Is It Time to Walk Away?

All right, Savvy Actors! Time for a little self-examination of your values and how they’re jiving with your career.

Are you self-sabotaging your career?
Are you constantly resisting advice?
Are you avoiding asking yourself the hard questions?

I recently had an extremely rewarding phone coaching with a remarkable woman whom I will call “Colleen.” Colleen had reached out to me because she was having trouble jump-starting her VoiceOver career. She was not getting any feedback on her demo or career direction that was of any use to her.

So we started talking and I began to throw out some ideas. [i.e. Using social media to promote herself as a VoiceOver artist, listening to other VoiceOver spots to gain insight on her brand, networking directly with advertising agencies, etc.] Every strategic suggestion was met with a reason of why it wasn’t possible or wouldn’t work. The session was becoming challenging for both of us. Why was she resisting my suggestions so strongly? Why was I unable to give suggestions that would meet her needs?

Now, I had listened to Colleen’s demo before our session. It was evident that she had studied and had a basic feel for different types of copy. However, I was neither sure of what her “sell” was, nor was I blown away by her vocal texture. So I asked Colleen, “Do you constantly have people coming up to you saying that your voice is incredible and that you should be doing VoiceOvers?” The answer was no. I offered that this is very important feedback.

VoiceOvers and Soap Operas have something strongly in common—unless people are constantly telling you that you should be doing them, you should probably be directing your attention elsewhere. Now, if you are burning with a passion to do this work–listening to VoiceOver spots with avid analytical curiosity, creating CDs for your friends, and joyfully practicing your craft and researching the industry—then to heck with what I said and go for it!

I asked Colleen if this was her.

She took a deep breath and answered, “No.”

After some more digging, we discovered together that Colleen felt that VoiceOver was a good way to make some money from home on her own schedule. So, she had taken the classes, created a demo, purchased a microphone, and was active on Internet forums.

But, she was not burning with a passion to do this work.

In later correspondence, Colleen told me she decided to stop pursuing VoiceOver – for now. She shared that a burden had been lifted from her, allowing her to deal with the real causes of her frustration in the world. She needed permission to let it go.

She began to listen to her needs as an artist. She began to focus on how she could make a living from the things about which she is passionate: graphic design and dream interpretation.

Here’s the thing, Savvy Actors. Above being artists, we are human beings, each with our own set of values. Our job is to pursue our art with as much passion and business savvy as we can bring to it.

Sometimes when we do that we, like Colleen, are then free to have a wonderful revelation: this pursuit of our craft as our primary source of income may not meet our values of stability or money or influence.

For Colleen, there will be a grieving period. She pursued this with all she had, but she will not be looking back one day thinking, “If only I had gone for it…” She DID go for it. She went for it with everything she had, and came to a sensible business decision in accordance with her values and wants. Now she can apply her business skills to another profession.

I was working with another client on her goals and for one of them she stated, “Well I guess Broadway.” HOLD THE PHONE! You guess Broadway? Like many people, she figured if she’s in New York City then success means you have to be on Broadway. When we talked more about what she actually likes to do, she mentioned dance, choreographing, and judging dance competitions. A few months later she landed a job that requires exactly those skills and has happily been at that for over two years now.

The definition of success, Savvy Actors, is making your living in accordance with your values.

If you want to make money being creative from home, VoiceOver is just one of many options for you. If you long to do challenging theatrical work and be recognized when you walk down the street, you can do that in any major metropolitan market. If you decide to leave the business, you have not failed.

Pursuing your dream with a strong business plan is a wonderful and essential thing. If you find one day that you’re in a space where that dream no longer serves you, then turn that adversity into opportunity and apply all that business savvy to a new dream that meets your values.

Oh, and if you’ve read this article and that primal voice in you rose up and screamed “Heck NO! I may be in a rut, but I’m getting back in the game,” then you can bet your life we at the Savvy Actor are thrilled to stay the course with you.

Tags: Business, Empowerment, Passion, Success