The Diva Is in the Details

You now have your dream jobs listed and your side hustle standing by. The goal of this chapter is to help you research the steps to getting your name in lights. One of the most important things you can do in any industry is to learn everything you can learn about an endeavor before beginning it. Have you ever heard the phrase, “Look before you leap”? Well, in this instance, Diva, you should dig in before you dive in, because there are many important things to learn about careers in the arts that are not readily available unless you look. A diva never hurries anyway, so this week, we will be taking our sweet time examining your chosen careers, who currently does them, how you should pursue them, and how much they pay.

This is important, because information you gather in your research of different jobs may eventually influence the decisions you make in your career path. If your dream job is singing backup for a pop star, do you know how you would go about getting that job? Are there open auditions for backup singers? Who is the person in charge of casting backup singers? How much does backup singing pay? Is it a year-round job? Do you have to go on tour? What about your other goals? What about your side hustle?

This week, you will spend some quality time scouring the Internet for all information related to your dream jobs and side hustle and hopefully answering questions like the ones above. Research is a huge component of success, and most artists don’t do remotely enough of it. And these days, research is easy! Back in the old days, you’d have to go to the library and search through dusty boxes of microfiches of old publications (you all probably don’t even know what a microfiche is!), but today you just need to crank up your favorite browser and Google away. It cannot be stressed enough: research is imperative—for everything.

Most successful corporations have an entire department dedicated to R&D (research and development), into which they put a significant amount of focus and funding. And companies always put their time and money where it matters. Did you know that Apple spent 11.6 billion bucks on R&D in 2018? And Amazon? They spent 22.6 billion.¹ That’s billion with a b. By investing in research, these companies are spending money to become more effective and efficient in the future. They’ve figured out that money and time spent up front gathering information and figuring out the best way to do things saves a lot of time and money on the back end. Look before you leap. Dig in before you dive in.

Guess what? The same rules apply to careers in the arts. Sadly, very few people in arts careers tend to take time to do the research when they’re starting out. But, riddle me this, Batman: Would you rather know more or know less when you go to an audition or an interview for a new gig? Hopefully, you want to know more. For any kind of interview or audition for a new project, you should ask yourself: What kind of projects has the director previously done? What kind of dancers does the choreographer prefer? What kind of pitches does your ideal client prefer? How does the production company you want to work for usually run their tours? That info could come in pretty handy when interviewing or auditioning for a job. Well, ladies and gents, unless you are the most informed person in the world, that kind of info requires a little legwork from your personal research department.

Taking the time to research the projects you’re considering will not only help you give a better interview, pitch, or audition but it may also help you decide whether or not to even spend your time on said project (thus saving you more time for studying your craft and pursuing other worthy projects). The more you know, the better off you are. And it’s highly likely that at least 75 percent of the aspiring artists who will surround you in auditions, jobs, recording sessions, and so forth have not taken the time to do their research. This fact alone can give you a wonderfully empowering sense of preparedness and confidence even before you walk in the room.

So let’s say one of musical theater dancer Donna’s dream gigs is to dance in a Broadway show for director and choreographer Susan Stroman. (Good choice: she’s an awesome lady who creates some equally awesome shows.) Let’s also say that Donna didn’t do her research and showed up to a nonunion, open audition for Ms. Stroman’s newest show. Let’s also say that Donna is 5’1”. (Those of you who know “Stro shows” know where we’re going with this.) Most of the time, dance auditions for Susan Stroman ask for their auditioning dancers to be taller than 5’5”. If you’re 5’1” and you walk into an audition full of women who are 5’5” and above, you might be a little caught off guard. Is this to say that Donna shouldn’t crash an audition full of supertall women? Not at all. It’s Donna’s choice whether to attend the audition or not. But she should make sure she’s making an educated choice before she steps into the room. Again, research is the key.

So how, exactly, do you do your research? Largely, this is up to you and how you choose to work, but there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, research does not always consist of searching online for information. You can also ask your friends and contacts, you can call one of the artists’ unions for information, you can message people on their social with questions, and you can just plain do a few cold calls to organizations. Additionally, sometimes people are more likely to give more detailed intel in person because they can throw in their own opinion without having to put it in writing.

Second, you should consider validating any information you receive. For instance, instead of taking your friend’s word that all dancers who do an international tour with a music artist receive a certain salary, you should double-check that with, perhaps, a union or an agent. Ideally, you should find more than one source that gives you the same information. (People may be well intentioned, but they’re sometimes wrong.) Lastly, you should always take notes on what you find. Designate a favorite notebook as your “research” notebook and write things down as you find them. You might think that you will remember everything (and you may), but you hopefully will be able to use this notebook for years to come, so write things down so that you can look back and reference them in the future. You might even want to consider a different color pen for each of your goals. The long and the short of it is that the more information you have, the more powerful you are, so let’s get to researching.

Schedule time this week to research your dream gigs and your side hustle. This week’s exercises are laid out for you, so don’t worry about what to research at what time (I will let you know). However, after this week, how much of your time should you spend researching? You have already figured that out! Look back at your importance scores for your main goals from day 5 of chapter 3. Divide the days of the week based on your importance score of these three goals (i.e., if you have scores of 10, 5, and 3, spend three days, one and a half days, and a half day on researching each of these goals). It doesn’t have to be exact—just intentional. Set a timer each day for the amount of time you would like to spend learning, and take notes on what you find. For your side hustle research, simply spend time researching when you’re waiting. Do research on your smartphone when you’re waiting in line at the coffee shop, when you’re waiting for the train or bus, when you’re waiting for the elevator, and so forth. You’d be surprised how much time we spend waiting in our lives. Now you have something productive to do during that time. In short, you should be continuing to research your industry throughout your career. Even if you set aside ten minutes per day to search for new opportunities or trends, you’re likely doing more research than most people.

LET ME TELL YOU A STORY. . . .

I was recently contacted by a friend of mine who is a television producer. She was working on creating a new crime show for a large network and asked if I knew of any talented actresses who would be a good host for her new television show. I sent her a few names of women I knew in the industry, and she scheduled auditions for them. (First of all, this is a testament to the fact that who you know in the arts is, perhaps, the most prominent indicator of success. See chapter 10 for more information on setting up your network of contacts.) A few days after the audition, my friend called to let me know that one of the actresses I sent her had booked the job (again, a very prestigious job). She raved about how the actress had done research before her audition on the crime that they were highlighting and that she was even able to improvise lines when asked because she was so well versed. She knew the names of investigators, dates, and details that could only have been found with additional research outside the copy. The network executives had been so impressed with this that they said they would be offering this actress the job without even asking her to come in for a callback. Now that, my friends, is the power of research. In the midst of a pool of very talented Los Angeles actresses with piles of television credits, the one woman who took the time to do research ended up booking the job.

DAY 1

Today’s research topic is people. Set a timer and do some research on who is currently successful at doing what you want to be doing. Find at least three people for your goal #1. Do you want to be a voice-over artist for cartoons? Seek out the names of the artists behind your favorite characters and find out as much about them as you can. Want to be a burlesque dancer in Vegas? Check out your favorite venues and discover who is in charge of casting for them. If you can’t readily find the information you’d like to know, pick up the phone! Or send an e-mail that says, “I am an aspiring burlesque dancer, and I hope to perform in great shows like yours one day. Would you mind telling me the name of your casting director?” Never underestimate the power of flattery. Dive deep into how the successful people in your industry have become so. What skills do they have? How did they prepare for their careers and subsequent successes? How did they get the job they currently have? Watch YouTube interviews with them, follow them on social media, and, if you’re brave, start a conversation with them! (We’ll talk about mentors in a later chapter.) Here’s an example:

Hopefully, your research will cause you to ask other questions and will open up your mind to additional opportunities to learn about your industry. In the previous example, if Mathilda didn’t already know about Jennie’s books on how to be a swing in a Broadway show, my guess is that she would be intrigued enough to do a little more research and buy and read her books. Or maybe she would be inspired to reach out to Jennie to ask her more questions. The more you research, the more you want to do more research (hopefully). Now, it’s your turn. Set your timer and get going. Grab a laptop and notebook, follow your progress, and at the end of your time, enter your top three most intriguing facts below:

Time to spend on research for Goal #1 (don’t forget to set a timer!): ________________

Goal #1: _____________________________________________

Person #1 who has done it:_______________________________

Fact #1:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #2:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #3:

_____________________________________________________

Person #2 who has done goal #1:__________________________

Fact #1:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #2:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #3:

_____________________________________________________

Person #3 who has done goal #1:__________________________

Fact #1:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #2:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #3:

_____________________________________________________

DAY 2

Today, we will be researching people who have been successful in your other two goals. Chances are, your first goal was the one to which you had delegated the most time, so you should be able to fit the research for your two remaining goals into one day. Don’t forget to look at where people who were successful in your art started, where they ended up, and what they needed to do to get where they were going. Look into what skills your people honed, what connections they made, which unions they needed to join, and what side hustles they needed to acquire to succeed. The more you learn about the people who have been successful in your industry, the more you learn about your industry. Set a timer and go!

Time to spend on research for Goal #2 (divide your daily allotment of time by 2):

_____________________________________________________

Goal #2: _____________________________________________

Person #1 who has done it: _______________________________

Fact #1:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #2:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #3:

_____________________________________________________

Person #2 who has done goal #2: __________________________

Fact #1:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #2:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #3:

_____________________________________________________

Person #3 who has done goal #2: __________________________

Fact #1:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #2:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #3:

_____________________________________________________

Time to spend on research for Goal #3 (the other half of your time from Goal #2):

_____________________________________________________

Goal #3: _____________________________________________

Person #1 who has done it: _______________________________

Fact #1:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #2:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #3:

_____________________________________________________

Person #2 who has done goal #3: __________________________

Fact #1:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #2:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #3:

_____________________________________________________

Person #3 who has done goal #3: __________________________

Fact #1:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #2:

_____________________________________________________

Fact #3:

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DAY 3

Now that you hopefully know a lot more about success in your art (and you have compiled a great list of potential future mentors), it’s time to talk money. This week you will research how much each of your goals pays. I know, I know. You would do it all for free because you love it so much, right? Unfortunately, the world we live in is not free. You have to buy food, pay rent/mortgage, pay for transportation, and you also need to be able to finance some fun! The failure to look at the commerce side of art is one of the largest missteps young artists take. You will eventually put together a list of your expenses and figure out how you will make ends meet in a later chapter, but for today, you’ll simply research salaries. This may take some digging, because pay rates are not always readily available. Start with union websites if there are any unions affiliated with your chosen jobs. If not, start reaching out to other people in the industry and ask for a “ballpark” pay scale. Remember that if your chosen goals are not salaried gigs, you should search for the pay rate per gig, day, week, or project. Here are two examples:

You may find different pay scales for the same job. If so, write them all down, and when you need to use them to calculate, take the mean (or average) of all of the same type of job. Keep in mind that the frequency of your gigs may not be consistent. We will work out how this pay works into your budget in future chapters. For now, just gather data.

Goal #1: _____________________________________________

Pay: $ __________________ per (amount of time or gig): _____________________

Alternative pay: $ _______________ per (amount of time or gig): _______________

Goal #2: _____________________________________________

Pay: $ __________________ per (amount of time or gig): _____________________

Alternative pay: $ _______________ per (amount of time or gig): _______________

Goal #3: _____________________________________________

Pay: $ __________________ per (amount of time or gig): _____________________

Alternative pay: $ _______________ per (amount of time or gig): _______________

DAY 4

Don’t forget your side hustle! For your side hustle, it may be a little easier to ask your friends to help you find information rather than researching the headlines. Do you have a friend who is making some extra dough writing a blog, being a nanny, or renting a room in his or her apartment on Airbnb? Chat with your friend and find out what you should do to follow suit. Then do a little online research or make some calls to validate the information you have gathered. Also, if you didn’t do it in chapter 3, find out how much dough you will make while performing your side hustle as well.

Person who is successful at your chosen side hustle: __________________________

Fact #1:

__________________________________________________

Fact #2:

__________________________________________________

Fact #3:

__________________________________________________

Pay: $ ___________________ per (amount of time or gig): ____________________

DAY 5

Today is the day to put all of your research to work. You will spend your last day of the week creating action items based on your research. You can pursue these during your weekly time to work on your future goals. Here are some ideas from the examples in this chapter:

Action Item #1
Buy and read Jennie Ford’s book on swinging.

Action Item #2
Find and sign up for a stunt class.

Action Item #3
Reach out to person #2 doing goal #1 and ask for specific advice.

Action Item #4
Attend a panel of Broadway swings, take notes, and meet people.

Don’t feel as if you have to do all of these things right now. These are just informed ideas of how to move your career ahead, for you to look back at when you have extra time and need extra ideas. Your turn!

Action Item #1

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Action Item #2

______________________________________________________

Action Item #3

______________________________________________________

Action Item #4

______________________________________________________

Action Item #5

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NOTE

1. Walter Loeb, “Amazon Is the Biggest Investor in the Future, Spends $22.6 Billion on R&D.” Forbes, November 6, 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2018/11/01/amazon-is-biggest-investor-for-the-future/#4166e5971f1d.