We had the good fortune of connecting with Alyssa Mann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alyssa, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I’m originally from Howell, New Jersey. My mom was an art teacher and my dad was a salesman. We didn’t grow up with a ton of money and working hard was always a value in our household. I wasn’t given anything, I needed to work for it. If my parents could have, I’m sure they would have given me 100k to start my fitness or my candle business but it just wasn’t a possibility for them to do so. So, I knew from a very young age that everything I wanted in life I needed to be prepared to get myself. I’m so deeply grateful for this because it taught me my work ethic and how to be humble. There are few things that bother me more than entitlement without any effort to back it up.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a wearer of many hats. I don’t think we should be boxed in by one thing. My first and greatest love is storytelling. I am mainly and actor and a writer. I love cultivating compassion by telling stories that encourage the audience to see something from a different point of view. I love emotions and I think they are our greatest teachers and I love helping people feel theirs. Not unlike that, I am also a personal trainer and fitness instructor. Fitness is actually not far off from acting. I am helping people get in touch with themselves and maybe do/feel something they haven’t before. Pushing through resistance is magic. And lastly, I make candles. Scents to me illicit the greatest memories and I love transporting people with a smell.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Ooooo okay, I love LA and a lot of the areas around it. We would start where I live, in Silverlake and we’d walk Sunset checking out all the little boutique stores and the farmer’s market. We’d probably have dinner at Bacari which is stunning and maybe a drink at the Black Cat. We would spend the rest of the week exploring the city, I would take them to Santa Monica and Venice because they are so iconic and we would spend a day at the beach in Malibu. We would take my dog down to Rosie’s Dog Beach in Long Beach and have dinner down there at Bo-Beau or The Attic. We would check out LACMA and the MOCA, catch a Dodger’s game in Echo Park and for SURE eat at Donna’s (the Italian food there is insane) or Bacetti (also delicious). I would try to squeeze in a trip to Ojai which is one of my fav weekend getaway places or Joshua Tree for some hiking. And before they left we would get some shrimp tacos at Tacos Delta because I eat there legit once a week.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shoutout Steve Kazakoff, my high school acting teacher. He was tough and expected me to be great, and because of that, I worked as hard as I could to beat those expectations. He did not accept excuses or bullsh*t. He insisted you were on time, you were prepared and that you didn’t let yourself off the hook. All this being said, he was also kind, and caring and truly wanted the best for us all. He didn’t just teach me how to be an artist, he taught me how to be a professional.

Website: www.alyssa-mann.com www.badasswellness.com www.rewicks.com

Instagram: @ampersandoctopus

Image Credits
Peter Konerko (green shirt picture)

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