Sunday, January 25, 2015

The Entertainment Biz- What's the Secret?

A few years ago a friend of mine from Memphis who is a producer/manager in the music biz  was sitting around a table with about a dozen people. He says:

"People always ask me: What's the secret?"

"The secret is be yourself".

Some of the people seemed to have a bit of a puzzled look on their face. When he said this, I realized that I had already begun living the 'secret'...

I had became myself- finally, and I was loving it.

Here I was a female in a man's world of Djing. I had a goal, and as time progressed, I became more and more myself as I narrowed my sight at what I wanted, and went toward what drew me.

I created a Dj Koolaide's world. A world where all good music was treated equal, no matter the background, financial status or social following of the artist. It felt good to help people and be in control of went over the FM airwaves and on the internet.

In the past, I went through emotional abuse and adversity. I stuck to drab and neutral colors of clothing. Needless to say, I wasn't very confident. However, time progressed and started to follow what was pulled me and what was in my heart, I came out of my shell more and more.  I began wearing bright vibrant colors of the rainbow. The colors and the name Koolaide means a lot to me. All of the metaphoric meanings it has- Flavors, Diversity, Smiles, Fun, Sweet, Colorful, Vibrant, and most of all, Passionate. Another artist friend of mine said my flavor was Passion fruit. He's probably right because my passion for music and helping others is strong.

I lived the 'secret'. I became myself. My brand flourished. With this crazy brand, I became somewhat famous, which was really never my intention, but it happened. It was a crazy and wild feeling. But the only problem was, I wasn't making enough money to compensate for the fame. Awards, Accolades and Acknowledgement came, and I gratefully accepted. But then came the reality of when is the money going to come? The fame was spinning out of control and I couldn't afford to keep up with it. Crazy huh?

As everything was coming to a head, I was notified that the radio station I had my show out of was closing down. It was then I decided it was time to finish my book, and now I'm writing this blog.. while still living the secret- just simply being myself.

I plan to go back to the music biz because I can't stay away for too long. I love it too much and it's a very big part of my roots. I just needed a break from it for a little while so I can come back at it from a different angle. I'm going to continue living the 'secret' and sharing of myself and my findings with you on this blog. Hopefully, while sharing of myself, you can find yourself too ;)

Are you living the secret?

Do you feel comfortable being yourself? If not, maybe it's time to do some soul searching and find out exactly what you want, who you are, and what you want in life. Once you figure that out, the rest will fall into place.

There's a lot more that goes into success other than just believing in yourself. You have to put the belief into action, one step at a time and not stop at signs of failure. Failure is just another sign that you are getting closer to your success ;)

