This post spoke to me today, as I woke up feeling rather defeated and frustrated…
My life completely changed in 2010 when I met @em_henderson. I had been living in New York doing random production design gigs when a series of family tragedies kept bringing me back to California. I had to pack up my things and head home. My parents were still living in Yosemite then and I was staying with them, occasionally coming to LA to do random art department jobs. When I applied to work on Emily’s show I had no idea I was applying to be in an on-camera role. But somehow, magically, the audition tape I made, in which I did a cheesy routine where I put on 20 different hats to show I could “wear many hats” made it through casting. My twenties were a mess of a) not knowing what exactly I wanted to do and b) graduating into the worst economy in modern history. I’d been designing spaces my whole life, so it wasn’t a surprise that this might be something I’d do professionally. I think the most humbling thing I’ve learned in my professional life is that hard work and success are not as directly correlated as were led to believe. We are told, “work hard, you will succeed.” But no one ever says, “hey sometimes success is due to random ‘breaks,’ opportunities you never would have seen coming.” I say this because I think it’s important for people who are struggling to gain footing in their careers to not fully blame themselves if they’re not reaching their goals as quickly as they’d like. Yes, your work and intelligence matter. But also you aren’t fully in control of the opportunities that come your way, you can only do your best and try not to be too hard on yourself if success evades you. I have no idea where I’d be if I hadn’t gotten the role on Emily’s show, but I have the feeling I’d be nowhere near where I am now. I owe my career to a casting director in Canada who liked my face and personality. And I have mixed feelings about that. My four Ivy League degrees weren’t enough? The fact that I’d been working since I was 14? My point here is that if you have success, recognize the luck and privilege that brought you here. And if you’re struggling, keep striving but don’t beat yourself up too much if “getting there” takes more time than you expected.
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