Walking Away From Full-time Work- 3 Month Update

- On the set of ATARU

At this point, it has been 3 months since I decided to say goodbye to the best and most comfortable job I've ever had to make the final jump to supporting myself full time in Japan's entertainment industry. Up until this job, I had always worked as an actor/model part-time, but once the economy went south, I thought it was best to return to full time work to pay off some debts and rebuild my savings before making   my second attempt at "the big leap". (The first time I tried was about 3 years ago).

The job I found though, (teaching in the sports department of a Japanese university) was not just a lot of fun, it paid really well, had an unbelievably chill schedule, and the coolest co-workers I could ever ask for. As a function of this, what was supposed to one 5-month contract period turned into three. Especially once I got used to having the money to do all the things I want to do, the ease and comfort of having regular pay, and being able to make financial forecasts for myself, it got very hard to leave.

The turning point came however when I found out that they were reducing the number of teachers at the school, so that everyone remaining's workload would increase. With that, I decided that maybe it would be time to start transitioning out of the job, but that I would do one more contract just to make myself a bit more secure before I do. Soon after that,  I was offered the chance to do a few film projects abroad that would be in the middle of my next contract period (one in Thailand and the other in Austrailia), so I decided that it was just time time to just let it go, and "make the jump" as soon as this contract expired in January.

I had nowhere near the financial safety net that I had hoped for, but if there is anything I have learned it's that great opportunities never come at very opportune times. Usually, they come along when you least expect them. I have let opportunies like that go before because the timing "wasn't right" and watched my contemporaries career take off around me, so I was determined not too do it again.

Deciding to make this jump was like looking out from a cliff into a foggy ravine, and catching just a glimpse of what looked like solid land in "jumping distance"...and with that dropping all my things and running at the edge of the cliff full steam.

As I kind of expected it to be, the "jump" itself was a messy one, and the landing was just as rough. Although I did manage to land a job or two in february, it was nothing that paid very well. In march, despite hitting audition after audition, I didn't land a single job. Not one. Thankfully however, two of those auditions did end up landing me jobs in April, and soon after that, I got into ATARU. My first regular role on a TV drama, and its on the most watched drama in the country right now. Right around the same time that I got ATARU I ended up being cast in another even, bigger international project (which Im not at the liberty to speak about until July or so) that will be running until October.

A leaked photo from a project Im currently involved in. You can't see me in the photo, but I'm sitting behind the gunner. More on this one later! 

Last month, I barely made rent. This month, I made it in the first two days of the month. The funny thing is, I am still waiting to see if either of the two international projects I quit for will work out...but even if they don't, needless to say, thus far, the jump was worth the risk.