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[0:00] Justin Guarini: Hey, everybody! Thank you so much for listening. This is a really exciting week for me. Not only is it my birthday, but it's also the official launch day of Audition Secrets, the book, the revised copy, as well as the Audition Secrets Mastermind. It is so cool, the stuff that I've got going on. I'm so excited, if you can't tell. It's my birthday. There's a lot of cool stuff to talk about. I'm giving away prizes this week for those people who get my book, and so much cool stuff. But let's roll the intro, and I'll tell you all about it.

[0:30] Justin Guarini: Welcome to Audition Secrets, the podcast. My name is Justin Guarini, and I'm an audition and performance expert with over 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry. You see me on huge television shows like American Idol, playing characters like Lil Sweet in national television commercials from brands like Diet Dr. Pepper, on Broadway in six musicals and plays, as well as on Instagram and Facebook, where I bring you success mindset coaching on the regular. Each week on this podcast, you'll learn actionable strategies, mindsets, and tips that take the guesswork out of creating auditions and performances that make you stand out from the crowd, and help to increase your odds of getting the job, so that you can create the career and lifestyle you work so hard for each day.

[1:18] Justin Guarini: If you haven't picked up your copy of the book, Audition Secrets, Volume 1, then all you need to do is visit auditionsecretsbook.com to get instant access to your copy. The Audition Secrets book and this podcast are your secret weapons to rising above your competition, successfully navigating the entertainment business, and keeping your sanity as you rise to the top. So kick back and relax.

[1:45] Justin Guarini: 5, 6, 7, let's go! Ah, yes. It's my birthday, everybody! And I cannot tell you, I've gotten so much love, so many wonderful posts, so many wonderful messages today from everyone, so thank you so very much. I'm turning 41, or I just, I turned 41, which is insane to me. I don't feel 41, I certainly don't act 41, and people tell me I don't even look 41, which is great, I'll take that all day and twice on Sunday. It's been a really amazing 41 years, I'm not going to give you a retrospective, don't worry. We'd be here for a long time. But I will say this, at the beginning of my professional career, if you had told me all the wonderful things that I would do in the industry, all the wonderful things, people that I would meet, all the wonderful moments, heartfelt moments that I would have with fans, with friends, with family, I mean, I don't think I would have ever possibly believed you.

I was just this 22-year-old kid who had a dream of singing and acting and dancing and just really, at the end of the day, bringing light to the dark places in the world. And I know that sounds strangely altruistic, but it's really true. That was, and still is, one of my main drivers in life. And I'm really fortunate that I get the chance to do that every single day, that I get the chance not only to be inspired, but to share my inspiration with other people.

[3:21] Justin Guarini: And that really segues me nicely into the fact that it is launch week, launch day for Audition Secrets, the book, as well as the mastermind. I'm so excited. There's so much cool stuff going on with that. The book is available now at AuditionSecretsTheBook.com. You can check out all the things that we do at Audition Secrets, including more of these podcasts and where you can find more episodes at AuditionSecrets.com. There's so much great stuff. I can't even tell you. The book has been doing phenomenally well. People have been loving it. And when you get the book, you have the opportunity to have seven days of free access to the Audition Secrets mastermind membership. Guys, it's awesome. There's bonus videos in there that really dig even further into the concepts you find in the book.

There are training videos. There's a guided meditation that is specifically designed to reduce anxiety, crush audition nerves, and get you so primed to walk into the room feeling confident, feeling comfortable and ready to shine. There's other interviews that I've done. And there's also a link where you can get on once, twice a month with me on a Zoom call where I do live trainings for you as well as answer your questions. It's just awesome. There's so much value. I was like, how can I give people like 10 times what they're giving me in return and help them have the kind of success and career and just the most wonderful time in the audition room and outside of the audition room that they possibly can. And that's what I've really gone after. And people are loving it. And I really would encourage you just to go to AuditionSecretsBook.com and check it out.

[5:22] Justin Guarini: Okay. So it is my birthday today. I'm going to go out with my family and have a wonderful meal. But before I do that, I really just want to focus on one thing that I am feeling that I think that we could all focus on more every single day. And that is gratitude. And I know there are gratitude journals and you see gratitude, hashtag blessed and all that stuff. I mean, it's all over the place. And I think that's great, but it's kind of like one of those things where it's like, oh yeah, yeah, gratitude, gratitude. But when we really stop and think about it and think about all the things that we have done, all the accomplishments that we've had, all of the steps and missteps and wonderful things and terrible, you get what I'm saying.

All those things have led up to who you are right now, here today in this moment. Good, bad, indifferent and everything in between. And today, because I've gotten so many messages from people wishing me a happy birthday and just giving me so much gratitude for who I am and what I represent in their lives. I wanted to share what I wrote back to everyone on my Instagram. And it's really simple, but I think it's just something that gives you a window into my perspective on gratitude.

[7:29] Justin Guarini: And so the picture itself was I had this picture of me, maybe I was two, three years old and I'm on this tricycle. And then there's another picture of me when I was a baby. And then another one when I was maybe five or six. And then there's another picture of me at three weeks old, where my mother, who was an anchor woman on a local affiliate, an ABC affiliate in Columbus, Georgia, was holding me. She brought me in and brought me on TV and was holding me up for all of Columbus, Georgia to see. It was my first television appearance at three weeks. And looking at that picture, looking at the other pictures of me when I was little, really just touched me and made me want to write this. So this is what I wrote.

Thank you for all the love and birthday wishes you've sent my way today. You all make me feel so valued and I'm so grateful for you. I wish I could go back and tell this little boy that someday millions of people would stand behind him, support him in the pursuit of his dreams, and watch with love as he walked his path and learned to be bigger and better with each step.

[8:52] Justin Guarini: And I want to freestyle here for a moment, just break away from what I said. That alone touches me in a way that I just, I hope you take the opportunity sometime to maybe look at a picture of yourself or to close your eyes and think about yourself as a small child and all the things that you went through. Again, good, bad, and indifferent. And take some time to just think, wow, if I could go back and tell that person what was going to happen in their life, even if it was the most horrible stuff that was going to happen. I mean, if I could just go back and tell them and let them know that no matter what, they are loved, they are valued, and they are worth so much. How would that feel for you?

I know how it feels for me. It feels pretty awesome. And the fact that I could just think to myself, wow, if that little kid on the tricycle who didn't know even what 4 plus 4 was could know that 30 million people plus would be on his side, would be voting, all the things, all the things. I don't think he would have gotten it, but I think that he would have at least smiled and he would have felt loved and he would have felt appreciated. Not that I didn't at that time, but you know what I'm saying? Like, what a gift that is to go back, even if it's just in our minds, and to give love to that part of ourselves that still exists, that small young part of ourselves, giving ourselves that love. It's wonderful.

[9:51] Justin Guarini: And so I go on to say I'm so blessed to see my children mirrored in the face of the next little one, and that's the picture of me when I was probably, I don't know, three or four or five. All three of my children bring me so much joy, healing, and inspiration to be the best man and father that I can be, and to give them the best fun, love, and life this world and my wild business.

[9:59] Justin Guarini: And again, I'm going to stop here and freestyle a little bit because this is, again, another thing. It's like, I have three children who are absolutely amazing, wonderful, pains in the butt, all the things. You know what I mean? Like the things that kids are. If you have kids, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And then if you don't and you want to have children, eventually, you will know what it is that I'm talking about. But there's so much joy, so much healing. Going back to that thing that I was saying before, when you have children and you get to rediscover the world through them, through their experiences, through their eyes growing up. And that has afforded me so much healing of that little person inside me.

And the things that I wish that my parents might have said to me, and by the way, I have amazing parents, but we all miss some things as parents. We all end up messing up our kids in some sort of way, right? It just ends up happening. It doesn't matter how good your life is that you're going to miss something. And those things that I wish my parents had maybe given to me, the things that I needed, I'm now able to give to my children. And I'm able to make that next generation a little bit better, a little bit stronger than before. And that brings me so much healing and so much joy and so much inspiration. I was looking at my kids in bed last night and they were dead asleep. And man, I just giggled so much because their personalities are so strong that even when they're sleeping, my older son, he just has this look on his face that is so, I can't even begin to describe it, but just this like quirky, funny look on his face.

Like he's always thinking. His brow was a little furrowed. He's always thinking. He always wants to know the plan. And then my youngest son was just like so passed out on the pillow that literally like he got knocked out and like smooshed his face on the pillow. And he's such a funny kid. And like he even sleeps funny. And it's those kinds of things that just bring me so much inspiration and laughter and joy and make me want to be the best man and the best father that I can be for them and to show them all the wonderful things that my business affords me to show them, bring them to all. I brought them to auditions. I brought them backstage. I brought them just to random things. I brought them out on stage with me in front of thousands of people just because that's what I want them to see where it is that their dad goes all the time and what it is that he's doing, what it is that he's up to.

[12:40] Justin Guarini: So I go on to say in my post, the next child, which was the five, six-year-old, always has had a wacky sense of humor and would have giggled his ass off to know that decades later he'd be showing up on TVs all over America dressed like a tiny rock star making people laugh and want to dress up like him for Halloween, which is one of his favorite holidays. Again, I'm gonna go freestyle here a little bit. I love Halloween. I absolutely love Halloween. If you go back and look at my posts on Instagram, you'll see some of the costumes I've had over the years and one of my favorite costumes that I had when I was a little kid, my mom knew that I loved Freddy Krueger. Remember Freddy Krueger? Terrifying!

I don't know why he was so terrifying. Why did I like this guy? But I really did. Maybe it was a sense of power. I don't know what it was, but it was just like all the rage. Freddy Krueger. And so one Halloween, my mom got the hat for me, and of course it was like some Party City USA plastic thing, and we were like, well, how do we do the makeup? How do we do the makeup? And we did tinfoil for the claws, and we're like, but the makeup, the makeup, the makeup. And my mother, in a stroke of genius, got cotton balls and Karo syrup, put a thin layer of Karo syrup on my face, and then proceeded to pull apart cotton balls and place them all over my face so that they completely covered my face except for my eyes, and then she put makeup on top of the, just dabbing it on top of the cotton balls, and made it look as though with cotton balls that my skin was kind of like sloughing off, and it was like that Freddy Krueger burned look, right?

And it was so amazing, and I felt so cool. And the weird thing is, is that I did that, and I dressed up in my Boy Scout uniform. I was like a Boy Scout Freddy Krueger. It was the weirdest thing, but oh my goodness, like what an amazing thing that my mom did for me. And literally, it's just like, you know, what is that? I forget what the phrase is. Desperation is the mother of ingenuity, whatever it is. It's like, literally, we just had some cotton balls laying around, and some Karo syrup, and some makeup, and my mom took that and made that into an amazing costume. And so the fact that this little, that little kid who totally geeked out over having Karo syrup and cotton balls on his face, and felt like, it felt like a huge movie star, and like the coolest Halloween kid ever, would know that decades later, he, as an adult, would be parading around as like a three-foot-three rock god, handing people delicious treats in the form of Diet Dr. Pepper.

Oh man, he would have giggled and said no way, because this kid snuck at every chance he could. And I remember on the set-top box on my TV, he snuck MTV when it first started. He snuck because his parents wouldn't let him watch it, right? He snuck as best he could, '86, in Virginia, on MTV, and I would watch it. I would love it, and watching the videos, and all this other stuff. And then when I heard my parents pulling up, I would like click, click, click, click, click, make sure it was like on 72, or 84, or some other channel, then turn it off, right? Because when you turn the old set-top boxes on, the last channel that you were on would come up, and I had to learn the hard way that not to do that. But anyway, the fact that that kid would later on go on to do the silliest, yet most fun thing on TV, would have just made him giggle to no end.

[16:19] Justin Guarini: The last thing that I say in my post, or the second to last thing I say is, finally, my mother was a journalist, and this is the picture of her holding me on the air when I was, I don't know, three weeks old. Finally, my mother was a journalist, and became the first female anchorwoman and news producer in Georgia on a local ABC affiliate in Columbus. She brought me in for my very first television appearance at the ripe old age of three weeks old. She was, and still is, a badass woman. She knew she was a strong woman working in a man's world, so when she had me via C-section, she only took a week away from work, dusted her boots off, and came right back to the desk and read the news. She refused to lose, and knew that she had to work ten times harder than everyone else to be the best, and eventually left her post in Columbus for an anchor and producer position as one of the first people to work at an unknown and small news company called CNN.

I wonder where I get my tenacity and grit from. And then I'm freestyle here. That pretty much just explains itself. I mean, my mom is such a badass, and the fact that they literally sliced open her body to remove me from it, and then a week later she is right back at work alone tells you what my mom is made of. Because she knew that at the time, you know, if you've seen one of my favorite movies, Ron Burgundy's Anchorman, you know, I mean, there was obviously massive amounts of misogyny and sexism and all kinds of things going on back then, even more so than today, right? And she just knew that she had to get back there, and she had to continue to deliver, because they would replace her otherwise. And she was not going to allow the opportunity that she was given, that she had earned, really, to slip through her fingers.

[18:13] Justin Guarini: And, you know, that is certainly part and parcel why I am so tenacious, why I do not give up, why I am committed to my own path and my own success and the success of the people around me, because of her wonderful example. So really, at the end of the day, I wrap up my post by saying from the bottom of my heart, thank you, I love you, and I'm so grateful for all of you for taking the time to send me love and support today and every day. I cannot wait to live, love, and learn with you for many, many years to come. And that's really where I'm going to leave this today. It's the absolute truth. I'm so grateful for all of you who listen to this, who share my message, who check out Audition Secrets, who have gotten the book, who are going to get the book, who are going to be a part of the Mastermind.

Really, thank you. Thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart. It is an honor and a pleasure to serve you. I look forward to it every single day, and it is part of the reason why I'm here. Not only do I get to perform and live and love and laugh and do my own thing, but I get to share all of that knowledge, all that wisdom with you, and it makes me so much happier. It brings me so much joy. It brings me so much fulfillment. So thank you for being a part of my wonderful, wacky, weird, wild world. I appreciate you so much. You've been listening to Audition Secrets. I'm Justin Guarini, and remember, at the end of the day, you're just one audition away.