Making it After 40

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with actress and audio book narrator, Kim Niemi. Kim shares with us her story of starting her acting journey in musical theatre, only to get burnt out and leave acting altogether to try a variety of jobs including becoming a country music artist, a ghost writer and a stint working at Chili's. In her early 40's, while once again working at Chil...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Lisa chats with Emily Ziff Griffin, a writer of fiction books, essays and screenplays. Emily started her career in her early 20's assisting and then producing films with Philip Seymour Hoffman. In her mid-30's Emily came out of the creative closet and accepted that what she truly wanted to be doing was writing and creating the stories.  Her first foray in...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with Adam Burch, an actor, writer and producer who is now in law school. Adam and Lisa talk about some of the realities of the entertainment industry, the importance of having an income source that can sustain you in dry periods and starting a new endeavor after the age of 40. Links: Follow the show on Instagram at @makingitafter40 Follow Lisa Rodriguez...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with Marnie Temple an artist and former professor who found a calling to set up an artist residency in the wilderness of British Columbia after losing her husband to cancer. Marnie brings to this conversation honesty, vulnerability and her truth. She shares with us the beginnings of setting up the residency with her partner Jim, processing grief and lea...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Lisa chats with animator and visual artist Tom Addis. Although Tom had dabbled in many creative fields, he truly found his niche in animation after he turned 40. Tom shares with us how he had to overcome mental health challenges, in order to find his footing and confidence in his work and how his wife was instrumental in making that happen.  Now, in his early 40&ap...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with clown Chad Damiani. Chad is not a clown in the sense that most people think of clowns. Clowning is breaking down structures of authority while having fun and getting laughs in the process.  Before finding his way to clowning, Chad a successful career as a screenwriter and before that he was an announcer for wrestling. Chad and Lisa really get into...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features writer, director, producer and actress Ilana Cohn. Ilana found success early in her career writing sketch comedy for Youtube. These Youtube project lead to writing jobs with various networks and outlets and have paved the way for a solid career writing for television. Lisa and Ilana talk about the challenges of the uncertainty with the entertainment industry,...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode features Andy Crocker, a creative consultant and live experience director. Andy's years as a casting director, comedy director and so much more have given her the skills to create live immersive experiences for people all over. Andy shares her journey to this career, which started when she and her creative partner and life partner created their  first...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Lisa chats with actress, writer, director, MaryLee Herrmann about her artistic journey to creating her solo show, Schmaltzy & Princie. MaryLee shares how she tried to escape the pull of acting by getting behind the camera. However, she soon found her self being drawn back to the stage, which resulted in her creating her one woman show. Lisa and MaryLee discuss...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Lisa chats with good friend and colleague, Aaron Denius Garcia. Aaron moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000's with the intention of being a professional actor, but he soon found that his real passion lies in creating and telling the stories.  Aaron shares with us how he found his way to writing, his experience with the industry during times of huge transition...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Lisa chats with actress and yoga instructor, Bunny Barclay. Bunny brings to the conversation, a life well lived and time to have been able to reflect on that life, decisions made and the outcomes of those decisions.  Although Bunny is in her 70's, she is certainly not slowing down anytime soon. Lisa and Bunny discuss, the many ways creativity can be incorporat...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with multi-hyphenate Teri Gamble, who was a multi-hyphenate before it became the expectation of performers. Teri and Lisa discover that they have a connection from the theatre scene of their youth, they talk about leading with your most authentic self, nomadic life styles and the importance of branding for performers. Teri has lived a thousand lives in...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with Amie Enriquez, an actress, writer, puppeteer and producer, about her journey in art and her one woman show Lightweight. Lisa and Amie discuss the challenges of being an artist, finding your way and how sometimes when you're not on the right path, life gives a little or a big push to get you back on track. Links: Follow the show on Instagram at...

Send us Fan Mail In this first episode of 2023, Lisa chats with long time friend and Adam Shakinovksy of Bru Productions. Adam is a film maker, story teller and most definitely a creative spirit. Adam and Lisa discuss finding the harmony between making art that feeds their souls and making art that feeds their families. They also get into the importance of staying in alignment with your collaborat...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with one of her dearest friends, Eric Moschopedis who is an interdisciplinary artist along with his romantic and artist partner,  Mia Rushton.  Their started about with ideas about community, drawing communities together, supporting communities and building community, however this has evolved into studying inter-species relationships.  In particular, th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Lisa chats with actress Katherine Stein, whom Lisa met many years ago while they were both pursuing their undergrad degree in theatre studies at UCSD. Katherine shares her experience of find the right teachers to bring out your talent and confidence, becoming a mother while acting,  changing markets and becoming the resource for other actors. Katherine and Lisa bon...

Send us Fan Mail In this week's episode, Lisa chats with Stacey Carr, a freelance TV development executive (Nickelodeon, OWN) and consultant who is currently living her dream in London. Stacey started her creative journey as an aspiring actor in Los Angeles, but soon found her niche is development and specifically in unscripted programming. In this role, she has been able to bring focus to un...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with Saudia Rashed, a Los Angeles based actress whose creative journey started in dance at a performing arts high school in Texas. Although Saudia dabbled in acting before coming to Los Angeles, it wasn't until she faced the LA dance scene that she found herself wanting to embrace acting completely. Saudia and Lisa discuss finding your voice, takin...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode features Ithamar Enriquez. Ithamar is a character actor trained out of Second City Hollywood. He is best known for a his role as Commercial Man in the Disney Plus tv show, Wanda Vision. But those in the improv/comedy scene, we know him for his incredible character work and ability to hold an audition captive while not saying a single word. Ithamar is uniqu...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with Georgia based actor Charles Green. Charles has always had a love for acting and found some success in Hollywood in his 20's, but soon enough, he realized that he craved stability, so he made found a steady job working for the CDC and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Although Charges continued to practice his craft in Georgie, he was no longer pursui...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with Actorvist, Sharon Blynn, who switched gears after being diagnosed with ovarian at the age of 28. Along with challenging conventional norms of beauty, Sharon wanted to challenge the idea for women, that losing your hair meant that you lost your beauty and your femineity. Sharon has used her platform as an actor to demonstrate that cancer doesn'...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode features Los Angeles based actor Jordan Preston. Jordan moved to Los Angeles form New York to pursue acting at the encouragement of his buddy. However, it was longer before his buddy bailed and Jordan had to find his own way into this business without any help or any connections. His perseverance and passion for this craft have paid off, especially in the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episdoe, Lisa chats with Monica Wyche, a New York based actress by way of South Carolina.  Monica shares with us how her acting career didn't really get started until she was in her 40s when a stranger, who saw her perform in a theatre production in South Carolina, told her that she belongs on the stages in New York. Something that about that exchange reignited a pass...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lisa chats with Michele Simms, who is best known as the Carvana Mom from her 2022 Superbowl Commercial. Michele is a wildly talented character actor and she's just getting started. Lisa and Michele chat about overcoming depression, the challenge of moving to Los Angeles without a built-in network and how finding her community in improv really grounded her. Mi...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Making it After 40, Lisa chats with Michael Tow, a Boston based actor who is working his way to super stardom.  Michael shares with us his journey which started as a background actor while also running a financial planning business to today where he has earned a series regular role for an Apple TV series, City on Fire, to be released in 2023. Michael and Lisa ch...