If you haven’t watched Entourage,
don’t fret about it. Jonathan Long, in his article, has made it
relatable nonetheless; and we’ve also included our own commentary. Here are five entrepreneurial lessons Jonathan
Long listed which you can take away from Entourage, which we think are as much lessons
for the field of Public Relations.
1. The people you
surround yourself with contribute to your success.
Vincent Chase was the star, but a lot of his
success was due to the company he kept around him -- Johnny Drama, Turtle, Ari
Gold and Eric Murphy all contributed to his success. They were there for him
during the ups as well as the downs -- and always had his best interest in
mind.
You want to make sure that you surround yourself
with like-minded people that won’t interfere with your goals. The company you
keep should be there for you when times are tough in addition to being there to
celebrate the victories.
Orchan Commentary: In a boutique PR agency like
ours where it’s made up of eccentric individuals offering Tetris-like dynamic,
it becomes challenging when we are not like-minded in certain matters. But,
that does not mean that we cannot each have unique goals we call our own – be
it career wise or personal – with our colleagues and leaders having our backs
as we move towards achieving them. Along the way, we have had our wins and
losses, and throughout the process – we’ve celebrated over champagne, but we’ve
never left anyone hang out to dry when things take a turn.
The same goes for our Clients. I believe that
for a lot of us, we consider the success of our Clients our own success as
well. But, if we weren’t on the same page from the get-go, how will the goals
of our Clients be realised in the way they’ve set it (or better), throughout
the roller-coaster ride?
2. You should always
think big.
Entourage is based around Vincent Chase, an A-list movie star and his
childhood friends from Queens, NY. They all moved out to Los Angeles to “make
it” in Hollywood. The media glamorizes Hollywood, just like they do successful
startups such as Snapchat and Instagram.
The truth is, there are more failures than
successes -- both in Hollywood and in the startup world. Those that do succeed
and “make it” do so because they thought big and went for it. You have to
believe in yourself 100 percent -- because there are going to be times when
people doubt you. Never let self-doubt enter your mind and stop you from thinking
big.
Orchan Commentary: As a boutique PR company, one
of the most worrying issue that
people bring up is - can sustain ar?
Well, if we didn’t believe in ourselves to bring only the best to the table, we
wouldn’t have had Clients who became retainers; who later introduce our service
to other decision makers. At the end of the day, it isn’t merely about our
business; had we narrowed our focus to that, we probably wouldn’t have gone
‘Pass’ and collected $200.
3. You have to be
prepared to take multiple falls before getting your big break.
Johnny Drama was the definition of a struggling
Hollywood actor. He was often overlooked for roles and many of the
insignificant roles he did land were because of his younger, famous brother. He
never let any of the low moments stop him -- in the back of his mind he was an
actor destined for greatness. I’m not going to spoil the end of the movie --
but I’ll just say that Johnny Drama’s persistence pays off in the end.
You have to be willing to fall flat on your face to reach your
goals. When defeat is looking you in your eyes the easiest thing to do is
to quit. Most do. The ability to get back up after falling on your face is what
separates the failures from the success stories.
Orchan Commentary: Needless to say, there are
more failures than successes in Public Relations; in fact, anything. Reaching
six years now, we’ve had countless pitches where we came in second; but we’ve
also had quality successes that have seen us through until today (we’re proud
to say we are an award-winning agency). Had we not been persistent and
persevered through the tough times, how were we going to see result we’ve aimed
to achieve?
4. Your instinct is right more than it is wrong
-- don’t bet against it.
Throughout the entire Entourage series,
all of the main characters constantly faced challenges and major decisions
regarding their career choices.
Nobody ever packed it up and went home -- they
all felt like they could overcome anything thrown their way, and thanks to the
magic of Hollywood, everything turned out fine.
In the real world, if your "gut"
feeling is telling you something, you need to follow it -- and learn to trust
your instincts. Several of the decisions I have made regarding the growth of
my online marketing agency as well as the
launch of my new project have all been based on my instinct.
Orchan
Commentary: If we haven’t learned
that the hard way, we wouldn’t have been so passionate about this point.
Granted, our instincts are occasionally wrong. But the times we chose to bet
against our guts, we have had to make up wasted time. Be it about a potential
new intern or potential-client-then-not who exudes a peculiar vibe or
insecurity and whatnot, we’ve learned to trust our first instincts and go with
it. More often than not, we’ve been on the right track (thank goodness).
5. Don’t forget to have
fun.
Entourage depicted the Hollywood lifestyle, filled with partying and
good times. Each character always had time for fun and they never turned down
an opportunity to have a great time with their friends and family.
You have to be able to turn work-mode off, even
for just a little bit. Stepping back to live in the moment will help you avoid
burning out and keep your inner-battery charged.
Orchan Commentary: In our field, we are often
too passionate about our work and we make it our life; not because it’s ‘work’
per se, but because we simply enjoy what we do. We can’t say it for others, but
it’s safe to say Orchanites have proven themselves to be married to the job out
of love as opposed to out of obligation. Having said that, we occasionally
forget to switch off our PR-selves – to take time to get out there to do what
we enjoy with friends and family – activities that aren’t PR related.
However, we now remind each other to get off the
laptop, the phone and just… have some fun. In fact, we make it a point to go on
a company trip annually. At the end of the day, we believe that we should be
able to get through each day with a smile – be it about something silly or
really laughing at ourselves; otherwise, our career is merely a dread and it’s
only going to get tougher to progress.
Now, get off that laptop / computer, and grab
some drinks with your friends and family. You know you deserve it! :)
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