This week on the show, I'd like to introduce to you Rachael Markarian, dancer, actor, master teacher (full bio below). I met Rachael through last week's guest Bethany Londyn, at Bethany's book launch (I'm learning about networking here, guys). She had great energy and passion, and a message to share, so I'm excited to bring her to you this week. Episode drops Tuesday on Apple Podcasts and my Youtube channel, follow the link in the bio. (Insert bio). #Doctor #Host #Moments #Podcast #Show #Dancer #Master #Actor #Rejection #Success #Audition ​ ​

Originally from Boston, Rachael resides in Los Angeles with a versatile and successful career in the Entertainment Industry. Rachael was introduced to the arts at a young age, taking up dance to correct an innate handicap she had with her legs. After falling in love with it, she attended a Performing Arts High School immersing herself in dance, theatre and music. As a teenager, Rachael trained at some of the most prestigious schools in New York City, solidifying her dream to pursue a career in Entertainment. She then attended Oklahoma City University as a Theatre & Dance Performance Major. Since moving to Los Angeles, Rachael has been in over 30 Films, TV Shows & Commercials, ranging from Co-Stars, to Guest Stars, Recurring, Supporting and Lead roles. Some of her Film & TV credits include Top Gun: Maverick, The Morning Show, Dollface, Legion, Glee, True Blood, Rush Hour 3, Gilmore Girls Revival, Mascots, How I Met Your Mother, CSI, Dr. Ken, No Strings Attached, Microsoft, Target, Chevy, Farmer's Insurance, H&M and many more. ​ . She's the proud owner of the In-Studio Intensive, The Dancer's Edge As a well-respected Master Teacher who travels both domestically and internationally, Rachael is passionate about sharing her love for dance and educating young artists about the importance of a healthy mindset in preparation for the Entertainment Industry. She hopes to encourage others to pursue their dreams and feel empowered by their ability to do so.

Show Notes

• [1:10] We have a wonderful guest for today, Rachel Markarian, an actress, dancer, and Master teacher.

Master Teacher is somebody who had a very lucrative or versatile career as a dancer that works in multiple areas and is now sharing the knowledge and that passion to other generation.

Rachel is now teaching for 6 or 7 years. She has a convention that is like studios from all across the world and has 200 children in her classes.

• [2:15] The convention Rachel teaches was called “Energy Dance Project”. They are in the 10th season this coming 2020. This will be Rachel’s 2nd full year with them. They teach the kids what is a professional dance world looks like, and they compete for awards, scholarship money, and all the stuff in their studios.
• [4:17] Rachel is one of the 15 Master teachers on her convention. Rachel can teach the children lyrical dance, jazz or hill class. She is very versatile, she is not the kind of teacher who teaches specific dance type. Rachel said that dance is so subjective and it’s great for younger dancers to be exposed to Master Teachers because everybody has a different perspective and different style. The more they can expose themselves to that, the better and stronger they’re going to be as an artist and as a human being because they teach beyond steps and choreography. In Rachel’s class, she teaches a deeper understanding in what they are doing.
• [7:14] Rachel is from Boston, she studied at Oklahoma. During her semester off, she goes to LA to train and tries to audition and work. Oklahoma City had a really good musical theater department so she was able to do her acting, her music, and dancing. She went to a performing arts high school so it’s like a perfect fit for her and she like the slow-paced.
• [9:00] In between of her summer, off Rachel lost her father. She was 18, so that put everything in perspective and she thinks what she’s going to be and what she will be doing so she decided to move to LA. For nine months, it was a huge struggle for her. She worked hard to save for money before going to LA but it wasn’t enough and she wants to only work on her industry. In 9 months of auditioning and hoping her money would last, she had only $6.86 on her bank account and her rent was due and there was an audition for a tour. There were like 400 girls at the audition and they only needed two and thankfully, Rachel and her roommate were chosen out of the 400 girls. That was the moment were Rachel’s career change. 
• [12:31] Most of her 20’s was all direct booking which is the choreographer. The director calls her agency and asks her if she’s available. Rachel thinks that it is good because if you can work with a handful of choreographer you worked with multiple times, that’s all you need to constantly work because if they work all the time and they trust you and you deliver for them and you are right for the job, they will keep asking for you to come back.
• [14:00] Rachel said that if your work is defining you and you are not getting the result that you want at work, that’s a really dangerous road to go down especially if you love what you do. So if you are not going to do that anymore, it’s heartbreaking. It is a hard balance but it is important because you will lose yourself or you will be discouraged and you’ll quit. Rachel was very naive, the idea of not working out for her never cross her mind. She said that this is what she trained for her whole life. This is the only thing she wants to do therefore she is going to be successful. However, she did not think what it is going to look like but she will do everything she can do to make her dreams become a reality.
• [17:00] She said that mentality is very important; it is not being conceded. It is not thinking that you are better than them; it knows what you will bring to the table. In an audition, Rachel will do her best she can. If she is right for it, she’s hopefully booked for it, and if she doesn’t, it’s either she fell short in some way or it wasn’t the right type. She can’t control types that they are wanting but she can’t change her height, her hair or ethnicity so having an understanding of your self, your worth and knowing not to take it personally is truly half of what this is about.
• [20:02] A lot of older dancer used to tell Rachel that rejection is protection. That God is protecting her from that job, or that experience or rejection is a redirection. That she is supposed to be available for something else. Especially now that she is an actress, rejection is on a much deeper level than dancing.
• [22:00] Dr. Larry shares his experience in medical school acceptance. It is like the worst thing ever for him, but the difference is once you get in, that’s it. There’s other stuff, but its not a continual audition every week or month. Imagine going into a job interview multiple times a week. That’s what Rachel career for all these years. Rachel is very thankful that she had a nice career when she was a dancer but when she was transitioning out of dancing and her passion is shifting into acting, she was not getting results the same way when she was a dancer.
• [24:00] She needs to start from the ground at 30 years old when all this other actress had been building their resumes since they were 16. In times when Rachel is questioning herself, thankfully she had a coach that told her not to allow anybody to dictate her path. You decide what your heart sings for. Then she thought that this is the road and she will saddle up and go. She goes out with nature, changed her environment, writes her journal, understands that life is bigger than this and she is still doing it. This is why she tried to instill this when she was teaching.
• [27:37] Rachel remembers in the 400-girl audition that she felt confident and that she also felt the pressure because she needs to pay her bills. If she didn’t get this job, she would probably try to get a side job at a studio teaching or something. Rachel was used to being one of many auditioning for something so when she is going for an audition, she was focus on remembering the choreography and the thing that will make her stand out. That moment you will grab the client’s attention.
• [29:41] Rachel always tells her students that the first 4 to 8 counts of their audition is the most important because it’s when casting or the directors are going to decide on whether or not to watch you.

You don’t overdramatize something, but there is the little thing that you can deal and a lot of it has to deal with eye contact and confidence. Rachel said that it’s simple just to make them uncomfortable but there is a sense of essence that comes over you with true confidence like “I have something that you want”.

• [32:50] The 400-girl audition was for the tour with a Latin artist name Chayanne. He was like the Michael Jackson of the Latin world. Dr. Larry remembers one of Chayanne's song was “Torero,” and Rachel was one of the dancers. She works with Chayanne for two years. All of Rachel’s tour was mostly in South America and in Europe. They spend a lot of time in Spain. Rachel loves to travel but after her third tour, she stops.
• [35:10] Doctor Larry and Rachel talk about anorexia and body issues in dancing. Rachel has a company and they travel a lot of studios around the world and she always does a Q and A with parents and teachers. She often gets a parent asking about the weight. She said that they have to feel healthy and also they have to take care of their bodies in a healthy way. They have to eat nutritious food and work out so that when they dance, they will not get injured.
• [37:29] Rachel struggles in college because their grade was dependent on their weight. If they didn’t hit the number on a scale, they would lose their scholarship or their grade was affected. Their reasoning is they have to be fit and when they get into the professional world, they can’t be overweight but the downside of that is when Rachel saw that they are not qualified in weight, she automatically assumes that they are not talented. She will see them dance and got blown away by their talent. She can’t believe how awful she was when making assumptions base on weight.
• [40:37] At a certain weight, dancers perform their best but being too thin or too heavy they can’t make their moves well. Dr. Larry asks Rachel that in their dance world to what extent is skinny still valued. Rachel explains that in the audition, they must be in super fit condition or they will be cut. Some jobs need a showgirl type of a role, they will need a tall and has abs or very lean body.
• [42:08] There are jobs that Rachel was getting cut and choose not to know the reason why she gets cut because she has been involved in the casting with the choreography process. There are times that they love the girl but they already have one and they can’t have two redheads. Whatever it is she sees that has nothing to do with them personally and sometimes it does. Sometimes the talent was not just good enough, and as a talent, they don’t know the reasons so there was no use on wracking their brain about it.
• [45:20] Dr. Larry relates to Rachel because today was the 18th death anniversary of his mom. Rachel’s dad and Dr. Larry’s mom both died in 2001. Her dad died because of liver cirrhosis when she was a freshman in college. The death of her dad was her moment and was not sure if she processed it at that time. Until 5 or 6 years ago, she came to terms with his passing and she was okay with it. She felt that her father willfully experience his children now in a way that he wouldn’t to if he was alive and that gives her peace.
• [49:00] Hearing Rachel talking about having found a way come to peace with her father’s death, Dr. Larry is struggling to let go of his children not knowing his mom. Dr. Larry loves wedding but when its time for mother and son dance, sometimes he would leave, he still feels it.

Rachel said that a lot of her therapy was through dance, so if something were going on, she wouldn’t talk about it and go to the studio and work it out until there are many moments of that but that would do and then you got to face your stuff.

• [52:10] When Rachel’s dad died, she felt a sense of urgency came over her because she wants to live her life and be happy. She remembers speaking to one of her brothers and said that she was not happy at school. Her brother said that you have control of your happiness if you are not happy, then change to something that would make you feel happy. That is when she decided to go to LA.
• [54:05] Rachel said that when going to college, it depends when you are emotionally, mentally, financially ready. Also, you will need the support of your family. She went to a University but she needs more, she was majoring in dance but she didn’t need a dance degree because she doesn’t want to teach at the University.

Because she could come to LA during the summer, she takes a class with choreographers and signs with an agency. When she is ready to move out, they are there for her. It’s an easier transition for her because she is slowly getting her feet for over two years.

• [56:00] When her dad died, she realizes that nothing is guaranteed. Life is not guaranteed. She check-in with herself, where she was going to be happy and do the things that would make her happy. When talking to her brother, that was the thing that makes her pursue her dreams and go to California.