Seana Kofoed on Career, Self-Care, and Learning Through Failure
Seana Kofoed is the writer and producer of the upcoming thriller 30 Miles from Nowhere. With a female director, writer, and producing team, and a diverse and 50% female cast and crew, Seana’s mission was to create an inclusive and diverse environment. We asked Seana to share some of her top tools and advice with the Womaze community - here’s what she said!
What are some of your “top tools” for life? (In other words, what pieces of advice or tips have helped you through life?)
SK: I’m sort of relentlessly optimistic when it comes to my little sphere. I believe we can be agents of change, even if only in tiny ways. If I hit a roadblock, which is often, my next step is to think on creative ways around it. It may not get me to the exact same destination, but possibly to something cooler and more interesting. And sometimes you hit that roadblock a gazillion times, but on the gazillion and one-th time . . . maybe you actually get through.
What are some of your top tools for caring for your mental health?
SK: I don’t keep the company of totally negative people, if I can help it. I’m usually able to remind myself that whatever hurdles I’m experiencing in my life, there’s always someone who has more challenging hurdles than I do, and if they can muscle through theirs, I can certainly muscle through mine. I also have kids, and they’re a pretty great reminder of how much joy there can be in the world. And I believe that ultimately goodness and kindness prevails, so that helps to keep me moderately balanced in our often-fraught world.
If there’s one thing you could tell your past self, what would it be?
SK: I would tell my younger self to take up a little more space in the room. To ask for less permission, and take more chances. As women it’s so easy to fall into the trap of simply taking whatever is given to us, to never ask for more, to never ASSUME we can do more...when of course we are amazing, kind, and intelligent creatures - we’ve just been gaslit into thinking we can’t run the world. When, of course, we can. And probably should!
How do you practice self-care while also hustling and following your passion?
SK: Though my husband would beg to differ, I don’t eat horribly. I do enjoy sweets and snacks and whatnot, but I’m not gonna sit down with a huge piece of cake. Mostly because I don’t like cake, I like candy! But I’m pretty decent at the in-moderation thing. I also force myself to drink a glass of water every morning because then at least I’ve had . . . a glass of water
What advice would you share with people who don’t know what they want in life and/or their career?
SK: I would say imagine your ideal life and your ideal career with no limitations. And then on both fronts, you just take one baby step after another in the direction of what you want. Even if you don’t end up exactly where you envisioned . . . at least you’ll be moving forward!
What’s a lesson you learned because of a “failure”?
SK: As an actor, we’re constantly experiencing rejection, i.e. tiny little failures. All the time. And the upside of that is that they start to not matter. They’re just part of the landscape of moving forward in your life. I’d definitely have fewer “failures” if I didn’t go after roles . . . but then I’d never get one!
What’s one message you think the world needs to hear right now?
SK: Be kind. Look in your heart and ask yourself if your neighbor is REALLY that scary? Are they THAT threatening to your way of life? Isn’t it better if we’re all healthier, have access to services, are tended to as human beings? “It takes a village” isn’t just a pithy slogan, it should be a way of life. Don’t buy into the rhetoric of fear, buy into the rhetoric of kindness and understanding.
What’s your favorite quote/saying?
SK: From the amazing playwright, John Patrick Shanley: “I am not a courageous person by nature. I have simply discovered that, at certain key moments in this life, you must find courage in yourself, in order to move forward and live. It is like a muscle and it must be exercised, first a little, and then more and more. All the really exciting things possible during the course of a lifetime require a little more courage than we currently have. A deep breath and a leap.”
30 Miles from Nowhere is available on DVD and Digital on March 5!