This week’s NY Entertainer of the Week is Bethany Watson. Bethany told us about her podcast An Acquired Taste, her web series “Labeled”, her NYC favorites and more.

Check out the interview!

upfrontNY: How did moving to NYC inspire you?

Bethany Watson: The thing I love about NYC is that everyone is always hustling and reaching and pushing themselves forward. No one moves to NYC to relax. So if you’re not always pushing yourself forward, you’re falling behind. Because I have a bit of a lazy side, this city is good for me. It keeps me motivated. And because so many artists live here, it’s easy to find collaborators and people who have skills you lack! All of a sudden, you’ve found your creative team.

 

upfrontNY: It has been a little over a year since you left the Elvis Duran morning show. How did it feel to follow your heart and dreams to pursue other projects that you are passionate about?

Bethany Watson: It was incredibly exciting. It’s a similar feeling to that of moving away from home to attend college. Anyone who’s experienced that knows the excitement of realizing you can be whoever you want to be, you can reinvent yourself. That’s how it felt. And I was also excited to be able to get the sleep and time to devote to things like writing, acting, and collaborating.

 

upfrontNY: What advice do you give to others who want to follow their dreams?

Bethany Watson: Plan. Be smart about it. It doesn’t always require leaving your job but if that’s what you ultimately decide to do, make sure you have some money saved up or at least concrete ways you can make money as you build your next career. If you’re staying in your current gig, be structured about your time outside of work. Don’t let yourself off the hook. If your time to work on your dream is the weekend, your child’s nap time, or if it means waking up an hour earlier each day, do it. The Universe sees you putting in the effort, even if you don’t think it’s being noticed. It is.

Make sure you have people in your life who believe in you and champion you! As you go for your dreams, there will be people around you who try to convince you to stay put; they may even lash out. When someone makes a major life change, it invariably makes the people around them look inward and question their own choices, and that can be a scary thing to do. Take advice from the people you respect, and (politely) ignore the rest.

Do it. The next 20/30/40/100 years are going to pass whether you’ve gone for your dream or not. Why not make those years exciting and fulfilling?

Don’t make major life choices at night. As my mom always tells me, everything is worse at night. Wait until morning and see what your brain says.

 

upfrontNY: Can you tell us about “Labeled” and the best part of filming this web series?

Bethany Watson: “Labeled” is about low-level employees at a fictional record label, East Pacific Records. My co-producer Jon Sosis and I have both worked on different sides of the music industry – him at a record label and me in radio – so we’ve seen the unglamorous side of that industry firsthand. We wanted to show people how ridiculous it is that very often, artists’ entire careers or images are in the hands of these normal office workers who are running themselves ragged trying to delete an artist’s offensive tweet or convince a pop star that she can’t fly onstage on a unicorn. The majority of the things that happen on “Labeled” are based on real events that Jon has dealt with working at his label, and they’re hilarious.

The best part of filming the series is our cast, because it’s really like playing with your buddies all day. The scripts are so funny so we’re constantly laughing and having a great time, and everyone on-set gets along so well. It’s always a joy to reunite to film another episode; there’s a lot of smiles and hugging when we get together for each new shoot. I think this is what people who liked school felt on the first day back after summer vacation. I was always a bag of anxiety but my peers seemed to be having a good time…..

upfrontNY: What is next for season 2?

Bethany Watson: Season 2 is following our rapper Chill Cosby as he and the staff of EPR work to bring his new vision to life: a Broadway musical based on Fyre Festival. It’s an awful idea but the label’s new president is one hundred percent behind it, mostly because she’s a former ‘80s pop star and sees this as her potential comeback. Also, Jon and I produced a web series that exists in the same universe as “Labeled” called “Anya Marina: Indie-Pendent Woman.” It’s about the singer-songwriter Anya Marina (who co-produced and wrote the series with us) getting dropped from East Pacific Records and becoming an indie artist, so Anya’s storyline gets brought back in season 2 of “Labeled” as well. It’s fun to see these characters interact now. Plus, Anya is a born comedic actor and is such a sweetheart so we weren’t done working with her yet!

upfrontNY: Were you always interested in acting and producing?

Bethany Watson: Acting has always been my first love. I started acting in plays and putting on shows with my sisters and friends when I was really young, and it’s been a through line my entire life in one form or another. I did theatre in middle and high school, I majored in Theatre in college, and did improv professionally after college. Even while working in radio, I was taking improv and acting classes to keep that part of me going.

I also always kind of knew deep down that I’d most likely get my break in the industry by first producing my own stuff. When you’re a theatre kid in middle school but you’re a good 7 inches taller than your peers, you quickly learn that you’re not going to get the ingénue roles. I played a LOT of old women/witches/old hags in grade school, which is awesome for a kid’s self esteem. I also knew from a pretty young age that I wanted to have more control over my acting career than only going for roles in someone else’s projects. Don’t get me wrong, I actually really enjoy auditioning (it’s a day where you’re guaranteed a chance to act!) and I love to see everything that’s being created from all of these different voices and perspectives. I also know that I want to be in a position to give myself and other people opportunities to work as well. That’s why creating and producing projects is a big deal to me.

 

upfrontNY: Can you tell us about your podcast An Acquired Taste?

Bethany Watson: An Acquired Taste is my friend Kathleen and me discussing everything weird in our world in the same way you’d talk with your close friends. We cover news stories, pop culture, our personal lives, our listeners’ lives, what our ideal funerals would look like, why National Treasure is the best movie ever, etc. Our slogan is, “If you’ve ever felt like you don’t belong, you belong with us.” And the most incredible part of the whole podcast has been the “secret” fan Facebook page. Our listeners are called TasteBuds, and they’ve created an entire community where they lift each other up, give each other advice, and even organize meet-ups with each other. Kathleen and I are sort of floored that such incredible people have found us and each other. The podcast comes out every Wednesday on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and a bunch of other platforms and is part of the AudioBoom family.

upfrontNY: You and Kathleen are so great together what is the best part of working together?

Bethany Watson: One of my favorite things about working with Kathleen is how much we complement each other. We’re incredibly different people; she got married young whereas I just met my partner, she was raised here on the east coast whereas I’m from Wisconsin, she’s as comfortable talking about beer and bathroom humor as she is discussing this season’s Fashion Week trends, whereas I get super uncomfortable talking about anything bathroom-related and just shut down if the conversation goes there. She loves poking me when that happens. I feel like we’re constantly pushing each other off-center, which makes for a fun dynamic. Plus, she’s a total sweetheart who’s bought me groceries when I had the flu and watched my cats when my cat sitter had the flu, so she’s a good human…who also seems to be invincible against the flu…

 

upfrontNY: On Instagram your fans have been able to follow your journey with your aerial skills. How did you get started with this and how does it make you feel?

Bethany Watson: I got started in aerial the way I get started in a lot of things: my little sister told me to do it. She knows a lot of things about a lot of things and so I usually do whatever she tells me to do. When I first moved to NYC she saw that trapeze and aerial classes were offered. I’ve always been involved in dance and love working out in a way that feels graceful and fluid (I shut down when someone on a headset is yelling at me from the front of a room…..) so she recommended I give it a try! I was so terrified that it took me three attempts to even enter the gym; I left crying the first two times out of sheer insecurity. But that third time, the instructor knew to look for me and called my name just as I was making my escape again. I’ve since fallen completely in love. Aerial requires so much focus that your brain can’t worry about anything else. It’s one of the only times my brain shuts off its constant chattering. And it’s so physically difficult because you’re using parts of your body that you never use in your daily life and are tough to work out in a gym. I’ve gone from being unable to stand in a footlock six inches off the ground to being able to climb the fabric all the way to the rafters without giving it a second thought. I couldn’t climb the rope in gym class! Elementary school Bethany is floored! I’m still such a beginner but I’m so proud of how far I’ve come and how my body is transforming as my brain and body get strong together. It’s my therapy. (Therapy is also my therapy but aerial therapy is slightly less expensive with way less crying.)

 

upfrontNY: Is there anything else you want others to know about you or your upcoming projects?

Bethany Watson: I’m also working on a short horror/comedy film that will start shooting in a few weeks. I’m excited to work in that moody, dark environment while also getting to flex my comedic chops some more. Plus, it will be my first time working with my partner Dennis Cahlo, so that will be fun! Or it will break us up. I hope it doesn’t break us up. I like him a lot. But either way, the movie will be good!

NYC FAVORITES

Favorite NYC restaurant: Any diner in NYC. I love diner iced coffee and omelets the size of your head. I get disproportionately excited when I go to diners.

Favorite NYC date night spot: The Met Opera. I love an excuse to get incredibly dressed up, and dates to me feel a little more focused and romantic when you’re both all gussied up. It somehow reminds you that you’re on a date and this is special. And you can’t beat that fountain.

Favorite NYC coffee spot: Joe Coffee Company. The employees are super nice and the atmosphere is quiet and chill.

Favorite NYC spot for inspiration: Central Park. It sounds cliche, but being surrounded by all of that green is really good for my brain. I love the excited energy of the tourists walking around, and there’s always a little private nook you can find to sit and read, write, or just observe.

Favorite thing about NYC: The fashion! You can try out anything and you’ll seldom get a second look. Every day is dress up day!