We were lucky to catch up with Jennifer Lynn O’Hara recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer Lynn, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I’m one of the lucky ones – I never had to make the decision to choose between an artistic path or a more traditional path – I just always knew I would make my life in the creative and fine arts. My mom says I was singing before I could talk and dancing before I could walk. And the brightness of that creative flame hasn’t dimmed a bit since then. Today my life’s passion is also my life’s work, and I am incredibly grateful every day that I get to live my dream.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am, first and foremost, a performer. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. But life doesn’t always turn out the way we plan. I believe we are all given certain gifts, and if we learn to make the most of our natural abilities, whatever they are, those gifts will ultimately help guide our career trajectory in surprisingly rewarding ways. I will always be an actor, but I also have a gift for writing and for music and dance, and I have been able to leverage those abilities to further my acting career. As women, we are often relegated to the sidelines of movie and TV narratives, playing archetypal supporting characters – the put-upon wife, the vengeful mistress, the mom/sister/friend, and frequently the victim who needs rescuing. It’s a formula we’ve seen on screen since the beginning of cinema. But times have changed, and although women have made great strides in gaining leading roles both in front of and behind the camera, the industry is still disproportionately weighted.

The best way to even out the scales is to get out there are create your own work, so that’s what I decided to do. I’ve leaned into my gift of writing to write screenplays that feature strong women who control their own narrative, who can stand on their own feet, and who embrace who they are. I currently have two feature films in various stages of development – Cupid Fest, a destination comedy set in Ireland, and A Haunting Love, an inter-dimensional love story, plus many other screenplays ready to go. The unexpected benefit of nurturing the writing side of my life is that the process of creating characters on the page has actually made me a better actor.

One of the things I’m most proud of is showing women of all ages that being single does not mean putting your life on hold. I always thought I’d be married by now, and that I’d do all these big, scary things with a husband to help with the heavy lifting. But life had other plans. So I decided long ago that I would not wait until I got married to start living. It can be scary to do things a like international travel, buying a home, or starting a business by yourself. But those things are all possible if we just believe in ourselves and have the confidence to jump in with our whole heart and mind. Having mentors and role models help immensely. Geena Davis has a great quote, “If she can see it, she can be it.” This quote, from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, refers to creating equality in entertainment. But I believe it has a wider meaning. If women see other women doing big things, they can envision themselves doing them too, and then they’re not so scary. To that end, I created a lifestyle, travel, and how-to blog and web series called “A Single Girl’s Guide To…” which is geared toward helping other single women live their fullest and most satisfying lives.

My biggest piece of advice for anyone is this: No matter what you decide to do with your life, make every moment count. Time is our most valuable asset – every minute that ticks by is a minute of our life we won’t get back, so whatever we choose to do in this moment should be worth the price we pay for it.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I’d learned the power of creating and fostering a supportive group of colleagues who encourage and lift each other up. I went into this business as a young, wide-eyed innocent being told that it’s a dog-eat-dog world, and to watch your back because everyone is out for themselves. But, while there may be a bad apple here and there, the vast majority of people I’ve worked with have been incredibly kind and giving and supportive. Anyone who’s been in this industry long enough knows how difficult it is, and that fosters a kind of kinship because we all know what it’s like to struggle and survive in the trenches. I wish I hadn’t let fear prevent me from enjoying the camaraderie, encouragement, and support that comes from being part of that kind of peer group early in my career.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn is that I am not enough. Society can be brutal – especially to women. We are bombarded with messages that we’re not pretty enough, not skinny enough, not smart enough, not “whatever” enough. We are given impossible standards, and then judged harshly when we don’t meet them. But the criteria by which we are judged is different for men than for women, and the disparate judging criteria has been normalized in our society – so much so that we internalize it and accept it as fact, which leaves us always feeling lacking. The truth is, I AM enough. We are ALL enough. And that’s the lesson I want everyone, men and women alike, to learn. You. Are. Enough.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4024865
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferlynnohara/
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jennifer-lynn-o-hara-a0a6711a6

Image Credits
Sage Kirkpatrick Ginamarie Birnbaum