She was in tears... and even though the room was crowded,
she wanted an answer more than she felt embarrassed.
Let me back up.
I was asked by my alma-mater to come and be a mentor to
people who were "in transition" from their careers.
That means people looking for a job.
There were a lot of people there- in fact, the room was pretty
packed considering that we had all graduated from a very
expensive school, and many of us probably still owed money
for our degree.
People know that if you want to get ahead, you PAY to learn.
and then you use what you learn to GET PAID.
But a lot of these people PAID, but didn't learn the right things
to GET PAID.
That's why they were looking for jobs.
I wasn't one of them.
I was at a table for "people in the arts and communications",
and our table had only two people who were actually working in
the arts:
A producer, who works her regular job behind the scenes,
and me.
You see, I graduated with an ENGLISH degree, and I have a few
books out on Amazon, as well as one with Simon and Schuster.
I paid a lot to learn how to do that.
And I pay a lot now to get better,
so I can get paid better.
So there I was answering some questions for aspiring writers
when she walked up.
Not walked- Stomped.
She was pretty, tall, and had fire a big smile that she had obviously practiced.
I could tell behind her smile was frustration.
"I've seen you on TV, right?"
she asked.
"Yeah, I'm an actor too" I said, kinda sheepishly.
"Yeah, I know that- your bio says you do a lot of stuff"
she said, as if she didn't believe me.
"Well, I learned that if I was going to be an actor, i was going
to have to do something else also, and I learned that a day job
wasn't going to be it, and I certainly wasn't waiting tables.
"Well, I'm an actress, and I'm about to quit"
When she said this, I could hear the smallest quiver in her voice.
It was then that someone else asked me about writing, and I
got kinda side tracked.
I told the writers there that they had to stop being "writers", and
start being "Authors"...
Because "Authors" write books THAT ARE FOR SALE.
And it's the only thing that a publisher cares about.
Because publishers PAY writers so they can GET PAID.
She broke in again:
"Well, I'm just tired of being broke, and not getting any work, and
seeing people like you on TV, and not knowing how they did it."
"Why don't you just ask?"
"Well, I already know, but how did you get your agent, and what
kinds of shows do I have to do so agents come to see?"
That's when I hit her with the first Brick
"NONE OF MY AGENTS HAVE EVER SEEN ME IN ANYTHING."
"Huh?"
"Nope. Nothing. Because they don't care about that. It's not part of
why they work with me. They work with me because I book jobs.
I PAY them because I GET PAID"
That's when she started welling up and her voice went up a few octaves:
"But I don't understand, I've been sending postcards for agents to come
to my shows, and how am I supposed to get any work if I don't have
an agent, and how can I get an agent if they won't come see me?"
"What do your friends tell you?"
"Huh? Y'know, we all are kinda wondering."
"'Exactly."
"What do you mean?"
"I already know the whole story. All of your friends are doing shows,
and talking about how no one is paying attention, and you really should
have jobs by now, and some of them are 30 now, so their quitting
acting for their day jobs."
"Yeah... I'm 31"
"Yeah.... I know. A lot of my friends quit around them too. They
couldn't get paid, so they quit. Instead, I paid to learn about other
things, and so now I get paid."
She cleared her throat to get a hold of herself, but
I could see her eyes welling up.
I cared, and I was there to help, so I gave her the total truth:
"You gotta stop hanging out with the people
who aren't doing any of the things you want to do, and find
new people to get around."
"What do you mean"
I said: "If none of your friends have the answer, then you have
to find it. YOU have to be the one to do something about your
acting BUSINESS"
I emphasized the word "Business".
"See, I learned how to have a business online,
and since I needed help with that, I found people who were successful
in that.
Then I figured I should do the same thing with my acting career.
I stopped hanging out with the losers, and found some winners to learn from."
This is when the writers started asking questions again.
By now, I had a small crowd around me.
One of the writers said "My friends get together and we write stuff"
I asked the obvious: "Which one of you is published?"
None.
"Which one of you has SELF-published"
None.
"Which of you gets paid to write?"
Strike three.
I told them "You need to change where you're getting your information from,
and more importantly:
You have to change WHO you're getting your information from."
See, I created a private facebook group for people who want to be successful
in LIFE: As actors, writers, as business people and artists.
Because the very FIRST lesson is this:
We are ALL Business people.
And the ones who RUN their business of art are the ones who succeed.
And what i mean by succeed is GET PAID.
Whether they want to learn about Acting, writing, online business
or offline business:
We can all learn from each other's successes.
So, if you're someone who would like to learn any one of these areas,
or someone who wants to help other people..
Or Both...
I'm going to invite you to my PRIVATE facebook group.
"Private" means PAY FOR.
It means you PAY, so you can GET PAID.
Is it a lot? I don't know- that depends on whether your free friends
at the bar and in your show are costing you the dreams you want.
That's REAL.
If you're not sure just see whether they have what you want.
NOW... Do they have what you want NOW?
Not in 10 years when everything is great- see what they have NOW.
If it's not what you want NOW, then find new people to learn from.
I'm offering you my help, if you value your own dreams, and are willing
to pay the price for your dreams.
You either pay for success or you pay for failure.
I told her all of this because I cared about her, and because so many
of my friends were her- and now they've become what she was CRYING
to not become.
So- I gave her my card, and told her to contact me.
She just did.
She is willing to pay the price for success and happiness- Are You?
