On this episode of our podcast Breakthrough Barriers with Damali, we sat down with our friend, the amazing Margot Bingham. Many of you may know Margot from Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It”, “Boardwalk Empire”, “Barbershop 3”, and the musical “RENT”. Aside from being a critically heralded actress, she is also a singer/ songwriter. Margot left school to pursue her dreams and was given one year to land a role by her parents or she would have to go back to school. Fortunately, she landed a role on “RENT” after singing 8 bars of Rihanna’s song “Umbrella”. She shared with us the many strifes and struggles she encountered in her journey as an actress and the MANY ‘no’s’ she heard before she got a ‘yes’. We were excited to find out that Damali and Margot use the gratitude practice to set the tone for their days. They wake up and name 3 things we are grateful for outloud which puts us in a positive mindstate. 

Our first caller wanted insight on how to balance work and her passion. Having a 9-5 and being passionate about the beauty industry can be difficult, being that she is usually too overwhelmed with work to invest in her passion or find the time to jump start her business. She also needed help navigating how to network.  

Margot shared with us her that she believes that in order to find balance, you must put all of your heart into your passion. In order to completely focus on her passion, Margot saved up money for a year before she took the big leap. You may have to dedicate at least 1 – 2 years to working and saving in order to be able to feed your passion. Try to cut costs and make sacrifices like not eating out, or staying with someone to save on rent, or taking less trips. It’s not going to be easy, but it will make your hungry and put your full focus and attention towards your passion and making it profitable. 

Sometimes there are ways to combine your passion with your job, but it will require you to think outside the box. Maybe hold a mixer at work where you give people beauty tips, or give one of your co-workers a make-over to showcase your talents.  

As far as networking goes, you can use any environment to network. I network at my kid’s school, or while im sitting in the hair salon. I begin a conversation with someone and introduce myself and next thing I know they are inviting me to an event or telling me how they can help me. Make sure that when you agree to attend an event, or to help someone, YOU SHOW UP. Showing up is the majority of the battle and keeping your word will increase your credibility and make the person feel like they can continue to invite you to different events. 

Never be so tired from your day job that you forget to work on your own goals. You will be doing yourself a disservice. You will be able to make a career of your passion when timing and opportunity align. Focus on the big picture and begin planning for it.

Do you have any barriers that we can help you break through?  If so, you can leave a brief message at 646-363-6322 or comment below on our interactive blog. 

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Best Wishes,

The Breakthrough Blogger