Quit Your Day Job.

Three years ago I stared into the void.

It was dark and cold and covered in potatoes with not-so-mysterious bite marks.

I stood on the sidewalk outside the restaurant I worked at and stared into the void.

The void looked a lot like a rat-infested walk-in freezer, but I knew it for what it really was.

I braced myself for the task ahead.  I ran through the usual mental check-list.

1. Run into the basement making enough noise to scare the rats but not enough to scare the customers. Don’t look behind the potato sack.
2. Grab four bottles of Pinot. Table 4 sent back the Merlot, and they will NOT be kept waiting. Do NOT look behind the potato sack.
3. Run back upstairs and stock the bar. Ignore the bus boy who keeps hitting on you.
4. Bring new glasses to Table 4. Tell them these two glasses are on the house!! Ignore the lack of “thank yous.” Ignore the lack of eye-contact.
5. Return to the kitchen. Don’t cry. You still have 5 hours to go.

Three years ago I stared into the void, and the void stared back.

We conversed.

The void asked, “How are you using that degree you worked so hard for?”

I stared silently.

The void asked, “How are you going to be able to audition tomorrow, on four hours of sleep?”

I stared silently.

The void asked, “How long do you think you can keep doing this before you completely burn out?”

I stared silently into the void.  I knew the answer.

Not long.

I was less than a year out of school and I could already tell I was going to burn out.

When I was in college, I always assumed that people who gave up on acting did it because they could no longer take the audition grind. They couldn’t face the rejection.

Surely, I wouldn’t be one of those! I had thick skin—Perseverance was my middle name!

It never occurred to me that it would be the temping and serving that would break me. The impossible calculus of how many hours a week I’d have to work in order to make rent— leaving little time for auditions, and NO time for class. (Not that I had the money to take class anyway.)

It didn’t occur to me that all those hours spent working jobs I hated would erode my joy in the audition room to the point where I was unhire-able.

The only reason I worked those jobs was so I’d have the freedom to pursue my acting career. But those very jobs were destroying my acting career. 

I stared into the void with its rotting vegetables, and vermin, and leaking ketchup packets and I made a decision.

I shut the basement door.

I vowed to find a job where I could use that degree I worked so hard for, with the flexibility to audition whenever I wanted, that after ten years would not leave me burned out, but artistically refreshed.

I vowed to find that job.

And when I couldn’t, I said “Fuck it!” and created it myself.

Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. If you work at a restaurant you love, where the people treat you well, and you still have the time and energy to audition, then great!

But if you are a server/temp/nanny/receptionist who regularly finds themselves staring into the void, then it’s time you start answering that question:

“How long do you think you can keep doing this before you completely burn out?”

Maybe it’s time to close the door.

I guarantee you, you have a skill set that you can turn into a business.

Maybe you just don’t know what it is yet.

Maybe you do, but you’re afraid to take the first step.

Believe me, I’ve been there.      

That’s why I’m hosting a FREE webinar on this very subject on Tuesday, May 17th at 7pm.  Join me on the Audition Rep Matchmaker Facebook page for this exciting live-stream event. Find out if ARTrepreneurship is for you, and what the first steps are to growing your business.

(There will be a special time-sensitive prize at the end of the broadcast, so make sure to join us live!)

So, ready to close that door yet?

I promise, another one is waiting just around the corner.

I’ll meet you on the other side.

 

 

CORRECTION: This post initially stated the wrong date for the webinar.  It has since been updated to reflect the correct time(5/17/2016).