I've Watched The ARTS for Five Years. Here's What the Internet Gets Wrong.

I have spent five years watching this program up close.

It has not been from some brochure and never from their website (even though I maintain it). It has always been from a front row seat. I have watched Kimberly Myers navigate the world of performing arts, fashion, and a business landscape that has shifted underneath all of us in ways nobody predicted. Digital marketing. AI. A pandemic that shut the lights off on an entire industry overnight.

Through all of it, The ARTS kept doing the one thing that every other business was quietly abandoning: making it personal.

We live in a world now where you can generate a headshot with an app through a simple prompt. Maybe we submit to a casting call without ever speaking to a human being. Or perhaps we build an entire brand from behind a screen and never once look someone in the eye.

The ARTS is still sitting across from people. The ARTS is still asking the question that actually matters, “What is your passion, and how can we help you get there?”

In an industry that has made it very easy to feel like a number, it is not a small thing.

What Finding the Right Agent Actually Looks Like

The dream is simple: Get discovered. Get signed. Get to work.

The road there is something else entirely.

It's full of noise, wrong turns, and programs that are more than happy to take your money – and your hope – in exchange for very little. Families doing research at 11pm trying to protect their kids. Performers pouring everything they have into a process they don't fully understand yet.

Finding the right agent isn't about blasting your headshot to every email address you can find. It's about being genuinely prepared. Being seen by the right people. Having someone in your corner who knows how to position your specific talent — your type, your energy, your story — in a way that truly matters.

The right agent finds auditions that match who you are. Agents negotiate contracts so your work is valued fairly. It offers you honest feedback that shapes the performer you're becoming. It also opens doors you simply cannot knock on alone.

One more thing the industry doesn't often say out loud: legitimate agents don't charge you a fee to represent you. They earn a commission (typically 10 to 20 percent) from the work they book for you. They only win when you win. If anyone ever presents themselves as an agent and asks for money before they've done a single thing for you, walk away. That simple.

Now — does The ARTS have a tuition cost? Yes. Absolutely. This particular question deserves a direct answer.

The ARTS is an educational program. Tuition covers real coaching, real workshops, real preparation, and real access to industry professionals who are there specifically to meet talent like you and yours. Think of it the way you'd think of acting classes, a conservatory program, or any other professional training. You invest in education because said education changes what's possible.

What The ARTS is not is a pay-to-play scheme. That phrase gets thrown around on Reddit threads and anonymous forums by people who are — in many cases — confusing this program with something else entirely, or conflating the cost of training with the kind of predatory upfront fees that bad actors in this industry charge for nothing in return. Those are not the same thing. Paying tuition for a structured program that prepares you, connects you, and walks alongside you is not a scheme. It's an investment — and one that The ARTS has been delivering on for over thirty years.

"For some people, when something is out of reach financially, it becomes easier to call it a scam than to sit with that disappointment."

Let's Talk About What You're Going to Find Online

I'm a business strategist and a digital marketer. I understand how people find information. I understand what shapes a decision, where trust gets built or broken, and how that’s shared.

So I'm not going to pretend you won't find noise when you search for The ARTS. You will. And I'd rather just talk about it directly on their behalf.

There's a TikTok video that went viral from someone who was, in my honest read of the situation, genuinely confused about which program she was even talking about. There's an old blog post from a family whose experience has very little to do with who The ARTS. In fact - their family never attended…

And then there's Reddit. Reddit is where most of the chatter lives.

Here's what I know about Reddit: anonymous voices build on each other until momentum starts to look like truth. Anyone can post. Nobody has to prove they were ever in the room. And we as humans are remarkably good at creating narratives that align with our fears, our frustrations, and sometimes our financial reality.

Does The ARTS cost money? Yes.

It's an educational program with real coaches, real industry professionals, and a genuine commitment to connecting performers with agents in their field. That is not free. For some people, when something is out of reach financially, it becomes easier to call it a scam than to sit with that disappointment.

I understand that. It doesn't make it true.

If you want to go deeper on why anonymous forums aren't a reliable measure of anything, read what we wrote about it here: Why Anonymous Forums Aren't Reliable.

Then come back and look at what verified credibility actually looks like.

4.8 stars on Google.

Twenty-one reviews and growing, from real families and real performers. The one outlier was someone who came to an audition, didn't receive a callback, and left a one-star review without ever attending the program. This is NOT a failure of The ARTS — it’s actually a reflection of how auditions work. Not every door opens the first time you knock.

A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

A rating of such is earned and The ARTS works very hard to keep and maintain it.

Thirty years in the industry.

Every day I watch The ARTS step out of their comfort zones and pivot or shift to stay relevant and to be able to provide what their clients, on both sides, really need.

And behind all of those numbers? Thousands of alumni who have lived it. Performers who walked in not knowing what to expect and walked out with connections, confidence, and a clearer picture of who they are on a stage OR where they want to land in this industry. Their experiences don't live on Reddit.

They live in their actual careers being built right now.

Kim has always said she wants attending The ARTS to rank in the top ten greatest things a person has ever done.

I've watched her mean it every single time she says it.

Including during one very long season nobody was prepared for.

What Happened When the Lights Went Out

When Covid hit, The ARTS — like every live, events-based, people-first business — took a blow that would have ended lesser programs. What happened behind the scenes during that time is something I carry with me daily. On the days my own firm hits a drought, I think about what Kim walked through. My droughts shrink really fast. I am so encouraged by her perseverance to stay true to her calling and what she desires for the humans she works with.

Kim Myers lost her mother to Corticobasal Disease in 2022, after solely caring for her for five years.

She was navigating an unimaginable personal grief at the same time a global pandemic had shut down the very world her life's work was built around. She stepped off the road. She had to. The team around her held the line. That is what real organizations do. They don't collapse when their heart is grieving.

It was not easy for her.

Kim is one of the most gifted communicators and public speakers I have ever watched work a room. There is no replacing what she brings when she walks through a door. There is only holding the space until she's ready to walk through it again.

She eventually came back and is still working to return to her new normal.

This is not the story of a program running a scheme. It's the story of a mission and the people committed enough to protect it when everything was hard.

"Kim has always said she wants attending The ARTS to rank in the top ten greatest things a person has ever done. I've watched her mean it every single time she says it."

What The ARTS Actually Gives You

The ARTS is not just a convention. It is not a one-time event where you pay for the privilege of performing in a hotel ballroom and hope someone notices while you perform with your fingers crossed.

The ARTS is a full career development experience for performers of any experience level, ages 6 and up.

Real access to real industry professionals.

Working agents, casting directors, and insiders who are there because they are actively looking for talent. They aren’t just filling seats.

Training and workshops that prepare you before you ever stand in front of anyone.

On-camera skills. Audition technique. Commercial work. The ability of showing up ready — whatever your background may be. These are led by their monthly VIP Sessions. Industry experts like Aaron Marcus, Roberto Sanchez, Allie Grant, and Marie P. Anderson just to name a few.

A real stage.

Real lights. A real moment where preparation meets its purpose.

Mentorship that doesn't disappear after the showcase. Kim and her team walk alongside performers — helping them understand the industry, build their brand, and make decisions that actually serve their career. Their network stays connected to ARTS alumni. I just watched a 2023 Alum turned friend (who is working every day) walk through the process of being signed with one of the largest SAG-AFTRA Agencies of the midwest.

Before You Walk In the Door

You don't need to have it all figured out. That's the point.

But every performer eventually needs a professional headshot — current, authentic, truly you. A resume, even a simple, short one. A demo reel if you have one — a clip from a school play absolutely counts. And some sense of direction from their own trained coaches. Film? TV? Theater? Commercials? Voice work? Knowing where you want to go helps the right people point you there.

Nobody walks in perfectly. Their participants walk in ready to grow.

The ARTS meets you exactly where you are and they love you for who you are, right from the moment they meet you in an audition room (live or remote).

Your Next Step

Ready to audition?

This is where it starts — a chance for The ARTS team to meet you, see what you bring, and understand where you want to go. Open to performers of all experience levels, ages 6 and up.

Sign up for your audition by finding a city near you at artsdreamteam.com

Already auditioned or can't find a city near you?

Reach out to Kim Myers directly for an audition or to get enrolled:

kim@artsdreamteam.com | 440-207-0872

Spots fill for a reason. If you're ready, don't sit on it.

The Thing I Keep Coming Back To

We are living in a moment where it has never been easier to connect digitally — and never been harder to connect humanly.

Businesses are automating everything they can. Relationships are becoming transactions. And somewhere in all of that, the performers — the kids, the young adults, the dreamers of every age (even those up there and beyond my age demographic) — are trying to figure out who they can actually trust.

Thirty years is a long time to still be doing this with integrity. It is exactly what The ARTS has done. They answer emails, texts, phone calls. Kimberly knows your name if she has met you in the audition room. They have never stopped believing that the kid standing in front of them deserves a real chance at this. It is not some polished sales pitch, it is not a shortcut, and it surely is not a program that takes your money and calls it an opportunity for you. They do not take your dreams lightly. The ARTS will not promise you something they cannot deliver.

I've watched this program work. I've closely watched Kim fight for it through the hardest seasons.

Most importantly – I've watched it change people.

That's the part AI can't replicate and it's exactly why The ARTS is worth your time.

"I've watched it change people. That's the part AI can't replicate."

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Written by Marlana Glaeser, Founder of Glaeser Group — marketing partner to The ARTS at ArtsDreamTeam.com. Join The ARTS Insider to have full access to our entire blog community, curated by our partners and friends in the industry.