In the initial months of my move into the performing arts, one question kept coming back: “how much of my business experience can I use?” In part, it was one way I was trying to cling onto something (really anything) comfortable in a brand new environment. At the same time - subconsciously, I wanted to convince myself that I wasn’t truly starting from scratch because at 45, that is downright terrifying!!
Over the next 6 months, as I embarked on a fact finding mission to explore how I might get permission to work in the UK, and as I manoeuvred those phone calls, emails and conversations, I quickly began to discover that there was - in fact - a lot of business experience that I could bring.
For example, the art of networking, the art of negotiation, the art of enlisting and persuasion, the art of building trust, time management, stakeholder (both upwards and down) management, project management, professional communication and a solution-driven approach to all things … all of a sudden, all these skills that I’d been refining for the last 20 years in the corporate world came to the fore.
Yes, it is a different industry with different rules in the minutiae, but the game is fundamentally the same: make a buck.
Once I realized that, navigating this new world has become a lot less daunting. It actually becomes a welcome connection to a past life. It allows me to live in this new world with the same active tenacity and emotional engagement that I did my corporate life. I am also extremely lucky to have an agent who is equally astute, who supports my level of engagement.
And I realize - in speaking to my peers - that this is something many performing artistes are afraid of. Because it’s the “big bad business world” and because many people don’t feel they have the tools to represent themselves accurately, they shrink from it. But this part of making art is as important - I would even venture to say it’s more important.
So if anyone out there would like a sounding board, feel free to reach out. If I can offer a helpful perspective or point you in the right direction, I’d be most happy to.
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My name is Eu Jin. I embarked on a career as a professional actor after 20 years in the corporate world. I am a big advocate of personal growth in the performing arts. I dedicate time and energy in performing arts education, specifically in the arena of practical approaches to inner health because I believe that this lays the groundwork for a sustainable career as an artiste.
If you would like to engage in a conversation about a healthy inner life practice, please leave me a message on the "Contact" page of my website and a way to contact you. Thank you!