How Did I Get Here?
HEY! I’M STEFANIE.
(Here’s your mnemonic device: Stef-with and “F”-anie.
You’re welcome!)
When I was 4 years old I did my first television commercial. “New Curad, flexible, ouchless, bend your elbow…” My little actor friend and I sang the jingle in a dozen bandage-necessary scenarios over 100 times.
I loved doing it.
What I couldn’t have known then was how deeply I was absorbing the ethos of the entertainment industry: do it again and again and again and again…until probably it’s right. Look at it. Chop it up. Ask for a 2nd opinion. Rearrange it. And then…when the clouds part and light pours from the heavens, and you hear sweet angels sing…it’s probably in a strong enough place to put it out in the world.
I worked as an actor until I got taller than most of the men hired to play my “dad”. (Actors are generally very small people with big heads…literally and figuratively). I learned how to tell a story with my eyes (SEE PHOTO) and obsess over a character’s possible motivations until I felt like I knew her and could understand her in the short bit of time I was asked to portray her.
Mining for what was unsaid was the most interesting part of the whole job for me. (OK, and I also loved having my make-up done.)
Going through that process hundreds of times for my characters taught me empathy toward people in real life. I recognized that the richness and complexity of someone’s story was buried and if I could discern it, or they would share it with me, then another person in this world would feel seen and heard.
To this day I deeply and sincerely love the process of drawing out the details and helping people to manifest their dreams. (Yes, I see you there!)
I have worked my entire professional career as a writer, publicist, producer, and project manager for a wealth of performing artists, nonprofits, as well as a diverse roster of entrepreneurs, and small businesses, repeating the same process I learned as a young actor:
See the person.
Ask the questions.
What’s unseen?
What’s unsaid?
Help them share their story in a way that is authentic to them and relevant for the audience.
It’s not always easy to see the through-line in your own story. Once you find it, though, you’re propelled from the mundane of the moment into the big picture of your life’s work.
If you need some help knitting together your story, let’s talk.
~ Stefanie
