Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Payberg-torroija

Hi Holly, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

Comedians have always been my superheroes.

I was that 70’s kid, staying up late, watching SNL and all the Norman Lear shows. And, even though I was only 8 years old at the time, somehow I knew what they were up to.

To me, they were alchemists using storytelling to spin our human dramas into gold, and I wanted to be a part of it.

By the time I was 20, I went from consuming all things comedy, to creating it. I wanted to make people laugh, lift them up, cause them to see things they might not have seen before. I felt like writing and producing would be the way to do it. And this desire led me on an amazing journey all the way to Hollywood and back.

Throughout the years I had the pleasure of getting to study at The Second City. And working with some of my heroes like Harold Ramis, Lisa Kudrow and Nora Ephron. And I even succeeded at having an absolute blast writing and producing several award winning comedies of my own.

But when Covid locked us all down, my journey hit a bit of a wall. The reflection time revealed to me something I didn’t want to see: that my pursuit of comedy, at least in the way I was doing it, wasn’t feeding me anymore.

Ironically, as life would have it, it was still the comedy world that came to my rescue. This time in the form of the daughter of one of its legends, Kelly Carlin. I joined her coaching program, Humans on The Verge, and before I knew it, I was dreaming a whole new dream again. A dream that I believe is in line with my true calling.

I realized I wasn’t just meant to consume comedy, or create it. Nope. I saw that my greatest and most fulfilling contribution would likely end up being my ability to help others create comedy. In fact, I saw that my true gift was for helping storytellers of all kinds (comedy or not) find their unique voice and get it out into the world.

Once I was clear on that, I created a writing program called Loving The Process and have officially teamed up with Kelly (and Humans on The Verge), to help creatives of all kinds do the powerful, transformational work needed to reinvent themselves and bring forth their most important projects.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Define smooth? Lol. But seriously, yes, there were endless struggles/challenges.

I went out to Hollywood with nothing much more than a dream.

I had no connections, no skills, and no money. And even if I had had all those things, it likely still wouldn’t have added up to much, because I wanted to be a comedy writer, and succeeding at that would make me an anomaly (at that time only about 10% of ALL WGA writers were women, and significantly less than that were comedy writers.) So you could say the chips were seriously stacked against me.

Luckily I was just delusional enough to not let that stop me. Once I got to Hollywood, I committed myself to becoming the writer I wanted to be (on my own time) while slowly working my way up in the industry (so….basically my work day never ended.)

In my mind, my “day jobs” became my own personal version of film school. I worked on sets, in agency offices, as a celebrity assistant, and as a “development girl” for a busy indie film producer. And while working those jobs, I soaked up everything there was to know about the system and its people.

Eventually, I partnered with my husband to start our own production company (Two Door Productions) where we produced commercials for high end corporate clients, while funding/producing our own original content on the side. And we still run that production company to this day, even though the majority of my energy has shifted to my soul work of coaching writers/creatives.

As I mentioned, the struggles along this road were endless. But I think it was the internal struggles that were the most relentless.

No matter who you are, if you’re going to be in Hollywood, you are going to have to prepare yourself for an endless stream of no’s. And not just no’s. But no’s to creations of your heart, that you’ve often spent years of your time and money investing in.

And even when you do get some interest, too often that is just the beginning of another long list of hurdles you need to jump through that could end up in a no.

It’s no longer enough to just write. Or just act. These days you also need to be able to pitch/package brilliantly, finance/produce independently, oh and make sure you develop a large and loyal social media following. And that’s just for the privilege of your project being “tracked”. Never mind getting paid.

There is a special brand of persistence and perseverance you have to develop in order to keep on going in the face of all that. You have to develop an inner fortitude. An ability to dust yourself off and keep on going. And you must discipline yourself because no one will do it for you. If anything, you’ll often get discouragement, rather than encouragement. Even from your closest family and friends (they want to protect you).

But all that makes it sound bleak and it’s not. The people I met. The skills I was forced to develop. The self discipline I learned to employ. The comedy my friends and I created over the years. The laughs we shared. I wouldn’t trade a single second of it. And I use every inch of it when coaching my students.

It’s been an epic adventure.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

I am the founder of Loving The Process, a writing program/community designed to help writers/creatives of all levels get out of their heads and into their hearts, so they can write the stories they were born to write.

I sometimes call myself a “Process Coach” because that is my speciality. Literally helping creatives settle in for the long haul, and find the day to day process that will work best for them.

I take the stance that their stories/visions already exist inside them, whole and complete, and that they just need someone like me to ask them all the right questions, in just the right order.

I have learned from my own personal experience, that if they can learn to love the process (rather than resisting), they will be able to allow those visions to flow through their hearts, and out onto the page, at the level, and in the timing, the vision deserves/requires.

I also take the stance that you can’t really separate the writer from the writing. When the writer grows, the writing flows. Which is why I have now officially teamed up with Kelly Carlin (under the banner Humans on The Verge).

Kelly is an absolute powerhouse in helping creatives push through past limitations and re-invent themselves (she learned from the best). And together, we are able to serve the holistic needs of our fellow storytellers from both the personal/spiritual growth perspective as well as their creative goals.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?

In regards to finding mentors….

First rule is: do your research. Make sure you know exactly who your mentor is, and why you would like their mentoring.

Second rule: Ask them for just 15 minutes of their time, and then take only 15 minutes. This will get you 15 minutes more.

Third rule: Have 1 or 2 interesting questions ready.

Fourth rule: Make sure to follow up with a short and sweet thank you, each time you follow through on a piece of their advice, and it works in your favor.

For networking….

First rule is also: do your research. Get a sense of who will be in the room before you go in.

Second rule: be prepared with an interesting answer to the inevitable “what do you do?” My advice is typically to answer the question by not just saying what you do, but WHY you do it. This way you can show a little passion and maybe kick start an interesting conversation.

Third rule: don’t make it weird. Keep it moving. Relationships should be built over time. Have patience and don’t try to get everything out of a first or even a second encounter.

Fourth rule: if you’re shy, wear a little something unusual that could be a conversation starter. Or bring your favorite extrovert with you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.loving-the-process.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loving_the_process/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LTPWriters
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollypayberg/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lovingtheprocess1128
• Other: https://humansontheverge.com/