Life wasn’t always easy for Lucy Cooper Spaulding on Guiding Light since the character was stalked by evil Brent Lawrence (AKA Marian Crane). Now, the actress who portrayed her, Sonia Satra, in order to help make life easier for others, has taken pen to paper and authored a self-help book titled What If It Were Easy. She chatted with Soap Hub about her tome for this week’s Wellness Wednesday.
Sonia Satra Writes ‘What If It Were Easy’
In 1993, Satra joined the cast of GL as Lucy Cooper, who fell in love with Alan-Michael Spaulding, eventually becoming his wife. Now, she works as a mind-body coach and motivational speaker whose mission in life is to help other people find their core purpose, overcome fear, and make their dreams a reality.
“I was always interested in mindset,” Satra tells Soap Hub. She says that it’s not uncommon for actors to land in Hollywood and assume they’re going to become a big star. Then, inevitable rejection can — and often does — set in. “I learned early on it wasn’t always the best actors who had these blazing careers,” she says. “It was the people who had the strongest minds and had the ability to persist amidst that rejection.”
Satra, who also played Barbara on One Life to Live, says that she opened her mind to learning new ways of thinking via hypnosis tapes and studying the philosophies of Tony Robbins (Awaken the Giant Within) and others. When she became pregnant with her daughter, Kaya, Satra got her coaching certification. She embraced the path of helping others and fell in love with it. “I believe everyone has their purpose,” Satra says. “Anything I can do to help them over those obstacles and get them on their pathway is exciting to me.”
How did she come up with her tome’s title — What If It Were Easy? Satra says it happened when her husband Stephen David, who runs his own TV production and development company, was thrown a curveball when he lost a big deal. The couple wondered how they would bring income in for their growing family. She says David and a pal started their own production company and began creating content, including the series Big Medicine.
Of course, success doesn’t come easy. Hard work is involved, and it doesn’t happen overnight. However, Satra says having the proper mindset is key. Take that step, and don’t be surprised to see things begin to shift.
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Life with Lucy on Guiding Light
During her stay in Springfield, Satra played opposite two of daytime’s most respected actors — Justin Deas, who played her father, Buzz Cooper, and Rick Hearst, who played her love interest, Alan-Michael Spaulding.
“[Justin] was notorious for picking you up and throwing you over [his] shoulder and giving you something [unexpected in a scene],” Satra recalls. “It was such a life lesson [as] we never know what’s coming at us. It was such a great lesson about being in the moment and being present and trusting.”
The actress calls Hearst “one of the most giving actors I’ve ever met — and positive. He’d come bouncing in [to work] every morning. He’d light up the room. He was always right there with you, wanting to make [the scene] the best and helping you be your best.”
Sonia Satra Says Lucy Was A Life Coach
Looking back, Satra sees that her life coaching began with playing the character of GL’s Lucy. “I have a client who’s a diehard soap opera fan who knows [GL] inside and out,” shares Satra, who went back and looked at some of her work in Springfield. She marveled at how Lucy offered assistance to folks long before she set out to become a self-help guru and author in real-life.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Satra says. “Lucy really was a little life coach. There were instances with Alan-Michael and Buzz where she was really kind of spewing great life-coaching advice.”
To pre-order your copy of What If It Were Easy: Using Movement & Mindset to Create Success in Life, Love, and Business, click here. You can get on Sonia Satra’s mailing list for updates by clicking here. Check out our full interview with Sonia Satra below.
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