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Get Messy with Maddie: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Maddie McGuire
Maddie is a mindset guide for creatives…on casual Friday's. Looking to hear how writers, actors, and artists of all stages manage their schedules, creativity, and mindset while trying to make a living in art? This is the place. Approaching burnout as an artist is the least creative space you can be in, and Maddie is here to give you a safe space to land, find your footing, and learn how to better navigate for your future.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 4 days ago42 min
Climbing Cringe Mountain | Corey Clifford on Creating Your Own Work, Coaching, and Community
Corey Clifford is a SAG-AFTRA actor, writer, director, and acting coach based in LA, and this conversation is a masterclass in staying in the game for the long haul — with humor, humility, and a whole lot of reality TV references along the way. We get into what it actually takes to balance the craft and the business side of acting, why the old "ladder" of co-star to guest star to series regular doesn't really exist anymore, and why creating your own work has become less optional and more essential.Corey opens up about becoming a mom nearly two years ago and figuring out what it means to stay an artist while raising a toddler, the terrifying-but-necessary decision to end a manager relationship that wasn't serving her, and the years-long journey of writing a feature film with her husband that they're now determined to actually get made. We also talk about coaching actors through self-doubt regardless of how much they've booked, the "actor's rejection muscle," and why climbing cringe mountain — reaching out, self-promoting, putting yourself out there — is nonnegotiable in this version of the industry.This episode is funny, honest, and full of real, practical wisdom for anyone building a long-term creative career in an industry that keeps rewriting its own rules.Key Topics Discussed:Balancing the Craft and the Business Side of ActingWhy the Old "Ladder" of Career Progression No Longer ExistsCreating Your Own Work as a Non-Negotiable Career StrategyBecoming a Mom and Staying an Artist at the Same TimeEnding a Manager Relationship and Learning to Advocate for HerselfCoaching Actors Through Self-Doubt at Every LevelClimbing Cringe Mountain: Self-Promotion, Reaching Out, and the Actor's Rejection MuscleWriting and Pursuing Funding for a Feature Film with Her HusbandThe Importance of Community and Accountability Groups✨Connect with Corey✨Corey’s InstagramCorey’s WebsiteCorey’s Podcast: Cinema Possessed✨Connect with Maddie✨Schedule a Call with Maddie | Explore Maddie’s Website@maddiemcguirecoaching | @maddiemcguire4
- 2 weeks ago16 min
85. Authenticity Isn't Fixed | It's a Practice, Not a Personality Trait
Authenticity has become such a buzzword that some people are starting to reject it entirely — but what if we've been thinking about it all wrong? In this episode, I'm reframing authenticity as something that isn't a fixed destination you arrive at, but something that shifts depending on the day, the season, and the version of you that showed up this morning.I revisit something my past guest Sasha Feldman (actor-turned-therapist) said that I haven't been able to stop thinking about: that authenticity isn't a general idea, because he's constantly different — sometimes confident, sometimes not. I get real about how I'm actually feeling on the day I'm recording this (not great, if I'm honest), and why showing up in that state is just as authentic as the confident, put-together version of me from last week. I also share a reframe my therapist gave me about anxiety — how a part of me I've resented has actually been helping me all along — and why staying near yourself, even the messy or scared parts, matters more than performing a fixed identity.This one's for anyone who's tired of performing a version of themselves that doesn't leave room for the full range of who they actually are.In This Episode:Why authenticity isn't a fixed destination — it shifts day by dayA reframe from Sasha Feldman: "I can't be authentic as a general idea because I'm constantly different"Getting honest about how I'm actually feeling today, and why that counts as authentic tooA therapy reframe on anxiety — how a part of me I resented has actually been helping meStaying near yourself instead of abandoning yourself when things aren't going perfectlyWhy vulnerability, contradiction, and mess are the material for creative work, not liabilitiesA conversation with Amy Austin on unraveling yourself from what other people expectAuthenticity as a practice of telling the truth about where you are right now, not a state you achieveRESOURCES:Get Messy episode with Sasha FeldmanMy mindset coach, Amy Austin✨Connect with Maddie✨Explore Maddie's Website | @messywithmaddie
- 2 weeks ago47 min
84. Your Insecurities Are Boring | Tatiana Pavela on Fear, Failure, and 20 Years in the Industry
Welcome to The Grind — a new series here on Get Messy. Nobody tells you what the middle looks like: the slow seasons, the unglamorous work, and the years it actually takes to build something that lasts. This series is for that middle, told by the people who are actually living it.Tatiana Pavela has been in the industry for two decades — from experimental theater in New York, to grad school in Seattle, to finding her creative home in Chicago's storefront theater scene. In this episode, she opens up about the darkest, most burnt-out period of her career (a deep depression that forced her into real mindset work out of necessity), and the profound reset that came out of COVID: learning to build space into her life instead of constantly pushing.We get into what it actually means to "do it" in this industry, why the fearless artist is a myth, and how Tatiana has learned to hold fear as a sign of doing meaningful work rather than something to avoid. She shares the wild, years-long journey of developing and touring her solo show Brandy Alexander — from a grant, to a double-header show in Minneapolis, to an invitation from Juilliard, to a full run in Edinburgh that was, in her words, one of the hardest and proudest things she's ever done. We also talk about the stigma around staying non-union, redefining success beyond bookings, and why she's stopped believing in goals altogether.This episode is for anyone who's ever felt like the industry's "shoulds" were pulling them further away from what they actually want.Key Topics Discussed:Two Decades in the Industry: New York, Seattle, and Finding Home in Chicago TheaterRedefining What It Means to "Do It" as an ArtistBurnout, Depression, and the Mindset Work Born Out of NecessityHow COVID Forced a Profound Reset and the Gift of SpaceThe Stigma Around Staying Non-Union, and Why Talent Isn't the DistinctionThe Fearless Artist Is a Myth: Learning to Use Fear as a Signal, Not a Stop SignCreating Her Own Work: The Years-Long Journey of Brandy AlexanderSuccess and Failure Existing in the Same MomentLetting Go of Goals and Making Room for What Actually Feels Aligned✨Connect with Tatiana Pavela ✨Instagram: @tatianapavellaWebsite: https://www.tatianapavela.com/✨Connect with Maddie ✨Explore Maddie's Website | @messywithmaddie
- 3 weeks ago6 min
83. The Unfinished Version of You Deserves to Be Loved Now
What if the pursuit of the thing is actually what's keeping you from having it? In this mini episode, I'm sitting with a question I haven't been able to shake: can we ever really have something if we're purely in the pursuit of it? Can I feel at peace when peace itself is the thing I'm chasing?I get into the paradox of pursuit — how chasing a feeling can actually create the very distance you're trying to close — and why the unfinished, still-figuring-it-out version of you isn't the "before" photo waiting to be edited into something worth keeping. It's the version actually living your life right now, and it deserves to be loved today, not once everything finally clicks. I talk about what it looks like to hold wanting more and being at peace with where you are, at the exact same time.This one's a shorter, more reflective episode for anyone who's been treating their current life like a waiting room for the one they're chasing.In This Episode:The paradox of pursuit: why chasing a feeling can push it further awayCan you feel regulated while you're busy trying to figure out how to get regulated?Why the "gap" between where you are and where you're going doesn't have to feel like a problem to solveThe unfinished version of you isn't the rough draft — it's the version actually living your lifeReframing arrival in a creative career (spoiler: there isn't one)How to hold pursuing growth and loving where you are, at the same time✨Connect with Maddie✨Explore Maddie’s Website | @messywithmaddie
- 3 weeks ago12 min
82. Your Invisible Ceiling | The Difference Between Confidence and Worthiness
You can be confident and still have a ceiling. In this episode, I'm getting into something I think gets constantly conflated in the personal development space: the difference between confidence and worthiness. We're always told to just build more confidence, take more action, do more reps — and the worthiness will follow. I don't think that's true, and I've watched it play out too many times, both in myself and in the creatives I work with, to keep letting it go undiscussed.I break down what confidence and worthiness actually are — confidence is about capability and self-trust, built through keeping promises to yourself; worthiness is about deserving, the belief that the outcome is actually available to you, not because you've earned it, but because you get to have it. I share stories of two women I know who were doing everything "right" on the outside but were quietly capped by an invisible worthiness ceiling they didn't even know they had. I also get into how I personally work through moments of low worthiness (hello, dance parties and nervous system regulation), and how to start identifying where your own ceiling actually lives.This one's for anyone who feels like they're doing all the right things and still can't figure out why the results keep landing just out of reach.In This Episode:The difference between confidence and worthiness — and why they're not the same thingWhat confidence actually is: self-trust, built through keeping promises to yourselfWhat worthiness actually is: the belief that the outcome is meant for youTwo real stories of women capped by an invisible worthiness ceilingWhy your potential is capped at what you believe you're worthy of (a concept from Jamie Kern Lima)How a worthiness ceiling can quietly erode confidence, even after you've built itBottoms-up vs. top-down nervous system regulation, and how I use bothJournal prompts to start identifying and examining your own ceilingRESOURCES:Jamie Kern Lima — author, founder of IT Cosmetics"The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron✨Connect with Maddie✨Explore Maddie’s Website | @messywithmaddie
- Aug 20, 202640 min
81. The First 10 Years Are Just Playing in the Dark | Deb Foster on 20 Years of Acting, Moving Countries, and Finding Her Worth
Welcome to The Grind — a new series here on Get Messy. Nobody tells you what the middle looks like: the slow seasons, the unglamorous work, and the years it actually takes to build something that lasts. This series is for that middle, told by the people who are actually living it.Deb Foster has been chasing this dream for two decades — from commercials in New Zealand, to bartending her way through London, to fumbling through New York, to finally landing in LA twelve years ago, where she found her people, her husband, and her creative footing. In this episode, she opens up about what it really took to get here: the "fumbling phase," the humbling lessons no one tells you (like showing up to a casting workshop with the wrong resume format), and why she's actually grateful the big things didn't happen for her in her 20s.We get into representation and what it actually looks like to build a team of reps who empower you instead of pressure you, the burnout that came from doing 300+ auditions in a single year, and the wild, full-circle story of booking her first SAG co-star on For All Mankind — down to the DIY astronaut costume she built for the audition. Deb also shares the mindset work she's still doing around self-worth, over-apologizing, and not needing external validation even after getting the yes.This episode is for anyone in the trenches of a long creative career who needs a reminder that the first ten years are supposed to feel like playing in the dark.Key Topics Discussed:Two Decades in the Industry: New Zealand, London, New York, and Finally LAWhy the First 10 Years Are "Infancy," Not FailureBuilding a Rep Team That Empowers Instead of PressuresBurnout From 300+ Auditions in a Year, and Learning to Say NoBooking a First SAG Co-Star on For All MankindStaying Near Yourself Through Rejection and Self-DoubtLetting Go of the Need for External ValidationFinding a Deeper "Why" Behind the Hustle✨Connect with Deb ✨Instagram: @debfosterDeb’s Short Film, GoodNight, available to stream on The Night Temple✨Connect with Maddie✨Explore Maddie’s Website | @messywithmaddie
- Aug 17, 202610 min
80. The Ladder Never Ends | Learning to Love the Climb Instead of the Arrival
What if getting the thing you've been working toward doesn't feel the way you thought it would? In this mini episode, I'm unpacking something a guest said that I haven't been able to stop thinking about: "the base is always shifting." Every win quietly becomes the new floor instead of the ceiling you were reaching for, and the finish line keeps moving the closer you get to it.I get into arrival fallacy, the hedonic treadmill, and why this isn't a personal flaw — it's just how humans are wired. I talk about my own relationship to this, including moments where I've hit milestones I only dreamed about at 17 and still never felt like I "arrived," and why the answer isn't to stop climbing, but to fall in love with the process itself. I also share a quote from one of my acting teachers about what a real creative career trajectory actually looks like (spoiler: it's not a straight line).This one's for anyone who's hit a goal and felt weirdly unsatisfied, or who's afraid that feeling will never go away.In This Episode:"The base is always shifting" — a guest's quote that inspired this episodeArrival fallacy and the hedonic treadmill, explainedWhy every win becomes the new floor instead of the ceilingMy own experience with milestones that never quite felt like "arriving""The trajectory of your career will look like a bad EKG" — a quote from one of my acting teachersWhy the creatives who burn out are the ones who decide the ladder is the problemLearning to celebrate a win before chasing the next one✨Connect with Maddie✨Explore Maddie's Website | @messywithmaddie
- Aug 13, 20266 min
79. Stop Treating Your Life Like a Waiting Room | A Mindset Reset on Growth
Social media has us convinced that where we are right now is never quite enough — that there's always somewhere better to be, someone better to become, something better to be working toward. In this episode, I'm asking a harder question: is perpetual self-improvement actually robbing you of your life?I get into the difference between healthy growth and a version of self-improvement that quietly tips into something less healthy — always preparing to live a better life at some future date, always optimizing for the next chapter, and forgetting to actually be who you are right now. I talk about why social media isn't neutral, how it's specifically designed to keep us feeling perpetually behind so we stay reachable to sell to, and the real distinction between "reaching" and "arriving." This episode isn't about giving up on growth — it's about learning to hold growth and presence at the same time, instead of treating your current life like a waiting room for the real one.This one's for anyone who feels like they're always becoming, but rarely just being.In This Episode:Why the constant reaching for "more" can quietly rob you of your actual lifeThe difference between healthy growth and treating your life like a waiting roomHow social media is specifically designed to keep you feeling perpetually not enoughThe difference between "reaching" and "arriving" — and why they're not the same feelingWhy growth and presence aren't oppositesAn invitation to appreciate exactly where you are, right now, today✨Connect with Maddie✨Explore Maddie’s Website | @messywithmaddie
About Get Messy with Maddie
Maddie is a mindset guide for creatives…on casual Friday's. Looking to hear how writers, actors, and artists of all stages manage their schedules, creativity, and mindset while trying to make a living in art? This is the place. Approaching burnout as an artist is the least creative space you can be in, and Maddie is here to give you a safe space to land, find your footing, and learn how to better navigate for your future.
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