Build a Tribe

The nature of pursuing a career in the arts can certainly lend itself to living in prolonged stints of solitude...lots of solitude. A nonconformist way of being means foregoing the daily courses of punching a clock each morning, or attending power lunches.

And though this lack of predictability may seem appealing at first, it becomes less shiny when one understands the necessity of structuring one's own day and finding creative ways to move the needle forward each day in your respected career.

I also learned that it makes building a tribe of like-minded and positive artists who have your best interests at heart even more important. For years, I chose competition over community and believed that another's success meant I needed to fail.

But the longer I stayed in the game, the more I realized how much more productive it would be to extend a hand rather than to close it. In time, I created a group of actors I could trust, lean on, and share my struggles with. This created a support group that could empathize with the day-to-day struggle of such a competitive industry and offer much needed advice. They also offered perspective when I'd lost it, eased doubts when they grew, and reminded me there was a whole world beyond acting.

Build your tribe because nothing of value is ever achieved alone.