I received a text message this past fall from an old college friend that I had not heard from in years. Stephanie was coming out to Denver to visit her oldest daughter, Ivy, who was living out west working at a medical office. Ivy, to her father’s hopes, was pre-med and planning on going to medical school. Stephanie shared with me that she was worried that her daughter was chasing a career that was someone else’s dream, and not her own. Stephanie asked me if I would meet them for breakfast while she was in town.
That morning at Snooze Eatery, I fell in love with Ivy’s heart before we even ordered our pancakes. Ivy is a genuine, sincere, smart, and enthusiastic young woman. By the time our pancakes hit the table, I learned that medical school and becoming a doctor, in fact, was not her passion. Ivy wanted to become a Broadway star – singing, dancing, and acting on the world’s biggest stage.
I have worked with youth my entire career. Before I became an author and thought leader, my passion has always been working with young people. And I’ve seen Ivy’s story in others before – a young daughter trying to please her father and chasing someone else’s dream.
By the time our pancakes were finished, Ivy and I devised a new life plan. It was one of the coolest things to see this young woman come alive.
At breakfast I called my good friend John Wittmer, the General Manager at Ocean Prime – one of the top steak and seafood restaurants in town. I know a lot of restaurant GMs, but John has always been my favorite. Jill and I love to go to dinner at Ocean Prime, just to see John and hear his stories. John knows everything there is to know about hospitality and how to serve a great steak, but that is not why his Ocean Prime Restaurant won 2023 Restaurant of the Year, of all eighteen of Cameron Mitchell’s famous restaurants. John loves his employees. He and his wife, Erin, don’t have children of their own, so all of John’s employees at Ocean Prime are his children. And every time Jill and I have dinner with John, he tells us a story about one of his “children.”
One of my five best friends in the world is not only a Broadway star, but a Broadway legend. Robert Creighton has been in just about every Disney musical on Broadway: Timon in the Lion King, the Duke of Weselton in Frozen, and Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid – just to name a few. One of the things I have learned from “Bobby” over the years is how hard it is to make it on Broadway. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of extremely talented singers, dancers, and actors that move to the Big Apple, never making it to the big stage.
I have also learned from Bobby that there are two types of restaurant servers in New York City: Professional servers – many that have worked at the same restaurant for twenty or thirty years, and Broadway hopefuls – those “starving actors” that need a paying job to cover their rent; however, it is also extremely hard to become a server at the top steak restaurants in New York City. You must pay your dues for a long time to earn the highest server tips in the Big Apple.
So back to Ivy, and our new life plan.
I told Ivy that I’m most certain that her father loves her unconditionally. And she needs to tell him that she does not want to become a doctor… that she wants to become a professional actor. Secondly, she needs to quit her job at the medical office that makes her miserable. And third, she needs to see my friend John Witmer at Ocean Prime Denver Tech Center. The plan is she can start at the bottom working at Ocean Prime Denver Tech Center and when she becomes server material, John will call his counterpart at Ocean Prime New York City.
The Plan: move to New York City in six to twelve months, get a job at Ocean Prime on 52nd Street, and become a Broadway star! Pancake plates are cleared and Ivy leaves Snooze Eatery like a new woman with a new life plan and a reinvigorated kick in her step.
I shared one last thing with Ivy before I hugged her and her mom goodbye.
“Do you know how hard it is to become a Broadway star?” I asked Ivy. “Do you know the commitment, perseverance, and dedication you need to give this dream a shot?” I asked. And then I ended our breakfast with my last question, “How bad do you want it?”
“How bad do you want it?” Those are the six most powerful words that start every dream come true. Talent will only get you so far, but tenacity and grit are the fuel that will take your talent to the finish line.
A few weeks later I got another text message from my friend Stephanie. This is what she wrote, “Hey, friend! Ivy had her last day at the job she hates yesterday and starts at Ocean Prime Tuesday! You are the BEST!”
Ivy is not my friend’s daughter’s real name. I changed it to respect her privacy, but I have a feeling we will all, one day, see my friend’s daughter’s real name in Broadway lights. Not because she can sing, dance, and act better than anyone in the Big Apple, but because young Ivy understands the six most powerful words in chasing any dream, goal, or accomplishment: How bad do you want it?
And I bet you a steak dinner that my friend, John Witmer, and all of Ivy’s Ocean Prime teammates will be at her Broadway show premiere… sitting in the second row, cheering her on. And Ivy’s father will be sitting in the first row saying to himself, “Thank God my daughter didn’t become a doctor!”