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We’ve established that you don’t need to go skydiving to be fearless but what do you need to do? Don’t quit. You can pivot over and over but you can’t quit on yourself. Quitting is the easy way out. Winners don’t quit. They fight.

In Other News…

I love a good cold pitch. Some people spend their evenings watching TV and some people (me) spend their evenings looking up Yelp reviews. I don’t know what category to place myself in but it’s a pretty fun evening routine. A few days ago I saw a viral video of a bagel company in New Jersey and emailed the founder telling him I thought the website could be better. This particular bagel company sells pumpkin bagels and they’re as cute as the dog I’m currently dog sitting. 2 hours on Yelp later understanding if the bagel actually tastes like pumpkin or just looks like one, I wrote Alex an email.

This story is as real as it gets. The founder got my email and called me yesterday. He was like who the f*** are you and I was like who the heck are you!? I hate random people calling me.

The poor guy goes “you emailed me over the weekend about my bagel company but what exactly is it that you do”?

30 minutes on the phone later, we brokered a nice deal for me to help him with his new coffee biz. All because I thought the company is rad but couldn’t figure out if the pumpkin bagels actually tasted like pumpkin or were a scam.

Meet Allison Kaye, Partner at Scooter Braun Projects.

Allison and I have been connected for years and she’s such an inspiration and mentor to me. I asked her to answer these 5 questions about what she looks for when hiring!

Q: Allison, what do you look for when you're hiring?

A: When I'm hiring - it's not so much about what you have done before and more about how you've done it. Unless you are looking for a job in a highly technical field, many skills carry over industry to industry. So I'm actually way more likely to hire someone who was great in marketing or team management from another industry who is motivated and really did a great job in their last position over someone with a lot of music experience who has the connections but doesn't use them to their fullest advantage.

Q: I bet there were a lot of pivots during the early days of SB Projects when your team was small! What was the biggest decision you had to make about the company early on to guarantee success?

A: Scooter and I made the conscious decision to diversify by managing multiple artists covering many genres and building and acquiring hard assets as part of our business model. Management is amazing and obviously I love what I do. However, you are also beholden to the circumstances of a client's life. If there are many - you avoid years of famine when a client needs to take a break. And if there are hard assets you own there are other businesses you are building for yourself so you're in control of your destiny at the end of the day.

Q: What do you do to stay balanced as a working woman, mother, wife, friend...I could go on with how fearless you are!

A: Well thank you. I wish I could tell you this lovely story of my balanced life and how I do it all - I don't. I do the best I can. I have a lot of help. I was blessed to find a man who loves me and my drive and ambition and understands the kind of person I am. He also trusts me when I say I've got us - and has really found a place where he thrives as a stay at home dad (who also had the help of our angel of a nanny). I have a co president at work - who is also my best friend on planet earth - who has an older daughter and knows how important this period with my kids is. She does everything she can to make sure I don't miss the important things with them. It takes a village. The kids. The friends. The job. All of it. Relinquish some control and rely on your village. That's how I get by. I trust that when I am not somewhere, I have great people taking care of the things I'm not. That allows me to devote my entire focus to where I am at that moment. I try to give 100% to who I am giving my time to and be the best I can at the one thing I'm doing in that one moment. 

Q: For someone who is looking to break into entertainment, what advice do you have for them?

A: It's a hard thing to answer - so much of it is being in the right place at the right time. So I guess my advice is to be places and when you see a door open even a little bit, put your foot in it and don't let it close. Take maximum advantage of every opportunity you happen upon. If it's getting someone's coffee, make sure it's perfect. If it's an internship, ingratiate yourself to everyone through the quality of your work.  Most importantly, keep blinders on and don't compare yourself to your peers in similar positions. Everyone's path is totally different and this is not an industry full of flowers and accolades for the people behind the scenes. Take pride in the work you do and learn how to find gratification in that. 

Q: What should someone who hates their job do, right now? 

A: First thing - DON'T QUIT! Never quit a job until you have another one (unless you're someone like our lovely Alexa who is a fearless risk taker). Also don't simply say I hate my job. Remember it's not fun. It's work - that's why you get paid to be there. I don't love my job everyday - not even on every great day. So rather than saying I hate my job - figure out what you dislike about the position or company. There was a reason you took it in the first place. Go back to that excitement of the first day you walked in and go from there. Where did it go wrong? If it's something that is fixable in your current position - try to fix that first. If not - start looking, but be clear in your mind what the issues to date have been so you don't make the same mistake twice.

Stay fearless or die trying,

Alexa

I met a founder this week via Twitter and during his coaching call (he subscribed to the premium version of Fearless) we went over what he’s building. He’s a successful tech founder looking to build a personal brand but he couldn’t decide which avenue to pursue: health, fitness, wellness, tech or, all of them?

My advice? The wellness category is broad and saturated, but what isn’t is his journey with sobriety and building a huge tech company. We decided he’d lead with that. If you’re a founder and want this kind of advice, subscribe to premium.

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