As an in-demand Twin Cities actor, singer, dancer and comedienne, Shinah Hey went from one job to the next with barely a break in between. When she was offered a role she’d played 10 years before, she knew she’d hit a creative ceiling. Ready to be seen not as the girl she was when she got started but as the woman she’d become—a seasoned performer, wife and mother of 2—Shinah did her research to find a new home base. She was looking for a place she could pursue fulfilling acting work and where her five-year-old daughter could have access to services that support her autism and Bryant-Li-Bhoj syndrome. That place turned out to be Southern California.

Shinah shares her journey to becoming a mom through both IVF and adoption, how her love for acting motivates all areas of her life and keeps her self-taping auditions after the kids go to bed, how she and her actor husband do the work/life juggle and why she’s a better mom when she’s working.

More on Shinah:

@shinahhey

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37355440/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_accord_1_unrel_cdt_t_1

Bryant-Li-Bhoj Syndrome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPHQc7oPdgc

Fertility Resources

https://resolve.org

https://www.fertilityclinicarizona.com

Adoption

https://adoptioncouncil.org

Kelly Lester is someone who shakes things up on a regular basis without even meaning to. While taking some time off from acting to raise a vibrant family, Kelly started not one but two super successful businesses. She then discovered, during one of her daughters’ performances, that her own creative fires were burning stronger than ever.

Kelly entered back into acting a little older, a little wiser, and a lot more confident and castable. And when working in LA was no longer fulfilling, she and her actor husband set up shop in NYC a stone’s throw from Broadway to grab hold of a long-held dream.

Kelly’s story is one of ingenuity and the step-by-step processes that lead to great things; it’s one of family—from her actor parents to her 3 daughters, all thriving in the business; and it’s one of jumping in with both feet without looking back. Kelly shares stories of parenting wins, how she’s moving through the acting business at this point in her life, and why an actual person at Amazon picked up the phone and called her.

More on Kelly:

https://www.kellylester.com

@kellylesternyc

The YouTube channel!

(scroll down for lunchbox videos!)

https://www.youtube.com/@lesterworld

NOTE BEFORE: In this episode we mention suicide ideation and drug use which may be sensitive subjects for some.



Act Like A Mother creator and co-host Katie MacNichol takes her turn in the interview seat to share her beautiful, funny and deeply moving story of acting and mothering. She describes her early days in NYC - on Broadway one day and back to waiting tables the next - her meet-cute moment with her actor husband, and how they raised their two kids while working on stage and on the road.

Katie speaks honestly with Melanie about the creative ways she managed to weather not only the ups and downs of a fickle business and financial strain but also the pain, fear and confusion she faced during her teenage son’s struggle with addiction. She shines light on what that experience taught her about her role as a mom and her relationship to her career, and she reveals how this podcast is the direct result of the gifts that come when we’re willing to tell the truth about how life is.

More about Katie:

https://katiemacnichol.com

@katiemacnichol

https://backyardrenaissance.com

https://www.theoldglobe.org