Who Are YOU?

I have been blessed to work in the Music Industry for 30 years. My first gig was as a report taker at the now defunct Trade Magazine R&R also known as Radio & Records. I started there in March of 1987. It’s a funny story about how my career came to fruition. I left Buffalo 10 days after college graduation with $2,000 and no job chasing a dream of one day living my reality on Baywatch. My dream, aside from frolicking in the sands of Malibu like Pam Anderson in a skimpy red bathing suit, was to be the next Diane Sawyer. I graduated with a journalism degree and a passion for TV News. One of my first jobs in LA was working weekends at KFWB All News 98. It was there, where I met Yvonne Olsen. She was the then News Talk Editor at R&R and worked weekends at KFWB to save money for her impending nuptials to KISS-FM MD Gene Sandbloom. After a late night bonding session, she suggested I go for a fulltime gig at R&R. This is where the magic began and where I met lifelong friends including Joel Denver and Shawn Alexander. I got the job as a report taker at R&R. I loved it. I talked to radio people all day typing in playlist reports, I got to go to cool shows, meet rock stars, go on tour buses, go backstage. Wait, who's Diane Sawyer again? So for three glorious years, I was Lynn from R&R. Lynn from R&R turned into Lynn from Interscope, Lynn from Time Bomb Recordings, Lynn from The Firm, Lynn From Reprise, Lynn From Live Nation, Lynn from Epic, Lynn From Mars Music Services and now Lynn the certified Life Coach & ICBCH Hypnotist at The Inside-Project.
The looming question is… WHO AM I? Should my job title define my life? Does being a VP really make me more important than you? I have to be honest, my title and jobs defined me for decades. My biggest ego blow was the downsizing at Reprise Records on September 9, 2011. It was devastating. I became an unemployed sole non-provider for my then two year old twins. I had a giant mortgage, a full-time nanny, and a comfortable lifestyle that suddenly went up in smoke. How would we survive? What will I do for work? I have to admit, fear kicked my ass at this point. Every day for a while, I kept checking mediabase and email just to feel worthy and connected to what? A job, an identity that is no longer? The emails diminished, the calls decreased, time passed, and I felt lost. Now, with the grave unemployment rate due to the Covid pandemic millions are asking this question….WHO AM I?

The music business is beautifully brutal. In high times you have an exorbitant salary compared to the national average, an expense account that enables you dining privileges at the hippest, coolest restaurants, travel to fun and divine destinations, all access passes to the best rock shows, rock star relationships and out of this world experiences.

I am sure your neighborhood CPA or insurance agent can’t even fathom your life. I have to ask again “Who Are You?” In low times you are “on the beach” seeking employment, uprooting your family yet again, to hopefully land a stable, viable gig. Does this make you “less than?” By definition an identity crisis is a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person's sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society.

Here’s the kicker, nothing in life is certain, except uncertainty. The shit show that is 2020 is a prime example of it. You are not a label that society slaps on you because of a trade or skill that provides you an income. You are not more or less important than your friends, neighbors or colleagues. So WHO AM I then, if I am not defined by work or labels? Deepak Chopra said “Who AM I” is the only question worth asking, and the only one never answered.” Talk about uncertainty. I have grappled with this notion for years. My personal feeling is I am love. I am an extension of the universe. I am here to serve. It’s an inside job. I hope this serves you today whoever you think you are.