We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Spencer Martinez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Spencer , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Every performer/owner of a company’s life is filled with taking risks. The risk could be making an acting choice in the audition room or deciding to put all of your energy into your company or acting career. Recently, I. was pushed to take a risk. I took my husband’s Aunt and her family to a Broadway show. The show had finished and we were walking out of the theater and I told the cousin I think that’s the choreographer. She confidently approached him and asked, and he responded with a smile, explaining that he was the Music Director (risk #1).. I was kind of embarrassed and concerned because I knew what was about to happen next. The Aunt walks up to me and pulls my arm and says you need to take a risk and introduce yourself. She waltzed up to him and said, “this is my niece she’s an actor and she’s really talented” (risk #2). He looked at me, smiled and laughed. We talked for a little and I thanked him for being a good sport about it. As we were walking through the city she said, “all I did was make the introduction. You are the one that has to see it through”. I forgot the importance of introducing yourself to people and taking risks; it could possibly lead to something. So the next day I reached out to him (Risk #3). You never know something might happen, so don’t count yourself out.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Born in South Jersey, Spencer from a young age was enamored with Musical Theatre. She would hang each of her favorite playbills on the wall of the small log cabin that she grew up in. She followed her passion to Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she became the first in her family to receive a 4 year college degree (BA in MT). After traveling around Europe, she booked an Off-Off-Broadway production and landed and agent, officially commencing her career in Manhattan. Continuing to land roles here and there, COVID had officially rolled in, shaking up the industry as we know it. She learned how to adapt and grow, formulating a game plan for when the industry was back to semi-normalness. This is where she made the risk and acted on an idea she had awhile ago to fill the void and give resources to actors and created the LimeLight App. Her company has changed the way performing arts classes are bought and sold. On LimeLight, teachers/studios can easily list their classes and connect with potential students across the US. Performers can find their mentor that helps them land their next role, agent or connection. While holding 50 cent classes every month the industry can now be more accessible. She then wanted to keep the industry safe by providing reviews for teacher while also on the Apps website keeping Regional Theaters/College Programs accountable by anonymous actors sharing their experiences.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Yes! During Covid I was a Nanny and I would have to drive to their house so I would listen to the podcast “How I Built This” by Guy Raz and it immediately changed my way of thinking. To hear peoples stories on how they created their company and to learn from their mistakes helped me grow my own. I think also being in the arts and learning about other peoples behavior was really interesting as well.

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.

When we were looking for developers, it was important to me to have them understand our target audience of performers. Our lives our vastly different from the typical 9-5 worker, that at times it proved to be difficult having them fully understand the person they were designing for. The person that has the 9-5 job may not be faced with the rejection we go through as performers’. Usually people graduate college, find a job, and stick to the same company or career for sometime, but actor’s jobs last about 6 months (that’s on the longer side) and then you might hear 50 to 100s no’s before you book another job.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.limelightapp.com https://www.spencermartinez.com
• Instagram: limelightapp_ spencermmartinez

Image Credits
All photo credits J Eagle Photography