Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Rossi.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tony. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Hi friends! I’m an actor who loves reminding other actors (and non actors) that “we are enough – regardless of what our resume says or doesn’t say.”
I moved to Chicago from Salem, Massachusetts in 2010 after graduating with a theatre degree at Salem State University. Being from the Boston area, I always wanted to try living out of state. A professor recommended Chicago as a destination to pursue theatre – and that was enough.
What I hadn’t considered was how challenging it would be to start fresh and make friends. The first year, in particular, wasn’t one I look back on fondly! There was a lot of time spent by myself. I felt stuck and wasn’t sure how I was going to make this “acting thing” work – or this whole “living by yourself and paying the bills thing” work either.
After hitting a really low point at the end of 2013, I met life coach Courtney Rioux. She introduced me to the world of personal development – or “self-help,” which is a less sexy term that I don’t like to use as much. Nonetheless, it was the beginning of a new chapter for me. I started to become aware of what was and wasn’t making me happy.
Now, in 2018, I’m still acting but have also found a new passion – helping others realize their own self-worth. I have a blog, a podcast, and I contribute articles to Backstage.com. It’s a fun mix! Oh right… and I still work a plethora of “day jobs” that have nothing to do with acting….for now.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely. It’s been perfect… not. (Sorry. There is no such thing as “perfect.”)
My two biggest struggles have been: 1) confidence and 2) staying sane while I work “day jobs” to pay the bills.
My self-esteem wasn’t great growing up. I never suffered depression or anything, but if you made fun of my shirt, I’d most likely go crying to the teacher about it! (Besides….what’s wrong with a guy wearing a pink shirt?!) As I got involved in theatre, that confidence grew a bit. But I still struggled with the whole “fitting in” thing that I think a lot of us go through. Fast forward to when I was starting out in Chicago with literally no friends and only two family members I knew – it was tough. On top of that, I had gone through a break-up and felt pretty lost and alone being out in a new city. Thankfully, I got cast in a couple of plays shortly after, plus made some friends at a new job. I still remember the summer of 2011 and hanging out with friends at the Factory Theatre. I was one of the youngest cast members, but I didn’t care. I had friends! I’m forever grateful for that group.
My other tough moment is what I call my “emotional rock bottom.” I was making money and had plenty of friends at this point. But in 2013, I was waiting tables and hating my life. I felt like a victim. “I have to wait tables,” I remember telling my soon-to-be life coach (Courtney Rioux Hubbard). “I’m an actor!” I had never considered that I was choosing to do this job that I hated, and that other jobs were out there. Meanwhile, I kept showing up to that job, accepting last-minute shifts (as in “HEY, COME IN RIGHT NOW”), not resting enough, and even had a moment where I cried in the closet. (Okay fine… I still cry!) I was a wreck.
Thankfully, Courtney introduced me to the Team Beachbody community. Not only did I start learning more about taking care of my health, but I also was further encouraged to read personal development books. Those. Books. Changed. Everything. It was like my brain had suddenly been reprogrammed! Things that used to bother me and stress me out were suddenly not as big of a deal. I started to take ownership of things that were making me unhappy. There’s something SO freeing about taking ownership – yes, it’s uncomfortable, but at the same time, YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT 🙂 It takes work and there will always be bad days. But if you can learn to take responsibility for your problems and challenges, you’re going to be the happiest you’ve ever been.
Tony Rossi – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
So, these days, I’m acting in plays, auditioning for on-camera projects, and am in the early stages of getting a life coaching practice started. I’m still iffy about the title “life coach” because, with the whole “positivity thinking” movement that’s been going on, it kind of implies that people need “fixing” and “Hire me to fix you!” That’s awful 🙂 You don’t need fixing. Most of us just need more tools and resources that we’re not aware of. I’m looking to help more people with those tools and develop more awareness than they currently have.
What’s funny to me is that since I’ve stopped using social media as a diary to vent my frustrations, a lot of my peers view me as someone who doesn’t have frustrations! Trust me… I still have my share of bad days. (Ask my Mom about my last visit home…)
I think what’s set me apart from others is that I’m very intentional about how I spend my time and energy. I meditate before checking my phone or email. I give myself me-time before responding to messages and requests. I’ve cut out listening to gossip talk radio and instead listen to audio books and uplifting podcasts. I consider this all “work” that in turn makes me a more positive person.
I think that being positive requires work. We’re so quick to label someone as “good” at something, without considering how much discipline they have that in turn makes them talented, positive, or healthy. My goal is to help others realize that we can all have that “shiny outcome” that we want others to see, we just have to develop the discipline.
It’s not easy… but it’s SO worth it.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Well, I recently shot a commercial back in Boston, where I’m wearing a CUBS jersey of all teams! It’s been fun to get messages from friends saying, “Hey, I saw you on TV!” which I usually get as I’m on my way to a job where I’m about to wear an apron and serve people samples… it’s a cool feeling 🙂
But really, that was just a lucky thing where the production team thought, “Yeah, we like his look!” It was less about talent than it might seem. Truthfully, I’m most proud of making so many friends in Chicago. It’s been almost eight years now. During that time, I’ve taken tons of classes, auditioned a lot, and have networked a bunch. So, naturally, I’ve met more people. It still feels like yesterday where I was alone in my studio apartment, feeling down, and wishing I was back in Salem because I had more friends there. I literally started from scratch. And while I got a lot of help from people introducing me to their friends, and then meeting more people from there, it’s cool to think, “Oh wow, it wasn’t always this way.” It’s both an accomplishment to me, plus gives me something to share with new actors in Chicago. It’s nice to let them know, “Yup. I’ve been where you’ve been. And I can promise you it’s going to get easier. Let’s chat about what you can do in the meantime!”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tonyinchicago.wordpress.com
- Email: tony.rossi@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/tony.rossi
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/tonyrossicoaching
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/_tonyrossi
- Yelp: www.tonyinchicago.wordpress.com
- Other: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tony-rossi-show/id1377334242?mt=2
Image Credit:
Gretchen Kelley Photography
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