We had the good fortune of connecting with Elaine Williams and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elaine, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Because I had to follow my heart. I grew up performing, singing, dancing, acting, making art. I tried to major in many other things until I realized that I had to be in the arts…that it wasn’t a choice. I am super passionate about self expression and people following their self expression; whatever it may be….take that painting class, try improv, go to an open mike, start the next great novel…stop waiting for permission or waiting for your life to be “calm” or whatever else you’re telling yourself. When I mentor other actors/comics I always say: If we waited to get on stage until our lives were perfect, we’d never get on stage. And here’s the thing; audiences don’t want to see “perfection” which doesn’t exist. We can’t relate to “perfect”. Perfect doesn’t help anyone.
I’m going on and on because I am super passionate about this. I don’t want people to die with a song still in their heart. You don’t need to quit your day job tomorrow…And you can give yourself permission to play, to risk, to expand, to discover a part of yourself you’ve forgotten about.
It’s one of the top regrets of the dying: that many people do not feel like they were their authentic selves; that they were trying to please others and could not allow themselves to totally be themselves….So what are you waiting for?!

What should our readers know about your business?
My company is Captivate the Crowd. I coach entrepreneurs who struggle with public speaking or being on camera how to show up powerfully & authentically so that they can expand their reach, attract their ideal clients and grow their business. What sets me apart is that I use humor with everything I do. When people are laughing, they forget to be nervous, they stop being so self conscious and so darn serious. I bring in my 40+ years of working professionally in entertainment and I have a spiritual approach as well.
My path has been long and winding. It has not been easy. I got tired of the “boys club” in comedy and decided I wanted to have my own female comedy club. I got into flipping houses and was rehabbing 3 out of the 4 houses that I had when the whole economy crashed in 2008-2009. I was pretty devastated. I’d go to yoga, and cry in class, then go get ready for work, where I had to put my troubles to the side and serve others. Comedy, yoga and speaking got me through a pretty dark time.
The biggest lesson was to learn to not internalize the “failure”. Intellectually I knew that I was not a failure, but I had such a hard time emotionally. I had a lot of shame about the whole thing. I think that a lot of women in business struggle with this.
And there is freedom in finally admitting you made a mistake and then cutting your losses….

So I have earned the right to talk about using humor to be resilient!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I had 2 of my besties visit from NJ and we had such a great time! We went to Ft Worth and saw the Longhorns. We ate BBQ at Coopers and it was divine! We had Tex-Mex at Mi Casinos and they loved it! We went to Cowboys Red River and they learned the Tx 2 step. We all got to dance a few times and the band was awesome! They loved walking around the Arboretum by White rock Lake, close to where I grew up-Lakewood. If we’d had more time, we’d go have chicken enchiladas with green chile sauce at Chuy’s and have a homemade cake at La Duni. We’d go eat at my friend, Allison Yoder’s restaurants Gemma and sachet.
I also love taking people to Oak Cliff to check out the scene there. And TK’s Restaurant & Comedy Club in Addison is a great place. We’d go to Deep Elum to check out the scene too.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My sister, Andrea Glover, is one of the most amazing human beings I know. She’s been super supportive about my recovery, she’s listened to my jokes, my speeches and my creative ideas for years. I’m super grateful to have studied the Meisner technique at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Mr. Richard Pinter. He’s truly a master teacher. He was my teacher for 2 extraordinary years. It was an honor to be in his class and to study at such a great school in NYC.
I have been blessed with so many wonderful, supportive friends: thank you, Sheridan Botros, my comedy writing partner.
Thank you Jason, Mario, Sarah & Patrick, for coming to so many comedy shows and cheering me on. Thank you to my dad for all of the voice lessons, piano lessons, dance classes, and for helping me write a paper so I could go be in the movie, The Dirt Bike Kid when I was 15.
Thank you to my mother for cheering me on and teaching me about music, the arts and literature!
Thank you to Gayla Collinsworth who was my drill team director and was so kind and supportive.
There have been many, many angels and guides along the way.

Website: www.CaptivatetheCrowd.com

Instagram: @elainewilliamsfun

Linkedin: www.Linkedin.com/in/CaptivateTheCrowd/

Twitter: Elaine_Tweets

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElaineWilliamsCaptivate

Youtube: Captivate the Crowd/ElaineWilliams Motivational Speaker

Other: TikTok@elainewilliams22

Image Credits
Angela Agosta

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