“Luck favors the prepared”- Edna Mode (The Incredibles)

In 2009, my friend John Scott Mills who had the epic idea that I should become a stuntwoman while we worked together on a show in San Diego (back when I was a set medic), he had a job in San Francisco. He asked if I could bring him some equipment and, in return, he’d introduce me to the stunt coordinator, Kevin Scott.

Side note because I know you’re curious: How do stunt people get work? It’s a question I get all the time. Most people assume we have agents, like actors, but the answer is no. When I got into stunts, getting work was all about hustling. Making a name for yourself.

So, what does hustling mean? Imagine driving around Los Angeles all day, looking for those yellow production signs, finding parking, making the uncomfortable walk and asking a random crew member where the stunt coordinator is then praying they don’t think you’re crazy. If you’re lucky, you find the coordinator (or hand to a PA to give to them worst case), hand them your headshot, resume, and (wait for it) a CD with your demo reel on it. (Yes, a CD, y’all!)

Back then, most stunt coordinators respected the hustle. They knew if you went through all that effort just for a chance, you really wanted to work. In fact, a lot of them tried to find something on their shows for those who put themselves out there like that.

I tell ya, hustling was the most uncomfortable part of getting into stunts for me.  I was that shy kid at McDonald’s who was too nervous to ask for ketchup. So, walking onto a movie set, putting myself out there, and risking looking like a total fool? It killed me inside. But I wanted to work so badly. And you know what? Hustling worked it helped my career take off.

One day, I hustled a coordinator, and not only did I get to meet him, but I also met several others he had hired that day. It was a jackpot day for hustling. Tim Davidson, a big stunt coordinator in LA who ran multiple TV shows at once, noticed me awkwardly standing there with my headshot and resume. He walked up, asked for my headshot, then asked how tall I was and how much I weighed (totally normal in stunts you have to match the actress). He told me I’d be a great double for Emily Deschanel on Bones and said he’d be in touch.

And guess what? He actually called. That hustle landed me a job on Bones for about three years! It was such a fun show to work on, all thanks to Tim and me putting myself out there. Right place, right time.

(On set of Bones, doubling Emily Deschanel)

My First Stunt Job Ever

Now, back to my first stunt job.

I jumped at the chance to meet Kevin Scott because he was the guy you wanted to be on the list, and still is. So, I drove up to San Francisco, crashed in John’s hotel room, and strategically timed dropping off his equipment to make sure Kevin was there. My plan? Hand him my empty resume and my awkward headshot.

The morning I met Kevin, he was setting up a helicopter stunt. Not exactly the best time to hustle, but it turned out to be the perfect time.

(Kevin Scott in the white hat, the location I was “hustling”)

I walked up, introduced myself, and just as I was about to start my pitch, his phone rang. He held up a finger One sec and he took the call, and after a few seconds, hung up. Then he looked at me and said:

Are you available tomorrow for three weeks? That was my stunt double she just canceled on me for a bigger job. 

I could not believe my ears.

YES! I blurted out.

The show was Trauma, a series about paramedics which was hilarious because I had just quit my job working on the Ambulance to become a Stuntwoman. The universe gots jokes!

Now, I’m 5’9 and the actress I was doubling was 5’2 , but since it was all car stunts, it worked. Normally, you need to match the height and weight of the actress so the camera believes it’s her, but in rare cases like this it can “slide”. No pun intended, ha!

For the next few weeks, I had the absolute time of my life. I was a passenger in high-speed car chases, crashes and jumps over San Francisco’s epic slopes, living out the most insane adrenaline rushes. We shot car chases all night, every night, for a weeks straight. At one point, while we were sliding cars and wrecking them at 3 a.m., I looked around drug deals going down, prostitutes working the corners and just thought, This is my job? This is my life?!

(If you can believe it, this photo was taken on my iPhone 1!)

It was the coolest experience of my life at that point. And now, 16 years later, it’s still one of my favorite memories. Taking chances is needed to get where you want to go. 

Kevin Scott and Tim Davidson are the kind of stunt coordinators who love giving new people their first break. And that’s exactly what both of them did for me. I will forever be grateful.

I do hope to work again as a stuntwoman. But for now, my job is to finish raising my son in a place where there’s zero film industry. Unless a fun job calls, I’m there! 

But hey once a stuntwoman, always a stuntwoman.

Luck Favors the Prepared

Success in any field often comes down to a combination of right place, right time and putting in the work. You can’t control luck, but you can control how prepared you are when luck shows up. Hustling whether it’s showing up on set, training relentlessly, or networking creates more opportunities for those in the right place, right time moments to happen. If you aren’t putting in the work, you might miss your shot when the moment presents itself. But when you are prepared, that one opportunity can change everything. The key is to keep showing up, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it feels pointless because all it takes is one Yes to launch something incredible.