Founder & coach
Meet Rae-Ann
Actor by nature. Communicator by experience. Coach by design.
I've spent much of my life learning how people connect — on stage, in client meetings, in the classroom and in the conversations that make business happen. This is the story of how all of those rooms ended up in one place.
Rae-Ann Dillman-Ferland
Act one
I didn't really choose acting. It chose me.
I've often felt I was born an actor. Performing, telling stories, watching people and quietly working out what makes them tick — none of it ever felt like effort. It felt like the way I was built.
Acting has been part of my life for about twenty-five years. It shaped how I observe people, listen, understand different perspectives, communicate emotion and respond in the moment. It's where my understanding of performance and human connection began.
Eventually I made my way to Vancouver to pursue it professionally. That chapter shaped me as a performer, and it taught me what the job really asks of you: discipline, vulnerability, endless preparation and the persistence to keep putting yourself out there — especially on the days the answer is “thanks, next.”
“Acting has never been a hobby I picked up. It's one of the ways I make sense of people.”
Act two
My first big-girl job. And a career I didn't see coming.
Careers rarely follow a perfectly straight script. While I was studying business and marketing, I wanted hands-on experience — so I started a wedding-planning business with my mom. That leap took me all the way to a Wedding Planners Institute of Canada conference in Turks and Caicos.
That trip was one of those experiences that opens a door. When I came home, I stepped into my first full-time professional role — what I still jokingly call my first “big-girl job” — in sales with Pattison Media, working with a local television station.
I had found another stage — although this one came with advertisers, airtime, marketing plans and client meetings instead of scripts and auditions.
What followed was a long career in media, marketing, promotions, communications, advertising and sales — far longer than I could have predicted when I walked into that first job.
As the industry changed, so did my experience. I worked across traditional and digital media, moved through different roles and organizations, developed business relationships, learned the art of asking better questions, and helped businesses find ways to communicate their value.
From television and radio to digital advertising, I came to understand that successful communication is about much more than getting a message out. It's about knowing who you're speaking to, understanding what matters to them, and making the connection meaningful.
I didn't leave acting behind. I discovered another side of communication — the creative and the commercial, side by side.
The work along the way
- Media
- Marketing
- Promotions
- Communications
- Advertising
- Business development
- Sales
- Account management
Today
I continue to work in digital advertising sales with Nimble Digital, part of Pattison Media. It keeps me connected to the realities of modern business, client relationships and the conversations that happen every day between businesses and the people they serve.
Acting Like It is my own business, separate from that role.
I'm not approaching business communication from the outside. I've spent years working in it.
Act three
Then came teaching.
Teaching became another important chapter in my story. Over about fifteen years, I've taught and coached through acting studios, camps, private training and, eventually, my own studio.
For about seven years, I ran Dillman Acting Studio, working with students of different ages and experience levels — at times as many as seventy of them.
Building and running the studio taught me far more than how to teach acting. It taught me how to break down complex skills, recognize different learning styles, give constructive feedback, build confidence and help people move beyond what feels comfortable.
Every student was different. Some needed a push, some needed patience, and some needed me to stop talking and let them try it. Whether I was working with a young performer preparing for an audition or an adult developing a new skill, the heart of the work was the same: helping someone discover what they're capable of, and giving them the tools to get there.
- Teaching & coaching
- ~15 yrs
- Running my own studio
- ~7 yrs
- Students at once, at its busiest
- 70
Whether it's an aspiring performer or someone facing a real-world conversation, I keep coming back to the same questions:
- How do we express ourselves?
- How do we connect with other people?
- What changes when we become aware of how we communicate?
Act four
The moment it all came together.
Acting Like It didn't come from one career, one qualification or one defining moment. It grew out of the place where several worlds meet:
01
Professional acting and performance
02
Media, marketing and communications
03
Sales, advertising and account management
04
Teaching, coaching and developing people
Acting
taught me to…
- observe and listen
- understand another person's perspective
- make intentional choices
- respond in the moment
- communicate with an audience
Marketing & sales
taught me to…
- understand an audience
- ask meaningful questions
- communicate value
- build trust
- create meaningful connections
Teaching
taught me to…
- help people learn
- break skills into manageable steps
- make room to practise
- offer useful feedback
- build confidence that sticks
My career wasn't a series of unrelated chapters. Acting Like It is where all of those worlds meet.
Each experience built skills the others needed. Together, they shaped the way I approach communication training today — bringing the most useful parts of performance into the places people need them every day: business conversations, presentations, interviews, networking events, client relationships and team communication.
Not to turn everyone into an actor. And certainly not to teach anyone to pretend to be someone they're not. Quite the opposite — the goal is to help you become more intentional, confident and authentic in how you show up.
“Confidence isn't always something you wait to feel. Sometimes it's something you build through practice.”
Why it exists
What Acting Like It means to me.
Acting Like It is about practising the skills that help us navigate real life. Finding the words when you're nervous. Making an introduction without the awkward shuffle. Connecting with a client, presenting an idea, or keeping your footing when a conversation takes an unexpected turn.
It's about making professional development more engaging, more human, and a little less like sitting through another workshop full of slides.
I believe people learn by doing. They need room to experiment, make choices, rehearse realistic situations and discover what works for them. That's why my sessions bring together acting techniques, interactive exercises, practical business knowledge and personalised coaching.
Whether you're in a boardroom, building your own business, preparing for an interview or stepping onto a stage — it should be useful the moment you walk out the door.
A little about how I work
Four things you can expect from me.
01
Creative by nature.
I see possibilities, stories and connections everywhere — and I genuinely enjoy finding a fresh way into a challenge that everyone else has been staring at for weeks.
02
Business-minded by experience.
Communication has consequences. I've spent years in media and advertising sales, so I know a conversation is only as good as what it does for your clients, your sales and your relationships.
03
A teacher at heart.
My favourite moment in any session is when someone surprises themselves. I'm here to help you practise with purpose and notice what you're already capable of.
04
A believer in being yourself.
You don't need to borrow somebody else's personality to communicate well. You need to find your own strengths and use them on purpose.
Who I love working with
People who want to grow — and are willing to try something new.
The situations change. The goal usually doesn't: to feel more prepared, connect more effectively and show people what you're capable of.
- A sales team that wants better conversations with customers
- A professional preparing for an important presentation
- A business owner learning to talk about what they do
- Someone navigating interviews and networking
- A performer developing their craft
Encore
I still step in front of the camera from time to time.
Acting never really left me. When the right project comes along, I still say yes — and every time I'm on set, I'm reminded what it feels like to be the one stepping into the room. It's the same moment I help my clients prepare for.
Actor by nature. Communicator by experience. Coach by design.
I believe communication is a skill, confidence is something we can build, and sometimes the best way to learn a new way of showing up is to practise it before the moment arrives.
Acting Like It brings the tools of performance, the realities of business and the power of practical coaching together to help people communicate with more confidence, clarity and connection.
Whether I'm working with a sales team, a business leader, an employee or someone preparing for an important conversation, the goal is the same: to help people show up as the most capable version of themselves.
Your cue
You don't have to become someone else.
You just need the opportunity to practise being more of yourself.
Or jump straight to business training, SCENE or individual coaching.