Top Shelf Life: Lesson Learned

Life long lessons can be taken from every aspect life as long as we take the time to observe and learn. I gained some life long lessons through my last working opportunity that I was afforded. For the last six years I have been an on and off intern with Ujima Sound Productions, an entertainment production company located in New York, NY, and I was asked to represent them on a gig for their new client The Dream. I've taken the last five years to study and enhance my formal education and gain valuable knowledge and experience in the entertainment industry, and now I was ready to show the world what I’ve got. Well, at least that’s what I thought.

The show was on July 7^th, 2012 in the middle of London, England’s historic Hyde Park, which is one of the largest parks in central London, roughly half the size of New York’s Central Park. On this day seven years ago, the city of London was attacked by a suicide bomber, similar to the 9/11 attacks; but this year the city was hosting the men and women’s Wimbledon finals, London’s gay pride parade, and the incredible Barclaycard Wireless Festival. I was there as a road manager for The Dream who performed on the second day of the festival. The Barclaycard Wireless Festival is owned and managed by Live Nation, which was previously known as the O₂ Wireless Festival; but switched names in 2009 when Barclaycard became the main sponsor.

The festival has housed some of the greatest musical voices of the past decade, such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, James Blunt, Moby, and The Black Eyed Peas to name a few. This year show hosted The Roots, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, J Cole, plus many more and was no less than incredible.

Even though the venue was located in the middle of Hyde Park, this gig was no walk in the park for me. It took a lot of hard work and dedication to perform at my absolute best. Although, it was a great experience and will look great on my resume, the personal knowledge that I gained is of greatest value to me.

From this experience I’ve developed a new sense of motivation and drive. There were many times during the day when I just wanted to give up, but I could not, I was fearless. I gained many lessons; the first being that you cannot please everyone, and second is that the entertainment industry can be a thankless job. But the greatest lesson gained, is that everyone may not see the hard work and dedication that you exhibit, but it does not mean that there are any excuses for performing at you absolute best. There will be many times when we must endure to raise to higher heights and achieve personal success.

I’m extremely grateful for the experience and lessons learned.