The Zack Arnold Podcast How to Manage An Identity Crisis (Especially When You Know You’re Meant For Something More) | with Erica Wernick
"In this industry we are conditioned to believe that our voice is not important."
Erica Wernick, former graphic designer and founder of Hollywood Success Coach, has always been goal-oriented, systems-based, and a Type-A personality (at this point I’m convinced we’re separated at birth). But when she found herself during the pandemic wandering aimlessly without a clear goal and unable to “fix it” with her usual strategies and frameworks, she quickly spiraled down into the dark holes of doubt, insecurity, and ultimately a deep depression.
Identity can be a double-edged sword, especially when your livelihood is creative work. No doubt like me at one point or another you’ve said “What I do isn’t just a job, it’s who I am.” Yes your identity can help guide and motivate you to achieve the success you’ve always dreamed of, but it can also be incredibly dangerous when you completely define yourself by what you do, especially during unemployment..and especially during pandemics.
It wasn't until Erica learned to let go of her long held identities and listen to something deeper that she could lift herself out of the darkness, accept help, and become herself again. This conversation dares you (and me!) to test your beliefs about who you are and what you do beyond your job. Erica challenges me on my own beliefs about what the success path for creative professionals really looks like and questions whether it can truly be distilled into simple action steps. And most importantly, Erica and I hope to normalize the discussion of mental health and depression and remind anyone who’s struggling with their own issues to know you are absolutely not alone - there are resources to support you.
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Here's What You'll Learn:
- Erica no longer identifies herself as a graphic designer.
- Erica’s thoughts on how dangerous it can be to assign your identity to your career.
- How Erica got her start in Hollywood and fell in love with Los Angeles.
- The book that was pivotal in influencing her career path to coaching.
- What Erica’s purpose is and how she identified it.
- What the #wins channel in my Slack community means to me.
- The Ripple Effect: what it means and how it helps others.
- My 3 step process for climbing the success ladder in Hollywood.
- Erica calls me out for “mansplaining” and challenges my “simplified process.”
- KEY TAKEAWAY: A coach’s number one priority should be to help people believe in themselves.
- How Erica fell into a depression prior to writing her latest book, You are the Magic.
- The decision to take medication for her depression.
- The challenges she faced with her physical health during her depression.
- How she recorded and produced her own audio books.
Useful Resources Mentioned:
Meant For This by Erica Wernick
The Official Website of Rachel Platten
Ramit Sethi Podcast Interview on Forging Your Own Rich Life: Episode 105
How I burned out as a burnout coach (and then bounced back)
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Ep82: Real Talk About Mental Health and Depression | with Michael Kammes
Ep01: Understanding the Link Between Creativity and Depression with Dr. Edison de Mello
Ep28: The Science Behind Depression and Anxiety | with Dr. D and Dr. Michael Mark
Guest Bio:
Erica Wernick
Hollywood’s Success Coach, Erica Wernick helps artists create success in one of the most “impossible” industries so they can live the life they’ve always dreamed of.
After breaking into Hollywood with no connections, and booking her first TV show just two weeks after moving to LA, Erica has spent over a decade living her dream designing graphics for television. You can see her work on hit shows like Glee, Superstore, and most recently, This Is Us.
Author of Meant For This: The Mindset And Strategy To Achieve Your Most “Impossible” Dreams, Erica now helps Hollywood artists get to the next level of their career, no matter how “unrealistic” it seems. From actors to writers to directors and every craft in between, Erica has developed a reputation for helping artists access their inner greatness and achieve the goals that used to feel out of reach.
Erica is a member of the Television Academy, and between herself and her clients, they’ve booked work on over 60 television shows and films on Netflix, Hulu, HBO, FOX, ABC, and CBS just to name a few.
Show Credits:
This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared by Debby Germino and published by Glen McNiel.
The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).
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