Get Messy with Maddie

What if the thing you’re really afraid of isn’t failure or rejection or never reaching your potential? What if it’s you? In this episode, I’m unpacking a line from my past guest Corinne Evans that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about: “What keeps me up at night is often me being afraid of myself.” Underneath so many of our creative fears is one quiet belief: “I can’t trust my own judgment.”...

Mallory Gonyea is an actor and producer based in Nashville, and this conversation is full of the kind of golden nuggets that only come from someone who has done real inner work. A former elite athlete who majored in theater and graduated straight into the pandemic and the writers’ strike, Mallory shares what it took to start pursuing acting professionally in the last three years, and why she’d tel...

Have you ever noticed that when one good thing happens in your day, everything else starts flowing in that direction too? That’s not a coincidence, and there’s actual science behind it. In this episode, I’m breaking down the broaden-and-build theory, a framework from positive psychologist Dr. Barbara Fredrickson that I came across in a Bustle article, and what it means for navigating the emotional...

Welcome to The Grind — a new series here on Get Messy. Nobody tells you what the middle looks like: the slow seasons, the unglamorous work, and the years it actually takes to build something that lasts. This series is for that middle, told by the people who are actually living it. Andrew Klasnic started acting at five, moved to LA right after high school in 2011, and has since built a career acros...

Someone out there is half as talented as you, living a version of your dream just because they had the audacity to put themselves out there. When I heard that, I didn't get angry, I got lit up, because it means the thing standing between you and everything you want might have nothing to do with talent. In this episode, I'm talking about audacity: the word that has been following me around...

Welcome to The Grind — a new series here on Get Messy. Nobody tells you what the middle looks like: the slow seasons, the unglamorous work, and the years it actually takes to build something that lasts. This series is for that middle, told by the people who are actually living it. Ruchi Loomba is an actor, writer, producer, and director based in Seattle, and this conversation covers a lot of groun...

I got nominated to give a speech in front of 150 people at my grad school residency, and what came out of that week — the stories I heard, the things I haven't been able to stop thinking about since — is something I knew I had to bring here. In this episode, I share what unfolded during my grad school's yearly residency, including getting nominated as my cohort's group leader and havin...

Corey Clifford is a SAG-AFTRA actor, writer, director, and acting coach based in LA, and this conversation is a masterclass in staying in the game for the long haul — with humor, humility, and a whole lot of reality TV references along the way. We get into what it actually takes to balance the craft and the business side of acting, why the old "ladder" of co-star to guest star to series regular do...

Authenticity has become such a buzzword that some people are starting to reject it entirely — but what if we've been thinking about it all wrong? In this episode, I'm reframing authenticity as something that isn't a fixed destination you arrive at, but something that shifts depending on the day, the season, and the version of you that showed up this morning. I revisit something my past guest Sasha...

Welcome to The Grind — a new series here on Get Messy. Nobody tells you what the middle looks like: the slow seasons, the unglamorous work, and the years it actually takes to build something that lasts. This series is for that middle, told by the people who are actually living it. Tatiana Pavela has been in the industry for two decades — from experimental theater in New York, to grad school in Sea...

What if the pursuit of the thing is actually what's keeping you from having it? In this mini episode, I'm sitting with a question I haven't been able to shake: can we ever really have something if we're purely in the pursuit of it? Can I feel at peace when peace itself is the thing I'm chasing? I get into the paradox of pursuit — how chasing a feeling can actually create the ve...

You can be confident and still have a ceiling. In this episode, I'm getting into something I think gets constantly conflated in the personal development space: the difference between confidence and worthiness. We're always told to just build more confidence, take more action, do more reps — and the worthiness will follow. I don't think that's true, and I've watched it play out too many times, both...

Welcome to The Grind — a new series here on Get Messy. Nobody tells you what the middle looks like: the slow seasons, the unglamorous work, and the years it actually takes to build something that lasts. This series is for that middle, told by the people who are actually living it. Deb Foster has been chasing this dream for two decades — from commercials in New Zealand, to bartending her way throug...

What if getting the thing you've been working toward doesn't feel the way you thought it would? In this mini episode, I'm unpacking something a guest said that I haven't been able to stop thinking about: "the base is always shifting." Every win quietly becomes the new floor instead of the ceiling you were reaching for, and the finish line keeps moving the closer you get t...

Social media has us convinced that where we are right now is never quite enough — that there's always somewhere better to be, someone better to become, something better to be working toward. In this episode, I'm asking a harder question: is perpetual self-improvement actually robbing you of your life? I get into the difference between healthy growth and a version of self-improvement that q...

What if your ego isn't the villain you've been told it is? In this mini episode, I'm offering a reframe I got from my friend Sasha Feldman (actor-turned-therapist and a past Get Messy guest): the ego isn't something to defeat, it's more like a toddler — scared, overwhelmed, and desperately needing someone to hold it together, not shame it into submission. I get into what it actually looks like whe...

Sam Valentine is back on Get Messy, and this conversation is a masterclass in staying sane inside an industry that runs on manufactured urgency and radio silence. Sam — actor, podcaster (Working Actor Life, formerly One Broke Actress and Not According to Plan), and co-founder of Fast Forward Productions — gets into the "ASAP" culture of auditions and bookings, why there's no real fee...

We're a little more than halfway through the year, and if 2026 hasn't looked the way you thought it would either — you're in the right place. This episode is my honest mid-year check-in: bookings and money haven't been flowing the way they have in past years, but connection, community, and confidence have been some of the richest I've experienced. Both things are true at the same time, and I think...

I've moved six times in six years — LA to Virginia Beach to Miami to Virginia Beach to Miami to Virginia Beach, and now Kansas City — and through all of it, my voiceover career has kept growing. So today I'm talking about something I've learned the hard way: your zip code does not define your success. I get into the hardest move I ever made — leaving LA — and a conversation I had with another actr...

Money is one of those topics everyone's curious about but few people actually talk about — and in part 2 with Olivia Sarafina Washington, that's exactly what we dig into. We get real about the financial rollercoaster of building a voice-over career: the highs of hitting six figures, the lows of not making SAG health insurance minimums, and everything in between. Olivia opens up about what it was l...

Sometimes the destination isn't visible — and that's actually okay. In this mini episode, I'm talking about something called the "cone of clarity": the idea that when you're driving through fog, you can't see the whole road, but you can always see just enough right in front of you to keep moving forward. I get into why waiting for the full roadmap to be illuminated before you start taking action i...

Today I'm doing something a little different — I'm going back to an article I wrote for Medium in 2021 called "Seven Things to Give Up If You Want to Have a Healthier Mindset," and asking the question: does it still hold up five years later? What did I know then, and what have I actually had to learn the hard way since? I go through all seven — trusting your first thought, absolutes, disempowering...

Sometimes the most helpful advice comes from the most unexpected place — for me this week, it's my astrology app. In this mini mindset episode, I unpack a message that stopped me in my tracks: "quit being mean to yourself," and what it actually means to stay on your own side, even when the pendulum between confidence and self-doubt is swinging fast. I get into the difference between...

It’s always so refreshing to talk about the voice-over world with my peers, and I get to do just that with the lovely Olivia Sarafina Washington, who I am so excited to welcome back to Get Messy! We cover some frequently asked questions, including: red and green flags with reps, and how to get them, the true value in casting director workshops, and some tricks and tips on how we show up to our voi...

I need you to stay with me for a second — because I'm about to tell you that a business book accidentally explained why therapy works. A dear friend gifted me Building A StoryBrand by Donald Miller, and as I started doing the assignments, something clicked. Here's the core idea: we all want to be the hero of our own story. And therapy? Therapy is one of the only spaces in your life that is...