We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anthony McLean. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anthony below.
Anthony, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
We often measure success in terms of financial gains, but I believe richness in time is just as important. Whenever an opportunity arises, I carefully consider its opportunity cost. Each ‘yes’ to one thing means saying ‘no’ to a hundred others. I’ve learned that having some flexibility in my calendar makes me happy. I need some free time to foster creativity. Blocking out moments in my schedule for workouts, naps, or coffee with friends often gives me the boost I need for optimal performance at work later in the week. I never want my calendar to be so booked that I have no wiggle room for spontaneity.
The truth is, many of the high performers we admire are in the fast lane to burnout, working at an unhealthy, unsustainable, and unrealistic pace. To me, success must be sustainable and encompass a wide view of a person’s life. If you choose to white-knuckle your way through your career, neglecting your mental health, you risk burning out. However, if you want a well-rounded life with vibrant, energizing relationships, rich personal time, and a sustainable work pace, then prioritizing mental well-being becomes nonnegotiable. Making time for what brings you joy is essential, and spending quality time with loved ones becomes a priority.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My career is a bit unconventional in that I’ve got my feet in two worlds. In the corporate world, I’m a keynote speaker for Fortune 500 companies. I speak at between fifty and a hundred events each year, and go through layers of preparation for each event: meetings, emails, working out logistics with event planners, research, travel… It’s a lot. But it’s all worth it. Every time I step on stage, I feel a rush of adrenaline. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share life-changing ideas with people all over the world. I love this work!
The other part of my career is in the entertainment industry. I moved to Los Angeles to pursue my goals as a screenwriter. It’s going well, but it’s not without its challenges. I’m in development on two feature films right now and I’m writing a third. I do pitch meetings with Hollywood executives, work with producers and investors to secure funding, and write alongside a robust writers’ group that meets five hours each week. I love being a screenwriter! And although my career may seem unconventional, it happened pretty naturally.
As a kid, I was always performing. In elementary school, I got a reputation for being the class clown. Most teachers found me disruptive, but one teacher saw me differently: my sixth-grade English teacher, Ms. Hepburn. She told me I needed a stage. She encouraged my mom to enroll me in a speech and drama class with a brilliant acting coach named Tessa. Every Tuesday night, my mom drove me down to Tessa’s studio where I performed monologues, recited poems, and improvised hilarious sketches, all without derailing a math lesson. I loved every minute of it.
Soon, I was booking commercials and small TV shows. After high school, I was offered the opportunity to perform Shakespeare at the renowned Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada. Later, I was cast as the host of an after-school program on CBC Television (Canada’s national broadcaster). I got to work with incredible people like Ryan Reynolds, Drake, Tina Fey, and more. To promote the show, we traveled to schools across the country. A school would bring the entire student population down to the gymnasium, hand me the microphone, and I’d perform for half an hour. I told stories, cracked jokes, and even freestyle rapped at these performances. It was a blast!
After one of these shows, a guidance counselor approached me and said, “The kids love you! Our biggest problem right now is bullying. Could you come back and do a session about that?”
That request changed the direction of my life. I started reading all the material I could find. I got really stirred up when I realized that bullying is oppression on a small scale—it’s one kid using a power advantage to hurt another. I became a bullying prevention advocate and spoke in schools across the country. My calendar was so full that I put acting aside to become a full-time speaker. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that I’ve connected with students in over two thousand schools in Canada, the United States, and Australia.
In addition to speaking about bullying, I began talks on diversity, inclusion, and mental health. These topics are close to my heart and the work felt effective, timely, and rewarding. I wrote screenplays to satisfy my creative appetite and I delivered presentations about important issues to make an impact in the world. From that time until now, speaking and screenwriting have been my two passions.
But there was a problem. Some days when I showed up for a talk, I was in the peak performance zone—energized, focused, and ready to take the stage. But other days, I had the blahs—I felt sluggish, lethargic, and unmotivated. Instead of being an inspirational speaker, I was the one who needed inspiration! And the frustrating part was, I didn’t know why I was in peak performance on one day and in the blahs on another.
I had the same problem in my creative life. I’d block out several hours to work on a screenplay, and some days I’d be at peak performance—alert, creative, and energized. Other days, the blahs descended, and I couldn’t write a single page! Why was I focused on Monday and floundering on Tuesday? I wanted to sharpen my focus, boost my energy, and spend more time in peak performance. So I set out to find the tools that would work for me. But a funny thing happened.
I discovered that operating at your full potential is a by-product of tried-and-true mental health habits. Getting eight hours of sleep improves cognitive function. Staying hydrated keeps you energized. Practicing mindfulness increases attention span, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills. And everything I learned resulted in my book All Fired Up: Optimize Mental Wellness to Ignite Joy and Fuel Peak Performance.
Being All Fired Up means discovering your own personal rhythm where you crush it at work, and you make time to refuel and rejuvenate. It means being as motivated to achieve career success as you are committed to self-care. To be All Fired Up, you must be all fueled up. And good mental health habits are the fuel that will take you to your goals.
I’ve seen too many people sacrifice their health and their closest relationships in pursuit of a better title, a bigger office, or some shiny award. I’m not willing to do that. Yes, I want professional success, but I also want to live a good life!
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In my twenties, acting was the only thing I knew how to do. It was my identity: I was an actor. But then I hit a dry spell. I just stopped booking gigs. It was around this time that I started getting paid to speak in schools. It wasn’t anywhere near the amount of money I’d make by booking a commercial, but if I booked enough speaking gigs, I could pay my bills. One day my acting agent sent me an audition that was happening at the same time as a speaking gig I had booked in a school. There was no way to do both. I had to choose: do I give up a sure thing to try out for a potential thing? Is a bird in the hand worth two in the tree? I realized this was likely going to happen again and again. I was at a crossroads: Do I pursue speaking full time or do I continue to make acting my priority?
A blog post from Seth Godin tipped the scales for me. The blog was titled: Reject the tyranny of being picked: pick yourself. (https://seths.blog/2011/03/reject-the-tyranny-of-being-picked-pick-yourself/) As an actor, auditioning is the very essence of hoping to get picked. But as an entrepreneur, I can grow my speaking business into anything I want. So that’s what I did. I dropped out of the actor’s union, left my agent, and became a full-time speaker. Once it had my full attention, my business really took off and I never looked back. As the saying goes, “you can’t steal second base if your foot is still on first.” I still work in the Film & TV business but I found out that I love writing even more than acting. Now, I balance my time between screenwriting and speaking and I’ve never been happier.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
When I first started speaking, I knew I needed a speaker demo video. The only problem was that I wasn’t speaking at high-caliber events with impressive stages. I was speaking to fifth-graders in school gymnasiums. So here’s what I did. I went online and found a website that rents out cool venues by the hour. I booked two hours in a venue and brought along a friend of mine who has a decent camera. He filmed me giving my talk without revealing the empty audience.
Then I asked my church and they let me film something on their stage as well. Again, there was no one in the audience but we kept that off camera. Finally, we went to the airport and my friend filmed me walking around with a roller bag as if I was about to get on a flight. We edited the footage together and honestly, it looked like I was a big speaker flying all over the world. And it worked — that video booked me a couple of legit speaking gigs. I made sure to get those gigs on camera and put together a speaking reel. But it all started with me speaking to an empty auditorium and walking around an airport with an empty roller bag.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.anthonymclean.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthonymcleantv
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-mclean-9883941a9/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/anthonymclean
Image Credits
Jackson Davis