THE IMPERFECT SHOW NOTES
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Around 430 the director came out and said, the musicals been cast. Thank you everybody. And I said, No, when you hear me sing, you’re going to give me the part. His name was Joel Zwick, and I was really bold, but I didn’t care. I had to ask for what I want, and that’s a big philosophy of mine, not with arrogance, but with real respect and professionalism. So I went in, I sang a song, and he and the conductor and the musical pianist looked for a long time and had some conversations, and then he turned to me and he said, Hello, Corporal, the job is yours.
Achim Nowak 00:36
Welcome to the MY FOURTH ACT PODCAST. I’m your host, Achim Nowak and I have conversations with exceptional humans who have created bold and unexpected lives. If you like what you hear, please subscribe on any major podcast platform so you won’t miss a single one of my inspiring guests, and please consider posting an appreciative review. Let’s get started. I am just delighted to welcome Michael Feeley to the MY FOURTH ACT PODCAST. Michael’s life, in many ways, exemplifies everything this podcast is about Michael had a successful career as an actor and model, during which he worked with some true industry heavyweights in his next act. Michael was a professional recruiter in New York City for 20 years. These days, Michael divides his time between a home in the center of France and the Caribbean island, a small island called Saba, which you may not have heard about, where he and his husband manage an island property real estate management company that does sales and rentals in his capacity as a life Coach, Michael supports other accomplished humans ready for a career or life change, and his wonderful and very aptly titled book, The next act is just out. Hi Michael, morning, how are you? I am well, and I’m delighted to have this conversation with you. You are one of those rare humans where your life journey has a lot of echoes to my life journey, and perhaps I will touch on that, but I love the title of your book The next act. I use that same title in the podcast, and because we both have theater backgrounds, the notion of different acts and what happens than them is really interesting to me to get us started when you were a young boy or teenager growing up and you were thinking about who you wanted to be in life.
Michael Feeley 02:56
Oh, I love this question. I will say that early on, like from the time I was 11 years old when I saw my first musical at the local high school, that’s what I wanted to do. That’s all I wanted to do, was sing and act in musicals. Yeah. So I went after it, like with the fury. I studied voice, I studied acting, I got into local community theater. I was in the chorus. I got walk ons. I progressed all the way up into minor roles and then into leading roles. And I was really testing as I went along, to see, is this what I want? And also, are people giving me good feedback so that I know this is definitely the direction I should go in. So I did this forever, all the way through high school and to college, and then when I moved to New York City to pursue it as a really professional career, to get my equity card and to work in Broadway and all kinds of stuff. So that’s essentially, I think was my big dream. Well,
Achim Nowak 03:56
what I love about your story, you had a big dream and you made it happen. You used some really interesting language, and I have a hunch this language is related to some of the work you do now, or possibly that you did as a recruiter, but or what I heard is the idea of testing how you land, paying attention to what feedback you get. Is that a lens that you’re putting on this in hindsight, or is that something you are conscious of as you were advancing in your early career? It
Michael Feeley 04:30
was something I was really conscious of. I knew I had some talent. I had skills singing and doing some acting, but I was really seeing if this was really an achievable goal, is this something that I wanted to do, and was I getting good feedback? You know, it’s like somebody who wants to be a singer, and meanwhile, they’re not such a good singer. Maybe they don’t sing on pitch or whatever. Doesn’t mean they couldn’t take lessons and do something. But for me, it was. Really conscious, and I tested it, you know, I went off to college. I majored in acting and music and speech communication, and it all still seemed to be happening. You know. I went to Hart College of Music for a while, and then I went on to Syracuse University, and Syracuse had a repertory theater called the Syracuse stage, and we were fortunate to have actors and directors from New York, and I was getting cast in some of those plays, so I knew there was something really clicking here, and I was determined to go after it until I got it
Achim Nowak 05:34
for each act in your life, we could have a whole hour to talk about it. So this is my challenge as a person speaking with you, because you’re so accomplished, you already said, Broadway, you’ve done some very impressive work, and showbiz is the moment we do it professionally, not always an easy career. So think of a moment or two from your professional career where you went, Wow, this is why I’m doing this, and this is what I love about being in this business.
Michael Feeley 06:09
Yeah, I like that question a lot. Yeah, I was determined to get an equity card and and I didn’t. I loved being in New York. I didn’t mind the competition. I really thrived on it. I just felt like I am in the center of the universe here or acting and singing. Where else could I be, except maybe Paris or San Francisco or something, or even Washington, DC. I was doing everything I could. I would get up and sing in nightclubs. I would get interviewed. I would I got an acting coach, I got a singing teacher. I was trying to meet all kinds of agents and people and get noticed, and I would like read the newspapers and set up auditions trying to crash the equity calls, whatever it was for me a real business, it wasn’t hit or miss. I was sending out resumes and pictures. I was accounting for them. I was seeing what else I could get from this. And I remember one day, this is what the exciting thing was. There was an audition for a Broadway touring company of the musical Shenandoah, and there is a show stopper of a tenor solo called the only home I know well I could sing hell out of that. That was right up my alley, you know. So I called my agent, and I said, You’ve got to submit me. And he said, No, they’re not seeing non union actors. You don’t stand a chance. And I’m thinking, No, I do stand a chance. Watch this. And all my friends were sort of non supportive. They’re saying, You haven’t paid your dues. You’re not going to get it. It’s not going to happen. And in my brain and heart, I knew it was going to happen. I just had to get in front of these people. So the audition was early in the morning. It was like on Eighth Avenue and 56th Street. It was in one of those big dance studios, and you climb up 100 steps, really, right out of a movie, yeah. And the room was packed with people. And I went to the monitor, and I said, are they going to be seeing non union people? He said, I’m not sure. I said, could I put my name on? He said, Yeah, but it’s not going to happen till the end of the day. Well, I stayed there from 830 in the morning, I didn’t go out to lunch because I was afraid the director might go out. And then around 430 the director came out and said, the musicals been cast. Thank you everybody. And I said, No, when you hear me sing, you’re going to give me the part. So His name was Joel Zwick, and I was really bold, but I didn’t care. I had to ask for what I want, and that’s a big philosophy of mine, not with arrogance, but with real respect and professionalism. So I went in, I sang a song, and he and the conductor and the musical pianist looked for a long time and had some conversations, and then he turned to me and he said, Hello, Corporal, the job is yours. Wow. And I flipped, and that would be the moment that I was like, This is what it’s all about. I was getting my equity card. I was touring in a Broadway touring company with John rate and Howard keel, other great actors, and I was playing at beautiful, magnificent historical theaters throughout the country, including the Kennedy Center. And for me, it was like, How did a young guy out of Massachusetts end up here? So that would be, I think, the one moment that I remember feeling like it was all worth it. You know, it took, like, 15 years of study and practice, and in about 10 minutes, I got my dream.
Achim Nowak 09:25
And what I love about the story, Michael is the story is about you and your commitment and your fearlessness, which is really powerful as somebody who also has a showbiz background. The thing that can be frustrating for some performers is the frequent rejections no matter how talented you are, or the perceptions that you are not right for this. You’re not right for that, even though you know you could do a stunning job doing it. How did you because you just talked about your psychological. Stamina. How did you handle that part of the business? I
Michael Feeley 10:04
guess it’s the nature of the beast, so to speak. You know, the idea of auditioning and acting has built into it. Rejection right away, because you’re always up for a part, you hope you get it, then you don’t, you start again, or you do have a part, and the next thing you know, the play finishes, and you’ve got to start all over again, you know. And even while you have a resume, there’s no guarantee you’re going to get parts or go further. But my state of mind was, and I worked on this for a long time, was to really be positive, to have gratitude for what was happening. I was living in New York, I had a job to help support myself and have the freedom to go to auditions. I was being recognized, I was being called back, I was getting positive feedback, and that’s what I would focus on, not the oh geez, I didn’t get it. How awful, and was it frustrating? Absolutely it can be just like demeaning and you just beat yourself up. But I chose to go in other directions and to say, Okay, what else can I do here if I stay in New York, what are my options? Can I get into some Repertory Theater? I was open to everything I could possibly do. Nothing was beneath me. You know, no matter what it was, I was trying to meet agents, trying to get to directors, work with fellow actors, get to be seen as much as possible. So the positivity of getting there is what would usually drive me. And the things that really were discouraging and I disliked about the theater was typecasting. Come in, you’re I was a young leading man. So I’m six feet 165, and pounds. I can sing certain songs. I’m right for certain roles. And you go to auditions and you see yourself 50 times over, somebody’s blonde and they look like you, somebody’s red hair, dark hair, and they’re all up for the same role. You’re standing in line waiting to sing your song, and the person in front of you is singing your songs, you’ve gotta go, Okay, we have to shift here. But that was very challenging, because I always wanted to play other roles. I wanted to play character roles and do other parts and really stretch myself. So I would say that was it. And also the thing, when you’re not working at what you love, yeah, that just is just unbearable. Yeah,
Achim Nowak 12:23
part of what I love to talk about on this podcast, and you have been through this multiple times, so I’m really interested to hear this. You at some point, started to work as a recruiter. That’s a significant shift. What prompted you to do that when you started work as a recruiter? Were you still thinking, this is just temporary until I get that show and that break? Or was it No, I’m going to direct my energies elsewhere.
Michael Feeley 12:55
I would always be looking for work, temp work, or some kind of job to help support myself before I get my next theater job. And I would do a lot of customer service work, answering phones, because you’re an actor, you’re you know, people are my business getting inside the life of a person or whatever. So I was working jobs off and on, and I remember at one point I needed a customer service job, and I interviewed for it, and when I interviewed the woman who interviewed me at the personnel Service said, I don’t want to send you on the job. I want to keep you here and train you to interview people and to place them in jobs for my client. And I thought, Okay, that’s interesting. Why not? So that’s really how it began, and it also gave me the flexibility to go to auditions when I needed it. I was in outside sales at one point, so I could make it all work without losing business or anything. That’s how I started to get into recruiting. And I also had made a choice to stay in New York City, not to go out on the road with shows and sometimes be forgotten when you’re out of New York. I was able to pick and choose auditions I wanted to go to, and also work part time or full time as a recruiter. And I did that for many years, while I was still auditioning and working, and when I worked as a model and all of that. It seemed to really meet my need, and also it was decent money. And why was any points for Social Security?
Achim Nowak 14:30
So if I’m hearing you correctly, you were working as a recruiter, sometimes full time, part time, but you were still doing acting work, modeling work, and it was a, what I would call a hybrid lifestyle,
Michael Feeley 14:41
yeah, because I really felt like, Okay, I’m still committed to this to the theater, but I was really picking and choosing where I wanted to go. I had a good agent who said, you know, there’s this audition, and I would go, okay, and I’d go on it, and then we talk. He said, You know, they’re interested. Do you want to go forward? And I would either say yes or no, and we would work accordingly. He was really, really generous and thoughtful that way, only because that’s how I saw it. That’s how I wanted to lead my career and to work in New York, off off Broadway, Off Broadway. Whatever was available. I wanted to be able to do it. And as you said earlier, if the right thing came along, I was ready to drop everything else. I want to
Achim Nowak 15:25
tell you a little story to just test something related to personal identity. When I got my first known theater job, I was 36 or 37 I worked for a social services agency Manhattan called victim services, and we had a diversity training program. And there was a fellow sitting in the training who I recognized from my career in Washington, DC. He’d been a famous Paul Taylor dancer. He had his own dance company. His name was Greg Reynolds. I don’t believe Greg’s alive anymore, and he now ran a homeless shelter on 42nd street. And I walked up to him and I said, You’re Greg Reynolds, aren’t you? And I sensed how uncomfortable it was for him to almost be found out to be in a different environment, to not be the dancer, choreographer that he was known for, to be in a completely different world. His first answer was, Oh, but I still choreograph. I still do this, I still do that, and I appreciated it, but I tell the story to get to the point because I, in our identity gets, can get very wrapped up with the work that we do. And when we’re in show business, there’s a perceived glamor to it, and you, at some point, have totally left. That is my understanding. When you looked at the story of Michael and how Michael talked about who he is, how did he handle that. I’m touring, I’m recruiting. How did you manage that? You know what I’m saying, right? Yeah,
Michael Feeley 17:06
yeah, I don’t know. It was all. It all blended together. It was all part of the the process of being an actor. Because, you know, you have to make money. So you wait tables, you clean apartments, you do voiceovers, you do whatever you can make a living until you can actually get back on stage. And very often, many of the jobs don’t pay a lot, or they pay nothing at all, so it’s really your free time in order to maintain your skills and your abilities. And I did feel for a long time that the essence of who I was was an actor and singer that was me at my best, at my center, reading other people’s words, interpreting it. So when we got to a point in my career had been 30 years off and on, coming and going and doing what I did. I was up for the part of the Phantom in the Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera. Well, this knocked my socks off, because I thought, Wow, a great agent submitted me. They wanted to see me. They were going to read me and hear me sing. And I went through the audition and thought I did a good job and was hopeful about it. And a couple days later, after waiting and waiting, you know, the Asian called me and it said, You know what, they liked you, but they went with somebody else. Don’t worry, we’ll try and get some others. But it was at that point Achim that I knew I had to make a decision. I didn’t want to wait around anymore for a job like that to crop up. I was maturing, and certainly I could still mature in a certain way, but I made a choice then and there that it was time to stop my acting career. And that was not easy, you know, to realize that you stopped singing lessons and acting lessons and all of that, and to realize that now I’m going to go in another direction and really reinvent myself. And I was thinking, what do I really want to do? Yeah, because service was it. And then there was also working in recruiting, and I had been in it with various companies, so I thought that’s what I can really do. And I thrive on that. And it certainly was related to interviewing people, getting inside of who they were, what they want to do, almost like being a director, when I would coach them on interviews and trying to figure them out. So all of the skills that I had trained for for years, deep, deep, good training with good teachers seem to fit in here. Very, very well. Yeah,
Achim Nowak 19:32
makes complete sense to me.
Michael Feeley 19:37
Now it didn’t for me all the time, but when I got in, though nobody I totally get it.
Achim Nowak 19:45
Both you and I have lived in New York, and both you and I live in Europe right now. You live in France, and also in Saba, which we’ll talk about I live in Portugal. So in some ways, we’re living other people’s fantasies. So. I’m very curious to anybody who’s listening, who goes, Wow. This guy, Michael Feeley, and his husband, have a place in France. How the heck did you go there? And how did that happen? Can you tell us that story?
Michael Feeley 20:14
Yeah, sure. I would say. You know, there were a lot of events that led up to it. I think the biggest thing that sort of ran my life for a long time was wanting to live a quality life, you know, a life that I really loved, and I happened to love it in New York City. I was in the center of the world. As I said, you know, you could get anything you want in New York City at any time, calling or going out. But things changed seriously after September 11 with the terrible events that happened at the World Trade Center. And for me, I was sort of naive and shocked, because I didn’t realize how much Americans in the United States was hated by other countries and even other cultures. So when that happened, that was a big change in terms of my work and what was going on. And then later on, we went through the financial crisis, and that was difficult. I lost a job. We were looking after money and closing businesses, and we both felt that maybe Europe is where we want to go. You know, my partner is from Belgium. He’s a Belgian citizen, and so we were looking for places throughout the world for better quality of life and the European lifestyle. And I think you would know about this certainly was very appealing. You know, there’s a lot of people spend a little more time enjoying their lives. You go to a restaurant, you’re there a couple of hours. Somebody takes a vacation, August closes down, and everybody’s on vacation for a month. So it was very appealing. And we had traveled, and we thought this might be it. And so, you know, we had gone to St Martin. We thought maybe that’s easy. You can fly from New York to St Martin be on a beach in like three and a half hours. But St Martin had was over developed. It wasn’t especially safe, and we saw a boat that said Seba. We looked into it. Went to Seba, this little island. It’s five square miles with about 1800 people. It was gorgeous. It wasn’t a tourist trap. The scenery was great. The people were friendly, and it’s really safe. So that is where we went. We We had invested in a home in France, but the winters are not They’re gray and they’re wet and they could be cold, and we didn’t want to be cold again. So it was really important for us to create a lifestyle where we could live comfortably and nice. Did it take work? Yeah, you bet it did. We saved and scrimped and say, it doesn’t just happen, and we did lots of research on places where to live, and also to look at, could I also work in Europe? So I had dual citizenship, so I was able to, I’m an Irish citizen, so I was able to use that and have a European passport. So those kinds of details, all of those things, goes back to the basics of, let’s create an achievable plan like the theater. Am I going to be able to make it? What’s my strategy? Here I go. The same thing. I want to live in Europe or live someplace other than New York, and it was time to move on. As much as I loved New York, it was time to go on. And so that’s how we ended up more or less splitting our time in two places, and it’s a great life for us.
Achim Nowak 23:23
We’ll get to the split lifestyle in a moment. I want to test something else with you. When I was 48 I left Manhattan and moved to Miami, where it was for quite a while, and I’m in Portugal now. What I realized when I got to Miami, if I wanted to have a career as an actor or director in Miami, would have been very easy for me to tap into it, if I was motivated to do it. But I realized at 48 that’s not a something I wanted to do anymore. Here in the Lisbon area, I if I wanted to, I could easily, I think, be represented by agencies. Do extra part in movies, get small parts. I know actors, international, actors who do this. It’s no longer my dream. Did you have the age to say, Oh, let me do some acting in Paris. Let me do some acting in Belgium. Or, I wonder what it’s like here. Or was this really in your past at this point,
Michael Feeley 24:20
it was really in the past. It was a big decision to make. It was like, Okay, I am stopping this at this time. I don’t see myself as going back into it in any sense, you know. And even today, I just don’t just feel that. I do know that being the head hunter job, the work that I did there was immensely satisfying to be able to find people jobs, to make a living, to get a job that they loved and could feel expressed at. Was so gratifying to me. In many ways, it was more gratifying than being on a Broadway stage or doing a Broadway touring rather, you know, I. And then also the same with life coaching. The fact that I can assist or enable another human being to create something, to create change in their lives, to improve their career or their life, is just mesmerizing for me. It’s like scientific magic, the art of coaching. So no, I don’t miss it. I don’t have any desire to return to it. I did it, and in many ways, when I made the choice, I was like, okay, you’ve done that. There’s something deeper, something bigger, waiting for you. Let’s go look for it, you know? And then it led into head hunting and other jobs, but mostly head hunting, and then now life coaching. And now I’ve written a book. I also worked as a coach in Seth Godin to Kimball workshops. I mean, all of those things came about, you know, to advance my career and to have me grow as a human being. In a way, it’s just like, What luck, what event adventure I’m having in my life.
Achim Nowak 25:59
You are indeed, and you just outlined it beautifully. Thank you. If nobody would hire me anymore, I would sell real estate, because I would love doing it. And as I think of your story, I think it takes a certain hut spot to arrive on a small island as outsiders who are not from there and say, Well, we’re going to start a little business where we sell real estate or we manage rentals, because people might go, Who the hell do they think they are? So what was it like to arrive there, not just hide in your beautiful home, but say we’re actually starting a business here? Yeah.
Michael Feeley 26:38
Well, we hadn’t really planned on it, but, you know, we’re both very active people. I love to work. I love to have a challenge and be creative. And we were studying, you know, a small island, what are the niche markets that work here? Some restaurants, some shops. So not all seasonal. And one day, there was a knock at the front gate, and these two people came in and introduced themselves and said, like to sell this boutique hotel up on the mountain here called Shearwater. And we were told by people in town that you’re the only two people who could sell it. And we said, Well, I’m not in real estate. I don’t have a real estate company. And they said, Well, let’s talk. So we sat down and talked. At the end of conversation, I said, looks like we’re in real estate, so we want to open up. We got incorporated, we opened up, and the community was very positive. They said, Oh, good. Now we have an option. We have other choices and who to work with. So it was very exciting, because we’re still involved very much with people. A lot of it is about teaching people what Seba is about, what is the life about all of that. So you can’t make a big living on a small island, selling real estate. You do a few things. But it really has satisfied us in terms of a profession, in terms of assisting people being connected to the community, and it’s really related, again, to everything else, especially coaching. Here I am finding homes for somebody, buying a piece of land, building a house, or renovating a house, or buying a house that’s already in good shape. And then there’s the matter of coming home to yourself, which coaching does teaches you. This is who I am. This is how I live inside of who I am. So it’s all very related and connected.
Achim Nowak 28:26
I appreciate you using the phrase earlier about moving into something deeper, which you get to do as a coach, you help other people. There are also loads and loads of coaches around, as we both know, and it’s starting another business, right? Because people need to find you, and obviously we’ll talk about your book in a moment. I love your save our real estate story, because that just came to you, is coaching, also just coming to you. Or do you think of it as a business that you are building and growing?
Michael Feeley 29:02
Yeah, I definitely see it as a business I’m building and growing. And it it happened in a surprising way. I mean, I’ve been 20 years working as a recruiter, finding people job, working personnel. One company I’ve been at for 13 years went out of business like you would turn off a light one day, the next day, I was unemployed, and I was then in panic because I was 58 I didn’t know who’s going to hire a mature outside sales rep building business. I had a lot of offers to continue doing that, but I knew in my heart I couldn’t continue to work in corporate America in New York City, the amount of stress and the relentless pressure of numbers, numbers and producing which I did, I said I couldn’t do any longer. So a friend of mine, good, good friend of mine, she dragged me out to Starbucks and said, What are you going to do with your life now? Michael and I said, I’m I’m really not sure I’m. In a panic about this. And she said, Have you ever thought about being a life coach? And I said, What the heck is that? And so she knew that if she gave me the assignment to do research, I would and I started looking online, and I did everything from looking into Columbia University to NYU to programs throughout the United States and the world. I got on the phone and I set appointments with major coaches who ran programs, and asked them what it was like to please explain it. As you know, Achim coaches are amazing people. They are so generous. People were like, Oh, I’m going to send you my contract. Don’t worry, Michael, I’ll help you out here. And it was entirely different than the competition of getting a client, trying to maintain it, trying to hold on to it. And so I looked into coaching programs, and eventually went back to school for about eight months to learn how to be a coach. And that’s part of me as a professional person. I don’t want to do anything that’s just shallow or partial. I’m in it for the the depth. I wanted to learn how to coach anybody in any situation. And the school I went to was called IPEC. It’s called the Institute for professional excellence in coaching. And they had in person seminars, weekend seminars, three to four of them over the year. And I learned from master coaches how to coach. I could observe them. They would pull you up in front of the entire class, or probably 60 or 80 people, and they would ask you to coach, and then they would criticize you and encourage you. And so it that’s how it came to be, and I found myself going right into the obvious opportunity of becoming a career and life coach, because I had 20 years of placing people in jobs. So in a way, it just like was fortunate that it happened. I’m grateful to my friend for telling me to look into life coaching. And so I built a business, and it was prime time for me to work for myself and not work for anybody else, to make my numbers work for me, and I went after it. I went after getting interviews. I went after, you know, give me some freebies. I started out at like, 25 bucks a session, and then the money increased, all of that, but all for the purpose of, like, this is what I really love doing, is assisting people. So that’s more or less how it came to be, and it’s still happening now, and that’s part of like, when I was taking workshops, and Seth Godin had been watching me in this community, in akimbo, and they said, we’d like you to coach in the creatives workshop, which I did for about a year and a half. That was spectacular, because it was international. I was coaching, looking at, like, hundreds of people, and going in and out and making connections, and we did workshops, and all of this. It was an incredible it was like the pinnacle of the coaching career that I had dreamed about. So wasn’t just one on one, it was groups. And then, you know, my next dream was to write a book, and that’s what I’m doing. So I continually have these dreams that are like my business, and what I’m going to do to continue to express myself and to feel like, Hey, you get one life. You got to live the best life you possibly can.
Achim Nowak 33:14
I’m very much like you in the sense that I once I’m clear, I work for it at the same time, I get that from you, and I also hear that you have many life lessons that I’m sure have ended up in the next act, if you were to tell our listeners, maybe just one example of something that you might have learned yourself that was incredibly helpful around How you made changes in your life. And that also has found itself as a, if you will, guiding principle into your book The next act.
Michael Feeley 33:48
Yeah, there’s something that really came forward and has been central for me. And I also work on this with the people that I coach. There’s two things. One of them is looking for opportunities, spotting an opportunity and then creating the opportunity so that something happens. So if you’re looking for a job, you may all of a sudden see something in a newspaper, hear about it. That’s the opportunity. And the thing is, how am I going to create it? How am I going to get an interview? How am I going to get in front of this boss who may hire me. What can I do to do that? So I’m always encouraging people don’t sit and wait for opportunity to knock, create it, go after it, and in a deeper sense, and this is always a bit of a challenge, is to ask for what you want. And I don’t mean to be arrogant or selfish, and that’s what we’re often taught when we’re growing up. Oh, you don’t ask for anything. You wait for things to happen. You come here. That’s selfish, that’s arrogant. You can’t do that. But what I’m talking about is, if you want to get into an equity acting school or get into an equity situation, you’ve got to go after it and ask. For it. You’ve got to say to people, I want to audition for you. That’s what I’m going to do. Same thing in business, if you want to gain a client, a business client, or you want to, let’s say, work for somebody, or study with a certain teacher, you have to ask for it. So you really, as you’re saying, you have to know exactly what you want. You have to create an achievable plan with steps and no, this is what I’m asking for, and do it, as I’ve mentioned before, with professionalism, with dignity, with gratitude and respect for not just the other person, but for yourself, so that you know that what you’re asking for is really right for you, and not just something that’s you know, I thought I would just ask, no, it’s really to go ahead. So the two things I’m pointing to is creating an opportunity and then asking for it, like in the audition, I could have seen when the director said, you know, it’s cast, I could have said, Okay, I’m out of here. I didn’t. I stood up and said, No, I have to ask. What’s he going to do? He’s going to say yes or no, that was it. And I encourage, as you ask, to have a plan, A, B, C and D, maybe right down to x, y, z. Just don’t take no for an answer. Just say, Okay, well, if you’re, if you’re not going to work with me right now in a business, do you think you would give me a shot? Would it be a temp job or a perm job that I could help fill I was constantly encouraging and planting seeds and going forward. So this matter of picking yourself, not sitting still, going after an opportunity, and knowing why you’re going to do it is really, really key.
Achim Nowak 36:36
Makes a lot of sense to me. Now I’m curious. You know, we’re recording this in 2025 a lot of dark things going on in the world. You have a beautiful home in France. You have a home in Seba. You do some real estate there. You just published a fantastic new book, as you think to your own future, and you think about what are some things that will continue to sweeten and enrich my experience of life? Yeah, what’s in your thoughts?
Michael Feeley 37:16
That’s such a lovely question. Thank you for asking that. You know, I think the book really has given me impetus to see what my next act will be for myself. Part of the purpose of the book was to inform people in a specific audience, 5060, or 70 people who may be at a crossroads or lost a job or thinking about switching a career, maybe to another company, doing the same thing, or maybe inventing an entirely new career. I felt, one, I’m qualified to do that. And two, there is a big need for this today, and especially with so much that’s going on in the world about people losing jobs or fearful about it. So I thought this could be an opportunity. And I see the book is really building community, giving people an opportunity to come together and talk about, how do I find a new job? How could I create a resume without fear? Who could I can’t be in touch with and create, you know, maybe something at a local library, maybe an online workshop of some kind. So I’m thinking in that, do I want to go into a podcast? I’m not sure. Do I want to create an online workshop in some way, or work with other people? Maybe there’s organizations that I would help develop some of this. So that is where I’m heading, because I think that’s the need. And I’m really finding my way. I don’t have it definite yet. You know, it’s like that song from West Side Story, something’s coming, something great, that’s what I think. And I’m thinking, Okay, what’s it going to be? And like, I published the book, and I was writing out to famous people that I wanted to get reviews from and one of the people I admire who’s helped my career many years ago was Arianna Huffington at Thrive global. And I wrote to her, hoping the letter would get to her, and like the next day, her editor calls me and says, We’d like to publish a chapter from your book in Thrive global. So for me, it was like the universe was saying something, saying, look, there’s value here. And I’m thinking, what other places could I do this in? You know? So there’s, I think there’s lots, as I said, opportunities to look at and see what’s the next direction for me. So I’m also, I came open to that. I’m starting to do a few podcasts, and you’ve been so gracious and and encouraging. I’m like, thrilled to be talking to you. You know, I respect your your podcast so much, and the people you’ve interviewed tremendously. I don’t know where it’s coming from. And I’m asking people like you and other people, what direction do you see me as going in? What do you what stands out? As we talk, or, you know, my work, what’s needed in the world today. So I’m fine tuning it and thinking, you know, what are the next steps for me? What is my next encore? Cuz I’m not dropping this. Don’t worry. I
Achim Nowak 40:14
appreciate I’m right. The language in my mind is how you’re describing this exploratory in between state, or this discovery state, and the other language, this is Achim language, but that release jumps out of me is, I’m hearing this beautiful and you and I are very similar. That way is, once you know, you go ahead and you execute and you get it done, but you’re also paying attention to the signals that are from outside of what your conscious mind knows to see what else wants to come to you. And that dance, which you just described so beautifully, is, I think that’s part of where the juice of life is, you know, yeah, you’re right.
Michael Feeley 41:00
And that’s a beautiful phrase, the juice of life, and what I’m doing, and I think you see it, and I know a lot of other people do is something comes in a surprise. You read something all of a sudden, you’re thinking, What is this about? What does this have to do with my next step? You have to tune yourself to the message that the world and other people are sending to you because there are doors that are open, you know, the parts of your next dream, perhaps, or to pick up a left over dream or something. So it’s an exciting time for me, even though it’s sort of unknown, you know, and that’s what I like to encourage people. How can you see the unknown as enticing, as alluring as something really positive, whether you have an answer yet or not.
Achim Nowak 41:46
I have so many more questions I’d love to ask you, but I think that’s a wonderful wrap up. But before we officially close, I’m sure there are listeners who want to learn more about your book, where to find it, or they want to learn about you and what you do. Where would you like them to go and look?
Michael Feeley 42:08
Oh, that’s so kind. Thank you. Well, I do have a website, so you can google Michael feely life coach, and it will come up. I write regularly and publish every single day. I’ve done this for many years, so you can read some of my things, and if you’d like to be involved with receiving them, you’re you’re absolutely can. And my book was just published on April 8 at Amazon, so it’s in Kindle version and it’s also in a paperback. So I encourage people go and buy it. Buy a few for your friends. Hand them out to people who may have this question about, what am I going to do with the rest of my life? And also to please leave a review. The reviews are valuable. I think they help us to connect with people. So I think those are the best places, and certainly they can get in touch with you. If they say, Who is this guy? Who is Michael feely, how do I get in touch with him? So I think those are the directions. And I’m, you know, as I’m trying to expand with more, you know, podcasts or writing or opportunities that are coming up, I’m open to that, to see where will that guide me to. But thank you for being really generous in offering how people can reach me. I appreciate it. It was
Achim Nowak 43:17
such a pleasure to speak with you and to our listeners, I hope it’s abundantly clear that Michael has had a big life, an adventurous life, and he continues to explore and if that sort of approach to life resonates with you, the next act might be the perfect book for you to read. So check it out in the meantime. Thank you so much. Michael, this was a true treat.
Michael Feeley 43:45
Well, thank you that’s very kind. It’s you really honored me in approaching me to do this, and I’m thrilled about it, and I do see it as a great privilege to be on your podcast. Thank you so much.
Achim Nowak 44:01
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