up and Comers of Hollywood. I produced and hosted 11 episodes this year in which I interview up and coming professionals in the entertainment industry. My objective is to share the different journeys of talented professionals in all occupations of the entertainment industry to give insight and positive tips to those thinking of entering the entertainment business. It’s real talk. Real stories and all so inspiring!!!! My podcast can be heard on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora and we also have a short video of the entire podcast on our YouTube Channel.

I am also excited that the strike is over, and to begin auditioning and creating again.

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?
Looking back the three qualities that were impactful in my life were communication, creativity, curiosity. combined with tenacity, spirituality, optimism. I am naturally curious and thoroughly love to learn new skills and learning through others. Those qualities pull me to learn more about what I am interested in and it allowed me space to be creative. I always enjoyed creative writing and telling stories. As an actor, I train and continue to be curious about the characters I possess in a scene and curious of where I can go spiritually with that character. It’s truly a fascinating and rewarding process! Even during my professional career prior to acting, I would be creative and think outside of the norms to assist and meet the goals of others. There has definitely been difficult times in my life and times where I did know the answers, but I did not give up and I am grateful for my tenacity and grit that allowed me to continue and flourish.

My advice to others would be to stay curious. Stay curious about yourself and others. We learn more that way. That’s how we become self-aware and eliminate judgements that would impede growth. Communication is also so important. Sharing your stories, your feelings, your goals with others brings us closer to each other and help build relationships and building trusting relationships builds a healthy life. We help others and others help us when we communicate effectively. I have to say that I find communication to be a skill that continually needs developing. Also having confidence to admit that you don’t know and but you WILL know is so powerful. Do your own research and find what works for your highest and best self. Most of all follow your instincts, and trust your gut.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am looking for guests for Season 2 of Up and Comers of Hollywood. For Season 2, I am seeking professionals behind the oil, or music scene such as set designers, DPs, technicians, PAs, Casting Associates, etc. So, if anyone reading this knows of anyone who has a cool job in the entertainment industry, please email upandcomershollywood@gmail.com or DM me @the official_mariefinch

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