Are You Working with Your Head or Your Heart?

I was reading Bob Leftsetz's column that he writes for the music industry. He talked about something that I have thought a lot about. “The question is, are you working with your head or heart? At some point you've got to stop being who your parents want you to be and start being who you are.”

Very nicely stated. I have been earning a living working on other people’s shows as a television producer since 2001. I have been dreaming up show ideas since I was about seven years old. It happened each morning at the bus stop with my best friend Katie. (I have blogged about her before.) She told visual stories of the previous nights viewing of her favorite shows “Charlie’s Angles,” “The Love Boat,” and “Fantasy Island,” to name a few. I salivated at every juicy morsel – we couldn’t watch television after a certain hour at my house.

In 2003, I started pitching reality TV ideas. I made my own “hot lists,” from reading Variety and cold called people and got my own pitch meetings without a manager. While I worked on shows, I would “go to lunch,” or “the doctor,” just to pitch production companies.

In 2008, I began pursuing my dream full time - creating and developing television shows and pitching them. I started out developing something around Christopher Titus. Since then, I have learned a great deal and have not only increased my contacts, but I am closer than ever before to selling something. It’s officially been one full year.

It wasn’t until this year that I realized there’s been one thing in the back of my mind that I somehow could not let go of. It was a seed planted a long, long time ago in the depths of my blueprint. That seed was my mom telling me I needed to have a job with a 401k plan = job security. Which in today’s marketplace means nothing. There is no security any more unless you own your own company. In my mom’s career height, jobs offered not only financial security, but retirement benefits, health benefits and so much more.

What I am doing for a career is so unconventional “Creative Producer – Pitching Reality Concepts,” not your average career. It never will be. Most people in Los Angeles understand. BUT if you live anywhere else you probably won’t understand the scope of what I am doing. God Bless my Mom. She is a wonderful woman, who is now finding things that she loves to do in life after retiring. We couldn’t be more opposite – I travel a risky route with no guarantee, and she travels a safer route.

When I think about it, it’s as if I had an angel on one of my shoulders and a Devil on the other. My angel (aka my mom) on the left telling me that the route was to be secure and safe. The Devil (aka me) on the right, telling me the route was risky so go pitch and sell a television show! One thing I am certain about is what I did learn from her - that I think with my head and my heart, because I am truly doing something I love. I sleep, eat, drink, and dream about coming up with television shows.

Inspiration, Determination and Risk

Sometimes things happen when the universe is ready to deliver them to you. There is no universal time line that says when things will begin or will end. Through inspiration, determination and risk you set out with your goal and hope for the best.

When it comes to pitching my television concepts, I realize that when the timing is right - the universe will deliver. I did get incredible news on Friday, which I am dying to share, but can’t until everything is in order…

After talking to friends in the industry before I got this good news, they brought up many scenarios and stories of great projects that didn’t happen until the universe was ready to let them happen. There were many stories that involved people who put their heart and soul into writing, creating and pitching all for the hope of a sale. One story stood out in my mind and this person’s determination reminded me of mine and my recent path…it’s about Reality Creator and really the Father of Reality TV, Mark Burnett.

Of course you know of him. His name is Mark Burnett. He is the genius behind the wildly popular "Survivor" and "Apprentice" series. But this reality television producer wasn’t always the hottest reality producer in town. When he first came to Los Angeles he was a nanny…or “manny” as I like to call the male nannies. In 1990, he was selling t-shirts on our beaches.

In 1995, with no television experience he sold a show to MTV called Eco-Challenge. Through inspiration, determination and risk he transformed his life from manny to on his way to becoming a mogul reality tv producer. But it didn’t happen overnight…

In the summer of 1999, he pitched an unknown executive at the time, Ghen Maynard over at CBS. Ghen was a young executive at the network who took a call from Conrad Riggs about a hot producer with an exciting idea for a new kind of show…Burnett was an unknown producer that was producing Eco-Challenge. So on July 27, 1999, Burnett pitched Ghen “Survivor.” In May 2000, Survivor aired and the reality frenzy began! And so did the making of a reality superstar producer and creator.

Here is someone that took many risks. He went out virtually as an unknown and pitched his ideas. He found that “someone” to believe in his idea and who ultimately saw that same vision that Mark saw. It wasn’t easy - even with a big believer like Ghen, who pitched his boss Leslie Moonves several times to get him to see the great vision that he saw in Mark’s idea.

If someone like Mark Burnett who was virtually a nobody in our reality tv world can set out and carve his path...so can you. I say three cheers for anyone who is out pitching and determined with their vision to sell a show. Keep pitching and paint your vision with your words like its a painting...with hard work and determination your bound to be rewarded by the universe if your ideas are good!