We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniel Chan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniel below.

Daniel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I wish I had started my creative career full-time later. Why?

I would have more walk-away power when doing magic shows AND I would be rich. I was part of the PayPal saga, before PayPal merged with X.com, so technically, I joined PayPal before Elon did. If I stayed at Paypal and would have vested close to 3 more years of stock and if I kept the stocks today I would have been worth a staggering 5 million dollars!

Daniel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a former pre-IPO PayPal employee. I bill myself as “The Millionaires’ Mentalist.” Business Insider called me the “magician to billionaires, and I’ve been featured in the Hustle, BuzzFeed, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC x2, and Business Insider x5. I’ve performed for companies from A-Z, from Airbnb, Amazon, and Apple to Zillow, Zynga, and the Zuckerberg Chan Initiative – Google alone has hired me over 65 times, and most recently, my story came full circle; I recently performed for Elon Musk – again.

https://www.businessinsider.com/early-paypal-employee-sold-stock-too-soon-millionaire-2021-6

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Accepting every job opportunity and going after the easy wins can lead to burnout, hindering your ability to tackle more complex, meaningful projects that demand deep reflection and focus. I’ve found that specialization is often more profitable; by raising my rates and taking on fewer, higher-quality projects, I can concentrate on delivering exceptional work. A specific market is willing to pay a premium for top-tier services, and targeting this demographic can make the financial rewards substantial.

I’ve experienced burnout multiple times, especially on days when I’ve taken on as many as six gigs. It took a significant amount of time for me to bounce back. These days, I’ve shifted my strategy to outsourcing tasks, which has made my time more valuable and harder to book. As a result, I now command substantially higher fees.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When the pandemic struck, I faced a challenging predicament. However, I swiftly adapted to virtual shows out of necessity and discovered a newfound passion. Not only do I get to entertain people from all over the world, but I’ve also found new ways to connect and engage with my audiences. Thanks to this digital pivot, we’ve pulled off as many as 52 shows in a week and up to 12 in one day.

(Can you link
https://thehustle.co/silicon-valleys-favorite-magician-zoom-magic/)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://millionairesmentalist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danchanmagic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danchanmagic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danchanmagic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrmjnFLZ_TnSz3u8TSHG2kQ

Image Credits
Scott Tokkar and Kirk Marsh