There's a version of yourself that keeps showing up — even when everything feels broken. This episode is about her. In 2022, I almost quit my creative career. Not in a dramatic, "I'm out" kind of way — more like a slow, disorienting fog where nothing felt aligned, my voice felt restricted, my compass felt completely off, and I didn't trust a single thought I had. I was in the messiest of middles, and I want to tell you about it. We go all the way back — from a painfully shy kid in Chicago, to grinding in LA from seventeen years old, to the season when voiceover, acting, and my sense of self all seemed to crumble at once. I talk about what burnout actually feels like from the inside, what a worthiness and identity crisis looks like when you've wrapped your entire self around a creative career, and the one phone call from my agent that cracked something open. This episode is also a love letter to anyone currently in the messy middle — the place where you feel bold and completely directionless at the same time. (Spoiler: that's not a contradiction. It's what choosing yourself actually feels like.) TIMESTAMPS [00:00] — There was a time in 2022 I almost quit — and I want to tell you about it [01:06] — Welcome to Get Messy [01:48] — The origin story: a painfully shy kid who found acting at 10 [06:45] — Pounding the pavement in LA since 17 — what "all in" really looked like [09:37] — Years of grinding, and things slowly starting to come together [13:22] — Voiceover takes off — signing with my agency and booking my first job March 2016 [16:27] — The floodgates open: campaigns, momentum, and making real money for the first time [16:27] — When unresolved stuff started bubbling up and restricting my voice [17:47] — The slow creep of burnout I didn't have a name for yet [20:06] — COVID as a permission slip to finally slow all the way down [20:47] — Yoga With Adriene, meditating, and unearthing things I never wanted to unearth [23:12] — Leaving LA — the decision I never thought I'd make [25:44] — Moving to Virginia Beach, getting my coaching certification, and a fresh start [26:55] — Moving to Miami: trying on a completely new identity in a very loud city [26:55] — "What is your Mount Kilimanjaro?" — and not having an answer [31:40] — The coaching sessions that felt amazing, then the crash back to just being with myself [31:42] — Questioning everything: 2022, $15K in VO, scared shitless, and not trusting myself [33:20] — I just questioned a lot what I was gonna do [33:15] — My agent Vince calls — and a conversation that changed everything [33:51] — "It's not about if it happens — it's how long you choose to stay down" [35:05] — Booking a session with Carol Kimball and feeling the first spark in months [37:01] — Booking the biggest campaign of my voiceover career a month later [40:48] — A worthiness and identity crisis — naming what 2022 really was [41:14] — Acting is a slice of the identity pie, not the whole thing [42:29] — I was in the messiest of middles. None of it felt cute. [42:29] — If you're in a messy middle right now, here's what I want you to remember [42:31] — You are not behind. You're building something entirely yours. [43:51] — Feeling bold and directionless at the same time is not a contradiction [45:08] — Being in the game still counts — even when it looks nothing like before [47:12] — You always got you. Not as a cute thing to say — as a commitment. [48:38] — I'm rooting for you today and always RESOURCES MENTIONED Carroll VO Casting Co.Yoga With AdrieneListen to Get Messy: You Got You: Building Self-Trust and Impact as a CreativeListen to Get Messy: Finding Success in Screenwriting: Kim Kressal on Craft, Community, and Perseverance ✨ Connect with Maddie ✨ Explore Maddie's Website | @messywithmaddie Key topics: creative burnout, how to get out of a career slump, building self-trust as a creative, mindset for actors and performers, creative career, overcoming fear of quitting, self-worth
