The Inspiration of Now
The Inspiration of Now
S1 E4 // Guest: Ashleigh Morghan (Actor)
Ashleigh Morghan is an award-winning Actress, Writer, TV Personality, and Host on a mission to not only entertain, but to create a positive change within her community. Check out all of Ashleighs Morghans projects and links to her work on our website:
German, precision-engineered studio monitors for any studio size, shape, or budget
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Welcome to the inspiration of now podcast. I'm your host. Timur Bootzin and my goal is to inspire you through the different perspectives of each guest. Our guests will vary from musicians, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, athletes, artists, you name it. Each episode. I will be bringing on a new guest who I've been inspired by in one way or another. And want to share that inspiration with you. This season is proudly sponsored by Adam Audio, German precision engineered studio monitors for any studio size, shape, or budget. Today, I would like to introduce a ctors, Ashley Morgan, Ashley, welcome to the show.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Thank you so much for having me.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Absolutely. So a little bit about you, Ashley. So you're an award winning actress and you were most recently in the film native son that played at Sundance in 2019 and now is out on HBO. And you're also one of the leads in the horror film headcount, which is also now on Netflix. Congratulations.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Thank you. Thank you.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Yeah. So you and I, we met about, I think maybe a year, year and a half ago at Sundance. And at that time, your film was just getting picked up by HBO, which was native son. And, and when we met at the time, it was like, Oh, Ashley, so awesome. She's super positive. So I was like, who have better to have on this podcast then Ashley. So thank you again. So you're a working actor, you've been in a bunch of different projects. The list goes on and on, but what I'm curious about is what were some of the challenges you faced early on as an actor getting into this field?
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Um, yes, there's times. I always say, if you're going to be an actor, you get, you have to be ready to sacrifice. Um, one of the biggest things I think was family. I moved across the country to Los Angeles, so I didn't have my immediate family here in LA. So giving up a lot of the family time and I'm family oriented. So giving up a lot of the family time to make the change and the pursuit to acting, um, a couple other things. It just having the balance of, of work as in like survival work and then career and then personal life. It takes some time to kind of find, okay, I have to work X amount of hours to make X amount of money so I can take care of my survival needs. Right. But I also need to have time to take care of my human needs. Like seeing people, going places, doing things. So finding that balance was really tough. At first I found myself, um, overworking and being just too exhausted to do anything else. Um, and then just money. I mean, not to know. So trying to adjust from the Midwest costs of living to Los Angeles cost of living was pretty tough, but also just leaving what I, what I knew. I lived in Ohio all my life before I moved to Los Angeles. So I wasn't familiar with anything in LA. I didn't know where like a CVS was and in pertaining to entertainment, I thought I knew about the entertainment world in Los Angeles and it was just a totally different ball game. I try to prepare myself as much as I could no HIO with doing background work, stand and work, being on set as much as possible and networking with tons of people, but coming to LA and enacting, it's just a totally different ball game. You're going against people who've been working since they were kids. You're going to give people who just got off TV shows. So the caliber of, of, of work is just totally different. Right? I think the biggest thing was just giving up my familiarity and really just trusting that this is my passion. I'm going to have to take a couple L's and I'm going to, you know, decide to be an actor.
Host: Timur Bootzin:I see. So, you know, that you could say in a lot of ways is a really big risk and a big jump pursuing your dreams. And I know there's a lot of people out there who are working in that they also have their goals or dreams they want to do, but they don't want to take that risk to like, you know, do, do what they love. And what, what made you want to like do that? Like knowing the risk. Yeah, exactly.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:I think it was because I, and in Ohio, I was also working in Pittsburgh doing some minor things. I felt like I had reached where I could go. There was no further I could go in that region and I craved more. Um, so it was kind of like, do I stay and do I stay and kind of just be complacent or do I take the risk and actually go for it? And so to me taking the risk would be happier than me just staying in Ohio because while it's safe, well, it's easy. Well, I know it to me, the risk of, of potential and the risk of trying and the risk of success, right. Weighed out the risk of failure,
Host: Timur Bootzin:Right? Like not just wanting to stay the same, the rest of your life and doing the same thing over and over. You want it to take that risk. So taking that risk, why is it so important that you and anyone in general step out of their comfort zone?
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Wow. Because you said out of your comfort zone, that's when amazing things happen. I know that sounds super cliche, but I, and I'll admit when I moved to LA the first two years of very dark and scary for me, and there were times I'm like, wow, did I make the right choice? Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Should I just go back home? I miss my family. All those thoughts are going to come to your head. But to me, if you really are passionate about something and you really care about something you're going to have, you're going to stay and try to make it work until, or if you can't make it work anymore. And I hadn't tried yet, there's no point of me to quit and go home if I hadn't actually tried to succeed in Los Angeles.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Right. Wow. It does. It does. Yeah. It totally does Ashley. It totally does. And, um, when you said you came here to LA, your couple years here were really dark. What were some of those experiences you have to go through
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Loneliness? Um, FOMO. I mean, I didn't have a lot of friends when I moved here. So all I knew were my friends from home. So I would see them celebrating, hanging out, having kids getting married, and I couldn't go home for any of those. And my grandmother was sick, so I couldn't fly back and forth to see her. So I felt guilty. Um, I felt afraid. I didn't know. I'm kind of like a future planner. Like I like things to be planned out and I just didn't know what the future held here. Um, there's a level of unfamiliarity where I didn't, I just like parking tickets. We don't have to worry about that back home. There's just a totally different where I had to worry about different things in LA parking tickets where I'm parking. There's a lot of adjustments that just kind of waited on me as like, this is too much, too soon, too fast. I felt really overwhelmed. Um, so I just, I journaled and I try to just talk to my family and friends who kept fueling me and kept encouraging me. And I needed that. Even though they weren't here in person, I still were relying on them through the phone, through social media, through any channel channel to connect. I needed the connectivity. They didn't have back home.
Host: Timur Bootzin:I see. Did you feel like you were forgotten in some ways?
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:No, no, no. No. People were, Oh, I'm so like my, I have great family and friends. I felt included. I just felt like, Oh wow. I wish I could be there. Oh, wow. I wish I could hang out with them right now. Oh, they're making plans. I wish I was, you know, I'm here in LA, sleeping on my floor, you know, struggling to, to pay my bills. But I saw the bigger picture. I think if you, as long as you continue tunnel vision to that bigger picture, your, your weave around the roadblocks on the way. Right?
Host: Timur Bootzin:Oh, I really love that. I really love that. So having those couple of dark years in the beginning, living here in LA, how did you overcome those challenges and how did you get to the point where you're at now?
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:I mean, this is five years. I'm just now feeling acclimated. I think mentality. I say that wholeheartedly mentality changed everything. I don't mean like, if you're in a bad mood, you're just like, I'm gonna be positive, but really like, you know, this is happening. This is not going to be forever. I came here for a reason. I came here to succeed. I came here to be an artist. I watched other people's struggles. So then once you, once you see other people, you're like, Oh, you don't feel so alone. Right? Oh, this person, this actor struggled to, Oh, this actor was sleeping in their car. Oh, this actor didn't have any money. I felt a level of relate-ability. Um, and then I try to integrate in the Los Angeles. I was like, okay, how can I bring these, this family vibe and friend vibe here in LA? How can I create this? I created an accountability group of girls who are, um, all actors and how we can each other accountable. And through there I have great friends. I joined other Facebook groups, or I met amazing people. I have great friends. And I was like, okay. I realized I could have that same family connected vibe I had in Ohio here in Los Angeles. And I started to reach out for those different parts and aspects here in LA.
Host: Timur Bootzin:So you reach out to people, create this group and you make it sound easy, but I'm sure it's challenging.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:It definitely is because I feel like in LA, a lot of people, people are like, Oh, LA people, I think people are just so focused on themselves and it can come off as selfish or negative, but we're all just trying to survive and succeed. So it can, it can appear selfish to certain people. I mean, gratefully, I also made a lot of friends their work. Right. Um, but it's just kind of like putting yourself out there and knowing the right people will come or right. People will attach. You might have some, you know, some, some dead ends along the way. And just knowing when people are using you and when do you need to cut them off and when you can connect and latch onto other people and they can latch on you, right. It's all about finding the right tribe, community, whatever. And it takes time. It's not something like today, I'm going to go out and meet a million people. It's just, you have to be at the right place, the right time, you'll meet someone or you, your friends will introduce you to other friends or your work friends. We'll introduce you to other friends. And it kind of just, it happens seamlessly. Yeah.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Creating a community and creating the people around you. Cause at the end of the day, that's how our life is shaped with the people around us. Is there a story that you remember that really put that when you were here in LA or maybe when you were younger, that you remember the most, that was pushing you to the edge of like, maybe I should think about quitting doing this, or maybe I should stop this. Was there a time like that?
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:In the first two years of, uh, of living in Los Angeles, I didn't have enough money to pay my bills. Some months I was really struggling to make ends meet. I was living paycheck to paycheck. I was going to auditions and bashing them. Cause I didn't really know when I was supposed to be doing cause back home. I'd never done a CoStar guest star recurring series, regular. And here I was like going out for series regular. There was so much material. I didn't know what I was doing. I just felt like I'm in way over my head. I can't afford to live here. I, the acting is really tough. I can't even afford to get into a class to help me with the acting. And it felt like everything was just too much. And I felt like I was like just covered in muck and I couldn't see, I couldn't see my end goal anymore. And that was really, really, really tough for me
Host: Timur Bootzin:Within that challenge. Is there something you feared about that w was there something that made you scared or
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Because it's like, I didn't want to feel like a failure. I didn't want to feel like, wow. I moved all the way to LA to be an actor and I didn't even make it a year. I didn't make it two years. I couldn't even, I couldn't do it like this. This is like kind of fear you have when you leave your home. That like, if I go back, I'm a failure, which I don't think is true. Um, and so it was kind of like, I thought I, I pictured what my, my life in LA was going to be like, and it was not the life that I was living. So then it made me second guess everything. And I was like, okay, maybe this has, maybe it's not the right time. Maybe I should go home, save up money, come back. Maybe I need to work on some other things. Maybe I was not quite ready yet. There was a bunch of thoughts kind of going through my head.
Host: Timur Bootzin:I see. Right. So then with all these different thoughts running through your head, what was it in that moment in time that made you kind of overcome this self doubt?
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Um, it was one that I didn't want to be a failure to. I care so much about acting and the craft and I love it so much. I felt like I'd be giving up my dreams to go back and I would know how unhappy I'd feel back home. I feel like I left the place where I love, I want to be to doing what I love to coming back home and probably doing something I don't enjoy doing at all. I just had to, I had to figure out a way that I could survive, you know, do I need to get another job? Okay. So I'm not making enough money. They're like, let's, let's loose. Let's apply for another job. Right? If you need two jobs out here, you can't afford an acting class. So, Hey, my friend is, has been active for a long time. Could charge you like 30 bucks to come coach you. This is like using my network to help me and areas I felt lost. And that's when I was like, Oh, okay. So is LA, even though it feels so isolated, you do need a network and community to survive. So it was almost a minute,
Host: Timur Bootzin:Right? Yeah. I admire that a lot. Ashley, you know, coming from like, Oh, I don't know anyone here to being, you know, lost maybe in self doubt then overcoming that. And I think that's super inspiring. So yeah. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. This season is proudly sponsored by Adam audio. Adam audio was founded in 1999 in Berlin, Germany. Since then the company has been developing manufacturing and distributing loud speakers in the field of professional audio. You can find precision at a monitors and a world class studios around the globe. We're back here with our guest actor, Ashton, Morgan, thank you again for being with us.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Thank you again for having me. Hopefully I'm not rambling too much.
Host: Timur Bootzin:You are not, you're not. So it's 20, 20 super interesting year a lot's happened. What are some of the challenges you have faced this year? Poof,
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:You got time. Um, again, a lot of things, actually, I was talking about this in my accountability group. Um, I am a planner. I like to know what I'm doing when I'm doing it. Uh, I like to plan for the future and with COVID you kinda can't do that. So I'm learning the importance of patience and trusting. Um, the, when things are going to work out, they're going to work out and something I've learned as I've gotten in the last couple of years, I was telling her friends of mine, you know, I would go to auditions and I'd feel so like, Oh, I'm not going to book this. Oh, she's here. I'm not going to book the whole, why did they even come? Oh, I'm not talented. I worked on like my self worth. And now I'm in a place where I'm like, I can be an audition and be like, Oh, she's here, girl. Get it. Congratulations. Whoever, whoever it's meant to. I come in this place where I'm like, if there's an audition or a job, if it's meant for me, it's going to be for me, if it's meant for someone else, it's going to be for someone else. And I say that because over, over COVID I had a pretty big audition and it was down to me and someone else and that other person got it. And before I would probably be devastated and like freaking out and why am I an actor? And self-loathing, and now I was like, Oh, I'm really bummed. I really wanted that. But I'm also grateful that it's someone else's blessing and that I have a blessing that's for me. And being honestly, being in that mindset has been life changing for me because it's, it's not just saying that and be like, yeah, it's just for someone else for someone else actually believing it. So when things like that happen, you're not devastated and hugely effected. And so for COVID has been kind of like, you know, what's meant for me, as far as my career that's supposed to happen is going to happen. Right. And if not, like what an amazing time to rest, you know, most people were working or are still working if you are thank you for, for risking your lives and thank you for working. Yes. But like for all of us who were furloughed, um, it's given me time to rest because I've always, since I was 16, worked two jobs until this year. So I've allowed myself to rest and I understand the importance of resting and putting your mental health first and, um, taking acting classes. And really, it's hard to take acting classes when you have to work two jobs, you just don't have the mental space sometimes. Yeah. But then I do have it. I'm not taking it for granted. And I'm allowing myself to really interject all that energy into the craft, which has been such a blessing. So I'm so thankful for that.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Right. Oh, that's great. That's really beautiful. What you said earlier about, you know, when it was down to you and another actor for this role, and then that other person got the role is like, rather than coming at it with more of a negative aspect, it's like, you know what, like I, like, as soon as you said that, I truly felt that like, wow, like that was meant for that other person or it was that other person's blessing and kind of viewing it from that perspective or in that person's shoes. I love what that was about.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Yeah. But I haven't always had that mentality. I was going to be like, wow. I took time for me to realize that. Cause then when it was my turn, I had to think this was someone else, someone else audition for this, they've probably thought they were going to get this right. So they probably felt, I felt before. So it's like everyone gets their turn and there's enough room at the table for everyone. And when you honestly believe that it changes your entire trajectory of your career. Cause I feel like you can just gratitude and abundance are ever, this is making like hippy-dippy, but it's everything. And you can go into an audition and be confident that you did a good job, that you brought your best to it. And that's, that's all you have to worry about. Right. Because if it's for you, it's going to work out. If it's not for you, it's going to work out for someone else. Right.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Absolutely. I love that way. You view that and look at that. And um, you know, right. So before the pandemic, uh, I don't even remember what month it was, but I'm sure your schedule is looking like really busy. Did you have any things lined up and when the pandemic hit, how did you react to that?
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Yes. So I was still working at a film school and it was funny because I was at the point where I was like, is this still servicing me? Um, and I mean that like, I mean financially, like, should I be doing something else? Should I be investing my time and energy? This is, cause this is my survival job and to something else. Right. And I was supposed to film a TV show, but everything, it got pushed, um, it got pushed back and then I got COVID so I wasn't able to do the show. Um, but again, my mentality is if it was meant to happen, but it worked out. So I wasn't, I could have been devastated about that, but I really had comfort in it just wasn't it was someone else's blessing because it was mine and then someone else got it. And now this is their moment and I felt happy about that. But being in Kobe made me realize I don't want to work at my day job anymore. And it's nothing against them. I just don't think it service is serves me anymore.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Right. I think that like maybe COVID or whatever the case may be was a, maybe a good, uh, like kind of opening your eyes to see like, is this really what I want to be doing
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:With my, with my time between acting yes. A hundred percent. And even though it was, it wasn't a hard job and it was, I could get other things done. I was still investing energy into it that I could have invested elsewhere.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Right, right. No, I see the importance of that and choosing what you invest your energy and because our energy is very valuable just as our time is.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Yeah. Because your, your energy is a lot, you know, and if you're doing something that's really taking a lot of your energy, you won't have it then to invest into the things you actually care about. Right. He'll be spent. So it's kind of, I kind of was like, you know, do I want to be using my time, my energy for this? Or can I find a job? That's more in alignment with what I want to be doing.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Right. I feel like you're a person Ashley, like, who's always like, if there's a negative, there's always a positive within that negative. There's always something good that can be taken away from a negative.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Now I am, because I used to be a negative and there's always a negative in there. And I just realized that that's a sinking ship and you're not going to get anywhere with that kind of mindset, but depression and feeling bad about yourself. Right. But yes. Now if there's something I try to, I'm not perfect. Like there's days where I'm like, still like, Whoa, but I try to like, okay, how can I, what's the silver lining in this? How can I look at this with fresh eyes? What's something positive I can take from this because if not, you, and they're just feeling really bad. And then you'll just soak and there's no joy or progression in that. Right.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Yeah. I totally agree with you, Ashley. Thank you for those great words of wisdom. So having this wisdom now and everything you've experienced and gone through what you've gone through. Now, if you could go back and give advice to a younger, you, what would that be?
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:You're good enough. It's simple as that. There's a lot of aspects of my life, where I felt like I wasn't good enough for almost deserving, um, because of how I felt about myself and my self worth. So if there's anything I'll say you're good enough, you deserve it. You're worthy.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Right. I think a lot of listeners and including myself, we can all take that away and use that. Like just believe in yourself. And that's the main thing, you know? So with that inspiration being said, I like to end each episode with an inspirational quote that one of our guests have brought on and that I've inspired them. So what was the inspirational quote you prepared for us today? And what does this quote mean to you?
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Yes. Yes. Okay. Well, Richard, Paul Evans, everyone who got to where they are, had to begin where they were. And I feel like that just kind of encompasses everything in life. Like everyone who, who is where they are now had to begin somewhere. That's how I interpret it. But like when we look up to people and we have our, um, idols or people we aspire to be, they are where they are now, but they had to begin where they were. So that's that's so it's like everyone has a beginning point. Everyone has a starting point and everyone's starting points, different everyone's journey is different, but you start there and you can end up wherever you desire.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Yeah. Right. I totally agree. Because some of the people I look up to who are very successful in what they do, they started somewhere as well.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:That's why I, as an actor, I think it's so important to like actors, you look up to look at their first films, look at when they were like, had a CoStar guest star or look at their beginning interviews and see where they were. And now keep in mind where they are now and be like, Oh, they had such a huge, you know, we have such a journey, such a ship, such a career, but they had to begin where they began to get to where they are now. Right.
Host: Timur Bootzin:Yeah. Oh, I love that. Yeah. And understanding that to be where you're at or where you want to be takes time and it's all a part of the journey. Oh, I absolutely love that. Thank you so much. I was inspired. I'm sure the audience was inspired as well. Just hearing what you had to go through as an actor, the hardships you had to go through having to move away from family and how you overcame that. Very Ashley, Thank you so much for your time. I can't wait to see you on more projects, Ashley.
Guest: Ashleigh Morghan:Thank you again. Thank you for having me.
:Be sure to catch Ashley on the horror film headcount on Netflix and in native s un, which is on HBO. And if you want to see more of her projects, go to our website, the inspiration of now.com for more links to all her work. Thank you so much. Thanks again, Ashley. I thanks again for tuning i nto this episode of the inspiration of now. I hope you took away a new perspective and motivation from our g uests. I want to thank Adam a udio for being the s eason sponsor R u productions for creating our theme song and Michael P. Cox For mixing and mastering this episode. A nd season two, we will be taking questions from our audience that our guests will answer. Go to our website, the inspiration of now.com to see how you can submit your questions. I look forward to our next episode and I'll catch you a ll on the next.