We recently connected with Allison von Hausen and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Allison, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I loved acting as a kid when my parents put me in camps & classes, and my Dad would drive me around to auditions all over Northern Virginia and DC. I acted in school plays in middle and high school, and as a shy kid I found something very soothing in having a script and always knowing what I was “supposed” to say.

Then in high school, I was taken out of those classes and kind of told to grow up – so I did. I took business classes starting my junior year of high school, got both a business management and finance degree, and moved out to Silicon Valley to work in finance at a huge tech company. I had what I think many people would call a very successful career.

But while I enjoyed my work and I got to work with the smartest people in the world (imo), I wasn’t passionate about it, so in 2019 I started looking for more. My partner and I decided to quit our jobs to travel the world, and when COVID hit and we had to come home I decided I didn’t want to return to tech. I took a part-time, flexible consulting job, freelanced in producing & production management since that aligned with my tech skillset, and decided that if there was ever a time to try out this acting thing for real, this was it.

Allison, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am an actor, producer, travel enthusiast, and dog-mom living between the Bay Area and Los Angeles. I try to balance my career between the left-brained, organized, meticulousness of producing with the right-brained, instinctual, creativity of acting.

I worked in tech for almost 10 years in finance and project management, and while that set me a little behind the curve of many folks who have been in the industry for decades, I think my corporate experience also translates to a lot of skills in the entertainment world. I learned how to build and nurture relationships, execute projects and get sh*t done, and present ideas with presence and a command of space. Ironically, while this easily (and perhaps obviously) translates to producing and production management, I would say this helps me even more in my acting career.

Last year was a big level-up across all of my work. I was the production manager of my first full feature and a had leading role in another. I got a manager in LA to compliment my amazing agent in the Bay. And while these are all tangible, exciting things that I feel privileged to have done, I think the thing I’m most proud of is the every day work that no one sees. I’ve never had a job where I’ve been 3 years in and just as engaged, just as challenged, and just as hopeful as the day I started. For that, I feel truly lucky.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Working with great people who are as passionate as you are. Coming from the Bay Area and “growing up” with the film community there has been such a privilege. I always tell people that to live somewhere as expensive as the Bay and to choose to NOT work in tech means that you really do have to love what you do. And that shows! It creates such great camaraderie and friendships, and when I work with a Bay Area crew I feel energized every day to be around such creativity and heart.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Value art and nurture artists. I grew up in a family that believed in more “traditional” careers – be a doctor, a lawyer, or a businessperson. And I think that’s pretty typical across the US. No parent wants to hear “Mom, I want to be an actor!” unless that parent is in the arts themselves. Whenever educational funding is reduced, artistic programs are one of the first to go. I think our culture is set up to deprioritize art in our minds and consider it expendable.

I can’t remember who exactly made it, but I remember seeing something on Instagram over COVID that said something like: “If you think art is expendable, go a day without watching TV, without reading a book, no music / podcasts / radio, don’t look at pictures or photography or memes, and see how you feel.” That reframed and articulated everything to me – there’s no way I could go a day without that and be happy. Art is essential, and we need to nurture and value artists who make it financially, educationally, and culturally.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://allisonvonhausen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avonhausen/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonvonhausen/
• Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user133992473