64. Limiting Beliefs, Career Growth, and What It Really Means to Double Down as an Actor with Amy Austin

This one hit me differently — because I got to witness so much of what Amy talks about in real time. Amy Austin (formerly Amy McNabb) is a voice actor, singer, and the founder of Actors Encouraged — a coaching community dedicated to supporting ambitious actors in building their happiest, most sustainable careers. She is also my mindset coach, and I can genuinely say this conversation is everything I've wanted to put into the world for a while now.

We get into her intentional, strategic approach to building her voiceover career — the classes, the community, the network — and what it actually looks like to “double-down” in your acting career. We also talk about the seismic mindset shift that happened in a Broadway theater in New York, the difference between "showboat" classes and classes where you actually get to fall apart, core desired feelings, and why we all tend to miss our own growth. Amy is warm, wildly wise, and so honest — this one is a love letter to every creative who's still figuring it out.

Timestamps

• 0:00 — Introducing Amy Austin (formerly Amy McNabb)!
• 1:38 — "What would you title this current season of your life?" — Amy's honest answer
• 2:15 — Figuring it out: being 36, being in a new chapter, and not having the title yet
• 3:55 — How Amy spent the last year strategically building her VO toolbox
• 5:57 — The Voiceover Academy: starting from the beginning and trusting her instincts
• 9:39 — Showboat classes vs. learning classes — the framework every actor needs
• 13:47 — Doubling down in your acting career
• 14:37 — The Broadway trip that changed everything
• 15:00 — Operation Mincemeat and the seismic shift: "Oh, I can still do this"
• 17:01 — The vocal injury at Hershey Park and the limiting belief it created
• 17:01 — What "doubling down" means practically: doing all the auditions, taking dance class again, not giving yourself an out
• 21:35 — Core desired feelings and The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte
• 23:00 — Amy's four core desired feelings for this chapter
• 24:25 — Saying yes to the 6:15 AM hike — and why work begets work
• 33:48 — Do actors still feel behind? Amy's 2.0 answer two years later
• 36:37 — We tend to miss our own growth — and why old voices come back at new levels
• 38:35 — GLP-1s, AI, and the things surfacing old noise for millennial women
• 38:35 — ChatGPT is great for planning your Disneyland trip. Please don't use it to process your emotions.
• 44:09 — Zooming in and zooming out: what it feels like to be content without having the things
• 46:00 — A final message for anyone who's not in a delicious season right now
• 47:22 — Where to find Amy and follow the doubling down in real time

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Listen to Get Messy: Amy McNabb on Investing in Your Own Dreams, Gamifying Your Career, and Being Right On Time
• The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte

✨ Connect with Amy ✨

• Business Instagram: @actorsencouraged
• Personal Instagram: @itsamy_austin
• TikTok: @actorsencouraged
• Website: actorsencouraged.com

✨Connect with Maddie✨

Explore Maddie's Website | @messywithmaddie