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Save Early, Save Often

If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while, you’ve probably noticed that a lot of them don’t directly relate to sound. That’s because sound is actually such a small part of what we do on a day to day basis. Being an incredible mixer is all well and good, but if you crumble under pressure or can’t show up on time, you won’t work for long. If you’re an A2 or monitor engineer and you can’t communicate with people, you won’t even know what people need so you can effectively do your job.

Today I’m going to wander well off the sound waves into what I consider one of the most all encompassing topics for dealing with life: Money.

Now, I’ve been writing blogs for five years at this point. I can’t tell you how many drafts of this very topic I’ve written and hated. Money is such a taboo topic that we probably know more about our best friend’s sex life than we do about their bank account, so it hasn’t been easy trying to find the best way to talk about it. However, I’ve never been known for my subtlety, so we’re just going to dive in head first.

Money is important. We can go through all the overused sayings that money can’t buy happiness and that it isn’t everything, but the fact remains that money is a major factor in our lives. Having a savings account with a few months of expenses tucked away can make all the difference when emergencies or life changes come your way.

We all have different relationships with money. Part of it is nurture: the environment we grew up in and how we saw our parents handle money, but just as important is nature: who we are and what we value in our lives. My parents taught my sister and me similar things about money, but we have different priorities and habits that have developed because we’re different people with different life experiences in different careers.

This blog won’t have all the answers for every situation, but what I really want it to do is put financial literacy on your radar and maybe show what it can do for you, given time. That way you can start to figure out how you personally relate to money and what your priorities are.

Because time is your greatest asset. Even if you start small it can make a huge difference.

So, money is important, we get that. Where do we start?

First, start to pay attention to your money. Do you know roughly how much you make in a year? Do you know how much you spend? That’s the basis of all personal finance. You don’t have to go full forensic accountant on your life, but check your bank and credit card statements and start to see what your big picture is.

Personally, I don’t have a strict budget of “I can spend $X on groceries, $Y on clothing, and $Z on social activities,” but I do track my expenses, so I know roughly what I spend in a month or over a year. I use Quicken (any similar personal finance software will do a similar thing) which imports my transaction, lets me put them into categories, and I can generate a report if I want to check on things. You can also just use a spreadsheet: it can be a basic accounting tool, or you can go nuts with formulas and formatting if you really want to go in-depth and customize.

Once you’ve taken a look at that, you’ve found your baseline and rough expectations. Do you have extra money some months that you might be able to start saving? Does your income vary wildly each month so you need to put some into savings for your slow season? (Welcome to being a freelancer. By nature of our schedules, we have to be more financially aware than our 9 to 5 counterparts.)

Did you learn that you’ve been spending more than you make and your credit cards have made up the difference? Or that you’re making just enough and working paycheck to paycheck, but if anything out of the ordinary happens you’re operating on a razor thin margin?

If you’ve hit this point and you’re looking at things thinking, “oh shit!” take a moment and breathe. It’s okay. That feeling just means you have a goal to work towards.

Now that you know where you are, it’s time to look at where you want to be. Ideally you want to have minimal debt and be making more than you spend so you’re able to save. This process looks different for everyone, and Paula Pant, who runs the site Afford Anything, covers it more completely than I can in her post about “Growing the Gap.”

TLDR: you can try to grow your income (asking for a raise, monetizing a side hustle, investing, etc) while keeping your spending the same, or decreasing your spending while you income stays consistent. Doing either of those create a “gap” between what you make and what you spend, so you’re able to put that into paying off debt, savings, or eventually investing.

Once you can start saving, your money will start to work for you. Which is a concept that’s difficult to really understand until you’ve seen it in action. You may have heard the term “compounding interest” bandied about like some magic phrase, but what does that actually look like?

It means a savings account will pay you interest, and that interest will keep adding up.

It means a business can make a profit, which you can put back into it to make it bigger and more productive.

It means a stock might pay you a dividend which can be reinvested, adding more shares to your portfolio.

Let’s look at an example savings account. A high-yield one might pay 4% interest per year:

At 25 years old, you put in $100 a month. At 55 years old, you would have put in $37,000 ($1,200 per year for 30 years), but the account balance would actually be $74,000. It’s double what you put in it, but where did the other $37,000 come from?

The interest.

So the first year you put in $1,200. The interest on that was $48.

Total of $1,248.

The next year you add $1,200, now the balance is $2,448, and interest on that is $97.

Total: $2,545.

Next year is another $1,200, the balance is $3,745, and interest on that is $149.

Total: $3,895.

Screenshot

 

And so it continues with the interest getting just a little bit bigger year after year.

At 35 you’ve put in $13,000 and the account would be $16,000.

At 45 you’ve put in $25,000 and the account would be almost $40,000.

Time is the magic ingredient in a lot of financial success. If you give it some training (invest it, put it in savings, start a business, etc), soon it’ll start working all on its own.

One of the favorite financial tools to illustrate the benefit of compounding interest is called the “Jack and Jill” comparison. It looks at Jill, someone who started saving/investing at the beginning of her career, and Jack, who decided to wait a few years.

Let’s look at this in a couple different scenarios:

First: Jill starts investing $1,200 per year when she’s 25, stops when she’s 40, and just lets the account grow on its own from there.

Jack starts investing $1,200 per year at 40, until he’s 55.

Screenshot

Both contributed the same amount: $19,200. But when they’re both 55 Jill’s account is almost $50,000, while Jack’s is only $27,000. Those extra 15 years of interest make a $23,000 difference for Jill.

In another situation, Jill starts investing $1,200 per year when she’s 25 and keeps going until she’s 55.

Jack starts investing at 40, but he puts in $2,400 per year so he can catch up.

Jack actually ends up contributing at little bit more than Jill: his $38,400 to her $37,200.

Her account is still ends up being $20,000 more than his: hers is $74,000 to his $54,000.

The moral of the story? Start early. Time is your friend, not only in compounding interest, but the sooner you start paying attention to your money, the more you learn and the better you get at managing it.

There’s a proverb that says “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Since most of the readers of this blog are fairly early in your careers, my hope is that in 20 years you can look back at this “tree” and be happy you planted it when you did.

Hypothetical scenarios are all well and good, but how do you start digging?

If you’re just starting out and all this feels completely overwhelming, take a look at Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps. He’s built an empire around financial literacy, but I recommend you treat it as a good place to get your bearings, but not the gospel truth. Steps 1-3 are a good place to start and once those make sense, look around at other philosophies (like the ones below). I don’t agree with everything he recommends (doing away with credit cards and investing in mutual funds being the main points of contention), but his method can be a helpful resource to get yourself started.

For anyone who feels financially stable but doesn’t know the first thing about investing, take a look at JL Collin’s blog. He does a good job of talking about the stock market in accessible terms and is a proponent of simple, set-it-and-forget-it investing. (He also has a book that I highly recommend.) Paula Pant, who I mentioned early, is at Afford Anything, and offers another take on managing your money as well as talking about investing in property and other business instead of stocks.

If you want to do a really deep dive, Google the “FIRE movement” or “Financial Independence” and jump down that rabbit hole. (If you get easily overwhelmed, maybe save this for later. There’s a whole world of information out there, so it can be easy to feel like you just started drinking out of a firehose, but that also means there are plenty of resources to help you.)

I’m not a financial expert, but here’s my own two cents:

First, figure out where you stand. What do you have? What do you owe? Just knowing that can put you miles ahead of the crowd.

Second, open a savings account somewhere familiar (If you don’t have a checking account yet, open that first.) A “high-yield” savings account should give you 3-4% interest, so look for that. You might use the bank where you have your checking account or even the same company as your credit card. Starting somewhere you already know will make it easier to take that step, and if you want to switch banks later, you absolutely can.

Next, open an IRA. These are retirement accounts that you put your own money into and get tax benefits when you fund them. My general rule of thumb is: if you make less than $150,000 in a year, open a ROTH IRA. If you make more, open a Traditional IRA. If you’d like to learn more about those, there’s a good explanation here at DowJanes.com.

After that, use some of the links I’ve included to start looking at ways to increase your net worth. Whether that’s paying off debt, putting money into your savings account, or opening a brokerage account for investments, you’re working towards that goal.

As you’re setting financial goals, take a moment to think about what’s important to you. Imagine what your life looks like if you’ve got $100 in savings, or $1,000, or even $10,000.

Does that mean you won’t have to panic when your show closes with two weeks notice (or less) because you know you have enough to pay your bills for a few months while you look for another job?

It might look like taking on a passion project that you want to develop and love working on, even if it doesn’t pay much right now, and might grow into something later.

It could be realizing you’re in a toxic work environment and knowing you don’t have to stay in an unhealthy cycle while you look for another job.

It’s having a retirement account that’s accumulating quietly off to the side as political pundits debate if Social Security will still exist in 40 years.

Personally, having savings means I have freedom and my priorities are about making time for my family and my friends.

When I moved to the city, I made the decision to pay for an apartment that was bigger than I’d need just for myself, because it meant I had room for people to stay with me when they came to visit.

I could afford a vacation to meet my parents in London as they make the most of their retirement.

I can take time off to go visit old tour buddies in DC, Vegas, and Chicago or help my friend with her Christmas show in Pittsburgh.

The goal is to get to play as hard as I work. Sure, last year I didn’t have any vacation time from January to June because we were getting Outsiders up and running and then immediately went into Tony voting season. I didn’t mind it because I knew the expectations of the schedule and I like my job. (And that’s why I have the apartment. When I can’t get away, my friends are welcome to come to me.)

But that meant when we had subs trained, I made a point to follow through with plans and take time off to see people.

Recently, having that savings cushion (the FIRE community calls it “F-You Money,” which I do quite enjoy) meant that I made the decision to leave Outsiders this summer without a lot of extra worry. For some people, a hit show that’s going to run for at least a few years brings security and they’ll stick around for a while.

Honestly, I’m ready for the next challenge, and I planned ahead and talked to Cody (my designer) and made a plan. Part of that is getting the Outsiders tour set up. I’ve missed touring, so even just getting to go through tech and then handing it off to the crew will be a fun way to dip my toes back into that life.

Past that, there isn’t much of a plan. I’ll switch to being the sub on Outsiders and return as a sub for SIX (ah, that freelancing life!), and I’m looking forward to the change. I know I have the resources set aside so a couple months of light work isn’t a death sentence or anxiety inducing.

None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t started saving and investing while I was on the road.

And that’s what money gives you: freedom. It may not buy happiness, but it certainly does buy options. Everyone’s goals will look different, but do you and your future self a favor: get started on saving because there’s no better time than now.

New Beginnings – Changing Audio Disciplines

Audio is a beautiful medium. There are so many things you can do within it, so many different paths your career can take. Sometimes, even if your passion for audio is as strong as it always has been, you can become disillusioned with your chosen discipline. This is what happened to me over the last couple of years.

If you’ve read any of my previous blogs for SoundGirls, you’ll have noticed that my discipline has been radio and podcast production. To recap, I spent several years working in broadcasting after obtaining my Master’s degree in Radio Production, and after going freelance during the pandemic, I started producing and editing podcasts. I also made a couple of radio documentaries which were both shortlisted in their respective categories at the New York Festivals Radio Awards (in 2021 and 2024).

“Sounds glamorous!” I can’t tell you how often people have said that to me on learning what it is I do (or have done). Everything I’ve made and every project I’ve worked on has been the result of hard work and dedication. But there’s a whole other side that most people haven’t seen, like the financial struggles and uncertainty that come with freelancing, the constant competing for jobs and fighting for acceptable rates of pay, and the long list of rejected funding applications and project proposals. Nobody ever said this industry would be easy, and plenty of people manage to stick it out despite wondering: “Why did I ever want to do this?” But others can’t, and I was one of them.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved a lot of it. I’ve always seen myself as a storyteller and I don’t for a moment regret any of the ideas I had that came to fruition. But the time came when I started to think there had to be more out there for me to do. For example, I really missed that live sound environment. Even though it still took place in a studio, one of my favourite things to do had always been to get my hands on the faders of a mixing console. That’s where I originally saw my career in radio going, but it didn’t quite end up that way (though not for lack of trying).

At some point I started to think more about branching out into theatre and live events. It’s ironic that this happened during a time when the entire industry was shut down due to a global pandemic, with little idea of when (or if) things would be the same again. But I made a promise to myself to explore the idea further when the picture was clearer.

Sure enough, Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London advertised an intensive three-day short course in theatre sound engineering in summer 2023, intended as an introduction to the different roles within a theatre sound department and a chance to learn some of the basics. I went, and loved it. I learned about mic fitting and a little bit of Dante networking and got to practise using a Yamaha console. I was also so excited by the drama school environment and decided to look into it some more.

That’s when I realised how expensive most drama schools can be, especially if you’ve already gained higher education qualifications as I had. It was also tough to find courses that focused completely on sound (rather than technical theatre generally) and wouldn’t mean investing another three years of my life in education. I put the idea on the back-burner for a while. In January 2024, I was lucky to get the chance to shadow the sound department on The Rocky Horror Show when it came to Dublin on tour. I had an amazing few days, and afterwards I asked several members of the team for advice on getting a foot in the door. They all recommended trying to find depping work. I contacted every theatre and venue I could think of, with no luck at all. Unfortunately the industry in Ireland is incredibly small so I knew I’d have to find a way to move back to the UK if I wanted to stand a real chance.

That’s when I stumbled upon a brand new, year-long professional diploma starting in September at the Bristol Institute of Performing Arts. While not a sound course per se, it was one of three pathways available along with lighting design and stage management. All you had to do was select your preferred pathway during the application process. It was also much more affordable than the other educational options I’d come across, and could give me the hands-on experience I needed in one year rather than three. I applied, interviewed and was accepted.

And now here I am, living in the beautiful historic city of Bath in south-west England, commuting the short distance to Bristol by train and immersing myself in an area of sound that is new to me, yet allows me to draw on the fundamentals I’m already well acquainted with (signal flow, for example, or — when it comes to sound design — working with DAWs). I’ve already designed and mixed one show and am about to start on another; all of which I’ll be blogging about my experiences of as the year goes on.

Some people have questioned why I felt the need to undertake a course like this when I “already know everything about sound”. First things first, nobody knows everything about sound. There are just too many different disciplines within it and no one can master all of them (even one is enough for most). And it’s not just about sound; I’m learning about how theatre works as a whole, how different departments work together, how technicians and performers communicate with each other and what it takes to bring a show to life. Beyond that, I’m making contacts I would not have had the chance to otherwise. I’m also learning more about myself in the process; discovering strengths I didn’t know I had and encountering new challenges.

Would I call it a career change? Yes and no. I’m still a SoundGirl either way, but crossing over into another discipline will hopefully expand the opportunities that are available to me.

Mastering the New Workplace: The Art of Being a Sponge 

As a 22 year old female who is growing in this industry everyday, I have been told on multiple occasions how important it is to be a “sponge” in a new workplace. What does this mean? And why does everyone say it?

Well, it means to:

  1. Soak up as much knowledge as possible.
  2. Observe keenly.
  3. Adapt to the environment quickly.

I completely understand how nerve racking this feels. Its hard to find the balance between being helpful and not being in the way. So how do we change our mindset so that it focuses on growing in this field?

BE CURIOUS! it’s so crucial to approach every interaction and task as an opportunity to learn. Show your genuine interest in your colleagues and the production. Volunteer on things that will immerse yourself in the team’s workflow. I have also found that it is really helpful to familiarize yourself with all of the gear before the gig, if possible. And if you are unsure about a piece of gear, ask someone to explain its function and application. Ask thoughtful questions in quieter moments about why certain decisions are made.

CHILL. It has taken my fair share of gigs to learn how crucial it is to stay calm under pressure. Watch how others handle sudden issues and take notes. Offer help when it is needed or simply shadow the troubleshooting process. Being able to resolve problems effectively will ensure smooth operations and prevent issues from happening in the future. This will ultimately increase your confidence in yourself and others, building the core trust that is needed for a strong production team.

MASTER THE INTANGIBLES! Besides the technical details, you must learn the intangibles! Notice the informal norms like when and where decisions are made, recognize the way the A1s, music A2s, Production A2, Monitor techs, System techs, etc collaborate with one another, observe how a crew talks to the talent. Learn the dynamics and integrate quickly. Even being proactive in a production meeting with a friendly introduction can go a long way.

SEEK FEEDBACK. Asking for feedback and embracing the outcome gracefully is an amazing skill to have and will help you improve. Reflecting has always been a key part of the load out for me. Analyze what worked and recognize what could improve. It’s important to evaluate your progress and assess what you’ve learned and identify the gaps. Everyone has room for improvement.

OWN YOUR EXPERTISE. Lastly, be confident! You deserve to be here as much as everyone else does. Focus on your own qualifications and what you bring to the table. Advocate for yourself and ensure that your contributions are recognized. I believe that authenticity fosters respect and using the inevitable challenges to strengthen your skills will make you that much more resilient.

I also want to acknowledge how easier said than done all of these things are. It’s hard to be assertive, quick, and confident in an environment where you are uncomfortable. It is hard to bypass the nerves and jump headfirst. It’s terrifying to walk into an uneasy position, but that is where transformation happens.

Leaning into discomfort will lead to incredible opportunities you may not have found by playing it safe. It’s important to remind yourself that you can only do your best, stay calm, and simply be a sponge! Every show is a chance to refine your skills and become a better technician. By maintaining a learning mindset, you can carve out your place and thrive in any workplace. Respect will grow from your knowledge, collaboration, and authenticity. So in the beginning, soak it all up, baby!

Go Bother People

Over the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to do a handful of interviews (thanks to SoundGirls) and some talkbacks (thanks to Outsiders). After a while I noticed that eventually someone always asks a version of “what’s one piece of advice you would give?” My response to that usually ended up being: Go bother people. Go find someone who’s doing something you want to do (or something even remotely connected) and ask them how they got there. Ask them what they learned and what they would share with someone just starting out.

Personally, I love when people come up to the console during intermission or after a show to ask questions and share that they might be interested in pursuing theatre as a career. I have a stack of business cards at FOH just waiting for someone to walk up and start a conversation.

However, I also know that walking up to a strange to start a conversation is not an easy thing to do. I was the quiet kid in college who was more likely to sit back and absorb what was happening than put myself out there and ask questions. I was always worried about sounding dumb or appearing pushy or annoying. But now that I’m on the other side of those interactions, I wish I’d spoken up and reached out more. The truth is that almost everyone is happy to talk and answer questions. We’re all potential mentors just waiting to have an audience for our stories.

So, when you find someone doing what you want to do, go talk to them. If it’s at a show, find a moment before the show starts or at intermission to say hi, let them know that you’re interested in what they’re doing, and ask if you can come back at intermission or after the show to chat. Bonus points if you can find their job in the playbill and know their name! If I know someone’s going to come back to say hi, I’ll actually stick around at intermission, otherwise I book it backstage as quickly as I can to avoid everyone charging to the bathrooms or standing in the bar line.

Then, when you get to talk to them, think of a specific question or two to ask. I couldn’t care less if it’s “how long have you been doing this?” or “how do you like working on this show?” Even what seems like a simple question can spark a larger conversation. (Pro tip: if you’re a little shy and your parents are with you, bring them along as a buffer. They are great at asking questions, especially when they’re talking to someone about their kids’ potential future career.)

What it comes down to is that I want to talk to you and share what I do, but I want it to be things that you’re actually interested in. Just like you, most of us aren’t great at talking to people we’ve never met, so if you can give us even a nudge in the right direction it can help immensely.

Before you leave, ask if you can email them or reach out to them on social media. Some people just don’t think about it in the moment, but will be happy to say yes if you bring it up. I know of several people who keep business cards at FOH for that very reason.

If you forget, see if you can look them up somehow. I’ve had people message me on my LinkedIn profile or email SoundGirls asking them to forward an email so I can get in touch with them.

Once you have their contact info the most important step is to actually follow up and send the email. It wasn’t a first date, you don’t have to wait the proverbial three days so you don’t seem desperate. You want to show that you’re interested. I would guess the number of people who’ve followed up with me is a slim 10% or less.

Just like the initial questions, this doesn’t have to be eloquent or complicated. A simple “Thanks for giving me your card, would you mind if I reach out in the future with any questions?” is a perfectly fine intro. I think far too many people get too into their heads about needing to make a grand gesture when all you need is the electronic version of reaching out for a handshake.

Don’t get discouraged if the response isn’t immediate. There are plenty of times I’ve read an email, marked it to respond later, then got distracted with any number of things. Or it accidentally got filtered into Spam.

Since I still vividly remember what it’s like being the kid that didn’t want to cause a fuss I’ll make a point to tell people to give me a nudge if they don’t hear from me in a week. It’s not rude or pushy to do that follow up, often times we just get sidetracked and forget that we haven’t actually responded.

In general, I would say three is the magic number for trying to establish contact initially. If you reach out that many times over the course of a couple weeks and don’t hear anything back, likely they don’t have the time to respond. If you’ve already been talking, you have some more leeway since there’s an established relationship.

Once you have reached out and they’ve responded, continue to ask specific questions, even if it feels simplistic or like you’re just making up something to reach out to them. Like I said before, specific questions are easier to answer and once you start a conversation, the responses you get will bring up other questions and make it easy to continue chatting.

This is something that applies not only to meeting new people, but for reaching out to the ones you know. When you’re starting out in your career don’t be afraid to reach out and ask people for advice or see if you can shadow on projects they’re working on or let them know you’d like to work with them if there’s ever an opportunity.

Quite honestly, these are things you should do no matter where you are in your career. You can’t expect other people to read your mind, so learning to advocate for yourself and ask for opportunities early in your career will help you down the road. If you get nervous about reaching out to someone, just remember that we’re all people.

Imagine someone a few years younger than yourself coming to ask for help. Would you be happy to lend a hand and give them advice? The answer is usually yes, and the same applies in the other direction when you’re the ones asking for help.

So this is your sign to take a moment today and think of someone you’ve wanted to learn from. Then go reach out and ask them for help. Chances are you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

New Perspectives

Several weeks into this tour, I’ve come to realize how much positivity exists within this nomadic career. While it can be hard to maintain traditional relationships with friends and family, touring also presents unique opportunities to strengthen those relationships, even if they’re brief.

There are many days when I feel disconnected from folks back home, and even today’s technological advances can’t make up for differing schedules. Not only that, but my occasional lack of energy can certainly also contribute to making it hard to send a simple “hello” to a parent or friend.

Living on the road full-time is one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in my life. It is so satisfying to be able to wake up with ever-changing views, be it a retail parking lot or the venue, or essentially the backyard of Banff in Alberta, Canada. The gig comes with constant adventure and being able to mix for a living brings me immense joy, as does being immersed among other creative individuals and people who mirror similar values and expectations to mine. Saying I’m lucky is an understatement; in fact, there are no words to describe how deeply I feel about this career.

In the midst of tour currently, I find myself settling into a groove. I love it. I love the challenges, I love the places we’ve seen, and the music I’ve been able to help make. However, as the tour continues, it’s increasingly obvious how much of a gap there is between myself and the individuals I love who are not on the road with me.

Don’t get me wrong. I love being a pilgrim. Personally, wandering and making music with my road family is the most satisfactory way to spend most of the year. However, it can be difficult to navigate the interpersonal relationships you have with people back home. I miss my pets and movie nights with my roommates. I miss giggling over failed trivia nights and losing track of time in my hometown with loved ones. Feeling like you’re constantly playing catch up with people post-tour can also drag you down, and FOMO can really bite you if you’re not self-aware and grounded.

A few weeks ago, while visiting with my aunts before a show at Red Rocks, I realized how a tour can present so many opportunities for connection. We bonded over old memories, told stories, and explored a cute town in Colorado, dreaming of adventure and making plans for the future. Many more of my friends and family have made efforts to visit me across the country since then, and because of these visits, each week has brought me someone new to look forward to, whether it’s briefly on a show day or trekking around old and new cities on off days. It’s been fulfilling and enlightening, and I feel like I’ve been able to lean into the discomfort of missing individuals and exchange that discomfort for more meaningful memories. It’s been beautiful and wholesome.

I offer this as a new outlook for anyone struggling on hard days. Beyond the physical distance you may initially see, this kind of gig presents so much room for true quality time and novel memories. We get to do what you love for a living, we get to travel the world, and we get to see so many people as you do both, time permitting.

Living the Dream

This April I opened my first Broadway show: The Outsiders. It was a whirlwind, an adventure, and it was incredible: working on Broadway, on a show of my very own! This was something I’d dreamed of doing since I was a twelve-year-old middle schooler who stumbled headfirst into theatre and decided it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

The highs were breathtaking: parties to celebrate our milestones, press events for morning and late-night shows, getting 12 Tony nominations when we had no idea what to expect with this jam-packed season, a Tony watch party where we celebrated as we won for Best Lighting, Best Sound (!!!), Best Direction, and practically cheered ourselves hoarse when they announced that The Outsiders won Best Musical.

Even better, my parents were there to support me for some of those moments. Having them there on Opening Night made me appreciate my own milestone in a way I would have missed without them there. They were my reminder that this was something special, that not everyone gets to do this kind of thing. Not only working on Broadway but achieving a childhood dream.

Some so many people knew that little girl with dreams of Broadway and when they found out I was mixing Outsiders, the grown-up me received a steady stream of congratulations and “Aren’t you just thrilled?!” as I was going into shop prep, then load in, followed by tech, and previews.

Most of the time my reactions were less than excited. Those old friends were thinking of the glamour of a dream come true as I stared down the reality of months of long days, endless stress, and fatigue of every kind. There were countless mornings when I groaned as my alarm went off before there was even a hint of light on the horizon. Load in days where I looked around the room with a sigh as I realized that I was once again the only woman on the crew, or that there were so few of us that you could count it on one hand.

One of our tech/preview days I had food poisoning and decided to suffer in silence instead of telling anyone, giving myself the excuse that no one else knew how to mix the show. So I spent any downtime during that morning work call and afternoon rehearsal with my head on the console or heading to the mercifully empty women’s bathroom in the downstairs lobby, hoping I could get to a state where I wouldn’t feel the need to mix with a trash can next to me. (Thankfully, I was functional for the show.) That was smack in the middle of six weeks working six 14-16 hour works days (80+ hour work weeks for those of you doing the math at home) before we made it to Opening.

It wasn’t easy or glamorous. But was it worth it?

Absolutely.

Maybe not the food poisoning. That I definitely should have called in sick for.

But the rest of it? 100% worth it.

There’s this thought in our culture that the highest goal we should aspire to is one where we don’t actually do anything, we’re always having a good time, and nothing is difficult. The adage that “if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life.”

The irony is that the exact opposite is true. But this thought lingers, so when things get hard, it causes so many people to doubt themselves until they give up. It’s not easy to slog through long days at work and come home in sweat-stained shirts with dirt ingrained in the creases of your palms.

It is easy to let doubt creep in when we’re confronted with things we don’t know or people who’ve been doing this so much longer that they make it look effortless.

When we’re starting to learn, we fall into the trap of thinking that obviously we aren’t doing something we actually love, because if we really loved it it wouldn’t feel like work, it wouldn’t feel difficult. We wouldn’t be banging our heads in frustration as we tried to solve problems because if this was actually our passion it would be effortless.

The reality is when you enjoy your job when you’re passionate about your work, and you love what you do, you’ll work harder than you ever have in your life. You’ll throw a project in the trash because you’ve tried absolutely everything, then come back and pull it out because you’ve thought of one more way you might be able to make it work. You’ll go the extra mile to organize your workflow, clean up the cable runs, double double-check everything because you’re proud of what you’re working on.

There’s an energy around a show when people are excited to be there. Where everyone wants to be a little more ambitious because they know that the whole can be so much better than the sum of its parts.

I was incredibly lucky that The Outsiders was one of those projects. From the first day, you could tell that everyone was ready to make some magic with this show. That drive and dedication to say “I have an idea” or try a hundred different solutions to scenes that “weren’t quite right” until we found the one that fit (or realized we’d had the best one along) made our show something special. It’s likely one of the reasons we won Best Musical, even with amazing contenders where so many people thought that Hell’s Kitchen had it locked, Illinoise would break the mold, Suffs would have its rallying cry or Water for Elephants would wow with its incredible acrobatics. Our passion shone through every corner of the production and people have responded to that in amazing ways, which is really what you hope for. The nominations and the awards are incredible recognition, but nothing makes the long hours and the stresses of tech worth it like hearing an entire audience gasp or seeing people leap to their feet night after night, knowing we got it right.

The jobs like that where you can point to something tangible and say “This is amazing, this is why I’m here” make it easy to justify why we chose this career, but what happens when you’re not there because you love the show?  Not all pieces are “art.” Sometimes you just have to pay the bills.

When that’s the case, look to the intangibles that will help you in the future. Does this job give you more experience, better connections, or open up other opportunities? If the answer is no, it may be time to look for something else. If it’s yes, remind yourself of that when you feel exhausted and frustrated. You can’t see it now, you can’t hold onto it, but this temporary moment becomes an essential building block for a stronger foundation down the road.

Dirty Dancing was one of those shows for me. I was there to learn how to be an A1 because I wanted the Les Mis tour going out the next year. Dirty Dancing is entertainment: you’re going to have a good time, but it’s not going to change your life. I worked with wonderful people who are lifelong friends, but I had no illusions that I was going to be artistically fulfilled on that tour.

What that show did do for me was pack a massive amount of learning into a very short time. I’d had the option to stay on Phantom, potentially move up when the A1 left, and then learn as we moved the show every 2 weeks. Instead, I encountered a lot of raised eyebrows as I took a smaller tour that moved multiple times a week. It was the harder, more labor-intensive option, but it was the right one. In one year I moved Dirty Dancing more times than I would have in three or four years on Phantom and got better that much faster at being an A1. Anytime I felt confused or ready to call it quits, I reminded myself that this was working towards a goal, this was a stepping stone and a temporary situation as I learned and improved.

When you don’t have a concrete goal in front of you (or forget that you do), you have a tendency to fall into the trap of self-doubt and wonder what all the hard work is actually for.

I’ve run into some new stagehands who’ve looked at me, already dejected when they’ve barely even started, and said “I don’t think I can do this.” To those people, I tell them to give it time and we’ll talk again in a few weeks. To give themselves the space to learn how to do the job and how to ask questions. So far I’ve yet to have anyone come back to me and still feel like they’re floundering.

This has also come up in troubleshooting. Now, I’ve reached a point where I can troubleshoot most problems over the phone without having to look at the gear. When I remotely pinpoint the problem I usually get a frustrated sigh of, “How do you know that?!” I try to remind them that I have over ten years of experience. Ten. Years. Over a decade of yelling and grumbling at gear while I searched through menus or looked up user manuals. I’ve learned the most likely fails and the best questions to ask to narrow down the possibilities, but that took time. A lot of it.

Those who aren’t plagued with self-doubt tend to veer in the opposite direction and just want to skip to the “easy” part. They want to go on tour, but not one-nighters. They want to be a designer, not an assistant. They want to work on Broadway, not the smaller Off and Off-Off Broadway shows. These are the people who forget that cheat codes are best left in video games. The jobs that get your foot in the door will prepare you one hundred times better for that future dream job than getting dropped in the middle of that amazing gig with little experience and no network to act as a safety net.

Shows don’t get easier, they just get bigger. Bigger budgets, higher stakes, less margin for error. Yes, on The Outsiders I don’t have to move from theatre to theatre, so the physical labor is less, but the shows where there hasn’t been a producer, director, choreographer, composer, or other creative in the house are few and far between. There is a microscope constantly on this show and it never lets up.

Even now, some people hear that I moved to the city last year and think it’s a Cinderella story that I already have my own Broadway show. I remind them of the time I spent on tour. Ten years that gave me the skills to stay calm under pressure, to develop systems that make me efficient, and a habit of responsibility so my designers and creatives know that I will take good care of my show. I wouldn’t be able to handle this show if I hadn’t had all the practice over the years on smaller ones.

The jobs that seem overly difficult or thankless are usually the ones that do the best job of preparing you for your future. The days that you question if you can do this are the days you start figuring it out. It’s not always easy or fun, but it’s necessary. Dream jobs require a lot of work not only to get to them, but to be in them, and that’s what makes them worth the journey. Let’s be honest, most of us who end up in this industry would be terribly bored without a good challenge anyway.

Aligning Professional Paths With Our Values

Working in an unpredictable industry and an unstable economy can sometimes mean that we say “yes” to every job and gig that comes along, without much further introspection. When rent is due, the bills keep coming in, and taxes are relentless, it can be challenging to objectively look at the path we are on and honestly reflect upon whether we’ve lost our way.

I recently saw a quote with an analogy about understanding your worth, which said:

“A bottle of water is 50 cents at a supermarket. $2 at the gym. $3 at the movies and $6 on a plane. It’s the same bottle of water. The only thing that changed its value was the place. So, the next time you feel your worth is low, maybe you’re just at the wrong place”.

This brought up memories from many years ago; I had been reading a job advert, and as I made my way through the specifications and company values, I was surprised to see a long list of attributes that I considered to be my negative quirks and flaws. These traits were making my life increasingly difficult and hostile in the role I was in at the time, and I had started to view myself in a distorted way as a result. It was a real wake-up call that I’d become stuck in a harmful rut with my work and wasn’t where I wanted to be. Although it was difficult to acknowledge, it was a brutal reminder to go where you are celebrated, not tolerated.

The Impact of Environment

A 1984 study by Roger Ulrich discovered that hospital patients recovering in rooms with a view of nature recovered considerably better, and had a much higher survival rate than patients with a view of a brick wall. Subsequent research has found that creating safe conditions that include being within easy reach of the nurses physically and having access to a call button, having privacy and peace, as well as the view of nature, impacted recovery even more positively. Although this might seem obvious and intuitive if we apply these criteria to our working environments, these ideals can seem like a luxury when we are juggling multiple roles to get by, are seeing through the end of a contract, or are struggling to line up the next gig.

Workplace toxicity impacts both physical and mental health, and it’s well-documented by medical professionals. In the Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD explains that “Chronic stress can lead to depression, heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses.” So, perhaps we should consider the environments in which we work and reside far more carefully, and view them as less of a luxury and more of a necessity.

Murthy’s framework outlines five essentials people require in the workplace, which are grounded in human needs, and are universal across industries and roles. While a toxic culture is defined by disrespect, non-inclusivity, unethical practices, cutthroat competition, and abuse, the inverse is outlined in the five essentials for workplace mental health and well-being.

Moving On 

Hatching an escape plan can take time when factoring in the nuances of our circumstances, such as how much or how little help we have in our network, and ways in which we might need to realign and heal from the impact of the toxicity. When appreciating the idiosyncrasies of a niche, tight-knit industry or of freelance work, there is often no one person or organisation available for support and advice. Lauren Florko Pd.D. recommends in Psychology Today that finding solace beyond the professional environment is a crucial first step. Florko writes:

“In extreme cases, where a toxic work environment persists, and internal resources are scarce, seek support outside of work. This can be found through career coaches, therapists, health practitioners, and/or spiritual or religious leaders. Creating a robust support system beyond the office can provide the necessary resilience to endure and, if needed, make a strategic exit.”

Acquiring the tools to move on successfully requires not only a fresh start in the external world but also inner work to find cognitive closure. Harvard Business Review recommends therapeutic exercises for processing the experience, implementing self-care in the form of forgiving your past self, and using the knowledge you now have to propel you forward:

“Self-compassion goes a long way to rebuild your confidence, as does taking your power back through constructive action that strengthens your sense of self. Put what you learned from your last role to good use by clearly communicating your boundaries and expectations.”

Aligning with Culture and Values

When we’re looking for our next client or role, aligning with culture and values is key to meeting our five essential needs as outlined by Murthy, but what does this mean, and what does it look like in reality?

Understanding your core values is integral to making the best choices in all areas of life. When we live in alignment with our values, we feel happy, and when we live out of alignment, this is when we struggle, because inwardly we know that something is wrong.

While we all hold many values, our core values are our most highly prioritised, top 5. It can be useful to go through a list and narrow down which are important to you.

 

When we have our core values, it then helps to look at how we can live by these values through our actions, and identify where we might be out of alignment, both personally and professionally. What do these values mean to you by your definition, on a micro and macro level, and are they specific instances, or more of an experiential sensation?

By following this process, we can become aware of where and what we would like to change in our lives and seek out those values in both our behaviours and in the actions of others. Being mindful of our core values when researching and meeting new clients, collaborators, and companies from the outset is useful for keeping us on the path we wish to follow.

Our core values may naturally move and change over time, however, if we keep them in mind as we go through life, it is much easier to notice when things are out of alignment sooner rather than later and adjust accordingly.

The Art of Trying

As of June 11th, I will have been officially in my “post-grad era” for ten months. Ten months consisting of moving home (and then back to Nashville, where I went to college), nearly 700 job applications (just on LinkedIn), four internships (only one paid), three part-time jobs, 20+ sound credits on international TV shows (streaming on Disney+, Cartoon Network, and Netflix), and ultimately, one girl behind it all who is just… trying to make it work.

Hint: that girl would be me.

If there’s something I’ve learned during this almost full year of figuring life out, it’s that 1) despite having six seasons, there just aren’t enough episodes of Sex and The City, and 2) there is most definitely an art to “trying to make it work.” I am currently making my way through Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, and though the topic is touched on throughout the book, Week 8 specifically emphasizes reclaiming your time, energy, and strength as an artist by simply trying things out for the sake of doing them. It’s easy to come up with excuses as to why we can’t or shouldn’t pursue our desires: too young, too old, too out of shape, too busy, too broke, too scared. However, Cameron stresses that as creative beings, none are the real reasons. Like Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn’t help but wonder: have we lost our ability to try for trying’s sake?

Let me elaborate. I believe our inability to follow our dreams might lie in the fact that we are too attached to the comfortable, familiar anxiety of thinking about the thing rather than doing the thing and being faced with the truth of a real outcome.

In other words, we’d rather not try and not know than try and fail.

This belief resonated with me as a young woman pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, specifically in audio. As I’ve navigated the last 10 months, it’s been so easy to blame my lack of progress on several things. I’m too young and inexperienced. I should be grateful just to be given a chance at anything, so I need to avoid speaking my mind or taking up space just to keep the opportunity. I’m too busy juggling multiple jobs. I’m too focused on trying to keep myself afloat. But if I’m honest with myself, the real reason is that oftentimes, I don’t think that I’m good enough.

The beautiful thing about being this young and inexperienced is that right now, I have nothing to lose. When you’re at the bottom, the only way to go is up. And if I take a second to evaluate where I’m at, things are quite wonderful. I’ve had some great professional opportunities, and though they haven’t yet landed me the full-time gig I’ve been hoping for, I’ve learned a lot about myself and the industry I’m pursuing. I’ve been able to spend more time at home in Texas with my family, which at this point in life, you don’t often get to say. I’ve also been able to live with my friends and chosen family now that I am back in Tennessee. I have freedom with my schedule and can take on smaller opportunities that arise, like flexible sound design gigs or working on friends’ films and projects. What I thought were gaps in my “grand plan” are looking more like stained glass than a shattered mirror, and in the cracks, I’m finding time to dedicate to trying. As I said, there’s a real art to it, and slowly but surely, I feel like I’m picking up the skill.

Whether you’ve been in the industry for years or, like me, are just starting out, I encourage you to take the time to evaluate both your past and present. I’m almost positive that if given the opportunity, you’ll be able to provide a much fuller list of accomplishments, big and small. And the great news? If you’re not where you want to be, if you aren’t feeling fulfilled, if you find yourself off track from your goals, you can always try again. And I don’t just mean in your career.

Pick up the brushes and start a watercolor painting.

Grab a pen and paper and jot down a few pages for that memoir you’ve been wanting to write.

Sit down and find an old clip from a movie you love and redesign the SFX.

Have a favorite artist who releases the raw stems for their songs? Set aside an hour or two to remix them.

You don’t need a perfect, finished product.

Stop thinking about what could happen.

Try.

And just like that, the process goes from daunting to invigorating.

Like any kind of art, to get better at “trying” requires practice. And the truth of the matter is you won’t ever really be good at trying, just better at accepting the outcome. If I recall, it was also Carrie Bradshaw who noted that “life gives you lots of chances to screw up, which means you have just as many chances to get it right.”

But hey, you’ll never know until you try.

Photo courtesy of HBO MAX

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants 2024

SoundGirls L-Acoustics Grants

L-Acoustics is offering 4 grants for courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program. The Education Team has structured the grants to relate to certain job profiles to help the recipient advance their knowledge and skills in their respective fields:

These grants focus on offering access to in-person training via our packaged seminars. For in-person attendance of courses, hotel accommodations are included with the grant. Grant recipients are responsible for any additional travel expenses. If the recipient is unable to attend an in-person training, the recipient will be offered online training options instead. 

Prospective candidates must be members of SoundGirls and have until September 1, 2024, to submit their application. Winners will receive notification of their award by September 30, 2024, and an announcement will be made via the website and social media. Candidates can only apply for one choice of grant.

The recipient can choose to attend the courses at any time within the 1-year time frame starting from the time of being informed of their award.

System Technician Grant

This grant consists of enrollment to the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

This grant aims to empower the trainee to learn how to mount, rig, cable, and connect a L-Acoustics system.

It also aims to give the learner knowledge of:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1 year of access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

Apply Here

System Engineer Grant

The recipient requires prior completion or concurrent enrollment to System & Workflow, or previous completion of System Fundamentals. This grant consists of enrollment to the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

This grant aims to empower the trainee to learn how to design and calibrate a L-Acoustics system. It also aims to deepen the learner’s understanding of:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1 year of access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

Apply Here

L-ISA Grant

The recipient requires prior completion or concurrent enrollment to System & Workflow, or previous completion of System Fundamentals. This grant invites the recipient to attend all the L-ISA-focused courses from L-Acoustics Education:

This grant empowers the trainee to design, implement, and calibrate a L-Acoustics L-ISA system. This grant also empowers the trainee to prepare, encode, and control objects in a L-ISA mix as well as create a mix in L-ISA when walking up to a L-ISA system with or without preproduction. It also aims to deepen the student’s understanding of:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1 year of access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

Apply Here

System Expert Grant

This grant consists of enrollment to the following courses in the L-Acoustics Education Program:

This grant aims to empower the trainee to advance their understanding in system optimization as well as learning about:

Completion of the courses in this grant includes 1 year of access to the L-Acoustics Education Platform learning community and content for all the courses.

Apply Here

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