Five years ago, when I published Leaving Large: The Stories of a Food Addict, I thought I was writing about food addiction, obesity, and how I finally kept the weight off after more than forty years of struggle. 

I was wrong.

The deeper story was about hope. About transformation. About finding my voice, telling the truth, and reclaiming my power.

Those themes don’t belong to any single audience. They resonate with executives, educators, healthcare workers, faith leaders, entrepreneurs, parents, caregivers — and, perhaps most vividly, with artists.

That’s why I’m honored to return to Winston-Salem this summer for the International Black Theatre Festival , where I’ll present my workshop, Stage Ready: Essential Self-Care for Artists and Creatives. Two years ago, I led these sessions for the first time, and the response confirmed something I’d been discovering for years: our greatest performance challenges are rarely about talent. They are about what’s happening beneath the surface.

Michelle Petties having after the workshop fun at the Western Arts Alliance Conference in Los Angeles, CA.

Nourishing More Than the Craft

Artists spend their lives expressing emotional truth. But who helps the artist process their own? Whether you’re an actor, dancer, musician, playwright, director, spoken word artist, or creative entrepreneur, your body and mind are your instruments. If your emotions are overloaded, your nutrition is inconsistent, your energy is depleted, or your inner dialogue is filled with self-criticism, those struggles eventually find their way onto the stage, into the rehearsal room, and into the work.

The audience may never know why a performance feels flat. You will. But here’s what I want every reader — not just the performers among you — to hear: this isn’t only about the stage. It’s about how we show up, period.

Showing Up for Ourselves First

We show up for our families. We show up for our jobs. We show up for our communities. We rarely ask what it costs to keep showing up empty.Over the years, I’ve brought this message to the Western Arts Alliance, the Baltimore Jazz Alliance, and the National Organization for Arts in Health. No matter the audience, one truth keeps surfacing: when we heal our emotions and improve our nutrition habits, we perform at a higher level. We become more productive. More proficient. More present.

That isn’t just true on stage. It’s true at the kitchen table, in the classroom, in the boardroom, and in every relationship we’re trying to hold together. 

Many people still assume my work is about losing weight. More accurately, it’s about rewriting the stories we tell ourselves. Food is simply one of the places where those stories reveal themselves. For years, I believed food was my problem. Eventually I realized food was merely the symptom — the real challenge was a story rooted in fear, shame, perfectionism, and emotional survival. Once I changed the story, everything else began to change.

Wellness That Can’t Be Faked

That’s the work I’ll be sharing during my Stage Ready workshops at this year’s International Black Theatre Festival — how the stories we carry shape our confidence, creativity, resilience, relationships, and performance. We’ll look at how emotional wellness and physical wellness work together, not separately, to create sustainable success. 

Because the healthiest performer isn’t necessarily the most talented one. The healthiest performer — and the healthiest parent, employee, and neighbor — is the one who is emotionally available, mentally focused, physically energized, and spiritually grounded. That kind of wellness cannot be faked under the spotlight, in a Monday morning meeting, or at a family dinner table. It must be cultivated behind the scenes, long before anyone is watching.

To support that work beyond the workshop, I created a companion resource, Stage Ready: The Performer's Wellness Kit, designed to help creatives — and honestly, anyone carrying a full life — uncover limiting beliefs, strengthen emotional resilience, build healthier daily habits, and reconnect with the authentic voice underneath it all.

Whether your stage is a Baltimore arena, a Broadway theater, a classroom, a boardroom, or simply your everyday life, the principle is the same: every great performance, in any arena, begins within.

I’m looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new artists at this year’s International Black Theatre Festival. If you’re there, join me for one of the Stage Ready workshops. Come prepared to do more than sharpen your craft. Come prepared to transform from the inside out — so you can keep showing up fully for the people and work that matter most.

Download your copy of Stage Ready: The Performer's Wellness Kit and learn more about my upcoming workshops at the International Black Theatre Festival. And if you need help with travel arrangements to the festival, you can reach out to the travel pros at The Watts Line, wandawatts@thewattsline.net, or call them at 443-540-7193.

Michelle Petties is a TEDx speaker, Food Story coach, and the award-winning author of the memoir Leaving Large: The Stories of a Food Addict. After gaining and losing 700 pounds, Michelle discovered the secret to overcoming stress and emotional overeating. Her free workbook, Mind Over Meals, reveals her core principles for losing weight and keeping it off.