The Story Behind the Storyteller

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortes. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortes. I'm your host,

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Alise Cortes, joining you from Dallas, Texas, which is home base

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for me. This program is all
about helping people more meaningfully and productively connect

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with their work and equipping organizations to
do the same for their employees. I

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bring on guests to have a particular
perspective or experience that I think expands the

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conversation, and I often draw on
the meeting of work research I've been doing

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over the last fifteen years, as
well as from my own consulting, speaking

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and developing workforces across the globe.
Last week, if you missed the live

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show, oh you can always catch
if the recorded podcast. Did you know

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that by twenty twenty, fifty percent
of the workforce will be comprised of the

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millennial generation. We were on the
air with Sherry Elliot Yeri, who is

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known as the generational Guru. She's
the author of Ties to Tattoos, turning

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generational differences into competitive advantage. We
talked about the ideas in the book series

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she is soon releasing called Crack the
Millennial Code, where one book is on

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marketing, second is managing, and
third is motivating millennials. With us this

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week is Ashley Kate Adams, who
is a working actress and producer at AKA

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Studio Productions, Broadway and First National
Tour talent, starring in many productions which

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we'll talk about. She also inspired
and co produced the film Beauty Mark,

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which debuted at the twenty seventeen LA
Film Festival. She is the proud producer

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at AKA Studio Productions of such films
as Photo Op, Rules of Cool,

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Ace Mulligan and The Dodgers. We'll
be talking about how she entered the entertainment

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industry, some hard lessons she's learned
along the way, and how she's persisted

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in her field, and hear about
a few of the direction she's most proud

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of. She joins us today from
New York City. Ashley Kate welcome to

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working on Purpose. Thank you so
much, Elise. How are you doing

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today? I am so great.
We got to give a shout out to

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how we met. Thank you American
Airlines for uniting us. Yes, the

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two of us airlines, Yes,
the two of us r on a flight

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from Dallas to La Guardia a couple
weeks ago. I guess it was.

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And she was my seat mate that
I didn't talk to for hardly any of

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the flight until the very end,
and then I discovered this prize next to

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me. So I'm so happy to
have met you, and I can't wait

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to share this story with our listeners. Oh, thank you so much.

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We definitely made every minute count.
We did. I did. I took

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furious notes and here we are,
so so First things first, Ashley Kate,

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you know, of all things,
why this career enacting in movies?

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I mean, there are so many
things you could have done with herself,

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you know, been a construction person, been you know, in marketing,

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in accounting, for goodness sakes,
and you chose this field. I think

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it comes down to kind of being
a family business like you know sometimes you

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hear like a third generation business like
my father, you know, owned an

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air conditioning company. And now I'm
you know, passing that down to my

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son and his son or his daughter. And my family has always been in

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a storytelling business. I was born
and raised in a musical theater family.

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My mom and dad had BFA's a
musical theater just like me, and so

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acting has always kind of been a
home for me. You know. The

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theatrical stage has always been home to
me. And then as I've gotten older,

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it has expanded and kind of grown
and evolved into movies. Okay,

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I get that. So this is
the water you've been swimming in for the

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last you know, from well,
I guess the last bit of your life.

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You're thirty years old. We can
actually say absolutely, you know,

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beautiful thirty That was a beautiful time
in my life. I might tell you

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several years ago, but I remember
it fondly. But you could have chosen,

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like I did, not to go
to the path of your parents.

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My parents were fantastic entrepreneurs, first
in farming and then in the restaurant business,

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and I loved all of that exposure. But I didn't choose those as

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a field. You did choose your
parents' field. Why, yeah, I

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mean, I just had to.
You know, growing up, everybody was

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like, where do you want to
live when you're older? Where do you

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want to live when you're older?
And I was like, well, New

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York City. And they're like why, Like why would you want to move

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away from your parents, away from
Kentucky. I studied school in Cincinnati,

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and everybody's like, why in the
heck do you want to go to New

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York And I would always say,
since I had been fourteen years old,

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well, it's because Broadway is there. And so I think I just picked

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it because I just always felt this
call to the stage, and I wanted

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to do it on a grand scale, and I just always felt so passionate

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about it. And it's funny,
you know, because my parents weren't in

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the industry, but in a smaller
market like Louisville, Kentucky, I knew

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it was going to be challenging.
You know. They were never stage parents,

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but they always just allowed opportunities to
be around me, and so I

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just kept moving forward and judging forward, and then I ended up here in

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New York City. Yeah, it's
wonderful. Well along the way, and

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you and I talked about this a
bit on the plane. You must have

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had just a couple of important influences
or mentors. Yes, no, kind

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of, oh absolutely absolutely. Obviously
my mother and father. You know,

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they kind of were naturally my first
voice and acting teachers, not by choice,

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just by watching their trade. But
my theatrical home base in all of

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the United States is actually it's a
little dinner theater called Derby Dinner Playhouse that

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my mom still works at and she
still performs there every single night. And

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my mom and dad were kind of
one of the first couples who helped get

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the theater kind of off the ground
in the eighties, and so all of

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that, those people, that tribe
of people that still work there today,

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I watched them. They were my
mentors. Another very important person in my

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life is a woman named Sandra Rivera. She owned the dance studio in Louisville,

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Kentucky, and she first she was
the first musical theater dance studio owner

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in the area, because you know, it's a special field for acting,

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singing, and dance and nurturing all
those abilities. So she started a group

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with me called the Showbiz Kids,
and we toured the United States and lots

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of theme parks, including Coney Island, and Cincinnati and some theme parks Rhode

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Island, all around the United States, and so I performed with her.

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I also had incredible teachers at Youth
Performing Arts High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

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I was just so blessed with all
this training, and then when I

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moved to college to Cincinnati Conservatory of
Music, I can't you know, I

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wouldn't be where I am today without
are the head of our department, Aubrey

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Berg from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music,
who he also gave me my Union Equity

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card along with Lynd Myers at the
Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati. So those people

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were definitely my first mentors of my
theatrical career. Oh my gosh. You

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know, it's so important who we
pick up in life along the way.

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In fact, I think it's Robert
Keegan if I'll give the hymn credit for

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saying this. He says that the
sum total of who you become in life

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are the people you happen to recruit
into your life along the way. Isn't

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that amazing? It is amazing,
and you are so correct, and that

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is so true. I just have
to share with you quickly. You had

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that inner voice that told you to
go to New York City, and I

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think we talked about this on the
plane. I grew up in a very

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small town in northeastern Oregon that had
at the time when I was in high

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school, four eight hundred people and
maybe a couple. And I worked for

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my parents in the restaurant business that
they that they had, and my dad

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wanted me to take the business over
when I was eighteen. But what he

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didn't know, Ashley Kate, was
all those years that I was waiting tables

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for him, people would come through
this little town of ours going someplace else,

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and they were from really exotic places
like Portland, Oregon, which is

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where like Portland, Oregon, which
is where I decided to you know,

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haul myself too when I got out
of high school, so I could appreciate

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this. You had the call for
New York City. I had the call

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for Portland, Oregon. That's right, I know, I know. And

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so you you were being called to
Broadway and you got there by age twenty

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three? How did that happen?
I did? And you know, it's

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so funny growing up being this black
sheep of a musical theater family. I

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was just so passionate, and I
would always say, I want to make

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it to Broadway by sixteen, and
my young younger self thought that if I

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didn't make it by sixteen, that
I wasn't a success. Talk about you

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know, just like having a little
too much drive there. But I did

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make my broad isn't that crazy?
I did make my Broadway debut at age

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twenty three and the gorgeous revival of
Lakaja Fall, and the show had been

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on Broadway two times previous before that. I mean that is thanks to my

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incredible team at the time, my
first agent actually from Kentucky, my first

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manager actually I spoke to him today. His name's Chase Jennings, and he

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vetted me into Station three Entertainment.
They got that appointment in from some incredible

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casting directors up here in New York
City, and I booked it. It

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was an immediate replacement because one of
my dear friends actually got pregnant with her

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child and she was playing a very
conservative role going home to meet the parents,

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so they couldn't have and on my
arm if you will, pregnant.

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So my first role in that show
every night was the role of Collette,

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and it was to cover and stand
by for that role, and then I

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was very lucky. It was very
interesting how life creeps in. I made

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my Broadway debut on a Tuesday evening
and we got told that the show would

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be closing the next Wednesday. So
the next day, after the matinee show,

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I got told the show would be
closing. So it was a very

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high highs and very low lows within
the first twenty four hours. I can

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appreciate that. Well, just quickly. What's it like though, to be

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on Broadway at age twenty three?
I mean, just a true dream come

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true. And there's this great song
an act too of Lacage. It's called

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the Best of Times, and the
whole song is about the best of times

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is now, and it's about being
present in the moment. And I remember

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every night because I did get to
do I think I did thirty one shows

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before it closed, you know,
when we got that notice, and I

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just remembered looking out into the seats, thinking, this is it. This

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is what I've dreamed of, you
know, my whole life. I've dreamt

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of this my whole life, and
it was it was the coolest thing ever.

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And you try to slow down in
the moment and you try to appreciate

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it and you know, just be
kind to everyone you meet and say thank

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you as much as you can.
Truly was a dream come true. And

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I got to tour with the show
for the next nine months across the United

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States and play gorgeous venues like the
Kennedy Center in Washington, d C.

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And the famous fabulous Fox Theater in
a Saint Louis, And it's truly a

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dream come true. Well, if
you can, that's amazing. It's just

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so wonderful to see somebody go for
the gusto in their life and get that.

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I mean, you know that I
speak unpassionate purpose all the time because

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so many people are walking through the
world and they're dead Ashley Kate, They're

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not living that, they're not screaming
for their dreams like that. Yeah,

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So would you sketch for us just
briefly a little bit of your career.

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I want to talk more about some
of your actual work in the third segment,

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but sketch high level what you've done
to date. Okay. I was

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in the closing Broadway company of the
Tony Award winning Lacazo foll. I was

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in the first national tour of lacajo
Full as well in the role of Collette.

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I have been seen on television and
shows like Tina Fey's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

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on Netflix. I have been seen
in USA's Royal Pains. My voice has

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been heard on television shows like HBO's
True Detective and The Michael J. Fox

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Show on NBC. And then I
have been in such films as One Message

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Pitching Tents, which is currently available
on vod and Apple TV on Amazon Prime.

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And then I've produced three television series, one called Rules of Cool that

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I created with my best girlfriends not
long after Lacage Capital, Advice, Mulligan,

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and a few others. So I'd
say that's the broad strokes, if

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you will. That is one of
those kind of things where I look at

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you as a thirty year old person
and I see all you have done and

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it's just fantastic. Oh my gosh, you are very kind. Thank you,

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And it's funny. You know,
as artists and as entrepreneurs, sometimes

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inside of us, you know it
never feels enough, and we just keep

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pushing ourselves. So I truly appreciate
that affirmation. Well absolutely, And you

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know, sometimes you don't really know
just all you've done until you talk with

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other people and you just start to
say it out loud for yourself, and

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then you start to just sort of
hear what other people are doing. Now

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that we want to compare ourselves to
others, but right you know, there's

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something about going, oh, wow, I've really done all this stuff in

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these short years. Absolutely, And
I think coming from a place of being

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an actress first and then you know, in the later part of my twenties

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expanding to also becoming a producer.
I looked at how busy this week was,

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and you know, as you said, we'll kind of discuss some of

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these amazing events going on in my
life this week, and I looked at

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it and I go, oh,
my god, I actually created every single

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one of these opportunities for myself,
and that is whoo. That's a lot,

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you know, to be like,
Wow, Okay, I built all

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these things from the ground up,
and it's just I'm grateful that I've been

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able to do it. I don't
know how, but it takes a village,

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I'll say that it does. And
I think it's wonderful that you talk

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about, you know, being aware
that you generated these opportunities. They didn't

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just come to you and just land
on your doorstep. You generated them.

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Of course you had help and you
had people around you, but you generated

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them. And there's I think the
reason I want to say that to our

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listeners is that there's so much that
we don't understand about how much we can

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empower ourselves and the power that we
do have to create the lives and the

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futures that we want for ourselves,
if only we'll get into action and start

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at it. Absolutely, you can
dream it, you can do it.

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I truly believe that. Well,
all right, well let's do this.

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Let's take a short little break here
because I want to be able to take

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the next segment and really hit the
lessons that you've learned, some of the

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experiences you've had along the way.
So I'm your host at least Cortes.

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We have it on the air with
Ashley Kate Adams, who is a working

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actress and producer Broadway and first National
Tour talent. She joins us today from

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New York City. We've been talking
a bit about her background, her history,

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how she got into this space and
being on Broadway by age twenty three,

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and how her young career at age
thirty has unfolded. Stay with us,

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we'll be right back. We're going
to talk about important lessons and experiences

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then. Elise Cortes is a speaker
and engagement and development catalyst. She designs

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and delivers professional development, leadership and
engagement workshops and can bring her expertise to

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your organization. She will help ignite
meaningful development within your workforce that will increase

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employee engagement, performance and retention.
To learn more or to invite Elise to

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speak to your organization, please visit
her at www dot Elisecortes dot com.

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She would welcome the opportunity to help
get your employees working on purpose. This

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is working on purpose with Elise Cortes. To reach our prom today, send

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an email to a lease Alise at
Aleiscortes dot com. Now back to working

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on purpose if you're just joining us. My guest is Ashley Kate Adams,

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who is a working actress and producer
at AKA Studio Productions, Broadway and First

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National Tour Talent, as well starring
in many productions which we'll talk about a

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little bit later. She also inspired
and co produced the film Beauty Mark,

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which debuted at the twenty seventeen LA
Film Festival. I'm your host, Alise

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Cortes. So we talked before about
how you got yourself into this business.

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What I want to talk about are
some of those really crucial lessons and experiences

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you've had along the way that have
really shaped who you are. There's something

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about right, There's something about being
in that space and recognizing those things at

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the time and then letting them inform
your being that I really think makes you

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a pretty spectacular young woman. Thank
you, You're welcome. So to start

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this is hard. You lost your
dad in August of twenty sixteen, and

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we talked on the plane about how
important that was a reset for you.

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So tell us about your dad,
what he means to you, and how

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his death has helped you reset.
My dad just was the best human being.

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His name was Ernie Adams, Ernest
Adams, and he's an actor and

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a singer and a lover of the
arts, married to my mom for many

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years, and he has three beautiful
children. I would like to think I'm

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the oldest of three. He he
just always encouraged me to live my dream

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and kind of as we were talking
about this, calling to go to New

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York, you know, to my
to my dad, it was never too

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big of a dream, and he
understood it, and he said to me

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many times, you know, my
mom and dad are very talented people,

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and they could have moved to New
York and they they could have they could

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have done this career. They could
have also you know, been on Broadway.

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But my dad always knew that he
wanted to settle down and start a

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family so the next generation could do
it. And I always just meant so

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much to me. And when I
was in my mid twenties and this kind

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of rumbling started inside of me to
kind of create and lead my own work,

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my father was just my biggest cheerleader
and my biggest fan. Of course

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my mother as well, but my
father just you know, every day on

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his lunch break, he would call
me from work and we would talk about

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what's next, and he would he
would help me have courage on the path

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as I was kind of like starting
out in an area that like you know,

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just was dark, like I didn't
know what was truly going to be

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before me, and he just was
always so encouraging to me and just like

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my right hand man. And yeah, so in July of twenty sixteen,

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I was teaching for this amazing company
I work for here called a class at

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New York. I teach Broadway boot
camps for them as well as I direct

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their productions. And I got a
call in the middle of class that my

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dad had gone to the doctor and
he got moved to the cancer wing.

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And I'm not kidding you. Five
weeks later he passed. Still unbelievable,

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in August twentieth, twenty sixteen,
at like seven to fifteen pm. Unbelievable.

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Yeah, And how was that a
reset for you? I think,

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especially when you are a young adult
and you lose your rock and one of

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your parents, you know, kind
of out of order of your life.

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Right, It's like you think,
oh, I'm gonna maybe grow older,

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hopefully get married, hopefully have children. Then you think maybe years and years

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after that, you know, you
might lose somebody. I think having those

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sequence of events challenged and having the
loss of that spirit and presence in your

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life, it caused as you to
literally reset your life, to literally refocus

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how you function. And that's what
it did for me. I mean it

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literally gutted me out. I mean, the grieving process is not fun.

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And to be frank, I had
a very charmed life as far as loss

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was concerned. You know, I
lost all of my grandparents when I was

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in my twenties, and like the
closest person to me who passed, and

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there were you know, many people
as I've kind of talked about in my

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life, in my family's artistic life. I mean, we lost like our

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deacon at church. I mean that
was the closest thing I had for loss

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other than my incredible three of my
grandparents who passed and yeah, my dad.

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I just I lost them and it
forced me to look at my life

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in a completely different way in order
to continue moving forward, in order to

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continue living with purpose. I'd see
that as so profound. And again I

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talk to my listeners a lot about
when life, you know, gives you

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lemons. Can you can you find
a way to make lemonade? And your

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ability, right, your ability to
step out of that with resilience and even

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more resolve and focus is a testament
to you, Ashley Kate. It's a

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testament to you, and I want
to acknowledge that and honor that in you

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here. Thank you. That means
a lot. You're welcome. Yeah,

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I know, right, life is
you know, here's a great thing.

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Right, We as human beings come
equipped with this full, beautiful spectrum of

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emotions. And do you know how
many people try so hard to wedge out

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those that emotional spectrum because it's hard
to live in the emotional space, but

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can also be so beautiful and contributing
to our lives. And so I want

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to also acknowledge how you are handling
yourself and dealing with all the emotions that

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I know are willing in you right
now. Yeah, he's proud. This

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is cool. I think he wherever
he is right now, he is he

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is very proud that this is happening, you know. Yes, it is

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special. Thrilled again that I got
to cross paths with you and now you're

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part of my life, My dear, you're not getting away from me.

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So I O, what are the
other things we talked about on the plane,

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which I think is hopelessly interesting and
definitely something I would would want you

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to share with our listeners. Is
you talked about some important lessons you've learned

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along the way around boundaries. What
do you mean about boundaries and what have

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you learned? So? I think
the biggest lesson that I was forced to

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learn from my father's death was the
idea of valuing myself, valuing my energy,

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valuing my potential, valuing my place
in other people's lives, valuing my

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place within the creation of properties of
ideas. Because when the person passes that's

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trying has been trying to teach you
this lesson your whole life, you know,

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you're left out in the middle of
the water, and it's like you

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better know now, You better you
know know the lesson by now because you

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have to. You're the only one
who can, you know, keep reminding

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yourself of this because that person can't
physically be there anymore to reassure you.

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And and so with that value comes
I think a new reflection and just understanding

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of boundaries. And I think when
you grow up as a young woman in

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the entertainment industry, you're taught that
you're kind of on this bottom of the

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bold of the toltem pole, if
you will, especially as like a blonde,

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outgoing actress. You know, people, you've heard it a billion times.

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It's like people look at you,
they think you're a dime a dozen.

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They can call you into the room, and you know, the first

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film I ever worked on, it
was a non union film and I was

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getting my feet wet, and I
tell you it was a really just a

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really challenging experience and I was not
treated properly by that director, and that

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really informed I think my future and
I wanted to create a safe space for

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work and I think that's why now
I created AKA Pseudo Productions. And you

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know, I've learned many hard lessons
with creating my own work. And when

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you are a producer, when you
are a young creator, all you want

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to do is share, share,
share, You want to get everybody excited,

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come together for common purpose. And
you know, sometimes you can fall

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into challenging you know, relationships in
your personal life. But for me it's

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more so you know, been in
business sometimes where of course people are going

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to be attracted to that energy and
that drive and you know, a genuine

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gentleness and a kindness for other people. And so that has been a huge,

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huge lesson for me to learn over
the past few years too. You

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know, you kind of hear that
saying, protect your heart, protect your

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art, and I definitely am going
to do a better job of that moving

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forward. Well, speaking of that, I know a little something about it

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because what we talked on the plane, I want to have you talk and

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share your experience about the movie Beauty
Mark. First, of course, what

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the story is about and why you
wanted to make the film, because I

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also know there's some lessons in that
as well and some incredible experiences you've had

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along the way there. So Beauty
Mark. Yeah, Beauty Mark is an

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incredible film that actually comes out today
on vod and AWV, Amazon. It

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is distributed by the Orchard. Yeah, it's incredible. We had the New

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York premiere last night, which I
was very proud to attend. It written

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and directed by Harris Duran and it
was shot by Karna Silva, who is

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my homegirl and one of the best
dps in the business. Yeah. So

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I had the idea to share my
story. So and by my story,

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I mean my personal story for my
childhood. So I would say one of

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the you know, most traumatizing things
I've been through obviously as a young adult

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is the loss of my father.
But before that, when I was a

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young child, I've unfortunately was taken
advantage of at a location when I was

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a child, and so some things, if you will, were taken away

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from me and that respect, so
I decided to share a version of that

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story with a colleague of mine.
We had produced a film together and that

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that you know, story that I
had got turned into this beautiful and haunting

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script called Beauty Mark. You are
amazing. I really appreciate that. You

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know that we're talking about this.
It's a very important thing to talk about.

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It's a huge part of your life
certainly, and what you've experienced and

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what you've created. So okay,
so the film comes out today, do

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you what's the plan for it?
Is there in terms of promoting it,

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in terms of what you what you
hope it will do well? I think

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within my understanding, I think the
fact that we got this distribution deal with

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The Orchard is unbelievably huge. I
mean, there's just an incredible, incredible

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company distributor. Many great films have
have come up through them and been introduced

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to the world. It was incredible
to make our premiere last year at the

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La Film Festival. So it's one
you know, many accolades like the Woodstock

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Film Festival, at Austin Film Festival. You know, those things stuck up.

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But the important part that you know
sometimes people forget in the journey is

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is this story of sexual abuse and
a young woman coming back to her home

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state of Kentucky and trying to take
her power back and trying to find her

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voice back. And I'm proud to
say that through the creation of this film

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and pre production, I got to
complete that full circle for myself. And

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if you can believe it, right
before my father passed, because there was

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healing, right, There was a
lot of healing that had to happen.

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There were a lot of conversations my
family had to have as to why things

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were handled in a certain way when
I was so young in the early nineties,

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you know, living in Kentucky,
and why the church responded in a

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specific way, why certain charges were
pressed were not pressed or charged. It

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was kind of fascinating how it all
kind of snowballed at once right and happened,

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and then you know, it's some
challenging business lessons happened. And I

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actually was in Kentucky when the movie
filmed. By that time, I had

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become a co producer on the film
and I was no longer in the film,

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but I was also hits so intense. I was also in town at

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that time because that's when my father
was passing. So talk about a year

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to gut me out that was twenty
sixteen. Oh my gosh, I just

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00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:44.119
can't even imagine. I'm so happy
that we're having this conversation when this is

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just coming out though, and that
we're talking about this because it's such an

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important topic for so many, not
just women, but also for men who've

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been through this experience. So since
I wanted in this segment to talk about

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important lessons and experiences for you.
You know, you've alluded to some of

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this, but what were some of
the important lessons you got from putting Beauty

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mart out in the world. I
mean, I think I can go back

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to the original idea of protect your
heart, protect your art. I think

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sometimes when we when we work with
friends, you know, we don't necessarily

404
00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:23.880
think when we trust people, when
we love people, that we you know,

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need to put things down on paper. And I just I just want

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to encourage everybody, you know,
it's just important to kind of to to

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write things down and even if it's
even a small email of consent, you

408
00:30:38.599 --> 00:30:42.680
know, just to really think about
those things. Because when we get excited

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00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:45.559
and when we create, and once
again, we just you know, want

410
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:48.480
to give, we want to share, we want to excite people, you

411
00:30:48.519 --> 00:30:55.200
know, sometimes we forget to kind
of you know, dot dot our eyes

412
00:30:55.240 --> 00:31:00.480
and cross our t's And I think
that's a large kind of lesson I learned.

413
00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:03.680
And I also think I did learn
a lesson of value with that.

414
00:31:04.279 --> 00:31:08.440
As I said, there was a
time where telling this story became very challenging

415
00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:12.440
for me, and the working environment
because of it became very challenging for me,

416
00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:17.880
and so I kind of I gave
away a lot of my rights on

417
00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:22.400
the film and a lot of my
percentage on the film, and my major

418
00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:25.799
title on the film. And that
was my choice. And I felt at

419
00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:27.759
the time I was I was making, you know, the correct choice that

420
00:31:27.799 --> 00:31:33.000
which I did so with absolute integrity
that I stand by to this day.

421
00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:37.640
But you know, when it's something
that comes from your your cores, that's

422
00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:45.559
a challenging thing to truly share and
say I release this, and to want

423
00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:49.200
the story to survive. More than
anything, it was the hardest thing I've

424
00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:56.319
done in my life, besides losing
my father. I just so so applaud

425
00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:00.359
how you have come through this and
again at such a young age and folded

426
00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:05.519
into your being and your sense of
experience and purpose and self is and to

427
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:09.920
come through the other side, bigger
and stronger and more capable. It's it's

428
00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:17.400
beautiful. It's weird because when I
met you, Miss Elise, I was.

429
00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:22.720
It meant so much to me that
I met a person like you that

430
00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:24.559
was able to affirm me in these
certain ways. And that's why, you

431
00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:28.759
know, we kept kind of getting
emotional on the plane, and I'm get

432
00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:31.759
you know, I get emotional right
now talking about this. There has been

433
00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:37.559
so much pain and so much loss
in the recent year and a half two

434
00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:42.240
years of my life. But man, I'll tell you, one of those

435
00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:47.359
lessons and gifts is true clarity.
And there's a lot of clarity going on

436
00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:52.960
right now, and I am just
trying to move forward as quickly and diligently

437
00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:59.880
as possible and trying to rock and
roll, you know. You know.

438
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:01.920
So what I so appreciate about what
you said about our meeting is, you

439
00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:06.680
know, we never know what's going
on with other people when we cross paths

440
00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.200
with them. I didn't know at
the time when I met you what you

441
00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:12.759
were going through, and I didn't
know, you know, what our interaction

442
00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:17.599
really was. I knew that I
knew that I felt lifted and I felt

443
00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:21.640
an incredible energy by talking with you, but of course I had no idea

444
00:33:21.720 --> 00:33:25.119
what you were happening on the other
side, So oh my gosh. I

445
00:33:25.240 --> 00:33:30.000
just appreciate so much that kind of
connection. What we know, Ashley Cage,

446
00:33:30.039 --> 00:33:32.640
is that what people want desperately in
life, in addition to of course

447
00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:37.440
making something in the self, is
they want meaningful connection with other people.

448
00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:43.680
Yeah, and for me, you
were and are a meaningful connection. Thank

449
00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:47.680
you, Elise You're welcome. Well, let's take a quick break here.

450
00:33:47.720 --> 00:33:51.759
I want to talk about your work. After the break, I'm Alisee Cortez,

451
00:33:51.799 --> 00:33:53.160
your host. We've been on the
air with Ashley Kate Adams, who

452
00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:58.599
is a working actress and producer Broadway
and first National Tour talent. She joined

453
00:33:58.599 --> 00:34:00.440
it today from New York City.
We've been talking a bit about some of

454
00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:05.440
the important life lessons she's learned and
those experiences and how she's incorporated them into

455
00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:07.599
her being. After the break,
I want to hear about her work in

456
00:34:07.679 --> 00:34:12.199
acting and producing. Stay with us, we'll be right back. Alice Cortes

457
00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:16.559
is a speaker and engagement and development
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

458
00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:22.599
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She

459
00:34:22.679 --> 00:34:28.239
will help ignite meaningful development within your
workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance

460
00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:31.559
and retention. To learn more or
to invite Elise to speak to your organization,

461
00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:37.920
please visit her at www dot Elisecortes
dot com. She would welcome the

462
00:34:37.960 --> 00:34:49.440
opportunity to help get your employees working
on purpose. This is working on Purpose

463
00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:52.880
with Elise Cortes. To reach our
program today, send an email to a

464
00:34:52.960 --> 00:35:01.280
lease Alic at elisecortes dot com.
Now back to working on Purpose. If

465
00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:04.840
you're just tuning in, my guest
is Ashley Kate Adams, who is a

466
00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:08.719
working actress and producer at AKA Studio
Productions, Broadway and First National Tour Talent,

467
00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:13.239
as well starring in many productions which
we'll talk about here in this next

468
00:35:13.239 --> 00:35:16.119
segment. She also inspired and co
produced the film Beauty Mark, which debuted

469
00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:21.079
at the twenty seventeen LA Film Festival. I'm your host, Alis Cortes.

470
00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:23.719
So we've been talking about how you
got into this business, some amazing lessons

471
00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:27.559
that have helped make you who you
are. For this last bit together,

472
00:35:27.639 --> 00:35:30.519
I want to have you share a
bit about the actual work you've been doing

473
00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:35.360
acting and producing. So, if
I heard this right on the plane,

474
00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:38.320
you have produced eight shows by the
age of thirty, Is that right?

475
00:35:39.079 --> 00:35:45.960
Yeah, so there's been many more
actual shows. There's been eight television or

476
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:51.840
film properties that I've produced, but
I've produced probably an additional ten concerts in

477
00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:54.159
the New York area, places like
Joe's Pub fifty four below, New York

478
00:35:54.239 --> 00:35:59.599
Musical Theater Festival, and then I
also produced the world premiere of The play

479
00:36:00.519 --> 00:36:06.079
Out in Los Angeles two years ago. So I got to ask this question

480
00:36:06.119 --> 00:36:09.039
because when I share with people that
I meet, and certainly you know,

481
00:36:09.480 --> 00:36:13.280
men that I might actually meet for
the first time on a date or over

482
00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:16.159
time, they often ask me,
you know, they try to like tap

483
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:20.199
me down, you know. So
I want to understand, right, what

484
00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:22.719
motivates you to work as hard as
you do and see things suit of completion?

485
00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:30.199
Where does that come from? You
know? A big part of it

486
00:36:30.280 --> 00:36:35.760
is reflecting on it all and understanding, holy crap, if I did not

487
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:40.079
kick my butt into gear, some
of these things would not be in existence.

488
00:36:42.039 --> 00:36:45.079
And I think, especially with the
lesson of finality through my father's quick

489
00:36:45.159 --> 00:36:51.519
passing, I think truly understanding that
we have no moment like the present that

490
00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:54.440
keeps my butt in gear. I
would say five hundred percent of the time.

491
00:36:57.239 --> 00:36:59.800
Wow, that's that's so great.
I mean, and there's something about

492
00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:01.840
that motivation. And some people,
you know, have it so big and

493
00:37:01.880 --> 00:37:05.760
so hard and so strong, and
others on the other end of spectrum just

494
00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:09.679
have a hard time getting motivated.
So when I see it as stoutly showing

495
00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:13.039
up as it is for you,
I just have to ask that question.

496
00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:16.199
So yeah, and you know,
and I just it's interesting, you know,

497
00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:21.000
I if you look at my life
on paper, you know, I'm

498
00:37:21.079 --> 00:37:24.119
this bubbly blonde girl from Kentucky and
grew up in the theater and went to

499
00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:28.360
the best musical theater school in the
nation, and you know, like when

500
00:37:28.360 --> 00:37:30.840
you look at my life on paper, I'm extremely privileged. Right, We've

501
00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:36.039
been talking about the idea of privilege
in the nation recently. But at the

502
00:37:36.119 --> 00:37:38.719
same time, you know, there
is a flip side to what was actually

503
00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:43.159
going on in my childhood what I've
actually had to face in my young adult

504
00:37:43.159 --> 00:37:45.920
ears. And I've had to work
for everything I have. I have never

505
00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:51.079
gotten a break, as you noticed, even when I got my big Broadway

506
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:54.360
debut, it got taken away the
next day. So I've never had anything

507
00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:58.719
handed to me, and believe it
or not, I think it's been the

508
00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:04.400
biggest blessing of my life. I
would agree, and I would be remiss

509
00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:07.360
not to share with our listeners here, I want to hear about a couple

510
00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:09.760
of the movies that you've either acted
in or held a particular important role for

511
00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:14.480
you. What were they and why
are you proud of them? What resonated

512
00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:19.159
for you with them? Okay,
I can't start this list without talking about

513
00:38:19.239 --> 00:38:22.239
Roles of Cool. Roles of Cool
was the first series that I created with

514
00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:28.880
two of my very best friends,
Caitlin Cook and Lacy Jecca. It's an

515
00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:31.400
incredible series about two girls coming of
age in New York City and it was

516
00:38:31.599 --> 00:38:37.280
just a mirror and an expression of
our lives in the early twenties in the

517
00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:40.800
city. And that sold actually to
full screen. So it was a very

518
00:38:40.840 --> 00:38:45.719
cool day because when I was actually
filming Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix, which

519
00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:50.360
was also a dream come true because
I'm literally being like spoken to from like

520
00:38:50.440 --> 00:38:52.599
Tina Fey and then I buy Tina
Fey and then I like go into my

521
00:38:52.679 --> 00:38:55.599
dressing room and I'm working with my
literary agent, and we are, you

522
00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:59.840
know, doing a deal to sell
my very first TV show to a platform.

523
00:38:59.880 --> 00:39:04.960
So I can't talk about the list
without talking about Rules of Cool.

524
00:39:05.960 --> 00:39:10.400
Another one which is very important to
me, the trailer just released yesterday.

525
00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:15.239
It is Mulligan and it's an up
and coming drama. It's the first series

526
00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:22.159
narrative television show about golf that was
actually created by my incredible boyfriend Patrick Cannon,

527
00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:27.400
and I'm executive producer of the show. He created the show and stars

528
00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:30.079
in it, and I am co
star in it as his girlfriend Mona.

529
00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:36.440
So that's another great series that you
guys can check out Mulligan and check out

530
00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:38.639
the trailer. We just hit twenty
thousand views in like twenty four hours.

531
00:39:39.400 --> 00:39:45.679
Obviously, Beauty Mark comes out today
on vod Apple TV all of that magic.

532
00:39:45.800 --> 00:39:50.760
It's a feature film. And then
I'm actually leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow

533
00:39:50.760 --> 00:39:53.159
morning to work on one of my
best girlfriends. Her name is Corbyn Red.

534
00:39:53.519 --> 00:39:59.440
You might know her from How to
Get Away with Murder or Valor on

535
00:39:59.480 --> 00:40:02.079
the c you. It's her short
film called Blindsight, and I'm one of

536
00:40:02.119 --> 00:40:07.639
the lead producers on that film as
well. So those are some of them,

537
00:40:07.719 --> 00:40:09.440
those are the ones that are bopping
around this week. Let's put it

538
00:40:09.480 --> 00:40:13.400
that way. Okay. I got
that, And I understand how they can

539
00:40:13.480 --> 00:40:15.519
change import or connection for you according
to where you are in life. I

540
00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:21.480
totally get that. Oh yes,
okay, Now what about what about producing

541
00:40:21.559 --> 00:40:25.199
movies? How did that start?
What's the history there? So? When

542
00:40:25.280 --> 00:40:32.559
I was about twenty five years old, I was I was in a production

543
00:40:34.599 --> 00:40:37.519
at paper Mill Playhouse, which is
a very prestigious regional theater, and it

544
00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:40.519
was very interesting, like I just
had these emotions while I was on stage,

545
00:40:40.559 --> 00:40:45.199
and I was just like, gosh, I'm sitting here and I'm in

546
00:40:45.280 --> 00:40:47.719
the show, and I'm singing all
my high seeds and I'm in pretty dresses.

547
00:40:49.400 --> 00:40:52.559
Why am I not feeling creatively as
fulfilled as I thought I was going

548
00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:58.840
to? You know, when I
got to this moment of my stage theatrical

549
00:40:58.880 --> 00:41:02.480
career, right, I'm like,
this doesn't feel right? And what was

550
00:41:02.519 --> 00:41:07.440
happening inside of me? I had
this incredible wig gentleman named George who was

551
00:41:07.480 --> 00:41:09.079
putting on my wig and he goes, Ashley, has there just been anything

552
00:41:09.119 --> 00:41:13.119
inside of you that you've been wanting
to work on? And I'm like,

553
00:41:13.400 --> 00:41:15.719
you know, I was talking to
another friend of mine who is a producer.

554
00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:21.199
I don't even know what producers do
for TV and film and you know,

555
00:41:21.599 --> 00:41:24.360
theater, but he said maybe I
should try to think about producing,

556
00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:30.000
and I swear to God, in
twenty fifteen, it just started kind of

557
00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:36.159
like not falling in my lap.
But there were these properties like the Dodgers,

558
00:41:36.519 --> 00:41:39.239
like Rules of Cool that came to
me as the Cool Girls originally,

559
00:41:39.800 --> 00:41:43.519
you know, that started coming to
me and people were like, you know,

560
00:41:43.559 --> 00:41:45.440
you might be the right person to
kind of lead this project along,

561
00:41:46.039 --> 00:41:51.440
and so I just started doing I
started, you know, bumping into things,

562
00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:55.800
learning on my on my feet and
in the job and literally just throwing

563
00:41:55.840 --> 00:42:00.719
myself into the lion's den to figure
out how to make things. That's to

564
00:42:00.800 --> 00:42:05.800
be honest, that's how it started. It sounds about like you from what

565
00:42:05.800 --> 00:42:09.159
I know of you already. I
got that, okay, And you've already

566
00:42:09.199 --> 00:42:14.400
mentioned a few things that you've produced, But are there any in particular that

567
00:42:14.440 --> 00:42:19.000
you produce that you're proud of?
Rules of Cools has to be because I

568
00:42:19.079 --> 00:42:22.480
literally knew nothing and it was a
new medium, right, I mean I

569
00:42:22.519 --> 00:42:25.400
didn't know anything. I didn't know
how to hire actors, how to do

570
00:42:25.480 --> 00:42:30.719
contracts, how to work with the
union. You know, we literally created

571
00:42:30.719 --> 00:42:35.039
that from nothing, raised twenty thousand
dollars in three months. We didn't know

572
00:42:35.119 --> 00:42:37.840
investors, we didn't know how to
do this, We created a crowd funding

573
00:42:37.880 --> 00:42:43.559
campaign. I mean, I'm just
so proud of starting that from idea through

574
00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:50.519
completion. And you know what else, I mean, Mulligan, that was

575
00:42:50.639 --> 00:42:53.199
huge. We filmed this past October. I'm just so I'm so proud of

576
00:42:53.239 --> 00:42:57.360
that. How we all came together. There was a crew. I think

577
00:42:57.559 --> 00:43:00.320
between cast and crew, there were
seventy five of us that worked in Pittsburgh

578
00:43:00.360 --> 00:43:05.039
for two weeks. People worked for
little to know money, just to tell

579
00:43:05.079 --> 00:43:07.440
this story of this ex pro goffer
getting out of jail and going back to

580
00:43:07.480 --> 00:43:12.079
work at his family's driving range.
And I'm just so I'm so proud of

581
00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:15.639
that and how everybody came together and
how no one was greedy and it was

582
00:43:15.679 --> 00:43:17.639
all about the story. And then
I would say, beauty, Mark,

583
00:43:17.880 --> 00:43:23.119
I'm incredibly proud of producing that.
It was such a hard subject matter obviously

584
00:43:23.159 --> 00:43:27.840
for me to talk about because it
was my life, and then to talk

585
00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:30.519
about it in an you know,
kind of an entertainment setting. I mean

586
00:43:30.639 --> 00:43:35.079
it was a movie that nobody wanted
to see get made, that nobody wanted

587
00:43:35.119 --> 00:43:39.000
to put funding towards. And also
how I handled myself with integrity throughout the

588
00:43:39.480 --> 00:43:43.840
formation of the film. I would
say I'd say those are the three that

589
00:43:43.880 --> 00:43:49.920
I'm proud of Step for producing.
Yeah. Yeah, So going back to

590
00:43:49.960 --> 00:43:52.920
what you just said about beauty Mark
and the person that you are proud of

591
00:43:52.960 --> 00:43:58.000
that you are who came through all
that. When you through your work,

592
00:43:58.039 --> 00:44:00.840
Actually, Kate, what is in
important for you to convey? What are

593
00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:06.559
you? Is there something about your
work that you're expressing or that embodies who

594
00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:10.679
you are? Yeah, I mean
I think in the work itself, if

595
00:44:10.719 --> 00:44:15.360
you see a property that's my name
on that I've been on the ground four

596
00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:22.159
from creating the story. It's just
honest storytelling. And a lot of the

597
00:44:22.199 --> 00:44:27.400
stories that I think AKA studio productions
or I get behind, they're just very

598
00:44:27.440 --> 00:44:30.360
authentic. They're different, nobody has
told it before. It might be the

599
00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:36.280
first time you've heard something, or
you know, like Blindsight is unbelievably special,

600
00:44:36.639 --> 00:44:39.800
Corbin. This is she's a well
known actress, but this is her

601
00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:45.719
first film that she has you know, written herself, and she's an African

602
00:44:45.719 --> 00:44:50.239
American woman. She's also directing it
for her first thing that she's directing.

603
00:44:50.679 --> 00:44:55.480
So I try to truly bring up
new talent that's growing up around me that

604
00:44:55.920 --> 00:44:59.840
are my peers, and I try
to give them places to kind of jump

605
00:44:59.880 --> 00:45:01.400
off off, and I try to, you know, try to support them.

606
00:45:01.440 --> 00:45:05.679
So I think that's one way that
you would know, kind of work

607
00:45:05.800 --> 00:45:07.960
as my own. But I also
just I try to lead. I know

608
00:45:08.039 --> 00:45:13.360
it sounds so silly, it's just
I try to like lead with with love,

609
00:45:13.519 --> 00:45:16.880
and I try to give people a
really great safe environment to create in

610
00:45:17.039 --> 00:45:22.159
to where everybody can kind of lead
their own department. And a lot of

611
00:45:22.159 --> 00:45:24.679
people I hire, you know,
I might hire them a department up of

612
00:45:24.679 --> 00:45:29.199
what they might do, say on
a network television show or something you know,

613
00:45:29.440 --> 00:45:31.920
we've worked with like first ads who
then have become directors for things for

614
00:45:32.079 --> 00:45:36.840
us, you know, or something
like that, or a camera operator,

615
00:45:36.960 --> 00:45:40.199
right, giving them the opportunity to
be a director of photography. That's that's

616
00:45:40.239 --> 00:45:45.199
really important for me. So I
would say things being authentic, things being

617
00:45:45.239 --> 00:45:51.079
new and original, and just like
young women in the industry, trying to

618
00:45:51.119 --> 00:45:57.800
give them opportunities no wonder we connected, no wonder, right, I mean

619
00:45:57.880 --> 00:46:02.519
wonder the authenticity piece, being genuine, expressing yourself in a way that's loving

620
00:46:02.679 --> 00:46:07.920
and gentle and caring, bringing up
other people, helping them find their way.

621
00:46:07.000 --> 00:46:10.000
That is all beautiful. And if
that's what you stand for, Ashley

622
00:46:10.079 --> 00:46:15.079
Kate, I am more than delighted
to know you have you in my life.

623
00:46:15.519 --> 00:46:20.840
What a gift you have been.
Thanks. Thanks, I'm just trying.

624
00:46:20.960 --> 00:46:23.480
You know, we've only got we
got one shot at this life and

625
00:46:23.519 --> 00:46:27.719
it all means something, it really
does, yes, And you and I

626
00:46:27.800 --> 00:46:30.559
talked a bit about that, and
speaking of that here we are coming to

627
00:46:30.599 --> 00:46:34.239
the very close of the show already. Wow, I want to give you

628
00:46:34.280 --> 00:46:37.159
the chance to share with our listeners
across the globe, just maybe in one

629
00:46:37.239 --> 00:46:42.400
minute, what would you like to
leave them with. I would just say,

630
00:46:42.719 --> 00:46:46.119
to be true to yourself, whatever
that means in the moment, To

631
00:46:46.159 --> 00:46:54.280
trust your instincts, to listen to
your gut, to to guard your heart,

632
00:46:54.440 --> 00:47:01.480
but still attempt to be soft and
open. To appreciate the relationships you

633
00:47:01.559 --> 00:47:06.800
have, the people in your family, the people in your business relationships,

634
00:47:07.480 --> 00:47:10.400
and look out, look out for
each other, look out, look out

635
00:47:10.400 --> 00:47:15.719
for others around you, and I
just I truly believe that you know in

636
00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:19.119
turn, they will be looking out
for you as well. Beautiful way to

637
00:47:19.159 --> 00:47:22.280
finish. Ashley Kate, thank you
so much for being on the show,

638
00:47:22.440 --> 00:47:25.199
sharing your brilliance, your beauty,
your wit, your charm, your heart

639
00:47:25.360 --> 00:47:29.360
everything. It has been incredible to
have you here with us. Oh,

640
00:47:29.400 --> 00:47:31.440
thank you so much. Thank you
so much for having me. So glad

641
00:47:31.440 --> 00:47:36.079
that American Airlines brought us together.
Thank you, American Airlines. Thank you.

642
00:47:37.880 --> 00:47:39.320
If you want to learn more about
Ashley Kate Adams and the work she

643
00:47:39.360 --> 00:47:43.840
does, visit her website. That's
one place to start. It's Ashley Kate

644
00:47:43.960 --> 00:47:47.480
Adams. Let me spell that for
you A S h L E Y K

645
00:47:47.760 --> 00:47:52.800
A T E A D A M
S dot com. Ashley Kate Adams join

646
00:47:52.880 --> 00:47:57.519
us next week when we're on the
air with Rachel Murlou and her recently released

647
00:47:57.519 --> 00:48:00.719
book that she's talking about, just
Succeed without a Poem Achieved. See you

648
00:48:00.760 --> 00:48:01.960
then, remember that work is at
least one third of our life, So

649
00:48:02.119 --> 00:48:09.360
let's work on purpose. Well,
hope you've enjoyed this week's program, be

650
00:48:09.440 --> 00:48:15.880
sure to tune in to Working on
Purpose featuring your host Alis Cortes each week

651
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:21.920
on the Voice America Empowerment Channel.
This week, find your life's purpose at work.