[Creative Freedom S7E8]

Picture it: 1985.

Big hair, neon colors, the Rubik’s cube, and capri pants are all the rage. At a high school in Philadelphia, three kids are trying to start a new musical group. 

Instead of using their own names (Grimaldi, Morris, and Nelson), they decide to call themselves “Unique Attraction”. Three more classmates joined their group, eager to bring their R&B stylings to the masses. 

This budding group of vocalists worked hard and persisted despite graduations, creative differences, and other changes to the group. They got a big break when they snuck into a concert and crossed paths with Michael Bivins of the newly formed Bell Biv DeVoe. 

Talk about perfect timing! 

Seizing the opportunity, they did an impromptu performance, which led Bivins to give the group his phone number. Eventually, they called, which led them (eventually) to being signed by Motown Records as the soulful quartet known today as Boyz II Men.

B2M didn’t hit the big time immediately. They got a PHONE NUMBER.

There was still a lot more work to do before they got that record contract.

They still had to graduate, for one thing! And practice... and call Michael Bivins... and practice!

This story of not-so-overnight success points to a common problem I find when clients come to me wanting to be the celebrity of their space. Most people think they have a visibility problem - “ooh, I just need to get in front of more people! I just need more eyeballs on my work” and while that may be true, it’s usually more of a capacity problem that’s causing the visibility problem. That's what we're exploring in this episode.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: If you want help with YOUR capacity, I'm doing a One-Time-Only special event at the end of November. Stop being a best-kept secret and build your custom roadmap to celebrity status in your niche. Join me for the Unleash Your Star Power Workshop!

Podcast Show Notes

Inside this episode, we're talking about:

• The big break for Boyz II Men that almost didn’t happen
• If you need more visibility, you might have a capacity problem
• The importance of developing mastery before getting more visibility
• How a change in a band’s local network turned “Smile” into “Queen”
• You can make the ask, but you can’t control the outcome
• What a McDonald’s bathroom can teach you about consistency and frequency

Links I Mentioned

• Being Coffee Worthy
• The first time Justin Bieber met Usher
• Work from your happy place with Belinda Ellsworth
• Unleash Your Star Power event

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Theme music: “Big Time” by Ikoliks, Artlist.io