free game
“I’ve been lucky enough to have some amazing mentors over my career, and now i’m looking to give back to the next generation of hustlers who are looking to break into the entertainment industry. here are 5 rules to get you in the game”
1. find your “in”
no doubt, this is the hardest part. it really is all about “who you know”. so you’re going to want to network with anyone associated with the individual or brand you’d like to work for. say your dream is to be lebron james’ personal photographer - research and make a list of his inner circle (manager, publicist, agent, etc.) and hit their dm’s and email addresses with an intro. the key is to be persistent without being annoying. this is exactly how i leveraged my first job at bad boy in 06’. give it a try! what do you have to lose?!
2. show value
this might be the most important piece of advice i can give you. whenever you are engaging someone about working for them always start your message explaining what value you can bring to their team first. offer your services for free if you have to. True story - my first year working for Diddy at Bad Boy Records i worked for $0. did it suck? for sure! everyone thought i was nuts. but I did whatever I had to do to get my foot in the door.
3. stand out
whether you’re still hustling for a job or you’ve landed one. you have to stand out. there are thousands of people applying to work in the industry every day so you need to be more hungry and more savage than them. if you’re asked to do a task…go 200% with it. be proactive. be tenacious. find the holes that no one else is filling and master them yourself. if this is just a part time hobby for you, get out the game now cause you won’t last.
4. hustle hard
here is where i might lose some of you. and that’s ok, not everyone is cut out for this. one trait i pride myself on is my tenacity. while you’re sleeping 8-10 hours, i get about 5. why just 5? because i’m way too anxious to get up and hustle more than you. my friends who work typical 9-5 jobs think its nuts i answer my phone at 3am…but that’s the game. be available, be reliable and hustle hard. do get some sleep tho, it is important.
5. invest in you
it’s never too early to invest in yourself. you want to always sharpen your skills and learn from mentors. i highly suggest subscribing to masterclass.com and taking courses to learn from the best. i recommend taking courses by bob iger and anna wintour. personally, i was self taught. i learned from studying what my mentors had done in my position and soaked up any free advice i could get online.
i hope these 5 tips help you in your pursuit of landing your dream job. it’s not easy but with alot of persistence and drive you can do it! keeping looking for your in, show your value, stand out, hustle harder than the next person and invest in yourself and i promise good things will happen! whether you’re fresh out of high school or attending college, i’m always available to help give you advice on how to pursue your dream. feel free to reach out anytime. good luck!