September 2020
I’ve been purposefully trying to create evergreen content for this podcast so that no matter when someone discovers it, they can go through the back catalogue of shows and discover topics that may be new to them and are always relevant to their business.
When I was teaching improv comedy in Toronto I spent years working on becoming the best improv teacher I could be, going to festivals around the US, learning from teachers all over the world. I spent time studying different pedagogical methods and learning about different learning styles, such as kinetic learning, auditory, learning, visual learning, and the like.
I tried to take these into consideration in developing the way courses in my company were taught, and the most valuable aspect of every class was a period at the end of every class where we always asked the students the same two questions: What do you feel good about that you did today, and what are you going to take away?
The idea behind these two questions is simple: I never wanted anyone to walk away from a class feeling as though they had failed or done anything wrong. It was improv. You’re making shit up. You can’t do anything wrong. You can make good decisions and bad decisions, but given the nature of the performance art, you can’t ever undo what has already been established. You have to acknowledge its existence and figure out how to move forward. So, that’s why, at the Impatient Theatre Co., we always asked, “What do you feel good about that you did today?”
The second question, “What are you going to take away,” ensured that they were walking away with a new idea they could incorporate into their knowledge or a renewed idea that they could reflect on. It also allowed them to not feel overwhelmed about learning so much. It’s one of the reasons these episodes are short and sweet. I don’t want to just dump a ton of information on you and leave you to mine through a mountain of information to find the nuggets of gold.
The idea was that the students had spent some time learning and now needed to spend some time reflecting. So, I want to spend some time at the end of each month reflecting on this show, sharing my life and business, and discussing what I’ve learned and what I’m going to take away, and how I’m going to move forward. I also don’t want you to feel as though I’m just lecturing at you every episode. I’m a real person, running a real business, dealing with the very real problems we’re all dealing with right now.
So, allow me to do some reflecting.
To put it mildly, this pandemic has been very difficult for me.
At the end of February, I was getting 4-5 leads a day. When the virus went pandemic at the beginning of March, lockdowns began happening all over the world, and in Ontario, businesses were having to shut down, parks were closing, and wedding-after-wedding was being cancelled or postponed. I had to cancel a dozen meetings lined up with highly qualified couples. I was on track to have a great six-figure year and I estimate I would have booked between 30 and 40 weddings for 2021.
The entire wedding industry in Ontario has been thrown into turmoil. Last week, Ontario entered its second wave last week. I have a 27-person wedding to shoot at a beautiful vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake next weekend — only 27 people — and we actually don’t know if it’s going to be allowed to happen or not.
Organic leads for my wedding photography have stopped coming in and I just turned my ads off last week. Right now, it’s wasted money. Our wedding season here is wrapping up for the year and there is so much uncertainty about what’s going to happen next year. We have no idea when the industry will recover, or what that will look like. We’re all just speculating. It could be next year, but we will also likely see a third wave in the Spring with the 2020 and 2021 weddings cancelled and postponed yet again, pushed back to 2022.
Personally, I weighed 257 pounds and had really high blood pressure. The virus and its comorbidities with obesity and high blood pressure put my chance of surviving it at one in twelve. I was scared, scared just to interact with people. So, I started taking blood pressure meds, changed my diet and shed 40 pounds, and got my blood pressure down low enough to come off the meds after only six months. I’m feeling good physically. Emotionally, it’s been a real struggle.
Studio Builder began as an idea in early August. In the six months leading up to August, I spent most of my time video games. To go from having your best year ahead of you to having absolutely nothing, nothing coming in, and nothing on the horizon for your primary revenue stream is very difficult. I’m single. I don’t have a partner to share the rent or bills. I live alone. If I get sick there’s no one here to help me or take care of me. It’s lonely. It’s scary and it’s lonely. But I know I’m not alone.
If you feel the same way. You’re not alone. It’s okay. The world is going through a collective trauma and no one alive has ever dealt with something like this before. It’s okay.
For me, this show was an inflection point. Right now, this show is my life, and I’m loving it. September 2020 has been great. I feel like I have renewed purpose and have no intention of slowing down. If you listen from the first episode, you may hear the learning curve for this show, or notice some small structural tweaks, and you might even be able to tell which episodes were recorded when I had a bit of a cold.
On Monday, with the 13th episode, Studio Builder passed 500 downloads and just before I started recording this episode, not even two episodes later, it passed 600. That’s a 20% increase over one episode. The show is growing quickly now and gaining momentum. It’s exciting. I’m excited. And I have some ideas on other things to add to the mix that may be coming in the new year.
I think a community is stronger and we’re all better off when we can help each other and reach out to each other. So, I want to take this opportunity to remind you about the Studio Builder Community on Facebook. Join us and connect with your colleagues. Post in the group. Share your accomplishments. Leave comments on each other’s posts.
Finally, in celebration of the one month anniversary of this show, I would love to ask you to share this podcast with just one of your colleagues. Just one. Send them a personal message, or share the link to our website. Invite them to the group. If you want to share it with more, that’s cool, too.
I look forward to hearing from you and connecting with you. I hope you’re doing well and staying safe.
Much love to all of you.
