#238 - Can You Chase Your Dreams and Still Be Present?

Becoming a mom changed more than my schedule.

It changed how I think about success, work, presence, and the kind of life I actually want to build.

For years, I believed success meant saying yes to every opportunity. Now, I'm learning what it looks like to pursue my dreams while also being present for the people who matter most.

In this episode, I'm sharing what motherhood has been teaching me, why I've been exploring new ways to build my career, and how I'm redefining freedom in this season of life.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

•  Becoming a bi-coastal mom while continuing my career as an actor 
•  The mindset shifts that came with performing throughout pregnancy 
•  Why my son Ajax has become my greatest teacher on being present 
•  The surprising lesson from people riding through Central Park 
•  Building multiple income streams and creating more freedom 
•  Why I'm excited to help build Bezier New York 
•  What success looks like in this season of motherhood 
•  The reminder that you get to make the rules for your own life 

Whether you're a parent, entrepreneur, artist, or simply navigating a new chapter, I hope this conversation reminds you that your dreams and your life don't have to compete with each other.

CHAPTERS 

[00:57] Welcome back and becoming a bi-coastal mom

[01:27] Performing while pregnant and finding new opportunities

[03:18] The mindset shift pregnancy taught me

[05:11] Meet Ajax and the meaning behind his name

[06:20] The biggest lesson my son has taught me about presence

[07:34] The Central Park moment that changed my perspective

[08:45] Building Bezier New York from home

[09:53] Why multiple income streams create freedom

[11:45] Learning to balance motherhood and ambition

[12:36] You get to make the rules for your own life

@salishathomas @thesalishashow, www.thesalishashow.com

Many thanks to Gotham Network in NYC, TyNia Brandon for writing and laying vocals down for the updated theme song and Big Red Studios for the intro video wherever you watch the latest season of The Salisha Show!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Trying to find that balance of the bills are paid, but also I get to stay home and be home with my baby boy. What does it really look like to build your dream life while you're living it? One day I'm on stage singing with Hugh Jackman at 36 weeks pregnant, just trying not to give birth in Oklahoma. And the next, I'm having real conversations about love, loss, career pivots, and becoming someone I didn't even know I could be. Because this show isn't just about Broadway, it's about the moments that change you, the risks you take, the dreams you almost talk yourself out of, the strength you don't realize you have until life asks you to use it. If you've ever felt like you're in between chapters or stepping into something new, you're not alone. You're just getting started. This is the Silicia Show, where Broadway meets culture and your real life becomes the main event. Hey, what's up? It's me, Salish, and welcome or welcome back to another episode of The Silicia Show. I'm here recording at Gotham Production Studios here in New York City. It is springtime in New York, and I am so happy to be back in the city. So, what has changed? Let's see here. I gave birth. I have become a mom. So I, and not only that, I've become a bi-coastal mom. So maybe I can talk a little bit about that in this episode or the next episode. We'll see. But uh becoming a mom while also still fully being an actor is nothing I would have ever expected. I did not, I've seen other women do it, but I'm like, how is it possible? How are they doing that? And what does that look like on me? So when I see people on TV doing it, it's like, oh, okay, they have their filming schedules and they like just try to hide behind like a pot or a lamp, or they're like still filming and they're still like able to be pregnant on screen, and like sometimes they hide it, sometimes it's used in the filming. Um, I'm a stage actor. For me personally, I stopped auditioning. I was singing backup for Hugh Jackman for my entire nine-month term here in New York City. And I also really leaned into being a voiceover artist. I was auditioning for commercials too, but I don't think I got any commercials. My one of my agencies, I have a few agencies, one of my agencies, they kept sending me out for these alcohol commercials.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

I'm like, I don't think they got my email that I'm very knocked up. I'm like, I can't advertise for this hard liquor brand when I'm like visibly pregnant.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

And so I wasn't getting a lot of gigs, but also like I wonder if that was partly because of my own mindset. When I'm bigger, I feel differently about myself than when I am like fit and strong and like light on my feet and have a lot of energy. And so I probably bring a different energy into an audition room when I'm pregnant than when I'm like feeling like a superhero. Obviously, like being pregnant, you kind of are a superhero for so many different ways. Like, I'm watching my best friend be pregnant right now, and she's it's incredible to watch. Like being pregnant myself was very difficult. It was so difficult. Like, all I wanted to do was hide. And instead of hiding, I was like way more visible than I usually am on bigger stages, doing batch recordings for this show. Like I was always in front of people, and I'm like, I just want to hide. And then watching my best friend be pregnant, I'm like, oh, she's stunning. She's beautiful, she's so strong. How is she doing this? How is she making this look so effortless? Like, it was so easy for me to see it. It's it is so easy for me to see it on somebody else. Um, but I couldn't see that on me. Um, but I was able to like really lean into voiceover, take jobs that like welcomed pregnant people. Um what else? How else did I? I did some, did I do writing last year? I was, I leaned into marketing. My the book that I'd already written, Why be a nine when you can be a 10, which my this show has so many themes from that book because it's like an extension of who I am. It's like, how can you feel your best self being exactly who you are? It's not about some fake view of percep perception of like being perfect. It's not about being perfect, it's about like just embracing who you are and where you are in your life. Like, that's like a theme that I just carry with me all the time. And it gives me so much more confidence when I just own who I am instead of like apologizing for who I think others want me to be, and I'm not that. You know what I'm saying? But as a mom, what has my son taught me? His name is Ajax. I know what you're thinking. I don't care. None of his friends are gonna know what that cleaning product is, they're not gonna know. I don't care. I don't freaking care, okay? But also, like, we wanted a strong Greek name. And Ajax, even the cleaning product, Ajax, is based on a Greek warrior. Like, he's strong and brave and courageous, and that's what I want from my son, and that's already what he's giving.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

He's like so big, he's in the 90th percentile of weight and height and everything. Like, he's gigantic, and I'm like, he can already overpower me, and he's only six months old. What am I gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 6:22

One of the main things that my son has taught me already is presence. He has a fit when he sees me on my phone. Or if me and Andrew are watch are like we're Netflix and chilling, he's like, you guys, somebody in this room is gonna pay attention to me. I'm gonna make sure uh it. Somebody is gonna pay attention to me. And if we don't pay, if we're not paying attention to him, he will give us absolute hell. He will not let us relax until we put the devices down. And sometimes I'm like, oh, but I I just need to I and then I realize I put it down. You can do that later. Like I was walking through the Central Park yesterday, and I was um I saw like a horse and buggy, and people were riding in the horse carriage. The person who was like steering the horse was texting on his phone. Everybody in the buggy were texting on their phones, and I'm like, man, that is so lame. And not from the vantage point of like, I'm right and they're wrong. I'm like, that's usually me. I'm usually the one texting on this gorgeous, beautiful day when there's like so much to be grateful for and all around me, and I'm like with my loved ones, and like I'm usually the one like focused in this tunnel, and I'm seeing what it looks like, and I'm like, they look crazy. Do you know how much it costs to be in one of those horse buggies in Central Park? It's so much money. Like, put the phone down and enjoy it. And that's like Ajax is teaching me that daily. Every time I pick it up, he's like, not happening.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Which it gets a little like tricky when Andrew and I are both working from home and we like really do need to.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

We I just remembered how I've been making money. Okay, sorry. Sidebar. So I'm helping starting a leggings company. It's called Bezier. Bezier, it's Bezier New York. It's Bezier, New York, and they're custom leggings. And so my genius friend, Cedric Yao, he is like a tech genius. And he figured out the algorithm for how to capture people's measurements from a photo and then build them a custom pair of leggings and send it to them. It's completely made to order. And he made me a pair last year, a couple years ago, and I liked them. Then he made me another pair, and I really liked them. Then he made me another pair, and I loved them. And him and his wife, Becca, who is a doctor, she they have been building this together and they asked me to be on their team. And so he's like, it's either the best time or the worst time. And will you join the team? And so he's like, it's fully remote. You can do it from home. And so I'm just circling it back there for the purpose of this episode, just to bring back home the importance of diversifying our lives so that we can build a life full of freedom. Yes, I've been making money from my part-time jobs hanging back up. Yes, I've been making money from voiceover work, but I also have started making money in this way, fully remote from my cell phone, helping build this company that I believe in out and getting as many butts in these pants as possible. And if you're listening to this right now, it's B as in Boy E Z I E R N Y dot com. Beziernework.com. Go to the website, get you a free pair of these leggings right now. It is not gonna be free forever. I promise you, you might be listening to this and it's already not free. But if it is still free right now, snag yourself a pair. But don't just get yourself a pair. Like, we need feedback. That's why they're free. Like we need people to try this process and tell us what they think. So do that. And let me know if you love the pants. And if you don't, I need to hear it so I can take all the notes and be like, oh, nope, that didn't work. Oh no, they hated this. Oh, they were too long. How do they end up too long? Like, we are listening. So, with that said, I'm I've been working on this in the background of being a full-time mom with Ajax. Andrew's working on his podfest things, and we are just grinding away. The beauty of this is we can grind away from California, we can grind away from New York, we can be in France, in Hawaii. We were both working in Cancun. We we can do this from anywhere. And so trying to find that balance of the bills are paid, but also I get to stay home and be home with my baby boy. It's pretty cool. And it gives me like I don't know, like it feels good to be available to my son in this way. If I get another performance gig, that dynamic will change. But right now, the goal is to keep building the foundation for if I don't want to be away, I don't have to be away. That's my inner monologue right now. So I'm with Ajax, I am learning how to balance it all, how to still go for my dreams, how to still build my career while also being a very present and loving mom. That's my goal. And as one of my best friends just said to me the other day, she's like, if your mom sucks, your life sucks. I was like, huh. So be a be as good of a mom as you possibly can. To give like that kiddo, I don't know. I just feel like, yeah. Be loving. Don't be sucky if you can do anything about it. Like, and that looks different on everybody. There's nobody, nobody gets to tell you what that looks like for you. You get to make the rules. So I am a conspira a co-conspirator with you. If that's your journey, it might not be your journey, might be your wife's journey, might be your friend's journey, might be yours, but you get to make the rules. So good luck. And until next time, thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Celicia Show. Oh, and get your Besier pants.