By Paul Kwo

No one can guarantee stardom.

But a career in entertainment is not the same as a desire to become a star. There are an enormous amount of people working in the entertainment business, and more specifically as performers who are not famous stars. They work on a regular basis as working actors, dancers and musicians at a wide variety of gigs, making a good sustainable living.

The road to becoming a performer or even working in the entertainment business is full of challenges. It is fun and exciting, but filled with obstacles to overcome. But with hard work and consistency, it is an achievable goal.

Being in Alhambra in the San Gabriel Valley, competing with the best of the best in the world in Los Angeles, the quality of talent is the highest in the world. It doesn't get any harder than this in Los Angeles. So to be competitive, it is vital to keep up our training and keep up our chops in whatever area it is that we are interested in working in. Every new skill puts us at an advantage over other people who are competing for the same jobs.

Whether it is in music, acting or dance, a good network of people is important. As a former coach of mine, Joe Hacker, always said, “Nobody does it alone in this industry.” It is vital that we acknowledge that we need to build up a good support team for ourselves. It isn't just knowing people who can get you work, but also know people who will give you the emotional support that you need to keep you going. We all need people to keep encouraging us as this industry is ruthless and will tear people down without the proper perspective.

With solid continual training and a good network of people in our mix, it is just a numbers game. Keep putting the numbers out there and eventually someone will bit. Something will happen. A career as a performer is a business, not a job. Every performer needs to understand what their brand is, what their business and sell that product with consistency. Keep tugging at it little by little until people start to take the bait. Eventually something will happen, and things will pile on and it will gain momentum.

Finally the career is a rollercoaster ride. It will have its ups and downs. It is not a continual climb upwards. There is no corporate ladder to climb. It is just a journey that requires patience and flexibility. It requires an adaptive spirit so that you can navigate the turmoils from the enormous amounts of rejections. And even the biggest stars can and will fall. It is all a matter of preparing ourselves for the times when we do fall so that we can get back up and pick ourselves up again and again. It is through this perseverance that performers shine through the rubble and become stars in their own right, and recognized among our peers.

PopRock Academy serves the San Gabriel Valley. We are located in the city of Alhambra, conveniently located near San Marino, South Pasadena, San Gabriel, Temple City, Arcadia, Monterey Park, Rosemead, El Monte, Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Montebello, Monorovia, Altadena and downtown Los Angeles.