When Do You Get to Say I Am? What You Tell People, What You Tell Yourself, and the Slide Shea Couldn’t Finish

This is the Dearing Acting Studio Podcast, where we discuss the connection between life and acting. Alrighty, welcome back everybody to the Dearing Acting Studio Podcast. I just have to say I love how Joey, if you happen to be watching on the camera, just took the shot, right? Literally, I was going to say something, and I'm so glad you did. He had the espresso double shot ready to go, and it was like he timed the music just so he could go boom right on the beat.

You know, it's what I do. It really is. I'm a to-the-beat kind of guy. You are a to-the-beat kind of guy. I really am. Do you have a beat on your machine yet? Let's see, let me see. Because we ought to figure out a way for you to do that, so anytime we want Joey to rap, we can just throw him that bone. Yeah. Because Joey, people who don't know, Joey's a pretty good rapper, actually.

Yeah, yeah. Shea didn't like 100% agree. No. Here's the thing. Joey's working at becoming a good rapper. He definitely has a skill in it, for sure. Hurt my feelings. No, no. Thank you for supporting my dreams. He definitely has a skill in it, for sure. I always say this thing where it's like you can't hide the truth as much as you try. And she's like, yeah, yeah.

Every week, there's one of those from Shea where we say something about, and she's like, yeah, yeah, that's very accurate. She'll learn one of these days to just say what's true, because I'm going to hear it, and then I'm going to bring it to her. Oh, even if you hadn't brought it up, I heard it bright as day. Bright as day. Yeah, you're not that good. That's not what it was.

It was just like, yeah, he has a talent in it, you know? He's been either there. So this is funny, like, so the other day, we were talking about, we are going to write, specifically Matt and I are going to write a book here soon, and I've been starting to work on it slowly. And I had said, I was like, well, you know, I think I'm a, I don't know what I said, but it was something like, because I can write.

And, because it is one of my, my strengths, um, that I would say I'm pretty good at. And Matt replies, and he goes, well, you know, you're not a writer. Right. And, and it was like, I was like, yep, okay. Because it was the truth. No, I'm not a writer, but I do have skill in it. And it's the same thing with you, Joey. Like, no, you're not a rapper, but you do have skill in it.

Yeah. But like. But, but Matt didn't say I was a rapper. Matt said, Joey can rap. And you were like, yeah, sure. Touche. I just have this weird thing. And I know, so I shouldn't do that because it's totally insulting. So I apologize, Shea. I appreciate it. It's a negative thing for me to say. So I apologize. But I, I have this little pet peeve where I, I, I'm always wanting people to be focused on the growth.

Always. Right. And so, you know, you both know, Brian is just the king of the absolute, the I am so great. And so, so it bothers me when, when he says, oh, I'm so good at this, or I did this so well. I'd rather you just present it as, hey, this is, this is a skill I have. I'm working on or something. Instead of saying like, I'm, I'm the, I'm a great writer, you know, just like throwing that out there.

I'm like, well, like, let's back it up a little bit and let's say, hey, we're going to work on this thing together. We'll progress through it. And my guess would be, and this is just throwing this out there, that as you and I work on this book, by the time we get to the end of it, probably the first, say, 30 monologues we're going to hate and go back and redo them.

Because you'll, you'll be such, so much of a better writer than you are now, um, that you're going to go, oh, you know what? I'd rather like kind of fix those up a little bit. Yeah. Can I ask a sincere question that just clicked in my head? Like, like, like a key into a lock? You're going to smack me, aren't you? It was never unlocked. A little bit.

No, no, hit me. Cause you, cause you're right. I'm, I'm, I'm a bad person, but hit me. No, no, no, no, no, no, not a bad person, but I think I just found some, like one of your keys to like being able to continue to be elite the way you are while holding yourself accountable. Right. And I think it is when you see something in someone else, you see it, you want to help them get better at that thing, but then you sort of find a little bit of joy in it cause you know, you're helping them, but you, but you also know that now that's something that you have to hold yourself accountable for because you've said it.

And I'm like, I, I just, what in that conversation, give me the example, because I don't know that that's true. Okay. So, um, let's see what, what were you and Shea just, just talking about? I think, I actually think Joey, that that's a compliment that you're saying. So Matt, I think what you're saying is what you say. I agree with you that I think he, that it's a compliment, but I don't, I'm not really, I'm not ready to accept the compliment.

No, but here, but here's what it is. How I heard it was what you say all the time. You would never tell some, somebody to do something that you wouldn't do. Yes. So what you're saying. Or hadn't already done. Right. So you're using it as a motivator. That's what I'm thinking. If you're going to tell me that I need to work on something. Right. You would need to make sure that you're also working on that thing.

No, it would have been, I have already worked through it. Right. Right. And in this case, yes, I've already worked through that. Right. Where I used to do that. And now I'm like, eh, that didn't benefit me actually, because I thought I was further along than I was. And that mentality didn't get me very far, but the other mentality did. So that's, but you're right. It's like this, this, I want to help.

But at the same time, it's like the hardest thing when someone's excited about something for you to give them this piece of information that maybe it might like not make them thrilled. Yeah, totally. And, and it's like, it's exactly what Chase said. It was meant as this compliment, but it flickered like a light bulb where I was like, cause I've been on the other end where like I teach somebody something and then I go back and I'm like, all right, so even if this is something I've gotten over or I think I've gotten over, then it's like, all right, well now I still need to be aware of that thing.

Cause like, you don't want to be the guy who says something and then does that thing. Exactly. Yeah, but you can use it as a motivator and that's what I noticed. I think you do that, which is so cool. Well, so, so, and this would be an opposite example of this actually. So I'm going to, I'll throw this out there just so the audience can hear how hard it is to be around me because I know it's hard.

Um, I'm going to insult Joey right now in order to compliment him. Okay. Does that, that makes no sense? Yeah. It, it makes sense to me, but only because I'm around you frequently. So Joey was not good on podcasting, just not good. And today I hear how bad you were because of how great your voice sounds today. Yeah. Like today it's popping like, like crazy off the microphone and I'm going, dang, he's grown so much over the last year that like today's just like, like mind blowing how nice your voice sounds off the microphone.

Oh, a hundred percent. And dark to light. I mean, I, I deleted a podcast because it was so bad because I was backdating and I was like, I found one and I listened to it to write a description and do some SEO on it. And I was like, this was just bad. So I got rid of it. I was like, I was like, that's something we can learn from, but I don't want that representing us because we've come so far.

Yeah. Well, and, and, and I know that, and I had told you guys this, I made so many bad podcasts before we started ours. I made a ton of bad podcasts back when Jason was back here helping us with podcasting. I made just hundreds of really bad podcasts. And so I kept saying the better you get at this, you're going to love just the connectivity that we have.

And today just feels really good. Yeah. It's, it's interesting. Cause I was making my slides, which we'll get into in a second. I had a really cool experience yesterday where I had my first real deal public speaking engagement. Yeah. I hit the button. Yes. Let's go. That was perfect. I wish you guys could have seen Joey ramp up. Oh, they, they can see it. That was great.

Um, and so I was making these slides and I was writing down kind of, I was going off of a slide that Brian had previously done of where he kind of listed off the things that, that he is. And, um, one of those things, like I had yoga instructor on there, which I am, that is what I do. And I have trained enough to say, to say, why are you laughing?

Cause I have a feeling where this is going, but maybe I don't, maybe I'm, maybe I'm laughing at something that isn't even what you're going to say. I'm laughing for a whole different reason. I'm laughing because I remember you going through this description and you were like, all right, what am I? And then you were like, you were like yoga instructor, acting teacher, speaker, a friend. I was like, I was going through all these things.

I was really stressing about it because, but let me tell you why. So like, I, I would have no, I mean, obviously I would tell people I am a trained and I am good at teaching yoga because I've done all the training. I've done everything I needed to do. I continue to develop myself in that. I have, I would, I would feel confident in saying, I know how to train someone else to do this.

Right. I am an actress. I've put in the work. I continue to do that, but I would feel confident in saying I am that at this point in my life. Um, um, even, and I put like, I had originally put like singer on there and that even felt a little bit weird, but I would feel, okay, I've, I have had the training. I have studied it. Right.

I would feel good about telling people, yeah, I, I am a trained singer in some way. And then I put speaker and I looked at Brian and I said, can I put that on there? And he said, yeah, of course you can. But in the back of my mind, I was like, have I done it before? Yeah. But am I working on it? Yeah. This is something totally new for me.

And I wouldn't tell myself that I'm a, I wouldn't go to somebody and say, oh, I'm a motivational speaker. Like you would be able to, because you have the training and because it's something you're still working on. But let me tell you, I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have put motivational speaker on something until just recently. Exactly. But what's interesting is speaker is different than motivational speaker. Right.

And it's, it's actually the same thing with, with yoga. So even though I have like, um, even though I've done therapeutic yoga, you can, I cannot put therapy, therapeutic yoga on my resume because that's a whole different thing. Right. Right. So, so it was funny because I felt it, we talked about imposter syndrome yesterday and I felt weird about that. I was like, I've actually spoken in various terms of my life and various things that I've done, um, a couple of times, but I wouldn't say that I'm a speaker yet.

And so it's funny is that goes right back to the writer. It's like the same, the same deal. Right. And it's, and it's funny because that's like the other side of the lesson. So now clearly you took the lesson because it's like, okay, so he talked to you about that thing like a week ago and now here you are sitting there going, well, I'm not actually that I'm working towards it, but I'm not actually that.

So it sunk in. Well, and that's what I was thinking about when you were talking about the podcast thing, because so say however long ago we started doing podcasts, you, it would be wrong for you to go to somebody and say, oh yeah, I do, I do podcasts. I'm a podcaster because it's a new skill that you're working on. But if you were to present it as, oh, we just started doing podcasts.

I'm learning and we're working on this thing, then that makes it so much more valid. Just as, just as like, if I was going through my yoga training before I started teaching classes with that certificate, I wouldn't be able to say confidently, I'm a yoga teacher because I'm not, I haven't gotten there yet. I didn't get the award yet. I didn't, I didn't, you know, I didn't finish the training.

So it's like, it's interesting when you think about like what constitutes you saying, I am this, this is what I am. Yeah. And there's, and there's a difference between that and like, because there is an I am that's really good for you to do if it's something you want to be doing. So it's like this catch 22 because. And I think that's, and I think the difference, Joe, and I actually, you want to finish what you were saying?

I was just going to say, because like in our affirmations, we always start with I am and there's certain things that haven't come true yet, but you have to believe it in your mind. So then it's about what do you say to people? Yes. Yeah. Versus what do you say to yourself? Correct. That's the difference between manifestation and, and reality too. Yeah. This is a, this is a very interesting topic we got into and it's totally my fault because I audibled out of our plan.

No, no. I love it. Here's the thing. It's not out of our plan because this is all about, um, next level skills and Shea is walking into a next level skill and I'm going to tell you what it is. It's public speaking. Yep. Straight up. And you gave an amazing speech to some kids on kindness and you kept asking me how you did and I kept saying good.

And then she wanted, she kept asking more and I could tell you, you really, I couldn't, actually I couldn't tell. I couldn't tell exactly what you wanted. Like, did you just want the compliment for the day? Cause sometimes you just need the compliment for the day. I wanted, that's a really good question. I think I wanted both. I just wanted to know that, um, part, part of it, totally half of it, maybe even more of it, if I'm being honest, was like, I want my boss who I'm representing the company that I work for and, and Brian and because I was kind of the newbie in this, I wanted you to be proud and think that I did a good job.

I was very proud. You know, and I thought you did a good job. The other half of me was like, okay, I know he, I know he has all these notes for me and I have all these notes for me, but we haven't gotten a chance to talk about those things yet. So I just want it like yesterday when I brought it up, I was like, okay, I just want this to still be on your mind because at another time when it's more appropriate, we can sit down and chop.

You know what we should do? We should have some sort of a safe word to help, to help me help you. Cause it should be, it should, you, you should go, you should go like, Hey, cause like my wife and I will go through this. Hey, Matt, the, Matt, the friend. Yeah. Totally. How was I? Yeah. You know, you proud of me? Like, yeah. Oh my gosh.

Matt, the coach. How was I? Yeah. Where can I grow? Right. And if you're, and if you ask this specific question, I can just answer honestly, either way. Yeah. I think what it comes down to is I, I know in my heart that if I bombed it, if I failed you, you, I would hope that you would tell me that right away. Shea, I would have jumped on stage with you.

Right. I'd have thrown my butt right under the bus. Like if, if I had totally, totally just screwed it up, I know that right away you would have sat me down and said, Hey, this was unsuccessful. I'd have been doing jumping jacks in the back trying to distract the kids, but I wanted it. It was so important to me to do a good job and I felt really good about it, but there were all these things that I wanted to do better, but I was just hoping like in the back it was like, Matt was this, this proud dad and I could see him with his phone and, you know, he's smiling at me and, um, but it was such a big deal to me and such a thing that I had overstressed about and, and really worked myself up about that.

I would, I was just hoping that, that you were going to say, Hey, you did a really great job today. Well, and let me tell you, uh, what's funny is I didn't want to be there, so I'm just going to be real. I'm the bad guy in this situation, but let me, but we should say why, because I want you to not be painted as a total bad guy.

Totally. Okay. So Joey's buried in editing stuff. Number one. Number two, he's, he, he goes to a lot of these kids speech things with Brian and he kind of gets dragged to some of this stuff. And so he has to carry everything. Like it's a lot, it's a lot of work. He's the video guy. And then this one was forgotten about because, uh, Brian was away from the studio for the day.

And usually Brian's the one that kind of spearheads these, uh, speaking engagements at this particular school. So because it just wasn't on Joey's radar and him and I, we've all as a team been focusing on deep focus. So him and I happened to be in a deep focus moment where we were like grinding and life was good and we were getting a lot of work done and we're feeling really accomplished.

And then all of a sudden you came in and you, it's funny cause you should have told us earlier, but, but we, we got reminded that that was like the speech and we're like, oh dang. And it was just one of those moments where like, okay, we're going to get, we're going to get sidetracked here. So we have to reframe our minds. So that all being said, Joey didn't want to be there cause he's buried in all his video work and wanted to get some of it off of his plate.

And this is actually going to add to it. Yeah. So not only is he not going to get the editing done, but he's going to add a new piece of editing that he has to work on. Right. And, and, and let me tell you this, because this is, this is a funny element of the story. It's, uh, the fact of the matter that this is something I can get better at, but don't expect me to like see it on the calendar if I'm not on the thing.

Cause even though we all share a calendar, like I look at my email notifications, but if I, if I know that like, oh, like for example, we had scheduled in this production meeting in the morning and it was going over, right. But I, I knew that that was the only thing I had for like three hours that I knew of. So I didn't even look at the calendar that morning.

And then I've told Brian going back to the whole, like Brian spearheads this thing. I've told Brian, Hey, from now on, if you're going to have me film for one of these things, tell me the day before so that I can put this stuff out the night before so that I don't have to do it in the morning. And I've even told Brian, I've even told Brian, he has to tell me about Joey.

Cause a lot of times I lean on Joey the morning of, and I'm, I'm annoyed that I lose my Joey in the morning. Well, and everybody leans on me for scheduling. And I don't think a lot of things would happen at the studio without the schedule. Oh, absolutely not. But here's the funny thing. And this is where all communicate, like, this is what's crazy about our studio is you'd think there's four of us.

Like you'd think it'd be pretty easy to know everything about everybody's schedule, but it's not because we are, we are all in different, we, we all have 10 different facets going on in our own section of stuff and, and because I'm the scheduler or whatever, I'm looking up the schedule 800 times a day and making sure everybody's in their places and whatever. But what was so funny is the night before I had had a conversation with you, I was stressing about it and we had a, me and Brian had a whole conversation in our group chat that nobody looked at.

So that's what was funny is the next morning I come in thinking everybody's on the same page. So I didn't think to say anything about it. And then when I did, and it was so funny, I wish you guys would have been there for the moment. I was, I walked in and I was like, sir, are you guys going to come, come with me or, and Matt looks at me with these eyes.

My face just probably went white. It did. But then you smiled and you had this really genuine smile and you said, you have your speech today. And he said, why don't you get in your car and go? And Joey and I will, we'll figure it out. And I'm like, okay, see you guys soon, you know, and, and it ended up being great and wonderful and awesome and, and, and, and he caught another pair of eyes after that that were not so nice.

Yeah. Well, no, I caught them even earlier. So, so part of the, part of this deal, right? So, so we don't usually talk about my job here and I have, my job is helping to manage all of you managing each other half the time. And so I caught your eyes, you caught my eyes and, and peripherally I caught Joey's energy and I'm like, you need to go.

Yeah. And Joey and I are going to meet you there because I knew, I knew that this, that this was an additional stress on top of him and that he has not had great luck with this topic in the past. So it had nothing to do with you. Right. Just had to do with like him. Yeah. And I didn't want you to get confused with him not wanting to support you and him not enjoying this particular job.

Of course. You know, those are two different things. So that's why I wanted to separate you and then frame him. And I want to tell you, I think I did a really good job. Oh, you did. Oh, yeah. I had, I had no idea, but this is what was funny. So I'm texting Joey in the car after, after Brian gets off the phone with me and I text Joey and I say, Joey, can you bring me a cough drop?

And he goes, sure, Shea, any idea where they are? And I realized in my head, oh my God, Brian, Brian, Brian was the one who told me, he was like, you should have cough drops. And I was like, oh good, Joey can bring me one. Sure. Like, and then I realized, so I'm going through troubleshooting in my head. I was like, oh my God, the, the cough drops are with Brian.

And then if I tell Joey, I need a cough drop, he's going to go buy me cough drops. And so I was like, oh, nevermind. I had one. I had something like at the bottom of my purse. And, and I realized in that moment, I was like, Shea, don't do that. You know? And then we get there and Joey was down and I thought I did something wrong.

So I looked over at him and I was like, are you okay? Like, is something wrong? You were down when you showed up to the speech? I didn't feel down. There wasn't, there was, there was something wrong. And that, that's why I asked. And I had no idea. I had no clue. And I, and he just looks at me and he goes, oh yeah, just getting everything set up.

And I said, okay, cool. And I released it. So I had no idea. So I didn't do as good of a job as I thought I did. I guess I didn't, I didn't even realize that I carried that into there. And maybe, maybe just a little bit. You still were on to it. And you know, Joey, I've told you this before. There are times when you have a little pep in your step and there are times when you don't.

Yeah. And that's what it was. It was body language. That's why I commented on it. It's very subtle, but you actually, it's the reason why I come down on you a little bit for it because I know that I'm sensitive to it and that you can actually lift me up and make me better. Or I become aware of your energy. So it's like, it's, I don't, I don't want to ever say you bring me down cause you don't.

Yeah. But, but you, but you do definitely bring me up. And so when you're not bringing me up, I usually, I usually bring it to your attention. Cause I'm like, Hey, you, you don't have the pep in your step that you have sometimes right now. Yeah. What's going on? And you're usually like, oh, nothing. But usually there's something. It's interesting because like I, I had framed it with the, when you left, like I was like, all right, pep, like number one thing.

And I was outside five minutes before you got there. Maybe that's why you were annoyed because you were waiting for me for five minutes. Yeah, I guess. Could have been. I mean, I did give you a phone call. Like where the heck are you? And I was pulling in the parking. I have all of the equipment and I've been out in the rain for five minutes. Well, and here's the thing, Joey, which I don't think you know, which we should tell you more often is that like, I rely on the pep in your step.

Like that's something that I really enjoy. So when, when you are like uplifting and fun and whatever, that's something that is, is really important to me. Cause I love to be around that, especially in a situation where I was uber nervous and I knew that you weren't. So I was like, oh, bummer. Like, I hope, I hope I didn't do something wrong or, or whatever. So it's one of those things where it's like your, your energy is so, is so infectious as I know people think about me too, especially with me and all the boys when I'm, when I'm upset or whatever, it brings everybody down because typically I'm, I'm up and I'm joking.

It's basically all, it's basically any of us. It's of course. Yeah. But you, it's like with you, you are more of a, I'm always in a bad mood. No, you're more of a serious person and Brian's just Brian. Right. You know, Brian's the easiest target in the world. But me and you kind of throw this sparkle back and forth sometimes. Yeah. So I think when either of us are off, it's like, it's, there's this weird space that it's just not fun anymore.

No, it totally makes sense. You know what I mean? And I'm like, ah man, but we, but it, at the end of the day, it was, it was a very, it was a very rewarding experience. And I think more than anything, what was funny to me, I don't want to get emotional, but I just wanted my friends there. Yeah. And we wanted, I didn't care about the video or anything like that.

Straight up. That's exactly what I told Joey. I just, I just wanted somebody there. That's how I, that's how I reframed him because, because I, I reminded him, Hey, this isn't about this thing. Right. It's exactly what I said. I'm like, this is not about the speech. It's not about the video. It doesn't matter how many cameras we bring. No. I'm like, we were, we're surprised. Neither of us want to go to a kid's speech, but both of us want to support Shea.

Yeah. Uh huh. And that's exactly what I said. I go, we're going to go and, and we're not going to care about anything else other than lifting up Shea because we want to hang out with our friend Shea and lift her up. Forget about the video. Like we're going to do that thing, but, but don't worry about it. Yeah. You know, that's what made it so, so fun at the end of it, you know, was that I just had people there who were in support of me in a new place that I hadn't been before in developing a new skill that I haven't had training on that I'm just stepping into.

And that was the best part of it. So I think it was really successful and I'm excited to get to do it again. It was amazing. And so we'll, we'll, we should wrap this section of, of the podcast. I know we have another, uh, we've got a caller today. Hopefully she answers, but, um, we've got, uh, if not, we gotta, we gotta backup plan. We always get an audible.

Of course we do. The, the, uh, the speech was on kindness and, uh, Shea loves to tell the story about how I, I kind of one day asked her about her center and she was like, what is that? And I'm like, I stole it from a Disney movie. But, but, but the point being, if, if you can go in and find where, where's your core, it's, it's going to be a variation of love for everybody.

But Shea's particular one is kindness. She just loves to be kind and to see somebody change because of her words or the way she treats them that it was slightly different. And I mean, I could go on countless stories of how you've done that and impacted people around here, not only myself, but, but just countless students. And so to hear you speak on that subject and so eloquently, and you, you brought in just the right Bible verses.

I thought all the kids were totally connected. I mean, um, it was, it was very good. It was very good. Thank you. Yeah. I, I definitely couldn't do that. I was looking at what you did and I was like, dang, girls got skills. Yesterday it was cool too. Cause it was the first time that I realized I wasn't paying attention to a camera in my face and I didn't, I didn't notice it at all until I did.

You know, I w I would look over and, and it would be right there, but it was the first time that I was like, I remember being extremely connected to what I was talking about and extremely connected to my, the words on the screen and to the kids. And that was so cool. Cause I was able to let go of the fact that I was on camera and being filmed and all the insecurities that come with that.

Yeah. That's a big deal. And I just know what I was there to do. And we'll just go ahead and round that. That's huge. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So speaking of people doing things that, um, they either haven't done or haven't done in a while, Miss Leeann Dearing came in to teach the kids class yesterday and to give her some props, um, the reason she came in was she just noticed there was, it was a rainy day and she's like, you know what?

Matt would love a chance to come home and snuggle his daughter. And so she said, can I do this for you? Can I come in and teach the kids improv class and you can come home and be with Rosalyn for an hour? And I was like, yep. Yep. Sure can. Sounds good. Um, and I actually knew it was going to be stressful for me because it's, I had just gotten into teacher mode.

I was ready to go and, and I'm going to have to switch over to daddy mode and then I'm going to have to rush back to the studio in time for class and get back into teacher mode. And that's, it's just tough. So it was hard for me, but I knew it was going to be good for the studio and I knew it was going to be good for Leeann.

So I made the choice. Let's do it. And I was so right because she was awesome. So let's try to call Leeann. All righty. And, uh, see if we can get her on the line because I'd love to hear about her experience as well. Did you get to see any of it, Shea? I watched the whole thing. Uh, the, the kids one? Mm-hmm. I was live editing.

Oh, nice. Okay. So I didn't get to get in until about like eight minutes into the, um, into the class. I didn't think about patching you in until it was a little late. Oh, there she is. Hi, Leeann. Can you hear me? Leeann Dearing. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you guys for having me on the podcast. Of course. We were, uh, we were just talking about you and how you, how long has it been since you've taught a class here?

My gosh, that's really hard to recall. I mean, I've done, I've done a handful of workshops, but honestly, since Rosalyn was a baby, I haven't been, I haven't been there with consistency. So it's, it's, it's probably been four, I would say four and a half years since I've been like a regular teacher. That's amazing. Does that sound right to you, babe? Yeah. So, so it had been a minute.

I mean, it had been a minute. You know, we, you, you are an absolute rock star, stay at home mom, killing it. And not only that, you do all sorts of comedy and different things. Um, but you just haven't been an active teacher here recently. And I know like Joey jokes all the time. It's not even a joke. I mean, it's not a joke. It's absolutely not a joke.

Every time he goes, he goes, Oh, Leeann. Oh, she's the best teacher. Oh my gosh. She's my favorite teacher. No offense, Matt, but she's my favorite teacher. And every time I get a little bit of an eye. I know, but come on. Cause you're like, I've been coaching you for so long. Like all these hours and she's still your favorite. Just hours of mentorship. Oh, nevermind that.

So let's start here, Leeann. How, how was the experience coming back and teaching the kids class yesterday? It was so fun. You guys, like, I think it was, I mean, I'm sure all of our staff would say this when they teach, but sometimes you walk away and you're like, surely that was more fun for me than it even was for them because they are, you know, kids have just such wonderful energy and they, whatever you give them an energy, they double it back for you.

They're unbelievable that way. Um, and so I just had a total blast. That was amazing. It was so cool to watch you, Leeann, because selfishly I was, I was out in the front desk live editing and I'm trying to do my other 10 things that I'm trying to do, but I just got, I just got enthralled with, because Joey came up to me, he goes, Hey, can you live edit?

And I was like, yeah, whatever. And I was sitting there and I was just enthralled because for me selfishly, I get to watch from a master coach and, um, cause I don't, I, I was teaching the kids for a while and then I stopped and, and it's so cool to watch you interact with them. And it was funny cause Joey and I tried to set you up as best as we could when you came in.

And so I had the, the roster printed with the pictures of the kids and Joey had your coffee and, you know, cause we didn't want you to come in and be thrown in and you did such a great job with, um, with the parents and introducing yourself and they knew what was going on and, and you were present with them and I don't need to tell you how great you are, but, um, it was just really, it was a pleasure to, to watch you do your thing, especially from a mom perspective.

Cause I'm not a mom, you know, actually none of us are moms. So, um, well, it's really cool. Well, only, only one of us could be a mom. So that makes sense. Well, and I, I gotta say from my perspective, um, I went ahead and, and patched in about halfway through, but I'm, I'm at the house with the three kids now. And, um, and so the older two, they started watching the class and they got really into it.

As a matter of fact, Rosalyn said to me, she, she was like, she was like, how come, how come I'm not in that class? And I was like, well, you kind of are, you're watching. And they got really into it. They, they were learning things. They were asking me questions about it. Um, the game you played at the end, they really, really, really wanted to know who was, who was the frog, who was guilty.

All right. I, I was trying to figure out that game for the wife. I was like, there's no kids sticking their tongue out. Like what is happening here? And then, and then you just kept hinting. You were like, all right, you can, you can, you can strike now frog. I love, I love when you get a really cautious kid. Like Jack would totally do this. Our oldest son is just so cautious.

And if there's a game, he absolutely wants to do everything in his power to, you know, stay alive in the game as long as possible. To get these cautious kids, they just never strike. They just never do because they don't want to get, they don't want to get caught. Um, but it's, it is fun. And you know, those acting games, they do so much to expose a kid's personality so quickly.

Like if you really want to get to know a kid, well, just put them in a game and kind of see what they do naturally. Uh, and man, it was so fun because I really feel like it gave me, um, some quick insight into how the different kiddos in that class operated. And that's the other wonderful thing about the kids is everything's hidden underneath sort of a game, but there's so many life lessons and acting lessons built inside all of those games and they don't even know how much they're growing.

What I thought was cool is the difference in teacher dynamic, right? So now in the past, like couple of months, we've had every single one of us in the classroom and Leeann was having this new addition, like a, a rebirth of a teacher, like so amazing. And, and she had this different teaching style that I haven't seen as a cameraman before where she, she didn't use the seat.

Oh no. So I'm sitting there and I'm like, all right, well, I guess the teacher angle is like, is, uh, useless at this point. So I like, I unplugged it and figured out a way. And then I went handheld because she was getting all up in these kids grills, like giving them these beautiful ideas that I never would have thought of ever. She's got a little, and I'm like, she's gifting them with this creative knowledge and, and doing it in such a loving way, literally right next to them.

Well, and let me tell you this. Um, one of the things that I experienced from home was, as you all know, I've been banging my head against the wall for years with you. We've all been on this team together trying to figure out how to get our classes online and to the masses because we want to spread the love of what we're doing at a massive scale.

And I, I don't really get to sit back and watch it and see it from a third person perspective. And I was able to just see how far we had come with that product and watch our kids react and our kids learn and go, dang, we are, we're right there. I mean, I'm ready to pull the trigger next week, actually, based off of what I saw. I mean, it's really neat.

And there's so many people sitting on the front lines of communicating with, um, with people who, who want to be in the classes that can't be, you know? And I get calls almost every day that's like, Hey, I want to be in the class. I can't get there. You're too far from me. Or I can't get there at that time. I mean, that happened because of this.

We, we had a Joey's like so good now at getting things up and running. So he put up a link cause there was a few people that were sick for the adult class later on that night. And, uh, I think we had like 14 people watching, um, and I mean, that's a whole new, whole new game for us now where, where you, you, you can miss class and you're not going to miss class.

Yeah. And if I can tag onto that too, Matt, the, um, so our kiddos are Jack is going to be eight in March. Rosalyn's going to be six. And they sat and they watched the teen class that you taught after the one that you said they sat through part of the one that I was teaching. So you were talking to the teens and I don't know. All of you guys have probably seen it at this point, but for our listeners, Matt spent the first, I mean, probably 25 minutes of class talking to the kids, very in a, just a very Well, thank you, Leeann for, uh, for, for, for calling in and thank you for teaching yesterday.

It was really fun to go home and snug you Rozzy for a bit. Uh, well, thank you guys for having me on the podcast and for letting me step in. And it was an awesome privilege. Of course we will. Rozzy, Rozzy, Rozzy's going to have to be on the podcast in the future. All right. Bye baby. We love you. Oh, I love you guys. Bye. Bye. Yeah.

That was, that was kind of sad. I just cut off Rosalyn right after I said, snug you Rozzy. Um, all right. Well, that is our podcast for the day. That was a lot of fun. So fun. Yeah. And I want to just, I'll leave everybody with this idea. I think on our next podcast, we're going to talk about the power of being present. We'll just sort of tap into that a little bit deeper, right?

We're going to have, uh, Joey's mom on the podcast actually. He's a new student here and talk about some of the things she's going through and, and what cause it's, it's a real game changer. Thank you for listening to the Dearing Acting Studio Podcast. Have a deering day, everybody.