Andria Schultz

I am ready. Let’s do this.

Andria Schultz

Absolutely.

A lot of people go with this mentality of approaching someone and making connections in the sense of “I want something out of this person.”

Andria Schultz

What I always recommend my clients mainly because they’re trying to get jobs in the entertainment industry is approaching someone in that point of view which you want to see how you can help them out.

You can have that mentality by saying, “All right. How can I be an asset to this person?” And you have that mindset on making connections going to a networking group or you want to go to an event or anything.

Andria Schultz

You want to go up to the person, know who it is that you’re making connections with. You can always IMDB them, and find out what work they’re currently doing or what foundations they love being part of, and then approach them and get to know them.

Genuinely get to know who they are as individuals and see if there’s any way you can articulate yourself correctly so you can give them value. When you see that open door for yourself when they say, “Tell me a little bit more about you,” that’s when you go about and say a little bit about what it is that you are trying to accomplish but try to gear it back towards them.

The biggest mistake people make is talking about themselves when they should be talking about what the other person is trying to convey.

Andria Schultz

If you can get a lunch or even just a meeting with them outside of that event, that should be your end goal for everything.

I always tell my clients “Don’t have business cards.” I don’t believe in business cards.

By the end of the day, my goal regarding making connections is to make sure that they get my phone number on their phone, and I get their phone number in mine.

Andria Schultz

Yeah.

Andria Schultz

Absolutely.

I think a lot of people forget this.

Andria Schultz

You need to go with the purpose, always.

What I mean by purpose is you need to have an elevator pitch for yourself whether it is that you’re in finance or you want to get a job in the entertainment industry.

I can give you a story. This will help give a clear understanding of what I mean.

When I was about 22 years old, I had the opportunity to work for Disney Channel very early on in my career. I ended up shadowing the producer of Full House, and he was working on a Disney Channel show at the time called I Didn’t Do It.

The producer came up to me, and he said, “Hey, Andria. I know you want to be the next CEO of Disney but what do you ultimately want to accomplish right now in the entertainment industry?” And I said, “Well, I’m good with people. I love networking, doing the paperwork, and the budget part of it.”

He goes, “Well, but what type of producer do you want to be in at?” I looked at him, and I said, “I don’t know. What types of producers are there?” And he’s like, “Well, there’s associate producer, a coordinating producer, and the executive producer. What is your end goal?” That woke me up a little bit.

Andria Schultz

I realize that because I didn’t solely know who I was as an individual and didn’t know what I wanted to give in return, I wasn’t going to be successful in any way or be an asset to any company or even making connections with people for that matter.

So he ended up telling me, “Andria, anyone in the entertainment industry is not going to take you seriously if you don’t know what it is that you ultimately want to accomplish.”

Now, it’s the same thing with anything you’re trying to achieve in life. You have to know what you purpose is. You have to know what you’re passionate about. If you don’t have those things, you don’t have an elevated pitch.

Andria Schultz

For example, mine is helping millennials get into the entertainment industry. People ask the question “Why?” If you can have someone ask you “Why?” that’s a conversation opener. That’s one way to approach it.

If you want to talk to a celebrity and you see them at a party, you go up to them. You did your research, and you say, “Hi. I’m a huge advocate for this foundation that you’re a part of. Can you tell me a little bit more about it?” You start talking about them as opposed to talking about you. And then, when they ask you, then you bring up your elevator pitch, then they ask you why.

Andria Schultz

Everyone’s equal. It doesn’t matter what your status is. We’re all people by the end of the day. We all have likes, dislikes, things we can find in common in conversations.

If you treat everyone as an equal, you’re genuine, you go out there and see how you can help facilitate certain things, people are more likely to help you in return.

Andria Schultz

I would say it’s the same at least, for me.

The approach does work for my clients too. We all approach everything similar.

Andria Schultz

I can give you another example.

When I was 21, I had to find a way to find an internship because I had already done internships when I was 14 – 15. I made those opportunities for myself. I decided, “Okay. I’m 21. It’s a requirement in college I got to do internships.”

So what I did was I started cold calling places. I found places that didn’t even have internships and that never existed at all.

I called this company called STAR Repertory Theatre. I called them, and I had said to them, “I want to be one of your interns.” And they said, “An intern? That doesn’t exist here.” And I said, “Well, as a matter of fact, I’d love to be the first one. How about we create an internship program here?”

She was like, “Well, what would you do?” and I said, “Well, I want to be doing your camera work, and start filming your theater community like when you do your presentations.” She goes, “Oh. Well, my husband does that already.” and I said, “We can take that off your husband’s shoulders, and I would love to fill in that gap for you.” And she said, “Okay. That sounds great to me.”

And so, I implemented their internship program. I created their summer camp program. I also help them market their entire business.

If you can come up with an asset, see something that’s missing from a company, and genuinely help them, that’s the best approach you can go with any relationship that you build.

Andria Schultz

For anyone that’s trying to get into the entertainment industry in general, if you go with your elevator pitch, and you have something of value to that person, that’s going to be the best way you can approach them. It could be at an event or through your network. What I recommend for my students is to find mentors in the entertainment industry. That’s the biggest thing.

Do your research. Find online what organizations they’re part of. There are some of them that are free out there. There’s a ton of different type of events that are free. Some of them are not especially the one you found. That’s quite expensive.

You can also go to finding out who their managers are or even PR, and then reach out to them and see what it is that you can do to get yourself associated with them.

It’s easier if you’re trying to get into the entertainment industry, and you’re trying to find a job if you have something of value in that way. It’s a little bit easier to start making connections as opposed to someone who’s on the outside but it’s not impossible.

Do your research, your due diligence, and build your network correctly when you’re making connections.

Andria Schultz

That’s another thing that a lot of people do is they build their network incorrectly.

For example, you’ll add 3,000 people on Facebook. But I can tell you right now if you were to look at that person, I can guarantee you they don’t know one or two facts about that person other than the surface of who they are.

If you know your network well and you know who they’re associated with and what it is that they want to accomplish too, they might even know someone that you didn’t even think they would know.

Try to get to know as many people as you can. Build your network and see if you can get yourself in front of these people using your elevator pitch.

That’s one way.

Then the other way like I said, is just looking up who their managers are and PR. That’s the biggest thing about making connections.

Andria Schultz

Absolutely. I 100% agree with you.

Andria Schultz

The thing is a lot of people are afraid to ask for what they want.

Andria Schultz

Here’s a great example which I shared this with my students yesterday.

I was at a tire shop, and I started reading this magazine. I looked down at it, and I was, “Oh, gosh. I badly want this magazine.” So I went up to the guy, and I said, “You know, I want this magazine. Can I have it?” And the guy looked at me, and he’s like, “Which issue was it?” I was like, “Oh, it’s this one.” and he’s like, “As a matter of fact, we have another one. Why don’t you go ahead and take that one?”

Andria Schultz

It’s little things like that. If you ask for what it is you want, people will most likely give it to you. Sometimes, you might get rejected, and that’s okay. But, you don’t want to think that people are going to reject you. You want to help others give back, but you also want to take from those who do believe in you. If you can have that mentality and not give up on an opportunity that you can make for yourself, always make opportunities for yourself.

I never discourage my students not to do that.

Andria Schultz

Yeah.

Andria Schultz

Thank you so much for having me, you guys. It was great.