Cara Leighty, Voice Actor, Puppeteer, Christian

Cara 0:00

Davy's my puppet and I'm a voice actor and he hates voice actors.

Robb 0:11

Welcome to another episode of Chewing the Fat. I'm your host, Big Robb. Thank you so much for tuning in to downloading the podcast. I certainly do appreciate that, and of course, I appreciate the support from the folks that have bought me a coffee at ChewingTheFatbr.com. It helps keep the lights on. I really do appreciate that. It helps us to keep telling those beautiful, messy human stories. And in front of me now, from the Atlanta area, please welcome one of my favorite beautiful, messy humans. It's Cara Leighty.

Cara 0:40

Cara. Hey. Hey, how are you?

Robb 0:42

Good. How are you?

Cara 0:43

I'm good. Better that you're here with me.

Robb 0:46

Aw, you're such a sweetheart. Cara and I uh met, I think, at my very first VO Atlanta three years ago now. So we've been invading her atmosphere for three years. Uh it's all good. I just can't. I can't get away. I can't get away. I love it. Cara, um, is is the Atlanta area is that uh home, like born and raised?

Cara 1:13

No, no. I was uh born in New Hampshire, so I'm a Yankee technically, and I've been in the South probably longer than I've lived in the North, so I don't know what I'm considered now. A southerner. I guess maybe in a

Robb 1:25

carpetbagger or whatever.

Cara 1:27

Yeah. I mean, uh, you know, yeah, so New New England, so southern uh New Hampshire. I was born in Keene. I always tell people where they filmed the the good Jumanji movie. My dad, my dad and several people were extras in that movie. Oh, that is so cool. Yeah, it was really cool. He got to meet um, I know somebody had met Robin Williams, and he um he had the I'll tell you this really quick story. He had a lovely experience with Kirsten Dent's mom. Um, and she was kind of freaking out, like worried about you know having protections for her daughter. And my dad was like, listen, nobody's gonna get her here. Like we're in New Hampshire. There's nobody there's no threat there except maybe a black bear. But um, yeah. So that's where I grew up. LA's awesome.

Robb 2:09

That's awesome.

Cara 2:10

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Robb 2:11

So what um So you're you're a voice actor now. Yes and a puppeteer, which is also very, very cool.

Cara 2:18

Uh-huh.

Robb 2:18

Um was that something uh as you were growing up in, you know, like grade school, high school that you were into? Were you into the drama and stuff like that?

Cara 2:27

Um yeah, it was really funny because as a kid, you know, I did what every kid did. Well, most kids, probably the weird kids, is you know, mimicking voices from cartoons. Um and I was really into The Simpsons, which is probably inappropriate for my age back then. But um, you know, I would just imitate Marge's voice and and my family was like, oh wow, you do a really good job of that. And I never really thought about it. Um, and then I got involved in theater. I grew up doing musical theater, I worked production backstage, um, did kind of like on stage and and behind scenes stuff, so which I highly recommend, you know, if you're creative of any sort, you know, learning what everybody does to help you do what you do is is key. And building relationships is was huge for me, even at a young age. So so yeah, um, and then uh fast forward, you know, I went, I thought I was gonna get into the news um end of broadcast um media. And yeah, so I went to school for communication. So um, but always made videos as a kid, always made content, funny stuff. We used to do spoofs on Are You Afraid of the Dark, like um all that stuff, fashion shows. It was like we would we would make up our own MTV uh spring break shows or something like that. Oh my gosh. It was nothing crazy, but you know, uh, you know, just like stupid things, but always creating, basically. Yeah.

Robb 3:53

No, that's awesome. Was uh was home a kind of a creative uh place to be? Was mom and dad creative or musicians or anything like that?

Cara 4:05

Yeah, so um my mom sang in her uncle's band, um, but she didn't really go around and perform. Uh but my dad was very heavily involved in the theater and arts um locally and uh got quite a few roles, and even when he got, you know, you know how there's always politics with theater and community theater. It was always the same people getting the same parts all the time. Um and so my dad would get a role, but he would make it more memorable on stage. And so um he he's very gifted. He was always very gifted in theater and the arts. Um he actually, at one point before I was born, was um actually got selected to play in some like major Broadway, not on Broadway, but it was a touring show. Oh wow it was some like big gig that he was um gonna be a backup, whatever they call those. I always forget the term. Um for yeah, standby or there's another technical term for it in theater.

Robb 5:07

So there's standby swings. I don't know.

Cara 5:11

But it was something like that. Yeah. So but um I think at the time, maybe like my mom ended up getting pregnant with my oldest sister, so then he had to kind of drop out of that. But yeah, he was very much uh heavily into arts. That's kind of where I get my kookiness from. And he also did stand-up comedy. Oh wow. Um and he would do impressions of uh Christopher Lloyd from Taxi and um yeah. My dad's super funny. That's a super funny guy. That is awesome.

Robb 5:38

So yeah, that's a what a what a great you know incubator for your talent and creativity and stuff like that. That's that's awesome.

Cara 5:48

Definitely.

Robb 5:49

Well, what uh what brought you to Atlanta from from New New the New England area? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

Cara 5:55

New England? Um well I basically, you know, because my parents um really invested with all of my sisters and the and the three younger uh ones, uh we were very much into the arts and they wanted more opportunity for us. So um we had lived in Florida in the early 90s and moved back to New Hampshire. Um and so in the early, like in the year 2000, we moved back down to Florida, um, near near Orlando because my parents wanted us to have more opportunity, which then we did have more opportunity. Um and so I was living there from like 2000 to 2007 until I met my husband. And he was uh, well, he's born in California, but was pretty much grew up in Atlanta in Marietta. And um I know I shouldn't say Atlanta if it's Marietta, because the Atlantans will get mad at me. But um it's like, oh my god, they're so weird. Um so uh so yeah, so he was here and I met him, met online through AOL Instant Messenger via a friend that was dating his brother, yeah. And we dated long distance for like like a year and a half or a year and four months, and we got mar engaged, and then another year after that, then we got married. But our whole relationship was pretty much he was up here in Georgia and I was down there in Florida, and then I moved up here uh to Atlanta area. So yeah. That's awesome. In 2007.

Robb 7:20

So when you were down in the uh uh Florida area, did you work for the Mouse any, I'm assuming? Did you do like their college program or do it?

Cara 7:28

I never did, no, and I don't know why, you know, but my high school um I was very involved in chorus, and so I would go to districts and state competitions for chorus, and um I was in a a little doo op group um called uh ladies only, that's what we called it, and we went to district and state and got superior, and so I I competed on a vocal end of things, um, and I also was on the dance team at my school, and then um I was I was I was a pretty active dancer, like I used to do ballet and tap as a kid, and then I got more into like hip hop, and um I ended up uh getting a gig with a good friend of mine now that was a female rapper in Orlando through a studio that I brought my sister for for a clinic, a vocal clinic, and the guy at that studio worked with like Britney Spears and all these people. His name is Gary Williams. He's still he has an amazing, he tours with this group right now because I reconnected with him. He has an amazing, like Stevie Wonder tribute band. And we went to go, my husband and I went to go see it. It was it was amazing. So basically got connected with him. You know, I sang with my sisters, did a couple cover songs in the studio there, but yeah, never really did the Disney thing other than um whenever we would perform at Epcot for the Candlelight Processional Um for high school. But yeah, I had friends that worked for Disney. They were um, you know, character uh workers. Um and had one friend double dipping in Disney and Universal. Oh and you're not allowed to do that.

Robb 9:01

Plus don't mention their name.

Cara 9:03

No, I'm not now. That was years ago. But but yeah, I I never really I never got into the Disney end of things. Um I kind of was uh dead set on more of the, you know, because during like the early 2000s it was about pop groups and InSync was big and Christina and so me and my sisters were more on that line of sight. Um so but we would perform everywhere in like nursing homes and you know what was it? We perform at campgrounds. My dad would get us into everything, he would create variety shows for us to sing at. Yeah. So but I never really got involved with the mouse too much.

Robb 9:37

So that's awesome though. Yeah, that's really cool. That's really cool.

Cara 9:40

Yeah. So yeah, we're just very, very much, you know, actively singing and all that stuff. And a fun fact is like my parents would purposely shut off the TV, and I sort of feel like now maybe it's because they couldn't afford to pay for the satellite. But then when we were in New Hampshire, my parents would shut off everything in the summer, so then we would like practice and sing and and do all those things, so um, which was always really neat. But yeah, there we were always singing and doing weird stuff at my house.

Robb 10:08

That's awesome. I love that. I love that. So once you uh you know met Brian and you moved to Atlanta, yeah. What, you know, did did your trajectory change and what you're like? I mean, you've got a communications, you know, journalism type, you know, degree. Were you like, all right, well, because there's lots of news stations, there's the weather channel, there's all kinds of stuff in Atlanta. So I mean, were you like, all right, I'm gonna go do this instead of singing with my sisters or yeah.

Cara 10:37

I mean, you know, a uh over time, like, you know, we weren't performing as much. You know, I got busy going to school, and then I started to focus again, like on my career and what I wanted to do. And it was funny, you know, trying to choose a college out and choose a um a degree or a field. I I didn't really know what I want to do. My mom was like, you should be get into news. And I was like, Yeah, I mean, that sounds that sounds interesting, you know. And I and I always like created videos and I would create little radio shows with my sisters. So I was like, yeah, I think like communication is a is a good outlet for me. So once I graduated in 2007, um, I actually graduated after I got married. Um, so I had to go back down because I wanted to walk because I was like, I've been going to this, I went to Florida Southern College and I was like, you know, I was going on campus, I was paying my way through school by myself and with scholarships and grants and different things and loans, lots of loans. But um, you know, I was like, I I deserve to walk, you know. So I walked and graduated and I was working in a uh television station that was called um PGTV, is Polk Government Television, and um it was in uh Bartow, Florida, and I was mostly kind of just it was an internship, and so I had to do it for my class, and then once I ended my my schooling that summer before I graduated in December, they had offered me like, you know, to work there. But um, I told them, well, I'm about to get married, but I'll work here X amount of months and then I'll be going. So I thought, oh, Atlanta, you know, CNN's up here, like you were saying, the weather channel.

Robb 12:13

Yeah.

Cara 12:13

And so uh, but unfortunately the recession hit in 2008 and it was just hard to try to find work. And um I did do a an interview with CNN, but it was CNN español. And and I knew a fair amount of Spanish, but let me tell you, that was the scariest interview I've ever done. Because I they asked me a question in Spanish and you had to respond to them in Spanish. And it was for like a master control job. It was working behind and behind the scenes, you know. Yeah, um, and uh needless to say, that didn't really work out. But um, you know, I and then I was like, you know what, I don't really know if I want to do this. Um, I don't know if I want to be in news. I want a family, I want to, you know, have a life. And I know not saying news people, you don't have a life, but also, you know, you have to wake up at 3 a.m., you know, to be at work at four or whatever. And I just didn't really, I didn't really see that as something I wanted to do. And so quickly I was like, eh, you know, and the recession. So I was like getting whatever jobs I could find. I was working at my church, I was working at Bath and Body Works in the mall. Um, you know, and then fast forward, I had my kids and I needed like a creative outlet. So then I started uh on the YouTube path. So I um started creating content because I was at home and I, you know, had all this creativity and I was like, I needed an outlet for that. So so yeah, it was, it was, it was interesting. But the voiceover part of it didn't really, you know, I kind of would do things here and there. I helped out my husband. He worked at a station downtown in Atlanta called AIB. Um, it's called Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters, and he was with them right out of school. And so I every time I would visit him when we were dating, and I would fly up on AirTran, shout out $79, $70 tickets. It was so cheap when they had that airline. Um, and it was great for because I was in college. But um, you know, I would kind of help out on different projects here or there, but I didn't really it was it was funny because I and uh people that I talk to all the time, they say the same thing, like they just don't know how to get into voiceover. And I and I didn't really think of it as like a possibility, I guess. Maybe I didn't really think of it as this whole huge industry in and of itself, you know. Um but yeah. So that's kind of my journey.

Robb 14:36

Yeah, and but you're but you're right. That's uh you know, a lot of folks are like, yeah, well, obviously I hear, you know, the commercials and I hear the cartoons, and it's like, how do I how do I do that? You know? And and for a long while it was it was a lot of location based. Like you needed to be in New York, you can be in Los Angeles.

Cara 14:53

Yeah.

Robb 14:54

Um But yeah, it's and and now um since the COVID lockdown, it's become uh it's not that the technology was not accessible to us, the user at the time. The the production companies have become more accepting of that the quality is actually just as good as if uh you were to walk into the studio.

Cara 15:18

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Robb 15:20

Um so it does make it more accessible to be able to get into that.

Cara 15:23

Mm-hmm. Yeah, and and and maybe that was kind of why I, you know, I sort of take it as more of a God thing in my case. I I sort of feel like I kind of have made this like really big circle around doing the things that were all kind of affiliated with voiceover, but but um, you know, I was trying to do the singing thing and be in entertainment, then I tried to do content creation, and then that wasn't really working out. And then it wasn't until around COVID where I was like, you know, God, what what do I need to be doing? I don't really know what my direction is. I know that you've given me these gifts, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do with them. And I I took a fast from creating content and happened to see a video about a Simless challenge that my friend Kritzia did. And when I got back online, I was like, oh, that seems like fun. And who is this girl that does voiceover? I want to look into this. And that's kind of where, you know, I don't know, the rest is history. But yeah, but yeah, it was around COVID, you know, and I sort of feel like that it's in God's timing. I mean, I I totally believe that. I feel like it's, you know, I sort of always kind of did the things that would ultimately help me with the thing that I'm doing now. Um, you know, and and it's you know, I had an idea of what I wanted, but you know, God had this, He knows the greater picture. So but yeah.

Robb 16:35

No, that's great. And then then uh it was it later in your journey as a voice actor and things like that that you acquired the interest in puppeteering?

Cara 16:46

Yeah, so three years in, uh so I sat I started VO tw in 2021 training. And about 2023, the end of 2023, I was like, you know, I think I want to get into puppets because I've always liked it. I'm an 80s baby, and so literally everything we watched as 80s babies, you know, 70, late 70s, 80s, all puppets. Um and so I've always had an interest, but I'm not one of those like puppeteers that I'm like, oh my god, I'm just so passionate since I was two. And you know, like who is the the one guy? Um, John uh I think it's Tartaglia, I forget what his last name is. And there's pictures of him with puppets at a young age. Like, I was never like that, you know. Or I know another puppeteer, Raymond Carr, and he his parents were uh they would do like clowning and puppetry, and like they went on like, you know, tours and stuff, would do these shows. I never did that. I never did puppets as a kid. I mean, I kind of I probably played with them here and there, but um but I always was interested because puppets are hilarious to me. And every time I watch them up, it's it's just like it's just hilarious. Like all the puppet stuff is so hilarious. And so, um, so yeah, so about uh a couple years or a few years in or whatever, I started to kind of um take some classes with one of my friends and colleagues, Nate Beagle, and um I started with my hand at first. Um, and I hadn't, I didn't have a puppet. And then the following year I ended up getting my puppet, um, Davy, from Blank Puppets in uh Salt Lake City, Utah. And yeah, and that's kind of what I did. I've just been, and I'm continuing to take, you know, or coaching and classes and training and um the virtual stuff's harder with puppets, you know, because especially like some of my earlier coaching, I had to like sit down here like on the ground or on my stool with my hand in the air, and it gets really hot in my booth and it was a pain. Um, because you you want to be able to to stand with puppetry because that's where well, at least monitor work, monitor puppet work like Sesame Street and Muppets. Um so yeah, uh I've been fortunate enough to take classes with some so many incredible puppeteers that do so many amazing things uh professionally and and were in shows that I watched as a kid, uh worked with people that I watched as a kid, you know. Um so yeah, so it's it's it's an ever-learning process, you know, that envio, obviously. Yeah.

Robb 19:16

You're never done learning. And it and it's a different skill set for sure. But I mean you having the the communications background, you know, that kind of helps out some with setting up the camera and sight lines for the puppet and things like the technical part, yeah, for sure.

Cara 19:33

Yeah. But it's still hard. It's hard to film yourself with a puppet. And a lot of the content I do is like me conversing with myself. And you know, our video we made at Vio Atlanta. I was like, okay, well, now I'm gonna go here and then you gotta do this, and then now I'm gonna do this part, you know. Um I mean it it makes it exciting. Um, but yeah, there's definitely a lot of technical um, you know, not only with creating the content and the equipment, but also like learning how to manipulate a puppet. It's really people just think it's so easy and it's really difficult, you know, getting eye eyelined and all that stuff and emotions and you know, turning your puppets.

Robb 20:16

The stamina. Yeah. The stamina from just holding your hands. It's exhausting.

Cara 20:21

You know, and I haven't even done anything crazy yet. Just doing what I'm doing is or just even taking a class, you know. Like it's I I can imagine being on Sesame Street all day, like some of my colleagues. Like, I'm like, you gotta really you build your muscles.

Robb 20:36

Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

Cara 20:38

It's it's definitely, but it's fun.

Robb 20:40

Yeah. No, and and and Davy's great. Don't tell him I said that. Okay, I won't. It will go straight to his head. Don't tell him I said that. Okay, I won't. Davey's great.

Cara 20:47

Okay.

Robb 20:49

What you bring to Davy is great.

Cara 20:51

Thank you.

Robb 20:54

Is that uh I mean obviously, you know, you with with doing VO and doing you you know, you kind of can do both. You can do you know what I mean? It's it's a great way to have a creative outlet. Yeah. Uh is there you know, do you want to do more of that? I mean, what would be uh what would be something that you would want to do as far as like puppetry goes, you know, outside of Sesame Street or you know, I'm up at show or something like that.

Cara 21:24

Yeah, I mean for me, um you know, obviously I'm a believer, and so I want to do something that's gonna build God's kingdom. And so ultimately doing some kind of funny, lighthearted, it doesn't have to be a preschool show, but some, you know, a a show kind of like Sesame Street, but uh maybe mixed with Pee Wee Herman, you know. But about God, you know, uh not in your face stuff, you know, because people get turned off, obviously. But you know, just fun, loving, silly. Kind of nostalgic, something with that. Um, you know, because everybody, I mean, I'm in classes with people that are, I want to be assessed mystery, I want to be and the puppeteers are like, you know, obviously everybody kind of wants to do that. But, you know, the big thing is like, can you create your own stuff? And you can. And so I've started kind of like, you know, I've built Davy's personality around the fact he's a puppet and he hates and he's my puppet and I'm a voice actor and he hates voice actors. Um, it's kind of sort of this disdain, but then he wants to be in the booth and do stuff. Like, you know, it it's I've I'm sort of I'm still in the beginnings of creating that world for him and and trying to see where that takes me. Um, and I've got so many people, including you, that are so supportive of that art that I have. And it and it's a very niche sort of thing to be a voice actor and a puppeteer. There's, you know, I go into classes and agents and things are like, oh, that's interesting. And, you know, I've had other voice talent be like, that's your thing. Like you need to tell people that's what you do. But it's really, it's very niche. And so in turn, it's very difficult to try to figure out who to talk to, what connections to get, um, where to go. And I'm kind of in that, I'm kind of in a space right now to where I'm, you know, I kind of have direction, but um, at the same time, I'm kind of I'm I'm being a little bit patient because I feel like God's gonna open the right doors and he has already, like the people that are like, you know, hey, would you be interested in doing this? You know, I'm not sure, you know, if we can work with you yet. We don't really have an idea, but we want to do this, you know. Um, you know, and it's like based on like faith-based stuff or kids uh curriculum content or stuff like that. But I don't know, there's so many like now there's so much, so many puppeteers making their own content about faith and um all that stuff that for me like it's like I want obviously to do that, but I don't want to do the same thing. So I'm just in my own little corner, kind of like being like, Well, what can I do? You know, Mr. Burns, you know, or whatever. Well, you know, I don't know. That was a bad voice. I can't do his oppression, but um, you know, or what's smithers, you know, he's uh oh my god. So yeah, so but it's it's uh it's been a lot of fun. And of course, as a voice actor, I sort of when I first started training with Nate, he was like, you know what, you kind of have you kind of have an in already. Now it's you know, from being a voice actor because you know how to bring a character to life. And even then I was still pretty green, I think. I I I've definitely grown now to, you know, uh trying to understand where my uh vocal wheelhouse is and and and characters. But um but yeah, he was like, you definitely have that end of things. So they're not having to teach me that part, like it's more of the manipulation and the doing the rod arms and all that stuff and you know, going the right direction when your puppet leaves the camera, you know, because it's opposite, um that sort of stuff. But yeah, I just want to do something fun and you know, that's gonna be positive and good for little ears and share the love and light of Jesus. That's really what I want to do. And I don't know what that entails, but I'm here whenever it happens. If it happens, we'll see.

Robb 25:27

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I love that. Um and you you've got you got a few uh few of your own brood up there. Uh are they uh creative like you are? Uh your kids.

Cara 25:42

Oh my kids, um, yeah. I mean, they're all they're they're kind of more like actually both of my kids are kind of more nerdy, like my husband. Um but um they're very talented. Uh one of them doesn't really like being in front of the audience. The other one's kind of getting a little bit more comfortable with wanting to do like chorus and maybe drama next year. And actually, she just made the news team, so she's gonna be on the news team next year. But um, yeah, I mean it's it's you know, nothing that I've ever, you know, because for me as a kid, and I love my parents and I love my dad, but you know, he he was sort of more of like that stage dad person. Like he wasn't super pushy, but he was always, like I said, he always found a way to get us on the stage. But sometimes it was, you know, it was kind of like I felt like I sort of he was trying to live vicariously through us. You know, um, and it was more of like, you know, because as we got older and our passions changed and and my path changed as a creative, I felt that I didn't have as much support versus whenever I was like, you know, 17 and wanted to be a pop singer. You know what I mean? Like, um and so um for me, I try not to I try not to force my kids to do any of the art stuff. My son is very musically gifted. He has Asperger's, so like he's very like numbers and like smart and like like super good with like music. If you're really good with math, you're good with music. And I was never really good at like playing an instrument. Like I I took piano two times in my life, like consecutively, like split apart by many ears. And I just never took it seriously. Um, but I can I've always been really good at like um I can kind of play at the piano and play by ear. I've always been really good at it, but I just never, and maybe that's because I had ADHD. I don't know. I've never been diagnosed. And I feel like maybe that's self-diagnosed too. I mean, it's just like I just never took that stuff. So my son's very gifted in that. My daughter shows no interest in musical instruments, but she definitely loves to sing and loves to dance and all that stuff. So she's done dance quite a few times. But yeah, it's it's we're definitely more I'm the more extroverted, crazy, creative person here, but but but they're they like it, you know, to some degree. They tolerate it basically.

Robb 28:11

There you go. That's always good. It's always good when they tolerate it. As long as they don't like call you cranes. No, no.

Cara 28:17

They actually call me cool. I'm like, oh, okay.

Robb 28:20

Oh, there you go. Hey. You've won. Apparently you've won. If your kids call you cool, you've won.

Cara 28:25

Oh no. I'm like, well, thanks. I was like, well, you may not think that in a few years, but sure, I'll take it now.

Robb 28:31

Right. Absolutely.

Cara 28:32

Oh, God.

Robb 28:33

That's great. That's great. So uh aside from the work that you do in voiceover and puppetry and the family, what's bringing you joy?

Cara 28:43

Um, for me, um I don't know. It's always hard for me, like when people ask, like, hey, what are your hobbies? Or I have to like like write out, you know, what I like doing. It all kind of involves with the arts. Like, you know, for me, like um, I've, you know, um, I guess I would say um creative arts at my church and singing. Um uh and actually our worship team and creative team has been doing like a Bible study, um, which, you know, we've been trying to do pretty consistently to kind of have that um, you know, life on life together. Um and I because I think that's so important because I think as a, you know, as a creative, especially as a voice actor, you know, we're just in here all the time and talking to ourselves. And and I have friends, but I have friends that are, you know, I moved a lot as a kid, you know, between New Hampshire and Florida that I was talking to my husband the other night. I, you know, I never really was good. I was I'm good at making friends, I'm good at adapting, but I'm but I noticed I'm not really good at like having like a like really, really close, you know, personal friend, you know. Um, and so that's something I've been trying to work on that I think I think will kind of help to, you know, bring me joy. Um, because I because yeah, you get kind of like lonely. And of course I have you as a friend. I have all these friends, but I don't live near you. If I lived, I mean, uh, we're not that far away, but like if I live closer, but even I live close to some people and I still don't go meet people or see people and hang out, and I'm like, you know, and I'm a very extroverted person. I was like, maybe I'm becoming more introverted, but but yeah. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Robb 30:28

You know, I feel like I've started to become a little bit more introverted myself just because of the nature of what we do. You know, it but we are in our studios and we have to be in the quiet space, and so we we're kind of are stuck in in our heads with ourselves a lot. Trevor Burrus, Jr. But not that it but we've chosen it. It's not like anyone's holding a gun to our heads, make us do this, but um but you know it's kind of uh you know I've said it before and uh uh Rob Paulson said it at the VO Atlanta in his keynote. It's like, you know, if you've got something inside you and you you need you can't not do it.

Cara 31:01

Yeah.

Robb 31:02

You know what I mean? And I feel like that's that's how I approach it. It's like I can't not create, I can't not do this work, I can't not be a part of it.

Cara 31:11

Well, especially when the doors start opening and you realize that, you know, for me, like I I really feel like God has this path for me. Once I started down this path, I didn't have any doubt because I was like, I think I finally figured out what I want to be when I grew up by like 30 something. You know, but but it's true. You do you do we do tend to isolate ourselves and you know, and in that obviously we we sort of become like little hobbits and just stay in our space and like don't go out. And for me, like I love doing like karaoke, you know, those things bring me joy, like going out. And so I'm I'm trying to this year I've been trying to be more intentional. Um, and with relationships and without with like getting out there and doing things. And you know, my family and I went um to Sweetwater Creek Park and went hiking. I was like, I want to do more of that, you know. Um, those sorts of things give me joy, just spending time with my family, you know, like they're pretty cool. And flying in our airplane, I like that, which is really cool. Yes, it's a small airplane. Yeah, that my husband is a sport pilot, um, so he does it for hobby, so he doesn't do it for work. But um, but yeah, we bought an airplane and um, you know, debt-free because we're completely debt-free family. Yeah. And so we take Ruby out and uh we'll just be like, you know, if he if he's going out to fly and it's a good day, he'll ask me if, you know, I'm able to fly. Sometimes he'll bring the kids. Um, he can only take one at a time. But um, but yeah, like that's that's pretty cool. And I think uh as we get older, you know, just doing more of that and doing like kind of like these impromptu trips and stuff. I like doing that, it's really fun. Just kind of checking out the cute little podunk airports around the south.

Robb 32:58

I've told uh you know, you you should cut you should come to Daniel Field here.

Cara 33:02

We're gonna we're he's like, we need to go see your friend over there. So he knows, he knows.

Robb 33:08

That's awesome.

Cara 33:09

Maybe we will then and we can go.

Robb 33:13

Maybe. I don't know that you're like, oh yeah, we're going to maybe. No, we will, we will. It keeps getting less and less the more you talk.

Cara 33:19

No, no. I want to, no. It'll be good. I I always love it's so it's just cool like exploring, you know. Um everybody's like, oh, you know, I want to travel and explore the world. But I mean the United States is huge, you know. And one of my husband's goals is to by the age 50 or at when he's in his 50s, he wants to travel uh through all like fly through all states, you know.

Robb 33:44

Oh wow.

Cara 33:45

Um so you know, obviously we can't go to Hawaii or whatever, but you know, he can fly. I mean, there's so much to see in in the US.

Robb 33:55

Um the contiguous 48.

Cara 33:58

Yeah, the yeah. So really not 50 states, but you know, 48. But by 50, he wants to do. So um, you know, so yeah. So I mean, I guess that those I don't know if that answered your question, but you know, it's answered my question. Maybe I don't I don't know. I guess I need more hobbies too. I don't know. I don't know. Anybody have any ideas what to do? I don't know, because I can't go to concerts, they're too expensive. Although I am going to Dave Matthews. I told my husband, like, I was like, when the tickets went out, I was like, we have to get tickets because they went so fast last time. And uh, it's like and it's so ridiculously expensive. But I won't be going to Coachella ever. Because that's lame. I mean, it's fine if you want to go, but I mean, it's just crazy. It's just like I don't want to be around that many people. That's where my introverted personality would come out. But you know how people are like, oh, I like to go to a bun, like to go to concerts, like to do this, you know. Sure, that'd be great, but maybe they should like get less expensive for me to go. But maybe I'll go on tour as a puppeteer in a concert because I know a girl that tours with Coldplay and she does the what? Well, I don't know her personally, but there's a puppeteer. No of Yeah, I know of a girl, and she um, you know, he's they had her on their tour. I don't even know how long they did that tour for. It was like forever. The recent one. I don't even maybe they're not even stopped. Like they I mean, but they go worldwide. Um, but she has this character and the characters in a song of theirs, but it's really just Chris Martin's voice, like pitched up. But she does it's really cool. I think her name is like Star. I gotta look it up. Star something. I don't know. Look it up. That's interesting. Yeah, that'd be fun.

Robb 35:50

When you s when you but you know, when you talk about that as far as puppetry, you know, there's a there's a I mean, for lack of a better word, there's a puppet on uh in the West End with the Paddington musical. I don't know if you've seen this. It's it's a little person that's in a full costume and the head and the head has animatronics. Yeah, I think I saw a video of that. The voice is offstage controlling the animatronics of the head.

Cara 36:19

It's crazy.

Robb 36:20

But uh you talk about a synergy of of working together when you're walking around doing the motions and then and that someone else is controlling the voice and the face and stuff like that. But I would consider that puppy as well. Oh yeah, it definitely is. You know? Yeah. That's I've seen stuff of that. That's that's crazy cool.

Cara 36:38

I mean, even Big Bird, I mean, that's how he was controlled. It's like a person inside, you know, Carol Spinney inside.

Robb 36:45

Yep, with a TV on it, Billy, and one arm.

Cara 36:47

And getting like he probably lost so much weight being in there sweating to death. But like, you know, it it's just like, yeah, that's definitely puppetry. And and I actually there was a casting call recently for something up in New York that involved uh kind of like similar to the Paddington, where you're dressed in in a costume as a character, but then there's also puppets, like the puppets then become the bigger, you know, the people and they were they were wanting short people. But you have to live in New York to do this particular thing. And I was like, yeah, I'm not gonna go up there and spend it. No, it seemed like fun, but if I was single and I didn't have family and I didn't have a life. Just kidding. But you do. No, no. But but yeah, so all that stuff is so cool. And I wouldn't be opposed to doing on stage. I've never done onstage puppetry. You know, people were like, Have you done Avenue Q? It's like no, and I've never seen it.

Robb 37:43

You know, like I I feel like you probably wouldn't do Avenue Q.

Cara 37:47

No, I wouldn't because it's kind of inappropriate.

Robb 37:51

It's a bit racist. And I don't want to do stuff like that.

Cara 37:53

Even with pup puppet up as a huge improv thing in LA. And it seems funny, but I know they can kind of like cross the line and some and I'm just not really into like content like that, you know. I'm like, eh, I'm not really into the adult stuff. Even like when you go to a on a cruise and you watch a comedy show, some of those shows are so like racy. They're so bad. And I'm like, I don't really want to hear about this. So I don't know. But anyway, but yeah, but it would be cool to do something like controlling Paddington's his face. That'd be kind of cool. Yeah.

Robb 38:28

And I mean, and and I've seen a lot of like television commercials, seems like here recently that have had puppets in it and stuff like that. There was a I think Apple did uh commercial. And I think it was right around the time when like, you know, there was all this, and there's still a ton of AI sloth that's out there, but they this specifically had puppeteers and handmade puppets to create this this whole ad for them because they wanted to show the human artistry in making commercials and stuff like that, as opposed to all of this, you know, sloth fake that we're bombarded by, you know, daily.

Cara 39:03

I know. Um yeah, I know a couple puppeteers that work on um uh like some like commercials and stuff like Afflack, because Afflack duck is a puppet, um which is pretty cool. But yeah, there I mean, I don't know, once you start researching puppets and stuff, you see it all over the place. You're like, dang, like wow. That would be cool though. Yeah, it'd be fun though to do something like quirky and fun and be in a commercial, even just interacting with a puppet. That'd be fun. Because they're cool.

Robb 39:38

All right, Cara, this is the second segment of the show. This is where we dive a little bit deeper into your mental health journey. I definitely believe the more we talk about it, the lighter it comes for us, but also the easier it is for other folks because they realize they're not alone. So for you, how do you keep the darkness at bay?

Cara 39:55

Uh Jesus, basically. Because I know that I can't do anything on my own. Um I could do, I mean, obviously you could do therapy and you could take medicine. Um but for me, like he pretty much changed the game for me, you know. And it but it hasn't been easy, you know. It's just um and sometimes it's difficult to trust God with things that are hard, you know. Um and, you know, totally just rely on him and and and not worry. Especially for me, I have anxiety. So like um, you know, but I mean getting involved in my church and and being around people that support me and love me and including my family, um, and and for me, especially having boundaries with unhealthy toxic people, uh, whether they're my family or not, you know. Um that's sort of, you know, what I try to do. You know, it's definitely very challenging, especially nowadays.

Robb 40:58

I mean, it's you know, there's there's a stigma against mental health and and stigma against uh looking for help. But also there's a stigma in Christianity. There's a sti you know what I mean. There's everywhere. It's like there's yeah, it's i you know, you you can't please everybody all the time type stuff. Yeah. But you have to find out what's right for you and what's working for you, right?

Cara 41:27

Yeah, yeah. And for me, you know, I didn't I wasn't a Christian and or technically saved until I was in my twenties and married. And um, you know, where I finally understood who God was and and what and who Jesus was and and that it wasn't about a religion or these rules and these things and this legalism. Um, it is a completely about a relationship. And then God, you know, shows you that not only the relationship between him and you, but the relationship between you and other people, having relationship is key, um, you know, to to finding like healing and health and um joy. Uh, because yeah, like we were saying earlier about isolating yourself, this this industry definitely can be very isolating. And I and I have noticed, you know, and I'll see people post online and you know, and I'm excited for them, I'm happy for their successes and all this stuff. But it just seems that they just make this thing their everything. And for me, I've slowly realized that, you know, it's I don't want this to be my everything. This isn't, this is a tool that God has given me and he uses me as a vessel to to um share his light and his love with others and um and the gospel. But, you know, it it could it can uh quickly become an idol and um, you know, like anything, like if you're a huge sports fan, if you're you know, whatever. Um it you really and just being invested in my church and having my church family and being in the word, you know, uh every day, trying to be um, you know, it really just keeps your path straight. And and again, like, you know, obviously not um, you know, not like so basically surrounding myself with, you know, not only like-minded people, but loving people and encouraging people because, you know, I have a father who's bipolar. So like, um, and he's had, he's, he did drugs, and it was one of those things where it was kind of a shock to everybody. Um, it probably shouldn't have been a shock to us because, you know, there was something that was off, but you know, having a dad that wasn't really properly diagnosed early on can really take a toll on people and on, you know, create these traumas. And these are things I'm having to deal with in therapy, you know. And the other day, just talking to my therapist, you know, and I'm like, I'm 41 years old. Like, why am I upset? About, you know, this sort of thing, or why do I feel bad about, you know, this, you know, like of of uh thinking differently or being different or not doing uh what my family was always like, family first, you know. Um, and and it's like, why do I feel bad about that? But she's like, well, I mean, because that when you were younger, you were made to feel bad about having certain feelings and certain emotions and and being sensitive and um and so it's just sort of like it it goes it just goes to show you if you don't get that healing early, um, you know, it doesn't mean it's too late to get it. But you know, you really have to give yourself a break because for me, I beat myself up all the time about I should get over this, you know, and it's just like, well, I am, but it's kind of taking a while. And you know, but I wish that I would have gotten help sooner. Like I was struggling as a kid uh with OCD bad. And you know, my poor mother was like pretty much when we found out with my dad stuff, it was later on and thinking back, I'm like, golly, she was having to deal with a drug addict and didn't even realize, or dealing with him and he was bipolar and he wasn't really diagnosed bipolar. And even if he was, he probably wouldn't have taken his medicine. So it's like, you know, she's trying to basically raise uh an adult, you know, and make sure the lights stay on and make sure this or that. And and of course, like things are gonna be pushed to the wayside, you know. Your five kids, well, you know, you could provide their needs and and uh have a roof over their head, but maybe not emotionally be there from them, you know, and I don't blame my mom completely. Um but you know, those are just things that I think about that obviously for me, for you know, in dealing with my children, that's why I'm trying to get better because I don't want to have things happen to them that happened to me, you know, to where I really a lot of the times, even in my career, I feel like I'm not good enough. People will give me compliments and say, you're so talented and you know, you're doing this. And, you know, I was nominated for an award, you know, for my puppetry work in a video, but even looking at the video, I'm like, I'm not as good as a lot of puppeteers. But it's like, but then a part of me is like, but I really picked it up fast. Like I have this, and my husband's like, you really are good at that, you know? And it's like I, because of those things in my childhood, I think I'm just not able to be confident in in who I am. Um, you know, but yeah, it's it's uh, I don't know, it's it's definitely been a challenging journey. Uh, but I'm slowly trying to, you know, kind of discover who I am and and find that healing.

Robb 46:53

But I think that that self-acceptance part, you know, it is it is a keystone for a lot of things, but it is sometimes one of the hardest things to do because, you know, um you know, in in the You're you're ten years younger than I am, but you know, we were we were in the generation we were kind of raised in, it was a lot of self-reliance, you know. Uh you know, I'm uh I'm one of the original latchkey kids, you know. We were we were kind of raised in our own.

Cara 47:32

Yeah.

Robb 47:32

Did did your homework, made your dinner, and you know that that that type of stuff. And you were kind of had to be responsible for it. Yeah. And so I think there's internally there's a part of us that wants to reclaim the childhood that we did feel like we didn't have.

Cara 47:48

Yeah, because we grieve that, you know what I mean? Like because uh in and in my case, you know, like I had a parent with mental health issues, you know, and or maybe another parent with mental health issues. Well, a basically high anxiety mother, you know. And so um, you know, like I kind of grieve, especially with my dad, you know, because I do have a decent relationship with my mom, but my dad's been very, it's been very severed. I mean, I've been trying to, you know, it's better now than it was, but you know, I grieve what I didn't have. Like, of course, my dad was, like I said earlier, supportive in certain things, but like, you know, I just didn't, I don't feel like I was validated enough. And I think that that definitely comes into play when I'm doing stuff and when I'm creating a character, when I'm, you know, nominated for an award and you know, I'm just like wanting that approval, not just from people, but more so from my family. I don't feel that much support, even in my extended family. I feel more support from you, Rob. I mean, you know, and and all of my friends that I've met in this beautiful industry. Um, and and maybe it's that's just the way it's gonna go, you know. Um, and and you know, but you will, you will kind of grieve that. I I I do know that I grieve that, you know. It's it's I think that's the hardest part of this all, you know, is is knowing, especially my dad's case, he's just not well off. And so knowing that that's never gonna happen. You know what I mean? Like he's never gonna get better, you know. I have to love him where he's at, and God loves him and God forgives him, and so I have to forgive him. Um, even though he tore the family apart horribly and what he did, but I'm responsible for my life, and I and I'm um, you know, God is my judge. And um, you know, so what I do is, you know, is my decision. Like I I can't change things for my parents, I can't change things for my sisters. It's all separate journeys, but yeah. But it's hard. The grief is the hardest. And they're still my parents and my dad's still alive, and I grieve that. It's hard. You know? Um, but yeah.

Robb 49:56

And then it becomes part of that you know, self-I don't want to say self-inflicted, but you know, we've put it on ourselves to to try and help them too, to be that, you know, inspiration to them to like say, hey, as a you know, yes, look at me, look how well I'm doing now. You you you can get better too. It's okay. And to and to kind of love them through it.

Cara 50:21

Yeah.

Robb 50:22

You know, knowing that we can't make that decision for them. It's kind of like being a par it's a being a parent to your parent. Basically, parent to your kids. Yeah. Sometimes the hardest, the the best learned lessons are the are the failures. Those are the lessons that make the impact. And as much as we want to protect them from stuff and say, hey, this is it. We I figured it out, do this. It's it's not going to make as much impact as if we're like, okay, all I can do is be the example and let you just see hope that you hope that your eyes open and see that this is kind of what needs to happen.

Cara 50:56

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you just kind of have to basically we have to give up control. And I think that's hard to do. You know. And for me, my faith comes into it because I know that I'm not in control. But I always have to remind myself, like, I can't do anything to change anybody unless they want to change. And at this point, they definitely don't want to, and so I have to love them where they're at. Um, and for me, right now, my focus, I'm gonna see my dad this summer, is to just like love him and be, like I said, be the light and love of Jesus and share the gospel with him. And I because I am very much more concerned. I I can't be concerned about our relationship anymore because it is what it is. But I am concerned about his soul. And so that's the thing that I'm more focused on now. Um, which, you know, um I will be so happy if he came to the Lord. Um that is that is my goal now, you know. And and again, I can only do what I can do. So, but that's but that's uh kind of what's in my mind for you know, the next steps for that relationship. It's more so getting him a relationship with Jesus, you know. Um, you know, because he's just very it's just very sad. It's it's very he's a very lonely and and hurting person. And um, you know, I just want to show him that there's hope, you know. And even if that hope comes towards the end of his life, you know, you know, God waits around for everybody, you know, he gives us so much time to change our ways. So I'm really just praying and trusting, but at the ultimately it's up to him. Yeah.

Robb 52:41

All right, Cara. This is the third segment of the show. It's time now for the Fast Five. The Fast Five is time now for the Fast Five. Fast Five. Sorry, I'm still working on the theme song.

Cara 52:53

Yeah, you should make one.

Robb 52:55

I really, really need to.

Cara 52:56

I can help you with it if you want.

Robb 52:58

I would appreciate that. The Fast Five is powered by Pod Dex. It's an app created by my friend Travis Brown. If you go to ChewingTheFatbr.com slash Poddex, you can uh get the link to download it. It's great for podcasters, but they're great icebreaker questions as well. So it's five random questions, no wrong answers, just the first thing that comes to the top of your head, okay? Okay. So it's almost like scenes from a hat. It's a it's an improv. Oh, yeah. That's what it sounds like.

Cara 53:24

Uh-huh.

Robb 53:25

All right. So are you ready for question number one?

Cara 53:27

Yeah.

Robb 53:28

Here we go. Where do you go when you need to blow off some steam?

Cara 53:37

Uh goodwill. Go shopping.

Robb 53:43

Oh, okay. Okay. I was going to say, do you go in and just just rant at the workers or something? No, okay.

Cara 53:47

I'm like, what did you do? No. No, I go I go shopping, so usually I'll go to like Goodwill or or you know, just to kind of get a break. Yeah. So shop it doesn't always have to be goodwill. But yeah, just shopping.

Robb 54:01

A little retail therapy?

Cara 54:02

Yeah, yeah, a little retail therapy.

Robb 54:04

I love that. I love that. Question number two. What do you want your legacy to be?

Cara 54:15

Um my legacy. I want my legacy to be um I always kind of think about this, like I'm like, what would people say at my funeral? I know it sounds morbid, but I want them to um see God's light through me and be impacted. Um you know, obviously financially, I want to leave a legacy for my children, which uh my husband and I have started. Um, you know, uh because obviously my family was not good at finances. So yeah, just uh, you know, uh there's a technical side with the financial part, and then there's also just the spiritual and and um the Jesus side of things. I just want um I really don't know. I've never really thought about like that, but I always kind of like uh think about, oh, what would people say? I want to have a big party, I want everybody to have a party and dance and do karaoke at my funeral and just take my ashes and throw it around. No, I'm just kidding. But I tell my kids all the time, do you want to have some of my ashes and you can put it in? And I always say gross things are like, ew. But yeah, I just want to like, I want people to look back and and be like, you know, I want them to be um inspired by what I did with my life, not based on my works, none of my works, just of who I am, you know, as a person and who God created me to be. That's about it.

Robb 55:47

I love that. I love that. Question number three. How long would you last on the great British baking show?

Cara 55:58

Oh. Uh I'm not a huge baker, but I'm decent. Uh I don't think I'd I probably I really don't know. I wouldn't fail immediately. I know that. Um, because I actually know how to cook pretty good. But my husband is a huge baker, like he's really good at that. Um for me, I kind of eyeball things, so that's why I'm really good at cooking and I'm Italian, so I just kind of throw garlic in and I'm like, more garlic, better. Exactly. It does, don't you know? No. Um definitely we'll put garlic garlic in any kind of pies or cakes.

Robb 56:34

But um my lemon garlic cake. You'll love it.

Cara 56:37

Yeah. Hey, I don't know, maybe it does work out for some. But yeah, I I don't think I would win because I wouldn't get like fancy about it, you know. But I don't think that I would be the first out. Okay. Yeah. I think I'd bless a decent amount to be proud of. Yeah.

Robb 56:51

Thank you. Question number four. If someone left you a cottage somewhere in the countryside in their will, where would you want the cottage to be located?

Cara 57:04

Ooh. Um geez. My husband and I talk about this because I've always like wanted to have like a cabin, but then we got the airplane, so he was like, Yeah, I don't really want a cabin. You have to do the maintenance. But if somebody left it for me, he would still probably complain that he'd have to do the maintenance. So it would have to be somewhere kind of close. So um I would say somewhere in Tennessee, North Carolina, or North Georgia, um, on on a lake. Okay. Um that would be what I would want. Nice. Nice. Yeah.

Robb 57:37

And question number five. Do you prefer live action or cartoon superhero shows?

Cara 57:46

Oh, cartoons. Yeah.

Robb 57:48

As a voice actor.

Cara 57:49

I mean, yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah. Can you tell? No. Um, yeah. No, I don't I don't really care. I mean, it they're okay. I've seen a ton of them. Um, you know, all the Marvel stuff and the um yeah, Captain America. I used to have a major crush on that actor. What was his name? Chris Evans. Chris Evans, yeah. Yeah. Uh but um, but no, I prefer cartoons ever like Mighty Mouse. I used to have a crush on Mighty Mouse too. Oh wow. Mighty Mouse. Yeah, I used to love Mighty Mouse. Um, he was one of my first crushes. And him, I actually had a dream as a kid about Mighty Mouse. I was like, ooh, I love him. I love Mighty Mouse. I know. So odd. I don't know what's wrong with me. And I love and I and Kirbit was one of my first crushes too. So there you go. I love that. But yeah.

Robb 58:45

Okay. Well, that is that is our fast five, and that's the show. Cara, thank you so much for being here.

Cara 58:50

Oh, thank you for having me. I've been meaning to be on the show for like the past few years.

Robb 58:55

It's it's I I'm glad it finally worked out.

Cara 58:58

Yay!

Robb 58:59

Yay. If folks want to keep up with you and all that you've got going on, what's the best place to do that?

Cara 59:04

Well, I'm chronically online. Uh, so I have uh my website is Cara Leighty.com. And there you can literally find all my social media. But I'm usually online at Mrs. Leighty. Um, so that's Instagram and TikTok, although my TikTok's kind of messed up now. I don't know what's going on with it. But um, I am, yeah, like I said, chronically online.

Robb 59:26

So and then uh Davey has his own Instagram as well.

Cara 59:29

Davey has, yeah, he has an Instagram, he's linked to mine. So you can find him through mine, but it's um Davey the puppet. So you can find him on there. Um and yeah, I have a YouTube channel with a bunch of old videos if you want to watch old vlogger style stuff at the Leighty Life on YouTube. Um and you can make fun of my beginning videos because they're pretty cringy. That that my kids would probably be like, this is cringe. You know. Although they they every my family members love watching the leighty life. Like they're like, we're watching the old videos. That's kind of why I made it. So then I had memories. So um, but yeah, so but yeah, you could find me online, you know. You look at look on Robb's Instagram and you find me.

Robb 1:00:13

There we go.

Cara 1:00:14

I'll be hiding there.

Robb 1:00:16

I'll make sure I put all the links to that in the show notes again. Cara, thank you so much for being here. I really do appreciate it. Thank you, friend.

Cara 1:00:23

Thank you.

Robb 1:00:24

I love you and I wish you nothing to success with everything that you've got going on.

Cara 1:00:28

Oh, I love you too, and ditto all of that.

Robb 1:00:31

And if you would like to support this podcast, I'd appreciate it if you bought me a coffee at chewingthefatbr.com. But until next time, I look forward to the chance we have to sit a spell and chew the fat.