We recently connected with Dawnnie Mercado and have shared our conversation below.

Dawnnie, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

It’s funny. Officially I have begun my career twice. I look at it in terms of my child. There is before mommy and as mommy. I truly believe everything has it’s own timing and I’m exactly where I should be. After I graduated from NYU with my MFA in acting I went on to do regional theatre, and eventually some pretty great TV jobs. But something was missing. My family. That’s what was missing. I’ve always known I was meant to be a mom. It took me away from acting for a while to make that happen. Although along the way I have also started businesses, acting schools for kids and teens multiple times, and a thriving mompreneur life which includes my current obsession with monetizing my YouTube channel. My daughter is 8 now. She, my husband, my three dogs and my extended family are my very soul. They are my why. The exact reasons I know I can and will do anything I set my mind to. I restarted my career as an actor during Covid. I turned to online platforms and have surrounded myself with mentors like Bonnie Gillespie, Amy Lyndon, and Wendy Alane Wright. I don’t think I would have been ready for the lessons they have taught me the first time around in the business. And in fact, their platforms didn’t exist back then. I am blessed to bring with me the depth of life I have lived between round one and now. So. In short. No. I began, both times at exactly the right time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask Dawnnie to share more of her insights, let’s take a moment to look at how she got where she is today for our readers.

Hailing from a loving Mexican American family in vibrant Los Angeles, Dawnnie Mercado emerged resilient, talented, and exuberant. Raised with the belief that she could achieve anything, her family instilled in her a strong sense of purpose from the word go. Especially her mother, Loretta who she attributes to every good thing within her soul. Blessed with a daughter of her own, Ms. Mercado lives in Tehachapi California with her husband Jerry, in a home overflowing with love, three furbaby dogs and way too many toys. She is actually known as the dog whisperer on her block. It’s one of her superpowers. If she has it her way (and she will) the universe is currently manifesting at least a second home for them in Pasadena or Los Angeles. For now, the short drive there for auditions and family visits is well worth it.

Currently immersed in studies with renowned celebrity booking coach Amy Lyndon, Dawnnie’s journey in professional acting has been exhilarating. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a BA in Drama from UC Santa Barbara, showcasing her bright talents. She also attributes her renewed sense of purpose as an actor to the mentorship of Bonnie Gillespie and Wendy Alane Wright. Dawnnie is a lifetime member of Bonnie’s “Get in Gear for The Next Tier” program, and Wendy’s “Hollywood Winners Circle”. In her words, “Actors should run, not walk to these two groups, as well as Amy Lyndon’s Actor.Club, and in doing so will be backed by the strongest most talented mentors anyone could hope to have.”

Proudly affiliated with SAG-AFTRA since 1993, Dawnnie has portrayed various leading ladies in Shakespearean productions, played Lucy in “Dracula” for two regional theatre runs, and left a lasting mark with memorable television roles, including a guest spot on “Strong Medicine” alongside Rick Schroeder. At the time of this interview, Dawnnie has also renewed her love for the art of voice-over and has exciting things on the horizon, including growth in her own team of reps and mentors.

While pursuing her acting career, Dawnnie is also a dedicated teacher, coach, and mompreneur. During her New York years she was a guest teaching artist for the renowned Lincoln Center Institute. She has also opened various acting studios for kids and teens in her long career as a teacher and acting coach, produced and directed original theatre created from improvisation, and currently owns and runs TADA Acting Studio. The youth where she lives now are thriving in her courses on Shakespeare, Improvisation and Acting through her local school called Tehachapi Academy of Dramatic Arts. It’s her way of giving back to the future generations. Whether they follow the path of an artist or any other path, their time mastering these skills will serve them well. Many of the students attend for enrichment and socialization purposes and the parents of those students will attest to the fact that, “they enroll shy, and walk out brave.” As though all of the above was not enough, Dawnnie’s current obsession is her YouTube channel, where she truly has found the creative outlet she was always meant for. What better life than sharing self-created content, helping other actors, teaching, and mastering the new tech tools this world has to offer– all in one place.
For more insights and engaging content, visit Dawnnie’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@dawnniemercado (All About Acting, With Dawnnie Mercado) where she lives by the mantra of sharing her tools. Find the latest news at: www.DawnnieMercado.com

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This is crazy to say as I write it. But I was once hit by a taxi on the streets of New York while making a bank deposit for a temp job that later became the best survival job ever in New York. Two weeks later, donjoy knee brace and all, I went to Penn to play Lucy in Dracula. In retrospect, it was likely that resilience that saved me in more than one way. The Penn State Geisinger sports medicine people treated me for free while I was there, and the lawsuit against the taxi paid them back later. Talk about “the show must go on”

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Hands down I continue to do what I do, because in doing so I am teaching my daughter to never give up her dreams whatever they end up being. I tell her daily that she can be anything in this world she sets her mind to, and if anyone says she can’t, then she can tell them her mommy says they are a liar. She is my biggest why. She is also my biggest story of resilience. I have known my whole life I was meant to be a mom. I gave birth at 49 after 15 years of trying. She is my miracle. I am a lucky mom.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.dawnniemercado.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dawnniemercado/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawnnie.mercado.actor/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnniemercado/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dawnniemercado