Speaker 1Hey Rockstars, Reggie Dawson here, and before we get into the episode, I'll play the intro in a minute, I just want to apologize for the audio quality on this episode, it's a little lacking, turns out when I recorded this, I was using the wrong microphone, so my sincere apologies, just like you're always learning, I'm always learning too, lesson learned today, always check the microphone input, with that said, please again forgive the quality of this episode, and here's being on stage. Welcome to being on stage, the only podcast that gives you motivation, inspiration, and confidence to be better on stage, no matter how you entertain, sing, dance, band, comedian, public speaking, MC, drag, burlesque, performance art, or street performer, this is the show for you. Hey Rockstars, it's your host Reggie Dawson, and again this is the being on stage podcast, giving you the motivation, inspiration, and confidence to be better on stage. As the intro says, listen, happy Easter, and today I want to talk about putting all your eggs in one basket, pun very much intended, I'm trying to have a little fun today, I know it's a holiday, I had to work, I had to work on Easter, I have had to work on Easter for the past few years, and it's because my schedule involves working on a Sunday, and in the world of corporate America, Sunday is not recognized as a holiday, so I neither get the day off, nor do I get the day off. Nor have I really, I mean, it hasn't really mattered to me, it's been just another day, you know, I celebrate Easter in my own ways, and this isn't what today's episode is all about, but what it is all about, is when I say putting all your eggs in one basket, I'm talking about, as a performer, are you putting everything you have into your dreams? Now this can go one of two ways, one, I can take this episode in the direction of that you should put everything you have into your dreams, but I also need to be realistic. And in order to be realistic, we have to think about, like, some of us are not 20 years old anymore, some of us are not even, I mean, I'm 31, and I know I'm not 20 years old anymore, I have a family, I have a, you know, I have a fiancé, who I sometimes call my wife, and sometimes my girlfriend, after you've been together for nine years, it all just kind of blends together. Anyways, I have my fiancé, I have our daughter, you know, I have a family, I'm not 20 years old, I can't just up and give everything to performing, you know, I have to have a job, I have to have a steady stream of income, and so I want to kind of get into that, like, as you mature, and as you grow up as an adult, while you should always put a whole lot of focus into your art and into your performances, I also want to point out that there's going to come a time, and maybe it's now, you know, maybe it's still in the future for you, maybe you think I'm full of crap, but there is going to come a time, there's going to come a time when you have to divide your responsibility between, you know, family, and listen, if you make it big, and you are able to support a family, you know, getting to perform all the time, and that being, like, the only thing that you do, more power to you, I applaud you, I admire you, I couldn't get myself there, I look up to anybody who can, realistically, for me, and for people, you know, a lot of people like me, performing's not really going to be able to be the only thing that we do, maybe, you know, maybe we haven't gotten to the point where we can put all of our eggs in one basket, maybe we're past that point, and it is time to move on and think about other responsibilities and other directions with our lives, either way, eventually, you're going to have to think about how to provide for yourself and for your family, and when you should always try to get those jobs that are going to, you know, accent what you do, like, I know a, I know an aerial acrobat, who, he does hand balancing, aerial acrobatics, a whole bunch of stuff, like, this dude's pretty awesome, like, pretty amazing, but he's, you know, his jobs have always ranged from, like, dance instructor, Zumba instructor, now, I think he's working at one of those, like, trampoline park places, like, it's always been something that he can use to get better at what he does, like, his performing. For me, myself, you know, I had a couple of jobs at clubs and stuff like that, it didn't really pan out for me, I did gravitate towards the day job, I still have a, you know, I have a day job, 40 hours, 50 hours a week, a steady check every two weeks, it's the same amount, you know, and I've had this job for a while, even when I was performing, I've always had a job, because you need that steady stream of income, so when, when I'm talking about putting all, putting all your eggs in one basket, the thing I want to point out is there's going to come a time when you are going to have to consider how you're going to provide for yourself until you're at the point where your art can provide for you, it's okay, like, I want to tell you, it's okay to have jobs, I know a lot of people are like, no, go for your dreams, you know, pack it in, and hit the road, but what if you got a wife and kids, what if you're starting your performance career later in life, and you already have a family, like, you can't just put everything into this, so you do have to think about how you're going to provide for yourself financially, how you're going to provide for your family financially, ever since I started performing, I had a job, I had to pay, you know, I probably put more money into my art than I made, I mean, the maximum I would make is maybe like 150, 200 dollars a night, which, yeah, if you're doing that seven, nights a week, that's, you know, pretty decent money, but it's still, you know, still starving artist salary in today's world, not everybody's going to be able to throw everything at their dreams, not everyone's going to be able to just drop everything, and hit the road, and, you know, find a place to perform, I mean, yeah, if you're capable of doing that, because you don't really have, you know, I don't want to say responsibilities, because everyone's got responsibilities, but if you don't really have a reason that you need to be in one spot, and you're able to go and chase your dreams, and, you know, move to LA, or move to New York, and things like that, you know, that's fine, go for it, I, believe me, there was a time when I went for it, I didn't go quite far enough, but I went for it, you should do the same, if you have the capability, but not all of us have the capability, and I guess today's episode's all about not putting all your eggs in one basket, you know, I don't want to, I'm not trying to deter anybody, I'm not trying to tell you, don't go for your dreams, I'm trying to tell you that it's okay that if you have to have a job while you go for your dreams, because I have a job, I'm going for my dreams right now, like, this is my dream, I want to coach people, I want to help people get better at performing, and part of that, I think, is being aware of your situation, aware enough to recognize that you may have to, you know, suck it up and get a job, even if it's, you know, working at McDonald's, or Burger King, or something like that, you know, a paycheck's a paycheck sometimes, and, you know, for some of us, you're going to find a job that you equally enjoy as much as you do as your dreams, I mean, I can't say that, I enjoy my job as much as I enjoy podcasting, and, you know, hanging out on social media and everything, but, you know, who would love sitting at a desk when you could sit here and talk to people who don't talk back all day, just saying, but the point of today is, is I want to, you know, happy Easter one, and I know not everybody in the world celebrates Easter, whatever you celebrate today, happy Easter, if you don't celebrate Easter, you know, happy Sunday, or whatever day you happen to celebrate, and I think that's what inspired me to think about, you know, putting all your eggs in one basket, I saw a lot of that today on social media, a lot of, like, all your eggs in one basket memes, and it kind of got me thinking that as entertainers, sometimes we do put all of our eggs in one basket, and we really can't yet, we're either, I'm trying to keep this realistic, we're either not at the point, talent-wise, and performance-wise, that we can throw the sheet to the wind, or whatever the saying is, and go for it, or maybe we're just not at a point in our life where we have that option, real life is real responsibilities, and as someone who has them, I can say, I'm having a blast, like, I have a blast hanging out with my family, getting to podcast on the side when I can, getting to hang out on social media, but I also equally have fun while I'm at work, and I'm hanging out with my employees, because my employees are pretty awesome, they keep me happy at work, I mean, sometimes a job can be fun, sometimes a job, I use my skills that I would use for coaching entertainers, I use those skills at work, the point is, is you can use your skills on stage in other jobs, and equally enjoy yourself, and be able to provide for yourself financially, you should always keep performing, you should always keep going for what you want to do, even if it's, you know, coffee house on Friday nights, maybe you get to take vacation, you know, a couple weeks out of the year, take a long weekend a couple of times, and go for a couple of shows in your region, you know, maybe once in a while, you do get to leave for, you know, a couple of weeks, and go on a short little tour, that would be amazing to be able to do that, but in the meantime, it's also okay to keep your day job, and I'm not saying that in like a, you're not talented kind of way, because I think projecting yourself on stage is amazing, but, you know, sometimes projecting yourself at a job as equally as amazing, using the skills that you use to perform to, you know, to coach employees at work, or to do presentations at work, or, you know, to even just to talk to your manager, the same skills that I use, talking on a podcast, you know, enunciating my words, speaking clearly, attempting to keep my ideas and thoughts on track, I know sometimes I go kind of on a tangent, but what can I say, it's my podcast, I can do what I want, will you buy that, will you let me, can I, can I pass on that, is that okay with you, I don't want to cross any boundaries, but, you know, if you can, if you have the capability of putting all your eggs in one basket, by all means, shoot for the moon, leave everything behind, go for your dreams, but if you got responsibilities, and you got things you got to handle, it's okay to have a job, and nobody even other entertainers may try to make you feel bad, your friends may try to make you feel bad, oh, ever since you met that, you know, ever since you've been with that girl, you know, you haven't really been after it like you used to, you mean my wife, that girl like my wife yes ever since I've been with my wife and you know almost ten years ago I haven't been after it you're right but the point is is sometimes it is the case you've got responsibilities relationships happen you know things change in our lives and it's okay to do both that's the point is you don't have to put all your eggs in one basket you have two hands you're able to have two baskets hey some people have three and four and five baskets keep going for your dreams but don't neglect yourself for your family to do so you know keep sight of your responsibilities at the same time so keep doing both put your eggs in two baskets and keep on shining hook up with me on social media at being on stage on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook hook at me at being on stage is my like page I'm putting together a group eventually I'll put together a group in the meantime one thing I'm starting is I'm actually gonna send out extra information through email so go to my website being on stage calm and put your email address in you'll get my free book also but if you put your email address in you'll also be subscribed to receive emails from me so I'll be sending out updates you know maybe once a week once a month anytime I feel like giving you guys a little bit of information that's where it's gonna be so hook up with me on social media shoot me an email Reggie at being on stage calm and if you got a second if you got the time if you can do me a favor go over to iTunes hit subscribe and also leave me a review I'd really appreciate it and that's how people can find me that's how you can help spread the word thank you so much for tuning in and listening again this is Reggie Dawson this has been the being on stage podcast and you should keep on shining rock stars cuz you got something special inside you
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