Note: This episode includes conversations about potentially triggering or sensitive topics that may be difficult for some listeners. Please listen at your own discretion and prioritize your emotional well-being.

What does it mean to find your authentic self in an industry built around auditions, rejection, and outside expectations?

In part one of this episode, Adam and Emily plop on the couch for a sincere dialogue with actor, singer, director, casting director, and writer, Brittney Brown.

Brittney shares her journey from childhood talent shows to professional theater, reflecting on the challenges of navigating a competitive college training program, managing body image struggles, and processing experiences of feeling unsupported as a performer of color. Together, they explore the pressures of external validation, the freedom of showing up authentically in audition rooms, and the importance of learning to trust your own assessment of your work. They also examine the value of creating welcoming audition spaces and the need for ongoing conversations about diversity, inclusion, and emotional support in performing arts.

This podcast contains occasional strong language and candid conversations. While one of our co-hosts is a licensed psychotherapist, this is not a substitute for professional mental health care.

Follow Brittney: Instagram at @honeybbrown and Letterboxd at https://boxd.it/5Mr2Z