What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Working Actors in Hollywood with Kevin E. West

Podcast (the-business-of-hollywood): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:45 — 39.6MB) | Embed

I believe entrepreneurs have a LOT to learn from working actors (which make up less than 10% of the actor community).

Working actors in Hollywood need to build resilience in the face of rejection, network to grow themselves as a business, market themselves and sell themselves. Entrepreneurs have to do all those things also!

We dive into some advice for today’s entrepreneurs from a working actor in Hollywood in this episode with my guest, Kevin E. West.

Kevin has built an amazing acting business for himself. He has been working in Hollywood and television since 1990. He has amassed over 70 credits, including shows like Matlock (the original), Hawaii 5-0, Criminal Minds, Lost, 24, and Desperate Housewives, to name a few and dozens more on IMDB as well.

Kevin is the Founder of the award-winning actor business education organization, The Actors’ Network, as well as a 3-time member of the SAG-AFTRA Theatrical contract Negotiating Committee.

We dive into topics including:

How Kevin became the CEO of his acting career and the parallels that traditional entrepreneurs can learn from.
Why success isn’t based on who you know but on who knows you.
How to be seen and stand out from the crowd as an actor and as an entrepreneur.
How to network and market yourself at your industry’s events.
Why one of the best things an entrepreneur can do is not take their business matters personally.
How to get into the right rooms with the right people to further your career.
How to build your personal brand and stand out from the crowd.
How to hone your craft.
How to deal with rejection.
How to build momentum and advance your business after you start getting into the right rooms.
The importance of not becoming complacent when you have some success.
Why “making it big” is a very subjective term.
The four layers of success.
The one thing, above all else, that you need to do to build a successful business.

…and other golden nuggets of advice!

It’s Not Location, Location, Location Anymore

Kevin believes that one of the biggest challenges for performers in general used to be akin to the real estate analogy that its location, location, location. It used to be all the way up until about ten to fifteen years ago that where you were located in the world was almost everything. Now, because of the internet, you can start a business anywhere and become an actor almost anywhere.

It doesn’t mean that that the difficulty of being an actor or an entrepreneur wasn’t always about your physical location and state of mind. But now because of Netflix and because of how actors have evolved, you can be a CEO as an actor anywhere in the world if you have the right mindset. Those are just two of the great things about the industries these days. One of the things Kevin believes is that actors don’t get the proper education about being a CEO as an actor, and that’s the problem. Actors are businesses in and of themselves and they often don’t embrace that.

If you were told as a businessman “Just go open the door and wait for people to walk in.” That might be a challenge. Now, if you had a great location, that could help, and that metaphor would be how you look physically and emotionally in the acting profession. But actors are simply not given a business mentality, and that comes from education about what it means to be a CEO.

Kevin’s Business of Hollywood Journey

Actors tend to only think about two things, getting pictures and having representation. That tends to be the scope, the limitation of what most performers do along with going to acting classes. That’s the difference between acting and business. In business you’re expected to, go figure, run a business.

The problem according to Kevin is that actors in general simply don’t have a business mentality. They think of themselves purely as artists. The business mentality of entrepreneurs is that they get training from books and school and from college. There’s all sorts of other courses and classes along the way that they can take to learn about the business world. That’s just not the mentality of most actors.

Kevin believes it was easier for him because he was working in his mother’s restaurant when he was eleven years old. He was already an independent-minded and business oriented individual by the time he decided to be an actor.

What it Means to be an Actor or Entrepreneur CEO

As an actor, Kevin realized that he owned a business and he was still taking out the trash, so to speak, as a CEO, doing all jobs from top to bottom. A lot of CEOs don’t, but as an actor, you are truly the CEO of an important personal, tiny business. Which means everything, every sector that goes along with your business is ultimately your responsibility. But that goes back to the business education, because we know that advertising, marketing, networking, accounting and such are all part of being an entrepreneur.

Performers are not told the everyday rules of entrepreneurship. Actors believe that the business aspects of their careers are their representative’s job, and that’s how a lot of people come into the industry. They never start with a mentality of being the CEO of all of the departments that should be their responsibility and that they should make time for in their schedules.

The Importance of Consistency

You need to do those things on a regular basis. That’s the big key; being consistent just like working out. If you go to the gym three days in a row for three hours but then don’t go back to the gym for two weeks, what good did you do? None. Being a CEO as an actor means you must get up every day and run your business.

When you’re starting your career, you need to do pieces of all the things that make up a successful business. Actors are not given that mentality early in their careers. So it’s very difficult for a lot of people to alter their physical routine and modify their behaviors like any businessperson would. That’s one of the reasons show business slaps them in the face.Their small business doesn’t tell them, “Hey, you’re not on the road to success until you’re ready to run a business.”

For those actors, it’s not just that the phone’s not ringing. They’re lost in the business of life in general as to what to do day in and day out. That’s the chasm between being the actor and being the CEO at the same time instead of just being a performer.

Thankfully Kevin learned that early on…

And that is just the beginning!

Listen to or watch the interview to continue this story and get more golden nuggets of advice!

You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”

About My Guest

Kevin E. West is a veteran television actor in Hollywood with over 70 credits including Guest Starring on The Righteous Gemstones (HBO), Hawaii 5-0, Criminal Minds, Bones, Castle, Touch, CSI: Miami, Justified, Aquarius, Leverage, Lost, 24, Desperate Housewives, NCIS, Alias, CSI, Judging Amy and dozens more on IMDB as well as the feature, The Healer, starring Lance Henriksen and Natasha Henstridge. Early on in Kevin’s career he performed as both a Stand-up Comic and Improv artist.

As the Founder of The Actors’ Network in 1991, Kevin has been recognized as the top expert opinion leader industry-wide on the ‘business of show business.’ The Actors’ Network is the most endorsed actor’s business organization in the U.S., winning consecutive BackStage West “Reader’s Choice” awards (06/07). A few of its alumni include Emmy Nominee Masi Oka (Heroes), Chelsey Crisp (Off The Boat), Chris Gorham (Covert Affairs-Ugly Betty) and Maggie Grace (Taken trilogy).

Visit Kevin’s Site!

Learn About the Actor MBA!

Learn About The Actor’s Network!

Learn why The Business of Hollywood Podcast exists! “Your Introduction to The Business of Hollywood Podcast”