HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO KEEP "PAYING MY DUES"?

 

Think of your career as a long, long, long staircase. Every time you get to another landing, you get to enjoy it while you look down at the long way you've come, and then you realize there's a long way to go up. And on every level, there's a new set of dues to pay.

 

My path from school to regular work was fairly short because I lucked out and got into the Chicago apprenticeship almost immediately; and after that I was able to get a lot of gigs here and there. But what I discovered was that there can be dry spells even in a career that's going pretty well. You spend one season working constantly only to wake up the next fall and realize that you don't have any work because you were too busy working to audition (this is always a problem). Or, you find yourself going through a vocal transition. Or your agent isn't really working for you anymore and you have to get out there and find someone who does. Or any of a million different things.

 

The path is different for everybody, and you'll save yourself a lot of angst if you don't beat yourself up for not being where someone else is. On the other hand, comparisons can be valuable tools --- you can look at someone else who started off in the same place as you and see what they might have that you don't. However, I don't think that whether or not you make it into a YAP is necessarily a good indicator. Yes, there tends to be a certain level of accomplishment in YAPs, but there are so many other factors and a lot of it just depends on what the company needs that season.

 

I think it's a good idea just to concentrate on getting up that next step, getting to that next level. Decide what that is for you, and then figure out what the little steps are that you need to get you there. Then take one of those baby steps at a time. Breaking big goals down into little ones really helps.