Eps 40: Heather Hemmens on Building a Long-Haul Acting Career: Self-Care, Resilience, and Creating Your Own Opportunities

Colleen sits down with Heather Hemmens (Roswell New Mexico, Hellcats, Yellowstone)  to talk about sustaining a decades-long career through resilience, craft, and self-care. Heather looks back on moving from Maine to LA at 18 with little money, the disheartening early years, and how depression in her early 20s led her to coping tools like hiking, yoga, meditation, and better health habits. Stan Kirsch Studios was one of the places that gave her a sense of community and built her groundwork for on-camera training, and she also got support from a manager who stuck with her before she booked for years. Heather breaks down what she learned watching herself on camera, her seven-audition journey to booking Hellcats despite getting harsh feedback from a casting director, and how that propelled her in the future when she was up for Roswell, New Mexico. From working with Tyler Perry to Taylor Sheridan, Heather has absorbed the artistry of those around her and used it to further her acting career and work. No matter what happened, she refused to give up, and that’s how she was able to keep going. See her in “Texas Two Step” now playing on Hallmark. 00:00 Meet Heather Hemmens 01:01 Moving to LA at 18 02:45 Full Circle Milestone 04:07 Self Care Survival 06:16 Depression and Coping Tools 08:07 Finding Stan Kirsch Studios 10:56 On Camera Breakthroughs 15:03 Booking Hellcats 18:26 Notes and Callbacks 20:10 Resilience Before the Break 24:39 Health Crisis to Business 26:53 Roswell Audition Shift 27:10 Booking Roswell Fast 29:20 Juggling Three Shows 31:14 Champagne Problems Reality 35:21 Tyler vs Taylor Workflows 38:41 Tyler Perry Boot Camp 41:45 Directing Actors Gently 46:02 Staying Flexible On Set 47:35 Dancing Again Texas Two Step 50:14 Choosing Directing Home Turf 52:40 Trusting Intuition Self Care EPISODE LINKS: · Heather’s IMDb · Follow Heather on IG @heatherhemmens · Get some Galifornia Undies  Host: Colleen Foy Producer: ⁠Kristyn Daniel⁠ Music by: Lindsay Boreing and Will Boreing ________________ Want to learn more about Stan Kirsch Studios? ⁠Visit Our Website Here.⁠ ⁠Catch up on the podcast here.⁠ Follow SKS on IG ⁠@stankirschstudios ⁠