Taryn Lee Kearney Performer. Creator. Storyteller.

Performer. Creator. Storyteller.

Taryn Lee Kearney

Stories, ideas & perspectives — thoughtfully written, beautifully told.

When Loving What You Do and Paying Your Bills Start Fighting Each Other
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When Loving What You Do and Paying Your Bills Start Fighting Each Other

The advice to 'turn your passion into your paycheck' sounds like freedom, but for a lot of performers, it ends up feeling like a trap. There's a real cost to monetizing the thing you love most, and not everyone talks about it honestly. Here's what the portfolio approach looks like in practice — and why it might actually be the smarter long game.

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Latest Articles

How to Actually Show Up for People in This Industry When You Have Nothing Left 02
Industry & Business

How to Actually Show Up for People in This Industry When You Have Nothing Left

Nobody in entertainment talks honestly about how exhausting the networking part of this career actually is — especially when you're already running on fumes. Real connection doesn't require you to perform yourself into the ground, and the relationships that actually matter don't get built at the after-party anyway. Here's what sustainable networking looks like when you're a real person with real limits.
You Got the Lead — Now Stop Acting Like You're Still in the Wings 03
Craft & Creativity

You Got the Lead — Now Stop Acting Like You're Still in the Wings

Years of being the reliable backup can quietly rewire your brain in ways you won't notice until you're standing center stage and still waiting for someone else to take over. The understudy mindset is real, it's sneaky, and it can follow you all the way to the top if you let it. Here's how to finally step into the role you actually earned.
You Finally Got the Part — So Why Does It Feel Like This? 04
Craft & Creativity

You Finally Got the Part — So Why Does It Feel Like This?

Landing the role you've been chasing for years should feel like the finish line. But for a lot of performers, the moment they finally get it, something unexpected happens — and it's not a celebration. Here's what nobody tells you about achieving the thing you wanted most.
Sometimes the Bravest Move Is Walking Away From the Stage 05
Industry & Business

Sometimes the Bravest Move Is Walking Away From the Stage

Leaving performance doesn't mean quitting — sometimes it means finally figuring out where you actually belong. The skills you built in the spotlight don't disappear when you step out of it. They just find a new place to live.
Craft & Creativity

When Your Best Qualities Become Your Biggest Obstacles

The very traits that make you magnetic offstage — your adaptability, your drive for perfection, your instinct to keep everyone happy — can quietly work against you when it matters most. Understanding why these patterns form, and how to redirect them, might be the most important creative work you ever do.
The Gigs Nobody Claps For Are the Ones That Actually Make You 07
Craft & Creativity

The Gigs Nobody Claps For Are the Ones That Actually Make You

The flashy roles get the Instagram posts, but the scrappy, unglamorous gigs? Those are where the real skill-building happens. Here's why your so-called B-list opportunities might be the most important career moves you make.
When the Plan Fell Apart, the Real Career Began 08
Craft & Creativity

When the Plan Fell Apart, the Real Career Began

The audition you didn't book. The gig that evaporated. The pivot you never saw coming. What if those detours weren't derailments at all — but the actual path? Here's why the messiest chapters of a performer's journey often produce the most extraordinary work.
What the Wings Taught Me That the Spotlight Never Could 09
Craft & Creativity

What the Wings Taught Me That the Spotlight Never Could

There's a kind of education you can only get from the sidelines — and it turns out, it might be the most valuable one in the business. Performers who spent years in ensemble roles or watching from the wings often emerge with a technical depth and artistic awareness that leads who skipped that chapter simply don't have. Here's why being overlooked early might actually be the best thing that ever happened to your career.
When 'Always Ready' Becomes 'Never First': Breaking Out of the Permanent Backup Role 10
Craft & Creativity

When 'Always Ready' Becomes 'Never First': Breaking Out of the Permanent Backup Role

There's a fine line between the smart, strategic humility of understudy work and the slow, suffocating belief that you're simply not meant to stand in the spotlight. If you've been calling it 'preparation' for longer than you care to admit, it might be time to ask yourself a harder question. Here's how to tell the difference — and what to do about it.
The Role You Didn't Audition For Might Be the One That Changes Everything 11
Craft & Creativity

The Role You Didn't Audition For Might Be the One That Changes Everything

There's a strange kind of freedom that comes with stepping into a role you never chased. When the pressure of 'this is my dream' falls away, something more honest — and often more powerful — tends to show up in its place.
Stop Waiting for the Green Light That's Never Coming 12
Industry & Business

Stop Waiting for the Green Light That's Never Coming

Too many performers are standing at a crossroads, bags packed, ready to go — but frozen, waiting for someone with a clipboard to officially declare them ready. That person isn't coming. And the sooner you understand why, the faster everything changes.
Second String, First Rate: What Understudies Know That Stars Often Don't 13
Craft & Creativity

Second String, First Rate: What Understudies Know That Stars Often Don't

There's a particular kind of performer who gets forged in the understudy crucible — one who watches, absorbs, and waits with a focus that the lead rarely needs to develop. The skills built in that waiting space? They don't disappear when the spotlight finally arrives. They become the foundation everything else is built on.
Nobody Is Coming to Hand You a Green Light — So You'd Better Learn to Drive 14
Industry & Business

Nobody Is Coming to Hand You a Green Light — So You'd Better Learn to Drive

Somewhere along the way, most performers pick up the habit of waiting — for the callback, the mentor's nod, the moment when everything finally feels 'ready.' But that moment is a myth, and the longer you wait for it, the more runway you burn. Here's how to stop outsourcing your career decisions and start making moves on your own authority.
Someone Else's Highlight Reel Is Not Your Roadmap 15
Industry & Business

Someone Else's Highlight Reel Is Not Your Roadmap

Scrolling through another performer's big announcement at midnight is practically a rite of passage in this industry. But when everyone else's wins start quietly rewriting your own goals, it's time to talk about what comparison is actually costing you.
Stop Shrinking: The Unwritten Rules That Are Keeping Performers Stuck in the Wings 16
Craft & Creativity

Stop Shrinking: The Unwritten Rules That Are Keeping Performers Stuck in the Wings

Most performers aren't held back by a lack of talent — they're held back by a set of invisible rules they never agreed to follow in the first place. This is about recognizing those rules, understanding where they came from, and finally deciding whether you actually want to keep obeying them.
The Better You Get, The Scarier It Gets — And That's Actually the Point 17
Craft & Creativity

The Better You Get, The Scarier It Gets — And That's Actually the Point

There's a strange moment in every serious performer's career when the confidence of youth quietly slips out the back door — and nobody warns you it's coming. The more you learn, the more you realize how much there is to get wrong. Here's why that terrifying shift might actually be the most important sign of growth you'll ever experience.
Why the Work You Do 'On the Side' Might Be Your Most Important Work 18
Craft & Creativity

Why the Work You Do 'On the Side' Might Be Your Most Important Work

The passion project you squeeze in around the edges of your 'real' career isn't a distraction — it might actually be the thing that sets your primary work on fire. Here's why performers who diversify their creative energy often end up doing their boldest, most resonant work across the board.
You've Earned Your Spot — So Why Does It Still Feel Borrowed? 19
Craft & Creativity

You've Earned Your Spot — So Why Does It Still Feel Borrowed?

Imposter syndrome doesn't politely disappear once you've built a career. For a lot of mid-career and established performers, the feeling of not quite deserving your seat at the table actually gets louder the higher you climb. Here's what that internal noise is really telling you — and how to figure out whether it's worth listening to.
No Fixed Address, But Never Alone: How Performers Build Real Community on the Road 20
Industry & Business

No Fixed Address, But Never Alone: How Performers Build Real Community on the Road

The touring life looks glamorous from the outside, but the quiet of a hotel room at 11pm tells a different story. Here's how working performers create genuine belonging when their career keeps them constantly in motion — and why building that community is as essential as any other professional skill.