There are talent managers who help actors pick out headshots, choose acting coaches, refine a list of agents to meet with, and choose footage for a demo reel (among other things, of course). There are other talent managers who are not only career guides but also life coaches of sorts. Kate Romero, of Guardian Angel Management, goes one step beyond. She is a manager, a life coach, and a spiritual coach for actors. What does that entail? Read on!
Management Is Life Coaching
Having been a working actress for 15 years I saw first hand what a difficult thing is can be for a single mom (in a man’s world) to make a living and be treated fairly and with respect. I set about injecting a strong dose of humanity into every encounter I had, still do. I was one of only 10% of actors who sent a thank-you card for a person’s time. I also kept in mind the person’s busy schedule and reminded them of my presence without interrupting their busy day. I got inside the heads of casting directors, directors, producers, and agents so that I could better deliver to them exactly what they wanted in just the way they wanted it so I didn’t waste their time or mine. I walked a mile in all of their shoes. Not many will think to see how life is for the people they are approaching due to being so extremely focused on their own needs. Once I reveal to an actor how they are showing up in their own career, they see that life is indeed holographic and they are showing up everywhere else in very similar non-functional ways that produce breakdowns rather than breakthroughs. All of this behavior is of course unconscious or they would choose a better way.
I feel that the most profound and life transforming thing about my approach is helping the client get in touch with their true nature. Showing them that if they would just train themselves to see that part of reality when they look in the mirror that the way they show up for themselves would improve exponentially which would produce the byproduct of everything else becoming increasingly more productive, tended to with care and nurturing, appreciated for all that it is in the moment, and all that it is not. Acceptance, surrender, laser sharp intention, and focus will transform the most seemingly immovable things and circumstances.
Prior to a first meeting, I ask that the client prepare a list of goals, a list of obstacles to those goals, and a list of “self imposed” obstacles to their goals. I make it known that it is the things that are so icky they couldn’t possibly reveal that to anyone that are the gold we are mining. I am rigorous in getting right to the heart of the block. We all reveal much more to the world than we realize. I can detect negativity even in an Oscar winner who is doing all they can to conceal it.
Once a client sees the complete common sense and logic that nothing is in their life that they didn’t put there themselves with their very own choices they begin a little giggle and we are off to the races. There is no “make wrong,” blame, shame, or guilt involved in my work. I see to it that my clients know they are supported. Support and understanding is really all any of us needs. I show my client their true nature and value and it is when they see that they are priceless and precious the once wounded ego is then inspired to heal. Of course we don’t even know that we don’t know we are living this way, which is why it can take years and maybe a lifetime to spot on ones own.
What inspired me to do all of what I am doing now is that I am quite simply driven to give what I didn’t get. This is a blessing rather than a complaint. I believe that I chose my life circumstances when I volunteered to incarnate. I believe that I made a spiritual contract with my parents that I have honored. Relationships aren’t here to make us happy; they are here to get us conscious. Happiness, I believe, is a byproduct of getting conscious. I feel that a part of evolution is to look at our parents and set about mastering what they never did. That if we were to make them wrong for the circumstances we were raised in then we would not be honoring the classroom we chose to grow through. When we place blame or harbor regret by feeling bitter about the past we continuously give our power away and stunt our growth. We can come from nowhere to now-here in the blink of an eye when we are ready. Those who are drawn to me are the people who are ready to give up being a victim of circumstances and suffering forever. I love what I do, it lights me up and provides me with continuous uncaused joy. We can all have, do, or be anything we want in life. I am not just facilitating the building of lives; I am facilitating the building of a world, one person at a time.
I’ve definitely known actors whose biggest obstacles come from within, and I could see a manager like Kate being a great fit for someone who needs to reboot from within in order to get his or her career in alignment. Not for everyone, but for those who seek “something more” from their management relationship, a guide like Kate could be just the ticket. Check out her radio show (more information on that, below) and find out for yourself!
About Kate Romero
Kate Romero has been in the entertainment industry for nearly three decades. In front of and behind the filmmaking camera she has a broad and fully educated view of the creative process and has fostered many incredibly valuable relationships with producers, directors, casting agents, other managers, and PR agencies that trust her ability to focus positive energy and to succeed at most every project she undertakes. Kate’s amazingly broad background includes expertise in being an actor, print model, writer, producer, agent, radio talk show host, and talent manager of all ages and diverse ethnicities. This has given her a great knowledge of the tools required to instruct her clients on the benefits of understanding their career and themselves.
Kate is also the creator and host of a long running weekly talk radio show “Spiritual Hollywood” which has featured some of the entertainment industry’s greatest pioneers as well as spiritual rockstars of our day. This weekly show is available at bbsradio.com. With passion and purpose, Kate is raising consciousness in the entertainment industry one person at a time. For further info please go to e-pr.com.
This contribution originally ran at Bonnie Gillespie’s online column on December 1, 2008.