Today we’d like to introduce you to Mattie Jo Cowsert

Hi Mattie Jo, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

Okay, a little background that might seem like egregious detail but is actually important, I promise.

I grew up the youngest of four kids in rural Missouri. My father was a Baptist pastor to small churches, not mega churches, and my mother a kindergarten teacher. We weren’t exactly “rollin in it.” In my community, as soon as you could work legally, you had a part time job, no exceptions. Things like a car or clothes or weekend trips to Chilli’s with your friends were not a given. In my family at least, you had to make money to do those extra things. There was no such thing as “allowance” or even money gifted if you made good grades. Good grades were the expectation, not something to be rewarded. Therefore, by age 16, I paid for my own car insurance, gas, and social outings. I was a four sport athlete, in drama club, president of Student Council, graduated valedictorian and always had a part time job (candy store, Pizza Hut, Macaroni Grill, just to name a few…). This is not me bragging (okay maybe I’m bragging a little. I was an impressive teenager!) This is just me saying, I had to learn how to manage time, money, and priorities very early on!

Additionally, I was suffering from a terrible bout of anorexia and depression in my teen years. In an effort to help me “rekindle my sparkle” my parents asked if I wanted to attend a theatre camp. They knew I loved performing, but I didn’t have outlets in my community. All summer camps were for sports or Jesus.

I gave “theatre camp” a google, and found the perfect one — French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts in Upstate New York. It looked like Heaven! I could do theatre, make jewelry, and ride horses all in one day! I had my heart set on it before I even reviewed the tuition page. After I saw the price — $4,000 for three weeks (in 2007!!!!) — my heart sank into my butt. My dream theatre camp was actually rich kid theatre camp, and I would not be going.

Much to my surprise, when I showed my parents the information, my dad looked at me and said “Make it happen.” He didn’t say “No way.” He didn’t say “You can’t.” He didn’t say “That is entirely impractical and about as much money as your mom and I pay for 6 months of our mortgage.” Instead, with those three words my dad said “You’re going to do this, I believe in you.”

So I got to work. I was only 14, so I couldn’t legally work a job. Instead, I washed cars in the Wal-Mart parking lot, I called local businesses to donate to a raffle, I sold raffle tickets at church, school…I babysat, I even had a few upper classman at school pool together and donate money. I raised all the money for camp + airfare.

My time at rich kid theatre camp in a completely different part of the country set the trajectory of my life. It is absolutely the reason I am an actor, writer, (and babysitter for billionaires) today.

Additionally, “Make it happen” is still my mantra for all my creative and and general life desires goings on. I think the simple belief that I could do something, combined with a decent amount of ignorance, and no entitlement that things will just be easy, perfectly laid the foundation for me to be where I am today.

When I moved to New York City — as a proud purity ring wearer and preacher’s kid — in my early twenties to pursue musical theatre (instead of becoming a wife like I was supposed to), my entire identity imploded thanks to Tinder and my Jewish roommate. All my secular world experiences culminated to force me to question my faith, reinvent my sexuality, all while living with and working for the 1% (read my book for more details about this). It was culture shock from every angle, so naturally I decided to write about it on the internet.

In 2015, when marriage equality passed, I decided to share how the queer community was a catalyst for me questioning everything I’d been taught about this Jesus guy in my first publicly released post entitled “God and the Gays.” Thus my blog God, Sex, and Rich People “figuring out faith, f*cking, and the 1%” was born.

Since then, I stopped auditioning for musical theatre and exclusively audition for film/TV. I’ve continued to write my blog and accidentally amassed over 10,000 readers. My writing has led to have appearances across multiple medium platforms, invites by best-selling authors in the purity vulture space to participate in storytelling for policy change. In 2021 I wrote, directed, executive produced, and starred in the proof of concept for the God, Sex, and Rich People tv show. The pitch for that show went on to win the Audience Choice Award at the Yale Innovation Summit in 2024. The public premiere of the pilot in 2024 accrued 160k views on Youtube in the first week. My book by the same title released in September 2024, with the book launch party hosted at Neuehouse Madison Square. The book received an immediate best seller ranking (#1 in its category above C.S. Lewis and Pope JP II!) within hours of being on sale. In 2022 I was in a commercial for an erectile dysfunction medication all the dudes from my high school who knew me as a purity ring wearer saw while watching football. God definitely has a sense of humor. My commercial career was redeemed this year with a BMW commercial appearance you may have seen while watching Netflix.

I’ve done all of this while still wiping the butts of America’s most privileged babies, because Midwestern work ethic knows no bounds and having creative success doesn’t always equate financial flourishing lol.

Looking back, I am so grateful for every unexpected detail that has helped me be exactly where I am today. I used to be so frustrated that I wasn’t on Broadway or a series regular (yet!) but even as I type this, I’m so overwhelmed with gratitude at my Mattie Jo specific story.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

Absolutely not! lol*

I have been an underdog trying to prove myself since I can remember. In college I was not a “darling.” I barely got cast. I didn’t get a single callback for my first 6 months in NYC. Once I started getting offers, they were for shitty theatres or roles I wasn’t excited about. Even still, I’ve yet to book TV, and the only Broadway I’ve even auditioned for are the EPAs — rarely do I get appointments, The casting directors in NYC don’t know me…I am not “successful” in this city in the way a performer “should” be.

I’ve spent so much money on casting director workshops, “get an agent” courses, etc…and I STILL don’t have a legit agent I’m happy with. I have maybe gone in for 5 TV auditions ever. It’s discouraging and makes me feel like I will never penetrate this industry, so why keep trying?

Getting published was a 5 year journey. Big publishers and agents wouldn’t even consider me — despite the fact that my writing and my book is very good — because I didn’t have more than 10k followers on social media or like, an Ivy League degree. Ultimately I ended up going with a super small publisher and poured lots of my own dollars into the PR to actual sell the book. And still yet, even though my numbers are great for a small publisher as an unknown author, I will have to work REALLY hard for it to be a recognizable title and actually make money from the sales.

My biggest struggle has probably been my self-sabotaging beliefs and how I speak to myself. I spent many years feeling like a total failure because I haven’t been on Broadway or TV. I’ve had to learn to shift my perspective to celebrating my personal wins, to follow those successes, and be kind to myself.

Anyway, yes. There have been PLENTY of struggles, but I’ve learned to trust in my ability to “figure it out” and “make it happen.”

One simple example is New York City apartment hunting. Finding an apartment that

1) doesn’t totally suck and

2) isn’t totally overpriced

is hard to come by (especially when you’re trying to balance your time doing creative things that don’t pay with not overworking yourself on things that do pay. Another skill one must learn as an artist in NYC). First of all, to be on a lease you have to make 40X the rent, which I never did. Especially not on paper since all of my earnings were cash. Or you had to have a guarantor that made 80X the rent, which I also didn’t have. You often have to lay down first, last month, and security deposit just to move in! Nevermind the broker’s fee you can’t wrap your mind around paying since all they did was have the keys to show you the apartment. You found this place yourself on StreetEasy! I digress…

I always found a way around this scam by

1) Asking friends to tell me when something in their buildings opened up and then contacting the management company directly and not using a broker
2) subletting under friends whose parents were rich so they had full apartments they needed to fill, but I didn’t have to put any money down and I got to keep my own bedroom furniture
3) Going directly to owners of buildings and not using brokers
4) having roommates whose parents made 80x the rent
5) having exceptional credit and a roommate who made 40X the rent on paper

Just finding a place to live in NYC was A NIGHTMARE. But I’ve figured it out for over a decade. And I always had great places to live!

I also want to say that, even given my “struggles” I know I have an amazing support system in my family and that takes care of so much. They have always believed in me, my dreams, and my potential. How many fewer accountants would there be in the world if their parents didn’t stifle their love for painting and told them to get a “practical” job? My parents were “led by the spirit” in a hippie meets the Holy Spirit kind of way, so they didn’t have much ground to stand on in terms of telling me to “be practical.”

However, what my parents did always say to me — if I really wanted to do something — was “make it happen.” They didn’t hand it to me. They made me have stock in the decision, that way, if I knew how much effort something took, I could decide for myself if it was what I truly wanted. For example, I had to pay for my college. Therefore, I worked really hard to get scholarships, to have a job during school that offset the need for loans, etc…because if I knew how much effort it took to get that BFA, I could decide if I actually wanted it. Was it worth it? Same with moving to or visiting New York City. How could I really know if pursuing a creative career and New York was what *I* wanted, given all the hardship, if they had just handed me everything?

I think what my parents really gave me in all of this was the gift of confidence. Confidence in my ability to make a choice, follow through, and then decide from there where to go. So many young adults I meet now — or people who grew up very privileged — lack confidence in themselves. Confidence is not something you buy in the form of botox or butt implants. It is not something you have because you were born pretty or rich.

If, as a grown ass person, you do not cultivate confidence in yourself, it will show up in all you do. Either in over compensation (getting too much plastic surgery, or being an entitled prick) or under performing fear. You do too much to “prove” yourself — because you know none of it was actually earned (generational wealth). Or you flounder and flail in where to go with your life because you are motivated by fear of doing the wrong thing (since you’ve never taken time to try shit and find out you’ll actually be fine even if you do choose “the wrong thing” ie parents who helicopter their kids. *cough* Gen Z *cough*).

*I also understand as a small, white woman I am incredibly privileged. I have never experienced food scarcity, housing scarcity, or even job scarcity. I have a wholesome face and a bubbly personality. People typically want to help me just by their own personal biases.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I am an actor, author, and (depending on the day), a “shameless oversharer” or “babysitter for billionaires.”

I specialize in comedic storytelling about my experience from growing up as a devout Evangelica, pastor’s kid, and proud purity wearer. And then how my entire identity imploded when, instead of getting married in my early twenties like a “real” woman of God, I moved to New York to become an actor. All of my secular world experiences culminated to force me to question my faith, reinvent my sexuality, all while living with/working for the 1%. It was culture shock from every angle, so naturally I decided to write about it on the internet on my blog entitled God, Sex, and Rich People.

Since 2015, my blog has amassed over 10,000 readers, I have released a book by the same title, and I’m developing a TV series based on the blog and book. I am also developing a one woman show with the artistic incubator program at MIT, Makerstate. My blog has amassed over 10,000 readers, I’ve been featured in interviews across multiple media platforms, and I’ve been invited by non-profits and fellow purity culture authors to participle in storytelling for policy change. My pitch for the God, Sex, and Rich People TV show won the Audience Choice Award at the 2024 Yale Innovation Summit.

Basically, on my path to pursuing a career in professional acting in New York City, I accidentally developed a brand that helps those who experienced purity culture highlight just how much this shit shows up in our daily goings on, and to heal through humor. I help women creative better dating, sex, and everything lives after losing your faith and identity in the deconstruction process. Additionally, my stories help those who were spared understand (and be entertained by) just how silly the experience of growing up Evangelical is and yet, how deeply traumatizing it is for so many in America.

I think what I’m most proud of is that I have, for the most part, build this brand accidentally, slowly, and on my own. Of course I have sought help from coaches, mentors, and have even been fortunate enough to hire publicists, photographers, assistants in the last few years…But I have — while auditioning, acting, and on my *wiping the butts of the world’s most privileged babies* dollars — been sharing my journey on social media, harvesting relationships with readers (fans!), and celebrating little to big wins which have led to great connections and collaborations I would not have if I didn’t share shamelessly. If I was so previous about every creative or professional move I made.

I think what sets me apart from others, if I’m really honest, is that I am pretty self-aware, while also giving myself the credit I deserve, and I am incredibly self-motivated. I know when my work is subpar; I have a standard of excellence I’m not sure (At least based on other content I read lol) most people adhere to or even know how to execute. I know I am a talented writer and storyteller, and I don’t shy away from that (even if, as a woman who is conditioned to not be “proud” or “braggy”, I feel like an asshole typing it). And I am very self-motivated. I know the consequences of not showing up for myself and the goals I have. I like to live an “abundant life” and I know it’s only up to me to claim.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?

I really do believe my lack of entitlement and appreciation for whatever the journey is — trying my best to follow its lead and not demand I be on some other path — has not only helped in my career success, it’s assisted in my mental health, which is part of my career success.

When I first started in this career, I suffered immensely from comparison. I saw so many of my peers have loads more success than I did because they could audition without the pressures of paying rent, their own bills, etc…that was not my story. It wasn’t until my mid twenties that I really started to embrace my story and my personal experiences, over feeling behind or pissed that I should be further along.

I also remember I was going to take a month long trip to Asia when I turned 28, and I was feeling really guilty about it. I feared that taking that kind of time away and missing an audition for Peter Pan and the Dutch Apple Theatre or some crap, I was not “prioritizing my career.” In my “this is the end of my career!!!!” anxiety I had a teacher tell me something that I still live by. Part of being an actor, a “storyteller” is being a *person.* Is engaging in life. After all, our jobs are to understand and embody humanity. How can you possibly convey humanity if you’re not really engaging in it?

From that point on, as a creative, I saw all of me as being an essential part of my “business.” If I needed rest, I needed to take rest. If I needed to skip that audition because I was dealing with heartbreak, skip the audition. If I had to miss a summer of Summerstock theatre because I needed to save money to move into a new apartment, I would take this work experiences, learn, and weave them into my story (which I do, by the way, as I am always working for the richies). All of my life is part of *MY* story. I am not behind and no one owes me anything. I am on my time and, as cheesy as it sounds, what is for me will find me. Stressing about being behind or being mad that more privileged people “have it easier” isn’t serving me. The summit isn’t the goal anyway. That’s a fallacy of the industrial revolution, patriarchy, and captalism.

Pricing:

• Book : 24.99
• Signed book 32 (to cover shipping)
• Coaching/Consultations Calls: 50/hour

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mattiejcowsert.com/book
• Instagram: Mattiejocowsert
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/godsexandrichpeople/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYr3n-tZgK8

Image Credits

Claire Forrest Films
David Gazzo
Diego Quintanar