We recently connected with Scott Barnhardt and have shared our conversation below.
Scott, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?
While Dolly Parton is one of the most influential humans on the planet, she is also the north star of “how to be an awesome human” in my own personal life. She is my hero, a queer icon and her words and music are a balm to my soul. And what I love even more than her immense body of entertainment and philanthropic work–which is mind boggling vast–it is the way she does her work. With love, laughter and a clear moral compass.
I’ve been drawn to Dolly since I was a child (I could go on a whole diatribe about why queer kids latch onto incredible women like Dolly and how instrumental their love and kindness is to our survival in a world that works so hard to erase us). She was one of the few celebrities my parents would let me stay up late for to watch on the Johnny Carson Show. I was always fascinated with her look, her spirited giggle and above all, that voice. She has one of the most pleasing sounds (a timbre and twang nirvana) of anyone in the music industry.
But it wasn’t until I was older that I really understood HOW incredible she is. How prolific. How trailblazing. If you start to map out her entire life it reads like a Lord of the Rings epic! I love her ability to traverse new territories of music and industry – while staying true to her roots. (If you ever want an amazing podcast Dolly Parton deep dive, I can’t recommend NPR’s “Dolly Parton’s America” produced and created by Shima Oliaee.)
In the Dolly fandom, there is a very common saying: WWDD?
a.k.a. What Would Dolly Do?
I’d dare to say, this statement has served me better than just about any advice I’ve ever been given. It’s a beautiful filter to ask what is working in any given situation. It’s a reminder that you can always be gracious and loving AND ALSO advocate for your needs and boundaries. Dolly Parton is full of delicious contradictions. What she has done for her home state of Tennessee has rightfully dubbed her Saint Dolly – because it is Saint-like. Her work in her music and in advocacy and inclusion is devout, holy, and pure.
While I’m by no means at the same strata as Dolly Parton – I do like to think we share similar ethos. I believe there is a balance to artistic achievement directly linked to the service to others. I love that she is a bridge between different religions, political ideologies, and has fans from every corner of the world. And I believe the undercurrent of her success is a genuine love for those she works with (her team, her collaborators) and those she works for (her fans, her legacy, her family roots). And in many ways I’ve been following in her example of trying many new things in my industry trying to find matches – while staying true to my core inspirations and roots. I’ve been a Broadway actor, an educator, a playwright… and now an entrepreneur. And I lean on all those aspects of myself to traverse forward, while not fearing that I’m selling out or short changing myself. I’m simply growing, loving and staying curious.
The very thing I ask of my clients and students.
WWDD.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
As an Independent Educational Consultant (IEC), I specialize in helping families of college applicants who are entering into creative fields and industries via artistic and performing arts majors. This includes (but isn’t limited to) musical theater performers, actors, filmmakers, writers, dancers, musicians, visual artists, creative entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to use creativity in their academic and professional lives.
As with many creative ventures, I came to create The Creative College Journey from the convergence of my many experiences and passions with an interest in offering a service I wish I had back when I was applying to schools:
As a student with a dream of being on Broadway (who had no idea where to start):
When I applied to college, my family and I didn’t know the first step towards researching performing arts educational institutions (granted, it was the 90’s and we didn’t even have dial up!). My parents wanted to support my dreams of getting to NYC, but we had little to go on besides what I had “heard” were great schools. And when I didn’t get into my “dream school” (of which I had done zero research), I was crushed. But fate served me a lucky hand, as my “safety school” ended up being exactly what I needed, offered me some incredible scholarships and was the perfect launching pad for my acting career – and in hindsight, my alleged dream school would not have matched my learning style, my needs or our pocketbook. Funny how life works out sometime, huh? Because of this, I’ve built curriculum and processes that help families and students find match schools to their goals BEFORE they apply, so that they won’t have to rely on the luck factor as much as I did.
As a professional Broadway actor:
As someone who found hard-earned success in a highly competitive industry, I’ve seen time and time again… where you go to school does little to advance someone’s industry potential. Yes, a few big-name schools might open some industry doors, but your skill, reputation and work ethic is what will book a job… not your degree. I’ve had the great fortune to have worked with countless artists from all kinds of educational backgrounds and training disciplines, and have an evidence file of the MANY ways to approach artistic training in collegiate spaces. This is a topic I have always been naturally curious about, and want students and families to understand the multitudes of paths available to them. You can study psychology AND becoming a Broadway actor. You can get your BFA in Acting AND become a Doctor. I’ve seen the improv rules of “YES AND” be very liberating for a curious and open-minded college applicant.
As an artist in career transition:
After over 20 years as a professional actor, and 4 years in the original Broadway cast of The Book of Mormon, I was ready for a career transformation, I wanted to find ways to make artistic and business decisions for myself. So I used grad school as a way to alter my career trajectory. At the apex of my theatrical career on Broadway, I made a concerted change from performer to creator/maker/educator. And getting my MFA was the career palette cleanser I needed to secure my next steps. My 3-years at UCLA School of Theatre, Film + Television garnering my Masters degree in Playwriting, was one of the most beneficial times of my artistic life – despite having little interest in making my income as a writer. I leveraged those writing and storytelling skills into my business building and educational pedagogy. What this experience at UCLA solidified for me is the idea that an education in artistic mediums can grant power, agency and clarity.
As an instructor and director of a Musical Theatre program at a prestigious High School of the Arts:
In my first year working at a Conservatory Director at an Arts High School, I watched many of my students, who were incredibly talented and years-above-their-age in training, lose their sense of self and confidence during the college audition process. Despite having the world at their hands, they had trouble stepping into their potential amidst the immense pressures they felt. It was at this point that I began building formal curriculum to help combat the undue stress and angst. What I saw in my work – as angst and stress went down, the higher the returns on acceptances and solid college matches. I was onto something.
As a lead faculty administrator at a film college in Los Angeles:
In my time as a lead faculty administrator of a MT + Film college program in DTLA, I got to review applications – and see firsthand what made a fabulous submission and what choices made a weak impression. And, surprise surprise, it was rarely entirely a talent-driven decision. I saw that confidence, clarity of purpose and what I call “love of the game” were consistently the qualities that helped a student garner admission and scholarships. Put simply: Singing a high-C can be learned, but learning to love the art form (that seems to be riddling a student with fear and insecurity) is a much taller order.
My own Venn diagram of interest revealed:
Artists need to be intrepid and self advocating. After 5 secure years in teaching and education administration but with a burning desire to launch my own business, I had a tough decision to make. Was there a world where I could employ my love of creative work, the rewards of education and my innate love of business? I used my own curriculum to help clarify my own creative goals, wants and needs. And once I took that inventory the answer became clear – it was time to bet on myself and formally create The Creative College Journey.
I think engaging with overlapping passions are a secret to entrepreneurial longevity, contentment and success. I have always been interested in the idea that the intersectionality of multiple interests can become a beautiful driving purpose for many. And creating The Creative College Journey is the product of my trusting the three passions and areas of expertise in my life: Education, Creativity/Artistic Expression, Business.
My work falls in the lane of career coaching, goal setting, application accountability and cheerleading. Lowering the stress, raising the confidence and clarifying goals for the next generation of creatives is challenging and rewarding. I love this work, I can literally talk about future planning and college goals all day, everyday. And I am so grateful that the decades of experience I have in these fields are proving helpful to my clients, and the many folks who interact with my curriculum online and at conventions and workshops across the nation.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
The answer to this question is simple AND complex: A furlough; And winning $50,000 on the game show, The $100,000 Pyramid.
STORY: I was in my 2nd year of my work as administrative lead faculty at a LA-based for-profit arts college, I was commuting 2 hours daily and working 40-60 hours a week. All to say, I was feeling drained, discouraged and defeated.
While I certainly had the desire (and preliminary plans and structure of my business) to strike out on my own – with an upcoming wedding/honeymoon and a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle – I didn’t think I had the immediate means to start my own business. Simply put: I was in no position to give up a salaried job and benefits. Or so I thought.
It wasn’t until the entire faculty and staff of the school where I was working was unceremoniously put on a week-long furlough (over our spring break), that I began to realize my current employment was neither stable nor sustainable.
In a short term Hail Mary Pass attempt to make-up the money brutally lost from my yearly salary that semester, I began researching teacher side-hustle jobs. I looked at Uber, tutoring, proofreading, part time jobs… when I typed in a few words into google that changed my life: Game Show Contestant Casting.
A quick search showed me that The $100,000 Pyramid was in the midst of casting their upcoming 6th season, and would be filming in LA that spring. I reflexively jumped into action. It was one of the few moments in my life that I didn’t think too hard or over analyze my every move. I wrote pithy answers, gave a clear account of who I am and why the show would help our family. And in the span of about 90 minutes, I completed the thorough application and uploaded a personal video statement.
I got a text from casting within a few hours.
And thus began a multi-week (and quite intense) casting and training process. I put everything I had into this process, and what was better than anything having been so stressed at work, I regained my sense of play! A word game (that I was pretty dang good at) was at the center of my daily life, and the positive effects rippled in every aspect of my life. And I also knew, if I were to get on an episode and make my way up the Winner’s Circle pyramid… I would be able to step away from this job and start my business. It fueled my training, and sparked more joy.
Well, after the intense training and casting process – in April 2022, I got on the show. I played my heart out and enjoyed every damn second of it. And with the help of celebrity comedian Lauren Lapkus, I won $50,000.
So, I followed my game plan. I put it my notice at work, while diligently finishing out the semester, and started building my business in earnest. I hit the ground running with a sense of abundance and energy. I knew I didn’t require huge overhead/capital to launch my college consulting business, but I did need to put myself out into the world and offer my services. So I dove head first, because I felt like I had to! I didn’t want to rest on the laurels of my game show winnings. I wanted my business to thrive on it’s own accord.
Fun fact: One does not get paid for being a contestant on The $100,000 Pyramid UNTIL the episode airs.
My episode did not air until July 9, 2023, a full 15-months after we filmed. About a year after I left my job. And exactly one year after our wedding. It was quite the first anniversary present.
This should have been disastrous. I made a massive life change. And I quit my job, banking on that $50k to cover my ass.
Yet the coolest discovery in all of this – I didn’t need the cash. It was never actually about the cash.
The playfulness, my internal hustle and a word game (essentially my own WASPy white boy nerd version of “How Scotty Got His Groove Back,”) gave me permission to build a life I wanted. The cushion of the cash was false security. Even if I had never received that check from ABC, it wouldn’t matter. Because I was not trapped. I was never trapped.
And when I balanced my books in December 2022, after 5 months of launching my business, I happily discovered my coaching income had made up the difference of what I would have made in the full time academia job (including the lost week from the furlough). My valuation of the moment was priceless: I was in my body and in my life. I had found my game plan.
And in 2023, long before I got paid out from The $100,000 Pyramid episode, my business earnings had well surpassed my previous yearly admin salary and far exceeded my business expectation and projections for the year.
My takeaway from the experience, to quote Glinda, the good witch, “You’ve always had the power, my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself.”
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
There are a number of writers, mentors, teachers and coaches who have been instrumental in helping me create a sound and secure entrepreneurial path with The Creative College Journey.
The Spark File – To start, I will be endlessly grateful for the brilliant women who run The Spark File, Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien. They are professional creative coaches who help other creatives get their creative ideas past the finish line. Their podcast, The Spark File, is an inspiring listen. And their group classes (the 3-month IGNITE course, the 6-month BLAZE course, or the yearlong ILLUME mastermind group) are nothing short of life-altering and purpose-affirming, much in part to the unique creative feedback process. Their curriculum helped me uncover the seed of an idea that became The Creative College Journey, and also helped fan that flame to what it is today. I can’t recommend their work enough. www.thesparkfile.com
Jennifer Rosenfeld – I thoroughly enjoyed working on my business launch with a music & creative business coach (and badass composer), Jennifer Rosenfeld and her team at 6FME and ArtsMBA. These courses gave me the much needed nuts and bolts assistance in launching The Creative College Journey. Learning from people who are succeeding at doing the very thing you want to do is rarely a bad move. www.jenniferrosenfeld.com
The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin – this book rocked my world in it’s approach towards HOW to offer life-changing coaching practices, while simultaneously learning HOW to value and valuate your time and expertise. Highly recommend for anyone in the coaching field or have significantly client facing businesses.
Profit First by Mike Michalowicz – I am not one who reads finance books. Like, not even a little bit. But this book… I couldn’t put down! And it has immensely improved my life, my financial stability, and ability to see exactly where and how my business is thriving from month to month. This knowledge paired with my BlueVine Online Business Checking Account (that allows for free sub-accounts), and YNAB (You Need A Budget), I feel very secure in my business accounting, savings and planning. Something I couldn’t say when I was living paycheck-to-paycheck in past jobs.
IECA, Independent Educational Consultants Association – One of the greatest decisions I made early in the start of The Creative College Journey was joining as an Associate Member of the professional association for Independent College Advisors, IECA and attending one of their yearly conventions in San Diego. Through my connection with IECA, I have found and bonded with mentors, meet hundreds of fellow IECs, given and received referrals for clients, and now have a robust community and research resources to lean on when I don’t have the answers. This professional association was a game changer for me.
When I started out as a solopreneur a little over a year ago, I blindly assumed I had to go it alone every step of building my business. And I’m so grateful that I’ve found community to connect with and share the journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.creativecollegejourney.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottbarnhardt/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scottbarnhardt/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-barnhardt-994513a7/
- Other: The Creative College Journey PODCAST podcast.creativecollegejourney.com
Image Credits
(Photo property of ABC/Christopher Willard)