Speaker 1Shut up and sit down. 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
Speaker 2performer, this is the show for you. Hey Rockstars, welcome back to the Being On Stage podcast. Reggie Dawson here, your host, your humble host. I appreciate you checking out this podcast and everything. And I gotta tell you, me and you, we're probably not that different. I get up, I go to work, I gotta pay the bills. My performing and my podcast is a side gig right now. Right now. But anyways, I work one of those corporate gigs. You know, I'm at the bottom of it. I'm like way, way in the bottom. Like I'm in the call center of the corporate company. So I'm way down there. But yeah, so I work for the corporate gig. And I'll tell you, they really try. Like I work for a company that they really, really try to, you know, make people happy at work. It is difficult, you know. It's very difficult, especially in a call center. I don't know if you've ever worked in a call center. Maybe you're one now. Popular job. You know, but it's, it's, it's a rough, it's a rough gig. Sometimes everything is scheduled every moment of your day. And it's, it's rough. I'm a little, little grateful though. I am a supervisor. And one of the, one of the things that we've been doing to be more positive is our managers have been sending out, you know, quote of the day. And listen, listen. Yes, this podcast all about performing on stage, getting on stage. I'm getting there. But I think all of us usually have to pick up a job and sometimes a career. Uh, once in a while to, to pay the bills and, you know, manage our finances. So anyways, um, you know, they, they started sending out these positive quotes and everything. And I got to tell you, yesterday's really, really stuck with me. I mean, I'm into the point of like, I sent it to my personal email so that I can have access to it so I can remember it. And, oh, it is, I want to say it's probably one of the best quotes I have heard in a long, long, long, long time. Consider, here it is. Consider the postage stamp. Its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing until it gets there. What? What? Stick to one thing until it gets there. Now, listen, for a moment after I, you know, after I read the quote, my mind was like, oh my God, that is freaking brilliant. It's Josh, Josh Billings or Joe Billings. Josh Billings. Josh Billings said that. Um, at least that's how it was accredited on the quote that I got in my email. But yeah, so the, the usefulness of a postage stamp is based on the fact that it sticks to something until it gets there. That's, I, for, personally, I'm a fan of analogies. I love when things can be put in a, you know, philosophical, uh, way, I guess you could say. And so this, this, this resonated with me. Like it. Really, really stuck with me, guys. Like I'm talking about it on my personal podcast from an email that I got at work. That's how much it stuck with me. But think about that for your performing. Think about that for your talent and for your, maybe it's your side gig right now, but whatever you do on stage, you know, sing, dance, comedian, speak, drag, uh, juggle, you know, sky's the limit. Whatever it is you do on stage. Think about that. The usefulness, and not just usefulness, but the success of the postage stamp is based on its ability to stick that envelope until it gets to the address. Now, a stamp is also valuable. I'm going to take this one step further and really, really go in deep on the postage stamp. Okay. It's like, yeah, we're, we're, we're making analogies today. So not just its usefulness, but the success of a postage stamp is based on its ability to get from one place to another. Now, the value of a postage stamp, think about that. Think about also the value of a postage stamp. Okay. And I'm going to compare all of this to performing. Just you wait. The value of a postage stamp. Okay. It's, it's not expensive. I think they're 55 cents now for in the United States. I don't know what it costs where you live, but, uh, I think the last time I checked it was, uh, 50, either 49 or 55. Those are the two numbers that are sticking out in my head. So the value of a postage stamp, it doesn't seem like much. But think about like way back in the day with like the pony express and, you know, when the postal service was just starting out that ability from the post, the value of a postage stamp, although it may have been a couple of pennies or to us, half a dollar, it allows you to communicate with someone any distance away from you. And I know today that's something we take advantage of today. You know, we, we, we take advantage of communication. Like we can literally put our hands in our pocket, pull out a device. That we can video chat and see somebody that is on the other side of the world. A hundred years ago, you couldn't do that. You had to write a letter. You had to put a postage stamp on it and wait for it to get there. And that's, that's, that's performing. You know, this, your, your success is on the ability to stick to it and keep going, keep moving forward, keep pushing yourself. Don't, don't give up because you had a couple of performances that didn't go over well. Or you've had a couple of performances that didn't go over well. People tell you no, or even worse, you know, you've had people tell you that you suck. I've seen it. I've had it happen to me. I've come, I've walked off stage to crickets. You know, I've, I've had, I witnessed a performer that worked for tips and had someone that they were, I guess, having problems with rip up money on the stage and throw it at them. Like I've seen some disrespect. I know what it's like. I've been there. I've, I've, I've, you know, we've all been there. You're not alone in this. But you're not alone. Your success is dependent upon you sticking through that. Now think about this postage stamp. You know, that postage stamp stayed to that letter through the rain, through the wind, through the snow, through the, you know, the heat, wherever it was going. It sticks to it until it gets there. And you have to do the same thing. You have to do the exact same thing with your performing. You have to keep moving forward. Now, I also mentioned the value of a postage stamp. Now, a couple of podcasts ago. And I'm podcasting. I'm podcasting every day in the month of July and maybe even beyond. Who knows? Because I am actually really enjoying this. Plus, I've got to talk to a few, a couple of great people through doing this. And if you want to talk, have something you want to talk through, work through, maybe you want to work together and, and get some help on some performing, I don't know, tips and tricks and whatever you're looking for. If you just need a sounding board to hear you out, we can jump on a call together. I'll call you. Just jump on my calendar, beingonstage.com slash calendar. So anyways, back to the value of this. Yeah, I plugged my calendar. But anyways, back to the value of the stamp. Okay. That stamp's value 100 years ago was, it was, honestly, it was priceless. I mean, yes, I know it cost a couple pennies, cost us today half a dollar. But if you had no cell phone, no internet connection, that half a dollar would allow you to communicate with somebody. And the same thing with your performance. You may not make the money that you want to make, okay? Yet, you may, you may not be able to make that money that you want to make. You may not be a million, I mean, truthfully, I'm going to tell you, it is literally one in a million to make it to, like, that level of superstar performer, okay? So you're, you're probably not going to make it to being, you know, billionaire performer, millionaire performer. Let's, let's be honest. But that's not to say that you can't make a living out of it. That's not to say that you can't turn it into a career. Okay? But your value may not be recognized by the masses, but your value comes in your ability to connect people. And to connect to people and to connect people. You make people feel something. You make people have an experience. That's your job as an entertainer up on that stage. That's what you get paid for. Yes, your talent is amazing. And yes, I just did a podcast yesterday that you don't need to perform for anybody but yourself. But your ability to turn it into a career. And your ability to get paid is dependent on doing your job, which is entertaining people, connecting with people, and making them have an experience. That's what your performance is. It's an experience for your audience. It's a, you know, it's an emotional experience, a high-energy experience, a sad experience, a happy experience, a comedic experience. Whatever experience it is, it is an experience. And I'm saying experience way too much right now because it's stopping. It's not making sense anymore. You ever do that? Like, complete off-topic. You ever say a word so many times it just doesn't make sense anymore? Well, that just happened. So, anyways, your value is still on that ability to connect people. And your success is dependent on you continuing to do so and sticking to that. I'm wrapping it up right now because I'm, like, I'm going off in 16 different directions. I'm so excited about this topic. Like. This postage stamp quote, like, One, I think the postage stamp is severely underestimated for those two reasons. One, it sticks it out and it keeps going no matter what until it gets to its destination. And oftentimes it gets to its destination and it stays on the envelope because unless you're a stamp collector and it's a valuable stamp, why would you peel the stamp off the envelope? So you stick to it forever, basically, even if someone throws you in the trash. Ooh, that's deep. You stick to it even when someone throws you in the trash. Boom! Okay. And the second reason I think the postage stamp is underestimated is because of that value statement. You know, it does connect people. It connects two people across the world, across the country, across the town. And you do the same thing with what you do on stage with that experience. People have a connection to you and they have a connection to each other because they're all experiencing it together. I really liked talking this episode. I think I need to do more of these, like, analytical compare yourself to the postage stamp type podcasts. And I apologize for anyone in England. That was a terrible accent. All right. I got to sign off because I'm rabbit holing all over the place and I'm just going off in 16 different directions and I'm starting to repeat myself over and over and over again. So that's my cue. I appreciate you tuning in. Don't forget to jump on my calendar. Let's talk through some things. Let's get you moving forward. You know, forget moving forward. Let's get you blasting off to your dream. Jump on the calendar, guys. Being on stage dot com slash calendar is free. I'm just going to call you and we're just going to chat. That's it. Looking forward to it. As always, keep on shining, everybody.
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