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 Hemmens01:01 Moving to LA at 1802:45 Full Circle Milestone04:07 Self Care Survival06:16 Depression and Coping Tools08:07 Finding Stan Kerr Studios10:56 On Camera Breakthroughs15:03 Booking Hellcats18:26 Notes and Callbacks20:10 Resilience Before the Break24:39 Health Crisis to Business26:53 Roswell Audition Shift27:10 Booking Roswell Fast29:20 Juggling Three Shows31:14 Champagne Problems Reality35:21 Tyler vs Taylor Workflows38:41 Tyler Perry Boot Camp41:45 Directing Actors Gently46:02 Staying Flexible On Set47:35 Dancing Again Texas Two Step50:14 Choosing Directing Home Turf52:40 Trusting Intuition Self CareEPISODE LINKS:· Heather’s IMDb· Follow Heather on IG @heatherhemmens· Get some Galifornia Undies Host: Colleen FoyProducer: ⁠Kristyn Daniel⁠Music 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 ⁠