TANYA TAYLOR’s Post

You Better Recognize! A talented supervisor or manager is astute enough to understand that an employee is not defined by his or her job title/description. I once worked at a film production company where I was promoted three times in six months. I started out answering phones and making coffee and was soon the Visual Effects Coordinator for the biggest budget IMAX film to that date. Why? Because the producer (who went on to found RealD 3-D) could see that my skills of working hard, doing things quickly and always saying ‘yes’ to what I was asked would translate into the 60+ hours per week on a film set. How could a ‘receptionist’ become an integral part of a multi-million dollar production? How could a production assistant for a home shopping network become the Operations Director of the network in less than a year? Yep… same guy. Thanks to supervisors, managers, executives and corporate presidents who could all assess talent and not be confined by a title. So, hiring managers… take a closer look at that resume from the person that doesn’t have the exact qualifications or job title you’re looking for. Dig deeper. Look for qualities, talents and skills rather than a direct 1:1 correlation. A more well-rounded candidate might just be available.

How to go from a 16-year-old production assistant to opening your own multi million-dollar creative studio in 4 years: I started working as a production assistant at age 16, but I always knew I wanted to be a producer. So I had to start working my way up … from the very bottom. The first thing I did? Start turning down jobs as a production assistant and look for gigs that would get me to the next level. At this point, that meant hunting for “production coordinator” jobs. So I became a production coordinator. After being a production coordinator, I knew I needed to get into production managing. So I became a production manager. From there, I focused on getting into “line producing”— the next step up. Again, I turned down the stability of production managing jobs whenever possible, giving me the capacity to accept more line-producing work. So I became a line producer. This process repeated over the years — work hard to prove myself and then take the leap to get to the next level. And finally, at the age of 20, I started my own creative studio, SixTwentySix. Through every transition, from one role to the next, I consciously took the risk of losing work to make space for what I really wanted. I’ll be honest, it was a pretty uncomfortable place to be. But so many of the founders I look up to have said the same thing: Want to accelerate your own growth? Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

When I stopped trying to ‘follow my passion,’ I found a better path to purposeful work. If you listen to anyone on the internet, they will hammer down on the idea that in order to be happy you have to be working in your passion. I beg to differ. For an entire decade I was working jobs I hated showing up to. But they all were purposeful for where I was at in life. 🌱 cashier at Walmart (15) 🌱 bus cleaner at Princess Cruises (17) 🌱 tour guide at Glacier Gardens (18) 🌱 broadcast camera operator at Montana State (PBS) (19) 🌱 janitor at Montana State (20) 🌱 front desk at LA Fitness (21) 🌱 associate and team lead at Gap/Banana Republic (19-23) 🌱 production assistant on studio films (Netflix/Marvel (23) 🌱 assistant to a Realtor (24) 🌱 video editor at Capital Investment Advisors (25) 🌱 top tier smoothie queen at Lifetime (25) And all the other odd jobs and projects in between. Many assumed I was living the dream because of my positive attitude. However, that wasn’t the case. Sometimes, passion emerges after exploring numerous roles you might not enjoy. Your passion might not follow a straight career path with a specific company. Perhaps your true passion lies in creating your own unique journey and embracing the process. Work will always feel like work, especially when it’s something you care deeply about. Cause the stakes to succeed are 10x higher. Instead of chasing passion, focus on purposeful work that makes a difference. With the right mindset, you’ll realize that passion can be cultivated through meaningful work. #PurposefulWork #NonLinearCareerPath #ManufacturedPassion #CareerAdvice

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Something to consider when hiring your next Creative Director.

When I was working my first Production Assistant gig, I learned one lesson that has applied to basically ever other position I've worked in my career. "The smaller the production, the larger the role you need to play." Now this was told to me while I was a PA on a 40+ person television production, but it has stayed true across every project I've worked on since. This doesn't mean that working on small projects or as a part of a large organization is bad. Both environments can be fantastic for you in the right scenario. To me, this phrase helps you understand where you efforts will serve your team the best. For me now, it's taught me that I enjoy working in small to mid-size operations. These are the spaces that allow my natural desire to broaden my horizons and pick-up new skills to also be incredibly beneficial to the team as a whole. If you prefer to master the tasks at the core of your position, and add value by pushing further down one specific area of expertise, then maybe being part of a large operation is a better fit. Just my experience reflecting on the variety of environments I've been in. What do you think?

We've all had to write job descriptions using fancy titles. But did you know that in 2012, the former CEO of Volvo, Hakan Samuelsson, didn't want job titles? 💡 He wanted to replace them with what each executive believed was their "main contribution" to the company. ✅ Hakan wanted his title to be "clarity of thought" because that's what he promoted at Volvo. ✅ What clever job title would you use to describe yourself? ✅ What clever job title would you like to hire at your organization? ✅ Examples of creative job titles: 💠 Director of First Impressions (Receptions, Front Desk Staff) 💠 Potion Master (Pharmacist) 💠 Digital Overlord (Website Developer) 💠 Ambassador of Buzz (Communications Director) ⏹ My desired title would be: "Chief Root Cause Officer" - I prioritize and prevent problems so they go away for good. Problems are just stubborn Incidents that never go away. 👍 ❗ ⏹ How do you see your Title? What words really describe you? 🤔 #CreativeJobs #MakeWorkFun

What a year it has been, after being hired for my new role as the Production Supervisor of Theatricals for a Localization company, I was given the news that I had a potentially life threatening heart condition. After undergoing emergency open-heart surgery, it's been a year of not only recovering and rebuilding my strength but rebuilding a stronger foundation in my role as a Supervisor. One thing that was paramount during recovery was consistency and goal setting. Both in and out of work. At work, leadership became my forever project, looking to constantly improve upon my abilities to coordinate multitudes of team members schedules as well as understanding the complexities of the various studios requirements for the projects set in place. Everyday, the mantra to learn and improve motivated me to become a stronger leader. Outside of work, I set the goal to run a 1/2 marathon in March as a birthday gift to myself, this too was achieved. As I lament on the accomplishments, one must reflect on what doors must close in order to open a new. Having being a film technician for over a decade, I can no longer work in lighting due to the new limitations. As of now, I say goodbye to the production life and focus on transmuting the 1000 hours obtained in the field into a new career path focused on becoming a full-time Creative Producer and looking to connect with hiring managers & creatives alike. #goalsetting #determination #challenges #openforwork

Brilliantly done as always

A&R Managers. They play a vital role in the development of artists’ careers. Curious to find out how? Keep reading! As part of our Job Explained series, we're diving into what it takes to become a successful A&R Manager. #job #development #careers #musicmanager #armanager