Your Million Dollar Career Starts When You Invest Like It

Are you trying to build a million dollar acting career while operating with a discount mindset? It is time to stop hunting for the free workshop and start investing in the rooms that actually change lives.

In this video, we discuss why some actors expect Oscar level results on a Groupon budget and why that approach is keeping you stuck in the same tier. We explore the real cost of being in the right rooms, covering everything from the psychological power of having skin in the game to the way industry professionals view your training credits. You will hear personal insights on how training with legends like Stella Adler and Roy London can open doors before you even open your mouth, and why your reputation is built on the quality of your choices rather than the convenience of your classes.

Key topics covered in this session:
The dangers of cheap headshots and outdated acting techniques
Why proximity to high-level talent is your greatest industry asset
How to create an acting savings account to fund your professional growth
The difference between a hobbyist and a professional performer
Why sacrifice is the necessary ingredient to reach the top of the industry
The psychological shift that happens when you pay for quality

If you want professional results, you have to act like a professional. Stop negotiating with your potential and start making the investments that your future self will thank you for.

Chapters:
0:00 The Million Dollar Career vs. The 99 Cent Mindset
3:15 The Hidden Cost of Cheap Classes and Headshots
6:45 Why High Ticket Training Is Worth the Investment
10:30 How Elite Training Opens Doors Without an Audition
14:15 Developing Professional Craft and Consistency
18:00 The Power of Proximity and Elite Networks
22:00 Why Paying More Changes How You Show Up
26:15 Practical Advice for Career Budgeting and Savings
29:45 Stop Treating Your Career Like a Hobby
33:15 Keeping Promises to Yourself and Taking Action
35:01 Final Thoughts and Success Mindset

What is the one room you need to get into this year to change your career? Let me know in the comments below and make sure to subscribe for more common sense advice for your acting journey.

#ActingTips #CareerMindset #ActingCareer #ProfessionalGrowth #IndustrySecrets

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Let me ask you a question. Why do you want a million-dollar career with a$9.99 mindset? Why do you want to be in the room with the best, but only if it's free? Let's talk about this. Because some of you want Oscar results on a group on coupon. And I love you, but we're not gonna do that anymore. Oh no, we're not. So let's talk about it. Let's talk about the cost of being in the right rooms. And I'm not just talking money, I'm talking priority, I'm talking sacrifice, and I'm talking standards. As actors, well, I have seen many actors, um, because this isn't me so much. Even when I didn't have money, I was trying to figure out how I was gonna get in that big room. What I've noticed over the years is that many actors are always hunting for that sale. They want the free workshop, the cheap headshots, the$40 acting class, the exposure opportunity for free, and then get confused when casting doesn't call back, agents don't take you seriously, directors overlook you, and you stay in that same stuck tier. You know, you're not moving up anywhere. You may move laterally in those spaces where it is all about the cheap, but you are not moving up in a way that you are really having that momentum. One of the things you gotta know is that you can't build a premier career with discount decisions. So let's get real. Cheap classes often give you outdated technique, teachers with no industry respect, there's no real access, there's no real networking, there's no real growth. Um, you are in the room with other actors who are shopping in the discount section as well. You know, y'all want to get there, but nobody's getting there because everybody is on this low level. So uh one of the things that I see all the time is actors wanting cheap photographers. And what comes with cheap photographers? Bad lighting, generic shots, no branding, and no casting impact. You want to be in free rooms. Well, everybody who's in the free room, they're also stuck. They're trying to figure out how do I get to the next level? Well, if you're in a free room, you're not gonna get to the next level because they're not giving you anything. Usually, when you get into a free room, they're offering offering you a ticket to a higher paid room. There's no industry power in those free rooms. Unless you are a SAG AFTRA member and you go to one of their events, that's that's the only place where I know that you're not paying for it in that way, but you are paying for it because you're paying your dues, you are a union member, you've paid a big uh um you've paid a big price to become a union member. So you're paying a cost, right? Um, when you're in a free room, there is no elevation, you cannot move up. Here are some of the worst parts of getting free or cheap. You tend to get comfortable there, and you don't understand that comfort can be a very big expense. Early in my career, I asked myself, I started doing this in the beginning because I wanted to be with the best. And because I was in the music business, I had a sense of how low budget act uh low budget musicians were treated as opposed to those who came uh for the gala. You know, that we had we had different tiers of artists. Um, when I worked at Casablanca, we had the beginning level and they didn't really invest in them. Then we had the mid-level. They were making some songs and doing some stuff, but then we had the big tier um um musicians, which were the Donna Summer, uh Village People, um Parliament Funkadelic, they came fully loaded, they came with um PR, they came with all these goodies, and the new artists didn't have much, and the record company wasn't going to spend much on them. So, because of that, I started to learn if you want the best, you have to you have to pay for it, you have to sacrifice for it, and you have to make that your focus. So, when um, how do you get in the best rooms? Not the most affordable, not the most convenient, but the best, like being in Ivana Chubbick's class or or doing the intensive with Larry Moss or other respected teachers in the business. Uh go to London, uh do a session at Rada. That stuff costs. Those rooms are not cheap. It's not cheap to to to be at Rada. It's not cheap to be um, you know, it it costs money. It it they are high-ticket items, and guess what? They are totally worth it. If you believe in your heart that this is what you're supposed to do, that you are an actor and you are gonna make it, then that's where you want to be. You want to be with the best. So, because you study with the best, if you have that mindset, if you're not in the discount section, but if you have the mindset, you know what, I want to be with the best people. I want to be with those act was with those acting teachers that have taken actors to awards like the Emmys, like the Um Golden Globes or the Oscars. They are serious to um have a coaching session with those teachers costs a lot of money. But with that cost, if you get the right material, that that buoys you up, that gets you a lot of buzz. It doesn't happen magically. You have to work towards it, and when you're working with the best, when you're studying with the best, directors respect you, producers recognize you, and casting director definitely notice. Industry will open doors for you faster when they see um a high-profile acting teacher on your resume, because the first thing they go is, oh, they're studying with so-and-so. They must be good, they must have craft, they must be about their business. If they see names they don't know, unless you are an actor that they need that that you have that look that they need for that piece, you're gonna get overlooked because there are other actors similar to you that have better credits, that have a uh uh um that have better training, and that's who they're gonna call on. So I I I want to share that I have gotten many jobs because of who I've trained with. And it started early on. Um, I got work because I studied with um Stella Adler. I remember going on an audition. Uh, I had to go on the set of a movie of the week, and the dire I met the director and he looked at my resume, and all he did was he looked, he says, You've studied with Stella. That's all I need to know. You start tomorrow. That was it, literally. I I never even got to audition because he just gave me the job based on the fact that I studied with Stella Adler. So, so I'm not telling you anything that um I make up in my head. I'm telling you stuff from my experience of things that have worked and things that work. I've gotten um I've gotten into many rooms because of who I know, who I've worked with. And then once you're in the room, then you have to deliver the goods. Then you have to come with the goods, and that is, and that's the second part of why you want to work with the best, because if you're working with the best, and and I'm not saying, you know, I took um I took a one-week intensive with somebody, and now I'm I'm I'm ready to act. No, I'm talking about studying with somebody for a period of time, a couple of years. Um, my first major teacher was a man named Roy London, who Ivana Chubek came out of, um, and and some other really great acting teachers came out of Roy. But I was with him for nine years, and I developed craft, I developed um my technique, I developed stuff. So when I went out to audition, I was solid. I wasn't um, you know, flubbing my lines. I was very, one of the things that I was very proud of was the fact that I could hit my mark, uh, not only say my lines, but actually deliver a performance in the first take, in the second take, in the third take, in the fourth, fifth, and sixth take, if I had to. And there were times when sometimes I had to do multiple takes. You know, some uh something was not right technically, there was a problem, um uh an actor didn't get their lines right, but because I had training, because I was studying with great people, and and uh studying with Stella Adler, I studied with Stella for four years. I've studied with great teachers, and that has really made a difference in my career. And so I was never one who was just you know, just be in an acting class. You don't want to just be in an acting class if you're not getting all the benefits of being in an acting class. You want to be, um, you want to get all the benefits, right? You you want um when you're working with great people, um, one of the the uh quotes, and and this is true: money be gets money. So if you're working with the best, you're gonna always kind of be in that circle with the best. Um, when you invest in quality, you elevate your skill, you elevate your circle and you elevate your reputation. You don't just learn technique, but you gain proximity to all the people around you. And proximity, let me tell you, that is power. That's the power. So let me break it down for you. Um, going cheap or the free route often leads to delayed growth because you're spending years having to unlearn bad habits. You are in a weak network when you go cheap or the free route. You're you're surrounded by people who can't pull you up. They can't help you. If anything, they're trying to pull you down because they think that they're you know there's not enough for everybody. And when you're in a when you are in a winner circle, what you find is that there's enough room for everybody because as actors, we are all different. We all bring a different sensibility to the role, to the script, to the performance. So when when you're in a weak place, a cheap place, a free place, you got low confidence. It it it it doesn't help you. You know, you you those are the places where you tend to feel more like an imposter than when you're at the top of of the of the of the food chain. You know, your reputation gets a little risky. People talk, um, if your training is questionable, it's gonna show in your performance, it's gonna show in your auditions, it's gonna show in your self-tape. Um and there's a false economy. You can save$2,000, but then you'll lose$200,000 in opportunities, meaning you can get that headshot for a hundred bucks, but you're gonna miss out on those auditions that you might have been able to book might have been right for you because but because you had a hundred dollar headshot, it you it might have looked janky, and the casting director just scrolled on by. So cheap is not affordable if it's costing you time, money, and attention. And time is one thing you're never gonna get back. So let's talk about the benefits of investing as an actor, making that high uh ticket uh uh investment. When you invest properly in your career, number one, you sharpen your craft at a high level. You're working with other professionals who are working so they're serious about the business. When uh you build better relationships that matter because you're now at a different level. You gain credibility, you develop discipline, and you raise your standard because you are around other people who are raising their standard. And something happens psychologically. When you pay more, you show up differently. You know, um uh oh God, maybe uh about 10 years ago, maybe a little more, I was having a hard time because I was doing production, I was working in production, and I was feeling like I wasn't really putting time in myself. So I hired a career coach to help me. And because I was paying for that career coach, I showed up on time, I did my homework, I did everything I needed to do because I was paying for it. I wasn't just talking to friends, you know. Sometimes you talk to friends and you say, okay, why don't you try this? You try that, and then you go, yeah, yeah, and then you let it go. But when you pay for something, you are showing up, especially if it costs you money that you may not have that you have to sacrifice for. You show up differently, you prepare harder, you focus deeper, and you respect the opportunities more because now you have skin in the game. You have you have put your blood, sweat, and tears into it. You know, um uh early on, when I was a struggling actor, um one of the things I always made sure I had, and this may sound terrible, but one of the things I always made sure I had was money for my acting class. So whatever little jobs I had to take on to pay for that class, that is what I was doing. That money was committed to my acting class. And, you know, and and my rent. Those were and and my card note, those were like the big three ticket items. I I never, it was never about, well, I can't pay for my class this month. No, I had I had to figure out where that money was gonna come from because I needed that class. That class was the ticket to get me work when when I was um sharpening my instrument, I was being able to get the work. Um, and so that was really important for me. And I'm sharing that with you because I see a lot of times actors will say, Well, I can't really afford acting classes this month, so I'm I'm not gonna go this month. And then this month turns into the next month and the next month and the next month. You look up and you've gone a whole year without taking classes. How are you expecting to land projects if you are not training, if you're not going to class, if you're not working out in the gym, and you know, um, we will spend more money working out at a gym and buying the the cute outfits than we will an acting class, and you got to turn that around, you know. Um transformation comes when you stop saying, I don't have the money, and say, How do I make this work? How do I get to take my classes monthly? That might mean that you have to um budget in a different way. Stop treating your career like a hobby. If you want professional results, act like a professional, be that professional. You know, if you're spending too much money eating out or or um having random subscriptions or impulse Amazon buys, vacations, uh, taking those vacations. I I know an actress really talented, but she's more concerned with her vacations. And I'm not saying don't take vacations, but you gotta plan it accordingly. Maybe you can take one vacation out of the year so that you can take your classes. Again, you're not taking classes to take classes, you're taking classes to keep you sharp so you can be ready when you have to audition, when you have to do a self-tape, when you have a callback. You want to be ready. You you'd be surprised at what you can accomplish if you change your focus and start thinking about the career, not only that you want, but the career you're fighting for. Okay, this means a lot to me, so I'm gonna do it. Not well, you know, I can I can take a voice class later or uh Alexander Technique another time. If that's something you need, you should be taking that class now, not waiting for later, not, you know, um as as an actor, producer, podcaster. Those things are really important to me. So there is a a a um podcast summit coming up. It's called the Podcast Summit, by the way, and it's coming up in July. Well, I'm not waiting for uh a month before to get my stuff together. I got my stuff together. It's like, okay, I'm gonna get my ticket, and then I'm gonna get my room, and then I'm gonna get my airfare together. So I did it in steps, but it is done. I am ready to go to that podcast summit because that uh summit really helps me with my podcast, it really makes a difference. And if you are thinking of doing a podcast, you should go to the podcast summit too. It that uh the um uh I'll just tell you real quick the website is podcastsummit.com. And I tell you, it is such it is such a great investment that I make going to that podcast that it it sets me up for the following my following season. Um, and that's how I take my stuff. So in my acting classes, and right now I have been immersed in my voice classes. I am also looking, I'm I'm taking some Alexander Technique classes, and I'm looking at okay, I need to, I need to step up my game with Alexander Technique because it really helps me to relax, it helps me to be present now, it helps me with life. So um, I'm not telling you what to do, but I'm just giving you some some mama advice. Advice from Common Sense Mamita that if you want to be serious about your career, you have to figure out how to invest differently, how to um make bigger investments in your career and stop um stopping cheap and stop you know going to the discount centers. Let me tell you, I used to love the 99 cent store. I am still uh pining over the loss of the 99 cent store. That was my jam. I could go and get all kinds of things in there and it was great. And I got discounts. There were certain things that I could get in there that if I went to a regular store, it cost me maybe uh, you know, three times more. But when I want something important, I am not going to the 99 cent store or the Dollar Tree or uh whatever cheap store. There are times when you can look in in the um in the clearance racks, you know, if if if you're buying new outfits, it's it's great to go into the clearance rack and go, oh, okay, this looks Good, I'm gonna take this, but there are times when you want to look your best, so you are gonna get a tailor-made suit, you're gonna really look fabulous because it makes a difference. It makes a difference, and I tell you that from somebody who grew up in Spanish Harlem, where we would go to the Malqueta to get our clothes, and they were cheap, and it was not good, and so um, you know, I I've learned that there's there's a a time to get the Malqueta for those of you who don't know and you didn't see Bad Bunny. The Malqueta was a place in Spanish Harlem between 11th Street and 116th Street, where think of like a big swap meet almost. And they had all these different uh um kiosks with different uh on one side you had food, you had uh seafood, you had uh meat, and then on the other side you had clothes and you had uh pots and pans and all kinds of things. It was kind of like our department store slash supermarket slash fish store. And so uh that's where we shopped. Um, but as I as I got older, as I started understanding, I would go downtown. I went to Bloomingdale's, I went to um Macy's, I went to um oh god, uh uh Bondwitt Teller's to get the high quality stuff. And in acting, we gotta pay attention to the high quality stuff. Not everything is high quality that costs a lot of money, so you have to do your homework, you know, because I've seen I've seen teachers out there charging all this money, and they're not good. They are not good. I've you know, I've dealt with with teachers that are not all that. I I've uh paid high-ticket items for publicity that were not all that. I I I've spent a pretty penny on things that were not worth it, but I never let the money stop me from moving forward. It's like I will figure it out. So I I just want to share that with you because hi Camila, I just want to share that with you because it is so important to honor your career and and and invest in it in the best way. So let's talk about um putting money aside. Um, one of the things I learned early on was to have a separate little um bank account that I would put money into for classes and whatever I thought I might need, you know, I put money in there for my dues, my acting dues. So I had a separate acting account that I would just put savings. And what's funny is I didn't have a savings account, but I had an acting savings account. So if I needed um new headshots, if I needed extra pictures, if I needed to go get an outfit, I had this little acting savings account to take care of stuff that I needed to do. Um so I want you to think about when you're looking for acting class, look for acting classes that the industry respects. Look for um look for environments where real actors are working. I don't mean real actors, but uh that that that the actors are really um working professionally. Look for there to be results in that community or in that class or in that um or or that uh workshop, that there are results. People do get results from it. Um look up their reputation. And the same with with agents and managers, you know, Google them, find out what what is bad about them and what is good about them. Because most most agencies, if you if you Google um bad reports, you'll have stuff and then you can discern, well, you know, they're they're making comments that's not really um it is it it's not really all that. Um, because there are people that just have bad intentions, but you wanna you wanna check out people's reputations because sometimes there's legitimacy to it. So a high-ticket item, again, going back to that high-ticket item, it doesn't mean hype, it means alignment. Don't pay and then play small. That's another thing. You know, you don't want to take a class where you're spending all this money and then you're not prepared, you haven't done your work, you didn't memorize the lines, you you didn't bring what you needed to do, you're playing small in that room, you're you're intimidated by everybody in the room. You are just important as they are. So if you're paying for a class, get your money's worth. You know, even if you're not going up that week, be there, take notes, pay attention to what's going on because you can learn from just watching other actors in the room. If you get in a room with the best, and you one of the things that I've learned is when I'm in a room with the best, it just sharpens me. It makes me stand up, it makes me want to be more professional, and it makes me want to be more memorable, and it also makes me competitive. It it just gets me ready. Um, right now I'm in a I'm in a uh group in a community where we meet every day, Monday through Fridays, from 4:45 to 6 a.m. my time. I pay for that class, I show up for that class or that community, and I am so fired up when I'm done because everybody in that community wants the same thing. They want to be successful in their in their businesses, um, with their projects, with what they're doing. So we're all like pushing through. It's like, whoo, let's go. And that's what you want. You want to be in a space where you just feel like you're moving forward, you're doing it, you're you're making it happen. So it if you're paying for a class, do not just sit there. You are there to ascend, you are there to take charge, to be that superstar that you said you wanted to do. So I beg you, do not sit outside the gate complaining about the castle if you refuse to invest in the key. Don't do it. In ghetto uh wording is don't be complaining if you ain't doing the work. Shut up. You know, if you're not gonna pay for it, then shut up. If you're not gonna do the work that you say uh you say you want, you say you want to be the actor, you say you want to be this, but you're not willing to sacrifice to to put skin in the game, then quiet, stop it. This is not about uh flexing money or understanding value, it is about you building a learn a long-term career. And sometimes the room that scares your wallet is the room that changes your life. So ask yourself these questions. Am I operating on the level I want that I say I want? Am I operating on the level I say I want? Or am I negotiating with my potential, which is scary. Don't negotiate with your potential. You want to expand yourself, you wanna you want to go beyond your potential. So, uh my my other question for you is what room do you need to be in next? What is the room you need to get into next? Write that down, then start making uh steps to get there. And what are you willing to sacrifice to get there? I'm not talking prostitution, I'm not talking uh uh anything illegal, but what are you willing to sacrifice? Maybe you need to get up an hour earlier. You know, in my case, I get up three hours earlier to be in my groups. Um, what are you willing? So I sacrifice sleep. What are you willing to sacrifice to get where you want to be? There is a cost to being in the right room, and there's nothing that compares to the cost of never getting there. You know, you can say you want this or you want that. It's not what you say, it's what you do. So, what are you doing to get what you want? You know, what is it that you are doing to get what you want? That's the key. That that's where the rubber meets the road. Are you willing to do what it takes to get where you want to go? Stop talking and start doing. Take action, put your money where your mouth is. You know, take charge of the things you want to say. Keep the promises to yourself. If you made a promise to yourself saying, I'm gonna be an actor and I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that, then keep your promise. Keep your word to yourself. That's that is a really high-ticket item to do the thing you said you wanted to do, to make it happen. Do you know how many actors uh come to uh Hollywood saying they want to act, they want to do this, and the minute something happens that makes them uncomfortable, and I'm not talking about anything um traumatizing, I'm just talking about taking a class where the teacher is not praising you but giving you critique, they're ready to go. They don't want any, or or my favorite, you take the classes and then you're waiting to be discovered. Instead of you hustling, going out there, submitting your yourself for different things, um, going to events where you meet casting directors, people get to know you. This is a a business where they hire who they know. They want to work with people they know are gonna show up. So if I have two candidates and I know one and I know that they're qualified, I know that they're on time, that they, you know, they do good work, and then there's somebody I don't know. Guess what? I'm gonna go with the person I know. I'm not gonna go with the um person who I don't have any information on. So as an actor, you want to get out there and meet industry people, you want to um build relationships, you want to grow, you want to develop, you want to do theater, get into plays, even if they're really bad plays, get into them because they'll stretch you. You know, um when you're in a bad play, it makes you grow on a whole nother level. We talk, you know, it's always um we always feel like if it wasn't successful in our minds, then it wasn't successful. I want you to know that because you did it, you succeeded. You did it, and everything that you all the crazy stuff you went through, all the uh um challenges that you faced, you made it through. That is success. There really is no failure because in everything that we do, even if we don't get what we thought we were gonna get, we're learning something valuable that takes us to the next level. I can't wait to hear your success story. So let me know how this um how this talk impacted you. I want to know. Let me know. Give me some give me some information. I love hearing good good information, and even if you're stuck, even if you have a question, let me know. And that is it. I bid you a wonderful ado, and I can't wait to see you on the other side.