224: Conquering Failure, with Anna Vocino

I was delighted to have Anna back on the show, she’s always a terrific guest! No matter what we talk about there are always parallels to be drawn to the solopreneur’s journey. As someone who has made a living as a voiceover artist, actress and writer, Anna knows what it’s like to be in the trenches creating her own career like solopreneurs do.

If you’ve missed any of her previous visits to the show and want more of her backstory, you can find those shows here.

On today’s show Anna tells us what it was like to be involved in her first ever pitch session. In the movie and acting world, when someone (or multiple someones) have an idea for a new show or movie, they eventually have to pitch it to a network to get it made (or opt to fund it themselves).

Even though Anna’s worked in the biz for well over a decade, she hadn’t been in a pitch session before. But when her husband’s first pilot presentation was shot and she was part of the creative team, she went in for her first-ever pitch session. She has done countless auditions (literally thousands) so it was a similar vibe in that you always have to be prepared for a no but be focused on getting a yes.

The Finer Details of This Show Include:

• How did a joke land her on Spike TV?
• Why relationships and connections are so important.
• You’re not in the convincing business: when to cut your losses and move on.
• An insider tip on how to make the most of Evernote.
• What is packaging in Hollywood?
• And so, so much more!

And that’s one of the key similarities between Hollywood and solopreneurship: you can’t let a no stop you. If you let a few no’s get you down and you don’t get back up, you’ll never make it. You have to stay positive and believe in yourself, despite whatever exterior circumstances might be telling you.

Another similarity is that you must always hustle and stay relevant. Even though the most famous people in Hollywood are hustling every day. It’s a grind; keep working at it and staying current with the trends.

To stay relevant, you must always be improving. If you’re always improving and honing your craft by getting feedback from the best and brightest, you’ll naturally stay on top of your game. Remember when you start out you won’t be great, and that’s ok. Do the best you can, improve and refine what you’re putting out the world and you can only get better.

As long as you stick with it, which is another key to success in Hollywood and solopreneurship. You have to be consistent. That alone is enough to set you apart from the crowd. Not many people are willing to do something day in and day out until they reach success. Whether you’re an actor or a comedian or an online marketer, or any other solopreneur, you must consistently improve and build upon your success.

Anna and I dive into all of those subjects and more on today’s show. A great big thank you to Anna for coming back, she’s always a treat! And extra thanks to all of you for being here as well, see you next time on The Solopreneur Hour.

Resources Mentioned on Today’s Show

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