At 25 I packed my things and set for the land my father swore he’d never return to: New York City. For the next 3 years I studied under theater giants, eating, breathing, and sleeping the craft of acting.
The dream to become a professional storyteller had finally begun.
I’d pound on my chest for 10 blocks with clenched fists on the way to school, roaring at the top my lungs, “Come on! You either want it or you don’t!” I’d flip on the lights to that beautiful black box theater dreaming of all the stories I planned to one day tell.
There was no place on earth I’d have rather been.
But just a few years later the grind of trying to become a working actor started to wear on me. I had no delusions about entering the most competitive industry on the planet, but like most things in life you don’t really know until you know.
Only it wasn’t just the fiercely tough world of show business that started to dissuade me but a change of heart. Like autumn gradually giving way to winter, the glow I once felt about performing seemed to dim.
Without telling me, what I valued most in life started to shift.
By the time I hit my mid-30s I decided I wanted to help empower the careers of other actors and artists rather than simply promote my own.
The trouble was I had no discernible abilities to do so. Yes, I was a strong public speaker, a decent writer, and according to most people who knew me a “pretty inspiring guy,” but I soon discovered talent doesn’t pay the bills.
Skills do.
Though it’s unlikely my younger self would have given me the time of day to offer an insight or two I’d have done my best to tell him to pursue his dreams whole-heartedly, while actively acquiring a marketable skill set for the work force.
And though one should never stop learning, I can’t think of much I wouldn’t give to have been able to hit the ground running in my current entrepreneurial endeavor.
Knowing how to code, copyright, effectively market content, or even build a mailing list would have done wonders at the outset for both my confidence and brand. Having any one of those skills would have also allowed me to seamlessly adapt the abilities I already had without losing much time.
I am incredibly proud of my journey as an actor and what I was able to accomplish in the least meritocratic industry in the world, but if I’m honest my hustle came with a cost.
When I returned to the San Francisco Bay Area after living in New York City for nearly 11 years the opportunities available to me in the work force were very limited. I made inquiries to just about every university, college, and high school in the area with the hope they had an opening for an aging actor.
None did.
I soon learned the position I was seeking was a coveted one. So much so, no one ever seemed to leave. As result, it didn’t matter how much talent or insight I had to offer.
I had to find another way to make myself useful.
The notion you must throw caution to the wind in pursuit of a dream is not only inaccurate but can be cavalier.
One can be bold but not reckless.
Go after what it is you want while building up your arsenal of value. Learning indispensable skills will make you an infinitely more competitive force.
Finally, the peace of mind you’ll gain knowing how adaptable you are will also offer enormous confidence regardless of what path you ultimately decide to take.
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