Mo Problems

We live in a culture where more is celebrated. More money, more possessions, more success, more dope experiences, more clout, more followers, more to flex about… and the list goes on.

But deep down, we know more isn’t always better. The chase for more is endless and leads to an inevitable void of fulfillment.

Recently, an artist I work with confided in me that he’s been struggling with comparing his success to others, which has produced a recent lack of self-confidence. Being an artist is hard enough with the constant criticism from unqualified critics, but I especially hate to hear about self-inflicted wounds from someone as talented and good-hearted as he is.

But we all do it. We all compare ourselves to others, and many of us worry too much about trying to keep up with the Joneses; whether we play it off or put our insecurities on display for the whole world to see.

And sometimes our relentless chase for more means not letting go of what we have, even if it no longer serves us.

Let me give you a real life example from my own business experience.

As we continue to grow our booking agency, we have a few options…

1. Take on new clients, while continuing to hold onto the roster we worked so hard to build.

2. Put a freeze on new clients, so we can effectively manage the roster we have.

3. Hire and train new agents to handle some of the younger, upcoming artist responsibilities.

4. Take on new clients, but let go of the artists we can no longer give the appropriate attention to.

The choice is obvious, right? If we want to maintain our clients and grow our business, we need to hire new agents in order to scale.

But anyone who’s been following me for a while knows I don’t deal in textbook scenarios. I offer practical real life solutions for obstacles I’ve actually faced. And as a boutique independent small business, we eat what we kill, meaning the company makes a 10% commission on every show we book, and we divide the commissions fairly amongst ourselves.

So, if we were to carve out a salary vs. commission based structure, we would need an agent with the expertise to step in and start booking right away.

Otherwise, if we did attempt to train a brand new booking agent, we’d be looking at a two year period before they could be fully effective. And truthfully, most people get burnt out or overly frustrated before they even have a chance to thrive as an agent. So that makes the most logical option less practical.

Now, let’s get back to the original topic— The accumulation of more, and the need to hold onto things or relationships that no longer serve us. This is where the rubber meets the road; where we need to make tough decisions, as we only possess a finite amount of bandwidth, brain power, time, and energy.

In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about doing an 80/20 analysis. This is just the type of situation that calls for such a thorough evaluation, which allows us to decide which artists/clients we need to focus on, and which artists are a significant drain on our energy, with little to no ROI.

And therefore, more isn’t always better. In fact, having too much going on may actually burn you out and prevent you from adequately delivering for your most important clientele.

I know you may be worried about appearing disloyal to certain clients, so I don’t recommend cutting ties or burning bridges with those you truly care about. But just remember, your own mental health is just as important as your loyalty to others. Actually, it’s more important, because what good is all of the success in the world if you die of a heart attack before you can enjoy it

And I’ve found, when you approach your work relationships with the right intentions, your clients understand when you’ve become too busy to fully service them, and the split just happens organically and amicably.

It doesn’t mean you think you are too good or too big for anyone, and as long as you continue to treat others with respect, the doors should continue to remain open to you.

And on that note, I’m gonna leave you with this message from the World’s Greatest Entertainer Doug E. Fresh, who gave us a great lesson in humility from the legendary booking agent Norby Walters (far right) at yesterday’s Hip-Hop 50 Pollstar Panel.

Keep growing and stay humble.

Thanks again for all of your support. Please continue to spread the word about the newsletter to anyone who would benefit from it. The love and support keeps me going!

I’ll be giving out another free zoom consultation next week. If interested, fill out the form → HERE. (You only need to fill it out once to be eligible)

Til next week.