Here’s a little #ThrowBackThursday fosho!
I was in the middle of grad school, riding the #26 bus in Chicago and I was scouting craigslist and I found an ad for a focus group. They were looking for women to share their experiences with losing weight and they’d compensate me $50 for my time.
I was thankful for the $50 bucks cuz mama needed new contact lenses and I’m blind as a bat without them! LOL
When the day of the focus group came, I walked up to the facility doors to find that it was a casting company. I said to myself, “This ain’t no focus group.” (Excuse my English) I checked in, then hurried to the bathroom to make myself presentable. I figured it was an audition of some sort, so I took my contacts out so that I couldn’t see the casting directors.
I had so much fear of rejection I wanted to be blind to their facial expressions if they didn’t “like me” for the role.
So, I was just myself. From what I could see, they liked me. I told them the truth about my health journey and how great it felt not to have to hide myself anymore. I was paid $50, I walked away and that was that. For a couple weeks I thought I was wrong— that it was just a focus group. 
A few weeks later, while I was doing my finance homework, I got a call from an unknown 312 number (I usually don’t answer unknown calls). It was the casting company. They explained to me that the focus group was a casting for “regular women” for a Special K campaign. I KNEW it!
My commercial was a national spot and I got to sign on as a SAG actress. Fancy! After a month or so I got a check for $800! I was thankful, honestly, I expected more, but I was thankful. Then a check for $200, then $50, and random checks in the mail until I earned $10,000 over the winter months. This was a huge blessing for a single mama in grad school! Praise God! 
After all the years I tried to make acting happen on my own, God did it overnight, effortlessly. I don’t know what acting looks like for me now, but I’m walking into all God has for me and you should too! 
(Here’s the full commercial if you all want to see it. Kinda embarrassing, but it’s out there! http://bit.ly/SpecialK_Simmons-Pitts)