We had the good fortune of connecting with Tara Fox and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tara, what role has risk played in your life or career?
In a nutshell…risk is the currency of success. Longer version…Risk is essential to accomplish anything great. It also comes in all forms, not just money. Risk can be time, identity, self esteem, emotional stability, etc.

Most people are unwilling to put themselves in a position to fail, look bad, feel silly…which let’s be honest isn’t a fun thing. But, what is it that you stand to gain? Is it worth some temporary discomfort or embarrassment? It’s called your “comfort zone” for a reason…its comfy…its the sweatpants and mac and cheese of feelings.

I have a special term I use when talking about leaving that comfort zone, that line. You know when you come up to it, in your brain you have this whole conversation to yourself…do you really want to cross? You never know what happens when you do… so you have this whole convo going on, and you mentally have to just push yourself over that line. I call it making the drop. (Because it totally feels like free falling)! I aim to push myself to make that drop daily.

In my acting career, I constantly take classes and seek teachers and mentors who will push me to learn new things/techniques that will take me well beyond my comfort zone. I also try to push my characters (when appropriate) to make the drop…that’s when a character goes from good to great-its a visceral change. Is it risky, for sure! There are a million reasons it could end up a dud…but at the end of the day, I know that I would never be satisfied only going 80% and never knowing what could have been.

I saw this on a motivational poster once and it stuck with me, pretty much sums up risk taking for me.

Be brave enough to be bad at something new.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am an actor and voice artist, but how I arrived there takes a few twists and turns. A running joke I tell is that I grew up on stage…not far from the truth! When I graduated high school, I was told to “get a real job” so found myself working in the medical field and had pretty much given up on the whole acting thing. I worked there until I had my first daughter, then stayed home with her. While home I decided to try out blogging, because that’s what everyone was doing. Found out I love food photography, but hate actually blogging! From that experience, I found out that people were doing voice acting from home studios and I was all…acting from home??? In my pajamas??? YES PLEASE!! So naturally, I jumped into the deep end and figured out how to swim on the way up. My take away…is never stop searching for your “thing”!

Fast forward to now-I have a broadcast quality, custom built recording studio in house. I train with a stunt team in Denver. And I fly out to LA for MOCAP (motion capture…the spandex suits with dots everywhere).

Some of my favorite projects I have worked on this past year have been; a virtual reality video game made for health professionals to run high risk scenarios without actually risking real patients- I am the main female voice for the doctor and nurse. And a google commercial- the fun pets caught on google nests- I am the scaredy cat in their Halloween commercials.

One thing I love about any acting job- voice, on screen, stunt, etc…is the collaborative atmosphere! I love deep diving into characters and environments…its totally playtime! I love getting to work with directors and clients, hearing their visions and turning their visions into realities.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Food has to be first on this list! We would definitely be hitting up Snooze! Create Cooking School is also another absolute must- you learn how to make incredible food, while drinking cocktails, and you get to eat it all when its done! Its such a fun atmosphere and the chef and staff there is a blast!

The sights…well totally depends on the time of year- but heading into the mountains is always fun! I used to live in Steamboat- so I know that mountain town the best, and it is a great spot any time of the year! Hot tip- don’t go to Strawberry Park after dark!

For fun- I would totally drag them down to a stunt training night…we can always use more victims, um I mean, visitors!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am where I am today because of so many people, but the one who always stands out and supports my crazy antics the most is my husband, Gregg!

Website: tarajadefox.com

Instagram: @tarajadefox

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tara-jade-fox

Other: Stunt Team: warriorquest.com Email: tara@tarajadefox.com

Image Credits
Mark Grove- owner of Rocky Mountain Stunts-action shots.

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