by Ken Coleman
Producers Give Direction
Finally, producers can give you direction on where the marketplace is headed and what it will take to succeed there. Their insight is so valuable because they actually have access to the jobs and positions you want, and they can provide expert advice on the exact steps you should take to get there. They can share the ins and outs of an industry or discipline, helping you understand the expectations required of you. And producers can warn you of any pitfalls or obstacles that you might come up against so that you can better prepare yourself for the challenges ahead.
INTERACTING WITH PRODUCERS
When you first connect with a producer, one thing you absolutely don’t want to do is ask for a job. Believe me. I made that mistake once. I was so fired up and enthusiastic about getting time with this producer that I actually asked if he would hire me. He didn’t. And I’m also pretty sure he never met with me again. Instead, you should always approach producers with a posture of humility and a hunger to learn from them. Be prepared to ask good questions and respectfully make the most of your time with them. Articulate where you want to go in your career and listen closely to the advice and feedback they offer.
Trina called my show one day to ask for advice on how to change industries. She had all the qualifications to move into the tech industry, but she had no relationships or connections in this field. I suggested she find a producer who could tell her what it would take to cross over into that new industry. To her credit, she did her homework, talked to everyone she could, and found out there was a CEO of a local technology company who actually lived six houses down the street from her. So she connected with the neighbor and asked to take him to lunch. They had a fantastic lunch, and Trina took a moment to explain her desire to switch industries. She never once asked the guy for a job, but she did bring along a notepad and pen so that she could write down his guidance and advice.
The next day she sent a short, friendly follow-up email. It simply said, “Thank you for spending time with me. That was so encouraging.” The CEO replied saying, “Absolutely. Let me know if you ever want to get together again.” Several months later, the CEO emailed Trina again to tell her that his company had a position that he thought would be a good fit and asked her if she was interested!
Trina’s story shows The Proximity Principle at work. She met a producer and didn’t ask for a job. She sought advice, took notes on how to navigate her new career path, and left that lunch meeting equipped and encouraged. And I believe the producer walked away from that lunch impressed with Trina—with an antenna up about opportunities for her. As soon as something came across his desk, he thought of his neighbor. Now that’s the power of having producers in your circle!
Help Them Win
Early in my career, I received some great input from a woman named Jen, who at the time was a director for Comcast Sports Southeast. My professor, Jeff, at the broadcasting school I attended in Atlanta, was able to get me a sit-down with her. I told her I had a concept that could be a show or at least a segment on the Sports Night program she produced. She liked my idea but clarified that she just didn’t have the budget to hire me. At the end of the conversation, she let me know that if I was ever going to get the opportunity, I would need to put together a three-minute sample segment.
If you help people win, they will open a door of opportunity for you.
She explained exactly what I needed to do: create a segment using three cameras, clear audio, and great lighting—or the pitch would not stand a chance. These were things I hadn’t learned yet, so I took notes on everything she said, along with the specific instructions, and then reached out to a guy named Rob Mottola. Rob was a director and producer I met through mutual friends, and I knew if anyone could help me pull this off, it would be him. He offered to come over and shoot the segment, and he even edited it for me. Once it was finished, I delivered the segment to Jen, and fortunately she liked it enough to put it on the air. Then she invited me to follow it up with four or five more segments. I did all of this for free and paid for it out of my own pocket, but I was able to prove to myself that I could get something on television. This project was probably one of the biggest momentum shifts in my career. I realized through that experience that if you help people win, they will open a door of opportunity for you.
Because of their positions and experience, producers have the power to advise you, hire you, and connect you to others in ways that could speed you along on the path to your dream job. They can choose you for their team or recommend you to others looking for just the right person. The attitude and effort you bring to your interactions with them can make all the difference. In fact, I would go as far as to say your career advancement depends on your proximity to them. So make it a priority to invest some of your time with them. You won’t regret it!
The Proximity Process
1. Make a list of companies and organizations in your desired field, then find out who the producers are.
2. Determine exactly what you want to learn about their industry, then write down a few key questions you’d like to ask them.
3. Schedule a brief meeting (in person or by phone) to learn about their industry.
PART 2
THE PLACES
Success doesn’t come to you. You go to it.
—Marva Collins
Climbing a mountain must be done in stages. No climber, no matter how skilled, should rush a climb. The reality is, every climb begins with a trek into the foothills of the mountain. Then, there are acclimation climbs where you stop to rest, allowing your body to adjust to the strains of elevation. Next, there’s a short expedition to the basecamp where you organize your gear, check the weather, and prepare for the actual climb. Finally, if everything up to this point checks out, you can begin your approach to the summit—the last leg of the climb, requiring the most advanced climbing techniques.
As you begin your climb, think of these stages as the places that will get you in proximity to your dream job. Each place prepares you for the next. In mountain-climbing terms, climbers can’t charge up a mountain at a reckless pace without going through each stage. There are no shortcuts to the summit.
EVERY PLACE MATTERS
Believe me, I would have loved to take a few shortcuts as I climbed my personal Mount Everest. But spending time in each stage is just part of the deal. If I had skipped any of the places on my climb (broadcasting school, my internship at the sports radio station, launching my first podcast, and the Saturday afternoon radio show), I would have missed the opportunity to learn, practice, perform, and grow. What I learned from my successes—and my many failures—equipped me for my dream job. As leadership expert John Maxwell puts it, “Growth is the great separator between those who succeed and those who do not.” Growth takes time. It’s not something you can be impatient with. And don’t let limiting beliefs (fear and pride) convince you that these stages are unnecessary or that there’s some way to avoid the work required to accomplish your climb. On your Proximity Principle climb, each place will prepare you for long-term success.
On your Proximity Principle climb, each place will prepare you for long-term success.
Let’s look at journalist and TV host Katie Couric’s career. Couric was regarded as one of the most successful—and popular—newscasters in America until she stepped out of news broadcasting. But there were no shortcuts for Couric on her climb. In fact, right out of college her very first job was as a desk assistant at ABC. It took her nearly thirty years of working hard in place after place before she became the first-ever solo female evening news anchor at CBS.30 Early in her career, Couric knew that getting in proximity to the right people in the right places was important as long as you use each place to grow. During an interview several years ago, Couric said, “I have been at the right place at the right time. If I didn’t have the work ethic to back it up, it would have been a short-lived thing.”31 Couric understood that each step of your climb requires time and effort. The lessons and growth you
gain from each place are essential and will play a huge role in bringing you more opportunities.
The Five Places
As you get in proximity to your dream job, there are five places you can expect to encounter on your climb:
1. The place where you are. Everything you need to get started is right in your very own zip code.
2. A place to learn. This is where you’ll obtain the education, certifications, and knowledge you need to be successful.
3. A place to practice. Education becomes experience at this stage.
4. A place to perform. Moving from practice to performance happens here.
5. A place to grow. This is the inner ring of proximity—within striking distance of your dream.
Now let’s take a closer look at these so you know how to carry them out in The Proximity Principle!
Chapter 7
The Place Where You Are
Start where you are. Do what you can. Use what you have.
—Arthur Ashe
People often call into my radio show to ask me where they need to go to begin their climb toward work that matters. Some folks think they need to pick up and move to a new city before they even get started, and that’s simply not true. The truth is, when you are getting started, you’re rarely limited by your location. No matter where you live, you can get in closer proximity to your dream job.
TURN OVER EVERY ROCK
Starting where you are requires something I like to call “turning over rocks.” You may have heard the phrase “leave no stone unturned.” That just means you are going to do everything you can think of to find or get something. Well “turning over rocks” is my way of communicating a work ethic that leads to success, and all it means is that you look for opportunities in unlikely places.
THE TRUTH IS, YOU ARE RARELY LIMITED BY YOUR LOCATION.
I knew that talking in front of people was part of what I wanted to do, but I needed to do a little research and discovery to see what that could look like as a career. In this discovery phase, I felt like I needed to get in some speaking gigs to build up my resumé, so I went out looking for any place I could find that would allow me to emcee live events. One of the first jobs I found was introducing clowns. Yep, that’s right. Clowns. I had heard that the summer festival in my town, Suwanee, Georgia, needed an emcee, so I reached out and was chosen for the job. Now let’s be real here. Very few people were actually jumping at this opportunity. So there I was, on one of the hottest days of summer, sweating in the Georgia heat, to introduce clowns, jugglers, local musicians, and even guys who made balloon animals! If ever there was an opportunity to practice humility and set my pride aside, this was it! But I knew I had to do anything and everything to get better—even if that meant pretending to be excited about balloon animals. Keeping these crowds engaged wasn’t exactly easy. I don’t think a single person was actually listening to the words coming out of my mouth, yet this was still practice for me. It affirmed that I really love the energy and excitement of speaking on a stage, and it allowed me to add another bullet of experience to my resumé.
Seizing opportunities wherever you can find them will allow you to learn more about yourself in relation to your dream job.
No one was knocking on my door to ask me to emcee events. I knew that if it was going to be, it was up to me. I chased down every opportunity and volunteered. I turned over every rock I could to find small, local events that would let me get on stage. The pay was never much, but it was exciting work, and each emcee opportunity allowed me to do what I really enjoyed—connect with a live audience from the stage. Even though I wasn’t doing exactly what I wanted to do, I was experiencing proximity to my dream job, using the talents and skills I’d need someday. Turning over rocks will condition you to look for opportunities wherever you can find them. And seizing those opportunities—any opportunity—will allow you to learn more about yourself in relation to your dream job. This discovery phase is such an important part of the process. Don’t miss it!
My friend Brad was passionate and driven to get into the film business. The problem was, he and his family were settled in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the thought of moving at that time was overwhelming. Still, Brad believed that all the film work was done in Hollywood. In his mind there were so many hurdles to clear to pursue his dream. He needed to sell his house. His wife would need to find a new job. The kids would have to change schools. From his perspective, all these things needed to happen or he wouldn’t make any progress. I challenged Brad to research the Charlotte area to see how many production studios were based there. With a little research, Brad found out there were well over one hundred!
So Brad decided to begin where he was, turning over rocks in Charlotte. It wasn’t long before he landed a job as a production assistant at a studio just blocks away from his home. And even though he knew he wanted to work in film, he wasn’t sure about the specifics of this kind of job. In his role as a production assistant, Brad learned more about the nuances of the field, and it confirmed that he loved the idea of being a video producer. He didn’t have to change zip codes to start working toward his goal. Fast forward several years. Brad has now reached his summit and is working in Hollywood. He did eventually move his family across the country, but he was able to learn more about the industry and earn valuable experience without ever changing his address. The point here is that you don’t have to pack up and change locations to start climbing. You just have to use what I call “The Law of the Zip Code.”
THE LAW OF THE ZIP CODE
The Law of the Zip Code is simple and liberating. It states: everything you need to get started is within your reach. You don’t need to move across the country or even rent office space. You can simply start with what you have. Many of the most successful business people did this very thing by starting out not just in their own zip codes but in their garages! Walt Disney, creator of one of the highest-grossing media companies on the planet launched his company in his uncle’s cramped one-car garage. Walt didn’t need the perfect location to start some of his earlier animations. He simply used some creativity and what he had available—some spare lumber and old boxes for an animation stand and a tiny garage for a studio—and got to work.32
And many other companies did this same thing. Jeff Bezos’s launched a little company called Amazon in his garage. Steve Jobs started Apple in a garage. And one of the world’s biggest producers of business equipment, Hewlett-Packard, began in a garage. Location had no bearing on the success of their work, and it shouldn’t for you either. So don’t believe that you’ve got to go looking for space to rent to start a new thing. Just move that old Camry or Chevy out of the garage and into the driveway and get started. If Amazon and Apple began this way, you can too.
The Basics of Starting in Your Zip Code
The truth about The Proximity Principle is that if you have enough grit, you can always find an opportunity to get started right where you are. Of course there are some basics you need to keep in mind about this early stage of the journey. First, start looking for jobs in the broader industry of what you want to do. Second, go after something that’s interesting to you and somehow related to the work you want to do long term. And third, remember that this is just the beginning stage. Anything worth doing is going to take patience and time.
If you have enough grit, you can always find an opportunity to get started right where you are.
During one episode of The Ken Coleman Show, I had the chance to interview two cousins living in Los Angeles. Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac, founders of Cousins Maine Lobster, personify the principle of beginning where you are. Their story began in 2011 while playing games one night on an old Nintendo console. The cousins began reminiscing about growing up in Maine, and eventually started talking about food. They got excited remembering what it was like to eat delicious Maine lobster on a regular basis. And then an idea hit. They wondered what it would take to start a lobster food truck business to give people on the West Coast the experience
of a Maine lobster shack. So they set out to make it happen.
In April of 2012, they celebrated opening day with their first truck right there in Los Angeles, a town not exactly known for great lobster. Of course they never dreamed of the success that first day would bring. News spread via social media and word of mouth, and within days, they were offered a spot on the reality TV show Shark Tank, followed by an investment deal with Barbara Corcoran from the show. Now they have dozens of food trucks in nineteen cities and several brick-and-mortar restaurants too! From the start, their business was met with rave reviews, and now the real-life cousins who brought in $20 million last year alone are sharing the food from their childhood with people across the country—including my hometown of Nashville. And the best part? It all started in their own zip code.33
These cousins could have limited themselves because of where they lived. They could have thought that moving back to Maine was the only way to make their dream happen. But they didn’t believe that moving was a necessity. And you shouldn’t either. When it comes to The Proximity Principle, your physical location should never be considered an obstacle. You absolutely do not have to change zip codes to get started! You just have to start.
THE LONG VIEW
As you begin where you are, it will help if you embrace a long view of the climb. If you don’t, you’ll become impatient and you may choose to give up. Remember, this is just the beginning. There are going to be many stages along the way, and all of them are going to offer you opportunities to learn and grow. You must accept—and expect—that it’s going to take a while, and there will be roadblocks and detours to navigate.