Thanks for tuning in to my radio station ‘WII FM’ (“What’s In It For Me?”) as I attempt to summarize the benefits and outcomes you might reasonably expect from being a creative and working with a coach.
I can’t emphasize enough how much a good work ethic is key to success, particularly in the early days of your career.
“Good luck finds people who work hard” says Dave Fishwick; “The more I practice, the luckier I get” said Gary Player.
As a coach, I can’t instil that in you; but I can lead by the example of my own past.
During my 4-year apprenticeship in an engineering factory, my sole goal was to qualify and leave factory employment. A close second was to be a radio presenter.
So I presented 2 hour shows, weekly, at night, on University Radio Aston; a Saturday afternoon sports show on BHBN (the Birmingham Hospital Broadcasting Network, that went to 32 hospitals in the West Midlands), and a Sunday morning breakfast show at Hospital Radio Highcroft. This lead to the opportunity to co-present a Sunday morning show on BRMB, the Independent Local Radio station for Birmingham.
All that allowed me to leave the factory after my graduation, for a position as a trainee sound technician at Central Television. I decided to get myself trained, and to practice, every single aspect of sound operations there, not just as a studio assistant: such as boom operating, PA mixing, film recording for documentaries and drama, news recording, live news mixing, film dubbing, video dubbing, Outside Broadcasts. I took on extra shifts when people went on holiday, or were sick.
When I went freelance I used all those skills. But work can be patchy at first, so I also successfully managed a band for the first few years to ensure I paid the mortgage.
When I decided to open my own studio, I would work through the night on the kit to maximize the huge investment I’d made. With the intern I was working with to master our DVDs, he brought a university colleague along and I started a graphics company with them.
We had a podcasting company when podcasts were in their infancy. I added a Bluetooth marketing company to the fold.
More than 20 years later, the audio company and the graphics company are still operating profitably, albeit they’ve moved with the times and industry fashions and trends.
A work ethic pays.
The waiting list for my coaching services and details of my coaching content, including how to download my free eBook on the benefits of coaching for creatives, awaits you here:
www.soundproducer.com.au/coaching
(Joining the waiting list commits you to nothing other than me sending you more information, and an invitation for us to chat about your own needs on Zoom.)
[Picture credit 1980s BRMB studio: John Slater]
