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[0:01] 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.

[0:11] Justin Guarini: You see me on huge television shows like American Idol, playing characters like Lil' Sweet in national television commercials for 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.

[0:29] Justin Guarini: 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.

[0:49] 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.

[1:16] Justin Guarini: Five, six, seven, let's go!

[1:46] Justin Guarini: The local high school here, we put on this show, and it was beautiful. The high schools from the central part of our county came together. It was three high schools and I think four junior high schools, and they performed pieces from the musicals that they are performing in their schools.

[2:02] Justin Guarini: There was Newsies and Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast and High School Musical Junior. I mean, really, really fun. It was so wonderful to see the community come out. This is about, I would say, rough estimate, 1600 seat theater.

[2:19] Justin Guarini: It's a beautifully designed, recently redone high school auditorium, but it's gorgeous and it's huge and a beautiful stage and there's microphones everywhere and they've got a great sound system and it just, it really is amazing just to set up.

[2:33] Justin Guarini: And then to see that there were so many people that showed up, not only for the kids, but to support this wonderful cause, I believe they had to turn people away. It just was electric and I really loved watching how the kids were so invested and there was no exception last night.

[2:49] Justin Guarini: And so as I was doing the show last night and I was hosting and eventually I sang at the finale, Morning Glow from Pippin, and I found myself surrounded on the stage by 400 students and they were all around me and I was singing Morning Glow and it's this beautiful, epic, soaring song.

[3:09] Justin Guarini: And I looked around at the kids and saw how much they were giving, how vital and important the performance was to them, how much it touched the audience. It dawned on me that the most important things in that moment and in many moments in my life, and it's not the only important things, but for our talk today, the three most important things are the love I give, the love I receive, and the relationships I create and maintain.

[3:39] Justin Guarini: The love I give, the love I receive, and the relationships I create and maintain.

[3:47] Justin Guarini: And if we back up a second from there, so often, even now for me, and for a lot of people, we're consumed by the need to make money, the desire to have fame and success, the desire to hear approval, whether it's from a crowd applauding you or from a lover or from a director, whatever it is.

[4:12] Justin Guarini: And let me tell you, from experience, I've had a great deal of all three of those things. And it was worth so much less than now when I look back and I see and was inspired by the young folks who are performing.

[4:26] Justin Guarini: And I saw that really, truly the things that have made me happiest were the love that I gave. And I go out on stage every night when I go out and I give love. That is part of my giving of love. Serving the story, serving the work. And in so doing, it allows me to give my passion, my love.

[4:48] Justin Guarini: But also the love I receive. I truly receive. And for me, receiving love has been a challenge. Do you ever find that? That you can really take care of people, but it's so hard to be taken care of? You can give a million compliments, but I don't know how to take a compliment. Have you ever felt that way?

[5:10] Justin Guarini: I still feel that way. I still have to battle with that and learn how to take a compliment. And it really stems from really, truly working every single day on cultivating my own self-worth.

[5:26] Justin Guarini: Learning how to value myself without the trappings of, oh my goodness, that's conceited. Or those things that I was taught and maybe you were taught at a young age. Don't be too proud of yourself. Pride cometh before fall. All of those things. Whether it's secular or religious, we have those things, those mantras that were placed in us at a young age.

[5:51] Justin Guarini: And so receiving love is still something that I work on. And truly receiving it and honoring. Because when you give love and you give compliments, it feels good, right? You're reaching out and supporting someone who needs it and who deserves it.

[6:10] Justin Guarini: But the thing about receiving love and taking a compliment is that when you deny that compliment or someone says, oh, you were so great. You're like, nah, I could have done better. I've done better.

[6:23] Justin Guarini: Not only are you denying yourself the praise and care and love that that person is trying to give you, and you're denying yourself the acceptance and understanding of your own goodness and the great job that you did, but you're also denying that other person the joy that they get from giving you that compliment, from sharing their love with you.

[6:45] Justin Guarini: And when you think about it that way, it's like, oh my goodness, not only am I robbing myself, I'm robbing someone else. And so not only the love you give, but the love you receive is so vital. That is what gives you true, sustaining, long-lasting energy.

[7:01] Justin Guarini: And it's the same thing. That applause, that money, that fame, that whatever those things are, those are so fleeting, especially nowadays. And they will give you, I mean, it is better than any drug. It is better than any anything you could ever possibly take, any stimulant or whatever. I mean, it is thrilling. Trust me.

[7:26] Justin Guarini: So the love you give, the love you receive. And lastly, the relationships you create and maintain.

[7:35] Justin Guarini: There's a gentleman by the name of Michael who is the, it has such a long title, but he's like the regional outreach, educational outreach director for New York, something like that.

[7:49] Justin Guarini: And he came out to our school as the representative for Broadway Cares, Equity, Fights, AIDS. And he made this wonderful speech. And he is just this charming, bubbly New York theater guy. And instantly when I met him, we had a rapport.

[8:08] Justin Guarini: And have you ever noticed that when you meet other theater people, you kind of get each other? I mean, they're going to be best friends, but like, there's just kind of like a, there's just this dynamic that all of a sudden just clicks. And you're like, oh yeah, yeah, I know you. Yeah.

[8:22] Justin Guarini: Because we have this thing, whatever it is, in common. When you have the opportunity, especially in our community, to be with other like-minded individuals who have a passion for the things that you have a passion for, who will support you, who will uplift you, who will help you, who will be there for you in any small or large way.

[8:44] Justin Guarini: That truly makes you rich. That's not rich. No, that's wealth. That's a part of wealth. Everybody wants to be rich. Not everybody wants to be rich, but in general, people think that they want to be rich, just have a ton of money. But true wealth is a completely different animal.

[9:01] Justin Guarini: Yes, you can be wealthy and have a lot of money, but also you can be completely broke and one of the wealthiest people on the planet. The love you give, the love you receive, the relationships you create, putting yourself out there, finding your people, your tribe, your group, uplifting and supporting one another, giving constructive criticism, all of that.

[9:25] Justin Guarini: And creating a community within your own community, wherever you are in the world listening to this. If you do not have a community and you're a performer, I guarantee you that you can go to your local theater and you can find one or you can create one if none of that exists.

[9:46] Justin Guarini: Find like-minded people. Find other performers. Find other theater folks and create a community because it's one of the greatest things that you can do for yourself, for your community at large, and for a community of performers.

[10:02] Justin Guarini: And not only can you create those relationships, but the maintaining, the maintenance of those relationships is going to be the fuel that gets you through. It's going to be the fuel for your fire.

[10:16] Justin Guarini: And so as I go back and I think about what it was like for me to be in high school, the passion and the love and just the pure joy for the sake of joy that I had, I remember the love that I gave on the stage.

[10:32] Justin Guarini: I remember the love that I was willing and open to receive and I'm grateful for the relationships that I created then and that I still maintain to this day.

[10:43] Justin Guarini: And that is what truly makes me wealthy. Not the fame, not the money, not the success, not the adoration of fans, but truly the love I have given and I give, the love I have received and the relationships that I have created and that I have maintained and maintain to this day.

[11:04] Justin Guarini: So where in your life and your career can you focus on giving love, receiving love, and creating and maintaining relationships in your life that serve you and that uplift you and that you can uplift them?

[11:19] Justin Guarini: Do you have a tribe? Do you have a community? If you do, amazing. If you don't, find one. And if you can't find one, make one. That is the true key to wealth.