The other day an acquaintance came up to me and asked if when I sign someone for commercial and/or print I pre-warn them that they should have career plan B in mind: that they should be realistic and realize they can’t be an actor/model forever.
She told me she thinks I should because she believes they aren’t going to be able to work for too long because they are going to age. And that with aging there are less opportunities.
I was so taken aback by her question because she too is a motivational speaker that I didn’t even know how to answer her because I didn’t want to offend her and totally preach against her.
Did she really ask me to tell people to have a plan B?! To be realistic? I, for one, don’t believe in either of those words and neither should you.
One of my favorite quotes by Will Smith is, “Being realistic is the most common path to mediocrity”. I couldn’t agree more.
The simple answer to her question is, “no” but, I must elaborate;
Her question actually offended me a little. The majority of my clients have a college education and also do other creative work besides acting and modeling. Who is she to say how long someone will work for, in any field? Does she not watch television, go online or know how many baby boomers there are!? There is more advertising today for older generations than ever before. One of my highest grossing clients is 52 years old. That’s a fact.
In addition, I don’t believe that anyone in the Entertainment Industry has only one specific talent. If you are a creative person, you generally have numerous talents and aspirations, one of which sticks out and is chosen as your main focus.
For my clients, that talent happens to be acting and/or modeling.
For that reason, I would never tell a human, whether my client of not, that they better have a plan B. I feel that when you present the Universe with a plan B, you are basically saying that you’re not confident about your plan A and, in turn, you put resistance against it.
Believe in your plan A, I do! 🙂