You are a self-proclaimed big reader. Is there something about the book industry that excites you at the moment?

I wish I was an even bigger reader. I read a lot in the business I am in, from scripts to proposals, to the background research of characters. I wish I had more time to read fiction, to be honest. I think the most exciting thing about “books” at the moment and publishing is, in some ways, the same as TV and film. There is a place for people to get their unique voices out there.  For the many years I have worked with Dan Harmon, he is often asked during panels “how did you get to where you are now? How did you know what people would like?” (Not a direct quote) And a response he gives, more or less, is to just keep doing the work and putting it out there. Keep making it, writing as much as you can, anywhere you can and get people to read it… live journal (or whatever contemporary equivalent there is). Just write it and get it out there.

What are the books that have most impacted you as a leader?

The last few years I have been fascinated with nonfiction books related to business and success. Entrepreneurial reading lists and the like, but I’ve always had a broad array of books from which to draw inspiration.

I would say that the top books that have influenced me in terms of my leadership skills are “The Art of Seduction” by Robert Green, “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke,  “Failed It!: How to turn mistakes into ideas and other advice for successfully screwing up “ by Erik Kressels, and “Beauty: the Invisible Embrace” by Robert O”Donohue, hve been some of the most influential books. And, of course there is “Self Reliance”, “Six Walks in the Fictional Woods” by Umberto Ecco. I also love Shirley Jackson, Sylvia Plathe, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and T.S. Eliot.

What trends and ideas are you seeing in the television landscape that are worth noting?

Shorter television cycles, which can make it more difficult to make a living wage as an artist in the field. However, it allows for more opportunities throughout the year. TV filming leaving CA, and the US in general, which makes getting smaller parts harder to come by.

There has been a rise on huge multi-show deal options with well known show runners, which has equal positive and negative results in the entertainment landscape.

I’d say my son is a great resource of trends for me. He seeks out shows via YouTube, TikTok or IG as well as through specific streaming apps when looking for a particular show. Like Crunchy Roll for Animé but he also found the show Suits via TikTok and began streaming it on Netflix. Its amazing to have the opportunity for a whole new audience to view great shows.

I am also seeing a moving away from binge watching, but I think that binging is still a part of the way in which we consume TV. And then of course, the circling back of ad supported television… which just brings us back to where TV started, anyway.

You were the victim of a random stabbing attack a few years ago. But, rather than limit your career, that has taken you in a new direction. Can you share more?

The stabbing in July of 2020 has been one of the most redefining moments of my entire life. It’s even hard to write this and talk about it still to this day. I suffered an immense amount of pain (still do) and the inability to use my right hand normally. I do not have feeling in most of my right hand, but you learn to tolerate it more and more as time goes on, like white noise in the background. There was a point in which I realized I would spend more of my life in pain and with this disability than without it; I would have to make the “injury” work for me.

As I continued on the path to healing, I saw a holistic kinesiologist, Dr. Byrnes in Woodland Hills, who encouraged me to play a musical instrument for its benefits in neuroplasticity. Nerves heal from the brain outward and heal very, very slowly. Learning a new language or playing a musical instrument helps the brain stay healthy and, in turn, your nerves stay healthy too. At the time, a friend had given me a guitar because they were cleaning out their house and didn’t use it. It clicked. I had a guitar.

The blade of the knife went through the back of my right forearm and between my two bones and completely severed my median nerve ,which is why my right hand was affected, but since guitar playing uses mostly the left for creating the chords. It was empowering to think I could play something. I could definitely strum with my right, and I just would play for hours everyday, and there is something about music, and singing, and playing that is meditative for me. I spend a lot of time alone, and can just be by myself playing music. It helped me grow and heal and became something I could suck at: music is supposed to be hard to do but also wasn’t as upsetting as trying to button a long sleeve shirt (which I still struggle with). And because I didn’t really play music well before, I had no reference to how it was supposed to be, but buttoning a shirt isn’t and wasn’t something difficult for me until the incident.

I just kept following the paths where the roads would open as opposed to banging down doors that didn’t seem to want me in those spaces anymore.

I was asked to co-lead sing a song at this Big Star Cover event at Gold Diggers where a number of bands do covers, or related songs. We sang a Boxtops song called “Cry like a Baby,” and after the show I had a number of people ask if I write music, and at the time I didn’t. This was in April of 2024. I have been performing my whole life, but singing with a rock band was something entirely different for me. I never thought of even doing it in my life, but music became this gateway for me into a place where I felt empowered.

This lead to cowriting songs with other musicians, and to forming my band, Belle and Chain. The name of the band is a riff on the the idea of the old ball and chain. I have always felt constrained by relationships and mostly by patriarchal archetypal cages, and so I think of myself as the Belle and the chains that hold me down; society, men, relationships, family, work, andon occasion my last name.

I can’t say that I know where the music will take me, but I can tell you that I haven’t felt as empowered or happy to contribute something to the world as writing music. It pushes me to write poetry and melodies that speak to me, and to what I go through. The aspect of performance and exchange with fans and an audience makes just the act of the performance worth it for me. Music is like my religion, my best friend, my lover, and my enemy at times, but it makes me happier than I have ever felt. I can only hope to entertain and inspire others to live their lives to the fullest, and to embrace all of the missteps that may happen. I would never want anyone  to experience what I went through, but I can say it woke me up to really  live life to the fullest. It leads the way to a magical life. There are many things I don’t know, but I can tell you getting stabbed and going through the journey I have the last few years has shown me sides of myself and the world I never thought I would witness. I think we all feel a pressure right now as everything seems to be unknown, but if I can inspire people or just be able to do something worthwhile while I am still on this planet, it would have all been worth it.

I hope to bring people joy, to make them laugh, to make them feel something/anything, to share my experiences with them and their experiences with me, and to encourage people to live life for just today because mine was nearly taken from my 5 years ago. I say to myself all the time I'm not dead yet, I don’t know how I got here, but I'm here now, and I'm gonna make the most of it.

How do you navigate all of your career hats? What’s the secret to your success?

I always feel like I have so many more things too accomplish! I’m not sure I navigate my many career hats that well. I always was in love with acting, and performance, I came from a dance background and studied acting in high school and college. I was dedicated. I worked multiple jobs to pay for living in NY. I was always told , “Do what you love because you will do it the rest of your life.” I loved to act and to perform, and I think I also wanted to be seen. I was fueled by the work itself. It gave me purpose, and I have kept that going.

The entertainment business, at least in the acting realm, hasn’t been my favorite experience. I have had “me too” moments and sexist experiences as a mother and woman. It has broken me in many ways, and also been beautiful. I open myself up to a vulnerability and connection with the people I work with that I rarely do in the real world and those feeling are very hard for me to live in. But the skills to cry, to laugh, to learn dialogue, to hit marks, to know where my light is, to play in a space with other actors, that is a set of skills I will never lose. I continue to build on those skills, and add to them.

Music is another facet of performances and contributes a great deal to my confidence, but it transcends into more than just a supporting project. There is alchemy to music with the other players, and the audience, and the lyrics that really is immediate and tangible in a way on camera acting isn’t. There is an alchemy in creating a film, tv show, or play. The shared energy of two actors playing characters, the writer’s intentions, the director, the camera, the audience; all those elements build the work that becomes the art we make. That collective and commitment to the work is a kind of magic to me.

I want to believe there is magic in the world and I think that when people create something out of nothing that is a gift and truly where we become magical creatures. I would never want to throw any of those gifts away, but I balance them by following the green lights to an unknown destination, and I am grateful everyday. There are things I sacrifice like going out with friends, or partying, sometimes I miss vacations, or holidays, or important family events. I find I have to limit them if I want to be able to achieve everything I dream of. But as I said I’m not dead yet, and I’m trying to be kind to this body I have for the time I have it. I’ve been battered and bruised, but I am still strong and still young enough to at least enjoy the journey and dance to the end of my days.

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