It's all in the Works

I wanted to dedicate this week’s newsletter to those of you going through a career transition or trying to figure out if you’re on the right path.

I recently had lunch with my best friend from high school, who’s spent the past two and a half months in picket lines between the WGA and SAG/ AFTRA strikes. Our conversations brought back a ton of memories, but I’ll get back to him later.

Shortly after I graduated from College, I moved to LA with two other friends, determined to make it as an artist/producer. One of my boys was a talented MC. My other homie mostly liked the idea of being around the music scene, the girls, and the parties, but he also offered us a place to stay with his grandparents, and a job working as a courier with his uncle at Sony Pictures, so he was a major piece of our survival plan.

I may have mentioned this part of the story in an earlier newsletter, but both friends decided to leave LA to move back home within three weeks of our arrival.

So here I was, with no job, no place to stay, and no perspectives. But still as determined as always.

After sleeping in my car for a week, I hit up my old friend from high school (the same one I just had lunch with). He’d already been living in LA for a year, splitting his time between waiting tables, taking acting classes, and frequent auditions. At the time, he was sharing a studio apartment in North Hollywood with another friend of his, who let him move in when he was in a similarly desperate predicament.

So when I shared my situation with my friend, he asked his friend/roommate if I could move in with them, and thankfully he agreed.

The situation was rough for a bit, as the three of us shared a tiny room, with no AC in the height of the summer. I slept on the floor for a month, before we agreed to find a bigger place.

But the reason I bring all of this up is because, despite the struggle, I remember those days fondly. We were all optimistic that we were going to make our artistic dreams come true, but we had no idea how we’d get there. We worked odd jobs, while attempting to network at any party or event we could get into. And every once in a while we’d make a valuable connection.

We even attempted to form a collective of aspiring creatives, including actors, writers, photographers, film makers, artists, and producers. The goal was to create a support system for each other, where we could all help each other crack the code. But those meetings lasted only 3 weeks or so. And who knows what happened to the other handful of young creatives who attended those meetings, but I know how it turned out for me and my friend.

As I mentioned, my friend had been picketing for the past few months. That’s because he’s been a full-time working actor for 15 years, and his wife is a full-time working writer. And you’ve probably been able to gather from these newsletters that I carved out a career in the music biz that I love. And making a living doing what we love was always the goal for both of us.

So we made it. Through the ups and the downs. The struggles and the triumphs. Through many failures and a pandemic. And I’m sure my friend and his wife will make it through the strikes as well, because choosing a career in entertainment was never supposed to be a walk in the park. We were built for this.

And so are you.

I can’t explain how it works out, but when you have a vision and perseverance, it just does.

Keep the faith and ignore the douters.

Thanks again for tuning in, and for sharing and commenting on this newsletter. It keeps me pushing.

Til next week.