Life & Work with Corri English

Today we’d like to introduce you to Corri English. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Well, I guess you could say it started with me being the baby in the bar! 😉 But really… from infancy, I was kickin in on my mom’s lap as we watched my super talented dad perform with his band as they traveled around the country… and it was solidified when – the story goes – I came to the rescue when an equipment failure temporarily paused one of my dad’s shows, so I performed “I Had a Little Turtle” to entertain the crowd while things were being fixed. A whole heck of a bunch of commercials, tv shows, films, plays, voice-over gigs, and song releases later, I’m pretty sure it’s gone well enough to call it a career! Which was always my goal. I never stopped performing, and have been incredibly lucky to continue in a diversified entertainment career that’s included some incredibly cool opportunities! I’m also now mom to 3 kiddos, so in addition to continuing my acting/music career, I’ve added some new skills to my repertoire… fort building, doing things one-handed, hiding, and seeking… Sometimes the work & mom-life worlds overlap, and I write an impromptu song about putting pants on, or use my acting skills to portray The Joker while my boys run around in Batman capes! All of the mom-side of life is shared, in a completely unfiltered way, on my podcast – called “Hi My Name Is Mom” – that I co-host with my real-life mom friends Jen Mayer Kulp & Kaela Kinney. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The entertainment industry loves to tell you NOPE. The consistency of rejection can be immobilizing… so the real struggle is finding the strength to persevere (which is completely essential to success), while not letting all the NOs turn you into a jaded, edgy human! It can happen on any level – with someone just starting out in the industry or someone who’s already had a lot of success and is trying to keep up with what they’ve already done – only as good as your last project and all that jazz. It’s an ongoing battle. My greatest weapon in fighting that beast has been my family. I’ve always felt very grounded in foundation of support my family has always given me, which has made it much easier to separate who I really am from the success I may or may not be having in that moment. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m really bad at this question lol. I’ve always hated naming things I’ve done – but at the same time, I’m very proud of my body of work. One of my very favorite opportunities was traveling overseas to Kuwait & Iraq with my band at the time, to perform for US troops. We did 3 tours, and we had the honor of bringing a piece of home to the men and women away from home. I got to say “thank you” in a way that felt truly meaningful, and the love we poured into our shows each night was reflected right back on us from all of those amazing humans is something I carry with me every day. An incredibly rare moment of giving and receiving that was so magical. And I’m not sure what the people I’ve worked with would say sets me apart – I think I’m pretty good at the actual creative work – the acting, performing, songwriting… but I also hope a big part of the takeaway it is that I’m a nice person. I like to show up for the people I work with in a real way. Anyone who knows me well knows that I live to collaborate – and if the team is walking away buzzing from a great day on set or songwriting sesh or podcast record, and I’ve been a part of helping it go down that way, I’m HAPPY. 

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
My family. They ARE my “why.” I have always had a close-knit family, who, as I mentioned earlier, has always been there for me in such an unconditional way… and now I have this amazing husband (Ty Bentli – he’s the badass on-air host of The Ty Bentli Show on Apple Music Country, and also the most remarkable human I’ve ever known) and my 3 kiddos who delight me to no end. I can hardly comprehend how much they mean to me. I want to make them proud, to support them, to go out and do the things that make me, me so that I can be the best version of “Mom” when I’m with them. To show them they can do anything they choose and give them the same foundation I was given to take chances while knowing they’ve got that can’t-shake-it ground to stand on. They make it all matter. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: http://www.corrienglish.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/corrienglish
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CorriEnglish
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/corrienglish
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CorriEnglishOfficial
• Other: http://www.himynameismom.com

Image Credits
Inda Reid