No matter who you are or what you pursue in your career, an opportunity will come your way through luck or (more likely) effort and you’ll get a chance to showcase your talents.

My life has been motivated and consumed by talent; pursuing it in myself, seeking to emphasize it in others, understanding its power and importance within each individual. I’m a talent manager because I feel deeply that talent in all of its forms has a tremendous power to improve the world, to move each of us to positive action.

This realization is helping me learn and develop a variety of seemingly disconnected skills including how to fly, play piano, use social media, and navigate Hollywood.

When it comes to casting, Lisa Zambetti is a busy casting director on the rise.

I like to analyze things. Doing so can have its drawbacks, but it’s a valuable trait as relates to my career as a Hollywood talent manager.

I’m fascinated by success. As a Hollywood talent manager for more than three decades, I’ve spent years studying the differences between people who succeed and those who never quite accomplish their goals.

For more than three decades I’ve sat in meetings with actors who ask me that crucial question about their career.

Every actor wants to know how to get a talent agent or manager’s attention. I know, because it’s one of the questions I’m most often asked.

“There are x types of people in this world.” You’ve probably heard everybody from your Grandpa Joe to Clint Eastwood in any movie say some variation of this mantra.

If you stop and think about your career as a series of horse races, a few things are going to happen. You’re more likely to get where you want to go. You’re more likely to build good relationships. And you’re more likely to have fun while you do it.

Every hero shares the same superpower: The ability to improve. Their commitment to getting better is one of the biggest reasons we root for them.

The more you know about how the entertainment industry works and where it’s headed, the more likely you are to identify and capitalize on new opportunities.

I started writing blogs as a way to help people navigate Hollywood and to share my experiences and lessons learned from decades spent as a talent manager.

It’s been a great year and I want to thank you for all of the attention, likes, shares, and support you’ve given to my blog in 2018.

Just about everyone in Hollywood is from somewhere else. The entertainment industry is filled with people who packed their bags and left Des Moines, or Seattle, or Baltimore to take a shot at their dreams.