Allyson Hernandez, Author of Ballad of Dreams

auto generated transcript

Mark (: 00:03

Welcome back to our podcast, everyone. What does it mean to be a multi-passionate creative entrepreneur? Our guest today is an author, an executive, an actor, a singer, a composer, a mom, and just an all-around fun person. Allyson Hernandez is my guest today. Allyson, welcome to the program.

Allyson (: 00:22

Thank you. Mark so excited to be here.

Mark (: 00:25

Well, it's exciting to be in Allyson's creative space. It's an audio podcast, but if you're looking at the background, describe it a little bit for us. Alison, you called it your unicorn creative space. You've got a lot of creative inspiration surrounding you right now. Paint the picture for us.

Allyson (: 00:42

I do well about a week into COVID. So now that was like two years ago. I went to the hardware store with my family and bought the brightest turquoise green paint that I could find to paint half of my office. So I have accent walls in deep turquoise. And then I have a painting of a unicorn that a dear friend and my old assistant from my last corporate job painted for me. I have playbills of multiple Broadway shows behind me because Broadway and musicals are my passion. And what else? Lots of colorful things behind me, my book, my new book.

Mark (: 01:26

Books and Lamps and so on. So, and that's really what we wanna talk about, Alison. So I'm glad you got us back to the topic. We wanna talk about Alison's new book, it's called ballad of dreams, and it's been described as a love letter to New York city Broadway theater in general, and specifically your grandmother and maybe great aunt, I think to tell us about ballot of dreams.

Allyson (: 01:50

Yeah. Ballot of dreams is really a love letter for sure. It's my love letter to all of those things and to all of those people. It's inspired by my grandmother, my grandmother, Marie, who passed away almost four years ago now at 96 years of age. And she was a matriarch of my enormous Irish Catholic family, and she had 13 children. So you can imagine just from that fact alone, there's a lot of drama that I could write about. And the other character that it's inspired about is my great aunt Laura, and she lived in New York City where my grandmother grew up in the burbs of Jersey as have I and my great aunt never had children and she was married to a talent scout who had a very big fancy life. And they lived in this gorgeous apartment on central park west or overlooking the park.

Allyson (: 02:48

And they lived very, very different lives. My, my grandmother and my great aunt, and I was really inspired to write a story about two strong women in my family and their drastically different trajectories of their life and their life choices their friendship, right? All of the ups and downs of the choices that they had to make. The bulk of the story is in the 1940s. I should have started with that. So really looking at how much has changed for women and how everything is still exactly the same, the same choices that my grandmother and my great aunt were facing in the forties I'm facing now as a 40 plus-year-old woman, mother, wife, creative. And so that's really at the heart of why started writing and, and I just kept going. It started as a musical actually. Well,

Mark (: 03:45

This is what was so interesting, I've read that. Okay. It was gonna be a musical. And now, I mean, ball of dreams, I can't wait to see it on one of those playbills.

Allyson (: 03:55

Yes, me too.

Mark (: 03:57

Tell me about that transition, but also be speaking of dreams still alive. Are we still hoping that it could be a musical?

Allyson (: 04:05

Oh, yes. For sure. For sure. So yeah it started as a full musical. I wrote overwrote, meaning wrote the book, like the book of the musical. And I also composed over 30 songs and was going down that path. I did two readings of it in New York City with a bunch of amazingly talented actors, friends of mine. I studied musical theater at Syracuse, so I have a very large network in the New York City community of musical theater performers. So we did two readings of it in New York. Sung the songs, read the script, got feedback, then did it again, went back to the drawing board, edited, went back again, and then COVID happened. And the theater literally shut down. There was no theater for over a year. And, I really had a lot of time at home in my office with my laptop, with my family.

Allyson (: 05:04

And I got feedback from three different people in the theater world that said, this could really work as a novel. And have you thought about converting it into a novel? And I thought they were crazy. I was like, no, it's a musical. You're wrong. Like I wrote it for music. And, then once I heard that feedback, the third time I said, you know what? I think maybe I should listen to this feedback. And I really leaned into it, opening my mind to what it could be and not just what I set out for it to be that it's a musical and that it's supposed to be on stage. And when I really kind of let go of that, of what I wanted it to be and what it could be like, the sky was the limit of my creativity. And then all these doors opened to make it into a novel. Yeah.

Mark (: 05:57

And isn't that interesting? I mean, sometimes we think we're focused on the medium, or the way the story is told, whether it's musical or film or song or in this case novel, but isn't the story, the essence, anyway, sometimes it comes down to it and you say, whatever the way I need to get this story out, I need to get the story out.

Allyson (: 06:19

Yes, yes. A hundred percent. And that, I think I said those exact words were, I don't care how this story comes, to be in the universe. I just need it out in the universe. I need people to be able to read it, to experience it, whether it's by the written word, seeing it on stage, listening to the music. And yeah, once I accepted that it was like, my art doesn't have to be just one thing because we are not just one thing. So why the hell can it be a book, a musical, a soundtrack, a stage play a Netflix mini-series. Like all the things I have enough content for it to be all of those things,

Mark (: 07:00

All of those things and listeners, I can guarantee on your desk right now and on your desktop, you have enough content for all the things Allyson just listed. So pick one of those and let's get it on, make it happen. I love the first line of your Amazon book description. And it says it's never too late to make a new dream. Mm. And it seems like not only part of the story itself and the love letter of the book, but of this idea of your story, how do those two things converge for you?

Allyson (: 07:36

Full circle, complete a full circle. A big part of the reason and the impetus of why I started this project, which started at this point 4 years ago, I started it the week that okay. Maybe not the week, the week after my grandmother passed away, which was the same week that I turned 40. So I had what I would call a midlife creative crisis. And I had all of those questions, like circling in my head of what, about my life choices. And, I put my dream of Broadway on hold to be a mom. And I made a very distinct decision to do that. And I was questioning all of those, those like, is it too late? Is this, is this it is this my life? Am I just a mother? Am I just a wife? Am I just a friend? Am I just a creative director?

Allyson (: 08:30

learning and development director at the time, I've had a 20-year career in, incorporating HR and all of those questions were circling in my head. And, that's a lot of what started pouring out of me. It was like telling grandma's story and telling my aunt Laura's story, but through my story and, knowing, okay, wait. So if I'm having these questions as a 40-year-old mom and missing the part of me that was creative, that is creative. That is a performer that has so much in me. So many emotions, so many ideas to share with the world. Then I wonder if my grandmother felt the same way and I only have two kids. She had 13, I can't even imagine. So yeah, I mean writing that, that the lyric that's actually lyrics to a song called it's never too late. And I truly believe that, and yes, it is manifesting itself in the way this project has, unlocked my creativity for lack of a better phrase.

Mark (: 09:37

Yes. Love the phrase though. But it raises so much of my curiosity is so peak. I mean, one, the, your grandmother with the 13 children and the dreams, do you ever feel like she was putting those dreams aside or on hold or putting someone else's dreams ahead of hers?

Allyson (: 09:59

I think we all do as mothers, I think there are different mothers, parents fill in the gap for whatever caretaking role you might have. But I think specifically for mothers, if you're the main caretaker there are big sacrifices you have to make and, you can't be having babies in your sixties. Like you just physically can't be. So, so yeah, I mean, I didn't get to interview her to ask her all the questions that I wanted to. I luckily wrote a paper in college that was called my immigrant saga I was an English minor, believe it or not. And it's really coming in handy now being an author. Yes, that's right. But it was, it was this class called the immigrant saga and we had to interview our grandparents and, and write about our actual immigrant saga from both sides of our family. And so I did interview her and I still have the paper. And there were lots of nuggets that I used for the book, but it wasn't getting at like the core of her. It was getting our family history, you know? But there were still lots of gems in there that I got to use. But yeah,

Mark (: 11:14

I wanted to circle back to something you said too, and we've all experiences the creative crisis, comes and goes, but this am I just, and you sort of put that adjective in front of a lot of different titles and roles we have in our lives. Am I just, this, isn't there more? How did that manifest to you?

Allyson (: 11:38

Yeah, for me, it manifested into a heck of a lot of songs and lyrics. And the one specifically that came out was the original title of the musical was called the mother of the century. And I sat down and I wrote this song called the mother of the century. And it was really asking those questions, but through my grandmother's life, and my imagination fictionalizing her life through those questions of, is this, it is this all I meant to be? Is this all I was made for mother of the century? And having, those feelings and emotions, but putting myself literally in what her shoes might have felt like in the 1940s, where there were even fewer choices than what I have at this stage in my life.

Mark (: 12:30

Right. Well, and thinking about your are different roles in your life, I think about the duality, both sides of your brain, that's happening in leadership development, in HR, and in authorship, writing musicals and soundtracks and novels. I guess if people know you as the author, they go, whoa, you're an HR leadership development expert or the other way around what you wrote a book,

Mark (: 12:58

How has each of those come out in your daily life?

Allyson (: 13:03

Yes, it's really funny that I do I kind of have a split personality a little bit. And the past year I've really been trying to embrace and blend and integrate all of those parts of me to really embrace and say, Hey, like, no, I'm not just Allyson, the creative, I am also a badass businesswoman. Like I have led teams, I have built leadership development programs. I coach CEOs. Like I do have that whole other world that I do think both of them complement each other. And it's funny at one stage in my career, I'd say maybe fiveish, years ago, I was putting so much pressure on myself for a corporate job that I had at the time. And when the musical came to fruition and started coming out of me, it really just freed me up, like, Ugh, okay. Like that person's opinion of me does not matter, right? Or whether I get this quick win or not like the sky is not falling because there's more to me than just this latest initiative. And so the creative outlet of writing and using my imagination and tapping back into that side of me, I think really helped me balance me out more in my corporate job.

Mark (: 14:34

Well, and I know listeners are gonna be more motivated by this, but also I guess, what do, would you say to someone may be listening to that says, boy, that sounds like superwoman to me, you don't understand, I have a busy life. You don't understand I'm on the zoom 14 hours a day. The kids are on the other zoom of me. The other 14 hours. And we're all trying to figure it out. When am I going to find the time and space to be creative? What, did you find and what could you say to somebody who's experiencing that?

Allyson (: 15:07

I think so many creatives struggles with that. For me, I took advantage of the, in between, people would ask me when I still had a full-time job and now, I'm an entrepreneur, so I do have more time to be creative. But I would say I wrote in the, in between I would be driving to work and I would literally be singing into my voice memo in car. And sometimes I'd pull over cuz I'd be a little afraid, of how safe i was being

Mark (: 15:35

A big driving tip.

Allyson (: 15:37

Right. I'm like, I don't wanna get in an accident, but I also don't wanna lose this melody. So hold, please. But I would really utilize dead time. whether, again, this was pre-COVID, so commuting was a thing still then, right? Like driving to your office going on business trips, being on a plane, being on a train, like I would take advantage of that time that, yeah, maybe I probably should have been doing emails or other businessy things, but I would let my brain wander and I would take advantage of that time. However, bumpy the long island, the railroad might have been that afternoon. I would take advantage of that, but I think, for other creatives, it's just taking that one step. Like no one said you have to block out an hour of creativity a day a week. It's what's that one thing that you're gonna commit to and start small. One thing, right. One poem, right? One line, sing one line of one song like that's more than you were doing the day before.

Mark (: 16:42

And then when you finally said it's time to publish the book, we always talk about the competence to know when it's done, when it's ready to produce print, record whatever the case is, you gotta hit the release button. Wait, when did you know?

Allyson (: 16:59

Well, I actually don't think I did know. I think I had a deadline and so it had to be done, had to be ready.

Mark (: 17:07

There's nothing like a deadline for a creative person.

Allyson (: 17:11

Yeah. I mean, I think that with writing the musical, I think I could still be on like draft 8,052, at this stage and with the book, it was like, no, you have a deadline and you have to get it to copy editing by this day. And if you don't, you're not gonna publish in time. So that's it that it had to be ready and I had to let go of this. Isn't gonna be perfect. But this is, I feel really good about the structure. I mean, I had a stage, I started writing it completely nonlinearly. And so it was really like jumping back and forth in time, but it was structured in a way that was connected to Audrey's emotions. And, I really loved this outline and I loved how creative it was and how I was pulling chapters and scenes together that all related to love or to loss or to friendship.

Allyson (: 18:05

And, then after my editors read it and couple beta readers, they're like, we're really confused. And I had to take that entire outline apart, take it apart, and put it back together. And that was really painful. Really, really, really painful work. But now I'm really happy that I did it because I couldn't sleep at night knowing that if someone was confused by page two or page four, they're gonna stop reading. And I don't want my hubris. Right. I don't want the hubris of my good idea to stop someone from finishing the book. So right. I got through that creative jigsaw puzzle. And so I did good by the time it was time to go to proofreading.

Mark (: 18:53

So good. Well, Allyson people are gonna wanna know how to connect with you and follow you and learn more about the book and your work in general, and then stay in touch. I'm sure. How can they find you?

Allyson (: 19:05

Absolutely. Yeah. So my website is Allysonhernandez.net. You can follow me on Facebook, Alison Hernandez, LinkedIn, Alison Hernandez Instagram, Alison Hernandez, underscore extra. And I just got back onto Twitter. I don't really know how to use it, but I am on there as well.

Mark (: 19:26

Cause, you gotta be on Twitter.

Allyson (: 19:27

Right.

Mark (: 19:29

But what is it like, like a creative person to say, I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm gonna try it anyway. That's a good, inspiration right there.

Allyson (: 19:38

Awesome.

Mark (: 19:39

Well, yeah, you were talking about your network and connections and here we've been talking about who else might wanna know and follow your work. What, connections are you still hoping to build? What, what are you looking to expand network? And there are the capabilities that you might wanna draw on.

Allyson (: 19:55

Yeah, well, right now I'm in a really exciting stage of building a team to record the soundtrack of the music. So I had done an Indiegogo campaign over the summer to cover the publishing costs and that also included raising funds to record the music which as you've all heard now, that's how this whole story started was from the music. So I'm reaching out and I'm talking to producers and musical directors in the New York area. So that's really the exciting stage I'm at right now. And then after that really it's Broadway producers, it's producers of TV shows of Netflix of doing like a movie musical or a movie mini-series musical. I don't even know what order that should all go in. But I, again, I can really see this as a series and I could see it on stage as well. So I'm committed to it being not just one thing. And I'm really open to, where it leads me,

Mark (: 20:57

Let it come. I love that. Listeners someday, you'll be sitting in a seat on Broadway watching bow of dreams or whatever it will be called then. Yes.Staring your favorite Broadway actors. And you'll say I heard it here first and I walk in your world of creativity. Alison, it's been so great to talk to you. I've really enjoyed It.

Allyson (: 21:20

Thank you so much fun, Mark.

Mark (: 21:21

Thanks for the encouragement and the inspiration. Listeners it's called Ballad of dreams and you can find it anywhere you buy books. And my guest has been Allyson Hernandez, multi-passionate, creative, and entrepreneur, and multiple roles, multiple creative inspirations. And it's been so glad to connect. So come back again and we continue our around the world travels to talk to creative practitioners like Allyson who are inspired we're with new ideas, but also then take it the next step and organize those ideas, create the connections and have the confidence to launch their work out into the world. That's what our podcast is all about. So until next time I'm Mark Stinson and we're unlocking your world of creativity. Take care.