The Confidence Shortcut with Niki Sterner
The Confidence Shortcut is your permission slip to start before you’re ready. Hosted by actor, comedian & producer Niki Sterner, each episode is packed with honest conversations, mindset tools, and practical shortcuts to help you silence your inner critic, develop a growth mindset, and get unstuck.
Designed for high-achieving creatives, performers, visionaries, and entrepreneurs, this podcast helps you build the habit of courage in the face of fear—so you can finally share your voice with the world.
If you’ve ever wondered how to build confidence, overcome self-doubt, or stop overthinking and start taking action, this show is your weekly boost of momentum. Whether you’re battling imposter syndrome, stuck in perfectionism, or simply afraid to take the next step, you’ll leave each episode with real-life tools and the confidence to move forward—one bold (and sometimes messy) step at a time.
Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the show wherever you’re listening, and grab your free “Confidence Kickstart” in the show notes.
The Confidence Shortcut with Niki Sterner
#27: Beth Keener Dent | Authentic Spice, Mental Health & Self-Acceptance
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What do you do when rejection, disappointment, comparison, and self-doubt start to feel louder than your own voice?
In this week's episode of The Confidence Shortcut, I sit down with licensed therapist, former television host, and entertainment industry veteran Beth Keener Dent to talk about the mental health tools that help us navigate life's challenges without losing ourselves in the process.
After spending more than 18 years in the entertainment industry, Beth knows firsthand what it's like to chase big dreams in highly competitive environments. Her career included television hosting, entertainment reporting, and becoming a finalist in the nationwide search for a new co-host on Live with Kelly. Today, she combines those experiences with her work as a clinical mental health counselor, helping individuals, couples, and creatives build greater resilience, self-awareness, and emotional well-being.
Together, we explore rejection, perfectionism, motherhood, identity shifts, and the surprising ways our minds try to protect us from discomfort. Beth shares practical tools for emotional regulation, mindfulness, radical acceptance, values-based decision making, and understanding the different "parts" of ourselves that show up when life gets hard.
Most importantly, we talk about Authentic Spice, Beth's philosophy for embracing what makes you uniquely you. We explore how to stop performing for approval, own your strengths, and build confidence by bringing more of your true self into the world.
In this episode, we discuss:
• Why rejection doesn't have to define your self-worth
• The difference between acceptance and approval
• Practical coping skills for anxiety, overwhelm, and emotional regulation
• Understanding the different "parts" of yourself and building self-leadership
• What Authentic Spice means and how to embrace your unique strengths
• Values sorting and making decisions that align with what matters most
• Mental health tools creatives and entrepreneurs can use immediately
To learn more about Beth and her work:
Follow Beth on Instagram: @BethInSession
Book a session with Beth:
https://www.eastatlantacounseling.com/beth-keener-dent-ms
Discover your values:
https://www.think2perform.com/values/#start
New episodes every week — packed with honest conversations, mindset tools, and real-life shortcuts to help you move before you feel ready, build confidence through action, and create your Bigger Life.
📌 Subscribe + share if you're ready to stop overthinking and finally move forward messy.
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✨ Grab your free Confidence Kickstart Guide.
Welcome And Guest Introduction
SPEAKER_00Welcome to the Confidence Shortcut, the podcast for ambitious creatives and entrepreneurs who are ready to stop overthinking, take bold action, and finally step into the life they've been dreaming about. I'm your host, Nikki Stirner, mom, actor, comedian, and producer. After years of playing small and waiting to feel ready, I went on a courage quest and found a shortcut to confidence. Each week, I'll bring you real stories, simple steps, and conversations with experts in mindset, courage, and confidence. Plus, heart to hearts with fellow creatives who are turning their dreams into reality. It's time to get unstuck and start showing up. Let's dive in.
SPEAKER_01Welcome to the Confidence Shortcut. I'm your host, Nikki Sterner. Today's guest is Beth Keener-Dent. And I could not be more excited to share her with you. Beth spent more than 18 years in the entertainment industry, building a powerhouse career with over 100 film, TV, hosting, and commercial appearances. Her journey took her from Atlanta to Los Angeles and back again, landing her incredible on-camera roles like Braves Live, Atlanta United Pre-Game host on Fox Sports, Atlanta United's In Stadium host, and Georgia Public Broadcasting's Schuler Awards. She even produced her own entertainment show, including interviewing icons like Denzel Washington, Steve Carrell, Sherry Shepard, and John Travolta. I'm dying over here. What makes Beth so special though, what makes her work so needed, is not just her resume, it's her heart. Throughout her own career, Beth experienced the anxiety, self-doubt, and internal pressure that so many creatives quietly carry. Instead of hiding it, she turned that experience into her mission. Today, Beth is devoted to supporting mental health in the entertainment community and beyond. She helps individuals bridge the gaps in support and find real healing. Through a blend of integrated therapeutic approaches, she guides clients to reframe that negative self-talk, develop healthy coping skills, stay grounded in the present moment, and rewrite their life stories from a place of strength and resilience. Her message is simple and powerful. You are inherently worthy. You can grow even in adversity, and your story is never set in stone. Please help me welcome the incredible Beth Keener Dent.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, Nikki. It is funny, these intros always make you like, oh my God, this is me. Like thank you. You know, I appreciate it. Thank you for the intro.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I am so excited to hear all about your history in the entertainment industry as someone who is looking to create her own TV show. You've already done this. I want to know what did you do? Where have you been? Tell me everything, please.
From Chicken Farm To Camera
SPEAKER_02Oh my goodness. Wow. Well, you know, it's a long story, um, full of lots and twists and turns. But I am a Georgia native. I am a peach. I grew up here in Georgia on a chicken farm. My parents divorced really early. So a lot of my formative years were um there between my mom and my dad. And my mom happened to live on a farm. So we had 50,000 chickens, and there was a lot of free time and a lot of roaming around on the farm and big dreams. And um, so that I think that's where my creative like juices started flowing. And then there was this fabulous teacher when I was little. Her name was Miss Waters, and she just inspired me and really helped me begin to grow as a young person. I was really shy as a kid. And um, that love of the arts just kind of took over. I went to a performing arts high school. I moved to Carter School to go to a performing arts school. And I graduated early from high school to move to Pigeon Forge to professionally perform in an independent theater there called the Black Bear Jamboree. And um, I did audition for NYU, didn't get in, total bummer. That was like my my dream dream. And my mom used to always be like, you know, we'll make it work, we'll figure out. Because I I think even back then the tuition was like 32 grand. And we were like, how are we gonna pay for this? But um store are stories, right? They take a different turn. And um, mine was, you know, uh the hills of Tennessee. So from there I moved home. Um, I started, kept finishing my degree, and really fell into the acting community on camera in 2005 when the the first like tax incentive was developed. And I had no idea that I was on the cusp of something really wonderful here in Georgia. And so those little on-camera classes led to me landing my first agent, um, which was no, they're no longer around, but talent network, I think was the name of it. But I ultimately was with Houghton for nine years and then moved over to formation, formally People Store.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_02And um, but during that journey, I was in LA a couple of years. Um, I did, I did a lot of TV and film, a lot of hosting. But after coming home from LA, I um I decided to finish my degree and really focus on hosting, on television hosting. And so that's when I developed that TV show. And so that's when we need to talk about it's like, what does that look like? And I did that with my best friend Greer Howard. And we just interviewed celebrities coming through town um that were talking about the projects that they were doing.
The Live With Kelly Pressure Cooker
SPEAKER_02But then that also I was, you know, mentioning to you, I um live with Kelly was looking for uh a co-host for her, an interim co-host. And so I started, I just applied. I made this intro video and uh made the top 40, and then we had to make another video, and um, I made the top 10, and then they flew me up to New York for a week and we competed to be her co-host, which wasn't me, but I was the final woman standing. So I think third in the entire nation is a pretty big deal.
SPEAKER_03Huge. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What was that like?
SPEAKER_02Tell me, what was that like that week when you were there? Um, honestly, because I had done so many things at that point, it felt um really energized. And I and I did feel kind of ready for the moment, but they would do this thing where, and this is what I hate about our industry and like creatives were, you know, but right before we would go out, they'd be like, you know, this is the competition. You guys are in competition with one another. You need to make sure that you go out. And it's like they were in our ears, like creating a level of like anxiety and competition that wasn't necessary. Gosh, you're creating kind of pitting us and like when really it could have been like, hey guys, let's everybody do our and then everything was about like social media who always voting. They were trying to get as many social media numbers, which is ultimately, I think, how I got eliminated because one of the final two um was a former TMZ, one of the main guides on TMZ. And then one of the other finals, he was a teacher, the production teacher out of high school, but he had 2,000 kids who are way more well-versed than my, you know, 35-year-old friends at the time doing all the learning. Like we don't, you we don't know. I'm 41 now. It's like we don't know what we're we don't know what we're doing, you know. We're like, oh, this submit button, great. I voted, you know. So um, but yeah, it was wonderful. I love New York City. It's my favorite city in the world. Um, it felt like a true honor and it felt like a like a like I'd earned kind of a new level of like, I can do this and I am good at this, right?
SPEAKER_01So that was after you had already created your TV show here with Greer. So you had the experience to back it up. You're like, no, I'm good. I got this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's still wildly nerve-wracking. Like when I go back and I watch the video, like our first day, our competition piece was like a just a minute dialogue where we were like pitching ourselves in America boats, and I could just see myself like, ah, you know, like fired. And I remember some of my friends going, Are you okay? But they had put us in this tiny room and it was like in a stairwell, and there was a door, and I was the final one to go. So it's like they'd open the door and you could hear cheering, cheering, and then and we're all in this white room. There was no, there were no doors, there were no windows, other than well, there's a door to enter and a door to exit. And it was entering into the stage, and then you could just hear the door go. And then it would shut, and the four of us would just be sitting there looking at each other silently and wait on the person to be ushered back in. And then they're like, All right, you're up, and then and then you'd and so it was like a really intensely emotional, not normal. And that's the thing. A lot of us in this industry, as you know, Nikki, what we do is not normal. We we're putting a lot of abnormal scenarios, and we are pitted against one another, and it's it's rejection and silence and comparison and social like social media comparison and what are your numbers? And it's all this performance-based, am I enough rhetoric? And that's where I think the we get lost in the sauce. And that's where the work that I'm doing now really comes in.
Handling Loss Without Self-Destruction
SPEAKER_01So, did you have a moment where you felt like like after you didn't get that huge opportunity in New York to be on that national show? Like, what did you do afterward? How did you feel? Like, how did you process all of that? I'm just curious. Or I cried for sure.
SPEAKER_02I definitely sobbed, you know, and I could tell that day they had us do this dance as the competition the third day. And it's like the two men that were left were just like battling and then like, and like then, like it became like these these two lovely, one of them was absolutely lovely, who is I would still call a friend of the say, but like these two white men, like white man dancing it out, you know, on and then kind of like and they put them beside each other, and then I'm kind of down on the end. There was just really no way for me to compete. And they were like trying to outdo each other, so they were pulling a lot of the attention on the show from anything I was doing. Um, and I think so at the end of that, and when it wrapped, I just got into a really bad mood. I probably it probably wasn't a shiny example of who I am as a human. Um and then I cried, and then and then I was grateful.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then I felt, you know, I allowed myself to feel really validated that I did something that very few people, you know, get to do. And me providing a life for myself and um and being able to be paid as an actor for years, solely doing that. That's a huge, that's a huge accomplishment. So I'm trying I try to look back now with gratitude, even though sometimes I want to beat myself up because I'm like, well, you did this or you didn't do that. And that's what we do to ourselves. We, you know, we we don't embrace the good. We don't embrace the winds as easily as we embrace the negatives.
SPEAKER_01So where did you go from there after that moment? What where did your career shift? What did you decide?
SPEAKER_02You know, I wish I knew what year that was. I think it was nine years ago now.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02Um so my my hosting career just continued to flourish. I continued to make videos like my my my project with the local lens, which became unscripted with Beth and Greer, with a true passion project. Greer and I were best friends and still are, and we just loved creating content and something that I mean that it was so joy-driven. And what it what content creation and and that type of joy in the work that we do allows you to do is sharpen your tools. So I just became even better and better and better of a host, um, loving what I was doing.
Motherhood Rewrites The Career Rules
SPEAKER_02But I will also say, three years after that, I had gone through a struggle with fertility for a couple of years. I finally had my daughter and I was able to become a mom.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02And that was the big, big shift for me. That's where it started. And I'm sure you understand that, Nikki. I mean, it's becoming a parent for those who are blessed, able, or want to. Um it's a it's life-changing. And so that's when my perspective on my career really started to shift. It became less about me. Was I pretty enough? Was I skinny enough? Was I talented enough? Did I have enough followers? You know, what about my Botox? Should I up my Botox game? You know, like all the things that we think about that just are it became more trivial. And also work was taking me away from her. When she was four months old, I had to go on a boat and do a job for eight days in the Caribbean, like hosting a show.
SPEAKER_03Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_02And she's four months old.
unknownOh my gosh.
SPEAKER_02You know, and I'm I'm you know, and then when she was like not even a year and a half, I traveled for 12 or 13 consecutive days. That's a long time to be away from your child, you know? Yeah, and I just didn't want to do it anymore. It just it wasn't worth it. And uh that's when it started.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So once you had those two trips away and you came back, you were like, this just doesn't work anymore for me. So what made you think to go into what you're in now?
Pandemic Pivot And New Purpose
SPEAKER_02Well, the pandemic happened, right? So I'm starting that conversation with myself. I'm starting to think, is this my calling anymore? Is this my story? And then the world broke. And everything fell apart, right? And we're inside, and I'm inside watching this little human grow. And I'm looking out the window and watching the news, and we're we're seeing all of the this this social and emotional upheaval and isolation and the brokenness of humanity in so many ways, right? And people just didn't have access to one another. And we as humans are tribal and we need social connection to feel um I mean, energy and connection and love and all of those things. And a lot of that got taken. Um, a lot of people were were unable to pay bills. There was a lot of financial stress. And so that's when that conversation started with my husband. Now, I took a small detour to continue to make money. My sister is in my whole family's in real estate, but she was like, Hey, I'm inundated. I need help. So I spent some of that time re-upping my real estate license that I had gotten at 19 and started helping my family sell real estate. Oh, I was surviving. Yeah, I'm a I am a jack of all trades, master of none, Nikki.
SPEAKER_01Well, I love that you're not afraid of anything. You're like, yep, I can do anything, you know?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Just go after that.
SPEAKER_02I think that's been such yes. And I love that I love what you're doing now. You're showing also this is kind of the the hill that you're dying on as well, where it's like, don't tell me what I can't do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, I I'm gonna show you what I can do. And and and when I need, you know, it's all a lot of it's need-based or it's opportunity-based, or it's like, you know what, this is bringing me joy. I know I'm gonna be good at this. I'm gonna pursue it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, and not be afraid anymore to try and fail, even if I fail. Failure is such a great teacher. You learn so much quicker when you fail. Versus before I used to avoid feeling that awful feeling of failure. You know, we were, I don't know if you were trained, but it was it was like you were, you know, applauded for your successes and failure was just, you know, something you didn't want to do. So I absolutely avoided that awful feeling for so long. Instead of like if, you know, I I think like now it's like you can ask your kids at the table, like, well, how did you fail today? And like celebrate it. Like, good, good job. You put yourself out there and celebrate the, you know, the energy that they use to try to make themselves better, instead of like, what were the results? Did we win? You know, that that can be so suffocating and like stop us before we start.
SPEAKER_02So that's and it's so easy when we have a mishap or a setback, or we're like, oh, I didn't do that, or I failed at that. Gosh, you want to take it so personally, don't you? You want to be like, oh, well, maybe I can't do this. Of course, those things enter our minds, but it's how do we how do we pop back up? And I have a friend who's starting a couple of businesses, but um, who I was talking to recently and is in the fundraising phase, just a really, really smart guy. Um, and he's he's actually started this really cool company. I can't, I can't speak to it, but it's called Art Pharmacy, but it's really connecting like insurance with um various types of mental health um and and um gosh, like art therapies and helping provide art therapy and you know, with programs that are insurance funded so that people can access therapy. And I love that. But anyway, he was like, I'm I use no's as a okay, uh, as an incentive. Like, sure, okay. Well, if not you, someone else will. And uh, you know, you're probably gonna regret it, right? So it's kind of like we're hearing his story and how he uses a no is like more ammunition. Cool, cool, cool. I know I'm gonna hear enough of them. If you're gonna add to it, I'm gonna get my yes soon enough. And not being deterred by that. And I I I wish more of us could live like that and understand the value of the failure and the no, uh, because it's a teacher and it's a motivator if you allow it to be.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I mean, even in acting, I don't know if you felt like this. Obviously, you did because you started your own thing, but after so many no's, you're kind of like, listen, I'm gonna choose myself. I'm going to put my work out there, my voice out there, because I'm tired of waiting for someone else to choose me. Like it's it's such a big transition in a creative life when you say, um, I'm done waiting and I'm gonna create something and move through that messy middle part that feels cringy and just become visible instead of waiting. It's such a such a powerful moment.
SPEAKER_02And you've done that and you've shown that you can do that. And what I what you when you're talking about this messy middle part too, that's where growth is, that's where the skills develop, that's where the sharpening you can't do, you nobody shows up with an a product. That's part of it. And like embrace it and embrace the mess so that you can because once you are willing to get messy, you get better and better and better. And that's what we're striving for, right? And if it's inside betterment, outside betterment, skill set betterment, it's you're just doing yourself a favor by failing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I like how you said inside, outside, and skills, because I feel like that's a big part of what we do at the confidence shortcut is the inside, like getting clear on the dream and then the internal like belief system and then the outside the skills. Like I do something called 30 in 30 days. So, like when I started developing stand-up comedy, I got on 30 open mics in 30 days and had to create a mindset routine that I call the ace mindset routine where I acknowledge the feeling, the fear, the heart as a good thing. Like, wow, I feel so alive. And then I clear whatever negative thoughts I might have had before. Like, am I gonna remember my lines? You know, am I gonna make a fool of myself? Instead, I just say I move before I feel ready, because that's the truth, you know, and it does it. I don't feel good about that, I don't feel bad about that. I just feel like it clears anything. And then I elevate into the I am statements, like I am joyful, I am magnetic. This crowd loves me. They laugh at all my jokes so that I'm creating the experience that I want right now that's happening. And I'm sure you have something that is similar to that. And I'm just dying to find out like what are those things that you help your clients with?
SPEAKER_02Oh my goodness, yes. Now, and and let me be very frank with you. I, like every human, am on a daily journey to empowerment, to better mental health, to working in a way that is self-loving. And I think that's what we forget to do. But what I think is really, really important, and these are five tools that I'd really like to leave everyone
Five Tools For Mental Strength
SPEAKER_02with. And and these are things that I try to work on and talk about a lot. I have an actors group therapy that also, while I'm an intern right now, um, it's $25 a week or on a sliding scale, if that's unaffordable. But what I we do there is we process what each actor is going through, or not even actors, I it's creatives. It's standup, I have stand-up comedians in the group. I've had actors in the groups. And I mean, any type of creator that's dealing with the issues of silence and rejection and um, you know, comparison and and self-criticism, the inner critic, all of that. We work on some of these items that I'm about to mention. And then this transfers over into any human being ever, you know, living and breathing and doing, you know, out there living in the world, because the world is cra cry right now. So all right. So the first thing that I like to talk about is the idea of radical acceptance. And radical acceptance, people are like, I feel like it's also like a buzz term. I'm just radically accepting. But really, when we boil it down, a lot of people, like in therapy, especially, who've been through trauma, are like, no, I'm not accepting that. What happened to me was wrong. It's painful, it hurt. I'm I can't heal from it. So, what we have to remember is there's a separation between acceptance and approval. So, radically accepting where you are in this at this moment has nothing to do with approving, um, with what may or may not have happened to you or any situation that you're in. It has to do with accepting exactly where you are right now. And when you accept that, we're not living in the distress of the past. We're not living in the anxiety of the future because that compounds distress. And we, that's not what we're trying to do. All we're doing in the present moment is saying, This is where I am right now. I accept it wholeheartedly. I may not approve. Of it, but this is it. Okay. So when you can do that and there's a little level of peace there, you can look around and go, okay, what's next? And then you take the next right step for you, which I think is so, so important. And that can vary in every scenario or situation or um relationship and relationship dynamics are such a huge part of how we interact with the world too. And there's a whole set of skills around that. But as we're moving to the world, radically accepting those that, like for me in New York, when I was just up there with my daughter to my six-year-old for the first time. And I just like wanted her to be in love with it as much as I am. And she did, she loved it. But she kept going, it's like Atlanta. And I'm like, it's just, oh, this is a bit we're doing because it's definitely not like Atlanta. You know, she kept going, yes, it is. And I think because she sees big buildings here, she's like, no, it's the same. Um that's better. I have to radically accept my memories in in in New York. And I I don't approve of how things really leveled out there. Um, but but it's accepting it and where am I now? And then if I look at my present moment and I look at this tiny little six-year-old human and I like look at the world through her eyes, and what blessing I have to be her mother, to have the money to come back and afford to stay there and like have these experiences with my family, you know, just accepting the gratitude part of it has been really important. And then, okay, now what? If if I ever want to return here, what's next for that? Right. And it's just using that as a like an anchoring um mindfulness practice as you move along. So from radical acceptance, then there's a level of like coping skills. Um, with actors, we do face a lot of adversity. And I think there's a type of therapy that I really lean into. It's called dialectical behavior therapy. And it really, like the basis of it is that like two things can be true, right? We can, for instance, like in a marriage, you can absolutely love your husband and hate him that day, right? Both things can be true. He can be a pain in the ass today and you love him more than anything. So it's the dialectics of life, the dialectics of existence. And so what we're trying to do is cope, right? Sometimes, like if we didn't get that audition or, you know, a really painful um breakup happens. How do we handle the discomfort of our big emotions and our big feelings? And so coping skills, like um, I'm thinking of tip right now. Like there is the tip skill where it's like temperature, like let's say you're really highly activated. And so you can use really cold water on your face to kind of get your heart rate slowed down, ice on your wrists or neck is a really good like um baseline to get you recentered. Um, then intensive exercise can often be something that we can do to um get our body out of emotion mind and and into more its physicality and like so that intensive heart rate can like lower just stress for us. And then there's paced breathing, there's relaxed um musc muscular relaxation um techniques that you can do that will all kind of be recentering. So we work on those types of skills. We work on relationship and interpersonal skills that, hey, hard conversations happen. Let's say you need to leave your agent. Um, how are you or you're transitioning in your career from one thing to another? Um, these skills will help you work through that. So I think the skill set that we can develop and and counseling is really important, especially for creatives. Because I mean, we're creatives. We're like, I'll die for my art. You know? Don't give me the business plan, but we do need a plan for when we're living through really hard things.
SPEAKER_01Um, let's do it.
Paced Breathing For Nervous Systems
SPEAKER_01You mentioned um paced breathing. What does that look like?
SPEAKER_02Um, well, paced breathing is like so the way that I like to do it when you're talking about returning your body and your um your system to safety, um, which is like a more, which is where we want to be. It's where we are relaxed, we have a regular heartbeat, we're not highly activated. So if you think of it like five to six breaths per minute, you can do, or you could do like a square square breathing, like four second inhale, or um, four second hold, four second outhale, four second hold, four second inhale. So it's paced, right? Okay. Or you can you can plan it over a minute. You could do like a six-second inhale, and then you can hold it, but you can breathe out all the way, make your exhale longer than your inhale, and then go again. And you want you want only five or six breaths per minute to return your body to a state of relaxation, of comfort, of safety.
SPEAKER_01So when you work with people, Beth, do you give them homework? Like, I want you to try this exercise when you get um uh what's the word? Activated, activated distressed. Yeah. And do you give them like, okay, go and do this? Uh, if like they're an actor and they go to do an audition. Like, do you tell them, like, this is what I want you to do before the audition or after the audition? How do you talk them through that and what homework do you give them?
SPEAKER_02Well, case by case, but great question, Icky, because we all have different needs. We're all very specific people. Um, so for me, yes, I'm a very hands-on and active counselor. I'm not, I obviously people come in and share their stories and we dissect them, but I don't want my clients to leave my room more distressed than when they came in. Um, and themes, um, trauma, various things happen in the life of a person. So we want to make sure we're slowly making progress. And goals are larger action items, and homework is how we we reach the goal. So each week we've got homework and we're trying to get to the overall goal of like lowering distress, increasing communication skills. It can be very small things. So, yeah, I we would go through a session and what I'm hearing is this. Is that right? Client, yes. Okay, well, this week let's tackle a personal mantra because a lot of your inside story is telling you you're too much. You keep and and we dig in. Okay, where does that rhetoric start? Okay, it started here. Okay, well, this week we're gonna come up with a personal mantra and we're gonna put it on our mirror, on our computer. And this week we're gonna start telling our we're gonna rewrite our personal story. And that's all we'll do this week. We're just gonna mantra, come back, and or or we'll work on breathing before an audition or whatever it is, whatever they're facing.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. I I literally have a sticky note right here on my computer. So I and I put it on my mirror too. I do exactly so. This is cool. Like, I don't have the background like you do in the education part of it. I just dump myself in all in learning and hearing and podcasts and books and stuff. And it's so comforting to know that what I'm doing is actually science backed. What is your technical title title, Beth?
SPEAKER_02So right now I am um a clinical intern. Um, um, so I'll in May I'll be having my master's um of my science master's of science in um clinical mental health counseling. So my track would be ultimately I'll become in in by May, I'll be an associate, um professional counselor. And then in two years, it's a very long process, which is comforting for the mental health community because it takes years. This whole process will be five years before I can be a fully licensed counselor. So we just know that your healthcare providers have put the work in. Um, but yes, and then ultimately I'll be an LPC, a licensed professional counselor, which is just a fancy way of saying therapist.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Okay, great. Yeah. I know there's different like letters behind people's names and stuff like that. So that's good to know what yours will be. Yeah, congratulations. This is a long process.
SPEAKER_02So long. And presently I'm in clinic taking um individual clients and helping lead groups. And we um, you know, so so this is my process, right? And I have a supervisor, so it's basically like getting two therapists for one. So that way everything that I do and all the work that I'm doing, I'm running by her. My case, she does case reviews with me and give me insight into ways that I can continue to help my clients. But that's that's where I am right now. That's so neat.
SPEAKER_01Wow. My goodness. Okay, I wanted to continue on in your process, your your tools that you, your tips, yeah. Yes.
Mindfulness And The Inner Critic
SPEAKER_02All right. So we hit on coping skills. Um, another um a huge part of like DBT practice, and I believe that actors should um absolutely employ in their day-to-day lives is mindfulness. And mindfulness, we always think of sitting and meditating. Mindfulness practice is is can be anything. It's just mindfully being aware of your inner experience, your external experience. Is it going on walks and noticing birds and beautiful trees and flowers, taking in the smells, hearing the sounds? Are you mindfully observing the world? But then also a huge practice of mindfulness that actors and creatives should be aware of and comedians and anyone putting themselves out there in front of other people are is the negative inner critic. And so when you mindfully observe what you tell yourself, like for instance, um, I feel like I'm not good enough. So you can think mindfully, like you start, you start ruminating, right? Or getting anxious or depressed because I'm not enough. I can't book anything, I'm not enough, I'm not enough. So rather than allowing mindlessly allowing that thought to continue, you mindfully acknowledge, oh, okay, I'm aware of a thought, but I'm not good enough. Because that's all it is. It's a thought, it's not truth. But the mindful awareness creates enough space from that thought so that you're not, it doesn't number one, grab you as deeply and hold on to you as tightly, but it also makes you more aware that it's just a thought. And then the more practice that you have observing that, the more distance you create between the thought and the identification of that thought as self. And you can see that the thought doesn't make it true. And the mindful awareness of what our internal experiences can really, really help us thrive and survive as creatives in the world.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I totally can relate to that. For so long, the inner critic ruled my world and what I did. And the inner protector was like, Don't put your stuff out there. You're not ready. Don't do it. It's gonna hurt, uh, you know.
SPEAKER_02Then that's when you look at that protector and you say, Thank you so much. You serve such a great purpose for me in a lot of my life. I know why you're here. You're here to protect me, but I'm grown now. Thank you for all the work you're doing. But I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this big girl stuff now. And then maybe that protector will move on to another more protective role or a more supportive role in your life as an adult. But we do. We have this, it's called internal family that just we've developed as in order to cope in our lives for all of the different ways that we have had to survive. And when we get to become adults, they become maladaptive because they're still protecting the 10-year-old. And you're like, no, I'm 40, man. Like I'm gonna need you, I'm gonna need you to relax. So yeah, that's just kind of a detour, but it's very true that inner protector you're talking about.
Naming Your Parts To Lead Yourself
SPEAKER_01Do you name your inner um family?
SPEAKER_02Yes, gosh, I do. But my main, my main inner family, which she's less of a um, she's less of a family member and she's more just of a second personality, is Cheryl, and she's my ADHD lady who takes over. And I'm like, oh my God. Like I'll be in a conversation and be like, what, you know, and start talking about and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. That was Cheryl. Cheryl got distracted and she just interrupted this call. You know, Cheryl just runs amok sometimes. So I have to be really mindful of her. Yeah. Do you have any? Do you name them?
SPEAKER_01Who called my um my protector um shade? Because she, like, you know, is my inner shade. She's tell, oh, she's my shadow self. Yeah. And then I call my inner child hidden because she was like so hidden for so long, like being protected by shade.
SPEAKER_02I love that you know these things and they're so important. And really understanding how you how these things manifest for you is like allows you to thrive more because then you know how to protect and talk to hidden, how to soothe shade. And like you know, it that then they can work cohesively together so that you as a whole human as self can like show up. Now we're getting real ethereal. People are like, Bessie's lost me. But it's this whole idea of internal family that we have. But come see me and we can learn more about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But um, if for anyone out there who may be interested in the combo Nikki and I are having, I'm glad that we can have this because so few people like do the and like know the internal family stuff right now that it's such a growing school of thought.
SPEAKER_01And it's great though, because once you know about them, then you can take and own yourself. You have that self-leadership of like, no, you got like you said, like, no, I'm good. Thank you for everything you've done, but I'm gonna take over from now. You know, like I'm grown, I'm good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. You can come along for the ride, but I'm leading the way.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm I I I love that. I kind of love that. I I'm just scratching the surface of learning, but I have a whole continuing education class to complete about about that type of therapy. So stay tuned, Nikki. If you if you ever want to dive deep on some internal family.
SPEAKER_01Yes, you gotta come back once you like, you know, have more get through some of it. Yeah, once you get to know Cheryl that much more. Cheryl, I love that so much.
SPEAKER_02Oh, absolutely. She's crazy.
SPEAKER_01I love that she's your ADHD. Because like I have that side of me too, where I'm like, I tell myself, I'm like, oh my gosh, focus, Nikki. Like, get like get to it. Like, but you're Cheryl. You got a name.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you got a name. When when she pops out, you gotta be like, listen, get back in. Get, I need you, right. We gotta write the ship today. We got a lot to do.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_03Um, but it's fine.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, absolutely. Which probably doesn't bode well for people thinking I might not be on on the straight and arrow with my mental health. They're like, who is she talking to? Like, Cheryl, not you, you know. But now my friends know that it's just uh because I'll be in a full conversation and detour right out of it with myself while I'm talking to someone, and they'll be like, Beth, come back. Is this Cheryl? You know? Yes. All right.
SPEAKER_01So I think it's so relatable, and it's what makes you probably really great at what you do is that you have experienced exactly what you teach, you know?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Thank you, Nikki. And I, you know, I always thought that being and working in mental health meant that I had to have like this very Zen demeanor and had, you know, and just really had to figure it all out before I start helping people. And I am finding how relatable my life experiences are, which just inform so much of the work I'm doing in the
Claiming Your Authentic Spice
SPEAKER_02room. And that I too am, oh, well, that leads me to the next tool, which is, you know, what I want people to, and this has always been my thing when I used to speak and teach at um Kennesaw. Um, I it would be that we, especially as creatives, we want to show up the way the world thinks that we should be or what we think the world wants us to be, or like trying to fill some void of like, oh, well, well, there's a podcast like that. Can't do that because that's I'm gonna do this. And it's like we we we allow our decisions to be made externally to internally, right? We don't actually embrace the fact that we are the only person in the whole world who looks like me, who talks like me, who has my life experience, who has my story, who has my specific worldview. And that specificity makes me so effing cool and powerful. And and I call it your spice, but leaning into that authenticity and that spice that you have and just sprinkle that all over the world, cover everything that you do with that spice and embrace it. And I've had to learn that I don't have to fit into a therapist shell. Actually, my spice is that I'm quirky and I'm real and I'm not your usual, I'm not your usual therapist. And I love that, and I'm learning to love that, even though sometimes I'll leave a session and go, all right, Beth, you got too weird. You just got too weird. But I think we have to remember that, right? There should be more weirdness in the world. My daughter has started saying, Oh, that's weird, that's real. And I'll go, thank you. Oh, cool. Yes, yeah. Oh, that's and so I'm just uh ingratiating that that thought process. And I want her to also know being weird is cool.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Oh, wow, that's so valuable for her, you know. Well, I hope so. Oh, amazing that you're teaching her that already. Wow.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm sure you do the same, right? It's that that that embracing of who we are and just really appreciating it. And I think that's a lot of inner work, you know, in counseling. But also we have to remember as creatives, if we're trying to be too run of the mill or too much like someone else, or too much not like someone else, we're doing a disservice to all of the wonderful gifts that we have as a person. And how do we identify that, you know? And there's a process and a digging in that's really important to make sure that we um we love ourselves and appreciate ourselves for how we show up because nobody else in the world can do it like we do it.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I wish I would have been, you know, as educated as you were when I my kids were younger. I feel like I was definitely trying to be perfect and trying to have them be perfect and restricting their lives in so many ways because of my belief system, you know, colored the whole house. And obviously they've been shifting with me over the past three years, and they've grown just as much as I have, if not more, and they're constantly teaching me.
SPEAKER_02Um, but yeah, like I think Tell me how old your kids are, Nikki.
SPEAKER_01Um they're 20, 18, and 16. So they definitely got the worst. And you're and you're 32, you started having children. Yeah, 11.
SPEAKER_02Because you don't look older than that, Nikki. So I kudos, kudos. Well, I think that's wonderful. You know, I even with what I know, you know, speaking of that internal family and the voices, it's like the way I was raised was like P's and Q's, and yes, ma'am, no. And like you look people in the eyes and you speak when spoken to, and but and even my husband and I last night had this conversation because she's our only child. I'm like, I think we're too hard on her. I think we're constantly like, okay, be kind, be this, do this, blah, blah. And like, when does she get to be six?
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_02But I don't know if you had that experience because the mom guilt is real, Nikki. So tell me a little bit more about that. I'd love to know that if you don't mind sharing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, I mean, I just definitely cared what people thought about me as a parent and our whole reputation mattered. And even if my my husband's wild and crazy too. Like he wrestled at Ohio State and he has that whole like, I don't care, you know, what people think. And so I would always be embarrassed by him. Like I was just so sensitive to the what the world thought that it it just really put me in a I put myself in a box, really, you know, just like you have to be this person, you have to be perfect, you have to um uh not be too much, you know, because you're trained from the time you're little, like, you know, get back in line, don't don't speak, you know, you're too loud. And so you just take those things and you internalize them for so long that they become your story. And so it just becomes the whole lens that you see the world through. Like, I can't do that anymore. That doesn't feel good. I get in trouble when I'm actually myself. And so it's really just the it's been the rewriting of the whole story, Beth. It's like I can't, I'm not happy being who the world thinks I need to be. I have to be myself. I'm sure you experience that too. It's like I I'm tired of being trying to be perfect. It but it's not working, and nobody likes it anyway. It feels fake. So for me, it's just been um like I have this thing. It's an agreement with myself, and that's my fourth grade picture of me with the mullet. And um, it's just an agreement to move forward messy, to play, to to do things that make me happy. And I look at it every day and I ask myself, like, well, what do you need today? You know, like do you need rest? Do you need love? Do you need uh to go sing? What what is it that what does that, you know, 11-year-old need that I need to think about to be happy? And so that really kind of guides me now versus before it was like, well, what does the world need me to be? Now I'm like, no, what does she need? What does that inner child need? Because that's where my joy is.
SPEAKER_02So I have so I have so many thoughts about everything you're sharing because I first of all hope, and I know you do love yourself for making this change because it's really hard. Also, how no matter what stage of life you you you become this authentic part of yourself, you become who Nikki is and wants to be. Your kids are looking at that and they are watching you embrace it and love yourself messy and all. And what a gift that they're this young and they're watching you do that. And because what you were saying is like our kid, we did when we are, and I'm a perfectionist and I'm in. My own counseling. I get counseling. I stay in counseling, but because I can't stop telling myself of what I should be, right? What I'm supposed to be doing, right? So our kids are an extension of us. So of course we're going to manage them the way we've been managed and are managing ourselves. And you giving yourself that freedom and asking that young girl what she needs also allows you to turn around to your kids and go, see, well, what do you need today? And how can I help you today? And let me help you love yourself the way you deserve to be loved. And what a what a true gift that you're giving them, Nikki. And at any phase of life, this is perfection. And I hope that you just love yourself through all of it. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for that. Um yeah, it has definitely changed our whole family dynamic just into accept one of love and acceptance, like you're saying. Um because they do see that and they did try to be, you know, let like try they would try to fill the expectations that we had placed on them for so long, like the perfection. Yeah. And it just isn't it's not fair. It's not fair for them. It's not for any for anyone. And so now there's just more of a I don't want to say playful, but it really truly is. It's like a loving, playful energy throughout the house. And it's it it just makes it.
SPEAKER_02It's a game changer, right? It's a game changer for to have that type of energy in the home and to know that you don't have to like again, it kind of goes that authenticity. It's like what other people think about you is none of your business. I I say that to my clients all the time, and I'm like, this is going to sound rude, but I'm saying it with love. Yeah, it's none of your business. Live your life, like enjoy, and then your kids are gonna see you do that. And and I'm not saying anything that I'm also not guilty of. And that's the wonderful and horrible part about being human is know better, do better. Well, do you know better, do better? Because I'm still working on it on a daily basis, you know what I mean? But we're trying and our kids see that effort. And I just, gosh, I just I want to give you this big hug right now and be like, do you want to run around naked? Should we? I feel like to celebrate just the house. We'll do it when we get off. We'll be like, So, but you did say something that leads me kind of to a final
Value Sorting As A Life Compass
SPEAKER_02tool. And I don't know if you've ever done this. I would imagine that you have, but I bet most people out there haven't. And I just what I'm thinking about is value sorting. And value sorting is like there are lots of free platforms online. I can send a link if you want to include it with the podcast. But the importance of understanding and knowing your values is they can inform the decisions that you make in your life. And a lot of people haven't taken the time to like look at a hundred values, right? Family, acceptance, integrity, loyalty, honesty, um, finances, all of those things. They haven't taken the time to suss through those. And what are my top three to five? Because honestly, where's the compass, right? We're just out here willy-nilly making these decisions based on what other people's values are, what other people's expectations are. But when you sort through your values, you realize, oh, I have been so uncomfortable with this decision or this job or this thing, because it doesn't align with my basic value of, and for me, it's acceptance, being acceptant, accepting and accepting others as one of my top three. But even in this journey of counseling and me scheduling things and clients and learning how to be a counselor, my number one value is family. And my husband and my daughter take precedence to everything. And I three and four nights a week, I was coming home and not seeing my daughter, which meant that I was seeing her one hour a day. And I was so dysregulated. And I'm like, oh, it's because this isn't aligning with my value. My value is her and my husband. And so I talked to my supervisor, and she was, of course, loving and like, yes, let's figure out what pockets where we can hold back and also don't reschedule on top of it. Don't just keep saying yes to people. She's like, hold the line. And so when we know our values, we can make decisions that are value-informed, that align with who we are as people, that align with our heart and our personal mission. So I will send you a link and then you can, if you want to include it, let people, you know, sift through their values and figure out what really matters to them and then make decisions. If if it is it ain't a hell yes, it's a no. If it doesn't align with those top values, don't do it. You know? And so that's how you can proceed in a very simple but very value-aligned way.
SPEAKER_01I'm curious, Beth, what your you said family is your number one. What are your top three to five?
SPEAKER_02So I really just live through three and it's acceptance, family and integrity.
SPEAKER_00Integrity.
SPEAKER_02And I want there to be, I want my word to have meaning and and weight. And I want everything that I do to be kind of with honesty and loyalty. And I feel like integrity is a little bit of a heavier way to encompass some of those very basic but very strong values. But integrity for me, I just try to do everything with integrity.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Wow. Thank you for sharing those five um ways of, you know, moving forward in the world. I I'm just gonna recap them really quickly. So the first one you mentioned was radical acceptance. And it's um the way that you think of acceptance is not necessarily approval of something, but just literally accepting is what is. Um, and then you said the second one was emotional coping and regulation. And you gave us some coping skills, uh, the temperature, um, ice on your wrists, cold water on your face, uh, intensive exercise. You oh, you said the tip method. So temperature, intensive exercise, and then the P was paced breathing. That was all super interesting for me as someone who regularly performs. Like I do like to have some tools that I can use, uh, things that I could do today if I were to go and perform, create a video or something. How am I gonna come back to myself? Yeah. And then you talked about mindfulness and just being aware of, you know, if you're on a walk, do you see everything? Do you feel everything? Um, you also said uh oh, noticing the inner critic in addition to that, and just knowing that that's separate from you, but noticing it.
SPEAKER_02Being mindfulness, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And then I love uh the fourth one, claiming your authentic spice. And I think spice is such a cool word that you bring to the conversation because everyone has, you know, um a different spice. Like, you know, maybe some people are um hot, some people are like, you know, I'm I'm thinking like spice in my cabinet. Like let me just like vesting. Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. But it gives us the um, you know, the acceptance of who we are and and what we naturally bring without shutting it down. And I think that's where the beauty of someone actually gets to come through and shine and feels good. So I love, I love that one. And then the fifth one is another one that I've um dealt with in the past, which is the value sorting and decision alignment. Because when I started doing stand-up comedy, I told you those 30 open mics in 30 days. I did feel like this is not something that I can do for long term because I was away at night when my kids are home, you know, and I want to be there like you. I want to see them at night. Um, that's like a grounding period for me with my family because family's really important to me too. So those are beautiful steps, beautiful work here today. And I want to thank you and honor you for sharing all of this with us as we move into the third and final round.
Book Launch And Courage Tour
SPEAKER_00Before we get back to today's episode, I wanted to share something exciting. For the past year and a half, I've been working on a book called Move Forward Messi: The Confidence Shortcut for Your Bigger Life. It's built around a simple idea. Confidence doesn't come first, action does. The book is designed to help you stop waiting to feel ready, uncover what you truly want, and start building your bigger life through tiny, brave steps. Along with the book, I've also created a guided journal and a blueprint, both designed to help you turn your dreams into action. And we're officially in launch season. The book will be available on Amazon this June. I'm also hitting the road on the 50-state Move Forward Messi Courage Tour, bringing this message to communities across the country. To stay up to date on the book launch, the tour, and everything happening next, check out the links in the show notes. And now let's get back to the episode.
Confidence Quick Fire Round
SPEAKER_01Confidence? Yes. Yes, confidence quick fire round. Here we go. Okay, I'm dying to know how do you define confidence as someone who's extremely confident and done a lot, you know, had so much success in this industry. How do you define it?
SPEAKER_02Well, I I think very simply, um, standing in your authentic power, your authentic spice, your authentic self, um, and embracing the wonders of who you are. That's confidence.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, I love that. Okay. Second one is what's one bold move you made before you felt ready? Oh probably uh moving to LA wasn't ready.
SPEAKER_02Um 25. Uh, they came a call in. I went. I uh probably should have done more preps.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_02But I was there two years before I came home and um yeah, did that. I mean, it was what I needed to do. I needed to know it needed to be part of my mission and part of my story so that I could know that that wasn't what I wanted for my life. But uh I still wasn't ready, but I did it anyway because you know I've I've gotten in so much trouble by my husband for saying this so frequently, but falls to the wall. Just go for it.
SPEAKER_01Just go for it. That yeah, you've totally done that your whole life, which is incredible. Incredible from the start. Yeah. Okay. The third one is how do you quiet your inner critic? Or how do you deal with it if you don't quiet? What do you do there?
SPEAKER_02Oh, I yeah, I think the quiet part's really hard. I have worked on, I do some like um freehand like journaling sometimes where I will just get it out all my thoughts. Or it's a hey girl, what's up? Yeah, not welcome, welcome to the day. All right, this is what we're doing. I'm gonna try to survive it. And just rather than push away and judge that, I try to embrace it and go, Well, she's with me today. She's gonna come around saying what she has to say. And so at least I can have some peace surrounding the the critic as they show up rather than the resistance, which creates more distress.
SPEAKER_01That's so interesting. Uh yeah, that's so interesting. You just like talk to her, like, well, I guess this is you're with me today. I've never heard before, but that's so interesting. But yeah, you're right. Like, if you fight it, then it's like becomes this fight, and then it's like more energy in your head, right? That's exactly right. Absolutely. Okay, I love that. All right, the fourth one is what's one habit that helps you build real confidence.
SPEAKER_02You know what? So my habit is really like go big or go home. And back when I first started acting, if I had one line, right when taping started, that's dating myself here, but um you could put it on tape or you could drive nine hours to Louisiana. And I was in the car. I was going. I was going, I'd say my one line and then I would leave. But that put me on Lisa Mameth and Cannon's radar. You know, she was like, I kept showing up no matter where she was. And I so when I commit, I commit. I I don't, I'm all in. And I do that with love too. If you're my friend, we we tight, like we are thickest thieves. Like, there's no, and I am so loyal to a fault. Like your problems become my problems. I'm like, who we gotta fight? You know what I mean? All right, let me go get my box and gloves, you know. Which is also funny about being in mental health because when it comes to the people I love, I love so hard. And um, my husband calls it justice police. I feel like I'm the justice police, but you know, what are you gonna do?
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, that's such a great little catchphrase for who you are. Do you use that a lot?
SPEAKER_02No, well, lovingly, but he doesn't use it lovingly. He's like, Beth, you're the justice police. Quit. You can't police all justice in the world. But um, I absolutely uh do often refer to my uh to my ability to wanna like help fairness and fight for people as the justice police. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and your integrity value. Uh yeah, it's so aligned. That makes so much sense.
SPEAKER_02Yes. It can be exhausting, Nikki. I'm not gonna lie.
SPEAKER_01Sometimes does that character need to stop? Are you like this breaks?
SPEAKER_02Yes, that internal. I need to name that one actually and be like, listen, you've done a great job, but now is not the time.
SPEAKER_01Um, when you name that character, let me know the name.
SPEAKER_02For sure. It's gonna be something like Bob's or something like Harry. Somebody's like trying to throw their weight around, you know.
SPEAKER_01I wonder how Cheryl will uh like that character.
SPEAKER_02She'll probably up in this house, you know. I could just really have a whole film in there. I think we all could with all that stuff going on inside.
SPEAKER_01I think this is a TV show. Like, bring these characters to life in the family. It'd be so fun. Okay, I've got one more question for you. And that is do you have a favorite book or resource that changed how you think?
SPEAKER_02Oh my goodness. The one that I talk about, and I haven't read it in years, but when I first read it, it was monumental was the four agreements.
unknownOh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And oh my gosh, right? And it's um be impeccable with your word, don't make assumptions, don't take things personally, and always do your best. And and just living, making those four agreements with yourself allows you to break the the ties and the bonds of society's expectation and society storyline for you. You're just not tethered to that anymore. You can what I think the book refers to it as the dream. Like we're living in the dream, and then we wake up and it allows you the ability to wake up and take charge and control and be run, you know, run your own life. But again, it goes back to those values and living by those values.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, that's such a good one. It really is. I love that one. I too. Okay, I would love for you to share what you have going on.
How To Work With Beth
SPEAKER_01I know you have a support group and um how people can find you on social media if you have any programs, any offerings. I would love for you to share that with people right now because I'm sure they're gonna want to know how they can connect with you.
SPEAKER_02Thanks, Nikki. Okay, so first and foremost, this is um we have our acting group, slash creative group, slash entertaining group. Um, and it's moving to Fridays at 12 p.m. from 12 to 1:30. It's an hour and a half long. It's a process group. So really the group runs itself. So you create group um norms and rules at the beginning. Um, but you bring in whatever you're dealing with that week. It can be personal, it can be related to the industry, and and the group helps each other. And then as skills come up or as problems come up and we need to process them from a therapeutic perspective, that's where me and my co-leader Phalanx come in and we work with the group on developing those skills. Um, additionally, I offer individual counseling. Unfortunately, right now, my caseload is full, but I will say the person who co-leads with me is also, she spent 11 years in LA and is also an actor. Um, and she's exceptional. And so she is taking on clients. And so if there is someone in need, um, please reach out. What's great about the position both Salem and I are in is we can work on a sliding scale. So at least for the foreseeable future until we graduate, we can work at a rate. And that's really why I wanted to spend this one year focusing on entertainers. A lot of times we don't have the same kind of money that people have been working in the right. And so we need um affordable care. And so this allows us to have affordable mental health care for people that are creatives that may struggle financially or not even struggle, but just not have $175 a week to throw to mental health. Um, so there's that. And then um you can follow me at Death In Session um on Instagram. It's a new account. I finally started. I've like posted three or four times. Then I'm really starting to figure out what I want that brand to look like. And hopefully we'll have tips and tricks and various things that um that might be helpful for people as we move along on our mental health journey. And then otherwise, just live in live in the dream. Nikki, gonna get down and dirty at Christmas. Hopefully, have some spiced rum, um, get through the new year and start again. So, you know, thank you for having me. It's been a really wonderful pleasure to talk to you today. And hopefully our conversation will make a difference to at least one person. Um this is really all we can hope for.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you are such a bright light in the world, and I know why our friend Ronnie connected us. I'm so thankful just to get your voice out there, because you what you're saying is so important and valuable to all of us as creatives, just to all human beings at this point, I would say. I'm really thankful that you were here today to share this with the listener. And it doesn't surprise me at all that you are fully booked because you are just thank you, Mickey. It's a joy to be around. Really, truly thank you for being here. Yeah. So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02Well, you are lovely and I love what you're doing. I will continue to support. I think your mission is one of value and is offering a lot to not only women, but those who are really struggling with starting or building confidence and afraid of the mess. And the mess is such a beautiful, wonderful part of the journey. So thank you for all the work you're putting in. Oh, thank you.
SPEAKER_00So well said.
Final Takeaways And Listener Next Steps
SPEAKER_00Thanks so much for listening to The Confidence Shortcut. I hope today's episode woke something up in you, reminding you that your dream matters and you can start now. If this sparked something, share it with a friend who needs it too. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram at Nikki Stirner and join our Facebook community at The Confidence Shortcut. Ready to take the next step? Check out my free guide, The Confidence Kickstart, linked in the show notes. Keep showing up, keep taking action. And remember, the shortcut to confidence is courage.