The Glow Up Year

I Ran an Audition Experiment… And It Changed Everything

• Megan Salisbury • Season 1 • Episode 5

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Ever wonder what really makes an audition successful—besides booking the role? I’m back on the mic after a little hiatus, and today I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at a personal experiment I ran during a recent in-person callback at CP Casting.

Instead of letting nerves take over, I walked in with a clear intention: to embody that “it factor” energy—neutral, grounded, and fully present. I turned the waiting room into a little mindset lab, noticing the difference between holding space versus shrinking under pressure. And when the teleprompter glitched (first way too fast, then painfully slow), I stayed rooted in the moment. The feedback? They loved my grounded choices and direction-following—major win, even if I didn’t walk away with the role.

That experience ended up shaping my entire Q1 review as an actor. From callbacks to finally liking how I look on camera (!!!), to creating this podcast—there’s a lot to celebrate. I’m also being super real: I haven’t booked yet this year, and that’s okay. I’m not chasing just any role—I’m creating space for the right ones.

Looking ahead to Q2, I’m focusing on fresh headshots, reel upgrades, coaching, and showing up like the version of me who’s already booked and busy. 

Oh—and I just got back some gorgeous model digitals from a workshop I did, and I’m obsessed.

✨ Click here to check out my Model Workshop photos!

Your glow-up doesn’t depend on a single job—it’s built on mindset, momentum, and showing up anyway. Hit subscribe and come glow up with me—one bold step at a time. 💫

✨ 2025✨ is about to be huge, and I want you to be part of this journey. Let’s glow up together.

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Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with your fellow dreamers—we’re all in this for the long game!

Let’s glow up together—because your breakthrough moment might be closer than you think.

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Glow Up Year. I'm Meg, actress model and your behind-the-scenes bestie when it comes to chasing dreams and building something big. After years of navigating the ups and downs and the wild in-betweens in the entertainment world, I'm stepping fully into this next level chapter. This podcast is your backstage pass to all the real stuff Auditions, photo shoots, mindset shifts, script prep, career curveballs, you name it. I'm sharing it. All the highs and the hard lessons in real time. If you're ready to go all in on your own, glow up and take some brave steps and see what it really looks like to grow in this industry, grab your favorite drink, get cozy and let's dive in together. So it's been a while, and it's been a while because life has been crazy. It has been crazy in a not so great way and it has also been crazy in a wonderful way. And so here today I just want to kind of catch up on what's going on, what's new, what's happening in this wildly long break that I just took from podcasting, which, believe me, I was not happy about. I was looking forward to doing this every week. So excited doing this every week and every week because of some of the commitments I've taken on this got put to the back burner and I'm so happy and excited to be here with you today because we're back at it. We're getting back in the flow, we're making some changes. It's gonna be great. So let me catch up on what's been going on over here in the Glow Up your Land.

Speaker 1:

I went and I had a call back and I decided that while I was there I wanted to take this particular experience of an in-person audition and kind of do like a little bit of a experiment on myself. I had decided ahead of time that when I went in this door like walked into the door to CP casting, that I had it Like I was going to go in there, I was going to show them the it factor. I was just going to be happy and personable and stay neutral and not get too nervous and not get too excited. I was just going to really stay neutral and present. That was my whole goal of this audition. It wasn't necessarily to book the job, but it was to help myself continue to train my brain in circumstances like this to be better and better and better. And in this instance I wanted to train my brain to go in there and stay neutral and stay relaxed and listen for the feedback and absorb it in and give my best performance, really like neutralize the nerves completely. And so I decided when I walked in there that that's the state I wanted to be in and that, to me, is the state of the it factor.

Speaker 1:

I walked into this room having pre-decided that this was my little mini experiment I was doing on myself in here. I was going to embody the it factor and I was going to stay neutral. I was going to stay present, I was going to be charismatic. Right before I went in there, I saw a friend from a previous job that I worked on and and I was like, hey, you're here too, which was so amazing. So I also got this bonus experience of getting to catch up with this friend.

Speaker 1:

And then I went in to the CP casting waiting room and there was one other girl there and then another one came in and the one other girl there I was trying to be really observant and see, was there other people in that room that were embodying the effect or what were they doing, body language wise, like what was going on, and just observing the room and taking in the room. And there was one other girl there and she was sitting on the couch and I really took note of her behavior and I want to tell you about what I witnessed in that moment. So this girl was in this bright pink sweater. She looked gorgeous, by the way, like fantastic. She looked. The part that we were asked to be dressed for looked very easily, like she could book the job. But what was interesting to observe was that her body language was really internal. If you, if we're putting our shoulders back, we're like expansive, like in our chest and in our body and in our energy, and she was like shoulders forward and very hunched in nerves, just like that little bit of like internal energy instead of like outward energy. I observed that because I used to be that way. I used to be exactly the same way and I didn't think any of that mattered when it came to the actual audition.

Speaker 1:

The longer I sat in the waiting room, the more I realized how nervous she was, because she would go up and ask the secretary, moderator person, you know who's next? What's going on, what's this? Where are we at in the lineup, like, can I go to the bathroom? She was so just I could feel her energy was just a little spastic and I realized sitting there for myself that I wanted to sit there still. I wanted to sit there calm. I wanted to engage with people when they wanted to engage with me and when they didn't't, I would look at, look through my script real quick because this was a teleprompter read. So I sat there and I decided that when my foot started to bob that nope, we were going to be still and we're going to be present and we weren't going to have any nervous energy and I just continued to really breathe and embody that and take the mental space and kind of work through it in this like 15 minutes that I waited there to sit and go and to do my audition and then when they called my name, I was so excited obviously to get up and show their performance because I was grounded and I was just excited to go in there and give them the best I got and hear some feedback and then give them the best I got again. And so I walked into the room big smile, greeted everybody with eye contact.

Speaker 1:

We did the first teleprompter read and the teleprompter was a little bit too fast and I was felt like I was going through the script a mile a minute, but I lost the last few lines. I was a little embarrassed. They were like oh, it's no problem, we'll just change the speed. Well, then they lowered the speed and it was so slow I felt like I was talking like this. It was ridiculous. And so then they got it back up to what was the normal speed.

Speaker 1:

And the coolest thing about the feedback that I got was I decided ahead of time that I was going to focus on the positive and not the negative. So if I got some negative feedback, I was going to hear it and I was going to accept it, but I wasn't going to let it feed on me and I almost forgot the feedback that I got back almost instantly, because the negative part of it, which wasn't even really that negative, just kind of floated out of my brain. And so the feedback that I got was we like that you made choices, but we're not sure if they were the right ones for this character. But every read that you gave us was good, different, it was authentic, it showed that you were directable, and that's, to me, is fantastic feedback. They thanked me for having driven all the way down from Maine and it just felt like, even though I didn't end up at the end of the day booking the job. That audition was a huge win for me, huge, huge, because I made huge mindset progress and I proved to myself that I can do an in-person audition and still remain in that neutral space. I can like be the most present in the work. It was such a great experience and, touching on that I also want to say here we are in March.

Speaker 1:

A quarter of the year has gone by. This year I am doing quarterly reviews on myself. In a way, I have a business like separate, and then I'm doing kind of a quarterly review on like at my acting business and what's going on and what happened and what were the good things and what were the bad things of the quarter. And this is what I came up with for my quarterly review. I always start off with a list of what I came up with for my quarterly review. I always start off with a list of personal wins and business wins for my first quarter and in my first quarter these were my wins I got a callback for an in-person audition and did well, which I just told you the whole story about. I attended the model workshop and got some amazing digitals, which I have the photos y'all, but we'll talk more about that later.

Speaker 1:

I started a podcast this podcast here and I love doing it. I'm so excited to do it every week. I started working on branding materials for my acting business. I lost a ton of weight and I honestly now finally feel like myself, like who I've always felt, like I was inside, but I feel like that reflects on the outside. Now I just feel so much better, just in general, and physically, mentally, emotionally, all of the things. This is a big one, too. I started actually liking the way I look on camera. It used to be so hard for me to watch myself, but now I'm actually liking the way I look on camera. Whoa, that's so exciting. Oh, we could do a whole episode on just that. I've written down some script ideas because I want to shoot some shorts this year on my own We'll talk more about that later too and I've had many, many great auditions already this year. So those are my personal wins.

Speaker 1:

Well then, now I do a list of lessons that I learned in my first quarter of the year For my acting business. I need to invest more time in this. I need to invest more time in the podcast. I want to invest more time in my social media. I want to invest more time in just myself and growth in this business. For some reason, this acting business keeps getting pushed to the back burner and I want that to change in the second quarter of the year and I'm super excited on some of the ways I have to implement that. I learned that I am way better at modeling than I previously thought, which makes me feel so good to say, because I really thought so low of my ability to model and I feel so confident. Now I've decided that I want to invest in an acting coach to help me with some accountability and practice, so I learned that that was something that I would like to do.

Speaker 1:

In quarter two, I also learned that I don't give myself enough credit a lot of the time, and that goes back to also realizing that I was way better at modeling than I previously thought. Sometimes I just literally don't give myself enough credit for all of the hard work that I've already put into this career. The last thing that I learned from quarter one was that I deserve to be celebrated all the time, anytime, whenever I want. I deserve to be celebrated all the time, anytime, whenever I want, I deserve to be celebrated. So, looking ahead up till June of this year, what I would like to accomplish, I want to actually go and get new headshots and new marketing materials. I have already reached out to a photographer but they didn't respond, so I need to reach out again. I want to continue to fine-tune my acting skills and work with a coach. That's something I want to look ahead and accomplish, and I also want to rework my reel so that I feel super proud of every clip. I have a reel, but I don't love it and I want to love it Also for the rest of my review. I also get clear on what I need to do to actually accomplish those goals, those three next goals that I want for this next quarter, and plan what I need to do if my progress gets derailed for any reason. And so I plan both of those things as well.

Speaker 1:

And I also want to say that here we are a quarter of the way into the year and I have yet to book an acting job or modeling job, and that was not on my list of anything for the quarter, and this is what I want to say about that. I almost felt nervous to say to like, say this, like should I even put this out that I have not booked anything in this first quarter. This is my glow up year. This is what this whole podcast is about. It's about booking things and learning how to redefine success and sharing the journey with people. But I wouldn't be serving you as my audience and I wouldn't be serving myself if I wasn't honest about this. I haven't booked yet, but that doesn't derail my year. That has not derailed my year and it will not derail my year. It's okay to go a quarter, to go a six months and have not booked something. It's okay and I'm okay with that. I understand that this industry has ups and downs and it's okay for me to be on a not booking streak, because that means right around the corner is the next job and the next opportunity to come, and I have had a few things fall through this year too that have been pushed and haven't come to fruition yet, and that's's okay too. So, with that being said, if you're in the same boat, it's okay. The next job is coming.

Speaker 1:

And I also want to talk about a quick mindset thing here. I have worked on some shitty jobs. I have. I've done student films that it was just a film for the grade, that they didn't really try. I've done so many. I've had bad experiences in my acting career. I would rather go a quarter or two and not book a job and not have a bad experience, than book three gigs in that time being and all of them be a terrible, horrible experience for me me. So I'm always thinking and I'm always believing that the universe is putting that next best job on the radar for me, that if I didn't book in that six months it's because I wouldn't have booked something as incredible and as amazing as the next job that I'm going to book.

Speaker 1:

The last thing before we go today I got my digitals back, y'all, and I'm ready to share them. I got my digitals back and I'm ready to share them with you. If you want to see my photos from the model workshop, they're going to be in the show notes in the link below. I am so excited to share these. These came out freaking incredible. I'm so proud of these. I am going to be submitting to agencies with these soon. I'm so stoked. I can't wait to hear back. Please check those out if you're interested. They will be in the show notes below, guys. They came out so fucking good, so fucking good, so fucking good.

Speaker 1:

That's it for today's episode of the glow up year. Thanks for hanging out with me. I'm seriously so excited to have you along for this ride. We are just getting started and the best is yet to come. If you felt fired up or inspired today, hit that subscribe button, leave a quick review and pass this episode along to another dreamer in your circle. Want more behind the scenes, pep talks and updates? You can come find me over on social media. I'll be sharing more my journey there. Remember, your glow up is unfolding, one bold move at a time. Keep showing up, keep dreaming bigger and I'll catch you on the next one.