Today I was on CNN. I was on the "30 Second Pitch." The segment is designed to help people who are out of work find work. You get thirty seconds to tell the world why they should hire you. Going on the segment meant I needed to suck up my pride and admit the truth. I need to find work! I love speaking and entertaining! It's something I'm super passionate about, but the work is 100% commission! If you are not speaking you are not working. You can be busy for two months and have nothing for three. If you don't have something else to fall back on when you're not performing, you are out of luck.
So, I told the world that I was not employed and looking for work. I'm not un-employed today, I more "poorly" employed. I can speak to a school group, college or corporation one day; the next day I'm like a lot of America. Working two Part-Time jobs that don't pay enough to make ends meet. I've gone to job fairs, temp agencies, friends, family and surfed all corners of the internet! When it was all said and done, no one was calling other than scams artists or companies looking to take advantage of people.
Last year I only had a Part-time job that had me work about twenty hours a week. By the end of the year I was spending about 60 hours a week scooping up animal poop or being a cashier at a retail establishment. This isn't glamorous work, but you have to do what you can. Just like many of you reading this, I didn't plan for this to happen.
Almost three years ago I took a risk I moved from Ohio to Arizona. I moved to
#1 Be close to my girlfriend; who is now my fiance and soon to wife.
#2 Pursue a career as a speaker and entertainer.
The plan was to be with the one I love and pursue speaking full-time while working the normal 9-5 until things took off.
Things were going great the first year, then the economy hit. Companies and schools lost their budgets and speaking/training jobs became hard to find. I wasn't counting completely on my speaking to pay the bills, but it became my only income when no one will even call you for an interview. The funniest moment might have been when I applied for a school to work as a event planner for their speakers series. I was told I didn't have enough experience or the proper experience! So, I work as a professional speaker and spent 10 years as a speaker, but I'm not qualified..hmmmm! Things got worse when even McDonald's wouldn't call. I guess I'm too Happy to sell Happy Meals!
It was pretty sad, I could talk to students at a school or employees at a business one day and be turned down for employment at similar institutions the next. I don't know If I could say I was turned down, because less than 10% ever caller or e-mailed to say "we don't want you!" Over the two years of job searching and job scamming, I gathered a lot of new material to add to my talks and shows! Rule #1 for everyone reading this....Don't EVER Rent Cars! Especially don't work for a certain company named after a famous Starship/Naval ship.
My speaking was on life support early last year. A lot of performers got out of the game all together. For me I just worked harder. When you have something you love almost taken away from you, you really push to get it back. My performances got a lot better. Rule #2 for everyone reading this.....Don't get to complacent! Even if success come early, you must keep working hard to to keep things going. While working on my speaking I worked on finding other sources of income. I started working two part-time jobs, but I also needed to do more. Sometimes you have to take drastic or risky measures. For me, I decided to write a nice "honest" e-mail to CNN. I saw their 30 Second Pitch segment on New Year's Day and said, I'm going to get on their show. I sent my e-mail and resume in, and today I was on the show, proving why companies should hire me.
Many of us should be hired for work, we just need to given the chance. As of this blog, I've received a lot of e-mails about today's broadcast. Most of the e-mails were fellow un-employed or poorly employed people saying, "great job." Other e-mails were from people directing me to sites to find jobs. One legit e-mail offer was sent to me and a lot of scams/ get rich "business opportunities" were sent to me too.
I hope all of you enjoy the video below. For those of you not working, keep pressing and find new and creative opportunities to get your face in front of employers. When that opportunity does present itself, make sure you go for it 100%!
Good Luck and keep believing in yourselves! The video below was posted by my brother. Thank you Jim! You're the best!
Rule #3 for everyone reading this...."Don't let your pride get in the way! Be sure to admit when you need help and ask for it when you need it!"
(I didn't know how to post this video, so I asked my brother for help!)
Posted by ~Jim-Jim~
