We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Mathis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

It may be a strange way to answer, but the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on was myself. Working on truly understanding myself and working through early life trauma allowed me to better understand the human soul, where behaviors originate from, how people think, feel and act and create from a place that resonates with others. It allows an endless well of inspiration and understanding that flows into art, stories and media that are centered around meaningful topics but also hopefully entertain without people realizing they educate.

I’ve worked on docustyle projects that work to shift the perception of what is normal in Kentucky regarding it being far more diverse than people realize with neurodivergence, gender identities, sexual orientations and bodily autonomy.

I’ve worked on animated series related to women with PTSD.

But my favorite thing is to create narrative tv and film scripts that are story based in thriller, horror or comedy that focus on the entertainment while weaving meaningful elements in.

The current project I am pushing is a ridiculous Christmas comedy that is about a neurodivergent woman who is too nice, doesn’t understand boundaries and red flags. As I began to share the script and get some festival awards, I realized – this isn’t a neurodivergent thing. Most women share the protagonist’s struggles. The story stemmed from my own journey of learning that over-giving can be a toxic trait and coping mechanism. I feel like it’s the best I’ve done at weaving together entertainment and meaningful soul food.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I own She Dreams Entertainment. I am a writer, producer and director who comes from a background in acting and stand-up comedy. While I still work as a character actress, my focus is on creating entertainment for stage and screen that is entertaining and enlightening.

My time is split between working as a producer or crew member on television or film projects, acting for live events, performing in my own stage shows and writing screenplays.

I am most proud that I have created so much of this for myself by never giving up. I started as a single mother with zero money and created an arts showcase and market for entertainment in a city where there wasn’t much of one. I cut my producing chops throwing myself into those shows and produced and emceed over 400 of them. I kept going despite pushback, trials, personal challenges, while simultaneously parenting and trying to figure out my PTSD/AUDHD. The continual work has blossomed and each step lead to where I am now. You work so hard in the trenches trying to get somewhere, trying to create something. Then one day, you look at your life and realize you are living the dreams you used to have about “someday”.

I had a really strange childhood where I was in 9 families by the time I was 9 and was adopted. There was a lot of ups and downs. As a child, a distant aunt once told me “God always has a plan. Maybe you are going through all this so you adapt well and maybe you’ll be a missionary.” I clung to that like driftwood.

As an artist, I don’t see myself as just an actor or writer. I see artists as shamans. They peer within the human soul and assess what is needed to bring relief, to bring balance, to warn us, to shape and shift our experiences and the future. Because of everything I’ve unlocked within myself, and the journey I’ve made toward realization that I’m more than I thought, I find myself always focusing on the “soul lesson” of a story – no matter how silly or wild I twist the world around it. That’s always the seed. What mental cage did I unlock as I thought through this story, and what will it unlock in others? We heal others by healing ourselves and leaving beacons of light like roadmaps.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience – man, every person I know who has accomplished anything had to really learn to become this.

I have faced so many personal challenges – PTSD, AUDHD, Ehlers Danlos (a connective tissue disorder, single parenting, poverty.

I have faced so many public challenges – people actively tearing me down, limited resources, collaborators or contractors who overpromised themselves, false promises,

When I was in my early 20s, I wanted to make a documentary about women who’d been through abuse. I was only 23 years old. I didn’t realize I was a much bigger thinker or more ambitious than most people my age. I didn’t realize at the time that I myself still had a lot to work out from my own rough childhood. I felt like I had “turned out okay.” I trusted everyone so easily and blindly. I was super naive. I was involved with an online community and posted about it in the chat boards. I thought all the people I knew there and engaged with were my friends and everyone got excited and helped put together a fundraiser. We raised $4,000. It was amazing. I started some of the project but projects like that take time and a lot more than $4,000. I faced challenges like some of the women who were going to be involved attempting suicide or returning to abusive exes. I dealt with my own family being upset that I was interviewed for a newspaper regarding the project. When the film wasn’t finished within 10 months, some girls who were jealous of me started a rumor that I’d spent all the money on clothes. I woke up to a chat board thread that was 17 digital pages long where people were speculating, making fun of me, People I thought were friends were like sharks in the water for something new to troll about. i tried to defned myself to some degree, but I was so young minded and have never dealt with anything like that. I didn’t have anyone on my side to guide me through. I was too mortified to ask for help. Everyone had an opinion on what I should do. Share my receipts, not share my receipts because it was no one’s business.

t was just before Facebook was a thing. This was a local online community, so it wasn’t strangers on the internet. Thesee were people around me that I knew and hung out with at gatherings. They had become my community. In my mind, they were my people. I was delusional and naive.

I hadn’t done anything wrong. I had moved forward appropriately on the project. I didn’t know how to handle such mass humiliation or conflict. Because of my ptsd and autistic tendencies, the word of others was truth. I assimilated the experience into being considered a bad person even though I hadn’t done anything “wrong”. Because of my ptsd, I was afraid to ask for help. I was afraid to mess up. I was afraid in general. Instead of holding my head high and continuing the process, I spiraled. I withdrew – even from the ones who were really my friends. I didn’t trust people. I spent years avoiding the project idea and let it die. Partially because I was afraid that moving forward on it again would bring the troll brigade back into view and poke the bear so to speak. It was a subconscious reaction. I didn’t realize it.

There were other “haters” or conflicts that I would react the same, self destructing something cool I’d built for myself and others until I began working through myself and understanding. To realize that if I’d just kept working, the proof would have been seen that I was pure in intention. That successful projects, families, communities remain that way due to strategy, self protection, careful vetting.

So, 15 years later, I decided to go ahead and move forward with a project about PTSD. My brain didn’t want to. It really wanted to keep creating fun stuff or new stuff. It didn’t want to dreg up the past. But I knew I had to. This time, after working through my own and having a far better grasp on dealing with others and conflict and my own PTSD. It would overcome the fear of poking the bear. It would close a chapter on my life and free me from a demon that had been chasing me for years and taunting me as a failure and public shame. It would build me up as victorious and stronger than all those people who had crucified me – many of which turned out to have far more shameful experiences and I realized were really unhappy people. I created a series of animations called Triggered, and those became my first project to play on the big screen. It screened in Los Angeles, Australia, Canada and Chicago. They won Telly and festival awards. They were healing for me, the women involved, and others who saw them. As of today, I’ve written and produced for television, films, games and live shows. I’ve won 11 Telly Awards, 15 grants, festival and other awards. It is all possible because I decided to get back up – over and over again. And now, it’s pretty hard to knock me down.

For anyone facing conflicts along their journey, I encourage them to reflect on themselves and truly ask if there is something that needs to change within their own behavior or if perhaps, they are just shining on a light on guilt and misery within others when they see you doing something good for yourself or others when they are not. Because when you do that, miserable people will do everything they can to keep you in the dark with them. Press forward. Pivot and address your own changes and press forward, or reject unhelpful criticisms. Either way, press forward. Create.

Have you ever had to pivot?

My entire life has been a pivot. For much of the first half of it, it was forced pivoting beyond my control. But learning to assess and accept when a pivot is needed and initiating it myself became one of the greatest skillsets to have.

I was taught “never give up,” and “pull yourself up by the bootstraps,” a lot. My neurodivergent brain takes everything so literally, it followed this and other advice to my own detriment. I had to rewire to “know when to fold ’em.”

I had to learn that not every opportunity that comes along is a good opportunity. I had to learn that just because I technically could do something, didn’t mean I should.

From suddenly needing a new prop we didn’t plan for on set to losing some funds for a project and deciding to cut the project or make changes, creativity is a constant game of pivot.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shedreamscontent.com www.divinityrose.com
• Instagram: @divinityroseig
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/divinityrose
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/divinityrose