I had the opportunity to sit down with Kris Sheppard for nearly an hour on his Successful Performercast show. Boy did he really pull it out of me! If you want the real, unfiltered story of what it takes to succeed in Las Vegas you’ll want to check out the show.
Kris gives a really in depth overview on his site but here are some highlights:
Favorite Quotes:
One of my most favorite quotes comes from my Dad. He always told me that “You’re fast becoming the person you’re going to be.” What he was telling me is that my actions and habits form who I am.
Me on Passion
Juggling is perceived as juvenile; circuses, clowns, kids stuff. Anyone can name five famous magicians, with jugglers… Building my brand isn’t necessarily about juggling, it’s about connecting with people.
Seth Godin has a really great quote, “Passion is people specific not project specific”. The secret is that I’m not really passionate about juggling, really; I’m a passionate person and what I’m really passionate about is people.
Passionate people build things bigger than themselves.
Getting Started in Vegas
I don’t claim to be a guru or even that knowledgeable about anything really; but based on what I’ve learned from making it happen it’s about leverage and action. Leverage what you have, and take action with it.
I started by performing with charities, being an emcee, moving on to corporate entertaining, just scaffolding on every gig no matter how much and gave every one of them 110%.
If something doesn’t work out, pivot. Take a queue from what’s going on around you and follow it.
Bartering is highly underrated. Everyone has some kind of super power that you can use to trade for other services, connections, expertise, whatever. You have more to offer than you realize.
You can connect to the Podcast directly from iTunes as well.
