306 Jenna Ushkowitz on Hacking Hollywood and Pursuing Your Dreams

"Leave your day at the door." - Jenna Ushkowitz If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/306 Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 306 with Jenna Ushkowitz.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  Welcome everyone to this episode. I'm so grateful and excited for you to be here right now to connect with a new friend of mine, Jenna Ushkowitz. Now, for those that don't know me that well, I am a huge Glee fan, like crazy Glee fan. I would watch all the episodes. I bought a TV just to watch Glee. I was kind of a freak. I have an extremely gifted musical family, and I was never as good as them in music or singing. But I always appreciated the arts, and I appreciate being around other musically gifted and talented individuals. Just something about the passion that singers and dancers and performers have,

• 1:18Lewis Howes?

  it's just so inspiring and invigorating, and it gets me fired up every time I see people perform like that. And Jenna is one of the original cast members of the show Glee, which was a huge hit for six years. She is a South Korean-born actress and singer, known for her performances on Broadway musicals, and for her role as Tina Cohen Chang on Glee. She is also a co-founder of an organization called Kindred, which is the foundation for adoption, with a friend of hers named Samantha. And she wrote a book in 2013 called Choosing Glee. Now, I gleeked out big time with her in the first few minutes, and we talked about

• 1:59Lewis Howes?

  what it was like working on the hit show Glee, and how she actually got the audition, and the entire process of making it on a major show like that. We dive into what it's like working 17-hour days for six years straight, and even if it's something you love to do, and it's your big dream, how that affects your daily and personal life. Then we dive into dealing with a loss on the show. So one of the co-stars of Glee

• 2:28Lewis Howes?

  passed away about season three or four, and she talked about that process, the transition, how they were able to still show up and perform to their best and do their jobs, but grieve through the entire time as well. And what happened to the show after that experience? The actors and actresses process, being a career auditioner and what that actually means, having the right mindset on set, being adopted in her strides towards finding her biological parents. Then we close it up with gratitude and how to choose happiness every single day. We cover a lot in here. I love this interview so very much. Jenna is an incredibly

• 3:09Lewis Howes?

  human. Jenna is an incredibly positive human being. She has got magnetic energy and she's just a bundle of joy. So I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed doing the interview. And without further ado, let me introduce you to the one, the only Jenna Ushkowitz.

• 3:31Lewis Howes?

  Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness Podcast. Very excited about our guest today. Her name is Jenna Ushkowitz. Good to see you here.

• 3:38Speaker 01

  Good to see you. Thanks for having me.

• 3:39Lewis Howes?

  I'm so grateful. We were gleeking out a little bit before because most people don't know this about me, but I'm a huge Glee fan and I'm sure everyone says that to you, but not many probably big jock dudes come up to you and say, I bought a TV just to watch Glee.

• 3:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's, that's extreme.

• 3:58Lewis Howes?

  Right?

• 3:59Speaker 01

  But we, you'd be shocked between

• 4:01Lewis Howes?

  I'm sure.

• 4:02Speaker 01

  the tours, who comes out and says, and then you have like the men who are like, this is for my girlfriend. I'm like, sure it is.

• 4:09Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 4:09Speaker 01

  Sure it is.

• 4:10Lewis Howes?

  You know, my, my family is, I'm the youngest of four. My parents were opera majors. They met at Ohio State.

• 4:17Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 4:17Lewis Howes?

  Singing opera.

• 4:18Speaker 01

  Music.

• 4:19Lewis Howes?

  My brother's the number one jazz violinist in the world.

• 4:21Speaker 01

  No way.

• 4:22Lewis Howes?

  He travels with the top jazz musicians in the world. And my sister's a singer songwriter. So I grew up in a musically talented family.

• 4:29Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 4:30Lewis Howes?

  And I was forced to go to choir and I actually enjoyed it though.

• 4:34Speaker 01

  I was gonna say.

• 4:35Lewis Howes?

  And then I did, and then I did the music, like the play, the musical play of my, my senior year. I was like, I'm gonna go audition.

• 4:41Speaker 01

  What musical is it?

• 4:41Lewis Howes?

  It was called Seven Brides or Seven Brothers.

• 4:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 4:44Lewis Howes?

  Seven Brides, yeah. I was one of like the oldest brothers and I was terrified because I'd never done.

• 4:50Speaker 01

  Theater.

• 4:51Lewis Howes?

  Theater, lines, dancing on stage.

• 4:53Speaker 01

  But you grew up like singing and dancing and.

• 4:55Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I mean, but I was kind of like an ego jock like, oh, this is too, I'm too cool for this type of stuff. You know, I just play sports.

• 5:02Speaker 01

  Letterman, wear the Letterman jacket.

• 5:03Lewis Howes?

  Exactly, yeah. So I was a big athlete. That was my, that was my gift, but secretly love music, love singing. Like, I appreciate it so much.

• 5:13Speaker 01

  That's great to hear.

• 5:14Lewis Howes?

  And, um, Glee was like, I started watching.

• 5:16Speaker 01

  Were you a secret watcher?

• 5:19Lewis Howes?

  I, the girl, my girlfriend at the time, we would watch it together.

• 5:21Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 5:22Lewis Howes?

  This was back in 2010.

• 5:23Speaker 01

  So like she made you watch it?

• 5:25Lewis Howes?

  No, but she was like, she showed it to me. I was like, this is amazing. And I was like, we gotta watch Glee.

• 5:29Speaker 01

  Awesome.

• 5:30Lewis Howes?

  And, uh, and I didn't have a TV at the time. I was living in Columbus, Ohio, and I bought a TV so I could watch Glee.

• 5:34Speaker 01

  Well, we appreciate that.

• 5:36Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 5:36Speaker 01

  Do you still have a TV now?

• 5:38Lewis Howes?

  I do, yeah. I barely use it. I mean, I watch Netflix documentaries.

• 5:40Speaker 01

  Glee is off, so.

• 5:42Lewis Howes?

  It's just like, I might as well throw it away.

• 5:43Speaker 01

  What else?

• 5:44Lewis Howes?

  Exactly, right? And, um, yeah, but it's, it's amazing. And so you were, you were one of the original cast members, right?

• 5:51Speaker 01

  I was.

• 5:51Lewis Howes?

  Six seasons?

• 5:52Speaker 01

  Six full seasons, two tours.

• 5:56Lewis Howes?

  Two tours.

• 5:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:57Lewis Howes?

  Now, what was a normal day like for you? How many hours? What, where were you guys?

• 6:01Speaker 01

  Uh, we were on Paramount, uh, on Melrose Paramount Pictures, which is a magical lot. Um, I was, we were very lucky to work there. Cause it's smaller, you know, like Universal and all of them are much larger.

• 6:12Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 6:13Speaker 01

  And this is really quaint and like had a lot of movie magic, I felt every day.

• 6:17Lewis Howes?

  I've been on that set. It's nice.

• 6:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's amazing. And we had, uh, I think five stages, um, over the course of six years.

• 6:25Lewis Howes?

  So it was all shot there? It wasn't like at a high school?

• 6:27Speaker 01

  Pilot was, was at the actual high school, Cabrillo, down in Long Beach. So we would drive down to Long Beach. Um, that's where the big stage is, you know, with the blacks, you know, bottom and, um.

• 6:37Lewis Howes?

  Is that where the auditorium is?

• 6:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. The, thank you, the auditorium. Um, it was like the stage. Um, and we would shoot down there. Um, and then when we got picked up to go to a series, they rebuilt the hallways and the choir room to look.

• 6:51Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 6:51Speaker 01

  The choir room was much smaller in Cabrillo, like half the size, but obviously.

• 6:56Lewis Howes?

  You guys grew and.

• 6:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, and you have to have all the cameras and the crew and everything. So it's, it was five times the size of what it was. And then we had the auditorium down there. They didn't build the auditorium till I think the, um, second half of season one. So we would drive down to Cabrillo, like twice or three times a week to go do the musical numbers down there.

• 7:14Lewis Howes?

  But then they built the set here.

• 7:16Speaker 01

  They did. So they built everything to look like it. We had a full auditorium.

• 7:20Lewis Howes?

  That's crazy. It's just over here.

• 7:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:22Lewis Howes?

  Did they tear it down or something?

• 7:24Speaker 01

  It's gone. It was, I went back like a couple of days after we had wrapped and they were taking it down. And it's just like heartbreaking. Like brings tears to my eyes. It's so, it was so, I mean, we had so many memories in there and so many moments in there.

• 7:38Lewis Howes?

  I can only imagine.

• 7:38Speaker 01

  I mean, 700 musical numbers.

• 7:40Lewis Howes?

  700?

• 7:41Speaker 01

  Yeah. 700.

• 7:43Lewis Howes?

  Oh my God. What a dream life.

• 7:46Lewis Howes?

  That sounds incredible. To sing and dance and just hang out with your friends all day.

• 7:50Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, in retrospect, it was, I was like, last night, I think, I was like, gosh, we had such a cool job. We had such a cool job.

• 7:57Lewis Howes?

  Is there a better job you could have had?

• 7:59Speaker 01

  No, definitely not.

• 8:00Lewis Howes?

  What else could you have done that would be better?

• 8:03Speaker 01

  I mean, just, we had celebrities. We had John Stamos. We had Kristen Chenoweth. We had Gwyneth Paltrow.

• 8:10Lewis Howes?

  Did you have Britney Spears?

• 8:11Speaker 01

  We did have Britney Spears and he knew. I mean, it didn't get better. Gaga was not on it.

• 8:16Lewis Howes?

  But you guys performed her songs a lot.

• 8:17Speaker 01

  We did lots of her songs. I did her music video, actually, and she was, she's amazing.

• 8:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 8:22Speaker 01

  No, nothing better, actually. I don't, honestly, during that time, everything was like, God, I wonder, it'd be great if we could just do a show where there's no singing and dancing. But now I'm like, where's the singing and dancing?

• 8:33Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 8:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, we had super glee days. So essentially, like, on a super glee day, you would go to work at like 6 a.m. on a Monday, 5 a.m. on a Monday. You'd drive to work in the dark. You'd go to a fitting in the morning to get your clothes set for the next couple of days. And because we had so many costumes, we had so many fittings all the time. It's not like, you know, where you go in Mad Men and they have 20 suits.

• 8:57Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 8:58Speaker 01

  We had like costumes.

• 8:59Lewis Howes?

  Like Lady Gaga style.

• 9:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. And then we'd go rehearse the scene. We'd shoot the scene for, you know, eight hours. Then in between, you know, sometimes they would have a van. They'd be like, you have to go to the recording studio today at lunch. So they'd order you lunch. You'd eat it on the way. You'd go to the recording studio on like Highland, which was like 20 minutes, 10 minutes away. You record your song. You have like 30, 45 minutes. You get back to work, go back in hair and makeup. And then at the end of the day, sometimes they'd be like, well, you have this musical number tomorrow that you have to learn. So we have dance rehearsal after that.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  So Superbly Days were the recording studio, the fittings, the shooting, and the dance studio.

• 9:36Lewis Howes?

  This is amazing. You guys were constantly recording in the studio songs.

• 9:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, like, while we were doing one episode, they'd be prepping next week's.

• 9:44Lewis Howes?

  It's unbelievable.

• 9:45Speaker 01

  Sometimes we'd have like 10 songs. I don't know how we did it. I actually don't know. I think we just blacked out and like, give in to, you know, what you're doing, because you realize what it is that you were doing for other people. It's the bigger picture.

• 9:58Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 9:58Speaker 01

  But when you're in like a Glee bubble, working.

• 10:01Lewis Howes?

  The bubble?

• 10:02Speaker 01

  We call it the Glee bubble. Because you don't, we were working so much, we don't see the effect that it's having on people.

• 10:09Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 10:09Speaker 01

  So that's always like the nicest. You're like, oh.

• 10:12Lewis Howes?

  You guys were literally changing lives. Like, the impact. I mean, I have to believe that you were in a big way. I mean.

• 10:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, we have a lot of people, because of social media and Twitter was just coming out at that time, a lot of people, the outreach of just, you know, underdogs, we like to call them.

• 10:29Lewis Howes?

  Oh, so many, yeah.

• 10:30Speaker 01

  Would say like, "Thanks for representing me. You saved my life." Like, it's heavy. It's heavy and it's a responsibility, but it's, it was wonderful. I mean, like, it wouldn't change anything.

• 10:39Lewis Howes?

  It's unbelievable. So jealous.

• 10:41Speaker 01

  I just love that you love Glee so much.

• 10:43Lewis Howes?

  So jealous. So tell me about the moment, the audition process, the experience of like, hearing, "Oh, there's this new thing out called Glee that they're casting for." Like, was it even a big deal?

• 10:56Speaker 01

  No.

• 10:57Lewis Howes?

  It was just like a new show. Tell me about the process. And what were you doing before? Because I knew you were on Broadway for a long time.

• 11:02Speaker 01

  You got five hours?

• 11:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, exactly. Do you have five hours?

• 11:07Speaker 01

  I am, I was doing Spring Awakening on Broadway at the time. And the casting associate in New York casted Spring Awakening, was casting Glee. We read the script. Pretty much our entire cast of Spring Awakening went in for

• 11:23Lewis Howes?

  Glee.

• 11:24Speaker 01

  Glee. And the first auditions, usually I think everybody had to sing and, you know, do the lines for the character.

• 11:30Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 11:30Speaker 01

  We didn't have to sing. We got like the pass, because we were already.

• 11:33Lewis Howes?

  Oh, we know you can sing.

• 11:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thankfully. You're like, okay, cool. There's like a nice respect. You're like, oh, thanks. I went in for Tina. She had no real description as to what she was. It was Tina.

• 11:49Lewis Howes?

  Was it even an Asian character?

• 11:50Speaker 01

  No, no. It's like, all my friends went in for that role, and like, white, black, everything. We just all went in for it. And she doesn't have a big part in the pilot. She has a line, and she stutters. So I literally had to stutter in my audition. And I didn't turn the page, so I didn't realize there were two stutters.

• 12:10Speaker 01

  So it was like, I think it was "We're Doomed", and then the second one was like, "Whoa, what?" So I missed the "Whoa, what?" They were like, "Okay, let's do the other one." I was like, "What is it? I don't know." So I walked out of the audition, I was like, "Well, I didn't get that." Like, definitely didn't prep right. Definitely didn't get it. I got a call about a month later. So it just like, went away. You know, that's what auditions are.

• 12:31Lewis Howes?

  You're constantly doing auditions, yeah.

• 12:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, I call myself a professional auditioner.

• 12:37Speaker 01

  I got a call that they were coming, the producers were coming to New York and they wanted to meet me. They said, "Prepare a song." So I had to sing a song.

• 12:44Lewis Howes?

  What song was it?

• 12:45Speaker 01

  "Waiting for Life to Begin from Once on This Island." It's a rare musical. It's like, not a very common musical and song that you'll hear. But people do use it for auditions. It's a good song.

• 12:57Speaker 01

  I went and I sang, I did the "We're Doomed" again. And then Ryan Murphy said, yeah, exactly. Ryan Murphy said, "I don't know much about Tina, yet. We haven't figured her out yet.

• 13:13Speaker 01

  Can you just improv a little bit?"

• 13:16Speaker 01

  And so, the first thing that like, came to my mind was like, "Well, my mom likes me to do like, Glee Club because she thinks it's a good outlet for my stutter."

• 13:30Speaker 01

  And she had Tourette's at the time as well. They wrote her in with Tourette's. And so, like, researching that too, I didn't want to make fun of her, you know, or fun of somebody like that. I just, I wanted to do a- True depiction of what I thought that was. Um, so I did that and then they called me, that went away. It was like another like

• 13:49Lewis Howes?

  Month.

• 13:49Speaker 01

  Four, yeah, it was another like four weeks and then they said they wanted to bring me to LA to test me, which I had no idea what that was. And for people who don't know what that is, um, you go in for the studio of the TV show and then the network, all like the heads and you go in a room and you just read the same things for them and sing for them and then they get to decide. And there's usually like only two of you left at that point.

• 14:12Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 14:12Speaker 01

  So they flew me out.

• 14:14Lewis Howes?

  It's like a big opportunity.

• 14:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. Once you get to test, you know that like you're down to the wire. It could be you or somebody else.

• 14:21Lewis Howes?

  It's make or break time.

• 14:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 14:23Lewis Howes?

  Were you nervous? Were you scared?

• 14:24Speaker 01

  Well, here's the thing, at this point, I, I was definitely nervous because any audition I get nervous a little bit, but I didn't realize the gravity of what a test meant at that point.

• 14:32Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 14:33Speaker 01

  So it was just another thing. Like, yeah, it's cool. It's like another audition, another callback. I knew like, cool. Um, I did get so nervous though, that on the plane I broke out in hives on my face. It went down by the time my audition happened because I took a red eye after the spring awakening show, went in, got here in LA, they put me in an intercontinental, I took a shower and then I went straight to my audition.

• 14:56Lewis Howes?

  Oh.

• 14:56Speaker 01

  So it was pretty, um, high pressure, fast. You didn't really have time to think about it. And, um, I went in for them and I read and Ryan was like, I love that you just made her so positive. And I, that's just who I am. So that was part of like, I was like, yeah, I like her. Like I thought she was cool. Um, and then they asked me to do in the test again, um, something like a little less and just do as a stutter instead of Tourette's. So, um, that was actually nice and relieving because it gives her accessibility to do more things with her. Um, and then like 30 minutes after my audition, I got it. I found out I got it.

• 15:31Lewis Howes?

  They said you got it.

• 15:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, they called me and I was actually with the other girl that I auditioned against. So I kind of felt so bad, right? It's rough, but she was like, you know, this like adorable, like white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. And I was like, well, it's you or me. We know where it's not personal. Like it's one of us and it's just preference at that point.

• 15:52Lewis Howes?

  You know what she's doing now?

• 15:53Speaker 01

  I have no idea. We used to be Facebook friends, but then I got rid of Facebook.

• 15:57Lewis Howes?

  Oh, wow. Okay.

• 15:58Speaker 01

  But I mean, I'm, you know, she's a working theater girl, so it was all good.

• 16:02Lewis Howes?

  Cool.

• 16:03Speaker 01

  And like, we didn't know.

• 16:05Lewis Howes?

  Who wasn't on the biggest show?

• 16:06Speaker 01

  We didn't know. We didn't know at that point either what it was gonna be. I just knew that it was like a really cool script.

• 16:11Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 16:12Speaker 01

  And you're like, this is...

• 16:13Lewis Howes?

  And you knew it was singing and dancing and...

• 16:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't know how much though, because there's only like two or three songs in the pilot. You know, Don't Stop Definitely.

• 16:20Lewis Howes?

  Don't Stop Believing was in there?

• 16:21Speaker 01

  Like, gives you chills when you...

• 16:22Lewis Howes?

  Every time.

• 16:23Speaker 01

  Like, when you read, when I read it and I was like, oh my god, Don't Stop is coming on. It's like...

• 16:26Lewis Howes?

  How many times have you guys seen that song?

• 16:28Speaker 01

  Oh, I don't know. Hundreds. No, well, the first time we shot Don't Stop Believing in the pilot, it took us 75 takes to actually get it right.

• 16:37Lewis Howes?

  What? Why?

• 16:39Speaker 01

  Um, it's figuring it out, you know? We've never done a big musical number. There's like crane cameras and they have Steadicam cameras. And so it's just about like figuring out a formula on how to get the best shots. And then after that, it was like, you know, it was like clockwork after season, you know, end of season six.

• 16:57Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 16:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, we're like, we know it's here, we know it's there, we know it's here, and that's...

• 17:01Lewis Howes?

  Holy cow.

• 17:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 17:03Lewis Howes?

  So you get the part, you're excited, what are you thinking? Okay, I've gotta move to LA now, or what's...

• 17:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'd always wanted to move to LA, so this was like the perfect excuse to like be put in, straight into a job. You know, you don't have to move out and then like try and find a job. Um, I didn't like, it was really hard for me at first because I left my entire family. I knew nobody out here except for the cast. And it was a small cast. It was, you know, four or five, uh, wait, we had Kevin, Amber, Chris, me and, yeah, there's five of us.

• 17:30Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 17:31Speaker 01

  Um, and Cory. So six. But Cory came in later. He was in Canada and he couldn't get a visa. So like, we were rehearsing without him and then we were like, who is the secret fan? Like, we don't know. And then, uh, finally he came and, um, he just completed the little group. We had a great time. We really bonded during the Don't Stop, actually, um, number, because there's so much waiting around for the cameras to figure it out. So, uh, we would just play, like, sit in circles and like ask questions and...

• 17:58Lewis Howes?

  Play games.

• 17:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was great.

• 17:59Lewis Howes?

  Amazing. Gosh, I'm like so excited about this stuff. I'm like such a nerd right now.

• 18:05Speaker 01

  It's such a time warp because, you know, I don't really talk about it a lot.

• 18:09Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 18:09Speaker 01

  Um, yeah, people don't ask me about it that much anymore and... You know, taking a year, it's finally been actually like a full 365 days since I've been away from it.

• 18:20Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 18:21Speaker 01

  It was, um, you have to like reset yourself.

• 18:23Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 18:24Speaker 01

  After being in something like a machine like that for six years.

• 18:27Lewis Howes?

  Now, how did the contract work? Cause there were six of the ma- sixty guys originally and so they, they.

• 18:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:31Lewis Howes?

  They booked the contract for like every season, like this is gonna be your rate or?

• 18:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, you get, so basically when you, for TV, um, before you even test for the network, you have to work out your deal so that if you get it, your deal is already done.

• 18:47Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 18:48Speaker 01

  That's what you're getting. And they do it for six years is the normal.

• 18:51Lewis Howes?

  Six years, that same deal. There's no.

• 18:53Speaker 01

  TV is six years.

• 18:54Lewis Howes?

  What if?

• 18:55Speaker 01

  I mean, you can extend. So then like, say we did six years and say that we were all really happy, the show was doing still really well. Um, you get the chance, they say we were gonna pick you up for seven, then you renegotiate your contract.

• 19:08Lewis Howes?

  What about after the first year, it becomes the number one show on TV, 10 million viewers every time?

• 19:12Speaker 01

  You can renegotiate. There's room to renegotiate for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we, we did, we did renegotiate, I think after two, season two? I think it was season two going into three.

• 19:23Lewis Howes?

  You guys are working like 17 hour days.

• 19:25Speaker 01

  I know, it's wild. It's wild. It was, it was great. I mean, like, at that point, we were doing, we were doing so well that the success wasn't the money, it was just everything else.

• 19:37Lewis Howes?

  You guys just blew up.

• 19:38Speaker 01

  I mean, we went to the White House, we sang at the Easter Egg Roll, we went to Oprah, we did Oprah the same weekend, we flew on a private jet from the White House to Oprah.

• 19:46Lewis Howes?

  The X Factor, you did everything.

• 19:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, in the UK, we get to go to like, and we went to Australia for like, it's just a press tour. We didn't have to do anything except go meet fans. It was, I mean, we got to travel the world. We got to go on.

• 19:58Lewis Howes?

  First class.

• 19:59Speaker 01

  Bucket cla- bucket lists, you know, like private jets, Obama, Oprah, um.

• 20:04Lewis Howes?

  Backstage, anywhere you wanna go.

• 20:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:06Lewis Howes?

  Meeting celebrities.

• 20:07Speaker 01

  You know, like Johnny Depp's telling you his kid loves the show. You're like, what's happening? Um, yeah, we were all pretty like, there were just like, what, what's happening moments every day, pretty much, um, when we weren't working.

• 20:21Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 20:21Speaker 01

  The working was the, I mean, we had to remember too, because of all the flashy things that were happening to us, that it was the work that would got us there.

• 20:30Lewis Howes?

  Stay focused.

• 20:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, so, I mean, which is. We really didn't have time to think about it at all because we were just working so much.

• 20:37Lewis Howes?

  All day, every day.

• 20:38Speaker 01

  And it's like, we were having fun. We were laughing all day long. There were tough days for sure. But you know, by like hour 14, you're like, eyelashes are coming off, your hair is like messed up.

• 20:48Lewis Howes?

  I have to sing this one more time.

• 20:49Speaker 01

  People are sleeping. We were like pro sleepers. We could sleep anywhere, just anywhere.

• 20:53Lewis Howes?

  Taking naps, wow.

• 20:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:55Lewis Howes?

  What was the most challenging process? It was six years, right?

• 20:57Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 20:57Lewis Howes?

  What was the most, and how long would a season last for, like for your work?

• 21:01Speaker 01

  10 months.

• 21:01Lewis Howes?

  10 months? So you had two months off?

• 21:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, but then we tour. So we'd have like four weeks, a little, maybe like four weeks before we go back into another season.

• 21:09Lewis Howes?

  Did you get the weekends off at least?

• 21:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, the weekends are ours, but you work at 5 a.m. on Monday, so your Sunday night is not yours. And you work till like 2 a.m. on Friday night. So you know, your Saturday morning is not yours. You're sleeping. And then sometimes we would have photo shoots on the weekends because that's the only time we could fit it in.

• 21:25Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh. You guys were like...

• 21:27Speaker 01

  I know that I think about it. It's like so crazy to me, like, because I finally had time to like reset my day and you know, my time is my own. And it's weird to think about it again, that it really wasn't. And that's okay. I'm okay with it. Like, I'm compulsive and I had to really be at peace with not, you know, not knowing what was coming and be okay with like the amount of time that we were going to be there. Because when you're on set, it takes as long, they don't have like, okay, from 10 to 2, you're going to shoot the scene. It's from 10 to whenever it's done.

• 21:58Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 21:59Speaker 01

  So your day can totally get pushed. You're like, this is taking forever. Things happen.

• 22:03Lewis Howes?

  You can't schedule anything later in the day.

• 22:04Speaker 01

  No, you can't schedule anything at all.

• 22:07Lewis Howes?

  Unless it's Saturday night after 2 p.m.

• 22:09Speaker 01

  Yep, yep.

• 22:10Lewis Howes?

  2 p.m. to 10.

• 22:10Speaker 01

  That's mine. That's Janice. That's it.

• 22:13Lewis Howes?

  Wow. So did you even have a life at all? Like, did you have a relationship during this time?

• 22:18Speaker 01

  I did at the end, towards the season two, three, season three and four, I think, and five. I was with a guy who was actually on a TV show in Atlanta.

• 22:30Lewis Howes?

  When did you see each other?

• 22:31Speaker 01

  On the weekends, I would fly to Atlanta or he'd fly back to L.A.

• 22:34Lewis Howes?

  You'd fly for a day?

• 22:35Speaker 01

  24 hours sometimes.

• 22:37Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 22:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, you make it work.

• 22:39Lewis Howes?

  You're a machine.

• 22:41Speaker 01

  I guess it's like the only thing I really knew during that time.

• 22:44Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 22:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was pretty, it's hard, it was hard maintaining a relationship like that. But you just, that's where your job is. And like to us, our jobs were our priorities along with each other.

• 22:55Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 22:56Speaker 01

  Um, we both understood that. So that was, if you don't, it won't work.

• 23:00Lewis Howes?

  How was the dynamic with the cast and the crew? Was there a lot of drama? Was it more friendly? Was it?

• 23:05Speaker 01

  Um, ups and downs. I like to say like, we're a family. We spent 365 days together.

• 23:10Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 23:11Speaker 01

  Um, you know the ins and outs, you know what makes them tick, you know, and to leave them alone. Um, there are days where you're like, okay, I'm not speaking to you today. It's great. Um, but overall, I think what made the show so successful was the chemistry of the cast. It was easier to get along than it was to fight.

• 23:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, it just, you know, it's just exhausting. And there were fights, there were tiffs, there were moments and like, the crew was so wonderful. And anybody on TV who will understand, those crews have families.

• 23:45Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, but they're there just as long as you, not longer.

• 23:47Speaker 01

  Longer.

• 23:48Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 23:48Speaker 01

  So, um, you know, I, I tip my hat to, to crews who do it, I mean, for their whole lives. I just, it's insane. It's thankless and, but we had such an amazing crew and they were so talented and they would dance with us and it's such a fun set to be on. So, um, you know, we had, we were a big family.

• 24:08Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 24:09Speaker 01

  Uh, but it was, you know, there was drama and there was, um, it's just a lot of females.

• 24:15Lewis Howes?

  I hear you. I have my, almost everyone on my team is female, so.

• 24:19Speaker 01

  You understand.

• 24:20Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 24:21Speaker 01

  And I really, um, I'm much more of like, I'm a, a male guy. Like I get along with men much better than women. I don't have a lot of girlfriends, but, um, yeah, so it was like, you just adjust yourself to being in this world that you're like thrown into.

• 24:35Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure.

• 24:36Speaker 01

  Uh, but it was great overall. We still all hang out and talk and.

• 24:39Lewis Howes?

  Sure. What was the, uh, if you could think back to one moment that was the most memorable moment for you?

• 24:47Speaker 01

  On set?

• 24:48Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, on set in, in all this. How many episodes do you guys do?

• 24:53Speaker 01

  Uh, over a hundred, a hundred and twenty.

• 24:56Lewis Howes?

  Amazing.

• 24:57Speaker 01

  Fifteenth somewhere around.

• 24:58Lewis Howes?

  Okay, so out of all those, from the first episode to the last, what was it? Maybe not on set, but just from the first episode to the last episode during that time.

• 25:06Speaker 01

  The most memorable in my brain right now is probably the last scene of the last episode.

• 25:14Lewis Howes?

  I, you know, I still haven't finished the last season.

• 25:15Speaker 01

  Oh, well, the last episode is, makes me wanna cry.

• 25:19Lewis Howes?

  Tell me what happens.

• 25:20Speaker 01

  I'm not gonna tell you what happens, you have to watch it. Um, we do flash forward, we flash forward with, um, like six or seven of us, um, which is great. I loved it. And then we also flash back. Did you see the flashback?

• 25:32Lewis Howes?

  No.

• 25:33Speaker 01

  We go back to the pilot, so we all have to get back into like our, you know, garb.

• 25:38Lewis Howes?

  Don't stop believing.

• 25:39Speaker 01

  And, um, yeah, and it's all the things you didn't see during the pilot, so all the scenes in between that got us to where we were in the pilot. It's great. I love that episode too. It was so much fun. It's nostalgic, you know, you're all like, what is that costume that you're like, I saw you that in six years ago. It was so wild. Um, but yeah, the last scene we shot was Matt Morrison's song in the finale and he sings it to all the nugly club and then the ugly club that came back. Ooh, I don't even, um, and I have the, um, clip of it that I was watching the other day and I like, it was just, I just like broke down cause it's.

• 26:13Lewis Howes?

  He's a great singer too.

• 26:14Speaker 01

  Amazing. And him breaking down when you see a grown man cry like that, it was, oh, it's the worst. Um.

• 26:21Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 26:22Speaker 01

  And like, we're just bawling and we're not supposed to be like, it's not the end of the episode. We're shooting a scene that's like in the middle and we're all like a mess. It's the last day. Uh, Matt's going around with, you know, ukulele, like singing and looking at us and we're all just like, Leah is grabbing my hand so hard.

• 26:40Lewis Howes?

  So this is like authentic, this isn't acting, this is like.

• 26:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was very real and it's still like.

• 26:45Lewis Howes?

  Maybe I did see this part, maybe I did see this, I'm not sure. Wow.

• 26:50Speaker 01

  But I loved it, I loved it.

• 26:51Lewis Howes?

  So how many times did you shoot that scene?

• 26:53Speaker 01

  We did it, um, like, I wanna say like six or seven times, he probably did that song. But the last one, we were like, to our director Brad Beaker, um, he, we were like, can you just tell us when it's the last one?

• 27:05Lewis Howes?

  Right, so you know that you can like.

• 27:06Speaker 01

  Just so we knew, we could appreciate, like, that was it. And just like looking around the room, I was like, what's happening? Like, I get teary down.

• 27:13Lewis Howes?

  That was the last time you were in that room, the last time all together.

• 27:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, that, you were gonna hear like, um, action and cut, like on the show. It was great though.

• 27:21Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 27:21Speaker 01

  I love that. That was like, one of the best moments.

• 27:26Lewis Howes?

  What was the most challenging moment?

• 27:29Speaker 01

  There was one episode, do you see Rocky Horror?

• 27:32Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 27:32Speaker 01

  Uh, so we did the Rocky Horror episode, Adam Shankman directed, who's a great friend, he's wonderful. Um, we were in costumes and like sequin costumes, I was in tap shoes and like a horrible wig, I hate wigs. I'm a terrible theater girl, I know, we all have to wear wigs and I hate them. Um, and it was like, I don't want to say we were on hour like 16. Like, we were almost there, we were doing the time warp, and I remember like in between

• 28:01Speaker 01

  this like huge number, you know, with all these characters and all this choreography and we had probably shot three other numbers earlier in the day. And a scene, and I just remember like, the tears starting to well, I was like, just want to go home.

• 28:17Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 28:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm like, there's a couple of people like, who would never complain, they would never complain. And when you'd see them get like to their

• 28:26Lewis Howes?

  You're like, oh.

• 28:27Speaker 01

  Point, you're like, this is bad. This is really bad. It was just the hours, it was, um, it's like

• 28:33Lewis Howes?

  It's of no life.

• 28:34Speaker 01

  Being in that place for

• 28:35Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 28:36Speaker 01

  And if you're having a bad day, just that being immersed in that place is like the last place you want to be, but you have to be there, so you have to learn how to like, bring yourself back to a happy place.

• 28:47Lewis Howes?

  Right. Wow, okay. I could, I feel like I could ask you questions about the show constantly. We'll have to do it afterwards to save everyone who doesn't care about this show, this is more for my selfish reasons. Uh, I'm curious, you know, you were adopted, right? You were born in South Korea, right?

• 29:04Speaker 01

  I was, as far as I know.

• 29:06Lewis Howes?

  But you were only there for a few months, is that right?

• 29:07Speaker 01

  Three months, I was in foster care until, or in the, with the agency with the foster mom.

• 29:11Lewis Howes?

  Gotcha.

• 29:12Speaker 01

  Until, uh, they brought me over August 21st, 1986, called Plain Day, when my parents got me a JFK.

• 29:20Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure.

• 29:21Speaker 01

  And, um, yeah, I was three months old, and I've, ever since then, I can

• 29:28Speaker 01

  I was their little gift from God. Never really thought of it any other way. It was just part of who I was. Like I was saying yesterday, when I was talking to my best friend Sam, who's also adopted. I was like, yeah, I just, it never, it was just a part of me. And like, when people ask me, like, tell me about yourself. I'm like, well, I'm Jenna. My last name is Ashkowitz and I was adopted. And that's it. You know, it's just like part of

• 29:53Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 29:54Speaker 01

  my little bio.

• 29:56Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 29:57Speaker 01

  My life bio.

• 29:58Lewis Howes?

  Where do you think you'd be if you weren't adopted?

• 30:01Speaker 01

  On the rice paddies somewhere.

• 30:03Lewis Howes?

  And I don't know if I read that.

• 30:04Speaker 01

  In Korea, I don't know.

• 30:05Lewis Howes?

  I don't know if I read this. I don't know if I'm gonna skip it or miss it. Have you, have you connected with your biological parents?

• 30:10Speaker 01

  I haven't. It's actually, I'll tell you an interesting story.

• 30:15Speaker 01

  I grew up in New York with my friend Samantha and she was adopted as well. Everything was all good and kosher and happy. We ate bagels and

• 30:26Speaker 01

  she found out she had a twin sister that

• 30:29Lewis Howes?

  When she was 25, is this where I saw a video about this?

• 30:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:32Lewis Howes?

  She's always been aware of it or something?

• 30:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, she didn't know.

• 30:34Lewis Howes?

  But they found each other on Facebook?

• 30:35Speaker 01

  They did. And she's an actress and then he's found the video and was like, why does that look like me? So she messaged her and they are identical twins.

• 30:42Lewis Howes?

  That's insane.

• 30:42Speaker 01

  Crazy. Anything is possible. So at that point, we started a foundation. It's called the Kindred Foundation for Adoption. Kindred. And it's to aid adoptees around the world to give them something that we didn't have. We didn't have growing up. We didn't have anybody that represented us. We didn't have anybody to talk about it with. And not that I needed to, but others do. And I'm finding that out very quickly.

• 31:08Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 31:08Speaker 01

  So we started the foundation and out of that, I was like, maybe I should do my search. These other brave adoptees are coming to us, asking, where do I start my search? And I thought like, maybe I should

• 31:22Lewis Howes?

  Like, I don't know.

• 31:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. Nobody knows. So that's what we're there for, to now start, you know, help them, guide them in the right direction.

• 31:30Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 31:32Lewis Howes?

  So did you start your search?

• 31:33Speaker 01

  I started it. So I'd never really wanted to do it. I felt very fulfilled. I felt loved and supported my whole life. My parents are amazing.

• 31:42Lewis Howes?

  There for you.

• 31:43Speaker 01

  Yeah. And they, I asked my dad, I was like, hey, I kind of like want to search my parents.

• 31:51Lewis Howes?

  When was this? About a year ago?

• 31:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, a little less.

• 31:53Lewis Howes?

  And how old are you?

• 31:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm 29.

• 31:55Lewis Howes?

  It's in Wikipedia.

• 31:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, it's fine. I look 18, so it's okay.

• 32:00Lewis Howes?

  29.

• 32:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 32:01Lewis Howes?

  So you didn't ask your parents or mention this until you're 29?

• 32:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 32:04Lewis Howes?

  About who my biological parents are.

• 32:05Speaker 01

  People ask me all the time. They're like, what do you, you know, do you have fun with your parents? Like, your grandparents?

• 32:09Lewis Howes?

  You're like, eh.

• 32:10Speaker 01

  No. So this is like a shock to them. And we haven't really gotten in depth because I, you know, the search went on pause. But I asked my dad, I said, do you have my information from the agency that I was adopted from in Korea? And he did. He also then decided to share with me that he heard when I was brought over that my dad was in the military. And I didn't know which one. Like, I don't know if he's in the Japanese or like Korean. I don't know.

• 32:35Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 32:35Speaker 01

  Because I did 23 and me, which you like spit in the tube and they tell you your genealogy. And I'm 33% Japanese. And I thought I'd been growing up for 29 years thinking I'm 100% Korean.

• 32:48Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 32:49Speaker 01

  So that sparked something. I was like, oh, that's interesting. That's something I didn't know about myself. And then I started the search. They came back to me with all this information to fill out. And I like freaked out. And I know bad way, I just, I'm not ready.

• 33:05Lewis Howes?

  Why not?

• 33:05Speaker 01

  And part of that is, I'm so busy right now to process something like that. I just need more time.

• 33:13Lewis Howes?

  You're, you're, you're more busy now than you were during Glee?

• 33:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, believe it or not, I stay quite busy. Between the foundation, between the podcast, between trying to get another job and like picking, I did, I did two movies in New York in like September and November. So like, you know, that takes a lot of my headspace.

• 33:29Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure.

• 33:30Speaker 01

  It's just a matter of, like, yeah, I am.

• 33:35Lewis Howes?

  What if this, what if this is the new job?

• 33:37Speaker 01

  I mean, part of it will be building the brand.

• 33:40Lewis Howes?

  Well, this is the documentary that helps support the foundation and is the Kickstarter for creating awareness, selling it to Netflix, you know, the whole thing.

• 33:49Speaker 01

  Exactly. Yeah. I mean, definitely. I still need the, the acting because it feeds my soul in a way none of these things can. But I definitely, this is part of it. This is the in-between that.

• 34:04Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure.

• 34:04Speaker 01

  So it's the on-off, on-off.

• 34:06Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 34:07Speaker 01

  But yeah, so I paused and I said, no. I also like in my heart think for some reason, I've always thought my mom was dead, passed away. And I don't know if that's in my conscious, at peace with her being away, or if she really is and I can feel it. You know, they say like twins have feelings, so maybe I have that with my birth mother.

• 34:31Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 34:32Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 34:33Lewis Howes?

  You never thought what they were doing?

• 34:34Speaker 01

  I wondered if, well, I always wondered about nature versus nurture. I wonder where I get my musicality from, because the home I grew up in was not the most musical. They put me in, obviously I trained my whole life, but they weren't, they're not very musical. And they weren't in the business at all until I came along, so.

• 34:54Lewis Howes?

  So you were dancing and singing all day long?

• 34:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, they put me in when I was three. So I've been in the business since I was, you know, a tot.

• 35:02Speaker 01

  It's just like part of what I do and who I am.

• 35:04Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 35:05Speaker 01

  But it's, I mean, I love it. I would, yeah, I wouldn't trade it. Like, a lot of people do ask as well, like, or I guess not anymore, but do you feel like you missed out on a childhood?

• 35:16Lewis Howes?

  Do you?

• 35:17Speaker 01

  No. No, I feel like that was my childhood. That was supposed to be my childhood.

• 35:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 35:22Speaker 01

  Was singing on Broadway.

• 35:24Lewis Howes?

  It's pretty sweet. That's a long, that's long hours too, right?

• 35:27Speaker 01

  Um, in the beginning, so when I was in the King and I, when I was nine, it's a six-week rehearsal process that you get to learn the show. So I was tutored during that time. There were 14 kids. We had a blast. And then when you do the show, it's just eight shows a week at night. So I lived on Long Island. My parents would drive me in every day. They bought a minivan so I could sleep on my home so I could go to school in the morning.

• 35:50Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 35:52Speaker 01

  But it wasn't way, I mean, I hit school during the day and then I do my homework on the way in and then do the show. And that was like playtime for me.

• 35:58Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 35:59Speaker 01

  So, yeah, I wasn't quite as taxing as doing a Broadway show now.

• 36:03Lewis Howes?

  Right, right. What's something, uh, someone listening or watching should know about wanting to get into the industry? Wanted to be an actor or maybe one of some things like some simple principles that you could say for... And this could relate to people that are giving speeches, a lot of entrepreneurs that give big presentations and speak in front of large audiences. Maybe what's a ritual or something that you tell yourself before you're about to audition? Get ready for a scene, whatever, be on stage. What are some things you do?

• 36:31Speaker 01

  Um, in terms of auditioning, um, or going to speak or singing, um, beforehand, I... I don't know if I can curse on this. I won't curse, but I say, "F you, F you, F you," um, before I go. And I say, "The nerves aren't gonna do me good, so like, go away."

• 36:51Lewis Howes?

  So you're saying that to the nerves?

• 36:52Speaker 01

  To myself, yeah.

• 36:54Lewis Howes?

  Gotcha.

• 36:54Speaker 01

  To like calm myself down.

• 36:55Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 36:55Speaker 01

  Um, when you don't have beta blockers. Um, a lot of actors do because they get so incredibly nervous that they take beta blockers before to like...

• 37:04Lewis Howes?

  Calm the nerves.

• 37:05Speaker 01

  But, uh, mine don't get that bad. So, yeah, I say, "F you, F you, F you."

• 37:10Speaker 01

  Like, I'm only gonna succeed if I'm at my best. And that's the mindset I try to go into auditions with. I also, uh, for actors, it's leave your day at the door when you go in for auditions. Leave your day. Nobody wants to know about what that happened before or after.

• 37:27Lewis Howes?

  Right. Show up and be a pro.

• 37:29Speaker 01

  You go in and you, yeah, you do your thing, whether you're having a good or a bad day. It doesn't matter.

• 37:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 37:35Speaker 01

  I think also it's just about knowing that what you are bringing is enough and, uh, that it's not about the jealousy of others. It's not about the other success. Um, it's just really about focusing on what you have to give and what you have to bring. And, um, I think that's also important to say like, I'm, they're lucky to have what I'm bringing.

• 37:58Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 37:59Speaker 01

  As well as like, yeah, please cast me.

• 38:01Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 38:02Speaker 01

  Give me a job. And because like I feel like people can smell the desperation. When you go too far, it's it's like it's not attractive and it's not, you know, not a good luck.

• 38:14Lewis Howes?

  Same thing in relationships.

• 38:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:17Lewis Howes?

  And getting a job if you're like desperate to get the job desperate to get the girl.

• 38:20Speaker 01

  Right.

• 38:20Lewis Howes?

  Girl's like, get away from me.

• 38:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're like, you know.

• 38:23Lewis Howes?

  It's when you don't need it, they give it to you.

• 38:26Speaker 01

  It pours on you. Yeah, you get like three movie offers instead of just one and you're like, of course.

• 38:32Lewis Howes?

  So how do you get that mentality? How do you switch it when you're when you don't have anything? Maybe when you're not getting the jobs? How do you be like, well, I really need the job because I need to make some money?

• 38:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, you have to find other things to feed your soul to keep you happy. And that's something I struggle with every day. This business is everything that I am. It is.

• 38:51Lewis Howes?

  Your life.

• 38:52Speaker 01

  It is my life. It is me. I mean, and that's the I have to separate and remember that what I'm bringing is taking me another step to where I need to be. Um, it's all, um, you know, a nice maniacal plan that I have set out even I like to like try and think. Because I am enough and I and I work so hard. So it will pay off. It's just not the right timing. You know, it has to be the right thing in the right moment. Um, it's all a little bit of luck, a little bit of talent and.

• 39:23Lewis Howes?

  And maybe you're not ready for certain things either.

• 39:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:26Lewis Howes?

  You know, you don't want to get a big role and then blow it because you're not prepared. You don't have the the skills, the tools yet to really like show up in a powerful way.

• 39:34Speaker 01

  Exactly. But you know, while I'm waiting, I have to remember that the things that I'm doing are part of the bigger picture.

• 39:39Lewis Howes?

  Of course, yeah. What's the bigger picture for you?

• 39:41Speaker 01

  Um.

• 39:42Lewis Howes?

  What's your vision?

• 39:45Speaker 01

  I successful enough of an actor that I'm able to do these things without worrying about where the next job is, where the money's coming from. Where, um, bi-coastal, you know, being able to like keep two places and just be able to pop back and forth when I need. Keeping with the foundation and potentially just building a brand. I think it's, um.

• 40:12Speaker 01

  It just well rounds you. It's also because I feel like I have a very strong businesswoman in me that I don't get to expel with acting. So, you know,

• 40:22Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 40:23Speaker 01

  Write a book and do a podcast.

• 40:24Lewis Howes?

  And by the way, the book you have, I haven't mentioned yet, it's called Choosing Glee. It came out a couple of years ago. Ten Rules to Finding Inspiration, Happiness, and the Real You. I love it because a lot of pictures. For me, it's hard to read. So it's a lot of cool pictures.

• 40:38Speaker 01

  I mean, the pictures were for me.

• 40:40Lewis Howes?

  But it's just great. You make sure a lot of great lessons and stories and you bring in stories from all your cast members and other people that inspire you, which I think is

• 40:47Speaker 01

  Thank you. Yeah, this is the, the book was really the Kickstarter for this whole, I think, brand, if you will. Um, it kind of started because it was me really actually honing in on the idea that I realized that not everybody is very positive and not everybody thinks the way that I do.

• 41:03Lewis Howes?

  You're very positive, yeah.

• 41:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, and it's just been a part of who I am my whole life. I've always just looked on the brighter side and the been very grateful. So now it's all about practicing. It's practicing gratitude. It's practicing patience. It's, everything has to be, um, mindful. You know, I'm aware of it now. It's not just a part of like, and if I can impart that on other people and, because people are like, how do you do it? I don't know, I just do it. But now it's sort of figuring out where it came from. It's like therapy.

• 41:32Lewis Howes?

  I was doing a workshop last night for a group of female models and I was talking about, you know, the importance of practicing gratitude every day for me is huge. When I wake up every morning, I say what I'm thankful and grateful for. Before I go to bed at night, I tell my girlfriend three things I'm grateful for for the day and I ask her the three things. I think when we're constantly in the practice of gratitude, it's hard to be angry and resentful and passive aggressive and, you know, frustrated at the same time.

• 41:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, there's definitely something to resetting, setting your day up to succeed, to be grateful, to be, um, patient, to be kind, to be, you know, it's just the little acts of kindness. It's like, um, I don't know if you know A. J. Jacobs?

• 42:14Lewis Howes?

  Oh, yeah.

• 42:14Speaker 01

  He's amazing.

• 42:15Lewis Howes?

  He wrote a quote on the back of my book.

• 42:16Speaker 01

  He's the coolest.

• 42:17Lewis Howes?

  He's a great guy.

• 42:17Speaker 01

  Um, he came on my podcast and he, you know, he did the Living Biblically and he had to be grateful. So he would always say like, um, thank you elevator for getting me to the floor. And I always think about that because you think about all the things that go wrong in your day, but you don't think about all the things that go right.

• 42:35Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 42:36Speaker 01

  So, um, it's just about.

• 42:39Lewis Howes?

  And the thing's going right, like you woke up.

• 42:42Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 42:42Lewis Howes?

  It's another day, you're blessed to have another day.

• 42:44Speaker 01

  There wasn't a humongous earthquake in California.

• 42:46Lewis Howes?

  Right, exactly.

• 42:47Speaker 01

  You have your, I mean, well, I have my five senses and I have my fingers and my legs.

• 42:52Lewis Howes?

  Everything. Yeah, I've got a buddy of mine who was born without arms and legs and he is climbing a mountain right now on his elbows.

• 42:59Speaker 01

  Of course he is, that's the best.

• 43:01Lewis Howes?

  He's climbed Mount Kilimanjaro before, he's fought in like a cage fight with an able-bodied person.

• 43:06Speaker 01

  Cause he can't.

• 43:07Lewis Howes?

  He's done CrossFit, cause he's like.

• 43:08Speaker 01

  He can't.

• 43:08Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 43:09Speaker 01

  Ah, I love it.

• 43:10Lewis Howes?

  There's no excuse.

• 43:11Speaker 01

  There is no excuse.

• 43:12Lewis Howes?

  With something like that.

• 43:13Speaker 01

  There was somebody running a marathon, my friend was telling me he was running a marathon, he did the New York City Marathon just once. He's like, never do it again. And there was somebody, he's one of the kindest people that I know and most grateful people that I know. So he, it says cheer me on on the back of this guy's shirt that he's running next to. And he's like, you know, good job Pedro. He's like said that and the guy next to him on this side goes, thank you. Cause Pedro was blind, running a marathon. I just love it. Those kind of things are like so cool and um, sweet reminders.

• 43:47Lewis Howes?

  Yes. Now, what was a non-negotiable for you or a ritual routine that you had to do every single day during the Glee experience? Was there anything, or was just give up things that you wanted to, to serve the, the cause of the show?

• 44:03Speaker 01

  You mean like waking up rituals?

• 44:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, anything. Was there anything you did like in the morning, in the afternoon, you're like, I have to eat at a certain time? I have to meditate every day. I have to at least take 20 seconds to, to write something down.

• 44:15Speaker 01

  I didn't, I didn't. I wasn't so mindful during Glee because we were so.

• 44:20Lewis Howes?

  It was chaotic.

• 44:21Speaker 01

  Um, involved.

• 44:23Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 44:23Speaker 01

  I mean, really the, the, the everyday was going to work and being there. There were times though, um, in the middle of it that like, there were just so many of us that the storylines weren't happening for me and I was getting really frustrated. And like something had to change.

• 44:39Lewis Howes?

  Like you weren't connecting with the character, you weren't.

• 44:41Speaker 01

  Well, they weren't writing for me. So like I would have like one line in a script and you sit there, but you have to be there because you're all in the quiet room. So you're not expending your creative energy. That's where the book came from. It was finding things to keep me at peace while I made, you know, I did my job and did it well with a smile on my face.

• 45:01Lewis Howes?

  But weren't as prominent a figure maybe, right?

• 45:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, just in the background. Yeah, you feel like you're underused. Yeah, there's something, there's like eighteen of us.

• 45:11Lewis Howes?

  And then they're putting them as, everyone has like a focal point every shift.

• 45:14Speaker 01

  Storylines. Yeah, exactly. So the shift goes and there you, every, you have your time and then you don't. And I just don't feel like I ever really, I didn't at that point feel like I had my time at all.

• 45:24Lewis Howes?

  You feel like forgotten almost, or?

• 45:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, a little underappreciated for how hard I work and watching some other people, not the cast, but like you see other people who don't work quite as hard and still get more than you. And you're like, what is, what am I doing wrong?

• 45:39Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 45:40Speaker 01

  And it's truly not about that. It's, it's, you know, now in retrospect, I look at something like that. And it's not, again, it's not about what you're doing wrong. It's just about what other people are doing.

• 45:50Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 45:53Speaker 01

  But I did, we always had to have coffee. We always liked to go to lunch together. We, we all really liked to try and eat lunch together.

• 45:59Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 46:00Speaker 01

  At least a few of us at a time.

• 46:02Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 46:02Speaker 01

  If you go, if we went to restaurants and like all of us, it number one took too long and number two, we'd be bombarded. So, yeah. I actually got like, we got, we were at In-N-Out last night and somebody came up and I, it's been a while, like, people come up to us, but when we're together, when there's like two or more.

• 46:21Lewis Howes?

  They don't come to you when you're by yourself or something?

• 46:23Speaker 01

  You know what? People are less likely to come up to you if you're by yourself. I don't know. Maybe it's something I give off because I'm like an introvert and I get so weird, but.

• 46:30Lewis Howes?

  At the airport, actually, um.

• 46:31Speaker 01

  You did.

• 46:32Lewis Howes?

  Two, I've met three of you now, the group of you. Well, ah, gosh, what's his name?

• 46:37Speaker 01

  Which one?

• 46:37Lewis Howes?

  Um, what, who's the guy that came on in like second or third season, uh, who was the gay character?

• 46:43Speaker 01

  Darren or Chris?

• 46:44Lewis Howes?

  Yes, Darren Chris, right?

• 46:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 46:46Lewis Howes?

  I saw him at a, I walked on a plane and I just saw him sitting there and I was like.

• 46:51Lewis Howes?

  I just put my fist out, I go, dude. I just go, bro, you're the man.

• 46:55Speaker 01

  That's awesome.

• 46:56Lewis Howes?

  You're the man. A pound of was like.

• 46:57Speaker 01

  That's a good person to do it to.

• 46:59Lewis Howes?

  And I, he goes.

• 46:59Speaker 01

  He's like, thanks dude.

• 47:00Lewis Howes?

  He goes, thanks, bro.

• 47:01Speaker 01

  Right?

• 47:02Lewis Howes?

  Thanks, man. And I just walked back. I was like, good man.

• 47:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's like that. He's a, he's a great one to approach.

• 47:08Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 47:08Speaker 01

  Um, I get like scared. I'm like, oh.

• 47:10Lewis Howes?

  No, I, I've said hi to everyone I've met at Glee. I was just like, I love you.

• 47:15Speaker 01

  Good for you.

• 47:16Lewis Howes?

  I love you. You're amazing. I did, cause you know, I, I'm not anywhere at the level of like recognition that you guys have. But whenever I'm out, I really appreciate like when New York or LA, people are like, dude, I love the podcast. I've listened to it all the time. Like, I appreciate it.

• 47:29Speaker 01

  That's great.

• 47:29Lewis Howes?

  I want to like give someone a hug, cause I don't know who's listening.

• 47:31Speaker 01

  Right, right. That's true. You really don't.

• 47:34Lewis Howes?

  You don't know unless they say something.

• 47:35Speaker 01

  Right, right. It's true.

• 47:36Lewis Howes?

  And obviously there's a time and a place, probably you, you know.

• 47:38Speaker 01

  Definitely. See, I love when like, like last night she came up, she says, I'm from New York. I'm just really happy to see you guys here and we miss you on TV.

• 47:44Lewis Howes?

  Oh.

• 47:44Speaker 01

  And that was it. No ask for a photo, nothing like that. Not that I'm against photos or anything, but there's um, a level of respect when somebody just goes and they want nothing from it.

• 47:55Lewis Howes?

  Right, of course. Yeah, you appreciate it more.

• 47:57Speaker 01

  It's, you're like, ah, that's so nice and tasteful.

• 47:59Lewis Howes?

  Now, what was it like, um, when you were on the show? Cause I'm assuming you weren't really well known before. You didn't have this recognition walking down the street.

• 48:05Speaker 01

  No.

• 48:06Lewis Howes?

  So what was it like when all of a sudden people, any time you go down the street, they're like, they noticed you. They said something that came up to you. What was that like for you actually?

• 48:14Speaker 01

  Weird.

• 48:15Lewis Howes?

  Getting this fame and this recognition?

• 48:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, it went, it was weird. Um, most of it was great because, you know, you don't see that. And, and we don't know if what we're doing is right. We know that the ratings are good. And we know that, you know, the critics like it, but it's the fans that keep you going.

• 48:33Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 48:33Speaker 01

  Um, and they were just the most, it was a different group of fans. We started to get high school students who were saying, we're starting Glee clubs. Or you brought music back into my school, or you saved my life. I came out, I'm gay. Like, it was just mind blowing how many social issues were brought up in the show that then could be talked about. You know, in the world.

• 48:56Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 48:56Speaker 01

  And so, um, it was really great and, and cool. And they'd be like, we love Glee. And we were just so weirded out by it, number one, because you're like, um, cool. Number two, they'll call you by your character name a lot in the beginning, like, because they didn't know us.

• 49:11Lewis Howes?

  Tina.

• 49:12Speaker 01

  I still get called Tina. It's okay. Like, I'm cool with it.

• 49:15Lewis Howes?

  It's hard, cause no one knows.

• 49:16Speaker 01

  Yeah. And then some fans will be like, her name's Jenna. Like, thank you. It's okay. We don't need to fight. But, you know, it's, um, it's interesting. You, and especially because of social media, like, your life is not private.

• 49:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 49:35Speaker 01

  And it's weird. And you share things and then people think that they have the right to everything. Some people do. And then, you know, it gets scary sometimes, you know, like, you don't think about things like, when you get packages shipped to your house, you have to change the name. I can't put Janoschek because then people know where I live.

• 49:55Lewis Howes?

  Oh, wow.

• 49:55Speaker 01

  So it's things that you don't think about. The things that you don't realize are like, oh, I don't want somebody knowing my apartment number.

• 50:02Lewis Howes?

  Of course.

• 50:03Speaker 01

  Somebody showing up at my door.

• 50:04Lewis Howes?

  Or in the neighborhood, maybe.

• 50:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, like, driving a car and they follow you home. You know, like, things like that. It's, it doesn't, it never really got that crazy for me, but, um, there, I had fraud charged, you know, like, my email, I changed my email. It's just crazy little things that you don't think about.

• 50:18Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 50:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:19Lewis Howes?

  Who do you think, um, experienced the biggest transformation of being unknown to, like, the biggest fan?

• 50:26Speaker 01

  Chris. Chris Colfer, um, was nineteen when we started the pilot. And the two of us would drive to work every single day together because we didn't really have anybody else. We'd hang out after we were done with rehearsal. We'd go, like, walk around the Grove or walk around the Beverly Center, which we could do at that time.

• 50:40Lewis Howes?

  At that time. Now you can.

• 50:42Speaker 01

  Um, yeah, it was appreciated at the moment. We didn't realize, but, um, and we would just hang out. And he was from Clovis, California. And for people who don't know that, it's a very small town. He was picked on, bullied. Um, he was, he didn't come out before the show came out.

• 50:58Lewis Howes?

  What?

• 50:59Speaker 01

  No, he wasn't out when we were doing the pilot.

• 51:01Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 51:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:02Lewis Howes?

  I thought he was always, wasn't he a gay character on the show?

• 51:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 51:06Lewis Howes?

  But he didn't come out as gay?

• 51:07Speaker 01

  Mm-mm. Until later.

• 51:09Lewis Howes?

  I just assumed that he was.

• 51:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, I know. And so he, uh, yeah.

• 51:12Lewis Howes?

  Told me.

• 51:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was a big transition for him to come into a big city.

• 51:16Lewis Howes?

  And then come out.

• 51:17Speaker 01

  And then come out on TV as well. It was one of those times where you're like, okay. And so when he did that, um, I mean, God, the kid is so strong.

• 51:25Lewis Howes?

  Wow, yeah.

• 51:26Speaker 01

  And so smart.

• 51:27Lewis Howes?

  Talented.

• 51:28Speaker 01

  It's crazy, but he was, you know, a genius. He's, we're all gonna work for him one day, like it basically, we basically are. He, he became this icon, gay icon on TV. For all those kids who didn't know how to come out. I mean, the amount of, you know, response that he got from these people. And now he's literally a gay icon, like Elton John, like loves.

• 51:53Speaker 01

  It's amazing, but he shot in so fast, faster than any of us. And, um, yeah, I definitely, we saw it and it was, you know, it gets, it's a lot. It's a lot for somebody who's young.

• 52:07Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 52:07Speaker 01

  Just out of high school.

• 52:08Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 52:09Speaker 01

  And then like shot, at least like we were, you know, we had like fans in Spring Awakening. And we were sort of used to stuff like that. It was cool.

• 52:16Lewis Howes?

  It sounded like a graph after.

• 52:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's good. But for him, I think it was the biggest.

• 52:20Lewis Howes?

  Right. Now, when, um, what season and episode, uh, did Cory pass?

• 52:26Speaker 01

  Cory passed away, um, in the break of season, um, four to five. Yeah.

• 52:33Lewis Howes?

  In between.

• 52:34Speaker 01

  Yeah. We were like a week away from going back to, to work and then we had to postpone. And like, most of us found out, like I found out, I was out at a bar in New York and I, you know, you think it's like a hoax when you, the celebrities come up and they like die.

• 52:49Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 52:50Speaker 01

  Uh, and we thought it was a joke. And then when I started to see like that it, other people were reporting about it. All my friends, all the cast was here in LA. So I was like by myself.

• 53:00Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 53:00Speaker 01

  And Cord was in New York, thankfully, and Harry too. So like, we met up that night, but, um, yeah, it was a shock. We didn't know. We didn't really know. He kept, uh, one of the.

• 53:11Lewis Howes?

  You didn't know that he was going, cause he was in rehab.

• 53:14Speaker 01

  Going through, yeah, we knew he was in rehab. He came out of rehab and then passed away after he left. So we didn't, we thought he was on the mend. We thought he was on the way up and, um, he, we really didn't know during the time either, like. For me, he kept his like, he kept his enemies his own. It never affected us. It never affected work. It never affected.

• 53:34Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 53:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:35Lewis Howes?

  He was on set, he was focused.

• 53:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, and so it was kind of wild to

• 53:39Lewis Howes?

  He was like a shocker.

• 53:40Speaker 01

  Have something drop like that so fast.

• 53:42Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 53:43Speaker 01

  Um, and it really hurt us too. I don't, you know, I, it's beyond words. The, um, the experience, that, that emotional experience for us. Thankfully, we all had each other and it actually, um, the, the good that came out of that was like, we had pretty, a lot of us had separated from each other. We were doing our own things. We were having our own projects, you know? Um, really brought us back together, like so fast and we, yeah, it definitely, I mean, I don't know if we would be the same and as close and as tight. Um, if he was still around.

• 54:21Lewis Howes?

  Wow, because you guys all had your own, your own fame that was getting

• 54:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:24Lewis Howes?

  Your own opportunities, records.

• 54:26Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 54:27Lewis Howes?

  TV, whatever.

• 54:28Speaker 01

  Everything. So for us, it was like, we were doing our own stuff and, you know, we're still fine. Everybody was great, but like, it's something that you stick now, like, we went through something tragic. And you only come out together stronger like that.

• 54:42Lewis Howes?

  He was a lead, right?

• 54:43Speaker 01

  He was our quarterback. He was our dude. He was the light of the show. He was the, um, heart. You know, he was our leader and we all looked to him.

• 54:55Lewis Howes?

  Was he the real leader in real life too? Wow.

• 54:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:59Lewis Howes?

  So wasn't he just the character?

• 55:01Speaker 01

  Just because he was tall, like, I'm just kidding. He was, uh, he's just a presence. And it was so just wonderful to have. He made people laugh and he would throw, like, they would have rap parties for us, but then they would be like, he would throw like a house rap party for the cast and crew.

• 55:18Lewis Howes?

  At his place.

• 55:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, and like

• 55:19Lewis Howes?

  The one up on the Hollywood Hills.

• 55:20Speaker 01

  Just throw them. Yeah, and it was awesome. And everybody was so appreciative of that because he was always so appreciative and he never complained.

• 55:28Lewis Howes?

  Gosh.

• 55:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:29Lewis Howes?

  Just never know sometimes.

• 55:30Speaker 01

  You really don't. It makes you really think about your life. And think about.

• 55:34Lewis Howes?

  What happened for you after that?

• 55:36Speaker 01

  You know, for me, like a part of the show died when Cory died. And that I think a lot of people, you know, I'm speaking for myself, but I feel like a lot of people feel there was something that's just missing, you know, that's your brother.

• 55:51Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 55:52Speaker 01

  It's just missing. So it was a really hard transition. Everybody was so strong and so amazing. And, you know, we move on and that's what we do. It's life. Um, it was really weird though. You're like, we never, nobody ever experiences that really like, there's not a lot of shows you lose a character, um, and you lose a beloved character and a friend.

• 56:13Speaker 01

  So you're like, what do you do? It's like, you don't even know.

• 56:16Lewis Howes?

  Not a lot of shows and the biggest show.

• 56:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:19Lewis Howes?

  On TV essentially.

• 56:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:20Lewis Howes?

  One of the biggest shows.

• 56:21Speaker 01

  Yeah. So it was, it was weird for a while, um, and never forgotten.

• 56:27Lewis Howes?

  I remember the next episode was just heartbreaking.

• 56:29Speaker 01

  I don't even want to talk about that. It was so hard to do. Um, and the way I like to look at it is like, we got our memorial, we got our time with him, we got our way to say goodbye. Like, um, and the fans didn't. So that was for them.

• 56:43Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 56:43Speaker 01

  You know, for them to say goodbye to Finn.

• 56:45Lewis Howes?

  And wasn't, it wasn't Leah and him dating?

• 56:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, they were dating at the time. So it was even a whole other.

• 56:51Lewis Howes?

  Imagine.

• 56:52Speaker 01

  She's the, one of the strongest people I know.

• 56:54Lewis Howes?

  How do you go on?

• 56:55Speaker 01

  She came in and did the episode with us. You know, she only came in a little bit because, you know, she shouldn't have been around at all. But, um, um, you know, you did, she was dealing, she was doing her own, you know, sort of mourning and grieving. But she came in and did the song and that was heartbreaking and, you know, if you watched it, you saw it. But, uh, yeah, they were dating at the time. They did for a long time before that. Um, and they were, they made each other better.

• 57:19Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 57:20Speaker 01

  So it was, you know, we loved it. It was great to see them together and to have, uh, like mom and dad sort of lead the way. Um, so yeah, I, but you move on. You do and you appreciate, and we never forgot him. I mean, like, we talked about, you know, the script talked about him all the time, like our characters.

• 57:36Lewis Howes?

  Flashbacks.

• 57:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, which were like killer, but, um, we, we, that had to happen. I mean, you have to keep him. In the show.

• 57:45Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 57:46Speaker 01

  Incorporated.

• 57:47Lewis Howes?

  How have you stayed so grounded?

• 57:50Speaker 01

  Um.

• 57:52Lewis Howes?

  Biggest, biggest show in the world. Fans everywhere.

• 57:56Speaker 01

  I mean, look at it now. We're all, you know, trying to get the next job and, and we're all like human beings. So it's one of those things you just like a keen sense of awareness keeps you and humility keeps you down to earth, you know?

• 58:10Lewis Howes?

  That's another thing. It's like, how does, how do you and your cast, your, your family handle like being the biggest, most important people to, I wouldn't say irrelevant, but I mean, just like, now what?

• 58:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, no, no. I mean, really, it keeps you.

• 58:26Lewis Howes?

  Cause I don't know any of the, any of the cast members who are on TV.

• 58:29Speaker 01

  No, not right now. I don't think so. Yeah.

• 58:32Lewis Howes?

  So it's like.

• 58:32Speaker 01

  I mean, people are doing stuff.

• 58:34Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 58:35Speaker 01

  You know, we're all working hard. It's just a matter of, yeah, going from something to, to absolutely like 180 to, you know, you're in park for a second.

• 58:43Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 58:44Speaker 01

  Um.

• 58:46Speaker 01

  We're human.

• 58:47Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 58:47Speaker 01

  I mean, like I, you go to Comic Con and like, you see, like, I like to call Comic Con like, you know, like camp for celebrities where you go and hang out with your friends. Like it's the one time I know I get to see like a lot of my friends who are off doing movies and off, you know, in Atlanta or Vancouver. And so, and you just remember like, these people are human and they're your friends and they're normal and they don't, this isn't everything that they are. Um. And you can get lost in that so easy. We did, you know, um, because we had to, you have to like sort of give into the Hollywood life. You have to give into, um, getting your hair makeup done all the time and going to these events and just putting on a good face.

• 59:29Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 59:29Speaker 01

  Um.

• 59:30Lewis Howes?

  And acting like a big deal and.

• 59:31Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, there were days that like, you know, I would be, I would have a terrible day or something would happen with like my boyfriend or my family and you'd have to go to this event and put on a smile and

• 59:40Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 59:41Speaker 01

  do it.

• 59:41Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 59:42Speaker 01

  Um, but that's the, those are the things that bring you back real fast.

• 59:46Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, right?

• 59:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 59:48Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 59:48Speaker 01

  I owe my parents also have always taught me that from the beginning because they put me in the business so for so early and child stars can be crazy.

• 59:55Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 59:56Speaker 01

  Um.

• 59:58Speaker 01

  They were always like, Jenna, just remember to keep a good head on your shoulders.

• 1:00:01Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:00:02Speaker 01

  Yeah. So I owe it to them.

• 1:00:03Lewis Howes?

  How many tattoos do you have?

• 1:00:05Speaker 01

  Uh, I think 23 now.

• 1:00:06Lewis Howes?

  23?

• 1:00:07Speaker 01

  Yeah. They're all little though, because I don't have a sleeve or anything, but they're like, I have my feet and my ribs, my back and.

• 1:00:13Lewis Howes?

  What's the most meaningful one to you?

• 1:00:15Speaker 01

  Oh goodness. Um, well, they all have meaning.

• 1:00:17Lewis Howes?

  Of course.

• 1:00:19Speaker 01

  Um, well, meaningful to myself.

• 1:00:24Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 1:00:25Speaker 01

  Aneesh is backwards. It's Jenna backwards. My dad calls me that. Um, and I did my lucky number 28 in Roman numerals because, and my dad always plays that for like lottery and stuff. So, um, that's for my family, my dad. And then this one we got for Tina. I got for Tina. For a Glee. Um, and then like the rest, well, this one too, because me, Leah and Kevin were in Chicago. I think it was during Oprah time and we like took a cab and we were like, we're going to a tattoo parlor. And we all got Imagine because he just finished that song, you know, with the, um, the deaf students.

• 1:01:00Lewis Howes?

  Oh, wow.

• 1:01:01Speaker 01

  And we did, uh, Imagine and they signed it. So we all got Imagine somewhere.

• 1:01:05Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. What's, uh, what's the next tattoo? What would you get?

• 1:01:09Speaker 01

  I, I'm actually, um, want to go get another one while I'm here. Uh, I said I wouldn't do anymore, but, uh, I want to do the Taurus constellation. That's probably next.

• 1:01:23Lewis Howes?

  Okay. I love it. Uh, a few more questions for you. I feel like I could talk to you for. Um, how, how are you handling, let's say, rejections that come up now and let's say, I don't want to say you're getting rejected.

• 1:01:36Speaker 01

  I get it. No, I get, I'm doing that because I literally, it's hard. It's hard.

• 1:01:40Lewis Howes?

  I'm saying there's a lot of people that, that put themselves out there and then that are looking to get a job and people say, no.

• 1:01:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:46Lewis Howes?

  You know, try to do business deals that are, you know, what it.

• 1:01:48Speaker 01

  You know, I have to keep in mind, I've been going through it because this is pilot season. And for people who don't know, pilot season is like when all the new TV shows do their pilots. And then the networks look and say, we're going to pick three out of the 10.

• 1:01:59Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 1:01:59Speaker 01

  So all the characters are being cast right now and I've gone out on a plethora of auditions and they're great. You know, they're going really well. Um. You're making relationships, even if you don't get the job and you're making good impressions.

• 1:02:13Lewis Howes?

  Of course. But how do you handle it?

• 1:02:16Speaker 01

  So it's hard. I mean, literally day to day, it's up and down. I'm like, I love LA and I love this. And then the next day I'm like, I hate everything. I'm quitting.

• 1:02:25Speaker 01

  You have to keep in mind, the right project is gonna come at the right time. Not every project. I mean, I'm 110% in everything I do from waking up in the morning and drinking my coffee. Like, you know, it's just like everything is. Yes, exactly. So, you know, you can't get married to the parts before you fuck them. I have to like, let it go, let it go. And you have to remember that it's just the right timing and the right character and it's gonna all happen. Like, there was a pilot I did for Disney years, years ago. And during that time, I would have been for the six years. It didn't get picked up. Well, it did, but I got recast, actually. They brought in a different woman to play the role. And had I done the show while it was running, I wouldn't have been able to have just frigged.

• 1:03:10Speaker 01

  So like, everything just, it all makes sense.

• 1:03:13Lewis Howes?

  Of course, yeah.

• 1:03:14Speaker 01

  So that's what I keep in mind. But I don't, it's, it's really like a day to day. And I live, I'm living with my best friend Kevin, who plays Artie, right now.

• 1:03:23Lewis Howes?

  Oh, really?

• 1:03:24Speaker 01

  And we're both auditioning and we keep each other sane. Here, here in LA. I'm staying with him.

• 1:03:29Lewis Howes?

  Gotcha.

• 1:03:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, and we're great. We are, we've always been the best of friends and, you know.

• 1:03:35Lewis Howes?

  He's very talented, too.

• 1:03:36Speaker 01

  He's in, he's insane. He's literally insane. And he can dance and he can sing and he can write and he's just smart.

• 1:03:42Lewis Howes?

  The episode where he got to dance, I was like, yes.

• 1:03:44Speaker 01

  I know, we were all so happy.

• 1:03:46Lewis Howes?

  It was amazing.

• 1:03:46Speaker 01

  And on tour, like, we wake up in the morning and go get breakfast and then they go around the city together. So like, everything we did was just.

• 1:03:52Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 1:03:53Speaker 01

  Yeah. I don't know what I'd do without him, but even during pilot season now, like, we keep each other in check. We run lines with each other. We.

• 1:04:00Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 1:04:02Speaker 01

  When we're having a bad day, like we'll go and he's like, let's just go get like cheeseburgers or something and you know, try and forget about it. So it is good to have a support system here.

• 1:04:11Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 1:04:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's hard though. It is hard, hard, hard. There are days, we both had one really bad day this time. We're laying on the couch like, what are we doing?

• 1:04:22Lewis Howes?

  Especially when you were on the top of the world.

• 1:04:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, you go from something and then we look at each other, we're like, I missed that show.

• 1:04:30Speaker 01

  It's one of those things sometimes.

• 1:04:33Lewis Howes?

  Now, I think I read you have a breathing exercise, right? That you follow or you practice? Do you have a breathing exercise?

• 1:04:40Speaker 01

  I try. I don't have one that I, I stick to.

• 1:04:44Lewis Howes?

  Something different?

• 1:04:45Speaker 01

  It's all about, you know, like when I go to sleep at night, I try to, when I can't fall asleep. I try not to, I used to take melatonin a lot and like try or do something to maybe go to bed.

• 1:04:54Lewis Howes?

  Relax, yeah.

• 1:04:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, and now it's just focusing on my breathing.

• 1:04:58Lewis Howes?

  How important is your breathing for you?

• 1:05:00Speaker 01

  Oh, it's everything. I mean, literally, everything.

• 1:05:04Speaker 01

  I need to, I sometimes like at stoplights, I'll put my car in park and I'll close my eyes. I know it's probably not the safest. My therapist said it was okay to do that. And I just close my eyes and, and I listen to my breathing. And I'll just like say something to myself, either it's whether it's something that I'm grateful for or whatever's going through my head. It's just, you know, be quiet, Jenna. And then like I'll open my eyes and I'll, you know, in the light of day, there's somebody will honk at me and I'll go. Or it'll be before the light changes.

• 1:05:34Lewis Howes?

  Sure, that's cool. I like it. Okay, final few questions.

• 1:05:37Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:05:38Lewis Howes?

  I'm gonna keep saying this every question.

• 1:05:39Speaker 01

  It's fine.

• 1:05:41Lewis Howes?

  Hold on, I want to wrap this with you. I want to ask the question. If you could say one sentence to your biological mom and your biological dad, and it'd be the only sentence, that say they're both alive.

• 1:05:55Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:05:57Lewis Howes?

  You can say one thing to them each. And that'll be the only thing you'll ever get to say to them. For them to hear about you. They don't even know what you've created in your life. They don't even know you're alive.

• 1:06:07Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:06:08Lewis Howes?

  Uh, they don't know where you're headed, what you've done, where you've been. But they get one sentence each to hear.

• 1:06:14Speaker 01

  This is like a lot of pressure.

• 1:06:16Lewis Howes?

  I didn't give her time to prepare this.

• 1:06:17Speaker 01

  No, no, no, it's good.

• 1:06:18Lewis Howes?

  This is just off the cuff.

• 1:06:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, I'll definitely, okay.

• 1:06:21Lewis Howes?

  I'm, I'm the, the cast and director's telling you to improv here.

• 1:06:24Speaker 01

  Okay, okay. Um.

• 1:06:26Lewis Howes?

  So tell me, it's your mom.

• 1:06:27Speaker 01

  Mom and dad.

• 1:06:27Lewis Howes?

  Your mom. No, you get one sentence for each.

• 1:06:29Speaker 01

  It'd be the same.

• 1:06:30Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:06:30Speaker 01

  Um.

• 1:06:31Lewis Howes?

  So you get two sentences.

• 1:06:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, thank you. Uh, mom and dad. Thank you. Uh, for giving me the opportunity to have a better life than you could give. Um, I'm, I'm happy. I'm healthy. Um. I'm living wholeheartedly. I do not take what you did for granted. Um, and I love you and I hope you're happy.

• 1:07:04Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, that's beautiful.

• 1:07:05Speaker 01

  Thanks.

• 1:07:06Lewis Howes?

  That's great. Um, the, the final three questions that I ask everyone.

• 1:07:11Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:07:12Lewis Howes?

  First one is what are you most grateful for in your life recently?

• 1:07:15Speaker 01

  Um. My god, my new goddaughter.

• 1:07:19Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:07:20Speaker 01

  Um, she's taught me a different, to have a different perspective, which I hadn't had in a while.

• 1:07:25Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:26Speaker 01

  Um. And I'm most grateful for being alive. I'm grateful that I get to go on auditions and I get to live comfortably while I'm not. And I get, I have wander hole friends and then I'm realizing like what makes me happy and not making excuses for it.

• 1:07:47Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:07:48Speaker 01

  Or, you know, not having to apologize for it.

• 1:07:50Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:07:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:07:52Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. So this is, uh, since you're gonna live for another hundred years, this is a hundred years from now, it's your last day. You've had an incredible life.

• 1:08:03Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:08:04Lewis Howes?

  You've had a lot of great men in your life, a lot of great friends, incredible family. You've achieved everything you wanted to achieve, every dream possible.

• 1:08:13Speaker 01

  Whoa.

• 1:08:14Lewis Howes?

  It's happened.

• 1:08:15Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:08:15Lewis Howes?

  And then some. And you're peaceful, everything's good, but your books, your movies, glee has been erased from time. So no one has any, uh, they can't watch or read anything that you've ever done.

• 1:08:31Lewis Howes?

  But your great, great, great granddaughter or someone comes up and says, you got a piece of paper and a pen to write down three truths. The three things you know to be true about your entire experience, your life from all the ups and downs, the beautiful things. This will be the only thing that we get to remember your message by. That's written down. What would you write down as the three truths that you know to be true about your experience and that other people should focus on in their life as well?

• 1:09:02Speaker 01

  Um, one of them would be. My truth is living for the bigger picture, living for the greater good. Knowing that what I was doing left a mark that was bigger than myself. Uh, number two would be living with the awareness of living with self-worth and self-love or trying to every day. And three, one of the, the third one would be

• 1:09:43Speaker 01

  something about living a life that is not led by fear, but led by challenges that allowed you to expand and grow and learn continually.

• 1:09:59Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, I love it. It's a great truth. I love it.

• 1:10:02Speaker 01

  Okay. That was a lot of pressure.

• 1:10:05Lewis Howes?

  It's alright.

• 1:10:06Speaker 01

  You know, it's your last day.

• 1:10:08Lewis Howes?

  Before I ask the final question.

• 1:10:10Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:10:11Lewis Howes?

  Where is the best place to connect with you online? You've got a new podcast. What's it called?

• 1:10:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, so my podcast is called Infinite Positivities.

• 1:10:19Lewis Howes?

  I love it.

• 1:10:21Speaker 01

  And you can search at willradio.com for all of our podcasts. Or you can go to iTunes and search Infinite Positivities or Jenna Ashkowitz, which has been so much fun. And it's actually like I learned, I mean, I'm sure you know, it's you learn so much about people and about yourself. And it's such a cool experience. I'm loving it.

• 1:10:46Speaker 01

  Also, I'm Jenna Ashkowitz at Instagram, Twitter, and is that it?

• 1:10:52Lewis Howes?

  Facebook.

• 1:10:52Speaker 01

  Is there more? Yes, I have Facebook. And that's it. I mean, yeah.

• 1:10:58Lewis Howes?

  Cool. And the book, Choosing Glee.

• 1:10:59Speaker 01

  And Choosing Glee.

• 1:11:00Lewis Howes?

  Make sure to check it out. It's a cool, great book. 10 Rules of Finding Inspiration, Happiness in the Real You. I love it. Before I ask the final question, I want to acknowledge you Jenna for your incredible positivity, your incredible joy, your love. You just express so much of it constantly.

• 1:11:19Speaker 01

  Thank you. I try.

• 1:11:21Lewis Howes?

  Whether it be the work you're creating, this book, I experienced it and meeting you for the first time. Just right when I saw you walk in the door, I was just like, I gotta give her a big hug.

• 1:11:29Speaker 01

  You did. It was so nice.

• 1:11:30Lewis Howes?

  So I want to acknowledge you for the life you've lived where you could easily have questioned, why did this happen to me? Why am I here? Where's my real family? All these other questions, but you lived with positivity. You showed up every single day and you followed your dreams of doing what you loved.

• 1:11:47Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:11:48Lewis Howes?

  And I want to acknowledge you for taking risks and doing these out of your comfort zone, which created magic in your life.

• 1:11:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, it does.

• 1:11:58Lewis Howes?

  And the thing that you created on Glee saved thousands of lives. And I want to acknowledge you for the countless hours of work and commitment when you maybe didn't want to be there to stick it out and give your best because you literally changed the world.

• 1:12:13Speaker 01

  Thank you very much.

• 1:12:15Lewis Howes?

  For all of your incredible gifts. The final question is what's your definition of greatness?

• 1:12:22Speaker 01

  Greatness is, to me, always reaching and always working to hit your best self, your most complete self. Greatness is showing up when you didn't think you could. Greatness is happiness.

• 1:12:47Lewis Howes?

  There you go. Jenna Aschowitz, thanks for coming on the show.

• 1:12:51Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:12:52Lewis Howes?

  Appreciate you.

• 1:12:53Speaker 01

  Awesome.

• 1:12:54Lewis Howes?

  There you have it. Thank you so much for being here. It means the world that you show up, you're present, you listen, and most importantly, you take action on the information provided in today's episode and interview. Jenna was so kind to stick around and we sang a little song. So if you want to go check out the show notes, lewishouse.com/306, you can see me playing the guitar, which I haven't played in months, and you can hear her singing a song, which she says she hasn't sung in a long time. So you get to see us form a little two-person band. And you can check out that video again at lewishouse.com/306 and the full video interview with Jenna there as well.

• 1:13:39Lewis Howes?

  Thank you guys so much for being here. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes if you're not yet a subscriber. We come out with episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, designed to make your life better, to improve the quality of your life, to support you in becoming the optimal human being that you can be. So make sure to subscribe and share these episodes with your friends because we are building a movement of greatness. Over a million downloads every single month right now, three years in, and it's only getting bigger and better because of you. I appreciate and love you guys so very much. Thank you for being here. You know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.