Episode 55 - Yeniffer Behrens Started A Production Company, And Now Mentors Young Talent

I do really believe 100% from every part of me that everyone has the capacity to be able to do the things that they want and not to be held back by the mental baggage that's in our head that we want to push through.

Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. In each episode, we get down and personal with people who go after the things they want to make all their wildest dreams come true. Join us as we unveil and dissect a formula for what it takes to do the thing. Here is your host, Stacy Lauren.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is Stacy Lauren. I love it when friends introduce me to people who inspire them. That's how I connected with today's guest. She's an incredibly talented actress with an equally impressive filmography. There's a good chance you've seen some of her work, but what's even more inspiring is her story and how she's changing the world today. Growing up, she always knew she wanted to be in show business, but the industry can either make or break a person. Although the odds were stacked against her, this guest was determined to make it her career. She's become a busy working actress with 200 commercials under her belt. Her first feature film was the Specialist alongside Sylvester Stallone. Oh, and she founded a production company and owns an educational platform for actors and filmmakers. Although she has a long professional and acting resume, these jobs are not only her passion, and she never lets success get to her head. Our guests never forgot her roots, still showing appreciation for those who encouraged and believed in her. She credits them for her achievements and wants to pay it forward to younger generations by mentoring and coaching aspiring actors. I love the way she exemplifies gratitude. This guest does the thing in every way possible. Please welcome Jennifer Behrens to the show.

Hey, Jennifer.

Welcome to the show.

Thank you, Stacy. Thank you for having me.

Yeah, I'm so excited. It's always great when I get introduced someone through a friend because I, you know, we. I've only seen your stuff and I haven't gotten to talk to you yet. So I'm, like, so excited, like, probably just as excited as the listeners could be about getting to dive into all your stuff.

Oh, thank you. That's sweet. I've been looking forward to it as well. And I love the date. The number 13 is a really special number for me. So when you booked me on the 13, I was like, yay.

Oh, yeah. That means that this is like a do the thing day for you. Yeah, I love it. Well, let's Start off and if you don't mind just sharing about your background and your story, I'd love to hear more about you.

Okay. Well, I am originally from Caracas, Venezuela. Migrated to the States when I was about 4 years old with my mom, dad. My grandfather was a diplomat and my dad a diplomat brat or something like that, that's what they call him. So we ended up in D.C. and then Miami. And I, ever since I was little, I, I've always wanted to be in the show business. And I loved Grease. I'm going to date myself but Grease and the Brady Bunch and Wonder Woman, those were my favorite go tos on TV when I was a little girl. And I also watched Believe it or not Benny Hill with my dad many nights and my mom was like, get to bed. But it was a really, it was really special, it was a really special bonding time with my dad. That was one of the, that's one of the memories that I, that I always think of. He's in heaven now, but it's all good. And then, let's see. So then I didn't get to pursue my acting until after high school. So we moved to Miami after my parents divorced and I went to school school there. I always did dance. But in my school they never offered any kind of acting and my mom had no clue and my family had no clue like where to get me started. So I always had that dream since I was a little girl. But I didn't get to start pursuing it till first year. Actually my last year in high school, I should say as a senior, they offered the very first drama class ever and we created a drama club. I was the vice president of the drama club and that was my very first drama class. And my teacher, Ms. Chalino really encouraged me to keep going because I shared, you know, I shared I've always wanted to do this and finally I'm exposed to a class. She's like, keep going. You have talent. I believe in you. And. And her words of encouragement have kept me going for 33 years. She has really been one of those mentors, one of those teachers that has made such a huge difference in my life as a young girl. And so now after working in the business as a working actress for over 28 years, SAG AFTRA. I founded my production company, Trueform Films and Shortcut to Hollywood, which is an educational platform. It's an online and in person educational platform for aspiring actors and filmmakers to become working actors and filmmakers. And I do all of this awesome stuff with my life partner, with My husband, Mauricio Mendoza, and he's also a working actor. And so that's how we met. We met on. On set as the. We were opposite each other. We were on set, romance, and I was the lover in the. In the film, he was cheating on his wife with me. That's a little bit of trivia. But anyway, they were having troubles before I even came, but I would. I broke up with him in the story. And I'm like, I'm done with you. Go back to your wife. This is not. This is not what I want. So. But once we wrapped, we had really connected. And, you know, we've been together for. We're going on 13 years in February, coming up. And we have a beautiful daughter, name is Juliana. She's going to be 10, and she's also in the industry. She's a working actor, child actor. And my son is 21. He goes to Princeton and is studying mechanical engineering. But he also started working as an actor since he was three years old. So we're a family of actors and creators and filmmakers. And now we just love to. My husband and I love to mentor those come. You know, starting out, because that's the one thing. When we look back, what was missing for us? What did we need? We needed guidance. We needed mentors. You know, aside from Michelino, I can't say that I had a mentor to help me through the hard parts of this business. You know, I had awesome acting teachers. Right. But no one really addressed the mindset and the strength that you truly need to sustain a career in this business. So that's. In a nutshell, me, right now, I'd love for you to ask me questions because I could keep going and going.

Yeah, no, it's an amazing. I love your story because you got inspired by Michelino and then now you're. You're her, basically. But then you're expanding upon that by, you know, having your husband be a part of it. And then also you're actually giving the tools for them to be able to be successful.

Yes. Yes. I love that. You know, it's the first time I hear someone say, now you're her. That's really beautiful. I hadn't even gotten that.

But yeah, yeah, that's. That's amazing. And I can't even imagine what with the people you're helping, what that means to them and that ripple that you're having on.

On them.

So when you guys started this, this part of the business where you're helping people basically in acting, what was that like for you was that. Did it just come from, from that idea of you not having to help yourself and then you wanting to do it or how did you actually make that step to get started with that?

I'll tell you, it's just, it's been gradual. You know, I've always been a very, I've always been that mama bear in like my group of friends. And I just love to nurture, right? And so, and because I'm a mom and I'm, I'm the girl that loves to kumbaya and let's do a group hug and you know, and in my life, people have either loved me or they have not loved me. And because they're like, that can't be real, you know, and so that part goes that, that, that resisted me actually were my biggest teachers. So it all started gradually because I have that nurturing bone in me, right? Like the mama bear. Like, I just, I'm a Latina. I'm, I'm the. Let's, let's all get together and make this happen. Let's find a solution. Let's collaborate. That's, that's how I was raised. And so in this business, there are those that don't get that and those that do. And so along the way, people always ask me for advice and I was always very open to giving them advice. When I was telling, I was telling you earlier how I, you know, gosh, back when I first started, and also like maybe 10 years ago, before the business pivoted so much because of online, I was just working non stop commercially where it was like three a month to one a month. And I've done over 200 commercials in my career. And so people would always call me, like, what are you doing? Like, just asking for advice. And I was always open to giving them advice. Giving people advice in the audition room, hugging them, being loving and being open and saying hello and not going in with this like, tense of like, don't talk to me. I am in my, you know, zone of acting. And I always felt like that's so weird. But, you know, some actors need that, especially for theatrical. And I could respect that now because I go, okay, there's some intense roles that you need to go in. And then once I experienced that, I was like, okay, I get that. So I would take things personally when people wouldn't say hi to me and I would get hurt. And so I'm like, there's more to it. Everyone has a different process. Everyone has a different way of doing things. And so for me, as A human being first. And as an actor, I had to learn to adjust and not take things so personally. And so that's that. As I was giving others advice, that's the one thing that I would tell them is like, don't take anything personally because you're going to suffer way too much in this business. It's business, it's show business. And just go in, be a pro, do your job, and have fun. Fun in the process. So since 2007, I was. I wanted to start a commercial workshop, but then I was just so busy working as an actor that, that it was always in my heart, you know, and so I'm like, you know, I will get to do that when it's the right time again. Learning another learning lesson, right? It's God's divine timing. So my girlfriend and I, Roseanne Kelly, she is a hypnotherapist and also actress, and she has twin girls that are also in the business. Well, we created in 2000, finally, in 2011, our very first book, the Job with Hypnosis Workshop for Actors. And that truly was the very first time I was, you know, I had my office in Jeremiah Comey Studios where I was studying acting because again, it's not studying. Once you become a professional, you need to continue going to class, you need to continue training. Why? Because it's a craft. It's like a musician, it's like a dancer. Actors are no different. So you need to continue doing it. And in between jobs, what do you do weekly? You go to your class, you choose what class you want to study, you know, where you want to study, who you want to study with. And Jeremiah Comey, after Michelino, he, you know, he was just an incredible. He's been. He's retired now, but he has, he was my mentor here when I got to la, and the one who brought me to him was my teacher and mentor and in Miami after I graduated high school, Dan Chernow, behind the Mask Studio. So it's all these people that little by little connect you to the next stage, right to the next level in your life. And so I give them. I give them acknowledgement, I give them my gratitude because I am who I am, and I am the teacher that I am now, and I am the coach that I am now because of everything they taught me. And so Roseanne and I did this workshop, booked the job with hypnosis at Jeremiah Comey Studios in Studio City for about a year and a half. And it was awesome to see so many actors booking and us as well. And Just because we needed to work the mindset, we needed to really go into the subconscious mind because you could be the best actor on the planet. But if you don't believe that you are you, and if you don't believe that you're going to be on set working, and if you don't believe that you deserve it and that you are worthy, you're going to stop yourself, and you don't even know that you're doing that. So that's been my discovery in my journey as an actor. I. I've always worked, but I've always wondered, why haven't I broken that ceiling? Why. Why am I not where I've dreamt of being since day one? And it's all. All of that mindset stuff that I'm talking to you about.

Yeah. What do you think is kind of the number one thing that helped you with the mindset and believing in yourself.

You know, little by little, year after year, just really doing the inner work? Stacy, there's not one thing. There's a series of. A lot of little things. A lot of courses. I have done landmark. I. You know, I grew up in a Catholic. In a Catholic home, so believing and having that blind faith and connecting your mind, your body, and your heart. Because religion is different than spirituality, right? Spirituality, you just really connect with your. With your inner power. But really, then the voices in our head, right, like, I call them the committees, the stuff that comes up, those recurring thoughts that come up, or those. The recurring bad memories that, you know, come up, or when someone didn't believe in you, or when someone said, oh, my God, that was awful because you sucked in class that day. And then you took it. You took it to heart, like, oh, I'm a bad actor, or you bombed an audition and you walk out crying. You're like, what am I doing? Right? All these little things affect you. And so I've done landmark. I've done meditation, I've done tapping. And so I've always just gone to so many different modalities to get me through whatever it is I'm going through at that moment in my life. Does that make sense?

Oh, it does. Yeah. I was curious, too.

Like, what have you.

What are you stuck with now? What is your daily. Do you have a daily routine that you do to kind of keep your. Your mindset?

I do. I do. I. Well, today, for example, I. I woke up. The first thing I always do is do gratitude. That's the very first thing I. You know, and it's. It's funny because I didn't know I was doing gratitude since I was like 6, 7 years old, but that's. I was taught to do gratitude by saying, thank you, God, for another day. And my gratitude grandmother, who is 101 years old, and she's the one who has given me that foundation of the Catholic foundation of praying together and raising your hand when you wake up. You just raise your arms to heaven, say, thank you, God, for another day of life. Thank you for allowing me to wake up. I learned that when I was a little girl. My mom, My grandma's always said that my mom, gracias, adios, gracias, adios, gracias, Adios. That's always been ingrained in me, but I didn't know it. I didn't know it. Like, I wasn't. I wasn't aware of it. It was just one of those things is what I learned. This is what I do. But it was. It was more. It was more in my adult life where I'm like, okay, I need more than just the prayers that I learned as a child because I'm still feeling the guilt, I'm still feeling the fear. I'm still feeling all these things. The imposter syndrome, I'm still feeling, you know, so I'm like, there's got to be more. So I started to study Tony Robbins, Dean Graciosi, the Joe Dispenza, just all mindset stuff. I did landmark. I'm a Landmark graduate. And so I started to connect, okay, my religious upbringing with my spirituality with mindset with. These are powerful tools that will really get you present in the moment. And then. Amy Jo Berman, I am Stacy. I got to tell you one thing. I am a student for life. And all these people that I'm mentioning to you is I have studied with them. I continuously go and reconnect because we never stop learning. And when you think you know everything, you don't need to continue studying. That is. That's the worst disservice you could do to your. To yourself. Because you got to have the beginner's mind. You got to have that. The novice mind, right? So that you're open, you're open to learning, you're open to seeing things in a different way, and you don't get stuck in a plateau, right? Oh, totally.

Yeah.

I don't know if I answered my morning routine.

Yeah, yeah, sorry.

Let's.

So we'll. Yeah, we'll go back to that before I move on. But like, so we have the. So gratitude is a big part of your Morning routine. And then what. What's. What's your next thing?

Okay, so then gratitude. My next thing I do is I drink a big glass of water with lemon or with apple cider vinegar, and then I. I do. If I have time, which this morning I did, is I did journaling. So I did the artist way years ago. And one of the things that stayed with me. I didn't finish the book, but one of the things that. That I. That I learned and it stayed with me is called Morning Pages. Morning Pages. You just start writing stream of consciousness, and you just write, write, write, write, write, write in your journal. And you let everything out, all these things, thoughts. Because when we wake up, we feel like. Right. All these thoughts come in. Fearful thoughts come in. They're all recurring thoughts. Right. They get better. I mean, it gets better. The. The more. The more inner work you do now. It's less for me, but it's so, so important to be able to just release it all and let it all out on a piece of paper. Okay. So that you. So you're emptying your cup so that you could fill it again.

So is there any prompt or do you just get up and you're. You're basically just like. You have that in your routine to just start writing?

Yeah. You just. Either one of the things. If my. If my dreams are super vivid that night, that morning, and I wake up, I just start writing about my dreams. I write my dreams out, and then I. Then I just continue, and I just allow my hand and my heart to. To guide me. It's not about editing. It's not about. It's not about writing a masterpiece. No. It's about just letting it all out. That's what it's about. It's not for you to go back and read it. You can if you want to, but it's not about that. It's about releasing all of the crap that comes up when we wake up. And in Landmark, they call it Morass. Okay? And it's all of that, the limiting beliefs, and all of that mind trash. My Amy Jo Berman calls it mind trash. We got to take the trash out, so we got to release all of it on paper. Dump it all. Just a dump. Do you get that?

Yeah, No, I love it. I had a. I had my holistic. She's a holistic. She was a sec. She's a clinical psychologist with emphasis on spirituality, and she had done a. We did an episode together. I'm actually looking to see if I can find her episode. Oh, yeah. It's talking about why journaling is so important. And it's funny because sometimes people need to hear something like four or five times, you know?

Yeah, we do more than that. We need to hear it seven times at least. Okay.

Yeah, that's a stat.

I love it. Yeah.

So episode 12, if you guys want to listen. Dr. Nancy D' Andrada also talks about the benefits. So it's great when you get to see this, this pattern of journaling coming up again because for those people that are like, oh, yeah, I have to journal, I have to journal. Then all of a sudden, hearing you now talk about the benefits could. Could help them realize, like, how real. Because honestly, I'm hearing you talk and I'm like, I've really got to start doing that.

Yeah, it is, it's. It's really freeing. You just feel so light when you do it. And so that's what I did. And I also, I have a little trampoline, and I got it during upw. I've done UPW with Tony Robbins, I think three times. And they always ask you to get. It's one of those little. What do you call a bouncer? Those little bouncers, because you want to lymphocyze in the morning for your adrenal glands. And it's really great to just cleanse your body and then do walk, if you have time to do a walk. This morning, I just did lymphocyzing for 15 minutes on the tramp. Then I did my little weights for my arms, and then I just put some music on that I really love. I went to the bathroom, took a shower, and really just gave myself the time, the self care. And knowing that I was gonna have the interview today, I just really wanted to. I was looking forward to it. I'm like, I'm like, this is really great because I get to share and I get to hopefully make a difference, even if it's just one person. I've done my job. And that for me is my, my biggest passion right now. I love my acting. I truly do. But I, you know, now that I. That I'm a mom, I mean, I've been a mom for a while, but now I say I'm a mom, an artist mom. It really inspires me to, to see my little ones and my teens and even my, my adults have huge breakthroughs, you know, and we, we set them, we set them up with managers and agents when they're ready. So it's. It's exciting. It's exciting. Everything that I've learned To be able to pay forward, you know?

Yeah. And I think that's one of the coolest things that will come with experience. I've noticed this, too, is like, everything we've done in our lives is almost like serving us to where we are now. Right. Like, all those experiences, I'm just imagining you imagining you as this actor that is getting rejected and having, like, all these things happen, you know, like, through your life. And it's like all of that is now serving you now, but then serving so many people that you're helping.

Exactly, exactly. Yeah. And, you know, I. I thought, oh, my God, when I get there. Oh, my God, when I book that big job, when I get there, everything's going to be so perfect and I'm going to be so happ. And, like, that final destination, that was my mindset when I was, like, 19, 20, 21. Right. I thought, oh, yeah. And now today I do a live podcast. A live. It's a live. Sometimes I have guests, sometimes I don't. It's called Conversations with Jen at 11111111 Conversations with Jen. I love numbers. I believe in numerology. That's why I said the 13th for me to have this interview. And so today I did my show on Momentum Monday, and what I shared was, is we forget to enjoy the journey. We think we're going to arrive to a place, to the destination, and everything that we've arrived, it's like, this is never ending. And it really dawned on me. I just turned 50 this past year, Stacy, and I'm loud and proud about it because I, again, I am all about transparency, being authentic, being my true self, and. And knowing that. That hiding my age as a Latina and as an actress, that is like, the number one thing that we are taught to do. Hide your age. It's like, so now I'm like, no, I stepped out of the age closet in October, and it's been a really freeing experience. I'm into butterflies. And it's all about the transformation, you know, the inner transformation. And so that gives. I am able to give that to my. To my students. So in the process of the rejections, and you just learn to understand that it's about the journey. It's about the journey and loving every step of the way, the good times and the bad times and really being present and coming back to being present and being aware. If you're in the past, that's when you're feeling down and depressed. It means that you're in the past. If you're feeling anxious and you have, like, this, like, nervous anxiety. You're in the future. So do your best to be in the present moment. And it's only with awareness and through awareness that you're going to be able to flex that muscle and really know, oh, wait a minute, there's that thought. I just got. I just, all of a sudden my energy went down. Why? Because you're so aware. And now I'm so aware and so keen to it that I'm like, I'm able to. To pattern interrupt it, you know, by tapping, which is another thing that I do. The Tapping Solution app is a phenomenal tool. I highly recommend it. Tapping EFT is wonderful. I don't know if you've ever tried it, but it calms your nervous system. I'm going to.

I'm going to check it out because, yeah, I've heard a lot about it, but I have not done it yet. So is that the best thing you do to find presence when you're feeling like you're. You're not being present? You tap. Or is there something.

Yes, you tap. You tap. And you also can rub. You can. You know, when you tap, you. You start because you tap on the meridians. Right. We have all these meridian points in our body that's very connected to Chinese medicine and acupuncture and acupressure. Right. So you can massage these. These pressure, these points, and it'll bring you to the present moment and it will calm you.

Okay, so you. This is really great. I am, like, I'm really loving it. And it's funny because we didn't talk about this before, so I'm so glad that we're diving into this now. And that's kind of why I don't give people the agenda of the interview beforehand, because I'm never sure where it's going to go, you know, and it sort of keeps it more authentic. Anytime I've seen someone, anytime I've given someone preparation notes beforehand, it's never as good as when it's more natural. So I agree.

I love it. I love spontaneity. Good. Yeah.

And so one of the things with having this podcast called you the Thing, it's so easy to get caught up in doing the thing, but not listening to yourself, you know, and like, seeing what other people are doing. And that's been the biggest kind of recurring theme that I'm really trying to show with this podcast is doing it out of your own alignment.

And.

And part of that is. Yeah, your mindset and being present and being able to listen to what your. Your body wisdom is saying and not like everyone around you. So I'm really glad that we were able to. To get into that today.

Yes, yes. And there's so many different modalities that I love it. It keeps it fun, you know, it keeps it fresh. So I think because we all get into like plateaus or routines that, that people get bored. I get bored. So I need variety in my life, you know, so.

And actually it's funny, you're just, you're reminding me. I have this, what is this thing called? It's an advent calendar and it has these quotes on it. So every day I pull a new one out. And the today is. So if we're Talking about the 13, it says true self care is not salt baths and chocolate cake. It is making the choice to build a life you don't need to regularly escape from.

Yes, exactly. I love that. It is so true. It is truly just loving your life and loving the mundane things that we need to do, like grocery shopping online. Like I did that this morning and it felt so. I was so grateful for it. It's like, yay, I love Instacart, you know?

I know, right? Isn't it cool?

I get to do it. It's amazing. I don't use it all the time, but today I just did not have the time to go to the grocery store and I'm like, oh yeah, that's right. I have the Instacart. Let me just do it. And it was amazing.

That's so good.

My food was at my doorstep in an hour.

I'd love to just talk a little bit about your formula because I'm dissecting your do the thing formula as we're talking. So number one, it's funny, the piece of the formula I used to have, it is making things fun because I do that a lot in my life. And you have that for sure with your Kumbaya songs and other things like that. I could already tell that's part of how you do the thing. But I did end up through these interviews, I did kind of chunk it up a little and it's now controlling your attitude because making things fun is underneath that, which then leads into mindset. Having that inner work type thing. Would you. Would you agree with that? That's a huge part of you doing the thing?

Oh, absolutely. Every time I do my thing, I mean, that's my go to, that's my preference. And one thing that I've learned, and I'll tell you, I've Been stopped in my life so many times to do my thing because as young girl and you know my, my dad was an alcoholic. So I learned to want to fix and to want to please everyone, right? That's part of me. Let's all kumbaya and. But I totally get that not everybody is in the same place. I get that now. But growing up and as a young woman, all of that rejection and all of that resistance really hurt me in a way where I was so stopped and I didn't shine my light in many, in many opportunities because I was, I was trying to please others and I was going down, I was, I was going down to others vibration, right? The real be realistic and blah blah, blah, blah, whatever the cynicism of the, of other people. So whoever's listening to me and is, and this is resonating with, if this is resonating with you that you are, you have dimmed your light or you have hid yourself because of your, your environment, because of the community that you are part of, you know, by default or whatever, know this. You totally have the power to change that. And transform takes work and it takes courage and it takes practice to understand who you're with at the moment and who to share what your journey is with. Like really share your journey and your dreams with those that you know are on the same mindset path and that they are going to celebrate you and you're going to celebrate them. Those that aren't, love them. But you don't need to share and divulge what you're up to because they're only going to poo poo it. They're going to bring you down because they think they're protecting you, right? They think they're saying I'll be realistic. But know that you got to follow your heart. Follow your heart and don't be stopped. And when you are stopped, give yourself grace and love yourself and forgive yourself. Because that's also been for me my biggest, my biggest lesson. I'm so hard on myself for having stopped being stopped. For allowing whatever situation to have stopped me in the past, right? So I've really done so much self forgiving and self love and knowing that I am worthy and knowing that I am enough and knowing that I'm human, you know, and it's just part of life and shining, shining your light is your birthright, you know. And when someone doesn't, doesn't resin doesn't relate to you in that way, it's okay. Don't try to fix them. Don't try to convince them to do it. Keep going. Keep going on your path. Don't let them stop you. Because for me, I look back and I'm like, oh, my God. Because I wanted to fix people, because I wanted to save people. I didn't save myself first. You got to save yourself first. You got to love yourself first. You got to really heal yourself first so that you're able to make a difference in the world, but only to those that want it, not those that you think need it.

That is really good advice. It's really good.

Jennifer.

That was so good. Oh my gosh, I love to hear how. Because I loved when you talked about that. Not taking things personally because I think, oh my gosh, that's such a huge, huge thing for people. And I'm imagining that especially as an actor with dealing with rejection and things like that, you had to, you had to learn that. And I'm actually doing a lot of things on rejection right now. I think rejection has been my number one thing that's helped me is learning how to. I learned when I was young because I did door to door sales, you know, and that, that totally was the thing that got me to do the thing, you know, was just knowing that rejection is rejection. But I'm just wondering how you, what your perspective of dealing with rejection is and how you were able to get through that.

Well, I'll tell you this rejection, it usually comes in a no, right? But rejection for me has been on a personal level as a human being. When, when my loved ones have said no to me, when other people have said no to me in the past, that was a big stopper because I made it mean that I wasn't worthy. I made it mean that I wasn't enough. I made it mean that I wasn't talented enough. I made it mean then, well, I guess I'm not pretty enough. That's what I made it mean. But really, no is next opportunity. That's what I make it mean now. Not now. Next opportunity. Okay? Because trusting that God, the energy that you believe in, the universe, whatever it is that you believe in, trusting that they're guiding you, that you're guiding angels and you're guiding fairies are guiding you. So kicking and screaming when you get a no is like telling God, no, you don't know better. I do. Okay, so when there's a no, thank it. And go. Okay, next opportunity, what's next? What do I need to learn from it? What is it that I might have done that I didn't land properly? For example, in an audition, if you bomb an audition, it's like, okay, you're not a victim. You got to take full responsibility for everything in your life. The good, the bad and the ugly. So when you go into an audition or you send in an audition and then you don't hear anything, you can review your auditions. Just like the athletes review all their plays, right? All their games as actors. We need to review our auditions, we need to review our work and see where. What is it that I'm doing that maybe is not. That is not landing, that's not really allowing me to shine my full potential. Right? So there's that, but then there's the personal side. When my husband used to say no to me when I first met him, I would get so mad like, oh my God, how could you not? What do you mean no? Right? And he's taught me to actually. He's been my biggest teacher and friends and. And my loved ones that have said no to me in a loving way have taught me to say no without feeling guilty because I've always been a yes girl. You see how it like goes back to being the pleaser, being the fixer. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And then I can't do it all. And then I end up being like a flake. And then I ended up being like, like beating myself up because I didn't keep my word and beating myself up because I didn't finish it or whatever because I said yes to too many things. I over committed. So actually saying no and receiving a no is a huge blessing because you're able to go, oh, wait a minute, they're being honest. I rather someone say no to me than yes and then not do the do. Right, totally. And then they're giving me permission to say no to them or to say no to someone else when I can't deliver or I know that I'm not able to. It's not personal. It's really taking care of our health at the end of the day because we end up getting so damn stressed because we're so over committed. Or spreading yourself thinly. Does that make sense?

Oh, yeah. So here's your big question. Are you ready?

Okay.

What is your number one piece of advice for people on doing the thing?

My number one piece of advice, doing the thing, your thing is just that. Do you do your thing, you go deep in your heart and really truly ask yourself, what is my thing? What is my deep, deep dream that I haven't let out because of fear, because of, you know, fear of what people are going to think that was a big one for me growing up, as well as a Latina in Spanish. El que diran. El que diran. What are people gonna think, right? It's like, who cares? What are people gonna think? It's none of your business what people are gonna think. You know, it's not so. So. But my gosh, I wish I would have learned this sooner, Stacy. I really do. But then I go, you know what? Let that go. You're learning it. You've learned it now, and you really have it in your. In your cells, where you're now able to give back to your students and let them know early on that they are worthy, that they are enough, that a no doesn't mean all of the crap that I made it mean, and that doing you is your number one responsibility. It's what is in your heart, what's in Stacy's heart, what's in every person that's listening to this. What is in your heart? What is it you want to do? Write it down and write yourself a letter and tell yourself, this is what I want. And then you ask, okay, who can help me get here? Then you make a list, right? I learned this during, actually a year ago, which I love, and I'm using it through my mastermind with Jen Gottlie and Chris Whitfield, which are amazing. Is your top 25 people that you know can get you closer to your goal that you already know and that, you know, love you. And just ask for, you know, five minutes of advice, you know, five minute phone call or a quick. Or a quick, you know, a quick little message on Instagram and acknowledge them and thank them for being in your life. Gratitude, again, goes back to gratitude. It goes back to gratitude and let them know. Because as human beings, we get so caught up in our daily grind that we forget to connect with our loved ones and people that we know. And then we're like, oh, shoot, they would totally be able to give me some advice, but I haven't talked to them in so long, it's kind of embarrassing to call right now, right? And then we get stopped. But if we are constantly watering the plant and we're constantly saying hello, even if it's just liking their stuff and commenting and staying connected in some way, shape or form, then that moment of the ask or the advice, you're not going to feel awkward or like, oh, shoot, I'm just right. It's kind of like an icky, weird feeling. So that's my number one thing, is like, really be True to you. Do what you want to do. Find out. Go inside. Don't be afraid to spend time alone and ask yourself and you know, take walks and ask, ask, ask God to guide you. What is it you want to do? And that dream, don't be afraid to share it with the world because that's why you came to this planet, is to be you and to shine your unique light.

So beautiful. Well, I would love you to share with the listeners where they can learn about you and then the programs you're doing too.

Okay, awesome. Well, you could definitely follow me on Instagram. I'm trueyen T r u e Y E N and Jennifer Behrens Mendoza on Facebook. Shortcut to Hollywood is our educational platform. We are, I'm really excited to roll out a new program where we're going to offer an on set experience for those actors that are so ready but they haven't booked their first job or they've been studying and they are, they don't have a demo reel or actors that have worked and are waiting for that independent film to give them footage so that they can create their demo reel. But that footage never comes. That is for you. This is a program that is called Green light Yourself and, and that's. You're gonna, you're gonna walk away with a demo reel and with the experience of working on a professional set. And we're gonna give you all the mindset tools and practical tools of the business and we will also connect you to referrals for representation if you don't have representation. So we offer a 30 minute free consultation. You can definitely send me an email at coachesortcut2 Hollywood. Stacy, I'll send it to you because it's two. It's the number two and it's shortcut to Hollywood Biz the email. I'm the website. And True Form Films, if you have a film and you are looking for producers, my husband and I are producers and you know, that's our production side. So Shortcut to Hollywood is the educational side of True Form Films.

Oh, wonderful. And I can also put it in the show notes too.

Just. Oh, good. Yeah.

In case they're dragging, I'll email everything.

To you so that they can have it. But this, I can't even believe it's been an hour.

I know. I'm like bummed that I have a call right now. Otherwise I'd be like probably taking longer because it's so good. But yeah, it was wonderful getting a chance to get to know you and hear what you're offering, hear what you're doing and what you've done. And to me, it's amazing. So I'm almost 50, I'll be 50 next year. And I keep saying, like, every time I bring someone on. And I've actually had. I interviewed 18 and a 21 year old this morning that created this really cool card game. Getting to talk to them. I talked to a few other. I want to call them kids, but they're really, you know, people in their 20s.

They are kids, right?

My boy's 21, created these amazing businesses. One of them sold one already, you know, and it's like. And then I'm also interviewing, you know, the people that are in our age range. And it's just so cool for me, like, to think of just like, giving people this, like, Cliff Notes version and like a blueprint of, like, how you can live life, you know, and to like, like you said, gosh, it'd be so amazing to have known some of this stuff, you know, back then, but it's also great to know it now, at least, because now we're living a much more fuller, fuller life, you know, having these tools that are at our fingertips. So a lot of what you said, really just like, I'm like, right on.

That's so great. That is so great. Thank you so much for having me. It's been a true pleasure.

Thanks for listening to the do the Thing podcast Podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. But even more, we hope you'll be inspired to do the thing. Do you have a burning question on Doing the Thing that you'd like answered? How about an inspiring do the Thing story of your own that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear all about it. Just leave us a voice message at do the Thing callcast co or email us at hello dothing the thingpodcast. Com.