While I was in law school, I had the good fortune of taking a course in entertainment law from a practicing lawyer who, along with representing a number of entertainment clients, was the general counsel for a startup record label. He was the antithesis of the entertainment lawyer stereotype I had etched in my brain. Not only was this lawyer knowledgeable, he was calm, approachable, passionate about his work, enthusiastic about his future, and one of the nicest guys I could ever meet. The label went on to be very successful in every way imaginable.

As I progressed through law school and the infancy of my solo law practice, I checked in with him from time to time with questions and to share my thoughts and ideas on how to grow my business. One day I asked how he was able to stay so seemingly even-keeled in the industry. He told me that the key to success was to surround myself with talent and people I liked. He said that even if at the beginning of my career only 1 percent of my day was spent with talented people and the other 99 percent with people I didn’t like, if I stayed on my path and persisted, eventually this ratio would turn around. He was right. It was a great lesson. Picking and choosing those you surround yourself with in the business is one of the most important things you can do for your own sanity and career. If you develop your own talent, professionalism, and integrity, you will attract the same kind of people into your life. Keep your standards really high and together you will have a lot more fun and be a lot more successful.

I met another lawyer, an executive for one of the performance rights organizations, when I made a telephone call to his office. By chance, I got the executive in person because his assistant didn’t pick up the telephone. I had a question about a writer client of mine who happened to have a number one song on the charts at the time. We ended up connecting and our brief first conversation went a bit beyond just a simple question-and-answer session, eventually leading to one of the first productive industry meetings I’d ever taken.

Several weeks later, we met along with the writer I was representing and the three of us hit it off very well. We conducted a little bit of business, and it led to the executive inviting me to call when I had any questions. I was not shy to ask. One day, the executive pointed out to me that the only reason he and I had the opportunity to meet was because my question on behalf of a gifted artist opened the door. Industry representatives, record labels, publishing companies, and all other industry businesses, he explained, are always identified by the artists associated with them. If I accepted this premise (which I did), he told me that as long as I treated artists with truth, respect, and an understanding of their artistry, the artists would open the doors to other artists and to opportunities. Gifted artists who understand the business and are pleasurable to be with are the keys to the closed doors of this industry.

I was giving a lecture at a small college in southern California when I asked a vice president of a large entertainment entity to join me in a panel discussion. We had done business only once several years prior, working on a project that had some positive results and some negative ones. Nevertheless, we would see each other on occasion at industry functions.

When answering a panel question about connections in the business, the executive stated that he and I had known each other for more than a decade. He explained that even with our relationship I had sent him demos of only four artists in that period of time, none of whom were a fit for his label at the time I sent the demos. Some lawyers, managers, artists, and artists’ “connections to the industry” send that many demos to the same executive every month. He told the audience that by not wearing out my welcome, he knew that when I sent him the next demo—just as with the first four artists—it would be by an artist I strongly believed in and that he would give it a solid listen. That’s all you can really ask for in this business: someone to give your music a solid listen and give you honest artistic and business feedback. Sometimes that feedback leads to doing business with each other, and sometimes it leads to retooling the pitch and having success with another contact.

I was on a run early one morning on an unfamiliar path when I hit a steep grade that seemed like it would never end. I came upon a man walking his dogs, and stopping for a moment to ask for directions seemed like a great opportunity to rest. He seemed very nice, told me that he walked his dogs there every morning, gave me the bad news that the grade went on for several hundred more yards, and we parted ways after a brief introduction.

Out of curiosity, I looked up his name while I was preparing for a lecture that afternoon. It turned out that he was a famous Academy Award–winning director who directed a few films that I loved. I returned to the path at the same time for the next week for a daily dose of wisdom. During that time, we conversed about life, business, making movies, and making music. I asked if he had one piece of advice that I could pass on in my lectures. He told me that he had honed his craft in England before coming to America to dive into the film industry. Look at the fantastic artists who really practiced hard, created their own identities, and developed their talents before bringing their art to the industry. The world will know that you’ve done your homework. You can develop your talent anywhere if you set your standards high and work toward them.

A client and dear friend of mine comes from a family of educators. She has one of the most wide-ranging and colorful lives and careers that I’ve ever encountered. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work professionally and in the community. One of the reasons her career has been so long and successful is that even though she would reach certain career goals, she was willing to learn new skills. She also has a sense of the greater community and the responsibility of artists and celebrities to that community.

We talked one day about how she always thought she would be a teacher. I felt that by sharing her talent with her audience every day, she was teaching by example. I know that from working with her and listening to her artistry almost daily, I have been reminded to pursue something I am passionate about, to strive to be excellent, and to keep learning new skills to expand my horizons. On her birthday one year, I gave her an old school bell—a traditional brass one that grade school teachers used years ago—to let her know how much she has taught me by her example. Do the same with your talents; if you are sharing what you know with one person or with millions, teach by example. The lessons will come back to you every day.

I am not advocating gambling here, I am encouraging you to develop yourself as a human being, as a businessperson, and as a confident, talented artist. There is a 100 percent guarantee of success if you don’t try, but do you truly want to be a success at inaction? My best friend in the music business—the traveling companion I mentioned in the introduction of this book—turned in the ultimate unsolicited demo by leaving it on a recording artist’s car in a parking lot. The song was recorded, hit number one on the R&B charts, and jump-started his career.

If you have the talent, drive, will power, and capacity to keep working hard at something you love, then take a few chances. If you can objectively step back and judge your work as being ready to compete with all of the other great artists whom you admire, then why wait? People look at our industry and think that their chances of success are one in a million. They aren’t … I’m not being facetious here—it’s closer to one in ten thousand. Those odds are significantly better than one in a million. If you do your homework, set your standards really high, and pick your targets well, each time you let someone listen to your artistry, you have a one-in-two chance of creating an ally in your career. Don’t wait for others to make your breaks for you. Make the breaks yourself, and don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t always go your way. Each effort that you make is a successful act.

When I was in law school, we had a talent show. I got together with a couple of musician friends, and along with playing some great jazz together, we became the show’s house band backing up a number of singers who participated in the show. One of these singers stood out from the rest; she could really sing. She obviously had training, liked to sing, chose her songs well, and had her own style. She could seriously express herself far better than the rest of the singers. I fell in love with her, we started a band together, and to this day, we remain friends at a high spiritual and artistic level far above that of many couples who have been married for decades.

Together, this singer and I raised two children on a steady dose of love and music. As of the completion of this edition of this book, our children are both very good at expressing themselves in their own unique ways. I’d like to think that this is a function of the environment in which they were raised: Self-expression was encouraged, and they were exposed to artists who manage to function in an industry that not only encourages but rewards self-expression. I see this repeated regularly in those who totally embrace themselves, their art, and the reality that art and the “real world” of living day-to-day in the lifestyle of their choice can exist.

Returning to my café in Cannes, I once again look at the world that I have had the pleasure of experiencing. Almost 10,000 people are here in southern France because of one thing: sharing music with others who have the same love of music. I’ve met some of the smartest, most passionate, and gifted people anyone could ever meet through the music industry. It all started with the encouragement of this family of my choice. My family of choice, along with my extended artistic and business family, means the world to me. This is the family with whom I share my journey. I hope that you, too, find a passion that burns in your heart, and that you find the right companions to share it with, no matter how long or short your journey with them may be.