I'd Love to See You Try!

I’'m guessing by now you've heard of the amazing and talented... Leslie Odom Jr.

You most likely recognize his name as the actor who brought the historical figure, Aaron Burr, to life in the production of “Hamilton”.

(He killed it!! Right?!?!)

But, did you know, that two years before he was hired to play Burr, that he almost gave up on his dream to be an actor?

That's right, he was about to turn 30, and he thought that if he hadn’t “made it” yet, it wasn’t going to happen.

He had had gigs, sure, and his head shots were out there but, the phone wasn’t ringing every day.
He would have good periods where he could pay his rent and go out on a real date but, there were plenty of other times where he couldn’t and he was ready to throw in the towel, he had been trying for 10 years after all.

Luckily for us lovers of Hamilton he consulted a wise mentor who gave him some really good advice.

His mentor told him….”Before you give up on your dream, I’d love to see you try.”

Wait, What? Leslie was a little confused. He had hustled, his photos were out there, he would wait all day for calls for auditions, on the couch... by the phone...

And then his mentor said "What if the phone doesn't ring today? What did you do in the absence of the ringing phone? Did you read anything? Did you write anything? Did you call anybody? Did you send an email? Do people know you're out of work? What did you do today?'

His mentor helped him see other things he could be doing and he showed Leslie that he didn't have to give up on his dream no matter how long it was taking to come true and guess what?

Neither do you.

Is their a dream you put aside in 2020 or is there a dream that you think is taking too long?

Don't give up just because it's been a long time.

There is always something more you can do.

Make 2021 the year you really try. xoxo