#21 Behind the Scenes with Allison Siko: Laughs, Lessons, and Law & Order

Join Shayla Tharp on this episode of "Having a Laugh" as she chats with Allison Siko! From starring in commercials as a child to being cast as Kathleen Stabler in "Law and Order: SVU," Allison shares her wild ride in the entertainment biz. They both dive into mental health, the hustle of side jobs, and the art of research for complex roles. With personal stories and a mix of serious and silly topics—from anxiety to rapid-fire questions—they explore authenticity, creative processes, and even Halloween plans. Tune in for laughs and insights from the vibrant NYC creative scene!

Allison - https://www.instagram.com/allisonsiko/

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Allison Siko
• 2:58 The Journey of an Actor
• 6:03 Growing Up in the Industry
• 8:56 Navigating the Challenges of Acting
• 12:01 The Impact of Mental Health on Performance
• 15:03 Creating Opportunities in a Changing Industry
• 18:05 The Role of Side Jobs in an Actor's Life
• 20:58 The Experience of Playing Kathleen Stabler
• 23:56 The Importance of Research in Acting
• 27:01 Reflections on Personal Growth and Challenges
• 30:05 The Future of Acting and Industry Changes
• 40:38 Understanding Depression and Anxiety
• 43:03 The Role of Authenticity in Performance
• 46:07 Lessons from Chris Meloni
• 49:33 Rapid Fire Questions
• 58:22 Halloween Plans and Creative Costumes
• 1:08:00 Musical Tastes and Recommendations

Transcript

Shayla Tharp (00:01.334)
Hey everyone, this is Shayla Tharp. You're listening to Having a Laugh. And today we have Allison Siko, an actor and singer living in New York City. Most recently can be seen as Kathleen Stabler in Law and Order OC. It is so nice to have you. Thank you so much for being here. Yeah, how are you doing? We've never spoken before, but I'm feeling a good vibe. I'm feeling the good vibes.

Allison Siko (00:21.836)
Thanks for having me.

Shayla Tharp (00:31.105)
What are you up to right now? How's New York? What's going on?

Allison Siko (00:31.36)
We love good vibes.

Allison Siko (00:37.858)
I am living what is typically known as the actor life of auditioning and working side jobs and trying to make ends meet, pay rent, pay bills. I can definitely tell I'm an adult now because I'm really excited. I'm about to get a new mattress. I had saved up for that. so yes, good night's sleep is the best foundation to start everything. So I'm

Shayla Tharp (00:46.688)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (00:53.004)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (00:59.266)
Ooh.

Shayla Tharp (01:05.781)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (01:05.788)
wait for that to be delivered in the coming weeks. yeah, it's the kind of thing of I've been doing this since I was really little and now it's my life. This is what I do.

Shayla Tharp (01:18.967)
Mm -hmm. When did you get started then? Did you start as a child child?

Allison Siko (01:25.16)
Yeah, I was actually a very precocious three -year -old who was begging my parents to perform or go to dance class or anything. I was really my own stage mom. I kept trying to push things forward and God loved my parents. They were very supportive and they took me to classes. They drove me to auditions and yeah, I actually got my SAG card at three and a half. So I've been doing this for a minute.

Shayla Tharp (01:52.608)
god. my god, I bet the due to join at that point wasn't like three grand, so I bet that was nice.

Allison Siko (02:00.62)
Well, that's the thing. It probably was less, but because I was a kid, there's a lot of the business side I had to learn later that was a little bit of a kick in the pants of, time to grow up, because the adults used to handle everything. So now I know about what's paid and everything. But it used to be like, I got a Play School commercial, and at the end, I get to keep the toy? That's amazing.

I still had the concept of like, you do the cool job, you get some compensation. It's just that I didn't realize that the actual monetary was like going into a college fund or like actually the business fund to pay for said lessons and pay for the tolls to come to the city and things. Cause it's, it's not a cheap profession, but it's really, really worth it.

Shayla Tharp (02:32.066)
Hoi.

Shayla Tharp (02:42.443)
Right.

Shayla Tharp (02:49.652)
Yeah. And where were you then born and raised? Were you nearby New York?

Allison Siko (02:54.466)
near enough. I was born in Maryland, just outside Annapolis, a, suburb of Annapolis and lived there for about the first five -ish years of my life. So yeah, the beginning of my quote unquote career, did start while we were still down there. But then as things happened, my father's job was moving locations and it could, we could either, I think it was supposed to be like Colorado. It was like, you could go to Colorado or you could go to New Jersey.

Shayla Tharp (02:58.869)
Okay.

Allison Siko (03:24.284)
And my mother's from New Jersey, has family in New Jersey, and also I had started this crazy business of show. So that was the family decision to come up to New Jersey. And so for majority of my upbringing, I was just across the river.

Shayla Tharp (03:39.411)
And were you like doing plays was it immediately straight into commercials? How did it kind of go?

Allison Siko (03:46.05)
We had a lovely family friend when we were in Maryland. I'm an only child, so she was kind of like a older sister figure and her brother was like a brother figure to me. Very good family friends. And she had already started the acting and performing and I would see her on TV and like any little sibling was like, I wanna do what Sarah does. wanna, that looks like fun. And my mom said, I don't know.

Shayla Tharp (04:08.31)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (04:13.09)
you might want to wait a bit, Sarah's bit older than you." And I said, all you do is bite a cookie and go, it's good. And she said, with that, with that mentality, sure, we'll give it a shot. So they were very generous and let us tag along on one of their four hour driving excursions up to New York for an audition. And my mom figured, we'll like let her hail a cab, we'll let her see the big city, maybe get it out of her system. If anything, it was the super duper miracle grow that

Shayla Tharp (04:22.358)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (04:37.793)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (04:41.554)
made everything flourish because they had to stop by their agency, as you do, to say hi and say, this is what she's looking like in person now because kids, we all grow really fast. And to me, I just saw a brand new room of adults I had never met who were absolutely wanting to hear my Steve Urkel impression. So of course, so that was my thing. It's like I was the kid who going up to people in supermarkets and like being very propitious and stuff.

Shayla Tharp (04:42.202)
Shayla Tharp (04:47.042)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (04:52.586)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (05:11.518)
They said, she's hilarious. Do you mind if we send her out on things? And my mom went, yeah, she kind of wants, I don't know how this works, but sure. And by the time we got back to Maryland, I'm gonna date myself slightly, but there was a message on the answering machine and I had a audition the next day. And it just happened to be that I had the audition. My mom drove me up, we drove back. I got a call back, we drove up, we drove back. And then I booked my first like thing.

Shayla Tharp (05:31.616)
Wow.

Allison Siko (05:41.536)
So it really was the, want this, I wanna go get it with a really, really supportive loving mother taking me places. So, yeah, and then from there, was commercials and kind of becoming a part of the scene where you'd see the same people at auditions because you go to an audition, if they're looking for someone like you, there's gonna be an entire room of people like you. So I grew up with like Lindsay Lohan and Misha Barton and like,

Shayla Tharp (05:41.578)
Wow.

Shayla Tharp (05:50.654)
Wow, that is so nice.

Shayla Tharp (06:03.595)
You see him.

Shayla Tharp (06:09.013)
Mmm.

Allison Siko (06:10.614)
the other gals around my age where you just would see them all the time and you would all be going, it's like, who got the crust commercial? it was Alison Cool. Who was on the Cool Whip? Lindsay got that. That's great. And you just kind of became this little mini community. And one of my really good friends, we would try to beg the agent to try to get us auditions at the exact same time so that like we could then go out and beanie baby hunt after auditions and our moms could get coffee. was...

Shayla Tharp (06:19.156)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (06:32.683)
You

Shayla Tharp (06:38.898)
my god

Allison Siko (06:39.062)
Like it was this great sort of magical afterschool activity, because I kept going through complete public school system. School was very much first in my family of like you do your schoolwork and then this stuff can happen. But thankfully, like I say, supportive parents, a supportive school system, they worked with me when I booked a movie that then went out to the Sundance Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival is going to be happening right during my midterms one year.

Shayla Tharp (06:50.22)
Mm

Allison Siko (07:08.882)
they worked with me and said, hey, that's a really wonderful experience. We're very proud of you. Go do that. And then you can take your midterms when you get back. So it's that kind of thing of it in all areas of any profession of any existence, it does take your village to help raise you. But especially when show business puts kids kind of really quickly into your work and stuff. Like if you're in the theater, I was doing regional shows at

Shayla Tharp (07:24.928)
Yes.

Shayla Tharp (07:34.178)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (07:38.06)
Paper Mill Playhouse out in Milburn, New Jersey. And that's eight shows a week with a matinee day on Thursday. So I have to leave school early. So the school has to be kind of okay with it and work with you. And some folks who didn't want to deal with school in that way, or they had administrations who possibly weren't as forgiving or generous, they would have to homeschool. They would have to still do their things just in a different, slightly different way.

But yeah, it was quite the kooky upbringing of go to school, go to classes. I went to acting classes, I went to dance classes, but I also was on a soccer team. I also went to prom. I also tried to live, quote unquote, a normal existence as possible. then, and that's the beautiful thing that if it's possible, being a well -rounded human's gonna

Shayla Tharp (08:20.502)
I

Shayla Tharp (08:25.98)
Yeah, you kind of got the full rounded experience.

Allison Siko (08:35.776)
benefit you in any profession, but especially this one because we're storytellers and usually the stories we're telling are about humans. And so if you can more greatly either understand or appreciate, if you don't fully understand, you can appreciate a human experience, a human condition, then you can do your job better.

Shayla Tharp (08:43.552)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (08:56.51)
Mm -hmm, absolutely. I used to be one of those that wasn't too empathetic towards others. I really liked to like block myself off and just not really invest. And then it was like, wait, actually maybe I should because this only helps me understand people and humans and the dynamics and it's only helping you. And it can be hard though, are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Allison Siko (09:18.11)
Exactly.

Allison Siko (09:23.602)
I mean, TikTok is giving me all sorts of brand new labels I can label myself, but my gosh, ever since lockdown, I've learned so much on that lovely little app, but I'm probably an extroverted introvert because I also say it's probably because I'm an only child. I'm very content with my alone time. I'm a big reader. I love to read a lot.

Shayla Tharp (09:28.651)
Right?

Shayla Tharp (09:34.688)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (09:39.681)
Yes.

Allison Siko (09:49.63)
and draw and journal and things. like I'm okay being solitary. And so alone time to decompress or to wind down is very important to me. But I also love being on stage, being in front of a camera, being with large group of friends at a party, going up and singing karaoke and just, you know, I'm not, I'm not wary of the spotlight. actually do like it. So I'm a bit of the Venn diagram of both worlds meeting in the middle.

Shayla Tharp (09:54.135)
Me too.

Shayla Tharp (10:02.805)
Yes.

Shayla Tharp (10:13.779)
Yes.

Shayla Tharp (10:17.308)
Mm -hmm as am I as am I Do you have you found this journey through acting to ever be very stressful like especially as a child then it sounds like you were super supported But was it ever stressful for you?

Allison Siko (10:19.404)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (10:33.664)
No, it was complete cakewalk. No, I'm kidding. Yeah, Disney's correct. It's always magical. No shade to Disney. I love Disney. hire me. But, but, you. Actually, I was very much a Disney kid growing up and I did work for them once upon a time and would love to come back into the fold. But it is hard because...

Shayla Tharp (10:36.011)
I was like, wow.

Yeah!

Shayla Tharp (10:45.508)
Yeah, no kidding. We love you!

Shayla Tharp (10:51.973)
god, me too.

Allison Siko (11:02.418)
That is the thing of, as a human who is growing, anybody, whether they're working the job or not, you're constantly shifting and changing, but the industry is constantly shifting and changing. So like, if I was in my full grown adult body that I am in now, back when I had started, it might be a different scenario of the kinds of jobs I would be getting versus

how now the industry is functioning, over these X amount of years, that has changed so much. So trying to quote unquote meet what the industry is looking for was very challenging when I was a teen, because everybody goes through their ugly duckling phase and trying to switch from cute kid to teenager. You feel that very acutely in the industry when, let's say, you're used to going to an audition.

Shayla Tharp (11:40.02)
yeah.

Shayla Tharp (11:50.358)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (12:02.006)
You might not get some of them, but you're used to getting a lot of them. And then all of a sudden things like fall off their cliff. Like you're either not being called in because you're not what they're looking for or you're called in. But like I said, you go into an audition room and you see a bunch of people who look like you. You start noticing that you're not looking like everybody else. You're trying, you're trying to keep up, but you're like, I just, I don't match this. What's happening? Who am I? And, and trying on all those different costumes of, of.

who you want to be. That was very challenging and it's actually still something I'm working on because I have what I lovingly like to call baby face itis. When I was a kid, I could pass for older, so I was really tall. So like I was three, but I would go into the audition and say I was five and I would beat some of the kids who were like, say eight who were shorter, saying they were five. like I

Shayla Tharp (12:42.038)
No.

Shayla Tharp (12:58.498)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (13:00.788)
I was used to playing with the big kids, being around adults, all this stuff. Where now, I got out of college and I was like, yeah, I'm ready to be cast as an adult. And they were like, sweetie, no, go back to high school. Yeah. So I'm lovingly, hopefully thinking that I look a little more mature now. I act a little more mature, but at the same time, I'm still going out when I'm auditioning for things for people who in college, young adults.

Shayla Tharp (13:10.942)
Yeah, no. Sit down.

Allison Siko (13:29.746)
They're nowhere near what I actually am in real life. So it's that thing of what are they looking for? How do you match? Trying to not take it to heart to feel like your worth is so tied up on whether you get a project or not. That can be really challenging. So just trying to become the most authentic version of my particular self has been really helpful. And then realizing that it's a creative medium so I can create my own stuff.

Shayla Tharp (13:31.265)
Wow.

Allison Siko (13:59.062)
So that's actually what I've been working on of realizing, hey, if the industry is the way it's currently structured and the stories that are currently being given funding to be made don't fully match me, well, I gotta create my own project. I gotta work with my own friends. Because it's been so wonderful being in New York. We are such a microcosm and epicenter of all the creative industries. So I have friends who are writers, who are...

Shayla Tharp (13:59.35)
Yes.

Shayla Tharp (14:09.964)
Mm -hmm.

Yep.

Shayla Tharp (14:21.356)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (14:26.71)
camera operators, who are cinematographers, who are producers, who are directors. My best friend, she's a director up and coming on Broadway and in film and television. And so we're constantly getting together to amp each other up. My roommate, she's an amazing writer and performer, and she also does clown work. And I swear that is some of the hardest stuff ever.

Shayla Tharp (14:46.12)
sick god yeah

Allison Siko (14:49.684)
She's a genius. So it's just, it's surrounding yourself with other people also going through it that really helps fortify you on the days when you're not so strong and also builds you up on the days when you're like, all right, let's do this.

Shayla Tharp (14:54.518)
Mm

Shayla Tharp (15:03.368)
Yes, and that's, I agree completely. That's why I made this podcast is because after the strikes and all that, there was like just this lull and I was like, what do I do with myself? Like no one's handing me jobs, not like they did before, but no one's coming over here and being like, you're hired. So I was like, I gotta do something and I need people that are creative. I need to talk to them. I need to just,

Allison Siko (15:19.424)
Right.

Shayla Tharp (15:31.318)
There's just so many creatives out there and we are all kind of just stuck because everything's just, I still think, very frozen from after the strikes. I don't think anything's gone back to normal.

Allison Siko (15:40.994)
things are picking up slightly, but it is the kind of thing that they're picking up in the sense that they're part of the larger machine that's always been running. Sometimes it'll be a little slower and a little quicker, but like network television, is still, that's still moving around, that's still going. But trying to get into that when it's very established can be hard. So it is.

Shayla Tharp (15:46.476)
Mm

Shayla Tharp (15:54.793)
Yes.

Allison Siko (16:10.558)
It is a scary time for folks. Like I know I'm not the only one of trying to make ends meet, trying to pay bills, thinking I would have more opportunities by this point and realizing, no. I mean, I, speaking of loving family, do have loving family, but some of extended family, they have said over the years, like, when are you going to get a real job, sweetie? And I know it's coming from a sense of their fear and wanting to give me protection, but it is the kind of thing that to be a creative, to be an artist.

Shayla Tharp (16:17.719)
Mm

Allison Siko (16:40.374)
to these days, you gotta do it for the art. It's not for the money, but you still need money to exist and survive in this world. So finding your other avenues. And I try to make sure that I, in most of my side jobs, it's stuff that will refill my cup, so to say. congratulations on this podcast. That's wonderful. I was even looking into podcasts and things of that nature, but like right now, one of my many side jobs that I do is I'm an usher for Broadway.

Shayla Tharp (16:44.396)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (16:58.4)
Yeah. Yeah.

thank you.

Allison Siko (17:10.316)
So yeah, so I'm able to go in and see other great, great performers at the top of their game. And it's kind of like a paid masterclass. mean, make sure everybody's safe in the theater and I get them to the spaces that they're supposed to be. It's not too far off from when I worked retail of still customer service, but at least you're surrounded by that energy of live theater every night. And then I also, I'm obsessed.

Shayla Tharp (17:10.485)
fun. I've been a nusher.

Shayla Tharp (17:20.034)
Mm -hmm. It's inspiring.

Shayla Tharp (17:31.011)
Yes

Allison Siko (17:39.68)
with animals, I love dogs. like, I've now learned that I also love cats. So like, I will do cat sitting and pet sitting and dog walking. And that's just something that, like I said, fills your cup. it's, it's that kind of thing of you got a year life is what you make it. So it's, it's really if, if the phone's not ringing, if the emails aren't coming in, because they know we really make phone calls anymore. But if,

Shayla Tharp (17:41.634)
Let me do.

Shayla Tharp (17:45.12)
Yay!

Shayla Tharp (17:49.011)
awesome.

Shayla Tharp (18:05.931)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (18:08.008)
if things feel slow, it's like, okay, is this a time for rest, which is very vital? Or is it a time for you have the peace and quiet to then make your own?

Shayla Tharp (18:19.936)
Mm -hmm. And I feel like you can learn just so much also from taking these, I don't want to say they're breaks because it's not like I'm taking a break from acting. It's like I'm learning other aspects and getting inspired by other things, learning new techniques, learning. It's always learning in this craft. And I hate when people are like, so you're taking a break now. You're just done for this year. And it's like, no, that's not how it works. That's not how it works. Yeah.

Allison Siko (18:44.282)
I'd co -sign that completely because it's not, you're never breaking, I said, acting to me is human behavior. You're recreating human behavior. When I went to acting school, I felt like I was getting a BFA in human behavior. They happen to just call it theater arts acting. But it really is of the human experience is so varied and so full in many different aspects. So as much as you can soak in like a sponge.

Shayla Tharp (18:59.629)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (19:13.49)
then when you're ready to do a job, that's when you can wring out that particular part and it's going to bring such nuance and specificity and just make your work that much better.

Shayla Tharp (19:17.559)
Mm

Shayla Tharp (19:23.882)
Yeah, and you know all the side jobs, the being a barista, I've been an usher. When I'm cast now as a barista or an usher, I'm specific, I know what I'm doing, I'm hired on the spot. So it's like all of these things only help us.

Allison Siko (19:36.235)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (19:41.448)
Absolutely. Like I have a friend who they, I met them in college. We were in the same class. And for the majority of their young life, they were into martial arts and they really did martial arts hardcore. was their thing. And then I think they got injured. And so they decided, what am going to do now? So then they found acting. But you know, when you graduate and you can act, but then also do martial arts, they were doing so much in this field because.

Shayla Tharp (20:10.607)
I bet.

Allison Siko (20:10.94)
stunt performers are not just like blocks of wood who get blown up. That's a human and they have to like fall in a certain way, punch in a certain way because you're feeling the feelings of the character. So there's so many aspects of the industry that common people just don't always realize, which I think was one of the, if you're to look for silver lining, one of the silver linings of the strike is that

Shayla Tharp (20:20.61)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (20:37.064)
more people were talking about it around the kitchen table and being like, it's not as glamorous as I thought. They are having issues with money like we are. Okay, maybe we're not so different because at the end of the day, that's the big thing that I keep discovering and rediscovering and rediscovering of it. We're all in this boat together. So we're all dealing with our own things, but it's all a very similar journey.

Shayla Tharp (20:40.234)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (20:58.632)
Yes, absolutely.

Shayla Tharp (21:05.578)
Yes, absolutely. How old were you when you got Kathleen Stabler? Well, guess younger. I don't know when, when did that begin?

Allison Siko (21:16.13)
So we actually just celebrated the anniversary of SVU as a show. It got on the air 25 years ago. So that was a show that I had originally watched on the couch with my mom and just enjoyed it as a fan. But like I said, being a part of the industry growing up, you have auditions and you're with the same groups of people and you've...

Shayla Tharp (21:22.656)
wild.

forever ago. Exactly.

Shayla Tharp (21:34.945)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (21:45.192)
like every week or two weeks you can go into the city, you have an audition, it is what it is. So one of the shows that constantly is needing new people is Sleight of And many of the other procedural type shows, but that one, especially when it came out, was the hot new ticket. And so they occasionally had teenage roles pop up of like, I didn't see Johnny in class, sorry, I gotta get to gym, dun dun. Like, you know, those little bits.

Shayla Tharp (21:53.8)
yeah.

Shayla Tharp (22:11.582)
Yes.

Allison Siko (22:13.95)
And so I went in for one of those. I went in for an audition that was one of those smaller characters. You wouldn't really know who she was. The story was not about her, but filling the space. And it just so happened to be that I went in for that audition. I didn't hear anything. And then a couple later they said, hey, they're recasting one of the main characters' daughters.

would Allison be interested in that because they think she's a good match. And of course I'm like, yeah, sure. Just thinking I love a job, that'd be great. I have no idea what you need me to do, but I know how to play a daughter. I got it. Speaking of like being a barista know what to do. I was like, I know what to do about being a teenage daughter who wants to talk back a little. Cause in real life I'm a little goody two shoes, but this character little bit that they were showing me, I was like, get to like yell at my dad.

Shayla Tharp (22:46.981)
Yeah

Shayla Tharp (22:53.27)
I got it. Yep, got it.

Shayla Tharp (23:02.843)
Say no more.

Allison Siko (23:11.522)
what a fun fantasy. Like that would be great. Live that side of teenage existence. And so I booked it and this was a couple of seasons into the show. So I think this was around 2002, I wanna say. But I was in middle school and it fit and it was a quick little thing of once again, not mainly a part of the story there to add coloring.

Shayla Tharp (23:11.69)
Yeah!

Shayla Tharp (23:17.936)
Mm

Allison Siko (23:38.754)
to show when Detective Stabler is coming home from a stressful day at work. I'm also adding stress, but I'm a teenager, so I don't care. And I thought that was it. But then they called again and said like, hey, we're gonna have the kids in again. And I got to meet my fake family of like the other siblings and of fake mom and everything. And when you're a kid in the industry, you're used to working with fake families. Because it used to be that like you're always paired up with like the fake family for the cereal commercial, the fake family for the car.

Shayla Tharp (23:46.796)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (23:56.214)
you

Allison Siko (24:08.106)
this much. So that wasn't new. But then they started calling about like once or twice a year just to add that little bit of flavor to the show. And then for whatever reason, they just decided to start writing more for my character of like, she's going to be the problem child. She's going to start talking back more, but also getting in trouble. And so on the show, I got a DUI, I got

Shayla Tharp (24:08.534)
Mm

Shayla Tharp (24:25.153)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (24:36.93)
arrested, and things were like building up and building up. And then finally they reached out and said, hey, we want to make sure that like you're comfortable with this, but at the same time, we're doing it. So like, if it's not you, we'll probably recast. And I'm like, please don't. We're doing it. They had this beautiful storyline about bipolar disorder and how it runs in families. And that's when we were introduced to Stabler's mom, my grandma.

Shayla Tharp (24:49.75)
You

We're doing it.

Allison Siko (25:05.89)
played by the amazing Ellen Burstyn. And it was like the red herring of the episode was that I went out on a bender and we didn't fully know why. Like we had seen the breadcrumbs of me getting in trouble before, but then like the quote unquote crime of the episode that wasn't a crime, it just was a crime that things weren't realized sooner was that I was self -medicating because I had bipolar disorder. And then you see.

Shayla Tharp (25:06.105)
yes.

Allison Siko (25:32.476)
I most likely inherited it from my grandmother who also was struggling and also had things. So that was a major turning point for me where got to have an amazing time throughout the entire episode. Like it was a time when the episode was about me. I got to be there almost every day. I wasn't just the quick little flavoring done, done, on. So that was amazing. And it was.

Shayla Tharp (25:35.387)
you

Shayla Tharp (25:48.49)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (25:59.136)
Kind of life changing. So I'm looking forward to getting back to working where the character is more a part of the main storyline, helping move action along, know, acting, doing, you're doing the things instead of just being the sprinkling of specific flavoring. But that was amazing. And so that just kind of kept growing. And I was in college when that particular episode happened and I was actually studying abroad. And once again, it comes down to

Shayla Tharp (26:11.916)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (26:28.63)
people being generous and allowing you to do things. I was studying abroad in England and I was getting ready to fly over to go do my work at Shakespeare's Globe for the year. And, and I got the call that was like, you're going to be in the whole episode. We need you here for like two weeks. And I went, so I called up the director of my program. was like, hi. So I know, conservatory training, we're not supposed to do stuff, but

Shayla Tharp (26:39.595)
No!

Allison Siko (26:55.232)
This was one of the things I told you, like I already had this job. when they call you'd let me go. Well, this is like extra. Would you please let me go? Like, don't kick me out of school. And lovingly and generously, they said, okay, make sure you make up all your work, but yep, go do it. And so once again, everything was able to work together and I just went to that school year little glade. But then of course, cause the industry is

Shayla Tharp (26:57.804)
Yeah

Shayla Tharp (27:01.121)
doing it.

Shayla Tharp (27:05.154)
Ugh.

Shayla Tharp (27:13.195)
Wow.

Allison Siko (27:23.266)
kooky and everything happens for a reason. I was over there for like about a week trying to catch up and enjoying like British life and all of a sudden because the time difference I get back from my classes one day and I have like 50 emails bunches of missed calls they had something where they needed to reshoot it. Yep, yep yep yep. So they were like trying to track me down.

Shayla Tharp (27:47.126)
no, no.

Allison Siko (27:51.266)
I'm like, where did you go? And I said, I'm so sorry, I'm over in England. And they said, we'll book you a flight. We'll book you a flight, we'll pick you up in a car, come on back, we have to fix it. That is NBC money right there. So that was an experience of being like, hi guys, I know I just got here, I'll be back. So I was flown back, we filmed it, and of course, locations, movie magic, it couldn't be in the exact same spot, but.

Shayla Tharp (27:53.4)
no.

Shayla Tharp (28:00.608)
That's NBC money right there.

Shayla Tharp (28:10.629)
That gives me a heart attack

Allison Siko (28:20.822)
I got to see Chris and Mariska again and they were like, hey kid, how you doing? How's England? And then they started telling me about like, yeah, I was at a wedding in England and it was in a beautiful castle and there being their amazing fricking frack like besties -ness and I just was like, I love you guys. So we did the scene and then it also happened to be around my mother's birthday. So I was like, hey, could you make the flight the day after my mom's birthday so I can fit? And they were like, yeah, sure, whatever.

Shayla Tharp (28:29.314)
they're off.

Allison Siko (28:47.894)
we don't care when we ship you back, we just needed you here for this particular film day. So it happened to work out that like unexpectedly I was able to not only re -film what we needed to re -film, but also be there surprised for my mom's birthday, then go back to school, get all my work in. And it was just, it's those things of like, it all can work out. And like you said, it must've been stressful. It was, but you also can figure out a way to make it work. And we did, and it was wonderful.

Shayla Tharp (28:48.233)
my god.

Shayla Tharp (29:02.921)
Wow.

Shayla Tharp (29:14.572)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (29:17.608)
And then when I got back, they were like, when's your program over? I said, I think it's around this date. And they're like, okay, good, because when you land, come to the sound stages. We're like doing another thing. And so I landed and shot some stuff again and things kept moving. And then unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it, it came to be that as I was graduating, that's when Christopher Maloney left the show.

Shayla Tharp (29:43.81)
Mm.

Allison Siko (29:44.748)
So this lovely thing that had always been in the background and seriously helped pay for school, helped pay for books, helped pay for things, that dried up because you're not going to have kids come on a show when the father's not there. Although all of my friends and family were like, you can, you totally can, they should still write you in. And I'm like, I have zero power here. So that's up to NBC and Dick Wolf and the amazing people in charge.

Shayla Tharp (30:04.418)
I would, yeah.

Shayla Tharp (30:09.036)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (30:14.238)
And then, so I graduated from school and it was kind of like this weird reset of, I am now the adult. I need to learn the business side. My mother is no longer going to be coming with me on auditions. That's not a thing. You only need that when you're meeting your guardian and you're a minor. I am no longer a minor. So navigating and kind of relearning how the industry works. And also the industry looked very different than when I had started because

Shayla Tharp (30:31.958)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (30:42.944)
We had had the writer strike and like the idea of streaming was just starting. And so it was once again of like, okay, work side jobs, try to figure out how this is going to work. And, know, it was very lovely. People would sometimes stop me on the street because reruns run constantly and they'd be like, Hey, how you doing? I'm like, I'm just going to the laundromat. I got to do laundry today. And they're like, tell your fake dad, I say hi. And I'm like, I haven't seen him in a couple of years, but sure. so yeah. And then.

Shayla Tharp (30:46.475)
Alright.

Shayla Tharp (31:04.822)
doing so great.

Shayla Tharp (31:09.782)
Hahaha

Allison Siko (31:12.566)
things just yeah sorry I talk forever please cut me off whatever

Shayla Tharp (31:12.62)
have a question. When you... No, no, no. I want to know in England, what were you, what school? Because I went to England as well and performed at the Shakespeare Globe and all that stuff. So I thought that was wonderful, a blast. Did you enjoy doing that?

Allison Siko (31:25.218)
Yeah.

It's so amazing. mean, for college, I went to Rutgers University, Mason Grove School of the Arts for my BFA in acting. they had, and I believe they still have, I know things have shifted in programming, but we had a kind of bridge partnership with Shakespeare's Globe that your first two years of training, you would learn the Meisner techniques and from Meisner technique.

Shayla Tharp (31:47.85)
nice.

Shayla Tharp (31:53.346)
Mm.

Allison Siko (31:54.258)
on campus in New Brunswick on American soil, learning the American technique. And then your third year, your junior year, we got shipped over to England to work with the amazing people at Shakespeare's Globe, like Patrick Spotty's would and a Glenn McDonald. I love her so much. Teaching us how the Brits do things and how it, once again, it's similar but different. So how can you add that to your toolbox of what you want to use and

Shayla Tharp (32:03.084)
That's cool.

Shayla Tharp (32:22.892)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (32:23.264)
We were actually there one of the last years that England allowed you to be there for like nine months on a student visa. Now it's something where you can only be for a semester and it's a little bit shorter, but we were there almost the full year and it was once again, life changing, amazing. I can't wait to go back. And yeah, we got to perform on the Globe stage and it was very cold because we were a little out of season. So it was just like, you put all the layers on, you're like.

Shayla Tharp (32:29.74)
Hello?

Shayla Tharp (32:39.457)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (32:46.632)
Me too, yeah!

Shayla Tharp (32:51.048)
Yes, it was cold. It was cold.

Allison Siko (32:51.262)
Out, out, down, spot, or whatever. Yeah, it's very cold. But it's worth it. It's worth it because that was the beautiful thing. I kept asking Glyn, I was like, how do I get back here? How do I audition? And she was like, darling, we'll have to find you a good bloke. And I was like, a good bloke? And she was like, yes, you need a circular visa. And I was like, what's a circular visa? And she was like, a wedding ring, darling, a circular visa. That's the easiest way to get back here. And I went,

Shayla Tharp (33:02.272)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (33:08.241)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (33:12.439)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (33:20.917)
It is.

Allison Siko (33:20.946)
She was then telling me about how they were in the middle of doing a production of Romeo and Juliet and they were having such a hard time bringing this one actor in from New Zealand who had just been like at the Oscars because he was part of that beautiful movie Whale Rider that had been out that year and they were having issues with home office trying to get him allowed to come back in. was like, okay, so got to figure out different things and I'm still looking into it to be honest, especially the way that

Shayla Tharp (33:36.108)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (33:43.645)
It's hard, I mean...

Shayla Tharp (33:49.098)
I just lived there for the last four years and yeah, I know I was so wonderful. But I mean, I lived there for four years, got my masters there, did the Shakespeare Globe. I was on the West End performing. I worked, paid taxes. And this year they were like, we're not giving you your next visa. I applied for it, for the talent visa. I'm literally on the West End. I was like, what else do you want from me?

Allison Siko (33:52.074)
Allison Siko (33:59.19)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Allison Siko (34:05.782)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (34:09.974)
Yeah, goodbye.

Allison Siko (34:17.794)
What more do you need? Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (34:19.626)
I, what? So I had to come back here to the Midwest, which is why I started the podcast. Cause I was like, what am I supposed to do with myself? yeah, but now I'm going back to LA, but it was a whole thing. England, amazing, highly recommend it, but they don't want it's there.

Allison Siko (34:27.389)
Mm -hmm, mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (34:37.014)
Well, and that's the thing to get a little political of it's annoying that like, you wanted to be there, you were working and everything. But then there's a lot of folks who come here and are able to work and get the visas and get, and like, I'm so happy for it. It does make some of the work better. Like my roommate, she's from Canada. She was able to get a green card. was so excited for her and she was able to do all this amazing work. But it's like, okay, can we have an equal exchange of like, if,

Shayla Tharp (34:56.863)
Mm

Shayla Tharp (35:00.642)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (35:06.306)
A lot of folks from England are going to come over here to do work. Can we please go back there and help out? like, especially when they're doing things with American accents, it's like, we have authentic American accents. Please, Pyro. So that's

Shayla Tharp (35:11.372)
Can we?

Shayla Tharp (35:20.394)
Yeah. Well, that was the thing is I constantly was getting called in for the American roles because I was like one of the few Americans. And so it was like,

Allison Siko (35:27.71)
Mm hmm. Yeah, it's a sweet spot. And so there's hopefully going to be change like with the stripes we were saying with the strikes, it was we needed the change within the industry here proper. But then I do think globally, we need some some more change of having where, you know, it's a worldwide industry. So let's have a little bit more worldwide cooperation of where, like, I have some friends because they're dual passport, they that is the golden ticket, they literally can work anywhere.

Shayla Tharp (35:42.698)
I agree.

Shayla Tharp (35:50.273)
Yes.

Shayla Tharp (35:56.887)
Nellis.

Allison Siko (35:57.206)
Whereas if you are only one passport or you are only one citizenship, it kind of hampers where you can find the work. And especially in the creative fields, we are nomadic people. Like we go where the work is. So if all of a sudden doors are shut in your face and you're just trying to make a living, that's a little annoying. Whereas I do understand where they're coming from. They're like, we want to help our citizens get the jobs first. And then if there's space, sure, you can come in. But like, maybe there's a bound.

Shayla Tharp (36:09.803)
Yes.

Shayla Tharp (36:21.142)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (36:26.188)
there's some new balance to be found because I want to go back, but I want to like I want to work. I want to go back and work and pay taxes and you know, their their health care might be lovely to enjoy.

Shayla Tharp (36:26.593)
Yeah.

I do too.

Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (36:39.872)
That was like the one thing I didn't enjoy, but like, maybe it'll get better. You know?

Allison Siko (36:43.234)
okay. Hey, you know, I just am saying that as somebody who I'm about to lose my insurance through SAG. So I'm like trying to navigate all those things. So we shall see.

Shayla Tharp (36:48.608)
I mean, I enjoyed the freeness.

Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (36:56.264)
I'm, I just, yeah, it's all a mess and we'll just go later. We'll be roommates. We'll figure it out. It's fine. Positivity. And then we'll go together. Fabulous. The other question I had exactly. The other question I had was you said that the plot line kind of of your episode, one of your episodes was bipolar.

Allison Siko (37:03.226)
Exactly! It'll be great. Good. See, that's why you needed to come back to do the podcast so that we could chat. This is the roommate interview and we'll go together. It's Whatever's meant to be is meant to be.

Allison Siko (37:25.026)
you

Shayla Tharp (37:25.238)
Did you, have you ever struggled with mental illness yourself? Like, did you have to do some research on what bipolar was? How did you kind of get into that?

Allison Siko (37:33.98)
Yeah, like I said, that was an episode that came about while I was studying in college and going to Rutgers University. You did your conservatory training while being you also were required to take general education courses. And I figured what's the closest to acting psychology because that's basically the more scientific version of looking at human behavior versus our artistic interpretation.

Shayla Tharp (37:54.092)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (38:02.26)
And so I was already in classes for abnormal psych and learning about different mental health issues and.

I was excited and thought like, great, this is something I'm already kind of learning about. But I'm also a big old nerd and I love research. And so I went on a deep dive because I also realized if this is going to be on national television, there are going to be people who actually are dealing with this or who have family members or friends who are dealing with this. And I don't want it to be a caricature. Like this needs to be real. This needs to feel like.

Shayla Tharp (38:26.721)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (38:35.724)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (38:42.548)
They either see themselves, they see their kid, they see their aunt, they see their uncle, they see the truth of what it is to be battling this. And so I went to the library, I rented a documentary that Stephen Fry had made that I found really informative. I also went through my abnormal psych textbook and was reading that vividly. And then just watching interviews with like

Shayla Tharp (38:54.316)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (39:01.482)
lovely.

Allison Siko (39:10.988)
Carrie Fisher and other famous folks who were open about their diagnoses and just realizing, yeah, it's like any character who has in the mind, spirit world, we call it an impediment of like, you're dealing with the circumstances of the situation and then you have this other layer added on top of like, that's gonna color everything. And so I wanted to do as much research as possible.

Shayla Tharp (39:25.078)
Mm

Shayla Tharp (39:36.108)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (39:39.636)
And then also while doing this research, was realizing, yeah, I'm not bipolar, this whole depression thing. Those things are sounding familiar. guess, like, right. I guess I had dealt with some of this. I just never realized. Because growing up, going to therapy and the therapy speak, like I said, that we're hearing all the time on TikTok, I hadn't been exposed to. But through the years, I've realized I've suffered some depression.

Shayla Tharp (39:47.266)
Striking a cord.

Allison Siko (40:08.746)
I've definitely suffered from anxiety and, I think it's more of a, to be a human in the world as it currently is. It's very normal to have those reactions to what's going on. so I don't, I don't see it as a quote unquote bad thing. see it as a, my body's doing what it's supposed to do. It's trying to protect me. And so, Jim Carey has a beautiful quote that I, I really love that he's like depression.

Shayla Tharp (40:18.274)
Mm

Shayla Tharp (40:22.036)
Yes. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (40:31.137)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (40:38.728)
is not so much you're sad. Being sad is because of the circumstances of what are happening around you. Depression is your body saying, I'm tired of trying to be this character that you want me to be and I don't want to be it anymore. It's deep depression, deep rest. You need to come and just try living a little more authentically.

Shayla Tharp (40:53.633)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (41:06.338)
That's something I really grabbed onto and has helped a lot. then anxiety is once again, it's, and it's beautiful that we're able to explore it more in storytelling. just saw Inside Out 2 not too long ago and they were featuring the character Anxiety. And I love that scene where she's running around the console, running around and running around that it looks like a tornado. And then Joy steps through the tornado to see that she's actually frozen over the console, can't do anything because all the thoughts are coming in.

Shayla Tharp (41:17.527)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (41:36.138)
and with anxiety it paralyzes you. But the whole point of anxiety is trying to protect you, is trying to help you. So learning more about these common common ailments and figuring out new pathways of how to exist has definitely been an interesting time, but I think it's very beneficial to know that, okay, what we've evolved into, my body is doing what.

it's quote unquote supposed to be doing. just live in some crazy times and especially with, you you open a screen on your phone that's been in your pocket all day and you're seeing atrocities or you're seeing people being cruel to each other and for what it feels like no reason, they might feel like their reasons are valid, but you know, it's just, it's a lot. And so trying to be gentle with myself, trying to realize that this is normal. This is common.

Shayla Tharp (42:07.382)
Yeah. Yeah.

Allison Siko (42:35.08)
I'm definitely not alone in this. been interesting, but it's definitely something that, once again, I think will color and has colored all of the work that I do with a greater depth of understanding and a greater depth of appreciation because it's very rare that you're going to be playing a human that's quote unquote perfect because nobody's perfect. And even the superheroes, there's all those superhero movies.

Shayla Tharp (42:58.789)
yeah.

Allison Siko (43:03.464)
every single superhero has their flaws and this is just a beautiful, if you want to call it a flaw, call it like an extra little colouring to my character. Yeah, little spices! Yeah, neuro -spicy, it's great. So it's been challenging at times but there's always that thing of this two -cell pass and I'll figure it out.

Shayla Tharp (43:15.062)
Little spiciness. Little spiciness. huh.

Shayla Tharp (43:24.279)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (43:29.12)
Yes. Yes. And I love Jim Carrey. I think if he were to start a religion, I would be a part of it. Yeah, just, he, everything he says is like just a golden nugget. And I'm like, my God, you are beyond us. You are just in another realm of knowledge.

Allison Siko (43:37.728)
And I would join you because I love that man. I love that man so much.

Allison Siko (43:49.494)
But that's that thing of like, he, if you actually look into what he's been through, he's been to the depths of hell and back.

Shayla Tharp (43:55.51)
Did you watch the documentary that Andy and I or whatever one is him, they just do a full documentary of when he played Andy Kaufman? my God, go watch it. It was unbelievable. And I was just like, this man is just, just so beyond us. He's just so beyond us. I can't even comprehend. It was so eye -opening to see him.

Allison Siko (44:05.322)
No, I need to check that out.

Allison Siko (44:17.257)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (44:22.238)
like that. He went like full method for it as well. So it was very, I'm not a method person myself, but like I can see a little sprinkle of it, you know, like I don't mind like a little sprinkle, but no, he went full method and it was very interesting to see.

Allison Siko (44:28.684)
So.

Allison Siko (44:32.034)
Yeah.

If it's working, yeah. Yeah, he's one of the, I feel like one of the figures of celebrity who helped raise me. Like I'm very much inspired by Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, especially cause when you're a kid, or at least when I was a kid, I didn't fully grasp onto the concept of gender of like boys do this and girls do that. It was very much like, no, they're doing the thing I want to do and they're making people laugh. I want to do that. That's amazing.

Shayla Tharp (44:43.403)
yeah.

Shayla Tharp (44:47.531)
-huh.

Shayla Tharp (44:57.718)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (45:02.507)
Yes.

Allison Siko (45:04.236)
So I very much looked up to them and wanted to model a lot of my stuff.

Shayla Tharp (45:08.012)
What's it like to have Chris Meloni as a fake dad? Is he funny?

Allison Siko (45:12.042)
Well, he's another one who has helped raise me as strange as it sounds. You know, he's kind of like the theatrical uncle I see on like holidays. Like I don't see him a lot, but whenever I do, it's meaningful and wonderful. And he's been kind of a coach over the years of completely not.

Shayla Tharp (45:15.594)
Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

Shayla Tharp (45:24.281)
Ha ha ha!

Allison Siko (45:39.22)
in his job description. He does not have to do this whatsoever. But there have been many times over the years where he'll just lean in and it'll be like, hey, see how like you moved your arm that way? I know you do a lot of theater things and on stage that would work, but for the camera, try this because camera is more about the picture. And so like this might create a more interesting picture if you move your arm this way rather than that. And I'm like, these are things I never would have thought of or.

Shayla Tharp (46:03.709)
Wow.

Shayla Tharp (46:07.381)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (46:07.734)
things that aren't necessarily taught in theater school or drama school. And then just other things of watching him be the number one on the call sheet and how he commands the space and how he, when he believes that something isn't right, he goes, no, no, we need to fix this before we move on. And, you know, everybody has good days and bad days. And so I've seen the gambit, but it's the beautiful thing of he...

Shayla Tharp (46:16.758)
Mm

Allison Siko (46:34.012)
He so beautifully believes in what he's making. He's kind of like the king of authenticity. His bullshit meter, excuse my French if you can believe that out, his BS meter is one of the most acute I have ever seen of where he knows when a moment is not working. He knows when something is trying to be like just a corner's cut. And he's like, no, let's do this right. And you could think for after years of being on a police procedural,

Shayla Tharp (46:44.332)
That's fine.

Allison Siko (47:03.638)
that you'd be like, yeah, just going through the motions, doing it. And it's like, no, this man is a craftsman. He knows what he's doing. And to just be in the same space as that, to watch that as a master class, but then whenever interacting with him and having scenes with him, he's such a generous and wonderful scene partner because he very much will, like I said, if he knows a moment's not working.

Shayla Tharp (47:06.22)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (47:31.656)
I always used to think of it as like once they yell action, okay, that's the performance. It's got to be perfect. And they're going to yell cut and then you can kind of relax. And he's just like, no, the camera's going to keep going. We're going to, I'm going to give you a line again. We're going to do this. Let's get it. Let's get it. And it's just very much of once again, not a part of his job description. He doesn't have to do that, but he cares so much that that's been instilled in me that like, even when I'm working on projects with friends, I

Shayla Tharp (47:40.129)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (48:00.768)
care so much of let's make it right, let's make it good. There's, even though it is, it's a joke I say, but it is very true of he's got one of the best asses in Hollywood, everybody loves his ass, but they should because he half asses nothing. Everything that man does is full ass. It's full ass and it better be right because he will make sure and it's been.

Shayla Tharp (48:21.086)
It's full ass.

Shayla Tharp (48:26.891)
Ugh.

Allison Siko (48:29.846)
so amazing to be under his tutelage. And then also just the normal stuff of I'd come in as a teenager and be like, what grade are you in now? you're going to prom? Who's taking you to prom? And like, yeah, it's just very playful and very fun. And he's beautiful human. And it's been wonderful to grow up with that around me. especially when they're...

Shayla Tharp (48:42.005)
Hahaha!

Allison Siko (48:56.19)
As we have been discovering, there's a lot of men in the industry who have not been so kind, especially to younger women. He is one of the gems and I always wish him the best. And I'm so happy that I've been able to reconnect and rework with him recently. And I hope we do much more.

Shayla Tharp (49:15.052)
Yeah, hopefully they write you in some more. I mean, I don't know if there's a new season or what, but get you in there.

Allison Siko (49:20.32)
Yeah, like I said, are cooking. They're writing new things. I hope Kathleen gets to come on in and do some more, because acting is doing.

Shayla Tharp (49:24.256)
Alright!

Shayla Tharp (49:29.42)
shine.

Shayla Tharp (49:33.396)
Yes. Well, I would love to ask you some rapid fire questions. I always say rapid fire, but genuinely, I end up, we always end up talking forever. So.

Allison Siko (49:37.77)
Mmm!

Allison Siko (49:43.17)
And please, like I said, cut me off. I will ramble. That's just what I do.

Shayla Tharp (49:47.926)
No, it's fine. What is something people get wrong about you?

Shayla Tharp (49:57.119)
I love this New York siren we have, this authentic New York siren.

Allison Siko (49:57.314)
I mean, it's a.

Allison Siko (50:01.256)
Yeah, I live in a trifecta of sirens. I'm by a hospital, a police station, and a fire station, so apologies, but I'm very safe. Very, very safe. I mean, it's a silly little thing, but I have two L's in my name, and a lot of people like to write it with one L, so that's something they get wrong. I'm like, all is on two L's. All is on, or just the standard one ever since I

Shayla Tharp (50:07.285)
dang! But you're safe.

Shayla Tharp (50:22.817)
fail.

I'm all.

Allison Siko (50:30.784)
child, my last name is pronounced psycho. It's not sicko or seeko or I actually had a gym teacher one time who I don't know why, but they refused to call me anything other than Cisco. And I was like, I did not write the thong song, but thank you. That is that is not me. So probably probably the biggest thing people get wrong about me is name pronunciation and spelling. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (50:44.364)
No.

Shayla Tharp (50:54.006)
name.

I feel that. What is your guilty pleasure TV show?

Allison Siko (51:02.304)
I love cooking shows. I love cooking competition shows like Great British Bake Off. It's just so warm and cozy. I love that but I also I'm a big historical romance nerd so like give me every adaptation of any kind of Jane Austen anything BBC everybody is just like stuffy of I cannot love you but I'm out.

Shayla Tharp (51:04.31)
Do ya?

Shayla Tharp (51:08.798)
yes.

Shayla Tharp (51:17.526)
Really?

Shayla Tharp (51:21.974)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (51:26.429)
Mm -hmm, period.

Shayla Tharp (51:30.998)
Very Victorian. Yes.

Allison Siko (51:31.026)
at a glance. like, it's just, it just leaves me all warm and fuzzy inside. And no matter what I'm going through, I know I can pop on like, Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadden just may bring me joy.

Shayla Tharp (51:42.217)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (51:45.748)
Yeah, good period piece. I love those. What was your favorite childhood movie?

Allison Siko (51:48.428)
Yep.

Allison Siko (51:52.292)
that's right. this is hard because I had like a, I had like a revolving carousel of things that like I would watch them almost in cyclical repeat. Okay, I can tell you the carousel because that's a little easier. Like I said, I was a Disney kid. So Beauty and the Beast was my film. I was Belle and I would dress up in her little dress and I love books and everything. So Beauty and the Beast to start.

Shayla Tharp (51:56.084)
I know, I can't pick favorites.

Shayla Tharp (52:04.638)
What was in the carousel?

Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (52:14.688)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (52:21.868)
But then I was also very much on the old movie musical bandwagon and always wanted to do that. So I would constantly watch My Fair Lady, Meet Me in St. Louis, Funny Girl, really attached hard to that one. That one I would watch over and over, even though it probably wasn't fully appropriate for like a three or four year old, but like would watch it constantly. I had the VHS tape of Into the Woods on Broadway, like wore that thing out.

Shayla Tharp (52:26.432)
Yeah!

Shayla Tharp (52:43.895)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (52:47.394)
my god.

Allison Siko (52:50.848)
watched that constantly. And then there was also a VHS tape I had of, think it was filmed for television, but it was Mary Martin in Peter Pan. And it was like from the 1960s or something. And that one, I just loved. Just all of these amazing women really owning their screen time. And I would sing along with them. I would dance along with them. And...

Shayla Tharp (53:01.834)
Yes. -huh.

Shayla Tharp (53:13.324)
Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (53:19.35)
That was kind of my on repeat. And then, you know, as things were coming out, of course, Little Mermaid, Ariel, she'd get in there and Aladdin would get in there and Lion King would get in there. But it was pretty much old movie musicals on repeat of just drifting away to these other times and these other strong women in beautiful gowns and usually some sort of love story. I am a

Shayla Tharp (53:27.007)
yes.

Shayla Tharp (53:44.776)
yeah.

Allison Siko (53:48.788)
I am a sucker for a good romance.

Shayla Tharp (53:51.145)
I love that. I was a Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, you know. Yeah.

Allison Siko (53:55.01)
Okay, and those are the other two that I completely forgot that were also in the bandwagon that would go along and along. But yeah, yeah, yeah. I think she raised a lot of us. Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury, like those were the women. Those were the women. And then, I mean, I didn't watch her until later, but Betty White is one of my like, patron sage Betty White. I look up to her very, very much. But I didn't, this was the thing of like,

Shayla Tharp (54:00.716)
Julie Andrews just raised me, forget my mom. Forget her. I think so. God yeah. Bed, knobs, and broomsticks.

Shayla Tharp (54:19.292)
Mm -hmm. You watch the Mary Tyler Moore Show?

I spread good.

Allison Siko (54:24.434)
I didn't see her in her things. Like I need to watch Mary Tyler Moore's show and I'm gonna get skewered for this, but like I need to watch Golden Girls. I need to watch all these things. I know, I know. Okay, this is fine. My friends, when they watch this, they're gonna be like, now the truth is coming out. My TBR, like to read list and my to watch list, so long.

Shayla Tharp (54:34.25)
I gotta go. That's me off.

Shayla Tharp (54:41.386)
Yeah. you got her.

Shayla Tharp (54:50.134)
Me too.

Allison Siko (54:51.148)
but it's because I'm constantly rewatching all of these movie musicals and period pieces where I just want to feel all warm and cozy.

Shayla Tharp (54:53.922)
I love you too.

Shayla Tharp (54:59.298)
Yeah, that's what Golden Girls is for me. I just have it on the background 24 -7. It's just playing. It's just playing.

Allison Siko (55:04.522)
Okay, I gotta do that. I gotta do that, because I've heard others say the same, and those women are amazing.

Shayla Tharp (55:08.162)
It's just so comforting. Yeah, it's so comfy and cozy and just so funny. All the episodes are like 20 minutes. You know, you're just like, yeah, yeah. It's classic sitcom vibes. Mm -hmm.

Allison Siko (55:17.547)
even better. Yes, a good fashion, old fashioned comedy sitcom. Love that. Okay. I will, I will, that's going to go higher on the list now.

Shayla Tharp (55:27.19)
Good, good. What was your last Google search? I always like finding this out.

Allison Siko (55:34.664)
actually don't know, let me see.

Shayla Tharp (55:37.184)
I find some deep dark secrets from people this way.

Allison Siko (55:39.422)
Right, yeah.

I guess I can talk about this. I had an audition for, I believe, T -Mobile. So I googled T -Mobile uniforms because I was like, I obviously don't have a uniform, but let me try to skew what I'm going to wear for the audition to be similar enough so that they don't have to use their imagination too hard to see what I would look like in said uniform.

Shayla Tharp (55:52.022)
Okay.

Shayla Tharp (55:55.85)
Okay.

Shayla Tharp (56:02.486)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (56:09.268)
Yes.

Always gotta help him out.

Allison Siko (56:12.374)
That's my... Exactly, that's the thing of like, you want to be yourself and you don't want to wear a costume. But if you can make their life easier, like that's honestly what all of job interviewing is about, of if you can show whoever is offering a job that by hiring you, you can make their life easier. That's the name of the game.

Shayla Tharp (56:18.604)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (56:35.606)
That's the goal. What is your go -to karaoke song?

Allison Siko (56:40.262)
I do love me some karaoke and it vacillates depending on the crowd I'm with. It'll either be Respect by Aretha Franklin or You and I by Lady Gaga. Like that one I really love. It just is longer. So like if I see that the room is kind of crowded, it's it's crowd dependent. like if the crowd like

Shayla Tharp (56:50.07)
Yes.

Shayla Tharp (57:03.638)
That is very crowd dependent, yes.

Allison Siko (57:08.348)
lots of people are waiting to sing and the line is kind of long or the queue is very long. Respect is an easy one. Everybody loves singing along with it. It's fun and I can scroll to my face off. But if I can tell that the movie is a little slower and I love the middle of you and I where like you're getting crowd interaction, that's just a fun one to also feel quasi Broadway -ish country the way that Gaga is like kind of all genres mixed into her voice.

Shayla Tharp (57:11.842)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (57:16.331)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (57:27.507)
Mm. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (57:34.728)
Yes.

Mm -hmm. She just...

Allison Siko (57:38.304)
Those are great. And then, you know, you can't go wrong, especially if you're a group, throwing out some Spice Girls. Spice Girls. Any of the Spice Girls. That's just group fun, especially when you all get up and you do the dancing with it.

Shayla Tharp (57:44.862)
Of course.

Shayla Tharp (57:51.882)
Yep, yep, I'm usually a Shania Twain person myself. You know, it's just deep. That dude. I'll see what you did in there. Yeah, no, that one gets it. That gets the people going. That's what you want. And since your episode is going to come out near Halloween, what are you going to be for Halloween?

Allison Siko (57:55.848)
Yeah, that do impress me very much. job. Mm hmm. Yep.

Allison Siko (58:06.934)
that will wake everybody up.

Allison Siko (58:16.584)
Ooh, that's right, spooky season.

Shayla Tharp (58:19.606)
Does New York go all out for Halloween? What's New York do?

Allison Siko (58:22.214)
it's either the thing of people are walking around as if it's another day because lots of New Yorkers dress all in black anyway. And then also just being a part of the entertainment community, holidays are when a lot of the entertainment community is working because shows are still very much going on, performances are happening. So there have been a lot of holidays and I'm just like, wait, we're having a holiday, what's going on?

Shayla Tharp (58:39.702)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (58:49.387)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (58:49.986)
To me it's a normal Tuesday. I do normally, speaking of karaoke, there's a friend of mine whose birthday is near Halloween, so for past couple years they've been holding a karaoke Halloween birthday party -ish a few days early. So like in the past I went as Keely, Keely from Ted Lasso. I did that, that was very fun. Very fun to be Keely. You're quite fit, innit?

Shayla Tharp (58:59.137)
Ooh.

Shayla Tharp (59:03.472)
Aww, fun.

Shayla Tharp (59:12.938)
yes! What fit? Well fit. Well fit!

Allison Siko (59:20.224)
Well fit, well fit, well fit, yeah. But, who am I gonna pick this year? I don't know. Like I said, the holiday season, guess, is right around the corner, but it's kind of sneaking up on me. Usually when it comes to Halloween, because it used to be my all out favorite when it was just like, I'm not allowed to wear a costume any other day but this day. But now that I feel like I'm.

Shayla Tharp (59:27.008)
I don't really have anything for this year yet either.

Shayla Tharp (59:45.188)
-huh.

Allison Siko (59:46.946)
putting on different costumes every day for auditions or self tapes or whatever, I don't think of it as much. But most likely I will want to do something that is a little bit sexy, cause why not? but also very much on comfort. Comfort is key. So probably something, I haven't seen anything of Agatha after all, or Agatha the new show.

Shayla Tharp (59:59.212)
Hmm.

Shayla Tharp (01:00:03.476)
Yes. -huh.

Shayla Tharp (01:00:14.218)
yes, yeah, I get the all of - I can't remember what it's called. I get the - no, that's gonna bother me. All the way? All along?

Allison Siko (01:00:22.046)
Agatha all along, I think. Agatha, we'll just call it Agatha. I haven't watched Agatha yet, but because it's a bunch of badass women who are in the cast and witchy attire is always great, that could be something fun. And especially like I say, funds are a little tight. So something I can go thrift or compile from what I already own is usually what I do. And then I'll amplify it with some makeup look or some hair.

Shayla Tharp (01:00:27.99)
be good.

Shayla Tharp (01:00:36.567)
Yeah.

Yes.

Shayla Tharp (01:00:46.433)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (01:00:51.436)
So yeah, that could be fun. But then, you know, if I was gonna like just go to the local Halloween, Spirit Halloween and scrap package of something, it is very fun to do one of those legs avenue. I've not done it yet, but like, you know, the legs. I'm basically a princess, just with really short skirt and like kind of like the women in Mean Girls who are like I'm a Mouse, duh.

Shayla Tharp (01:01:08.405)
Yes.

Shayla Tharp (01:01:18.177)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (01:01:18.914)
Like that could be super fun. But I think that's more like if you're going to a house party or part of a couple, like I'm re -entering the dating scene. So maybe a couple costume, I don't know. Like I've always found like that's something I want to do. I want to do a couple's costume with somebody. I just need to find the somebody. So yeah, so.

Shayla Tharp (01:01:23.282)
Yeah. I haven't done that in about ten years. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (01:01:32.016)
Uhhhh

Shayla Tharp (01:01:39.511)
Mm

Shayla Tharp (01:01:43.692)
Fair enough. Right there with you.

Allison Siko (01:01:46.826)
As long as it's cute and comfortable, that's what I'm going to do. yeah, probably something a little spooky, a little darker because I am a little more bubbly and bright during rest of the year. So it's fun to bring out the dark side. Thank you.

Shayla Tharp (01:01:51.82)
and you'll rock it.

Shayla Tharp (01:01:59.934)
Yes. Yes, I'm all in support. What is one thing you're great at?

Allison Siko (01:02:08.65)
One thing I'm great at.

Allison Siko (01:02:15.305)
I... Mmm!

I mean, my brain initially, it's like overloading with ideas, but I like communication. guess, I don't know how else to say it. Of course, saying I'm great with communication and I can't say what I need. JK, lol. But the thing of like, I love talking to people. I love, like if somebody's starting to interact with me in a grocery store line or a kid's coming up to me in a park or even a dog, like.

Shayla Tharp (01:02:29.536)
I like that. And then have...

Allison Siko (01:02:49.142)
just kind of comes on over. I love being open to experience of like, hi, how are you? And like, that is a cool blue truck or like, you know, just something of, I enjoy the human experience. I enjoy communicating with people. I enjoy listening to people's stories of like, that is something that's always happened to me and it's happened to my mom too. We kind of have this thing where people just start talking to us and they'll start telling things that

Shayla Tharp (01:02:59.989)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (01:03:15.33)
Wow.

Allison Siko (01:03:18.536)
maybe wouldn't necessarily tell a stranger, but I guess we're just really great at listening and then being there for folks. So I love, I love the, like little kids and animals, they're always open. So I love interacting with that. So yeah, I guess I'm great with communicating. Even if I can't find the word.

Shayla Tharp (01:03:32.246)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (01:03:37.334)
That was beautiful. That was beautiful. That was so nice. I was not expecting such an eloquent answer. Yes, most people usually are like, I'm good at video games. Which is great. That is a skill. That is a skill.

Allison Siko (01:03:49.41)
Thank you for thinking it was eloquent.

Allison Siko (01:03:55.738)
that kind of stuff, sure. That is a very much a skill. I like watching other people play video games because I can't always get the controllers to work in my favor, but yeah.

Shayla Tharp (01:04:02.976)
I do too.

Fair enough. What's one thing you're exceptionally bad at?

Allison Siko (01:04:16.886)
Something I've been working on my entire life and I will possibly always be working on it is time management. Like the only time I got detention was in high school from my choir teacher because I was consistently late to class and his class was the first class of the day and he was like, Al, I'm sorry, but you know, I gotta do this. So, so yeah.

Shayla Tharp (01:04:38.805)
Shayla Tharp (01:04:42.358)
Dang. Is it because you're just like so in... I tend to see that people that are late for things, if it's either they don't care and they just suck, but a lot of the time it's just like you're so in the moment of wherever you are at that moment. You're living in that moment so hard that it's hard for you to come to a different moment.

Allison Siko (01:05:06.402)
I will take option two, shayla Yeah, it's never because I don't care. Usually it's because I care too much. And so I'm trying to make sure I either look really good or I'll be right out the door when I'm like on time leaving. And then I go, no, wait, I needed to bring them that thing or I wanted to bring this card or what was that thing I was supposed to...

Shayla Tharp (01:05:08.601)
Hahaha!

Shayla Tharp (01:05:16.726)
Yes.

Allison Siko (01:05:34.304)
and then trying to go find it or trying to put it in my bag or doing the double check of do I have everything? Because a lot of times when I leave for the day for my apartment, I'm out for like the whole day. So everything's gotta be with me. So yeah, I've gotten better at it. But it's always a thing of, it's a challenge. It's not something that comes super easy to me for showing up to a film set.

Shayla Tharp (01:05:36.513)
Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (01:05:44.0)
The whole day.

Shayla Tharp (01:05:56.362)
You

Allison Siko (01:06:03.15)
or like to a job. Anytime it's a job involved, I will like grind extra hard to be on time or slightly early if I can even be it. And especially dealing with transit in the city where there is stuff that is out of my control. So I do need to leave like buffer windows or like make sure I'm catching a train at a particular time. I've gotten better with that. But it's usually when I'm meeting up with friends.

Shayla Tharp (01:06:11.714)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (01:06:19.125)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (01:06:31.458)
And it's that thing of like, I'm getting ready to leave, everything's ready to go. I'm about to lock my door and I go, I forgot that thing. Or I forgot, it's because I care, it's because I care a lot. And then that will snowball. And then I'm like, I'm on my way. And they're like, she's 10 blocks away, we know this. We know my one friend, God love him, he's very sweet, but also fighting in his retorts at times.

Shayla Tharp (01:06:37.462)
Just kidding.

huh.

Shayla Tharp (01:06:49.218)
We know, she's gone.

Allison Siko (01:06:59.874)
But he'll just be like, we know you're on Allison time. You're coming. It's fine. Or they'll be like, or they'll be like, hey, so we're all going to meet at like 1 30 when actually the reservation is at two. And they tell me 1 30 and I'm just like, So we all work together. We all try to make this happen.

Shayla Tharp (01:07:04.192)
Yep, I have one of those friends.

Shayla Tharp (01:07:10.402)
But you. Yeah.

Shayla Tharp (01:07:16.479)
Yup, yup.

Exactly. And you're self -aware, so that's all that matters, you know.

Allison Siko (01:07:23.906)
I'm excruciatingly self -aware and I hate being late. I honestly hate it because I do care. I want to show up on time, but it's that thing that it's ever so elusive and I'm getting closer. Like I used to be more on the half hour late side and now I'm like, okay, about 10 minutes, cool. 20, 10 and hopefully soon it'll be like zero big tech goose egg. I will be on time. So that's what I'm.

Shayla Tharp (01:07:41.282)
Bloody.

Shayla Tharp (01:07:46.836)
Yeah! Well...

Allison Siko (01:07:52.451)
and pretty crummy about, but I'm working on it. It's constant work in progress. Thank you.

Shayla Tharp (01:07:56.16)
Yep, good job. Finally, what songs do you have on repeat lately? What is like a playlist you got going?

Allison Siko (01:08:04.135)
I actually, I'm not the biggest fan of AI and all of that jazz, but I do have to say that the algorithmic robots of Apple Music have been been doing some good stuff lately, because I'm an Apple Music gal. And I do that thing where like, wake up in the morning, and I open up Apple Music, and it has a section called like, your station, like your name is your station.

Shayla Tharp (01:08:05.75)
write them down.

Shayla Tharp (01:08:15.255)
Mm.

Shayla Tharp (01:08:21.248)
Me too.

Shayla Tharp (01:08:29.44)
Yes, that's the only thing I listen to.

Allison Siko (01:08:32.234)
Honestly, because I am such an eclectic listener of music that if I actually just put my stuff on shuffle it would be like Broadway, then jazz, then super pop. think sister? Cousin? What? sadly, yeah.

Shayla Tharp (01:08:42.026)
Are we the same person? I think we - sister?

Yeah, I'm sensing that because mine is chaotic if I have to let it just go. It's either Broadway, jazz, and then some rap, and then it's just no, we can't have that. Yeah.

Allison Siko (01:08:54.398)
Exactly.

Allison Siko (01:08:59.456)
like electro dance pop. Yeah, like it's a lot. So I let the robots do the mixing for me and I just will click that on and it starts playing my station. And it's actually got a little uncanny where like if it's later in the day, it's usually smoother things and if it's earlier in the day, it's usually brighter things. I'm like, you robots, you know what you're doing. But lately I'm a big, big fan of...

Shayla Tharp (01:09:10.262)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (01:09:19.519)
You know.

Allison Siko (01:09:26.764)
some, I guess you would call it soul pop or like pop funk. And that spans like Lawrence, Couch, Lake Street Dive. I really, really love them. They're things I have on repeat. But then if I want something a little smoother, I'm very much a fan of, been a fan for a long time of John Mayer, Nora Jones, Madeleine Peru.

Shayla Tharp (01:09:29.91)
ooooh mhm

Shayla Tharp (01:09:51.356)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Allison Siko (01:09:55.676)
And Samira Joy is just brilliant with all of her jazz standards now. She really does sound like a new Ella Fitzgerald or these like amazing just when the sound that comes out of their mouth drapes over you like a blanket and it's cozy. I love that. So, yeah, I'd have to say I'm rocking out with some Pink or Kelly Clarkson or Christina.

Shayla Tharp (01:10:05.185)
Shayla Tharp (01:10:13.516)
Mm -hmm.

Shayla Tharp (01:10:23.644)
Yeah.

Allison Siko (01:10:25.151)
or we're getting a little funky with the Lawrence Lake Street Dive couch.

Shayla Tharp (01:10:33.74)
You're not the first person to say couch, and I'd never heard that before.

Allison Siko (01:10:37.356)
And that's the thing, I didn't know who they were until the robots were like, I also like this. Yeah, so if you like Lawrence, you might also like Couch. And then there's another one. It's eluding me right now, but it's pretty much of once I had like inputted all my music and I started that station would play and if I liked something, I made sure to favorite it. Once I interacted enough, robots have been pretty good at giving me like next on the docket, try this.

Shayla Tharp (01:10:41.372)
Ouch.

Shayla Tharp (01:10:45.535)
Okay.

Shayla Tharp (01:11:00.065)
Mm

Shayla Tharp (01:11:04.78)
They got it. Yeah.

Allison Siko (01:11:07.038)
And more often than not, I'm like, yeah, that's great. Well done, robot. Go you.

Shayla Tharp (01:11:10.699)
Well done. Well, thank you. That was it. You survived. You've done did it. You've done did it. I know. That's why it's so easy. I know. I know, Claire. Well, thank you so much for being here. I have enjoyed it. Come back any time because we're twinning.

Allison Siko (01:11:19.82)
my goodness! I feel like we were just talking for five minutes. This is so fun. It flew by! no! no, Claire!

Allison Siko (01:11:37.922)
Thanks so much for having me. Yes, we are twinning and I think we'll need to do a special episode when we go to London together. I'm just saying. think. Let's just put that out there. Special edition at Shakespeare's Club. We'll be good.

Shayla Tharp (01:11:39.5)
We're twins now.

Shayla Tharp (01:11:44.928)
I think so. I'm just saying. Cool. Great. They'll have us back, I'm sure. All righty. We're gonna stop. It's gonna upload maybe. Just kidding.

Allison Siko (01:11:53.249)
Of course!

Allison Siko (01:12:01.482)
Please don't be buffer wheel of death.

Allison Siko (01:12:06.674)
no. Don't do this. Don't do it. okay, now I see what it's saying.

Allison Siko (01:12:18.377)
It's Tran!

But yes, thank you for reaching out. This was so fun and always lovely to meet a fellow creative, because this tribe is very small when you really start thinking about it.

Allison Siko (01:12:44.232)
Yeah, because if this is your life, it's the, what's the word? I said I was good with communication. I forgot to say that I suck at finding words, the right word that I mean. But it's the persistence, that's the P word I was looking for. I was like, it's not perspiration, that's another quote. Persistence really, just sticking with it. That's the hardest thing for a lot of folks. And yeah, folks who wanna...

take their break or step away and pivot. I have a beautiful friend who we grew up together and we were in those audition rooms and she was part of the Beanie Baby hunting crew. And we would go out and enjoy each other's company. And she then didn't have as much of that one foot in public school, one foot in entertainment. She and her family started homeschooling. She went out to LA. She went a part of the Disney train of things.

And then it got to a point where she was like, I want real life. So now she and her husband and two boys live in Asheville, North Carolina and they own a handful of noodle shop and a homemade donut shop. like, she's still performing when she wants to, but it's on her terms now. It's not the like glamorized Hollywood version. people just, people's journeys are, are their journeys and they're that for a reason. So it's good.

Allison Siko (01:14:13.54)
It's because we're meant to talk some more and that's fine.

Allison Siko (01:14:23.063)
Yeah.

No, that's okay. Wait for me, I'm coming. hey!

Allison Siko (01:14:36.09)
my god.

Allison Siko (01:14:40.502)
Mm

Allison Siko (01:14:45.287)
One of us, one of us, one of us!

Allison Siko (01:14:54.804)
It is. The way I describe New York is that, like if you're a pencil, I I talk in metaphors a lot, but if you're a pencil, New York is the kind of place where every day it puts you in the sharpener. So like it's grinding you away, but it's making you sharper to do your job. So it's hard and it doesn't always feel super comfy, but I swear, like it's a saying, cause it's true. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

This will definitely teach you how to be self -sufficient, self -reliant, but then also find your community to lean upon. The metro system here is, we talk shit about it all the time, but really, it is the best.

Allison Siko (01:15:44.009)
yeah.

Allison Siko (01:15:48.236)
The tube is