Please introduce yourself. What do you do? Why? What do you want people to know about you?
Hi! My name is Suzanne Egertson, and I’m a Los Angeles singer, songwriter, and actress. I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts, went to the big apple to study acting, and then made a mid-pandemic move to Los Angeles! As a kid, I was a musical theatre geek, extremely uncoordinated athletically, and constantly finding myself wanting to entertain others. I want people to know that I’m an emotional, empathetic, and loving person who lives to create. Creating is my passion, my oxygen, and the one thing that I always go back to. Acting is beautiful because you tell stories from characters who may be different from you, but you also get to bring yourself into the room.
I want to tell stories that people don’t always hear. I found myself loving singing and songwriting at 16 years old when I didn’t know how to cope with my emotions. I write my music from the soul, it’s like ripping pages out of my diary. I want people to know that I am a walking dichotomy. I’m someone who can be incredibly confident while also feeling painfully insecure. While I used to hate that about myself, I kind of find it beautiful now. It’s like I have all of this strength, but I’m also deeply sensitive and constantly wondering how I can show up as my best self. I want to be a light for others and inspire others, and the main reason I create art is so that people know that they are not alone.
What qualities make you different and unique from everyone else in the industry?
I think what makes me different and unique from others in the industry is that I truly lead with my authentic, specific, sometimes wild voice. I’m an over-sharer. I’m not great at being professional. I admit my flaws and accept them. I’ve made many many mistakes and while I’m still working on not beating myself up about them, they still haunt me at times. In the past year, I’ve really been working on myself. I quit drinking, which has honestly been life-changing, and I think the key to success is sometimes being self-aware.
So I like to think I’m more self-aware than a lot of people are, and that I can take an honest look at myself and my life and see what’s working and what’s not. I also believe I am a proud feminist and really want to lead with stories surrounding women. I’m someone who’s comfortable with my sexuality, and isn’t afraid to push boundaries and limits. Though I too find myself conforming to society’s ideals at times, I want to push back on what we’ve been socialized to think as adults about women’s issues, sexuality, and how we show up in this world day to day.
Describe THAT moment when you realized you’re doing what you were born to do.
I think that I knew I wanted to be a performer since I was a very young kid. My dad gave me a toy microphone for my fourth birthday, and that thing was my favorite accessory. Like seriously, you couldn’t shut me up. I think he may have regretted that one. From a young age, I found myself teaching myself guitar, getting up to perform skits with my cousins, and auditioning for every school play (thinking I would get the lead lol) only to be in the ensemble. But I didn’t care. I would’ve been a tree if it meant being onstage for one second longer. But the exact moment I truly knew this was what I was born to do was my sophomore year of high school. The musical was the “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” and I played the character of Logainne, an awkward, young, ambitious speller with a lisp and two overbearing fathers.
I remember not feeling like I fit in much in high school, considering I wasn’t very athletic, and was very much in an awkward phase. I wasn’t confident in myself, I rarely spoke up, and always felt like a wallflower in groups. I didn’t really feel like people understood me. But being onstage… that was the one place I felt like I truly belonged. After Logainne is eliminated she sings a song and one of the lyrics is “I’m a Loser,”. Now stick with me, I’m not going to get super dark! But I remember vividly singing this song and feeling some kind of catharsis. Like wow, this is kind of exactly how I feel in high school, and I so empathize with Logainne right now. Because at the end of the day, don’t we all kind of want to feel like winners? And I guess I just realized how impactful and healthy art can be. To show people they aren’t alone. And while it was kind of a sad lyric, there was also this moment of, wait- Logainne lost the spelling bee, yes. But she’s not a loser. She’s just judging herself through a lens of unrealisti expectation.
What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to go through and how did you grow through it?
The biggest challenge I’ve had to go through, and honestly am still going through, is learning to love and accept myself. I often find that I feel the need to dim my light in order to make others comfortable or to not be “too much”or “too extra.” But the fact is, I am extra! I used to walk around in a gold sparkly top named my “Britney Spears Top” and force strangers to listen to me sing. I think that at times I’ve self-sabotaged because I don’t feel worthy of success or of good things. So I am really trying to work on my self-worth and compassion for myself. Therapy, reading, meditation, affirmations, and surrounding myself with amazing, kind, loving, and non-judgmental people have been helpful with this.
Who are the TOP 3 people you’d want to meet that could elevate your career or business? Why these specific individuals?
The top 3 people that I would love to connect with in the business are actress, Erin Moriarty, because I think she’s incredibly talented, down to earth, and I love the show “The Boys,”. I’d love to hear more about her journey on her acting career. I would love to meet actress Audrey Moore. The podcast, Audrey Helps Actors, is one of my favorite podcasts and I think she gives incredible advice. I feel like she’d be really helpful in helping me figure out my branding and elevate my career. And lastly, Ryan Tedder, because I truly think he is one of the best songwriters of our time and it would be an absolute dream to get to play with him and hear his notes on some of the songs I’ve written.
Drop your social media links.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/suzanneegertson/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@suzanneegertson?lang=en