Emily Piggford is a Canadian Screen Award-nominated actress currently based in Toronto. Her passion for performance began as 
a child with singing, dance, violin, piano and, when she was eleven, her first musical. Since then, Emily has earned a BFA in theatre from the University of Victoria, graduated from the Canadian Film Centre CBC Actors Conservatory, become an artistic associate of the movement- based theatre company, Impulse Theatre, toured internationally with the revolutionary Canadian Stage production, Helen Lawrence, and appeared in numerous on-screen roles. Recent credits include starring in the action-fantasy series Warigami (CBC/CW), recurring in The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) and The Girlfriend Experience (STARZ) and producing as well as starring in D.W. Waterson’s award-winning digital series, That’s My DJ. Up next, Emily plays Esther Ishikawa in the thrilling new Canadian-New Zealand miniseries, The Sounds (CBC), opposite Rachelle Lefevre directed by Peter Stebbings. You can also catch Emily in the hilarious mockumentary series, New Eden, coming to Crave TV in 2020.
Emily shares the lessons she learned when she decided to go on a road trip with friends and how it helped her build her confidence along the way.
Bio
Emily Piggford is a Canadian Screen Award-nominated actress currently based in Toronto.
Cultural Background
Emily is of Japanese and British descent.
Favorite Self Confidence Quote
Believing that you’re enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic.
Definition of Self Confidence
Self confidence is not letting fear of what others think prevent you from knowing and showing yourself. You don’t have to be everybody’s person.
Her Life Before the Discovery of Self Confidence
Emily was very private. For the longest time, she has identified as an extroverted-introvert with some social anxiety. She was rarely the one to initiate a hangout, though she rarely decline an invitation. This is due to a lot of things, but largely to feeling like she constantly has so many things she needs to do and want to stay on top of in case other things/work/opportunities pop up that need to be prioritized. It’s a fear of scarcity– of time and energy. She fears spreading herself too thin, which is connected to a lack of confidence in her ability to “deliver” unless circumstances are “optimal.” While she thinks there is value in honouring your boundaries, she recently realized that a lot of her boundaries seem to be built on fear, rather unkind expectations she has of herself, and a lack of trust in her own abilities.
The “AHA” Moment
Emily was returning from a road trip with friends and she realized how much richer her life was for having said “yes” rather than staying home to get caught up on her To Do list. While working on that list might have given her peace of mind and brought its own kind of confidence, spending time with these amazing people, learning from them, sharing with them, experiencing new things, and coming out the other side NOT feeling depleted, but full and grateful, made her emotional. She realized how often in the past that fear of loss or fear of not being enough had kept her from experiencing the confidence-boosting, life-enriching calm of saying “yes.” She also realized it’s also okay just to receive great advice, experiences and people that helped her confidence.
Her Life After the Discovery of Self Confidence
Emily feels like she really can do anything—that she can venture out of her comfort zones (or more accurately, fear zones) and not only be alright, but hopefully feel better after. On the flipside, she also feels more confident in asking for and giving herself space when she needs it. Through experience and many AHA moments, she feels a new faith in her abilities as a person and performer to be able to “deliver” under a range of circumstances and also that if she somehow falls short, that she is not a bad person, she is just a person. She has also been much more SOCIAL which is very new for her and significant.
The One Self Confidence Tip For the Listener
Sometimes we fear disregarding the critical voices inside and around us because we don’t want to miss a warning or look foolish. We fear vanity or unhealthy ego. Emily challenges you to question why it’s easier to believe the nasty things we say
about ourselves (or others may say to us), than the positive. She challenges you to know how worthy you are of feeling good—that it is not a crime, a sin, or unobtainable, or a waste of time. Arguably, it is the greatest prerogative of an individual to feel as good in their own skin as possible. Not everyone has to like you, but it feels so good when You like you. Trust that you will fall and get up. Don’t write the book on yourself and never let it change. You are allowed to grow and you will.
