How I Got Here: Victoria Hines

Stories about forging a life in the theater and beyond

At Downstage Right, we know there’s no one “right” path to becoming a professional artist. Just as we know, there’s no one “right” way to live creatively. In honor of this ethos, we decided the best way to start off the new year would be to talk to real people about how they paved their own paths in the arts. We sat down with actors, directors, playwrights, producers, coaches, teachers, influencers, and so many others; and asked them to help our students by sharing their stories.

Today, we’re talking with Victoria Hines, Creative Career Coach, who went from starving artist to professional mentor, empowering other artists to pursue their true calling.

How do you answer the question — ‘What do you do?’

I’m a creative career coach. What that specifically means is that I’m currently helping creatives transition in their careers to something new or level up what they’re currently doing. When they’ve reached that stage of burnout or feeling like they’ve done everything they can think of and they’re still not getting anywhere, I help them figure out what’s next.

What do you love about what you do?

I love the coaching itself. Every time I get to sit down with artists and talk to them and ask them questions about where they’re at, it energizes me. Whenever they have those ah-ha! moments or breakthroughs, it’s so rewarding for me. On the flip side, I’m an entrepreneur. It’s scary, it’s hard, it’s challenging, but the rewards are so thrilling! It’s the same feeling I get when I perform in a show. Everyone who starts their own business just has to dive in and try new things and see what comes.

What made you decide to transition from acting to coaching actors?

After I graduated from college, I moved to Chicago to be an actor and worked five part-time jobs while auditioning. Eventually, I was offered a full-time job working at a theater company in arts administration on top of booking one of the largest acting gigs I’d had thus far. When that gig ended, I was deeply grateful for the experience, but was also feeling burnt out and a little lost. Something about the work wasn’t lighting me up in the way I expected it would. I was able to figure out what the right path for me was when I started to be honest with myself about what I wanted. I started paying attention to what energized me and what drained me, and that’s how I decided what to keep and what to let go of. I was working with a coach and talking with friends and family trying to figure out what people naturally came to me for. When I started testing the waters with coaching, every time I sat down with a new client, it just felt right, like that was where I’m supposed to be, and that’s when I knew.

How have the arts played a role in the career path you chose?

I was into dancing from a really young age, but I think the first theater piece I saw was in Granbury, Texas, in this little old 200-seat theater where I would go to see musicals with my grandparents every summer. That was just the spark of — “ooooh I’m really interested in this, and this looks really fun!” I started acting in middle school and kept pursuing it.

Do you believe there’s an ideal track for young theater professionals to follow? Why or why not?

Absolutely not. And the reason for that is I’ve seen the ideal track be pitched before — I was pitched the ideal track — and the reality is, that’s going to work beautifully for some people, and for others, it’s just going to feel wrong. I believe you have to define what your personal definition of success is. For example, last year, I interviewed a couple of friends that I went to college with for my podcast. For one of them, going to New York and becoming a lighting designer was perfect for him. My other friend always wanted to work in the theme park industry. In many ways, she felt like her choice was disregarded. But nowadays, she’s really happy, and she has a house and a full-time job working as a performer. So I think everybody has their own unique pathway that’s going to be right for them.

Do you wish you’d done anything differently in terms of your education?

In hindsight, I know that I chose the right option for me at the time. I think I auditioned for four or five schools, and I ended up going to the one that just felt right. And in many ways, I’m glad that I did. Looking back, I don’t think I could have made a different decision. I didn’t apply to any conservatory programs. I got a BFA, and most of my credits were theater arts-related, but I also took a lot of production classes, and I’m grateful that I had such a well-rounded theater education.

How much of a role does your creative community play in your professional life?

It is huge for multiple reasons. One is that your community can be your collaborators. We live in a day and age where artists should feel empowered to create and collaborate and produce their own work because of social media and how connected we can be virtually. On the flip side, they’re also your network. Most jobs are offered through referrals and on a network basis. Nine times out of ten, you are not going to book a job without a personal connection. The way I got an audition at a major theater company without having an agent was by leveraging my network. It took me talking to someone I knew who put in a good word with a casting director who then called me in for an audition. That’s not always going to work, but once you develop those personal relationships, don’t be afraid to use them, to keep nurturing them, and don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for auditions!

How did you balance supporting yourself vs. being creative?

It’s hard. For a time, either I was focusing on paying my bills or being creative, and it felt like it had to be one or the other. I learned that my creativity suffered when my work left me feeling drained and exhausted, whether it was creative or paying the bills. That’s when I knew something had to change.. You really can’t be a starving artist and be creative at the same time. It was a hard balance of trying to figure out what was going to fulfill me creatively, and I wasn’t always successful in the avenues I chose to go down. My advice would be to decide which creative outlets you don’t want to make money off of. Because that means you can show up and enjoy them without any stakes involved. For me, that was baking! I decided I loved baking, and I love challenging myself to do bigger and better things in the kitchen. People have told me that I should open a bakery, and I’ve told them, “No thank you, this needs to stay 100% joy for me.”

What are the best ways you can market yourself as an actor?

Don’t hide. I was so afraid of doing something wrong — I wanted to play by the rules — I felt like I was annoying people or that I would be a burden if I was reaching out to people. The truth is, as long as you’re coming from a place of sincerity, it won’t be annoying; it can actually be flattering. Pinpoint what type of work calls to you and hone in on that. You’re in the day and age where you have to get more specific than film or theater. For instance, I have a friend who realized she wanted to do voiceover work for anime. Now that she’s able to say that out loud, people automatically clue into how they can help her. But if you tell people, “I only want to do theater,” there are so many theater companies out there doing so many different things, it becomes hard for people to point you in the right direction.

How do you prepare for auditions?

I think the best advice I ever received is to go into the audition, knowing what you want to achieve. It can’t be booking the role because that’s something you have no control over. To identify 1–3 things that you have the ability to achieve during your audition. Maybe it’s that you want to feel comfortable in this new monologue, or you want to interact with four people you’ve never met before, or you want to take some of the pressure off the audition for yourself. Know that the only control you have in that audition room is in deciding your personal state. You always get to decide the success metric of your performance for yourself.

What was your ideal role that you always wanted to play?

I think as an actor what you want to do and what you get booked as don’t always align. I think that was the hardest thing about college. Because in college, I was always playing the secretaries and the moms in all the period pieces. Then, of course, when I left college, I wasn’t old enough to play the moms anymore. But one of my favorite roles that I ended up booking after college was this really awkward teenage girl. In high school, I was always cast older than I was, so to be in my mid-20’s and be cast as a teenager was one of the most thrilling and exciting moments for me. I was finally playing a role that I really deeply understood because I’d been there. I had that emotional connection I’d been searching for with her.

Favorite project thus far, and why?

I spent three days back in college working with Reuben Feels, which is an immersive theater company that teams up with brands to do activation events. They teamed up with Mumford & Sons to coordinate their big stopover in Oklahoma. I asked permission to skip class to go to that audition. In theater school, you only have so many chances to do that because your attendance matters, but I booked it, and it was one of the most fun, best-paid gigs I’ve ever done. We spent two days creating these characters through improv games, and we were then sent into the festival to interact with the crowds. On top of that, there were the perks of having the backstage passes and getting to meet the band!

What has been your most formative professional experience?

Definitely launching my own business. You have to create everything from scratch. It’s one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. I remember I was on a call with another coach when I was just starting out, and she told me that the best personal development program I could ever enroll in would be starting my own business. You can’t hide — you can’t run away from yourself — you have to really take a look at all the things about yourself that might be holding you back — your fears, your doubts — and figure out how to move past them, or else they’ll keep showing up in your professional life.

How did you get connected with your agent or manager, if you have one?

I did have one once, and it was not the best relationship. My best advice is to trust your gut. When you’re signing with an agent or manager, it’s a relationship more than anything; and you as the actor have a lot of ownership over that relationship. Actors are taught to think that we should be bending over backward, that we should be ever so grateful to have an agent, but in reality, you’re agreeing to a business partnership. I, unfortunately, did not have the confidence to trust my gut, so I entered a business relationship with a partner who I didn’t actually trust and who didn’t have my back. The worst part was that I stopped trying to get myself opportunities and put all my trust in them when nothing was really happening on their end.

To join a union or not to join a union? Which union?

I am in the EMC (Equity Membership Candidate Program), and have been since I was working in Chicago. Once you do an Equity gig, you then have to earn points through working with Equity theater companies to be qualified to become a member of the union. The only benefit is that there’s a ranking system for Equity members at auditions. Full union equity members have priority, and they get to book appointments for these auditions. Then EMC members get to choose the remaining slots based on a first-come, first-serve basis. Although EMC was helpful for me in Chicago, a decision to fully join a union needs to come with knowing you have the connections that will help you to book union work. That can take time.

Is there anything else you want me to know?

I think it’s important for artists to know that there can be a disconnect between what they think they know about the industry and the time we’re in now and what’s available to us. I think I figured this out when I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing — I was sending out headshots and resumes to casting directors — I was emailing my agent about auditions that we’re coming up — I was taking workshops and getting my name out there — and I had some wonderful wins, but I kept feeling like nothing was working. I had gotten so off course from the work and the projects that actually lit me up and energized me and got me excited, and that’s really what’s most important. I wish I had known that I didn’t have to be so perfect, and I wish I’d known to pay attention to what was lighting me up inside instead of trying to know all the right things in order to succeed.

Victoria Hines is a Creative Career Coach who empowers creative artists to define their own version of success and take ownership of their careers and business. She spent over ten years working in the entertainment industry as an actor, events producer, arts administrator, and fundraiser. As a teenage cancer survivor and professional artist, she deeply understands navigating uncertainty and trying to answer the age-old question: how do you do what you love and make a living? She is also the host of the Creative Journeys podcast. You can learn more at www.victoriahines.com or follow her on Instagram @thevictoriahines.