Emily Maguire Of Reflections Talent Agency On How Live Arts Helped Teach Courage, Authenticity, Vulnerability & Career Success

An Interview With Vanessa Ogle

Vanessa Ogle
Authority Magazine
9 min readMay 21, 2024

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Career Success: My experience in the arts built my self-confidence, taught me how to embrace my voice through my different roles, and gave me a theatrical playground to discover who I was and what I wanted to achieve in life.

The stage is a powerful platform for personal and professional growth. Through live arts, individuals learn to embrace vulnerability, project authenticity, and muster unparalleled courage. These experiences not only shape artists but also prepare them for varied career paths with a distinctive edge. From actors and dancers to directors and behind-the-scenes creators, the lessons learned in the limelight often translate into profound career success beyond the footlights. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Maguire.

Emily is a registered career consultant and mentor who specialises in working with individuals and companies in the creative and entertainment industries. Her career and business advice has been featured in numerous press and media outlets. She’s also a podcast host and producer and a top community voice on LinkedIn for the Film Industry.

Her role as a career and business coach for creatives has complemented her position as CEO of Reflections Talent Agency™, where she manages a roster of talented actors who have worked on high-profile film and TV projects worldwide.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career in live arts?

I started out as a children’s entertainer assistant, wearing a giant Minnie Mouse costume, making balloon animals, dancing, and performing magic tricks to sometimes an audience of hundreds. Thinking about this still makes me smile to this day. From there, I did a BTEC in performing arts at Huddersfield Technical College, which is where the acting bug fully took hold. I then worked in theatre while taking further courses in London at The City Lit and attending classes at the Actors Centre in Manchester.

I never had much confidence as a child and wanted to be a vet because it was the only thing I’d experienced. As I grew up, the arts were not visible as a career option, so when I randomly worked as a children’s entertainer at 14, I began thinking it could be my career. After years of working in the industry in TV, film, and stage, I decided to start my own talent agency in 2012, looking after actors based on the ethos of treating actors how I wanted to be treated by my agents. Later, during the pandemic, I undertook a post-graduate degree in career development. I now use my prior experience and specialise in working with clients in the creative and entertainment industries.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

One interesting story is about when I worked outside of the live arts and on TV, portraying a real person. It was the role of Dawn Walker in Britain’s Deadliest Lovers. The show won the viewers’ choice. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with portraying a real person. It was vital for me to do my research and represent Dawn in an honest and authentic way that did justice to her family’s memory. You also have to put a lot of trust and faith in your fellow cast members and crew to portray the vulnerability needed for the role.

Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Initially, I was cautious about not making any mistakes, but as I progressed, I began to understand that making mistakes is part of the learning process. Only by trying and failing can you determine what does and doesn’t work. Don’t be afraid to try and fail. As Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” With every experience, we learn and grow and get that one step closer to our life’s purpose.

As I’ve progressed through life, I’ve learnt to trust in the ebb and flow and to not fight against it but instead to be creative and adaptable. Going with the flow can be challenging for many people. When a door doesn’t open, we push and push and try to make it budge, increasing our stress levels. Instead, I’ve learnt to let go and go with the flow and be willing to adjust to the situation without resistance. It then becomes a growth learning opportunity as I look for new and alternative ways to channel my energy and actions.

Lastly, have patience. Life and careers are long, never-ending journeys with ups and downs. If you put the work in and put good things into the world, then eventually, things will unfold, and what you set out to achieve will happen. Perhaps not always the way you first envisaged, but in a way that was meant to be, and maybe even better than what you originally wanted.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. How has a live performance experience directly influenced a critical decision or leadership style in your professional career?

Working in the live arts requires the ability to work collaboratively, and this has translated to my leadership style and how I like to work with others. I encourage all parties to have a voice, as we all have something to learn from each other. My leadership style is more coaching-based, where I look to get the most and best out of the people I work with, as opposed to authoritarian, where it’s one voice only.

I also uniquely use 360 feedback with my coaching clients as a confidence-building tool. Through my newsletter, a little like what you’re doing with this article, I aim to give a platform for others to share their experiences and voices. Life is one long journey of lessons, and by listening to each other and working collaboratively, we can help each other excel.

Can you describe a moment on stage that taught you a profound lesson about vulnerability and how you’ve applied that lesson offstage?

To deliver a compelling performance that your audience connects with, you have to be vulnerable with any character you play on stage or screen. That means you need to give an open, honest, and authentic performance. You also need to actively listen to your fellow actors, to both what is said and what is left unsaid.

The same can be said of life and making strong personal and professional connections. With any relationship, you need to offer something of yourself. Making connections that last requires an act of vulnerability, of letting the other person in so that they feel they have made a genuine connection with someone who understands their needs, be that personally or professionally.

In what ways has the discipline and creativity demanded by live arts shaped your approach to career challenges and opportunities?

Working in live arts meant I had to know my lines and movements perfectly. There was no shouting cut and starting over. Every night, you had one shot, working as a team at delivering a quality performance that your audience could enjoy. If someone forgot a line, you covered them by cueing them in, to continue the flow and reminding them what they needed to say. What this means is that you learn to think on your feet, remain adaptable and pivot in your career as needed, embrace challenges and be open and available for career opportunities as they present themselves.

How do you think the authenticity required in live performances has impacted your personal brand or leadership identity in your career?

As mentioned earlier, being authentic means giving something of yourself. I do this through my blog, podcast, and newsletter. I embrace networking, meeting new people, and creating and sustaining relationships. I do this by being open and honest and treating people with grace and respect. My identity as someone who values others engenders their trust. People are naturally drawn to brands that they can trust, and rightly so; if someone sees me and treats me simply as a transaction, I close down, but if they are genuine and show kindness and generosity, I’m hooked.

Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways That Live Arts Helped Teach Courage, Authenticity, Vulnerability and Career Success?” If you can, please share a story or an example for each. I could only think of 4, I hope that’s enough.

1 . Courage: To be authentic in any role you play as an actor, you need to have the courage to go all in. As the quote says, ‘everything you want is on the other side of fear’. You’ll never self-actualise if you hold back or lack confidence in your abilities. Never be afraid to have a voice and follow your intuition. That holds true for playing a role or in life.

2 . Be Myself: Shakespeare wrote, “To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” No matter what, you have to stay true to yourself and your beliefs. Don’t be afraid to have an independent voice and go against the grain. It’s not easy to do, but to be something different, to be unique and stand out amongst all the other voices, you need to stay true to yourself.

4 . Resilience: To be a performer, you need resilience. The life of a performer is a challenging game and one that is full of rejection, especially when you’re auditioning for several roles a week. You need to find ways to stay productive between work, hone your craft, and use your skill sets to support yourself financially in between acting work. I have carried this with me through to starting my own businesses by staying strong and productive in the early stages and believing in myself and what I aim to achieve.

5 . Career Success: My experience in the arts built my self-confidence, taught me how to embrace my voice through my different roles, and gave me a theatrical playground to discover who I was and what I wanted to achieve in life.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Have you watched the film Pay it Forward with Helen Hunt? The story revolves around a young boy called Trevor, who comes up with the idea of “paying it forward.” Instead of repaying the favours we receive, we do good deeds for three people and then ask those people to do the same. It’s such a simple thing, but can you imagine how many people’s lives would be changed for the better if everyone actively did this? I do this through my podcast and newsletter. I’m incredibly passionate about giving a voice to others, and I guess that is my version of contributing good to the world.

How can our readers further follow you online?

I’m most active on LinkedIn, and that is where I have my newsletter, The Creative Life. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilymaguire/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReflectionCareerCoaching/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reflectionstalentagency/

Twitter: @ReflectCareer

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.

Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.

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Authority Magazine
Authority Magazine

Published in Authority Magazine

In-depth Interviews with Authorities in Business, Pop Culture, Wellness, Social Impact, and Tech. We use interviews to draw out stories that are both empowering and actionable.

Vanessa Ogle
Vanessa Ogle

Written by Vanessa Ogle

Vanessa is a writer, entrepreneur, inventor, and songwriter. She is the founder of Enseo, Catapult Technologies, Higher Hill Studios and Higher Hill Travel.

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