The Heroine’s Journey with Kristin Hanggi

“We're coming to a place in time where life itself is making us go inner world focused.”

–Kristin Hanggi

There’s more than the hero’s journey. Kristin Hanggi and I are talking about the heroine’s journey and feminine productivity. Kristin is a multi passionate director, writer, producer, artist, and poet, who compares the hero’s journey — or the outer world journey — and the heroine’s journey — or the inner world journey.

The hero’s journey is an amazing framework, and when I first heard Kristin speak about the heroine’s journey, there was no doubt in my mind, I needed to get her on the podcast. Right now we are living the heroine’s journey individually and collectively. We need to heal our feminine and masculine.

The creative path will take you to your stuck places. You need to stay in the process to evolve. It’s not always comfortable and is often hard. We talk about overcoming limiting beliefs and thoughts of scarcity. Most importantly, Kristin shares the framework that helps navigate our sould’s journey.

We talk about: 

• The role of mentors in the heroine’s journey
• The Dark Night of the Soul and what comes after
• Separation from the feminine, losing connection to the earth and our bodies
• The outward quest for success and spiritual aridness and not feeling fulfilled 
• Healing our relationships with our bodies and the earth and reconnecting to and learning to trust the original wisdom that lives inside 
• Finding the integration or sacred marriage between the masculine and feminine

ABOUT KRISTIN

Kristin Hanggi is a theater, television, and film director as well as a passionate multi-hyphenate — writer, producer, artist and poet.

She is best known for directing and developing the international smash-hit Rock of Ages, which received five Tony Award nominations, including a nomination for Best Direction of a Musical. She has directed productions of Rock of Ages all over the world, including Broadway and the West End. Ms. Hanggi also known for developing and directing the acclaimed pop opera bare, which ran to sold-out audiences in Los Angeles and off-Broadway, and has gone on to have over 500 productions internationally. 

In February of 2022, Kristin directed the film Accidentally Brave, produced by Steven Soderbergh, based on the award-winning off-Broadway solo show by Maddie Corman (that Hanggi also developed and directed). 

As a film and television director, Hanggi directed an episode on the Emmy-nominated Netflix musical series Julie and the Phantoms. Other film directing credits include: Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List, an adaption of Rachel Cohn & David Levithan's popular novel of the same name, starring Victoria Justice, which debuted in Netflix’s top ten. She made her feature directorial debut in 2013 with the indie Grantham & Rose with actress Tessa Thompson. For television, Ms. Hanggi adapted and directed the hit book series, Dear Dumb Diary into a musical movie, under Executive Producer Jerry Zucker for Walden Media. 

She is preparing the stage musical Romy and Michele: The Musical for 2024, and working with music artist India Arie on a stage show of her music.

A partial list of other past stage productions: Clueless (with Dove Cameron); Pirate La Dee Da (currently being produced for television by John Legend and Ryan Seacrest); Atlantis by composer Matthew Lee Robinson; the initial production that launched the Pussycat Dolls, Pussycat Dolls Live at the Roxy (starring Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Charlize Theron, among others). 

In 2020, she released a poetry book entitled “God, Sex, Musical Theatre” which has been optioned to be turned into an unconventional stage experience, to be adapted and directed by Hanggi with music by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall.

Ms. Hanggi graduated with her Masters from USC in Writing after receiving her Bachelors from UCLA in Theater. Kristin received the UCLA School of Theater, Film, & Television Distinguished Alumni Award. She has a love of music, and has directed multiple music videos and short films. Hanggi loves hosting the “Let’s Play: The CREATE Podcast” with Natalie Roy. To learn more about the work Kristin does with other artists, visit her website: www.KristinHanggi.com

LINKS

• Website: www.KristinHanggi.com
• Instagram & TikTok: @Hanggilove
• Podcast: "Let's Play: The C.R.E.A.T.E. Podcast"

Doable Changes from this episode:

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Action is where change happens. 

But here's the thing: when we have a goal, a wish, a desire bubbling up in us, it can feel really huge. Sometimes we stop ourselves in our tracks based on how huge our desire feels. Change needs action, but it doesn't need huge action. When we focus on the next step, the next Doable Change that we can integrate into our lives, we don’t get stuck and we create momentum. 

Choose one Doable Change that resonates with you today and really play with it. Fit it into your life, your days, make it work for you — then move on to your next Doable Change. 

Here are Three Doable Changes from today’s conversation:

• BE A COMPASSIONATE WITNESS. While the goal is to find balance, we are going to keep coming out of balance. When you notice you are out of balance … whether it is in your food or your creative practice or working too much or not enough … be a compassionate witness. Acknowledge where you are and make little shifts.
• MAP YOUR JOURNEY. Now that you recognize the stages of the journey, map your own story. Recognize that the descent is an important part of the story and the learning and evolving.
• SIT WITH THE DARKNESS. We hide our treasure in the darkness, so we need to go into the darkness to retrieve it. So often we avoid feelings like grief, anger, sadness. We need to sit with those feelings and feel them.