845. From International Model to Method Actor to Professional Coach

Gay Thomas Wilson

“…most people do not honor this. Their life experience, especially the negative, or what I call unpreferred experiences hidden within your life experience is who you are. If you connect the dots, you find out who you are, what you’re good at, what you love and what you want to do. The other part of that is understanding how absolutely valuable you are. When you begin to honor your life experience, converge that with your skill set, your gifts and talents, you begin to realize who you are and what you’re capable of, how valuable you are—uniquely and wonderfully made.”

Gay Thomas Wilson is a keynote speaker, personal development & business strategist. She coaches and mentors business professionals, entrepreneurs and creative talent. Gay launched two successful international careers as a trained method actor, model and cover girl. Motivated by her sister’s diagnosis of schizophrenia, she has been an advocate for changing the stigma of mental health. Gay’s journey has given her the skill set to create powerful tools and techniques that facilitate the ability to break through to success by converging life experiences, gifts, talents and skills, which accelerates one’s ability to produce sustainable success in both life and business.

The Most Impactful Turning Point?

“I dropped out of college around 20, after three and a half years studying theater at California State University, with no clear plan of what to do next. I was on a crowded elevator when the woman next to me asked, ‘Did you ever think about becoming a model?’ She was a talent agent and began immediately representing me. She was a fine person who believed in me and encouraged me, had me take classes, and booked my first commercial on my first audition—a national commercial at that.”

The Most Powerful Lessons Learned?

1. As a theater major at California State University I was fortunate to be mentored by a long-time professional makeup artist. I learned how to create characters, how to age a 20-year-old to look 70 and much more that helped me when I became an actor.

2. After modeling in Los Angeles for a couple of years, a friend suggested I move to New York. There I worked with Elite Model Management for a couple of years and Wilhelmina Models for another eight. I was comfortable as a model because I loved fashion, had the background in makeup, along with theater training.

3. My next career move was into acting, which had always fascinated me. I studied method acting at the Actors Conservatory for 6 years with luminaries such as Warren Robertson and Lily Lodge. Acting gave me the opportunity to explore my inner world. My acting career included guest star roles on TV series such as the Sopranos, Law & Order, Homicide and several movies.

4. As a coach I’ve learned that most people do not honor their life experience. If you connect the dots you find out who you are, what you are good at, what you love to do and what you truly want to do. It’s called discovery and is a four step process.