A simple request is all it takes to get Becky Hardinger up off a couch to recite part of the monologue she presented at the global Stars Network Fall Convention, held recently onboard a Carnival Victory cruise ship.
In an instant she is standing near the Christmas tree in Deann Foltz’ home/office in Highland Park. She takes only a moment to gather herself, hitching up the sleeves on the blazer she’s wearing over her dress, before launching into the speech from the scene in “9 to 5” where Dolly Parton sets Dabney Coleman straight about how she expected to be treated as a woman in the workplace.
“Look, I got a gun out there in my purse, and up to now I’ve been forgivin’ and forgettin’ I’m gonna change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot. Don’t think I can’t do it.”
Hardinger delivers the lines with confidence and the right amount of firmness. That done, she sings a few bars from the Linda Ronstadt hit “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me.” Then she makes a joke about having a strong voice because she has to talk over students all day during her job as a drafting teacher at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School.
Foltz looks on from the couch, ever-watchful of things that Hardinger can do better or differently. This time, she merely nods her approval.
Adjacent to the living room is Foltz’ Studio in the Mountains home office, covered by photographs and memorabilia representing her 46-year career in the talent business. Foltz is a former Miss South Dakota, where she was born and began her career. She moved her business from Florida to Chattanooga six years ago to be near her daughter. She has coached, mentored and advised hundreds of men and women who have gone on to careers in singing, modeling and acting.
She’s taken dozens of her clients to conventions similar to the cruise in November, but none have fared as well in such competitions as Hardinger. The 28-year-old took first in the singing competition, second in the acting portion and third in the runway and photo contests.
“She possesses so much,” Foltz says. “First of all, she’s kind and very considerate of other people. She’s a talented person. A designer of both jewelry and home stuff. She just has a quality of learning and helping other people that makes her special and she’s worked very hard at this.”
Part of what Foltz has tried to correct or temper is that Hardinger’s enthusiasm and energy sometimes take over.
“I have to calm her down.”
Competing on the cruise helped, but just as importantly to Hardinger, she gained a lot of confidence and contacts for possible jobs in the future. In fact, she got her first television commercial job for an office supply company a week after returning home from the five-day cruise.
“I’ve been on fire since I got back,” she says. “It’s like I had everything built and set up and fueled and I just needed the match – and the convention was that match.”
Such conventions/competitions have been held in hotels and convention halls for years, but in 2008 Foltz was approached about creating one and she came up with the idea of holding one on a cruise ship. On the November trip, Foltz was honored for her years in the business.
Nearly two dozen talent scouts from around the country bring their best clients, roughly between 80 and 100 people, to the events to compete, meet industry professionals and attend workshops. Foltz says her fellow talent scouts only bring their best clients “because reputations are on the line.” She’s taken as many as six or eight to the cruises in past years, but only took Hardinger this year, in part because of Foltz’s own recent hip surgery but also because of Hardinger’s talent.
There is plenty of opportunity for one-on-one interaction with the pros at such conventions, and Hardinger says that was a big part of the event for her. One of the rules of the cruise is that no contracts can be signed on the ship; it’s about networking, getting feedback and discovering opportunities.
“It’s on a cruise ship, so there is no one where for them to go,” Hardinger says with a laugh. “I had people coming up to me after a competition to offer advice or tell me how much they liked what I did. It was an incredible experience.”
She realizes she is chasing her dream a little later in life than most people, but she is committed to making it work. Part of the feedback she got while at the convention was “to explore every opportunity available here before moving to New York or Los Angeles. Build your resume.”
Foltz says it is her job to fine tune the skills and talents Hardinger possesses.
“She has a lot of talent,” she says.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.