We recently connected with Leslie Collins and have shared our conversation below.

Leslie, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I wanted to create a podcast that was inspired by my father and his tradition of telling incredible and hilarious bedtime stories. When I created it, I thought, “Hey, why not have Dad tell a story live, record it and then have improvising comedians voice all of the characters?” It brought together two of my favorite things, bedtime stories and improvisation. At the time, podcasting was just starting to happen but not for a children’s market. How would I reach kids without advertising or having them sit through a bunch of terrible commercials on YouTube? I didn’t know exactly how it would work but I pushed forward and made a project that I was so proud of. I raised a lot of money to produce it (that was the scary part) but had created something that was 100% me and I knew that children would enjoy it.

It was met with a very small roll out and zero fanfare. Some people said, “Why did you waste so much time and energy on something you couldn’t sell?”  I responded with, “Well, because I just wanted to make something that speaks to me and brings me joy.

I knew somehow that there would one day be a place for it and (maybe) I was just a little ahead of my time. Well, it took a couple of years but the market was eventually there and I licensed all of my podcast bedtime stories to a children’s podcasting network. They licensed all of them! They called me with the news that my comedic children’s bedtime stories were exactly what they were looking for.

This has been the theme of my life… just do what you do best and what you like to do. Just plug along doing the art that makes you happy. It may take many years, but someone will take notice and you will have learned a new skill along the way that has benefited you. Just keep doing what you do, even when it makes zero sense to everyone else!

Leslie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a performing artist, dipping my toes into the world of theater, musical theater, podcasting and musical improvisation. I am lucky enough to be cast in plays and musicals throughout the year but when I’m not working on a stage, I’m teaching musical improv classes, developing comedy shows or producing a podcast with my sister about sumo wrestling (yes, it’s true).

I studied theater in college and got my professional start early. I ended up doing “OK,” if you will, but my failures in show business have taught me more about myself than anything else and have led to more success than earlier in my career. I was always banging my head against the wall trying to be what I thought everyone wanted me to be. So after years of not booking work, I tried improv which taught me that I can play whatever part I want to play and I don’t need anyone’s permission to do it. I went into auditions afterwards as my perfectly imperfect self, who was a better listener, with more belief in my skill set. The doors opened for me in my career after that and also taught me a lesson… just be you. Do what you do best. There is no road map, it’s only the path you take and the open road of your imagination that leads you.

I’m proud of building a career that allows me to work as I want to, freely. While it’s not always predictable, I am happy knowing that I constantly get to play on a stage and make content that I care about. I get to collaborate with other great humans when I am not acting and dig into the things that interest me, like sumo wrestling. It’s thrilling!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Spin positive in everything you do. Corporations pay people like me a lot of money to come in and train their employees on team building and how to get along while collaborating. I’ll save you the three hour corporate workshop and tell you that one easy way to do that is to meet ideas and suggestions with positivity instead of through a lens of doubt. You never know what is beyond that first idea (no matter how ridiculous) if you immediately shoot it down or see only problems first. You can’t get to the next iteration of the idea which may be GOLD if you stop at the first pass by ripping it apart.

I’m not saying that every single idea should be met with complete agreement but there is always more room for positive spin in life. You smile more and laugh by meeting life with a positive attitude!

This one concept has helped me get to truly innovative ideas beyond the first spark of imagination. The positivity snowballs and before I know it, I’m on a roll. This concept has helped me in my dating life, and with my family and coworker relationships too. It’s a win-win.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Give back with what you care about. Art and culture isn’t free to produce and the reality behind creating art and theater is often what trips up artists. Your unique skill set might compliment theirs. You can always donate money but get creative with how else you can give back. You can promote them on social media, connect them up with other artists, create an artist collective or even just host a party and invite them to it to network. You have skills that can help art and culture thrive, so get involved and help out in whatever way you can.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lesliemariecollins.com
• Instagram: @Lesntexas
• Facebook: Leslie Collins
• Linkedin: Leslie Collins
• Twitter: @Lesntexas
• Youtube: @Lesntexas

Image Credits
Jeffrey Schmidt Annie Moor Sarah Shimabukuro