Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Gilson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chelsea. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It was 2009 when I first visited LA on vacation, and while I did return to MA to finish college, my heart never really left the west coast. Los Angeles captivated me – the creativity, the diversity, the absurdity – and all these years later, I still feel energized by the city I now consider home.
I moved to LA with a Psychology and Spanish degree and some experience working as a talent agent for kids. I hopped into the reality casting world and eventually landed a job as a theatrical agent for adults at a boutique agency in Beverly Hills. Things were going well enough but I was hiding an enormous secret: I really wanted to be the one in front of the camera, not behind it.
I had done pageants as a kid and hosted some local shows in Massachusetts, so I quit my desk job and set a new goal: to be a host for the Travel Channel. And to my surprise, it all kind of worked out. I landed a road trip show through California, then a backpacking show through Colombia, and yes, I even ended up hosting a tv show for Travel Channel, called ‘Scambushed’. And sure, we didn’t exactly leave SoCal and it was more of a hidden camera show, but I DID IT! I was a Travel Channel host!
When the show wasn’t picked up for season 2, I dived into acting – taking as many classes as financially possible. I acted in student films and friends’ projects and webseries that I never saw. To make ends meet, I got my real estate license and started helping my then boyfriend with his rapidly expanding real estate business. And sure I was still booking things here and there, like ‘My Crazy Ex’, a commercial or two, and local hosting gigs, but somewhere along the way, acting had stopped being fun. Well, the audition process did anyways. I wouldn’t get an audition for months, then I’d get three on one day. I’d stress endlessly about what to wear, drive clear across town to make it to the audition, change in the car, practice lines aloud in the elevator, then sit in a waiting room surrounded by prettier, younger, skinnier, more experienced versions of myself. My self-confidence had plummeted, and I felt defeated beyond repair.
So I took off, a now married woman, to spend a solo month in Ubud, Bali to get my yoga certification. Drastic, maybe, but it was the best decision I have ever made and something that forever changed the course of my life.
I returned to LA refreshed and grounded and immediately started teaching yoga around LA. I married my two passions of yoga and travel and began hosting yoga retreats in Morocco and then Peru. And while I was laser focused into yoga and real estate, something beautifully unexpected happened – I started booking acting jobs.
No longer tethered to the outcome, I went into auditions present and relaxed.. and I booked. First ‘Lucifer’, then Lifetime’s ‘My Christmas Prince’ and then I worked on ‘Hawaii Five O’ and Hallmarks ‘Christmas Made to Order’. And I just acted alongside Eddie Murphy in ‘Dolemite is My Name’ and spent three weeks filming in the desert for Hallmark’s ‘Sister of the Bride’.
And through all of this, I still managed to travel the world every chance I got, building a following on my travel Instagram @organictravel. I also documented all of the trials and tribulations, all my joys and pitfalls, my travel itineraries, my journey with giving up meat, my struggle with rosacea, every pivotal detail of my life… all of it, on my blog: www.travelingfig.com.
TravelingFig is more of a living journal of sorts. It provides me an opportunity to pour out my heart, but also a place where I can be playful and fun. It’s a home for me to look back and see how far I’ve come. I still feel restless and unaccomplished from time to time. I still yearn to leave a legacy and I have a bucket list that will never, ever, get completed. But, for the most part, I’m truly happy in my present moment. And for that I thank not my accomplishments, but my disposition. Every morning I meditate, I practice yoga, I drink some tea and I allow myself to feel truly grateful.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
What’s a roller coaster without some twists and turns? We would never be able to enjoy the full capacity of our joy if we didn’t suffer through some despair now and again. I believe that your character as an individual, and as a business, is defined by how you react to your setbacks and upsets.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with TravelingFig – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our motto is ‘Eat Clean, Travel Dirty’. We’re an organic lifestyle blog covering travel, health and the best of LA living. Come for a Santorini in summer guide, stay for life lessons learned from improv class.
We offer retreats, corporate yoga programs and private yoga lessons. We also offer business consulting and growth hacking for boutique companies in the health, wellness and travel industries. And, of course, I am always available for public speaking and hosting opportunities. Or a role in that indie you’ve always dreamed of making
So, back to Los Angeles, what do you love about our city? Anything you don’t like?
I’m addicted to the LA energy. Everyone comes here with a dream, and to make that dream a reality, they hustle hard. There’s no contentment here – it’s either you make it in this city or you don’t. And the people who make this city work for them? Well, they’ve got something pretty special about them. Let’s call it the LA sparkle.
You truly can do anything, and be anyone, in this city – from hiking in Malibu to a sound bath in Venice to an art exhibit downtown to vintage shopping in Echo Park. The diversity in neighborhoods, activities, people, food, and landscape is remarkable. On top of that, Los Angeles is a city that is constantly evolving. Every time I come back into town, my favorite restaurant has been replaced, a close friend moved back home, there’s a row of new boutiques on Melrose, and some trendy fitness craze has taken over. There is a beautiful lesson in non-attachment to be learned here, for you really have to be fully present to thrive in Los Angeles. What was here yesterday will be gone tomorrow, and what will come tomorrow, will be gone the next day.
What don’t I like about Los Angeles? Well, the LA smog is pretty off-putting, to say it lightly. I would love to see us start an initiative to become the greenest city in the world. Slowly and deliberately, I have been reducing my carbon footprint and consciously cutting back my plastic waste. But the smog is bigger than you and me. We need legislative changes to start addressing the root causes of the pollution.
Contact Info:
- Address: West Hollywood, California
- Website: www.travelingfig.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @organictravel & @chelseagilson
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/travelingfig
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/chelseagilson
- Other: www.breliantconsulting.com
Image Credit:
Kat Touhy took the headshots!
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
