Have you ever wondered what the secret was to making all your dreams come true? If so, then it’s good to know that I am not alone.
Truth be told I don’t entirely know what the secret is to making all your dreams come true. I don’t even know if there really is a secret. A formula, yes, perhaps, but a secret? Maybe not.
Here’s the thing. All my life I’ve dreamed big dreams. Dreams so big that I have actually been told they were impossible dreams. Dreams that could never come true. Why? Well because in the world I was introduced to, people just didn’t see their dreams come true. Instead, we live out our childhood doing child-like things, going to school, and eventually growing up to get a job as a way to make a living.
There was no time to slow down and just dream.
But I was different from most of my peers, I always knew that. I had dreams, big ones, and ever since I was 6 years old I had the determination to one day make them come true. Sure, I spent my childhood doing child-like things, but I also spent a big part of that trying to get my parents to move us out to California. I wanted to be where the action was, surrounded by like-minded people. That just wasn’t a possibly at the time for me due to financial reasons.
So of course, I went to school like “normal” children. My parents placed a high value on education, and I think I just naturally fell into that pattern. But I never let go of any of my dreams. No matter where my education took me, I always kept my dreams as my main priority in life.
And though my life altered as I got older, such as being in school a lot longer than I originally planned, I never forget the promise that I made to myself at 6 years old. The promise to not be like everybody else in my life. The promise to never forget what it is that truly makes my heart beat out of control. The dreams that bring me pure joy and happiness and bring me to life. I made a promise to get through life the best I could until I would be able to do what I really wanted to do with my life.
And with each passing day I feel as though I’m getting closer and closer to being there.
And I’m sure you’re wondering what all these dreams of mine may be. The truth is, there’s just so many things! But the one thing that has always been consistent is acting. I knew at 6 years old I wanted to be an actress, and that has never changed. Some dreams may have been expanded upon, new ones created, and others I decided to let go of, but acting has always been there.
So right after graduating high school I decided that it was time to give this dream a shot. And this was the formula used.
- Jump at every opportunity
My nephew’s mom was in the mall one day when some people approached her about an auditioning opportunity. She came home and showed me the flyer, told me what it was all about, and just kind of shook it off. She was very interested in seeing if this opportunity was a legit one or not, but much like me she thought it was too good to be true. So what did we do? We went together to audition anyways, and honestly the main reason we did this was because it was free.
The acting section of the flyer caught my eye and naturally I started seeing Hollywood stars, but I knew I couldn’t get my hopes up too high. I mean I had been in Colorado my whole life and never once did I hear of this agency. So of course, I was a little skeptical of it. But I chose to listen to my gut and went on that audition.
After an introduction of what the agency was about (and they did get me pretty excited about this opportunity), I auditioned for them. Now this was so many years ago so I can’t remember exactly what my auditioned consisted of, but I’m sure the majority of it was answering questions as to why I wanted to be an actress. I can remember not getting much sleep that night because the next day I would find out if they were accepting me into the agency or not.
I can remember being a nervous wreck the whole morning the next day. I was not able to eat anything at all, and I kept pacing the living room, while I waited for my time slot to come around to call them and see what the verdict would be. I even remember hesitating about calling them because I was so sure the answer was no. But my mother, just like the trooper she is, encouraged me to just bite the bullet and do it. She was more confident and sure that I had got accepted in than I was. After about two minutes of freaking out (what my family would say was an over exaggeration) I called them. And guess? I was in!
- Learn the basics
Shortly after getting accepted by my agency, my training for this industry would begin. The really unique thing about my current agency is that it was also an acting/modeling school. Before you could get access to all the jobs they released to their clients, you had to complete their year-long training, which may have been a little bit over a year. The reason for this training? Learn the basics of the entertainment industry as well as the modeling world.
It was here where I expanded on my skills in acting. Skills such as cold reading and performing monologues. I was even introduced to screen tests and finally got a shot at reading commercials. Like real commercials! A lot of to the basic training also included self-esteem exercises, because you can’t be in this industry and not have thick skin.
I also learned how to put on makeup, which I had never ever in my life done before. I learned proper skin care regimens, which I had never done before as well. How to carry myself and walk like a model, how to take care of myself health wise, and the list just goes on. After almost two years of this training I graduated from the school, officially signed on with my agency, and was ready to start building my resume and kickstart my acting career. Officially anyways.
- Get your feet wet
I’ll admit being at the tender age of 21 I often thought a lot of things were going to happen for me right off the back. However, it didn’t. Though I did get to participate in a lot of rare and exclusive opportunities, I didn’t realize the hard work that actually goes into making the dream work.
Right after graduating from the school I auditioned for an exclusive acting and modeling competition. I got in on my first try which of course made me super happy. And here’s why. This competition is exclusive for many reasons. Practically every agent from every corner of the world that you can think of attends this event. That means I was going to be exposed to a lot of agents, which increased my chances of someone taking notice of me by like 1000%.
Plus, this competition discovered a lot of big name stars. Stars such as Ashton Kutcher, Eva Longoria, Katie Holmes, and Josh Duhamel just to name a few. But trust me there are a ton of other stars who have been discovered through this competition.
The other really great thing about this competition is that it isn’t just acting and modeling based. They have singing, song writing, dancing, and other talent competitions. Which means that you could literally attend this competition (if you were invited to anyways) for any dream that you may have. And that’s awesome!
So, after auditioning and getting accepted, we (the others who got accepted as well) began training for the competition. This training would take a course of about six months, before we jetted out to New York or LA to show them what we were made of.
- Ride the wave in sections
I actually attended this competition twice, and next year will make it my third. The first time I attended it in New York. My second time was in Los Angeles. My third time will be in LA again, because I just really like it in California!
Now here’s the thing, the competition is by no means cheap. In fact, it’s pretty damn expensive! Anyone who lives paycheck to paycheck the way my family does would naturally ask me, “Why would I do that? Not only once, but three times!?” My answer time and time again, because I have a dream.
I’ve also been asked multiple times “Why don’t you just move to California to do it?” My answer? Because I’m in school. Which at the time was very true, I had a plan for my education and I decided that I had come this far, I wasn’t going to throw it away to chase a childhood dream of mines head on. Especially without a guarantee that I would find the success that I hope for.
So, I made school a priority while also participating in these competitions, and building my acting resume. The only thing that makes this time different from all the other times is that I will actually not be in school. I will have officially graduated graduate school before training begins, which means that I can focus on this competition 1010%.
And the truth is the past two years I’ve attended the completion I’ve learned a lot. I’ve exposed myself to multiple agents all over the world, twice in an entire year. I’ve gotten callbacks from different agencies, and leaders of exclusive acting workshops each time. Unfortunately, nothing has been made of those callbacks but that’s ok. Every time I attended, every callback I have ever had, was a learning and a growing experience. Plus, I also know that my consistency means that agents are noticing me, which is always a good thing.
I’m actually glad that school was a distraction for me the last two times. It really motivated me to remember what I was doing with my life, and to keep revisiting that promise I had made to myself as a child. And because of these past couple of years of my life, I know now more than ever what my calling is. Now all I gotta do it just get there.
- Don’t limit yourself
On mistake I have always made, even when I was younger, was never getting an acting coach. It’s not necessary as an aspiring actress, I just think it would have helped me a lot. My parents did not want to move to California, so having an acting coachwhen I was younger would have prepared me for pitching myself to my agency, and would have given me some solid skills for audition purposes. Though I rocked my audition with my raw natural talent, I feel like it would have just shaped me a little more, because I’m sure I was a hot mess. A good hot mess worth taking a chance on.
I also think that having an acting coach throughout high school would have been the bridge that I needed to keep myself present in the acting world. I experienced a lot of bullying in high school, and I was a huge social outcast, so I didn’t get to enjoy my drama classes the way I really wanted to. I never auditioned for plays, never performed in class, and it was all because I was too shy and too self-conscious to do so. This was a result of the way my peers treated me. Having that coach would have kept me more engaged.
I also wished I had an acting coach in college right after I got signed to my agency, because I would have been trained like an authentic actor. And don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against individuals who choose to model and act, in fact more power to you! Doing both just not my thing at the time. And I understand to some extent modeling comes with the acting industry, but for the most part I want my career to be about the acting. And I feel like an acting coach would have just trained me the way I wanted to be trained.
But with it all in the past there’s nothing I can do but keep looking forward. I have an acting coach now and things are looking up for me. I feel really good about participating in this competition this time around. It just feels right, so I’m really looking forward to it.
And that’s my formula. No secret that I have been able to discover, just a simple formula that’s working wonders for me. So, if you want put your dreams on the fast track, try this formula. It may just work wonders for you like it has for me!
And if it doesn’t, no biggie. The goal is to get there, and we get there by doing whatever it is that works best for us. This is working for me, and it may or may not work for you. Whatever you do, just do it with full confidence and all of your commitment, because I promise it’ll get you where you want to be.
Are you going to test this out? Let me know, and if you do please share your experience with me. Also, if you have a formula, or you know the secret to making all your dreams come true, I’d love it if you shared that as well.
See you soon love bugs!
-Xo
Kimora
Good advice! Way to follow your dreams!
Thank you!