Who am I? Who are you?

Hello there. Thank you so much for dropping by and for being open to learn. My name is Josh West and I am a Sound Designer, Entrepreneur, and Coach. 

For over 9 years I have dedicated myself to the audio world. When I first started in this business the projects I worked on were all over the place. From freelance live audio gigs and running shows at a theme park, to recording bands in the studio and creating sound effects for small-budget film projects. 

My thought process became, "Work as many gigs as you can, no matter what they are, as long as they have audio in them! Once I make a living off of doing this, then I will be Successful! Sweet!"

I was very confident that this process was the end-all-be-all answer to all of my problems. Have you thought this way before?

So this was exactly what I did. Let me just let you in on my daily schedule after I did this for about a year:

• 715am: wake up and rush to a theatre for a morning show
• 10am: rush to another theatre gig where I worked most of the day
• 930pm: head to the studio to record/edit/mix a project I was working on
• 3 to 4am: Leave the studio and head home to sleep

I typically did this Tuesday through Sunday in the busy season while usually taking one or two nights off from the studio per week (depending on the looming deadline I had that week). On Mondays I would either go do something fun, but far more often that not, I would find myself tuning vocals or mixing something or other. 

But wait? Isn't this what I wanted? 

Let's go back to what my meaning of success was:

1. "Work as many gigs as you can" (Check!)
2. "No matter what they are as long as they have audio in them" (triple check!)
3. "...make a living off of doing this" (*stand by, checking bank account....* check-ish?)

OH. MAN. Pour the champagne, start preppin that guac bowl, and bring on the tacos! I did it! Success is finally here! The sun is shining, the tank is clean.. *GASP* The tank is clean! (I truly hope someone gets this reference and also hope, once you get this reference, you don't stop reading at this point. I apologize in advance for that one ;) )

The reality of the "success" that I had now achieved turned into a lot of unsuspected things. Falling asleep at the console of my morning show which forced me to take on coffee for the first time in my life (Actually the coffee thing was awesome. I am semi-thankful for that one.) Mixing the same shows everyday, I should have been well rested, and that goes for my ears as well. But no. Instead I mixed all night in the studio, producing mixes that I never understood why they sounded so crappy the next day. And then went to my theatre job with tired ears and continued to do crappy mixes. 

All of this snowballed into everything I did. I was tired hanging with friends, I was tired at work, I was tired recording artists. I. Was. Tired. Friends. 

Let me pause right here and say that I am truly thankful for these times. These times led me to who I am today and although I was absolutely making the wrong decisions in my life and career, making them and learning from them is the only way that I can serve people. I have been there, deep in the "grind", and I now know that is not where I want to be. And that is 100% not where I want you to be. 

Sooooo then I continued this for a few years. Luckily met a girl that sort of forced me to stop being so crazy (STILL didn't fully learn my lesson). Went on to work on cruise ships as an engineer, then got promoted to a corporate position doing installs and training engineers all around the world, then became the Assistant Sound Designer to some incredible Broadway style musicals produced by Stephen Schwartz (Still one of my favorite experiences to date), then came home to stop traveling so much and pursue starting my own business, used my business to Sound Design multiple award-winning shows and become an audio-consultant, blah blah blah (I think you get the point). 

I could go on and on about gigs I have done and people I have worked with. But that is not why you, OR I, are here. 

We are here to grow, to learn, and to be successful in what we truly love. 

My definition for success is very different nowadays:

1. Do what I absolutely love in audio and business
2. Do what I absolutely love in life
3. Have the time to spend with the people I love
4. Breathe

This list could be broken down into five points that I leave on the wall of my office. Everyday I make sure I am doing at least one of these things. If I go too many days in a row without doing something on this list, then I absolutely know something has to change. 

I understand your list will be very different than mine and that is honestly the beauty of it!

It is my goal to help as many people as I can find their success. Find their list on their wall. Your list on your wall. 

SO am I some rich person that had it all handed to him and is just feeding you nonsense? NO

Do I know everything there is to know about success, life, and business? NO

What I do know is I have had the opportunity to work with and train engineers all over the world. I have worked with some truly incredible people who I see are stuck in my old habits and just can not seem to find their way out of it. I see that this limits their potential and has a negative effect on their life. The saddest part is when I see someone who absolutely loves audio, but gives up because it is "too hard" or "they never got their big break."

True. Some people do find a big break. But if you receive your big break, and the foundation of who you are and how you work isn't healthy, then that is exactly what it becomes. A Big Break. Problems become magnified the bigger the projects you work on. 

My work in audio magnifies my life. It serves my life. My life doesn't serve my business. Catch the difference here?

This is what I want for you.

• The freedom to take on the gigs that you actually love and are stepping stones to more like them in the future. 
• The foundation as a confident audio engineer. 
• Your work serving your life and ending the grind to barely get by.
• The audio skills to be fast and efficient. *which frees up your time for the final want:
• Having the time to spend with the people and activities you love most. *ahhhhhhh.... You can finally breathe :)

Click below to get the free gift I designed for you! My toolkit of all the apps and softare that I use to make this dream a reality!

I genuinely thank you, from the bottom of my bowl of guacamole I just finished, for reading this and getting to know me a bit better. I hope to talk to you soon :)

Now, go make some awesome audio!