We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Stubbs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.

Nicole, 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?

I started taking acting classes in November of 2021. At that point, I was burnt-out from being an Emergency Room (ER) nurse during COVID, while my Air Force husband was deployed. Before that I had went years of being a mom, wife, and nurse with no creative outlet, no hobby. Acting initially started off as something fun to do and I loved it. A few months in, I was doing a scene about a woman who was drinking all night and reminiscing to her daughter about the day that her husband was taken, and I “freaking lost it” and sobbed after the scene was done. I felt naked standing in front of my acting class and nervous. My acting teacher quickly rushed up to me and gave me a big hug and told me how beautiful the crying and the emotion was.

No other area in my life, at the time, thought that “being emotional” was a beautiful thing. I used to be in the Marine Corps, emotions were not beautiful then. As an ER nurse, emotions were not at the top of the list in things to express while doing my job. At this moment of crying, I felt free. I felt that I had found something that was therapeutic and could feed my soul by allowing me to express all types of emotions that I held inside. That was the moment I was like “I could do this…I want to do this.” Thank you to Meg Deusner at Acting Out Academy for giving me that reassurance and that hug. It was everything.

Nicole, 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?

I got into acting as a creative outlet after being burnout from life stuff. Initially, It was a hobby, but I quickly learned that I loved it and that I really wanted to do this as a career.

I think what sets me apart from others is my story and my life. I am still new to dream of acting, but not new to life. Acting is not something that I have dreamt of since I was a child. This dream started last year. Before last year, I was happy enough being an ER nurse, a mom, a military wife. I did a short stent as a Marine Corps Officer and had two degrees and children under my belt. Coming into the acting game later in life, I bring a whole grab bag of life experiences with me, for better or for worse. It also make me intentional and focused with what I do because I have a family and life that I still have to attend to. My husband is super supportive of my acting dream and I love him for that. He is pretty awesome.

I proud of the fact that I am chasing this dream at this point in my life. Acting is not something that I need to pay my bills and support my family. Nursing pays pretty well, especially after COVID. Acting is something that I need/want to feel free and feed my soul. I think that allows me to bring myself and have fun when I get to do a project. I am open to learning and failing because I know that failing doesn’t mean that I won’t eat. There is a freedom in that.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

This creative job, as an actor, isn’t always as tangible as other careers. I work my ass of taking classes, auditioning, rehearsing, etc and the people around me may never see the tangible benefit of that or they won’t see it for a while. As a nurse, I clock in, I save lives, I get paid, and I go home. The people in my life, that are not in a typical creative career, see the results of that every shift, and every time I get paid, or come and home and tell a story of what happened at work. From what I have seen, acting is not that like that, but it doesn’t mean that actors are not putting a ton of effort in to their career.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

One of my missions, in my creative journey is to let people know that change and chasing a dream is possible later in life. You can be older, you can be married, you can be a mother, and you can already have decent career and still go and chase a dream. It is not too late. Your path and your dreams are yours to realize and enjoy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/Nicolestubbs
• Instagram: @nicstubb

Image Credits
Headshots @DavidMullerPhotography