Reinventing The Dream

What do you do when the dream you've chased for years isn't unfolding the way you imagined? For Lana Larson, the answer wasn't giving up—it was giving herself permission to reinvent the dream.

In this episode of Stories from Cold Springs, Lana traces an extraordinary journey from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to the stages of the University of Southern Mississippi, summer stock musicals, and the audition rooms of Los Angeles, where every actor carried a headshot, a résumé, and hope. She reflects on the exhilaration of pursuing a career in film and television, the uncertainty of waiting for a break, and the quiet realization that dreams sometimes need a new direction rather than a final goodbye.

That realization led Lana to law school, where she balanced the demands of earning her degree while raising three young children. Her second act became a distinguished legal career that includes federal court service and complex construction litigation. Along the way, she discovered that the skills she honed as a performer—listening closely, understanding people, and telling compelling stories—proved just as valuable in the courtroom as they ever had on stage.

But some dreams never disappear. More than three decades after stepping away from performing, Lana found herself back under the lights, rediscovering the joy that first captured her heart as a young actress. Her story is a reminder that reinvention doesn't erase the past—it builds upon it.

Whether you're standing at a crossroads, considering a career change, or wondering if it's too late to return to something you once loved, Lana's journey offers wisdom, encouragement, and the quiet confidence to believe that life's second act can be every bit as meaningful as the first.

If this conversation resonates with you, subscribe to Stories from Cold Springs, share the episode with someone navigating their own turning point, and leave a review to help others discover these remarkable stories.

Subscribe, share with a friend who loves radio, and leave a review to help more listeners find these stories. Your voice keeps this community strong.

Links to Stephen's incredible novels:

The Death Letter
The Bondage of Innocents

Transcript

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Welcome To Cold Springs

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to Stories from Cold Springs, a show about creativity, curiosity, and the remarkable real-life characters behind the stories we tell. I'm Jay Stephen Bean, author, former physician, and educator. I'll be your guide through the winding roads of this fictional Mississippi town. Each episode will sit down with storytellers, artists, and everyday eccentrics to explore the heart, humor, and humanity behind their fascinating journeys. So settle in. Cold Springs always has another story to tell. Extremely excited to have my guest today. Her name is Lena Larson. Lena has lived an interesting life in my estimation. So I asked her here today to tell us a little bit about her life. And now, as we say every time, this is a podcast about creativity and storytelling. So that's what we're reaching

Growing Up In Hattiesburg

SPEAKER_01 1:09

for today. Welcome, Lena.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Thank you, Dr. Bean.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

First, as I do, with all of my guests, I ask you to tell us a little bit about your young life, where you were born, anything that just comes out in your head about that, and then we'll move forward.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

I was born in Hattiesburg. My dad was in graduate school at USM, and then he got a job as a professor at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. So I moved there for my first five years of life, and then we came back to Hattiesburg, where he became a professor at USM in the physical education department. So I grew up in Hattiesburg, went to Oak Grove from first through 12th grade, and graduated from Oak Grove and went on to USM. I have a brother who's four years older than me and a sister who's five years older. And my mom was pretty much a stay-at-home mom. Jokingly, she would get a job as a secretary every time my dad wanted a new boat. So but mostly she was a stay-at-home mom, and we had a wonderful upbringing and just a beautiful family.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

You went to University of Southern Mississippi, for those who may be listening to this,

Choosing Theater At Southern Miss

SPEAKER_01 2:25

that's USM and our fair city of Hedgesburg. What was that like? What did you major in, for example?

SPEAKER_00 2:32

I was really undecided in what I wanted to do. Didn't face a lot of pressure from my parents about what to major in, really and got not a lot of guidance. So I took a theater class. And prior to going to USM, Oak Grove didn't have any kind of drama program or anything like that. But as a little bit more of my background, my mom was always enamored with movie stars. And when she was younger, she wrote to them and they would send her headshots with their autographs. So I was enamored with those growing up. So I always was attracted to Hollywood and movies and acting. And so there was a gentleman in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, whose name was Bob Misrobian, and he offered acting workshops and singing and stuff like that. So when I was about 15, I started participating in those and loved it. So when I got to USM, I took a theater class and an acting class. And all it really took was some encouragement from the professor. And I said, Well, I'm going to be a theater major. And my parents were like, You're going to, I'm sorry, what? So yeah, I majored in theater at USM. I got a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

What were some of the shows that you were actually in when you were in college?

SPEAKER_00 3:58

My first show ever was Laundry and Bourbon, and

College Roles And First Big Shows

SPEAKER_00 4:02

I played Hattie, who funny enough, you know, there I was 19 years old playing a woman who had three children, but it was fun and it was it was a great show. And then I was in Bilexi, no, Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon, played Nora. I was in The Children's Hour and played one of the teachers, Karen. And I was also in for my senior project, I did a show called The Wool Gatherer and played a character by the name of Rose. And I think those were all of my shows at at USM.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Were you ever in in any of the summer shows that they did in the round out there?

SPEAKER_00 4:43

I did not perform uh with the SAT at USM because my sophomore year of college, we participated in SETC, which is the Southeastern Theater Conference. And from a very young age, I I just always had wonder lust. I mean, you know, to be honest, I I wanted to go away to college, but my dad had started at USM

Summer Stock And Wanderlust

SPEAKER_00 5:06

at a time when the children got to go for free. So they kind of put the kibash on me leaving Mississippi. So I knew that I wanted to go away. So when I went to the Southeastern Theater Conference, that's when I got my first summer stock job, which was in Hagerstown, Indiana, with a group called the Nettle Creek Players. And we did three musicals in repertoire. And that was that was it just it changed my life. I mean, it was so much fun and I knew I loved it. And so each summer I would go do different summer stock. So I never really performed at the SAT.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

So you were a singer as well as an actress.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Yes. Yes. I got into singing because I was also into pageants when I was younger. And so wanting to do junior junior miss, I started training with Mildred Hong here in Hattiesburg and took voice lessons and all that. Now, when I was in junior miss, I sang for my talent. And when I was selected Lamar County's junior miss and was going on to to um the state, they said, okay,

Pageants, Voice Lessons, And Musicals

SPEAKER_00 6:21

that was a really sweet song, but don't sing. And I was like, oh no, I was crushed. And I said, okay, I'll just work harder. So I didn't sing for my state talent, but then when I started competing in the Miss Mississippi preliminaries, I I sang. And so yeah, I sang at the Miss Mississippi Pageant. And then all of my pretty much all of my summer stocks were musicals. And I just really I loved it. And I I enjoyed singing. I did cabarets and reviews and I always wanted to work on a cruise ship, but I never did that. But just yeah, singing was a big part of my a big part of my uh theater career.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Well so you finished up. Mm-hmm. Southern Miss. You've done some Summerstock, as you just told us. Right. And uh you've been taking classes. You're a theater major. I suppose being a theater major, you had to take some other basic classes. Mm-hmm. I'm guessing. Mm-hmm. Liberal arts type classes, is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yes. I I I tried

Touring Omaha Then Chasing LA

SPEAKER_00 7:32

to take I mean like anatomy and physiology and history and all those those basic things, but my life pretty much revolved around theater.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Wait, you took anatomy and physiology?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Mm-hmm. That was back when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do because I thought, well, you know, I don't know. I was working at the Hattiesburg Racquet Ball and Fitness Center as an aerobics instructor, and I thought, well, if I, you know, get into fitness or something like that, but that didn't that didn't go anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Well, we all have to look. Right. So you graduated.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

What did you do then?

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Well, while I was uh doing my summer stocks, I met different people and whatnot. And so one of the groups that I or one of the people that I had worked with had worked for the Nebraska Theater Caravan. And so I started, I guess it was the fall uh after I graduated USM, I went on tour with the Nebraska Theater Caravan that's stationed in Omaha. And so I had, I got married right after college, and he, my husband Gary, was the stage manager for the tour. And so we toured with the caravan for a couple of years, and I was in what's called the core caravan, and we lived in Omaha for a little over three years and did shows at the Omaha Community Playhouse and a couple of other theaters there in town. But my dream was always to get out to Los Angeles because I really wanted to do film and television. So in 1992, we left Omaha and moved out to California. And my husband, Gary, got into theme parks. He became a producer and did live shows and worked at Knott's Berry Farm and Universal Studios Hollywood. And when I first got out to Los Angeles, that's what I did. I was a studio guide at the Universal Studios Hollywood and met some wonderful people. And I did that for about three years and all the while working at restaurants and stuff. I had, you know, had two and three jobs at a time. It was very hectic, but trying to keep my schedule free in the day to go on auditions and things like that. So it was, it was kind of a rat race, but I loved it. And it was, I mean, you know, you gotta

The Audition Rat Race Reality

SPEAKER_00 10:06

try. And so I did. And I we did casting director workshops and all kinds of audition pieces. And I had several friends that I would do scenes with and they'd book a national commercial or book a you know speaking part on a TV show. And I was just like, oh, just I need my break. But it it just never came. And so then I segued into another career.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Okay. A lot of competition out there, isn't there?

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Oh, absolutely. I mean, when you go to the dry cleaner to pick up your clothes and they are their headshots on the counter because they want to pass it out to I'm like, everybody wants to be an actor. Everybody. And you know, even the person who did my headshots, they wanted to be so everybody has these side jobs, but everybody wanted to be an actor. And you know, that was the early 90s, so it was before reality TV. It was before, it was back in the day when, you know, you actually went physically to auditions and, you know, you you beat the pavement, you tried to meet with agents, you tried to do it, it was all, you know, it was in person and it was just all very, it was exciting and it was busy and it was hopeful. And, you know, I just I loved it out there, and I loved seeing movie stars and TV stars and waiting on soap opera stars and and all that kind of stuff. So it just really it it fed me, but you know, it fed my creativity and my drive, but it wasn't paying the bills. Right. So that hence the segue.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Right. I'm trying to picture that. Of course, I've read and listened to interviews with people who have made it, and they talk about those years. And I think sometimes we forget as the audience what some of these people go through before they actually get their break. Although some of them seem to get it awfully young, just depending I I guess on the gods of theater and movies and TV. I I I can't imagine do well, actually I can, when you're young and full of energy and are driven. Right. And it would seem to me that it would be a little bit hard not to measure yourself against all these other people when in fact what we should do in our lives is measure against ourselves and try to be better. Right. But if the these interviews that that I've heard and read sort of of say female SARS is hey, you go out there thinking you're beautiful and then you look around and everybody's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Right. Well, I think interesting, one of one

A Deadline That Changed Everything

SPEAKER_00 13:03

of the, you know, there's certain moments in our lives that stand out. And and mine in Los Angeles was kind of a a Eureka moment, I guess, was I have been out there maybe a year, and I I loved trying to be an extra on things. You know, you made like $45 a day, but you know, you were on set, you got to see the the people who were starring in it. So I was an extra on the movie The Shadow with Alec Baldwin and uh I think Kim Basinger. And so we were, you know, they have what's called crafts services that brings in snacks and food for the for the shoot. And it was at Universal Studios. And so they had the crafts table set up. So a bunch of the extras were standing around, and everybody's telling their stories about how long they've been out there, what they've done, you know, that kind of stuff. And so I'm standing there knowing that I'm making, you know, $40, $45 a day. And this guy across from me said, Yeah, I've been out here 11 years. And I thought, okay, 11 years, and you are standing here making the same $45 that I am. I thought, I cannot be doing this after 11 years. So I I set a goal for myself. I said, I'll give it a shot. But I know, you know, in all honesty, you know, I know I've been blessed with a brain and I can't waste that trying to pursue, you know, the superficiality of what can be, you know, acting. So I said, if I don't have a national commercial or have some sort of credited spot on a TV show or a movie, I've gotta I've gotta shift gear. So I did, and and I applied to law schools and had a good friend in Omaha who told me who was a lawyer by day, and she did Omaha community theater at night, and we became fast friends. And so I called her up and said I wanted to go to law school. And she said, Well, my advice to you is go to law school in the area where you want to practice because you're the school's better known and that type of thing. So I knew I didn't want to raise a family in California, so I applied to law schools in Florida where Gary's family was from. And I, you know, again, my wanderlust, I just didn't never saw myself being back in Mississippi. So I got accepted to Stetson Law School in St. Petersburg, Florida, and we moved across country and I started.

Law School With Three Kids

SPEAKER_00 15:45

So my goal was if I don't have something by the time I'm 30, and so I started law school the day before my 30th birthday. And then I did my three years of law school, and during those three years, I had three children. I finished law school and took the bar and then practiced in Florida for about 20 years.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

But the thing was, was I was out, I was out in in California, and it's one of those things where you think, okay, I gotta do something different, but what am I gonna do? Well, no one in my family, immediate or extended that I knew of had ever practiced law. But because my schedule was such that I was working nights at restaurants, most of the time I was out there, my days were free, and I would spend my days watching court TV. And I loved, I watched the O.J. Simpson trial. And there was one trial in particular, it was called um Zion v. New York Hospital, and there was an attorney, Tom Moore, who was the most fascinating trial attorney I'd ever seen in my life. And I watched him and I thought, now wait a minute. I mean, because he seemed like such an actor. I mean, he had the bats at his fingertips, he could recite everything, he was dramatic. And I thought, I could do that. So I said, Well, I mean, isn't a trial like a big, you know, acting in front of the jury? So I said, I I think my skills will translate. So that's really why I went to law school was because I wanted to be a trial attorney and just, you know, be in front of the jury and try to convince them and, you know, all the the drama that comes with it. And I really wanted to do criminal law and be, you know, like a prosecutor and do murder trials because I was also addicted to LA law and those types of things. But it it that it that didn't work out. I I didn't ever I never worked for the state attorney's office, but but I did. I went to law school and have done some trials in my career, and it really is acting in front of a jury.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

That's what I'm told. As you know, my wife is an attorney, right? A couple of things, kind of going back, kind of feel this out. Did you meet Gary at uh Southern Miss or where did you meet Gary?

SPEAKER_00 18:06

No, I met him at my second summer stock was at Callaway Gardens in Georgia, and it was a musical review through a company called Musicana, and Gary ran sound. And so I just we hit it off and we just kind of were inseparable after that. And then he because he was on the technical side and I was on the stage side, I mean it really worked out, and we were able to tour together and do do lots of different shows and companies together. And then once we got out to California, it kind of split up because he went into the

Marriage, Commutes, And A Host Anecdote

SPEAKER_00 18:44

to the theme park side of it. But yeah, so that that's where we met.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

So when you moved to Stepson for Law School, what did he do?

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Again, he was still in producing. So there was a company in Orlando called Renaissance Entertainment who produced live shows and through his contacts at Universal was put in contact with the Renaissance people. And so, bless his heart, he on a motorcycle commuted from St. Petersburg to Orlando to work for that production company. So it was it was kind of grueling. And then once I had my my I got pregnant my first semester of law school and I had twins, and so we moved over to Orlando to give him a respite, and he worked there while I raised the twins for the first year, and then we went back to St. Petersburg and he commuted again. So but I went summers and tried to speed it up. So I even though taking that year off with the twins, I didn't I didn't prolong law school more than uh, you know, a couple of um one semester really.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

As far as that commute.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

At the time in the nineties, it was a little over an hour. Yeah. Yeah, now it's crazy. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Crazy enough. The other thing I'll say is a little bit of an anecdote of a fella and Gary Grubbs. And my second time to meet Gary, I met him in passing with a friend of mine who's friends of his in New Orleans. But then in my days as team physician at USM, he used to go on all these football trips. And we went out west for a football game. And Gary just had to come through the mountains. I've forgotten which school we were at, but he just came over. It wasn't that bad of a drive, seemed huge to me, and I started looking at the distance. And so we were there, and uh again I was with my friend and he said, Gary's here, let's go say hello. I said, Sure. After So we go over there, and he doesn't remember me, but I I remember him and from that meeting. Uh we know each other a little bit from here now. But at any rate, so this fellow comes up and he says to Gary, I know you. You're a movie star. And Gary in that way that he has said, I am not a movie star. I'm an actor. If I were a movie star, you would know my name. Which the guy said, Well, I guess that's true. I haven't thought

Construction Litigation And Trial Work

SPEAKER_01 21:35

about it that way either. But Gary for the listeners is originally from this area and went out there and did well and still, as far as I know, working some, but he had a a good career doing smaller bits in a lot of movies and you've seen him, even though you since you don't know who he is, maybe you don't know that you've seen him in a lot of things. Over the years. Yeah. So you have your law degree and finished stuff at uh Jacksonville. Then what did you do?

SPEAKER_00 22:15

Well, once law school was finished, I went into the federal courts and was a clerk for a magistrate judge in Orlando. And it was getting close to the end of my clerkship, and the judge usually hires two clerks. And so my co-clerk asked me, What are you going to do when your clerkship is over? And I thought, I have no idea. Well, my third year of law school, I took an alternative dispute resolution course. And the professor in that course happened to say one day that if you could get into construction law in the Orlando area, that you would be set for life. So I told my co-clerk, I I really have no idea. I don't, I don't know what firms to try to interview with. And he said, Well, I have a friend who works for a construction law firm. And I remembered my professor and I thought, whoo, okay. And so I he set up a meeting for me with the guy who was just an associate at the time. And so the associate said, Well, I'll, you know, give your resume to the partners. And so I met with them and yeah, took a job in construction law, construction litigation, which for I was with them for about 15 years and mostly did architects and engineer liability for all sorts of collapses, structural failures. It was that was that was really it was fascinating. I had cases in Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, of course, Florida, isn't that Colorado, cases all over. And it was, it was really, it was challenging, and I I really loved it. And I loved the fact that, you know, architects and engineers are are smart people. They get a little indignant when they're sued, but it's not emotional. It just, it's the contracts, it's the documents, it's the expert witnesses. And so I learned a lot and I I really enjoyed that career, but the the practice of law is, you know, very grueling and time-consuming. And I was raising three children at the time. My husband, Gary, and I, we divorced in 2007. And so,

Returning Home To Federal Court

SPEAKER_00 24:44

you know, trying to raise them and do that full-time, it was it was very difficult. So, fast forward, I had reconnected with someone from high school who lives here in Hattiesburg. And we started talking and one thing led to another. So we got married, and I mean, I had grown up in Hattiesburg, and like I say, no one in my family having been in the field of law, I wasn't familiar with the court system or anything. So someone said, Well, why don't you get a job with the federal courts in Hattiesburg? And I'm like, there's a federal court in Star. And so I interviewed with Judge Keith Starrett and became one of his clerks. And so that's what I've done for the past seven years. And it just the pace of it, but the challenge, I I love researching and writing. That's really my forte. And while I, you know, practicing law is great, but in construction law, you don't get a lot of trials, which was always my passion. So, I mean, in my 20 years of practicing law, I think I've had, you know, maybe seven or eight trials. So that just doesn't happen. And to be honest, I'm not a real good negotiator. I'm kind of just a brass tacks kind of person. So when they start playing games and the mind games, I'm just like, how much money do you need? I'm ready to get the sober with. So I didn't enjoy that aspect of it either. So researching and writing and drafting opinions for the judge and being able to just be in court sometimes has really been a blessing. And I've said it a gazillion times. I mean, clerking is my dream job. It really is. It's it just suits my personality and my my abilities, really.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

Well, I'm happy for you in that. Now, you left Los Angeles and went to law school. I'm assuming there was no acting going on then. How long was it before you were on the stage again?

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Well, I like I say, I with raising my kids and everything, there was no time. But I did instill in my children a love for theater. We loved going to New York and seeing shows and musicals and anything locally. I mean, uh, Orlando has a thriving theater community. So my former sister-in-law, she was the head of the box office at the Orlando rep. So my children did

Back On Stage After 30 Years

SPEAKER_00 27:19

a lot of summer programs and shows and got involved in that. And one of my daughters wound up majoring in theater at the University of Arkansas. So the love of theater's always been there, but just not the ability and the time to do it. So, like I say, with now clerking and having more free time and my kids being grown, I came to see Southern Fide Funeral with this summer all little theater. And I thought, oh, how fun. And then I remembered my friend Carol from Omaha, who was a lawyer by day and did community theater at night. And I thought, I think now's the time to try again. So I saw the auditions for Crimes of the Heart, and I said, I think I'll go audition. And I think I, well, my biggest fear was can I at my age, can I memorize lines again? Is that a possibility? But yeah, so I auditioned this past February and was cast in Crimes of the Heart. So it had been a little over 30 years since I'd I've been on stage. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Well, a wonderful addition to our theater group. And I'll I'll tell the listeners that when she came in to audition, she blew us away. We said, Who is this woman? She was so very good and uh added a lot to the show. Uh played Meg, if you're familiar with the show, who's a crazy woman in some ways, and played her to the hilt. So thank you. Very proud that to have you do that and we're so hopeful that you'll come back and try out for some other things.

Closing Thanks And Sponsor

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Thanks for spending time with us in Cold Springs. If you enjoyed today's story, please like, subscribe, and share the show with someone who appreciates a good twist and a strong sense of place. You can find more about me by visiting JstephenBeam.com. That's the letter J Stephen with a PH and Beam with an M. Until next time Keep your Porsche Light on and your pen ready. If you get an idea, write it down before it grows legs and walks off without you. Support for stories from Cold Springs comes from MCS Home Center Bellevue. Visit them at 7329 US 98 in Hattiesburg. Tell them Cold Springs sent you.