I lucked out into loving what I did enough that I was willing to deal with the scrappy moments.

Today I’m talking to Sarah Jones, an extremely talented actress. Sarah has been on Broadway in a one woman play with over 20 characters, for which she won a Tony award. She has also won an Obie Award and given three Ted Talks.

I love that Sarah creates her characters from a place of love and learning – they aren’t superficial, she really knows their story. In face, she knows these characters so well that once she assumes one of them, she can riff in that character. She’s so talented.

Today we’re covering the gamut of being a performing artist: how she got her start, what it was like in the beginning when she had to be scrappy, and what her creative process is like for both her performing and her writing. We also learn about the personal development side and some of her rituals and practices that she does on a daily basis.

My job is to be generous with my gifts, not to hold them back because I’m worried that they’re not good enough or something is wrong with me.

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Some things we learn in this podcast:

• How Sarah got into theater [4:50]
• What character Sarah is taking to the Women’s March [8:20]
• Who influenced her life [9:50]
• How Sarah got onto Broadway [11:35]
• What happened when Meryl Streep saw her perform [18:30]
• How to make a living and still make work you believe in [20:40]
• The role ego plays in success [28:00]
• The delicate balance of humility and confidence [35:10]
• How Sarah uses personal development [39:40]
• How these characters come into creation [45:50]
• What happens when Sarah creates a character [48:50]
• What Sarah’s writing process is like [52:05]
• The importance of remembering to connect with yourself [57:30]
• How Sarah uses vision boards [1:00:15]

Links mentioned:

• Watch Sarah’s TED Talks: 8 Characters, 11 Characters, 5 Characters
• Watch the short film Sarah made for the CFDA Awards
• Music Credit: Good for Me – Val Fleury (Giorgio Moroder remix)

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