Showing Up – The Key to Building Your Resume
I find it fascinating to listen to success stories shared by middle-aged and older people. It never fails that there was always some choice tidbit that I would part away with. Now that I’m “one of those folks” I see that looking back into my “bag of tricks”, I have a lot of amassed wisdom that could probably aid those that are beginning their walk into the doors of the entertainment business with resume in hand. It does not matter what your dreams are; whether you desire to be a successful actor, director, producer, writer, agent or any one of the many other positions that exist in this business, this is true for everyone. I labelled this theory the “showing up” theory. It is easy and succeeds almost every time.
There are a lot of possibilities like meet-ups and networking opportunities to give out your resume that you can get hold of when you live in large cities like Los Angeles and New York. You will notice that your business card collection and your address book starts to fill whenever you attend those kind of meetings. If you are smart and keep in touch with those who you’ve met, then your circle of business associates is ever-growing and therefore your opportunities for success have widened. Nevertheless, how can you place yourself in such scenario? You got there thru the principle of “showing up”.
The Showing Up principle is by far, one of the most overlooked tidbits of wisdom. For example, I’m sure you all know and love the highly successful TV series, “Friends”. But how many of you know about how this theory really worked for one of the members of the characters?
One day, as the tale goes, an actor that had been very tired of working as an extra and wanted to get some “real acting jobs” showed up to work for just one more day. The days were getting very long for this person, but he adored the work and figured he’d show up just once more. Fortunately, that day he decided to show up changed his entire life and profession. As he was standing in the back of the room, the movie director of “Friends” yelled, “Does anyone know how to operate a cappuccino machine?” One of the extras raised his hand (although he had no idea how to operate one) and he was used in the scenario. That extra person soon earned the character name of Gunther, who owns the infamous coffee shop and he became a regular on one of the most well-liked TV shows of all time. Just what did he do? He simply reported to work and showed up even if he does not want to any longer.
The Showing Up theory is one that everyone can take part in, everywhere. Be around those that are successful in whatever you are pursuing. As long as you can do it then you attending classes, events, film conventions, and premieres with your resume may work to your benefit. It has usually proven out even in my personal life. Who knows, may be your life will transform just because you showed up.
