No Map Included
No Map Included began with a simple observation: we're always somewhere in the middle, between a high and a low, an ending and whatever comes next, without a plan for any of it.
Hosted by filmmaker and podcast producer Yessi Sanchez, this podcast is a series of conversations with people who've lived through their own unexpected turns, artists, entrepreneurs, psychologists, filmmakers, and Yessi's own production partners, talking honestly about identity shifts, creative careers, and the moments that don't resolve as neatly as we'd like.
No one here has everything figured out. That's the point.
Start with whatever episode feels right, you're already in the middle of something.
Episodes
21 episodes
How Do You Keep Going in a Changing Industry? | Cedric Angeles & Karin Fittante
What does it take to keep building a creative career when the industry around you keeps changing?Photographer and director Cedric Angeles and producer Karin Fittante have spent decades working across photography, magazines, commercial pr...
A 30-Year Acting Career Without a Roadmap | Taylor Nichols
Actor Taylor Nichols has spent more than 30 years working in an industry where very little can be planned.Recently, he took on a different kind of journey: riding his bicycle 3,461 miles over 53 days, from San Francisco to his childhood ...
We Can Be Both Powerful and Unfinished | Denise Soler Cox
Some ideas stay with us for years before we're finally ready to act on them.For Denise Soler Cox, that idea became Being Enye, a documentary exploring what it means to grow up between cultures, belonging everywhere and nowhere a...
The Reality of Independent Filmmaking | Erin Brown Thomas
What happens after you've achieved a goal you've spent years working toward?In this episode of No Map Included, I sit down with filmmaker Erin Brown Thomas for a conversation about independent filmmaking, creative en...
When Is It Time to Change Directions? | Sue Willoughby
We spend so much time looking for the right decision. Should we keep going? Should we let something go? Is something difficult because it's worth pursuing, or because we're forcing it?In this episode of No Map Included, I sit do...
Dr. Brad Miller | The Future You Thought You'd Have
What happens when the future you've been planning for suddenly disappears?After retiring from a 43-year career as a pastor, Dr. Brad Miller expected to spend more time traveling with his wife, enjoying retirement, and becoming a grandfat...
Floriane Andersen | Building a Sustainable Creative Career
In this episode of No Map Included, I sit down with my friend, collaborator, and Artak Pictures co-founder Floriane Andersen to talk about something we've both been thinking about a lot lately: boundaries.When you're starting ou...
LOVE/HATE | What My Vertical Series Taught Me About Storytelling
In this episode of No Map Included, I look back on one of the biggest creative experiments I've ever taken on: making a zero-budget vertical series for social media.Before moving on to the next chapter, I wanted to unpack what t...
Dr. Laurie Bruce | Who Are You When Everything Changes?
In this episode of No Map Included, I sit down with Dr. Laurie Bruce, a clinical psychologist, mindfulness coach, and host of the podcast From Both Sides of the Couch, for a conversation about major life transitions, identity shifts, g...
Stay/Away | Momentum, Vulnerability & What's Next
In this episode of No Map Included, I share a real update on Stay/Away and why, after feeling stagnant for so long, the project suddenly feels alive again.I talk about bringing a Swiss production company on board, officially deciding to ...
Nina Seul | Different Callings Within One Lifetime
In this episode of No Map Included, I sit down with actress and producer Nina Seul for a conversation about identity, intuition, reinvention, and what happens when a lifelong calling begins to shift.After spending more than twenty years ...
Creating Without Chasing the Outcome
In this episode of No Map Included, I talk about what it means to stop living entirely for the outcome.After spending years attaching my identity to achievement, momentum, and long-term goals, I’ve been trying to rebuild my relationship ...
Letting Go of the Dream I Built My Life Around
In this episode of No Map Included, I talk about what it feels like to let go of a dream you built your entire life around.After more than a decade of pursuing acting professionally, I finally made the decision to step away from it as a ...
Jacqueline Rosenthal | Finding a Path That Feels Aligned
In this episode of No Map Included, I sit down with student Emmy award winner Jacqueline Rosenthal for a conversation about what happens when the path you’ve been on no longer feels right.Jacqueline started out as an actor, then...
New Strategy for my Zero Budget Vertical Series
In this episode of No Map Included, I talk through the next phase of building LOVE/HATE, and everything I’m learning as I move into Season 2.Season 1 was an exploration. Testing format, structure, and how a vertical series can l...
I asked for this, so why does it feel so hard?
A few months ago, things were slow. Now, there’s momentum. Work, projects, responsibilities. It’s what I’ve been asking for.And still, I feel burnt out.Not overwhelmed in the way I used to be, where everything felt like too much, ...
Zari Rose | Creativity Through Grief & Falling Back in Love with Acting
In this episode of No Map Included, I sit down with actress Zari Rose for a raw and honest conversation about grief, and what it means to find your way back to acting through it.We met in 2018, at a time when acting felt more st...
Stay/Away | Logline, Pitch Deck, Grant Applications
In this episode of No Map Included, I share what the early development stage of Stay/Away actually looks like, after the proof of concept is written, but before anything is financed or produced.I talk about moving into ...
Making a Vertical Series with Zero Budget
What does it take to make a series with no budget, no crew, and no roadmap?In this episode of No Map Included, Yessi Sanchez breaks down the creation of LOVE/HATE, a vertical fiction series filmed entirely for Instagram.