We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lily Shaw. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lily below.
Lily , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
Gosh, on some level I feel I always knew. I was born and bred in India. When I was 3 years old, I went on a family trip, all my fellow travelers were casually walking along their journey as well, while a few others played some drums: As soon as I heard the drums, I ran towards them, and immediately started dancing to their rhythm—- My Dad followed me, and joined in the dance with me. Soon enough everyone joined in and began dancing. It became an impromptu dance party right there on the street!
As I grew up and while watching Bollywood movies, this love for dancing morphed into a passion for acting. From the age of about 7, I harbored a secret desire to be an actress in the movies. But I didn’t consciously realize this until I got on stage and started performing in school events and functions.
After my family and I emigrated to the US, I had to start my life afresh. And felt that the dreams of my childhood were a thing of the past, however, when it came time to pick a profession, I couldn’t walk away from acting. So, one week after graduating college, I drove out to LA.
Lily , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As a creative, I’m driven to express myself in a way that’s entertaining, insightful, and informative to the audience. I firmly believe that art can be a powerful instrument of good in the world, and desire to use my talents for the betterment of the world. I just love to live in the creative artistic world where everything is possible, and people aspire to be more than what they currently are, or the circumstances they are born into!
As an actress, I love telling stories that change the narrative around women’s power, and characters who haven’t lost touch with their heart and soul, as they face the challenges of the world. Quite a mouthful, I know!
During the Covid lockdown, I expanded further into my creativity and accidentally fell into writing! I discovered I enjoy writing down my thoughts, and it became a powerful way to be productive, especially when you feel uninspired. Since then, I’ve become a nationally featured writer and have written for Backstage, ThriveGlobal, and Medium.
During this time, I also connected with my own self-empowerment journey. My coach helped me realize that my struggles, trials, and tribulations as a woman of color in Hollywood and in America – and the steps I took to overcome them -can uniquely inspire people. And now as an inspirational speaker, I strive to lead by example and empower people to use their voice and own their gifts so they can authentically become who *they* are ‘born’ to be.
Work-wise, obviously things have been slower since the SAG-AFTRA strike. As actors, we hope to create an even deal with the producers that allows us to earn a living while doing what we love! In the meantime, I’ve been staying busy with voiceover dubbing work and commercials, as allowed by the current rules of our union.
I’m currently in rehearsals for a play titled ‘The Girls Talkin’’ which focuses on having positive conversations about breasts. The play will perform at Hollywood Binge Festival on Nov. 5th. A short film called ‘Loitering with Intent’ that I did narration for, just won ‘Best Documentary Film’ in The Grand Pixel International Film Festival 2023.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
This is a very interesting question. I feel that, on the outside, to the ‘muggles’ of this world– the creative process can sometimes look like being lazy and taking the shortcut to live an easy life, rather than putting in a hard day’s work. ut, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Creating any type of art is incredibly hard work. It takes everything you have- physically, mentally, and emotionally to sustain this business. You have to learn to deal with constant rejection (yes, this happens even to A-List movie stars), learn to work under difficult situations, and keep bouncing back. At any given time, there are more people either waiting for you to fail or telling you straight up to quit and get a ‘real job.’ On top of that, you almost always need a side hustle, a day job that pays your bills as you pursue your creative dreams. So, you have to keep up with and maintain 2 jobs, which is incredibly draining and time-consuming. There are many creatives who find themselves forced to quit their dreams, so they can keep paying their bills. And there’s nothing more devastating than having to walk away from your heart’s desires in pursuit of more practical matters. Hope this gives some perspective to your readers! This work really isn’t for the faint of heart.
Our society really emphasizes show of productivity– if you’re not producing, you’re not working. And this is also a fallacious thought process. The creation of any form of art requires a lot of imagination, daydreaming, and lots of non-productive hours. So when you see a creative person lying down on the couch, and ‘not doing anything’ or ‘not engaging with the world around them’ – most of the time (not always!) it’s because they are silently creating their next piece of work in their minds. We might not look busy, but believe me we are working!!!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to let go of forcing myself to take action to make things unfold the way I wanted them to, at the exact time I wanted to. Instead, I had to learn to go with the flow and honor and respect my mental and physical capabilities as I grew toward my life’s desires.
Rather than, trying to get to that ultimate final step, I also learned the importance of building your life up, one step at a time. This also allowed me to enjoy the journey, and not stress out about not being at my final goal.
During my early years, I used to try every possible avenue- whatever somebody recommended- to break through into my business and become a working actor. But I ended up spreading myself too thin, spending a lot of money, going into debt, and becoming very uncertain of who I was, as a performer. I felt like I had no bearings about myself, and would literally live at the whims and fancies of other people’s projections. I was living for the approval of others, and it was killing me. To make matters worse, I wasn’t even aware of it.
But after a while of doing this, and still not getting any results, I was forced to make a change. I still pushed myself as much as I could, but this time I made an effort to listen to my inner truth first, and then act on it. I kept going forward, but in a way that felt right to me. I knew that I would never quit, but I also slowly learned to not give too much importance to other people’s opinions. I learned to follow myself. Even if it took longer, and was more frustrating, I trusted that if I got to this point, I would go further still. And that what was meant for me will always find me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.iamlilyshaw.com
- Instagram: @iamlilyshaw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamlilyshaw/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lily-shaw-losangeles/
- Other: Master Your Monkey Mind YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@
iamlilyshaw?si= D9O6hIoan6p3m4Qv
Image Credits
Bella Saville Headshots JGV Photography The Headshot Truck