Touring with Justin Willman …
Starting in 2020, I began touring with Justin Willman, the star and creator of the hit Netflix show, Magic for Humans. Being able to work with, and learn under, someone like Justin is a privilege. His style of blending his talent into the television and live space of entertainment offer a great hybrid that helps break up the continuous travel. This tour experience has allowed me to learn about and implement the many needed cogs that help construct the machine that produces a highly successful career in entertainment.
Calgary, Canada
The way I see it, in order to build a solid career as an entertainer, or any career path for that matter, one should focus on the three types of work: hard work, smart work, and teamwork.
Hard work
We hear this all the time: “Make sure to work hard!” I stand with many others when I say that this is definitely the backbone for anyone’s success. In my opinion, it's first important to find what it is you like doing in order to give you a reason to work hard at it. This tenet holds for more than just your career; it will help improve other aspects of your life.
Taking Justin for example, I see that he is continuously working on a continuous influx of projects, whether they be television shows, live shows, or even the project that everyone has to deal with: managing the personal and familial relationships and commitments, respectively. Though it may seem daunting, I feel like this juggling act is both healthy and fun .
Prepping for the show in New Haven, CT
Traveling from theater to theater across the country has its vacation-like moments. However, it is more work than a simple getaway. Namely, waking up early; taking red-eye flights, going straight to the theater and setting up the show, performing the show, then packing it all up and getting dinner before we sleep. Oh, and the next morning… we do it all over again. This is not to say that this isn’t enjoyable. The lessons I’ve learned about the industry and about myself through the process have been invaluable to me.
Smart work
Justin and his lead writer, Daniel Keeno
Working hard is half the battle. Once you get used to putting in great effort into your vocation, you then have to ask yourself, “How do I best use my time efficiently and quickly to achieve my goals?” This is where the concept of smart work comes in.
One of the most valuable things that we have very little of is time. When taking a look at how Justin operates, one of the key things that helps him manage his time and work efficiently is being able to delegate roles. Whether it be having someone in charge of directing his TV show, or having another in charge of the script writing, delegating roles can save you time and increase the impact of your long-run success.
Of course, one can make the argument that you must have enough money to outsource any help that you need. I find that this comes naturally as you begin to work on your own; overtime, you will have more and more disposable income to help you delegate roles, thus helping you focus on other tasks that demand more of your attention.
At the end of the day, each of us are human beings. As much as we may like to think that we have the capacity to, we don't have the power that allows us to control and do everything on our own. However, when you start on your own, there are great resources to help get the ball rolling. One I found helpful is the book, Getting Things Done, by David Allen. Through the means of efficient organization and planning, Allen teaches the reader how to lead a more productive lifestyle and manage the seemingly never-ending to-do list in one’s life.
Teamwork!
Video shoot in Los Angeles: left to right (Justin Willman, Adam Franklin, Nick Paul, Jackson Willman and Jillian Sipkins)
Lastly, as it ties in with working smart, the element of teamwork is crucial to be able to grow. Relating to the tour, Justin has multiple teams of people who help develop and create his brand. To name a few; there are teams in charge of lighting, sound, staging, scripting, marketing, contract and legal-related, and many more. As one grows, their teams will ultimately start to develop and grow in tandem. A crucial tip that should be noted is that you want to be able to choose teammates that you trust. Unfortunately, the world is not perfect and there are always people out there with malicious intent — use your best judgment to fish through the bad apples.
In all, each of these three types of work is something that I strive to cultivate everyday in my life. It is rewarding to see the positive results that occur from it over time. Again, if you want to help kickstart your productivity train, here is the link to David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done.
