Info

Soulful Ambition

The podcast for ambitious people yearning for more soul. Formerly known as A Balancing Act, Soulful Ambition explores what it means to live inside out and go after our deepest longings. Analisa Leaming is a Broadway actor turned down what would have been her 5th Broadway show to move her family to the mountains of Colorado and become a full-time coach. Soulful Ambition might sound contradictory at first… Because we’ve let society define ambition as striving for individual success, monetary gain, and personal achievements. But that’s not what the soul really craves. In each episode, we’re calling back the parts of ourselves conditioned to society’s grind and external pressure. And awakening the longing in your chest that is so big it threatens to swallow you whole. So you can shine unapologetically, source from within, and work towards your dreams with abandon.
RSS Feed
Soulful Ambition
2024
April
March
February
January


2023
December
November
October
September
August
April
March
February
January


2019
August
July
June
May
April


2018
October
July
June
May
April


2016
May
April


Categories

All Episodes
Archives
Categories
Now displaying: Category: Performing Arts, Self-Help, Creativity, Broadway, Acting, Singing,
Feb 27, 2024

Performers get your free Between Gig Guide here for powerful tools and practices to support you in staying aligned and to unleash your star power! 

Visit www.analisaleaming.com to coach with Analisa, receive updates about the podcast, and future events!

Episode Highlights:

✨ Analisa shares why she's ending her journey with ABA + where she's heading! (spoiler: it's still a podcast for you!)

✨ An invitation to examine where you're being called to expand

✨ Blow up limiting beliefs + redefine success

✨ Embracing expansion 

✨ Living aligned with your Soulful Ambitions

Beloved listeners, this is the final episode of A Balancing Act. Today Analisa shares how this came to be since and invites you to examine your own journey and see if you've outgrown anything or are ready to expand. As always, she shares vulnerably and transparently. Analisa unveils the name of the new podcast, which will begin at the middle/end of March, make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss the first episode! 

Analisa ends with massive gratitude for all of you that have been a part of the journey! 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

 

 

Feb 20, 2024

🚀 Get your free Between Gig Guide Here 

💛 Learn more about working with Analisa Leaming here.

Episode Highlights: 

✨ An update on A Balancing Act podcast + where it's heading

✨ Embracing the in-between

✨ Tangible ideas and practices to keep the flame alive

✨ Connecting daily with your Soul

✨ Using your creative gifts to be in your Star Power 

In this episode, Analisa Leaming reflects on the closing of the season and teases the upcoming transition and expansion of the podcast. Analisa discusses the importance of the in-between show period and offers practical steps for navigating this time. She also emphasizes the practice of being with discomfort and connecting with the soul on a daily basis. The episode concludes with exercises on writing the current chapter of your life and crafting and committing to your character. 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

 

 

Feb 13, 2024

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

 

Episode Highlights: 

  • Aligning with the seasons to enhance the creative process
  • Identifying your primary element (earth, air, water, or fire) to provide insights into your creative process
  • The importance of playing the long game as a Creative Being
  • The Ultimate Game: maintaining passion + desire while remaining detached from specific outcomes
  • Breaking the paradigm of 'if/then' thinking 

Analisa is joined by guest Joshua Townsend, an expert in creative development and story coaching. They discuss the importance of understanding the elements and how they relate to the creative process. They delve into the characteristics and challenges of each element (earth, air, water, and fire) and provide practical tips for working with each element in a creative context. In this conversation, Joshua Townshend and Analisa Leaming discuss various aspects of the creative process and personal growth. They explore the importance of understanding characters and how they present themselves versus who they truly are. They also delve into the concept of the short game versus the long game, emphasizing the need for patience and authenticity in pursuing creative endeavors. The conversation then shifts to the ultimate game, which involves maintaining passion and desire while remaining detached from specific outcomes. They discuss the path of mastery and the importance of breaking the paradigm of 'if-then' thinking. Finally, they touch on the power of breathing and the skills that artists develop throughout their journey.

 

Learn more about Joshua Townshend here.

Take Joshua's creative element quiz here.

 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

Jan 30, 2024
Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa + A Balancing Act HERE.
 
 
Episode Highlights:
  • Patrick's story: dressing actors on Broadway while also auditioning!!! 
  • Patrick's hot-take on audition season
  • What makes an actor stand out in the audition room
  • Goal setting 
  • Detaching from audacious dreams 
  • The power of creating on your own terms
  • "Skipping the first 10 times"  Practice 
 
 
This conversation explores the journey of Patrick O'Neill, a director and choreographer, and his insights on navigating the performing arts industry. Analisa and Patrick cover topics such as his accidental journey in the arts, identity shifts, audition season, cultivating creativity, qualities that make an actor stand out, the importance of daily practices, and embracing the journey and setting goals.
 
In this conversation, Patrick O'Neill and Analisa Leaming discuss setting achievable goals, detaching from audacious dreams, the power of making things, finding answers within, embracing vulnerability, and belonging on stage. They emphasize the importance of taking practical steps towards goals and not being overwhelmed by the end result. They also discuss the practice of detaching from outcomes and finding satisfaction in the creative process. Patrick shares the importance of making things and how it gives a sense of pride and authority. They also explore the practice of finding answers within oneself and the vulnerability that comes with pursuing big dreams. They conclude by discussing the idea of belonging on stage and the importance of skipping the first 10 attempts to find success.
 
Soul Nourishment in this episode:
 
Connect with Patrick here and here.
 
 
 
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Jan 23, 2024

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming HERE. 

Inside this episode: 

  • Analisa's way of activating her Indestructible Core
  • How to practice not taking things personally 
  • How the fear of humiliation points to an addiction to pride
  • The antidote to fear of humiliation (the opinion of others)
  • An exploration of True Humility 

This episode is a follow up to Eleri Ward's powerful conversation last week. Analisa goes deeper into two main themes: the indestructible core and the power of not taking anything personally. She then explores the fear of humiliation and how it's holding so many artists back. Analisa shares that she, too, is very much a student of this topic and goes into her favorite teachings on humiliation, pride, perfectionism and true humility. Anyone struggling with perfectionism, taking up space, and being their full self will find gems and actionable steps within this episode! 

Soul Nourishment in this episode:

Xavier Dagba

Caroline Myss Entering the Castle

Jason Mraz Making it Up

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

 

Jan 16, 2024

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE. 

Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming HERE.

In this episode with Eleri Ward:  

✨ Eleri's journey from musical theatre showcase to critically acclaimed recording artist + finding HER voice 

✨ Having "Healthy Delusion" in the entertainment + theatre industry

✨ Cultivating an indestructible core 

✨ The power of not taking anything personally 

✨ Reframing being told "You Don't Fit/We don't understand you"

Analisa stumbled across this reel of Eleri's on Instagram and was blown away by her story and her talent. She was thrilled to sit down with her and learn about her journey from her musical theatre showcase at Boston Conservatory where she didn't receive an offer from an agent to recording and producing her full length indie-folk Sondheim album, “A Perfect Little Death,” in her closet.

 
After gaining a viral TikTok following, it was released by Ghostlight Records and has been hailed as “a harmonious marriage of musical theater and indie folk music, with hauntingly beautiful arrangements” by Forbes and “an incandescent new record, something genuinely new” from American Theater Magazine.


Eleri speaks to the mindset that allows her to show up fully and unapologetically. She shares the pitfalls she sees in the musical theatre industry where it's easy to give up your power and self-belief and the necessity to build and maintain and indestructible core. This episode is a jampacked with motivation, inspiration and encouragement for owning your unique voice and path and believing in yourself no matter what. It's a perfect episode to have bookmarked before auditions or in a time when you need a reminder of claiming your own greatness. 

Follow Eleri

Listen + Watch Eleri

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

 

 

 

 

Jan 9, 2024

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa + A Balancing Act HERE.

Analisa has been podcasting since 2016 and this is the first time she's shared her own unique path to Broadway and beyond. She shares her early influences, experiences in college, auditions, and survival jobs in New York City. Analisa discusses the heartbreak and soul-searching moments in her career and the pivotal decision to consider a different path. Tune in for a very special behind-the-scenes episode!! 

Highlights from Analisa's Story: 

  • Everyone's path is different!
  • From Opera to Musical Theatre
  • Analisa's journey from Tennessee to NYC
  • Analisa's "survival jobs"
  • Audition stories
  • Heartbreaks along the way
  • Considering another path before making it to Broadway 
  • The thing she thinks about most when reflecting on her career

Tune into Episode 37 to hear the journey from NYC to Colorado! 

Time Stamps:

00:00 Introduction and Setting the Intention
02:41 Growing Up and Early Influences
08:05 College 
12:17 Professional Opportunities and Decision-Making
19:25 Moving to New York and Survival Jobs
27:09 Regional Theater and Broadway Dreams
35:27 Heartbreak and Soul-Searching
39:05 Meeting Steve Lutvak and Gentleman's Guide
45:15 Considering a Different Path
46:14 Hope and Booking On the 20th Century
47:36 Broadway Debut 
48:25 On the 20th Century
49:24 Taking Kathy's Spot
49:54 The Music Man
50:50 Relationships and Offstage Moments
51:55 Career Reflections
52:24 Sound of Music and Mary Poppins
53:23 Auditioning for The King and I
53:49 Standing By at Lincoln Center
54:44 Booking Hello Dolly
55:08 Becoming a Lead and Touring
56:03 Booking School of Rock
56:28 Touring with Hello Dolly
57:29 Transitioning to Coaching
58:23 Moving to Colorado
59:15 Upcoming Gig with Tulsa Ballet
 
A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.
Jan 2, 2024

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

Episode Highlights: 

  • All the tangible practices + tools for managing your hopes and dreams in the biz and beyond
  • Vulnerable stories + shares from Broadway and Hollywood
  • Establishing a practice to manage challenges + setbacks without letting it derail or defeat you

  • Making peace with where you are

  • The power of shifting from a mindset of “should” to “could”

  • How to identity the voice of your intuition + developing a playbook for your best self

Episode Summary:

In this episode Analisa interviews Wendy Braun, an accomplished actress and breakthrough coach of Actor Inspiration. Wendy talks about the importance of developing a practice to navigate disappointment and setbacks in the industry without letting it derail or define you. Wendy and Analisa share stories from their careers of discovering the balance between finding peace with where they are and excitement for where they want to be. Wendy reveals her process for helping lead her students to creative breakthroughs. Listen to this episode to learn tools and insights for connecting to your highest self and navigating your career from a fully aligned place.

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro to Podcast and Wendy Braun

3:00 Speaking with authority through mastering disappointment

5:23 Finding the good where you are

12:12 Reaching the highest level doesn’t cure the insecurities

21:54 Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable

24:09 Journaling from your highest self

26:38 Daily practice for expanding into your highest self

32:00 How to identify your intuition / inner voice

34:59 Shifting shoulds to clouds

38:54 4 questions to ask yourself to create a breakthrough

43:10 A best self playbook

50:00 Working through the emotions we don’t like

53:08 A practice for artists and wild dreamers to start the new year with

59:45 Finding community to help you do the work

About Wendy: Accomplished actress Wendy Braun has enjoyed a dynamic career, recently appearing on four seasons of the celebrated Netflix series, Atypical, as well as guest appearances on This Is Us, Grey's Anatomy, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Criminal Minds to name a few. With over 80 TV + Film credits, over 100 commercials and thousands of voiceovers, Wendy has also combined decades of invaluable professional experience with her passion for inspiring others.

She is also a Breakthrough Coach and the CEO + founder of ActorInspiration.com, and was recently featured in Forbes for her game-changing Success Breakthrough Workshop online course (now in over 25 countries) and powerful guided meditations that have helped thousands of creatives overcome obstacles and create new levels of success, joy and fulfillment. Known as a powerhouse global speaker and the guiding light behind many success stories, Authority Magazine declared Wendy one of their “Inspirational Women In Hollywood.”

Her clients include Series Regulars, Broadway performers and Award-Winning stage and screen actors, as well as directors, producers, writers and entrepreneurs.

🎉YOU’RE INVITED! Join Wendy for an impactful + empowering Success Breakthrough Experience, a Free 5 Day Virtual Event, designed to help you release blocks, re-imagine what's possible and learn the exact steps to making this your best year yet. 

➡️ Join the party here: Actorinspiration.com/bestyearyet  

🎁 FREE GIFT: Enjoy a free guided meditation to help you create success while you sleep and wake up each morning feeling renewed, refreshed and confident.

➡️ Download "Creating Success While You Sleep” here: ActorInspiration.com/sleep

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor + soulful coach.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

Dec 26, 2023

Reserve your Seat:

Harvest Wisdom/Plant Dreams: A Soulful Approach to Year-End Reflections and Intention on Dec 29th  

Embrace the spirit of self-discovery and artistic growth as we bid farewell to the year and set our sights on new beginnings.

Join as we revisit a cherished discussion with Jack Plotnick, whose wisdom on overcoming mental barriers in acting remains evergreen as we step into the new year. Jack shared his concept of the ego as your vulture, which is a game-changer for actors looking to shed their limitations. He also highlights the emotional rollercoaster that comes with the pursuit of acting, from the search for validation to the exhilaration of creative freedom.

This episode brilliantly outlines how actors can navigate their mental labyrinths and emerge with a renewed sense of purpose and creative liberation.

Episode Highlights :

  • Your “vulture”  and how it can help actors overcome mental barriers

  • Authenticity in auditions and the role of spontaneity in performances

  • Unpacking Want VS. Need

  • Focusing on outcomes to enjoy the process of acting and auditioning

  • Leveraging social media and online platforms to gain visibility and opportunities

  • High stakes in characters' desires to enhance comedic and dramatic acting

  • Dedication and resilience required to thrive in the acting industry

 

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa + A Balancing Act HERE

Download Jack's Ebook New Thoughts For Actors

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

Dec 19, 2023

New Year Workshop: Harvesting Dreams/Planting Wisdom Dec. 29th Reserve your spot here.

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa + A Balancing Act HERE.

Episode Highlights: 

  • The power of rituals in seasons of transition

  • A  journal prompt:  “If I were heading back to New York City, what would I do?”

  • Dissecting the “Old Way” of working and birthing the “New Way”

  • Having self-compassion and really loving on our insecurities (“I see you!”)

  • The push/pull of under- and over-compensating, playing too big and too small

  • Getting lit up by your Why—awakening the energetic body

  • Following Soul Breadcrumbs

  • Feeling full OF yourself!

  • Being congruent, bringing fullness to every area of a “big, rich, beautiful life”


In this week’s solo episode,
Analisa pulls back the curtain a bit during this season of transition, bringing us along as she journals on the prompt:  “If I were heading back to New York City, what would I do?”  Analisa explores what her Old Way of approaching this might look like, and then digs deep and dreams big—what could be the New Way?  How can we feel fierce self-compassion for our fears and insecurities, and then hold space for even bigger and fuller dreams?  Analisa follows “soul breadcrumbs” that come up in her journaling, and walks us through getting to her “Why”--listen as it awakens her energetic body and lights her up in real time! 

 

Analisa also shares exciting news about her upcoming two-hour workshop, "Harvesting Wisdom and Planting Dreams”:  it’ll be a perfect container to build on these ideas, explore, and get curious–what is it that wants to be created through you in the New Year?   Grab your journal, give this a good listen, and get ready to go deep!

 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

Dec 12, 2023

New Year Workshop: Harvesting Dreams/Planting Wisdom Dec. 29th Reserve your spot here.

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa + A Balancing Act HERE.

Episode Highlights: 

  • Finding the gifts in disappointment

  • Learning that “you are not what you do”

  • Broadway stories from Rebecca, The Little Mermaid, Phantom, & Hello, Dolly!

  • Uncovering our true purpose 

  • Honoring our deep desires

  • Building community and nurturing Soul

  • Becoming a Leading Lady

  • Sierra’s mantra: You Are Enough!

In this episode, Analisa re-airs her first interview with Broadway star and soulful human Sierra Boggess!  Join them in the Rosalie dressing room at School of Rock for a fun and vulnerable conversation about “doing the work” and finding our true purpose in what we do—and bringing that alignment into every aspect of our lives.  Sierra and Analisa open up about their shared experience with the cancellation of Broadway’s Rebecca, and discuss how they have learned to embrace frequent disappointment in this business and not “go into the dark.” 

How can we get to the bottom of what really motivates us to do what we do?  How do we trust, in the low moments, that there is something else there for us?  How do we build support networks and handle jealousy and competition, especially in the age of social media?  Analisa and Sierra share many beautiful stories and wonderful resources as they talk “getting clear on the core of what we’re doing”—all in pursuit of becoming expansive human beings! Originally Aired May 18, 2018

Time Stamps 

0:00 Intro, New Year Workshop + Welcome to Sierra back to the Rosalie dressing room

6:01 The saga of Rebecca and gifts from a disappointing year

13:56 Trusting that the “universe is conspiring in your favor”

16:21 Processing crummy feelings: “While I’m down here, what am I supposed to learn from this?” (and doing it “sober”)

29:46 Sierra’s network of support (and intro to The Paradox Process!)

41:36 Getting back into alignment, allowing creative opportunities to flow into your life

46:35 Same desires, shifting priorities – going from “What job am I doing next?” to “Why am I here?”

48:15 Sierra’s low point and the 5 questions to discovering your purpose

55:00 Sierra’s transition away from “living unconsciously” and learning to lead a company (The Little Mermaid)

1:05 Two sides of the coin:  “I’m jealous” AND “Oh, I can dream bigger!”

1:11 Social media and “being ruthlessly onto ourselves” 

 

Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:

SierraBoggess.com

Wayne Dyer: “The Power of Intention”

Diana Nyad: “Find A Way

Thomas Jones, The Paradox Process

Adam Leipzig’s TED Talk:  “How to know your life purpose in five minutes”

Gabby Bernstein: “Judgment Detox”

 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

Nov 21, 2023

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

This week’s solo episode is an interactive inner exploration. You’re invited to be an active participant, grab a journal or sit and close your eyes. You’ll pause and check in, without judgment, how you’re currently doing and feeling. Analisa guides us on this journey & asks us deep questions to find the answers within by tapping into our inner wisdom.You’ll leave the episode feeling deeply empowered and connected to yourself, feeling inspired and lit up from within! 

 

Time Stamps 

0:00 Analisa’s Intro: An Invitation to Pause

3:43 Of Course We’re Gonna Get Knocked Out of Alignment

5:15 How Is It Feeling, Right Now?

7:17 Am I Getting Caught in Busywork?

9:20 Are You Acting From High Vibe? Milk it!

11:36 Are You Called to Just Be?

13:10 The Quality of Seeking External Validation

15:00 Let Me Give Myself Space to Say It Out Loud

17:07 I Don’t Want to Create From Here!

19:39 Mind, Can You Soften?

22:06 An Invitation Home

24:10 I Want My Body to Sing that Song

26:19 This Deep Trust 

27:45 What Do I Know Now that I Didn’t Know Before?

28:57 Being Able to Receive Means Slowing Down Enough to Listen

31:00 You Really Do Have All the Answers Within

Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:

Wanna find out your enneagram number before next week's podcast with an enneagram coach? Here are two tests we recommend: 

Riso Hudson Enneagram Test

Narrative Enneagram Test

 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

Nov 7, 2023

Sign up for a 1:1 Session with Analisa! 

Episode Bullet Points

In this short solo episode Analisa helps you love on your Little Self. She also opens up the conversation to you, the listeners: is there anyone out there with the research know-how to look at these universal struggles from a social sciences perspective? Topics covered in this episode include:

  • Offering one-off 1:1 session in Nov/Dec 2023
  • The need for “Little Self” to be witnessed

  • The unique wounds of high performers

  • Letting go of the need to fix

  • Loving the part of yourself that wants love

Episode Summary

This week’s solo episode is a powerful exploration of an expansive question: what if your human aspects (fear, self-doubt, anxiety) aren’t a problem to be fixed? Analisa brings her wild and silliest self to guiding you through choosing to love those Little Self expressions. This episode can be used as a meditative guide to finding that love for yourself. There is also a beautiful meta thread of how Analisa chooses to share and create the podcast itself. 

Topic Shift Time Stamps 

0:00 Analisa’s Intro: different ways to play

2:48 Behind the curtain: two episode ideas

5:10 Analisa’s Love Bomb

7:04 Questions from Little Self & the need to control

9:09 Pause & Love the Fear

11:23 Toddlers: Before “Not Good Enough”

13:39 Enneagram Episode Sneak Peek 

14:43 A Question for the High Performers

17:02 Can you feel a softening?

 19:35 Love instead of fixing

20:50 Wrap Up

Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:

Riso Hudson Enneagram Test

Narrative Enneagram Test

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

 

Oct 24, 2023

Free workshop Nov. 2nd, 2023: Alignment Before Action!!

Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming or Soulful Creatives Circle Member  HERE.

Episode Highlights

  • Elena’s journey 

  • Planting the Role in Your Voice as a Garden

  • Proving vs Sharing

  • The Gift of Perspective Shifts 

  • “It’s Not Fair That You Can’t Do It All”

  • The Gifts of Motherhood

  • Audition Friendships 

  • The Difference between Ambition & Lack

In this episode, Analisa interviews Elena Shaddow, Broadway actor, voice teacher, wife & mother. This intimate conversation between friends with mirrored life paths covers so many juicy topics. Both Analisa and Elena have been the standby for Kelli O’Hara, and have led shows in their own right. This interview covers the origin of their unlikely friendship: meeting at an audition where neither booked the role. What does it mean to be known as someone’s understudy? How do you deal with the ego aspect of it? How does motherhood affect a leading lady’s career? Analisa and Elena also riff on the importance of coming to the work fed: differentiating yourself from the roles you play by leading a full life outside of the industry. These two brilliant teachers lead by example, sharing vulnerably, with great humor, and plenty of juicy Broadway stories. This is an episode you’ll want to listen to again - and send to your favorite actress-mama or wunderstudy!

Topic Shift Time Stamps 

0:00 Analisa’s Intro 

5:17 Interview Begins 

8:18 “I got into a Broadway show!” “Yay!” “I’m the understudy!” “Oh.”

10:38 The Days of Wine & Roses story: Stepping in to Standby

13:51 Learning a Role = Planting a Garden

16:23 “I Honor Me”

21:07 Turning Down Broadway

24:20 What Must it Be Like, As A Standby On Opening Night?

27:30 The Full Ego 180

30:11 Where did husband and babies come into the journey?

36:55 Balance: Is it season by season?

42:53 It’s Just Unfair That You Can’t Do It All

45:35 There’s More To Be Gained From Saying Yes

49:25 The Need to Be Different: Going On as the Understudy

57:11 You Probably Never Doubt Yourself - No!

63:39 The Fear of Taking a Break

66:43 Understudying Is Not a Dirty Word!

 

Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:

Elena Shaddow: https://www.elenashaddow.net/

Will Buck Coach/Composer: willbuckmusic@aol.com

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

Oct 17, 2023

Alignment Before Action Free Workshop November 2nd!

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

In a solo episode that is jam packed with inspired practices, we dive deep into the HOW of releasing our attachment to outcomes, specifically around auditions. Analisa guides us through:

  • The fears that come up with we WANT the job

  • The need to acknowledge and make space for “Little Self”

  • Embodiment tools for realigning with YOU

  • What it feels like to come home to ourselves

  • The real time inspiration for a new, FREE workshop on putting these concepts into practice

 

How do we share our authentic selves in auditions, when so much is on the line? How can we manage when we start to really WANT it? Why does it get grippy-er the closer we get? How can we step back into alignment with our truest state, so that we are open to creative inspiration? Bookmark this episode to listen to whenever you need Analisa to remind you of how to release the clinging by honoring your longings. 

Topic Shift Time Stamps 

0:00 Analisa’s Intro 

1:50 Client Inspiration for this Episode

3:13 Authenticity is Allowing for Bless & Release

4:30 Acknowledge the Fear of Longing: Now It’s Mine to Lose

6:25 Talking to “Little Self” & Listening to Their Voice

8:21 Of Course You Want it!

10:01 Embodiment & Voice Work: other doorways in

12:14 Am I Identifying with the Clinginess? 

14:00 Getting Back into Alignment with YOU

16:31 I Want to Come Home to Myself

19:06 Alignment Allows For Creative Ideas to Bubble Up

21:00 Inspired Alignment Workshop Details

Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:

Jen Waldman Studio 

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

Oct 10, 2023

Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming

or Soulful Creatives Circle Member  HERE.

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act  HERE.

Episode Highlights: 

  • Identity shifts, grief, and integration

  • The impact you can have by sharing soulfully

  • Social media assumptions

  • Build resiliency by seeking rejection

  • Reach out in gratitude

  • Teach your audience how you want to be treated

  • Using your discernment with social media boundaries

In this episode, Analisa interviews Bret Shuford, Broadway actor, creative life coach, and one half of @BroadwayHusbands. There are so many gems in this conversation, which ranges from ego death to passing the torch to sharing your soul on social media. How can we integrate our old identities when we shift gears? Can you get in alignment before you post, the same way you would before an audition? The key to taking the pressure off of maintaining a social media presence is committing to showing up consistently, and Bret & Analisa share many practical tips for doing this in this lively interview.

Topic Shift Time Stamps 

0:00 Analisa’s Intro 

3:55 Bret’s New & Improved Self-Intro 

7:05  How to sit with the difficult emotions of transitions

11:30 Broadway Pen Pals: it’s not what you thought, is it?

15:05 On the Broadway Mountain & the Chain of Mountains

18:52 Unpacking our social media assumptions

21:41 Our Job is to become Known: Measuring Likes? Stop 

24:33 Your Content is NOT for You

27:52 Reframe of the Four Pillars: Disneyland Metaphor for Social Media

32:32 Make Posting a Habit & Not an Event: Ariana DeBose example

40:37 Everything Old is New Again: Repost!

43:05 Draft when you are sourced; pause when you’re not

47:17 You are part of the ocean: share your gratitude

48:14 Create more than you consume: commit to posting every time you log on

50:20 Follow outside your industry

55:57 How to work with Bret

Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:

Bret Shuford on Instagram: @bretshuford @broadwayhusbands

Bret’s free quiz

Rejection Therapy TedTalk

 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success.

 

Oct 3, 2023

Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming

or Soulful Creatives Circle Member  HERE. 

In a meta solo episode that is made to be listened to on repeat, we dive deep into what it means to realign with our authenticity. Analisa guides us through:

  • Authentic Self-Introduction

  • Her personal process for getting into & staying in alignment

  • Ways to deal with the resistance that pulls us out of our authenticity

  • The difference between playing big & trying hard

  • Getting Meta with an invitation to the Soulful Creatives Circle

Episode Summary

In this vulnerable solo episode, Analisa explores the concept of Authenticity. How do we step into our own individual Authenticity in everything we do, from introducing ourselves, to creating art, to being with our families…and yes, even to auditioning? How can we be open to the audience’s energy while not allowing it to knock us off course? Can we play big without forcing? Where is the line between wanting and needing? Bookmark this episode to listen to whenever you need Analisa to guide you through stepping into your authentic self. 

Topic Shift Time Stamps 

0:00 Analisa’s Authenticity Reframe of the Podcast Intro

3:13 A Vulnerable Story About the Inspiration for this Episode

5:50 Being Open to (Audience) Energy while Staying Aligned with Our Authenticity 

7:30 Have You Ever Gotten Squeezy in an Audition?

8:10 Bookmark Here: A Tool for Stepping into Authenticity

8:58 How Did Analisa Step into her Authenticity for this Episode? First Steps

10:58 Dealing with the Hungry Ghost & the Fears That Feed It

14:05 Denim & Character Shoes: How to Work Authentically Within Outside Expectations

16:45 A Time for Singing Story

19:20 The Fix for the Fix It Mentality: Feel into It

21:06 Analisa practices her own authenticity while sharing about the Soulful Creatives Circle: dealing with the assumptions that come up

24:07 The Last Step: Let Go of Outcomes

 

Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:

“Blessed We Are” - A Mystic song Analisa uses in her own dropping in process.

Analisa’s REEL about Authenticity

~~~~~~~

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

Sep 19, 2023

Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming

or Soulful Creatives Circle Member  HERE.

✨✨✨✨✨✨

In this solo episode, we dive deep into what it means to set our Goals with our Soul. It’s a skill to be able to cultivate structure from within, versus needing and then resenting external systems. How can we have both freedom to create and grounded connection to the systems in our lives? It’s about finding the sacred in the mundane. 

So, how can we use daily habits to harness our big wild dreams instead of it just being a drag? We give ourselves a specific timeline (12 weeks) and pick small achievable changes to make.Not following through on goals we set for ourselves has great ramifications on our self worth, and the number one reason we don’t follow through is picking things that are too big. 

What are the micro steps in our day to day that really matter? Analisa digs into the nitty gritty of our small daily habits, talking through the life of a working performer, investigating what small daily goals we can set that will support our biggest, wildest dreams.

Topic Shift Time Stamps 

1:34 The Astrology of the Moment Rundown: Virgo Season, New Moon & Mercury Rx

2:40 The Two Creative Responses to Goal-Setting & Structure

4:54 The Magic of this Episode

7:38 Which Habits Aren’t Supportive of Your Big Dreams?

10:06 Twelve Weeks & Just Pick One

13:27 The Waterfall of Life metaphor

19:15 What Supports Our Actions? Community!

Soul Nourishment mentioned in this episode:

Link to the Huberman Lab podcast episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/huberman-lab/id1545953110?i=1000625908647

James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits

 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

Sep 12, 2023

Learn more about 1:1 Soulful Coaching w/ Analisa Leaming

or Soulful Creatives Circle Member  HERE. 

Today's episode with co-founders and artistic directors of TheatreSquared, Bob Ford + Amy Herzberg: 

  • What Bob + Amy were doing in their 20s & how they wouldn't have believed this is how their lives would unfold
  • Amy's journey from acting to teaching + directing
  • Amy's keys to career longevity
  • Bob's untangling from ego + identity as a NY actor 
  • Founding a mission driven nationally acclaimed theatre in Fayetteville, Arkansas!
  • The importance of great theatre everywhere, not just NYC
  • Stories of how TheatreSquared is transforming their community 
  • Aligning with your values + mission as a daily conversation and practice

Look at this award-winning theatre they got to build with architects Marvel & Charcoalblue.

Follow TheatreSquared on Instagram

 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives.  This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

Get your free audition meditation and stay in the loop with Analisa and A Balancing Act HERE.

 

 

Aug 29, 2023

Aug 31st workshop: Claiming your Big Dreams + Moving towards them with LOVE  

How to make the claim, manage disappointment +  insecurity, stay in alignment, release the neediness, and discern ego from soul. In this 2 hr workshop I’m going to share with you practical steps, exercises, and practices. I won’t hold back for fear of being “too spiritual.” I’m going to play BIG in a way that I know will inspire you to dial up your own bright light. 

✨✨✨ Just announced: New Group Program The Soulful Creative Circle 

 

This episode: 

Sabrina Lynn "Let’s have a soulful conversation & open the door to illuminating the blueprint that is unique to you."

  • Learn to follow the soulful breadcrumbs
  • Sourcing from within rather than without 
  • Coming to our art fed
  • Creating from a place of truly not caring if you book the show
  • How to BE with our attachments to results
  • Sitting with our fear rather than judging it
  • Preparing for auditions aligned with soul
  • What is the soulful creative path?
  • What's gotten in the way of our connection with our original creative spark?
  • Is our big dream ego or soul?
  • Blow up the Broadway box! 

Two podcast episodes we reference: 

Dangerous Old Woman

You never know where that audition will lead 

 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  soulful coach for creatives. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

Receive a free audition meditation and get on Analisa's love letter list HERE.

Apr 18, 2023

This episode with Laureen E. Smith is a massive dose of PERMISSION to trust the path that you are on! 

Laureen started her career with a BA in Theatre and then took a completely different route via divinity school at Harvard and becoming a minister. 

Now, in her 60s, she's a D.C. based actor and in this episode shares wisdom through her story and the perspective it's given her. 

She speaks to many fears that actors face and how she navigates them, including feeling "too old" after getting her first set of headshots in her 40s. 

May this episode expand your definition of success and what is possible! 

Sign up for your free audition meditation and Analisa's weekly love letter here. 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  holistic performance coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

Apr 11, 2023

In today's solo episode Analisa explores the importance of cultivating awareness of thoughts and feelings for creatives. 

 

Creatives tend to be more emotionally aware, but often they are more emotionally reactive and are still stuck in very limiting thoughts. 

 

Through developing the capacity to notice and sit with uncomfortable emotions, you will be able to bust through current limiting beliefs. 

 

There are no bad emotions - they all have gems of wisdom. 

 

Analisa shares a tangible practice for how to metabolize the emotion and then to begin to shift our stories. 

 

She also shares a huge reason why we resist this work and how to love our way through it.

 

Sign up for a free audition meditation and Analisa's weekly love letter here.

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  holistic performance coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

Apr 4, 2023

In today's episode Analisa interviews one of her best friends, Jillian Jarrett - performer, makeup artist and most recently seller of mortgages. 

In this episode: 

  • Jill’s journey from AMDA to selling mortgages
  • Doing really hard things and the rewards from that
  • The sense of power, resilience and resourcefulness knowing there are options to support yourself 
  • Creatives thriving in jobs outside of theatre
  • Blowing up the box of what you think is possible for yourself
  • Jill’s identity is so much more than herself as a performer
  • How to create a resume + interview well 
  • Don’t read a job description and count yourself out

Stay in the loop + get your Free Audition Meditation

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  holistic performance coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

 

Mar 28, 2023

We have so many tools to prep for auditions, but we rarely talk about how to manage afterwards. The waiting, the doubt, the uncertainty. 

In this short solo episode, Analisa explores some ideas to build the capacity to manage all that arises post audition in order to have a more sustainable, joyful journey. 

Receive your free audition meditation here. 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  holistic performance coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

Mar 21, 2023

Kara Lindsay has been seen on Broadway in Wicked (Glinda), Beautiful (Cynthia Weil), Newsies (Katherine). Read her full bio below. 

 

In this episode Analisa + Kara talk about:

  • Making the decision to have a baby + timing
  • Doing Beautiful until 5 months pregnant - telling people, fear of what people would think
  •  Performing postpartum
  • The realities of working with littles at home 
  • Babies in the pandemic
  • Priorities post babe
  • PAAL Parent Artist Advocacy League
  • The joys of parenthood 

 

Don't miss an event or episode - sign up for Analisa's weekly love letters here and receive a free audition meditation.

KARA LINDSAY Broadway: Wicked (Glinda), Beautiful (Cynthia Weil), Newsies (Katherine) Original Cast/ Fathom Events Film. National Tour: Wicked (Glinda), Little House on the Prairie (originated Laura). Paper Mill Playhouse: Newsies, Jolly Holiday, Little House...Prairie. Sacramento Music Circus: Singin in the Rain (Kathy Selden). NCT: Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins).Kansas City Starlight: Cinderella (Cinderella). Kansas City Rep: Cabaret (Sally Bowles). 5th Avenue: Lone Star Love (Miss Ann Page). Geva: A Christmas Carol(Belle). TV: “Murphy Brown”, ABC’s “Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary Singalong”, ABC’s “The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II”, Tony Awards, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. BFA Carnegie Mellon University. Huge thanks and LOVE to my friends, family, Stewart Talent/ Industry Entertainment.

 

A Balancing Act is hosted by Analisa Leaming, Broadway actor +  holistic performance coach. This season is designed to inspire performers and creatives to journey towards their dreams with more soul and less attachment to outcomes and society's definitions of success. 

 

1 2 Next »