Most recently, I produced and acted in a short film, “Plant People” that my husband, Jason Eksuzian, wrote and directed. It is a quirky drama in which I play Phoebe, a supermarket cashier who is the sole human in a world of plant people. It explores the connection between loneliness and mental health. We were delighted to receive a production grant from the Voices With Impact organization to make the film and funding through the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) in California. One of the key purposes of the film will be to start conversations around mental health and emotional well-being with young adults and college students. I have had my own struggles with mental health — I know I am among many, if not most, of the people out there — and so having the opportunity to create something artistic and strange and heartfelt that may also allow folks to feel seen and heard on their own struggles means a lot to me.

I’m an actor and a writer-producer. I am a proud Northwestern University theatre alum, and an equally proud Midwesterner from Des Moines. Iowa. As an actor, I am based in Los Angeles, and I have appeared opposite Rosario Dawson in the feature, “Unforgettable”; with Minnie Driver on the ABC comedy, “Speechless,” and in series on ABC, NBC, CBS, CW and Disney, as well as dozens of national commercials, among them commercials directed by Ron Howard, Bob Odenkirk and Phil Morrison. I created the award-winning digital comedy series “Hug It Out,” as well as the series “10,000 Hours” and “The Grown-Up Mermaid” with my husband and creative partner, Jason Eksuzian. I was named Bustle Digital Group’s “Best Emerging Female Creator,” and recently completed a writer residency at Ucross Foundation in Wyoming to complete my upcoming novel, “Down the Rabbithole”.

A lesson I had to unlearn was that there is no upside to keeping myself small and being apologetic. I don’t know exactly why I learned it but I learned it young and for a long time I moved through life like I didn’t deserve to be a full participant in it. I am grateful to have unlearned it at this point in my life, and my advice is to always aim to be your own best friend. Why not, right?