FEATURED ON:
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS & RETREATS
YOUR STORY MATTERS: UNMUTE YOURSELF
Writing, Meditation, Guidance, Community, and Teachings with Ann Randolph
BEGINS MARCH 10TH
INAPPROPRIATE IN ALL THE RIGHT WAYS
Written and performed by Ann Randolph With your host Steve McGowan and special guest, Amy Segal
March 11, 2025 7:30 PM
WRITE YOUR LIFE RETREAT - SANTA FE, NM
With Award-Winning Writer/Performer Ann Randolph
May 4th - 11th, 2024
MY STORY
20 years ago I was working the graveyard shift at a homeless shelter for mentally ill women in Santa Monica. My paycheck every two weeks was $740. I took the job so I would have my days free to create and weekends off to perform. I thought I would be there only 6 months.
I worked there for 10 years. During that time, I wrote 5 solo shows, all of them produced with my credit card. Thank you VISA! I won fancy awards and critic’s praise, but I sunk deeper in debt from self-producing.
I couldn’t get the attention of producers and agents no matter how hard I tried. The worst part, I lied. I lied when I met people in the entertainment industry. I didn’t tell them where I worked because I wanted to be seen as “somebody”.
Finally, in my 10th year on the graveyard shift, with nothing to lose. I picked up a pen and wrote about the lies, my life at the shelter, and my fear that I could end up homeless too. When I finished writing the show, I felt a tremendous peace because I had finally revealed the part of myself I was desperately trying to hide, my own brokenness.
One night while performing this new show, I see Mel Brooks in the audience. I can barely contain myself. I am a huge fan! Immediately after the show, he comes backstage says, “Ann you’re a genius. I am going to produce you in NYC!” To the outside world, my life changed in that instant, but to me, it changed the minute I was able to share all of me on stage and not just the pretty parts.
The liberation of no longer hiding and telling the truth is the greatest gift I gave myself and what I continue to practice every day. It’s not easy and sometimes I still want to hide, but I know it’s the only way.
After the run in NYC, I knew I wanted to spread this truth-telling message. I started teaching a course I created called, Write Your Life. I had never created a course before, but I knew I believed in what I had learned.
My intention was for us to write our deepest shames, fears, losses, joys, and dreams on to the page and share them with one another in a circle of kindness.
It’s been 18 years since I taught my first course and I am honored to have guided thousands of people from every walk of life to write their stories. What I know for sure, YOUR STORY MATTERS.
I continue to perform my solo shows all over the U.S and now include a writing workshop with each show. I love watching an audience become a beautiful community, holding space for one another to share their story. It’s not just my story, it’s your story, it’s our story.
For my fancy bio, click here.
