I remember this like it was yesterday.
It was a beautiful evening at my hotel courtyard in Jaipur, India. I was waiting on my nightly butter chicken with a cold kingfisher beer.
As my dinner arrived, I got an email notification. It’s the moment I had been waiting for; an official offer of the Chinese tour of our hit show.
Right now I was on my grand tour of Rajasthan, so I decided to let that email sit for now and finish my Indian dinner.
Wait for this. It’s no joke…
One week later, in Jaisalmer, a 9 hour, sleeper-car, train ride away, I sat down in a cafe overlooking the entrance to the sandstone, fortress city; cracking my fingers to reply to this job offer.
I KID YOU NOT, that second, I received an email calling off the aforementioned tour, my future two-months of employment.
This was the 3rd week in January. The world was only just now getting wind of Coronavirus.
“Did this virus cancel the tour?” I wondered over my sad excuse for a cup of American drip coffee.
By the time I made my homecoming back from the East, the news of the virus was escalating into a hysteria.
The first thing on my calendar after getting home was a gig with the rest. Deciding that I still wanted some time away, I planned to:
Commit to concert dance commission,
Burn the airline miles I had been hoarding.
I had performed 8 times a week in the same show for a year and a half! I needed a little break.
A BREAK IS WHAT I GOT!
My final dinner out before lockdown was with an old friend visiting the city for work. We sat down and at this point the virus was the only thing in the news, so we had to talk about it.
I remember saying I didn’t think it was that big of a deal…
Two days later she cancelled her flight for a rental car. A cloud of doom quickly settled over New York City.
Moulin Rouge cancelled their matinee and the entire theater industry promptly followed suite until we were finally ordered to shelter in place with NOWHERE to go.
Jobs obliterated. Artists left with no resources to maintain their New York City lifestyles.
One by one they left New York City.
By the literal droves!
Social media was a city-wide estate sale, rooms up for sublet and open “Dear John Letters” to the city on Facebook. Careers were over and they were never coming back.
For real this time.
Given the circumstances, nobody can blame them. When your livelihood is ripped from your hands like candy from a baby there was no possible way to keep on keeping on in a city with failing life support.
But listen…
That’s why I’m writing this. With everybody waiting to return to normal, I’m here to tell you that, for you, this is close to normal! Your very first pandemic can be a crucial learning opportunity for the rest of your career.
Taking away what you can from this industry shutdown will be the difference between suffering from job to job or comfortably living within your means.
I’m all for hope and positivity but with a health dose of realism. Being wary of the future is what made it possible for me to pay off my college loans, weather this pandemic and get me inside a New York Times bestselling book on personal finance.
Once I started self-educating on personal finance, I discovered I already used a lot of the finance advice naturally, but it would have helped if I had known sooner. After mentoring newly grads and even friends of mine, I’m SHOCKED to see that schools still aren’t helping actors and dancers with this crucial life skill.
If you are a dancer or actor and have yet to think of your financial future (like a retirement account) then I’m here to teach you about it.
There is a lot of confusing financial advice out there and there’s close to nothing focused on the up and coming actors and dancers.
Do you want to have the ability to maintain your lifestyle between gigs?
Don’t want to sweat sending in rent when you’re unemployed?
Or maybe you dream of the ability to take a vacation…
Sign up now for my email list below and I’ll start leading you through the things you will absolutely need to know!
