We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Oppedisano recently and have shared our conversation below.
Michelle, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
This question ties quite nicely into another question about persisting despite the haters and nay-sayers so I’m going to answer both at once: It’s not despite them, but because of them that I continue to persist. I can’t let them win. I will continue to do my best to prove them wrong and beat that nasty imposter syndrome.
This has never been easy, and I did let them win for a while. My career is cutthroat and filled with rejection, and I’ve been doing this since I was 9. That’s literally decades of rejection. In college came the big hit. I was cut from my musical theatre program. I remember before they made the cuts (I wasn’t the only one), one girl said that if she got cut that would be it for her. She’d have to find a new career. I remember thinking that was ridiculous. I would never let a few people’s opinion affect the rest of my life like that, a life I had literally been building since I was 9. But I did. I didn’t admit it, but I did. I didn’t even KNOW IT, but I did. My confidence slipped away from me so slowly that I didn’t even realize it was happening. Then I woke up one day and looked around at my past 10 years, regretting all the “safe” choices I’d made, all the risks I didn’t take, how much that imposter syndrome really held me back. I knew if I didn’t make a change I’d be doing the same thing in 10 years, with double the regret.
I am a really positive person, but those negative voices, whether real or in your head, are really hard to beat sometimes. The most important thing is to remember your WHY. That’s more important than any teacher who says you can’t handle pressure. It’s more important than any voice in your head saying you’re not good enough. And it’s definitely more important than imposter syndrome.
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?
In between shows and shooting films/TV, I sing at a diner in New York City (Ellen’s Stardust Diner, if you’re ever near Times Square!). The most exciting thing about my job is that I can say I fully make my living and pay my bills by singing and acting. Thirteen-year-old Michelle is just bursting because all her dreams are coming true. Finally.
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?
Empathy, confidence and work-ethic are the three most important skills for a performance career. Empathy, for better or for worse, is in my DNA. Not a problem. That one comes naturally to me. Confidence, as you may have read in my previous question, did not. And to be honest it still doesn’t. I have to work at it. But if you struggle with this one, it’s important to remember to focus on what you do have and not what you don’t. There will always be someone who can sing higher, who can dance better, who has more followers, etc, but you’re the only one of you, and that’s what casting directors want to see. Work-ethic: some people have to learn the hard way. And that’s ok. But the important thing is to look forward and not back. Learn from any mistakes and know that you’ll never feel fuller prepared in this career. So try not to let yourself go down that rabbit hole.
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 always looking for collaborators and cultivating my network of fellow artists to help me tell stories. I have so many scripts to film and ideas to flesh out. I am specifically looking for producers, co-writers and directors (for both stage and screen) at this stage so we can tell these stories. Art is meant to move people and honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, I live for it.
Please reach out to me at michelleoppedisano@gmail.com or on Instagram: @michelleoppedisano
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @michelleoppedisano
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/michelle.m.oppedisano
Image Credits
AJM Photo NYC Shawn Morgan Ai Toyoshima Chryseis Dawn Patterson
