You’re going to laugh when you hear what I did at the premiere of the first Austin Powers movie.
I was working for a company that managed celebrity websites…
For KID celebrities like Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jessica Biel, and even some dog that was on a sitcom.
My job was to create content for the fans of those kid celebrities – it was kind of like being a reporter for Entertainment Weekly For Kids.
I was sent to cover the Austin Powers movie premiere and given a press pass to interview celebrities on the red carpet.
But because the outlet I worked for wasn’t exactly the most important media outlet in the world, they stuck me in with the photographers instead of the reporters.
I stood amidst a bunch of professional photographers with own small digital camera taking pictures and interviewing the kid celebrities who agreed to talk to me.
Even worse, I was assigned an angle to report on:
Makeup tips.
That’s right, 25-year-old me asking “famous” 12-year-old girls for their best makeup tips.
Quite a way to spend an afternoon.
The reason I’m sharing this with you is because of what happened in the following years.
By the time the Austin Powers sequel premiered, I had made my way to The Hollywood Reporter where I was covering the movie business as a “real” journalist.
That landed me an invite to the premiere itself – the red carpet, movie, and party.
A few years later when the third Austin Powers movie premiered I was working in marketing for the studio that produced it.
I was no longer covering the movie premiere – I was now hosting it (sort of) and had access to go wherever I wanted.
In retrospect, the Austin Powers movie premieres reflected my career progress.
I went from outsider, to invited guest, to insider in the span of a few years.
There’s a lesson here.
No matter where you’re at in your own journey, you’ll be surprised where you can wind up if you stick with it.
Especially if you keep moving forward and don’t settle.
My progression had as much to do with my willingness to jump to new jobs and opportunities as it did my refusal to give up.
Where you are today is just where you are today – it’s not where you’ll be tomorrow.
A fun coda to this story:
Several years after the last Austin Powers premiere I was running digital marketing for The Oscars and wound up working directly with Mike Myers to produce a video for the show.
In a way, it was a continuation of my Austin Powers journey – from outsider, to guest, to insider, to CREATOR.
Yeah, baby!
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