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Good Life Project

JoAnna Garcia Swisher | How to Stay True to Yourself, While Going for a Dream

Good Life Project

Jonathan Fields / Acast

Education, Wellness, Self-improvement, Midlife, Health & Fitness, Intentional Living, Personal Growth, Living Well, How To

4.53.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2022

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How do you balance both the weight and the sense of possibility of pursuing a massive dream? Especially when you feel you’re representing generations and building a life and living in a very public way, from your earliest years?


We all know the story of the American Dream goes: move to America in pursuit of a better life. One with more resources, access, and opportunities, not just for yourself, but your kids, who so often hold in their hands the dreams and expectations and sacrifices of those who came before them and made it possible for them to be where they are today. It can be quite the burden. On the other hand, there’s the dream side of the equation. The example of making hard choices and taking action in the belief that amazing things are possible. My guest today, acclaimed actor, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, learned this from her dad.


In our eye-opening conversation today about the complexities of navigating Hollywood as a young child and woman, how the values instilled by her father molded her and the boundaries that sustain her career, and more, JoAnna and I explore the shifting nature of how stories are told in media and their ability to help us relate to one another, feel joy or even grieve. So join us, as she and I dive deeper into her background and then bring it back to the big picture, which is the powerful nature of dreams, joy, and storytelling. 


You can find JoAnna at: Website | The Happy Place Instagram | JoAnna's Instagram


If you LOVED this episode you’ll also love the conversations we had with Marin Hinkle about navigating life in the public eye.


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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

So, a had a balance both the weight and the sense of possibility of pursuing a massive

0:07.8

dream, especially when you feel like you're representing generations and building a life

0:13.5

and a living in a very public way from your earliest years.

0:18.4

So we all know the story of the American dream moved to America and pursued a better life,

0:22.4

one with more resources and access and opportunity, not just for yourself but for your kids,

0:29.3

who so often hold in their hands, the dreams and expectations and sacrifices of those who

0:35.1

came before them and made it possible for them to be where they are today.

0:39.9

And it can be quite the burden.

0:41.7

On the other hand, there's the dream side of the equation, the example of making heart

0:47.1

choices and taking action in the belief that amazing things are possible.

0:53.1

And my guest today, a claimed actor, Joanna Garcia-Swisher, learned this from her dad.

0:59.2

To born to a Cuban father and American mom, she started her acting career at the age of

1:03.5

10.

1:04.5

Playing the starring role on Nickelodeon's hit show Are You Afraid of the Dark in her career,

1:09.3

it truly began to take off after she moved to LA to pursue acting as a career.

1:14.9

Playing Hally on Party of 5, Bree and Gossip Girl, Vicky on Freaks and Geeks and countless

1:19.8

others, and more recently, Joanna plays Maddie in the Netflix hit Sweet Magnolias.

1:26.2

She's done what so many aspired to.

1:28.9

Playing a great career in a brutally hard business following the dream, but also never abandoning

1:35.8

her roots.

1:37.2

Joanna keeps returning to the importance of family and community and service, as well

1:41.7

as her emerging love of design with a launch of the happy place, a destination that explores

...

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