Meet Haylie Peacock

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

Hi Haylie, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Throughout a lot of my adolescence, I dealt with severe social anxiety, which prompted my parents to embed messaging of bravery in me. Confidence is a sense of belonging. All you need is the first twenty seconds of courage (thanks, “We Bought A Zoo”), and then you can do anything. Them pushing me to take risks like saying hi to a new person or showing up to a basketball open gym so that I may get a result I wanted – make a new friend or the basketball team – outfitted me with a positive perspective on risk taking. I firmly believe that if something doesn’t scare me at least a little bit, it probably isn’t worth doing. Moving to LA from Montana was a huge risk. I wanted to pursue my career in film and acting, but I had no job, I didn’t really know my new roommate (or anybody for that matter), and I wasn’t sure how I was going to get onto a set.
Part two of risk taking is follow through. The beauty of taking a plunge is that it is sink or swim. I worked hard, I got both commercial and theatrical agents, I took classes, I got onto sets working production, got promotions, have been working on big projects with names I never thought I would be in the same room with. Once it gets too comfortable, it’s time to reevaluate your position and take another risk.
This is how I see myself on a path of growth throughout my life: by remaining on a cycle of having a dream, taking a risk, being uncomfortable, working hard, getting comfortable, reflecting and evaluating, and taking a new risk.
I’ve also taken risks in the form of saying no when something doesn’t feel right. LA is a funny place because there are so many opportunities that may find you, but you have to use good judgement and trust your gut when something feels off or you don’t feel like it is a good fit for you. Saying no can feel like a loss in the moment, but every time that I have taken the risk of turning down an “opportunity” or declining to work with somebody who I don’t align with, I have found that something better quickly takes its place.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have spent a lot of my adult life feeling like I was walking around as a raw, open wound. My art is the manifestation of that vulnerability. My goal as a human, as long as I can remember, has been to make something that connects to people’s hearts in a way that causes them pause, and if I’m lucky, calls them to action in some way. It is this desire for connection, and also the amount of life that I have had in a short time that I believe allows my art to come from a different perspective. In my poetry, screenwriting, and acting I have used my life experience with painful relationships and OCD, and my little sister’s cancer. As many traumas do, her battle with childhood cancer and my experience alongside her inspires much of my art. While she was walking the line of life and death, I was figuring out my sexuality and navigating coming out in rural Montana – a timeline that often comes up when I am in an inspired state.
I think I understand about people that we are complex and fragile and we all have the same basic needs. I have lived in rural America, in urban Los Angeles, and in relaxed Europe. In my mind live these vivid scenes of the humanity of each of these places, which inform my understanding of the world and therefore my artistic choices. I make art in many forms, from hosting my Lesbian Book Club Podcast with my friend Lauren to writing poetry and screenplays to acting. Across each of these mediums the same things are important to me: my art should be a point of connection, it should be honest, and it should come from a place of vulnerability.
These aren’t always easy to achieve. It is scary to allow people access to the most vulnerable parts of yourself. However, I tend to believe that the most impactful art I have ever had the privilege to experience, where I felt the most moved and connected to something bigger than myself, came from a very vulnerable and honest place. I have to lean into the belief that others appreciate my honesty the same way that I needed it from other artists. Another way I’ve found to overcome the fear is to lead with love and kindness, as it is hard to regret something done in love.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My best friend and I are both of the “lean into what life has to offer and appreciate the hell out of it” camp, so when they visit me we definitely do a lot of discovering as we go. That being said I would start maybe with a surf lesson one day because neither of us know how and that would be fun, and then bop around a beach town for the day after that. Maybe hit up Kirari West in Redondo Beach, they have my favorite pastries. I love SoFar Sounds secret pop up concerts that they host, we would go to one of those for sure. A different coffee shop every day. We are nature people, so maybe disappear in the Santa Monica mountains for a day, especially if it’s spring time and the flowers are blooming.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mom, Heather, is the voice in my head that has never let me give up. It has never mattered to my mom what career I have as long as I do the phenomenal job that we both know that I can do. She cares that I am a good person, that I’m happy, and that I am the most Haylie version of myself. Thank you, Mom, for supporting me every single day.

Website: https://lesbianbookclubpod.buzzsprout.com/

Instagram: hayliesunshine

Twitter: hayliesunshine

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LesbianBookClubPod 

Image Credits
Jazzer-Rae Rogie Nelson