Arischa Conner found it’s never too late to pursue a goal.

Though she spent most of her life teaching students in Columbia, South Carolina that they could reach for the stars, she was daydreaming of becoming one. On the weekends, her passion for a creative career took her across the nation. From Los Angeles to New York, it left her aching for an achievement only the craft of acting could provide.

“I was in education for over 20 years before I decided to take a year off to pursue acting full time,” said Conner. “I didn't want to look back over my life and wonder what would have happened.”

Music was Conner’s first love and it’s what drew her to new opportunities within the performing arts. After joining the local school choir, a director encouraged her to audition for the “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” musical and she nailed it.

“I was in my 40s when I developed the urge or the drive to act,” she said. “Being on stage and performing was like second nature to me. I wasn't afraid of being on stage because it was a musical.”

Learning lines and getting into character proved to be a hard task amongst a loaded teaching schedule but nonetheless Conner overcame the obstacle. For eight years she battled between her love for the two and worked endlessly to ensure that both professions got equal time and attention.

“A lot of auditions I could not go to because I did not want to miss that time out of the classroom,” she said.

However, she committed to being fully present for all the acting events she could attend even if it meant driving hours cross country to be there.

“It was in those moments I realized if I want to take this seriously, I have to take time off to really pursue my dream,” said Conner. “The pandemic allowed me to take classes in LA with some of the top acting coaches in the nation.”

She credits classes at the Film Actors’ Studio in Charlotte for a lot of her early accomplishments such as her role in “Be A Lion” — a spinoff to “The Wiz” that would go on to win Broadway World's Charlotte Regional Award for Best Musical. It sparked a flame in her that has continued to grow.

“As a teacher and someone who has been in education for too long, I want anyone out there to know that there’s no dream that is too big for you to dream as long as you put in that hard work,” said Conner. “It is your uniqueness that allows you to prosper, and it is your uniqueness that propels you, you are never too old.”

Conner made her original streaming platform acting debut in 2021 with two new shows: “Dopesick” (Hulu) and “Swagger” (Apple+) while turning 50 amid premiere dates in October. She is also working on “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” with Samuel L. Jackson that will air later this year.

“I love Samuel L. Jackson because he started acting later on in life, yet he is the top earning actor of all time and in the Guinness Book of world records for being in the most movies,” Conner said. “To be able to work with someone I have looked up to for so long was priceless.”

Still, Conner aspires to do more.

“One thing I love is Guardians of the Galaxy,” she said. “Maybe someone out there can read and hear this, I think I can be a superhero. If Octavia Spencer is a superhero, I would be her sidekick. And one day, I would also record a jazz CD.”

But the goal for now remains to “continue to tell great stories of communities that might be underrepresented or underserved,” she said.