Agent Origin Story: I moved to Hollywood to find a Husband

When I graduated from college, I wasn’t even thinking about a job. I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but I actually had some pretty unusual ideas about a career: I thought I didn’t need one! My plan was to get married by 23, have children by 25, and be the CEO of my household while my husband had a high-paying job and supported the family. No, I wasn’t born in the 1950s, but I was born in Utah and raised in a culture in which marriage and family was the number one priority. 

I graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism and a very naked ring finger holding it. My primary interest was to be married and my secondary interest was TV. Naturally, Los Angeles was the intersection of both (outside of Utah, Southern California has the highest population of Mormons.) Plus, I was raised in the Coachella Valley, so if things didn’t work out, I could be back at my parents house in only 2 and a half hours. While moving to Hollywood without a job isn’t unusual, moving to Hollywood to find a mate is.

I didn’t have any connections in Los Angeles either, but figured attending a Sunday sacrament service would be the best place to meet good people. I was right and it all happened fast. At church I found a roommate and my parents helped me move into her Hollywood Hills apartment 4 days later. I’ll never forget the drive down the famous Hollywood Blvd and passing the strip club “Seven Veils.” My Dad worried aloud that I was starting my life in a “moral cesspool.”  To add to his fear, I didn’t even have a job. 

But that quickly changed too.

In my 20s, I got hired in my first job that set the stage for a high voltage career as a talent agent at the iconic William Morris Agency (now WME.) In my 30s, I had a crisis of faith and was kicked out of my congregation for not being married. In my 40s, after an explosive office outburst that haunts me to this day, I built a business and a life that I’m really proud of, helping nearly 1,000 young adults get hired in their first job in the entertainment business.

Over the years I’ve shared career stories with my students and clients about working with celebrities like Mark Cuban and Ryan Seacrest. I’ve shared some of my spiritual stories in more private circles (working for Tony Hawk was a direct result of my fervent prayer) and my dating stories are legendary- so much so, that I sold a scripted TV show about it years ago using the title of my first dating profile name “Mormon Girl, LA.” While the writers and actors are still on strike in Hollywood, I’ve decided to use this platform to workshop some ideas and share some of my hard earned life lessons with people who could benefit from them.

Getting a job in Hollywood requires a clarified vision (properly reflected in a resume/cover letter/video cover letter,) and connection to people (not portals) who can make the vision a reality. Getting a mate is probably the same.

I guess you could say I’m like a Mormon Carrie Bradshaw and this is my “No Sex in the City” advice column about careers, dating and the faith you need to do both.

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