What Earning My Disney Ears Taught Me About Being a Beginner

SHOW NOTES

Amplify with Jess is produced by Earfluence and brought to you by Mic Drop Workshop.

TRANSCRIPT

Jess Ekstrom – 00:00:02:

Welcome to Amplify with Amplify with Jess Ekstrom, a show designed to help women get out of their head and into their zone of influence. Happy Monday, everyone. Here’s some food for thought to start your week. All right, I have a confession. I worked in Disney . I worked in Disney when I was a freshman in college. I did the Disney college programs. I first worked in Magic Kingdom where I scooped ice creams. And I made a really great ice cream sundae with Mickey ears. And then I worked at Casey’s Corner where I wore this awesome baseball uniform and got to have corn dogs on my break. But then my third role that I got to do was I was a PhotoPass photographer, which I absolutely loved. And I worked in Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, got to learn all about this amazing park. But I remember during the training, which was weeks and weeks and weeks long, they made you wear this badge with your name tag that said, earning my ears. And it had these little Mickey ears on them. And if you had earning my ears on your name tag, then that meant that you were a beginner and you were training and you were earning your ears. I was, for whatever reason, mortified to be wearing this earning my ears badge. But the reality is that when I was wearing that badge, more Disney cast members would come up to me. They would give me advice. They would give me some insider tips. People were kinder, maybe a little bit more forgiving if I messed up their ice cream order because I was just earning my ears. But why is it so embarrassing to be a beginner? And the thing is, I’ve never seen someone that’s a beginner and I’m like, oh, that’s embarrassing. It’s only when it’s myself that I get embarrassed that I am a beginner. And the reality is, is that beginning something is a courageous thing to do. And it is always going to be the first step in anything that we want to create. And as kids, we are used to being beginners because everything is new to us. So we don’t take not making the basketball shot personally because, hey, we’re learning how to shoot a basketball. But all of a sudden, as we get into our adult years, then we’re supposed to be perfect at everything. We’re supposed to get it in the hoop every single time. And we’re supposed to be out of our beginner era and into our expert era. But our expert era is not where we want to be. We don’t want to be the person that walks around thinking that we have it all figured out because we have something to learn from everything and everyone. So I want you to think about your favorite podcast besides this one. What is another podcast that you listen to? Or maybe… A book that you read or something that you absolutely love and you think, oh, this person just has it all figured out. That podcaster once Googled how to start a podcast. Every expert was once a beginner. Everyone that you know that is so good at something once had no idea what they were doing. So if everyone had to start somewhere, then why not here? And if it could be anyone, then why not you? After I had Ellie, I was feeling just kind of down in my career. I thought my best days were behind me. I was feeling uninspired, uncreative, and wasn’t feeling good about where I was just in my career because I was spending so much time just being a new mom, which I also loved, but it also was really shaking my confidence at work. And so instead of just trying things that I was good at, like speaking or whatever it might be, something that I’ve done all the time, I signed up for stand-up comedy classes. Yep. I decided I’m going to remember what it is like to be a beginner at something because I haven’t done that in a long time. So for six weeks, I took stand-up comedy classes every Tuesday night, eventually did a showcase, and then got a first paid stand-up comedy gig a few weeks after that, which I’ve learned that I like watching stand-up and using it in my talks, but it’s too many late nights for me, and my bedtime is like eight o’clock. And I think what I really took away from that and how it helped me kind of jolt my career back in place, or really my mindset about my career, is just remembering that we can make our own sandbox, and being a beginner isn’t embarrassing. It’s courageous, and it’s something that should be applauded and something that we should continue getting in the habit of doing even as adults. So one mindset shift that I will leave you with is, I’m going to be a beginner. I’m going to be a beginner. I’m going to be a beginner. As you think about what it means to be a beginner, is that oftentimes we live in, I’ve never done this before, so I guess I won’t start. And instead, I want you to live in, I’ve never done this before, so I guess I’ll start here. Thanks for listening to Amplify. If you are a fan of the show, show us some podcast love by giving us a rating and review. And give us a follow at Mic Drop Workshop and at Amplify with Jess Ekstrom. Coming up on Amplify.

Speaker 1 – 00:05:40:

I’m not looking to go hiking with a world-class mountaineer. Like, that sounds 0% fun to me. Like, no, I don’t want to feel like I’m a thousand steps behind and that I’m slowing everything down and that you’re the expert and that you’ve done this trail a million times before. Or I want to go hiking with somebody who’s 10% better than me. And I think about that as a communicator, as a guide, as a teacher. I’m still learning and I’m still observing. But like, let’s go together.

Jess – 00:06:07:

This episode was edited and produced by Earfluence, and I’m Amplify with Jess Ekstrom, your host. Remember that you deserve the biggest stage, so let’s find out how to get you there. I’ll see you again soon.