Acting has literally provided a stage that has helped me tremendously in my business and marketing efforts. A little background. In the 3rd grade I agreed to be in the school play “Sleeping Beauty” because the "prettiest" girl in the school was playing the lead role and it was prime opportunity to be close to her and yes inevitably as the Prince, I got to kiss “Sleeping Beauty” to the oooos and aaaahhhs of the whole school. I didn’t know how to describe what I was feeling back then but currently in my 808s and Heart Break Kanye voice “It’s Amaaazing, So Amaaazing”. I went on through my pre-teen years acting in other plays and entering various competitions that led me to my first independent film role and a spot in the Alliance Theater/Jomandi Productions “Kids Street Theater”.
That summer turned out to be pivotal as for the first time I didn’t get to play outside with the other kids, I didn’t even visit family which was my normal summer routine. All I did was work, work, and work some more. During the day, I was doing stage plays with the theater company and in the evenings/nights shooting the film. My days would start at 4am and end late into the night. Little did I know how much that experience would help me in the future. Little did I know, one of the people I’d spend that entire summer with would go on to be a Tony Award winning director and the other person I would reunite with years later during my college years to guest star in one of her plays as well. I will always remember each of the those experiences and the people I worked with along the way as they gave so much to me and contributed immensely to my work ethic and what it truly meant to be a team player (this also helped me down the road in my sports endeavors as a football, basketball, tennis and track athlete). Those collective experiences in my humble opinion were critical building blocks in powering and creating the stages to deliver monumental marketing performances vs. average ones. You can feel the passion, each "player" pulling the best out of each other to breathe life into the characters and the story, commanding attention and igniting the emotion of the audience and taking them on a truly dynamic journey.
Fast forward almost 30yrs, I’ve been described as a “hybrid” by a lot of my business colleagues for what they describe as my ability to move between strategic, creative and analytical realms while being comfortable navigating each one. Acting provided me the ability to treat areas of growth like learning and preparing for a new theater or film role. It’s my way of adapting the “system” and “method” to get the absolute best out of the role and the experience along with sincerest desire for the audience to say job “well done” both customer and company. Not to be understated, it's also the reason why I deeply appreciate cinematic tone creative. It stimulates a feeling beyond mindless transactions. It stirs the soul and fuels the heart. Its story, taking you on a ride full of dopamine and oxytocin illuminating mind and body. Rather addicting too!
Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to be a guest speaker and panelist for a variety of different entities and one particular event shines brighter than the rest as I doubt I will ever do this again. At a sales conference in Las Vegas a couple of years ago as I was getting mic’d up; I was saying the typical “mic check 1-2” but nothing was coming out and jokingly I was saying as the speakers started to kick on “hey this only happens when I’m in the booth laying down vocals”. Someone from the audience yelled “Prove It”, and I "went in" for about 32 bars to the astonishment of all in the room including myself. Ahaha. It was one of those theatrical improvisation moments I learned from acting at its best. But something very intriguing happened. Before that moment, most people in the room were heads down typing on tablets/laptops or on their cell phones; by the time I finished all eyes were on me and as I finished the room echoed with a huge ovation. The feeling again was “So Amaaazing” and I hadn’t even started the presentation yet. I joked again and said “That totally could’ve gone sooo wrong”. Lol.
As a marketer, I haven’t always had the opportunity to fully bring my vision to life with my teams, but OMG when you do it’s magical and provides me the same feeling I received from acting. Ironically, I also had the opportunity to guest lecture at the USC Marshall School of Business this year which created that exhilarating feeling as well.
I received so much from that experience and sincerely look forward to connecting with that youthful/energetic spirit again. Good, bad or indifferent this is what I seek when taking on new projects or positions; pursuit of these types of experiences where I can be immersive, thrilling, imaginative, exhilarating and working with a team that selflessly plays for each other positioning us with more opportunities to win and enjoying the entire ride. So as I tell everyone these days that ask “What are you looking to do?” Simply to create environments and opportunity that continuously stimulates my “Happy Chemicals”. Whether it's working as an independent or for a company, I'm an #ExperienceChaser #JobsAreBoring.
Acting set the business and marketing stage. Now I'm just searching for my next "glee" role to deliver another monumental performance with a great cast and crew. Time to "break a leg."
