Lori London, singer, song-writer, and author of 2 award-winning children’s books joined The Savvy 
Entrepreneur Radio Show to share stories and advice from her journey to grow her children’s book franchise. Lori has tips and advice for anyone who has thought about writing and publishing childrens’ books, or who has wondered how to make money from their artistic talents, or is thinking about using their creative talents as a side hustle. Also, check out her websites at Lori London Entertainment and Lori London Music!
Below is a transcript of our chat. If you’d prefer to listen to the interview (and Lori, as a voiceover artist, is pretty easy on the ears!), go here.
Welcome to The Savvy Entrepreneur show!
I’m your host, Doris Nagel. And I’m here because I am a crazy entrepreneur myself. I’ve started or helped start at least nine different businesses and counseled lots and lots of startups and small businesses as part of my law and consulting practice. And who boy have I seen lots of mistakes, and I myself have made many mistakes.
The goal of the show is to help provide resources to help entrepreneurs and small businesspeople, and also to share stories of people who have started their own businesses of different types to help inspire you and give tips on how to make your journey towards success faster and easier.
As always, I welcome your comments, questions, suggestions, challenges, or if there’s a guest that you think would be great on the show or even if you want to be a guest? I always love to hear from you at dnagel@thesavvyentrepreneur.org.
My guest this week is entertainer and entrepreneur Lori London. I say entertainer because she is not only a singer, a songwriter, and actress, a graduate of Second City and a voiceover artist, but she’s also the author of two award winning children’s books.
You can learn more at her websites, lorilondonmusic.com and lorilondonentertainment.com.
I think most of us are pretty fascinated by the world of entertainment. I know I am. And Laurie is an entertainer, but she’s also an entrepreneur.
Many people think of entrepreneurs as people who start up tech companies, like the next Google or Amazon. But entrepreneurs come in lots of different shapes and sizes and flavors.
And so she’s not only an entertainer, she’s a businesswoman. And she’ll share what it’s like to run an entertainment business, how to start one, how to grow one successfully, and some of the challenges and growing pains along the way.
Because without a good business and operating structure, you can have lots of talent, I’m guessing, but it may not get you very far. So I think she’s prepared to share some of the insights around that today, along with juggling a day job, which frankly, is another thing that’s often a necessity for people starting out in the arts.
Lori, welcome to The Savvy Entrepreneur. Thanks so much for being here today.
Lori London 3:13
Doris, thank you. I am very happy to be here today. And thank you for having me on the show.
Doris Nagel
As I said, we didn’t really talk about your childhood — where you’re from, or any of that kind of stuff. And I think part of that entertainment mystique is that entertainers just sort of come out of the mist fully formed, you know. But they’re real people with real stories.
So when did you have Inklings that you wanted to be an entertainer and do something with all that talent?
Lori London 3:48
It was at a very young age, Doris.
I’d like to start with a funny story if I could. I think I was probably – just from looking at the picture — maybe I was six at the most, and I was singing my heart out. I just love to sing. I always have loved to sing. It’s at the core of a lot of things that I do and who I am.
Anyway, I was singing and my Aunt Carm and my mother were in the kitchen. And as the story is told to me — I don’t really remember this– but my Aunt says to my mother, “Geneva, that girl can sing! You should take her for lessons.” And I overheard this supposedly and I said, “I don’t need lessons. I already know how to sing.” [laughing]
Doris Nagel
So I embodied in that story, I think, are some real truths. First of all, people who have a creative or artistic bent, you see it pretty early on. And there’s also probably a stubbornness – a belief in yourself that you need to have.
Okay, so there are lots of us who put on little talent shows for our relatives or play around with the piano or play in band, or sing, or whatever. But most of us don’t really do anything with it, or certainly don’t try to make a living with it.
When did you know, though, that you really wanted to do something more serious with your talent?
Lori London 5:07
I know the exact moment. Let me just preface it by saying that for us, Saturdays were kind of a free day at our house. So you got to watch TV a good part of the day. And there’d be cooking going on in the kitchen. And it was just a fun day.
I loved to watch Broadway musicals. I would try to imitate the singing that was on. And I had a real heartfelt love for that right off the bat.
But to answer your question, more specifically, I had taken a vacation to the northern part of Kentucky, because my dad had actually moved down there and bought a small farm there.
And Nashville was just maybe an hour drive. So I was a teenager, probably like 18 years old. It no longer exists now, but there was the Barbara Mandrell Studio. And it was just a little kind of a box studio. And you could pay a little money and sing to some tracks.
And when I heard my voice with orchestrated music behind me, it was just like a bug that just got me. I loved what I heard. And I thought, “Oh, I want to do more of this.”
And I might as well go ahead and tell this, as this kind of connects with my story. My dad was a concert promoter for 50-plus years in the Chicagoland area.
He had big shows at the McCormick Place and on the south side, Lexington House and the Saber Room– all these different theaters.
And at age 13 – I was 12 or 13 — I was asked by my dad who knew I liked and wanted to I like to sing, “Do you want to open for Marty Robbins?” I was like, “Yeah, I would love to do that!”
So that’s kind of ties in as well, big time.
Doris Nagel
I think there’s another piece in there too — that being successful in entertainment requires good connections.
Lori London
It does.
Doris Nagel
So you can stumble into or work hard on those connections, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have some of those in the family.
Lori London 7:14
Yes, absolutely. So I guess you could say I was born into it. Had he not been my father and done the things that he did, perhaps I might have gone into musical theater, which really is at the heart of me.
But I sing all sorts of different genres of music. I used to do a Patsy Cline tribute show called “Patsy Meets Elvis.” And at the end, I insisted that they sing a couple songs together, because in real life they never did – they met once, but never sang together.
But I was completely bitten by then.
Doris Nagel
So now you’re a teenager, and you got the bug.
Did you decide at that point that you really wanted to try to make a go of it and entertainment? Or is that just something that was in the back of your mind that you might pursue at some point?
Lori London 7:58
At that time, it was more in the back of my mind. I mean, it was always in my mind. But for whatever reason, Doris, I never took that leap of faith at that time in my life to go to New York and pound the pavement and do all of that.
And apparently, I wasn’t supposed to. I was supposed to do what I’m into now instead. But I still sing. I still write. I still do shows.
Doris Nagel
When did you decide that you could actually make some money maybe doing this?
Lori London 8:29
At the risk of sounding like I’m patting myself on the back, it was when I realized I could make $500 per half hour for something I love to do.
And it’s not about money. But that was an added incentive, of course. And I had a booking agent out east who actually was one of my dad’s guitars that he used on lots of shows. He was a very talented fellow and he said to my dad one day, “I want to put some put on a Patsy Cline show out east in New York.” And my dad tells him, “Oh, have I got the girl for you!”
So you’re right — a lot of times it is connections. It definitely is networking, but it’s also putting yourself out there. This gentleman the guitarist would not have known about me had I not done that.
So everything’s kind of connected, I guess is what I mean to say.
Doris Nagel
I think I understand what you’re trying to say. I’m just wondering at what point you got the confidence to step out?
What do you think it is that holds a lot of people back? Because, honestly, there are tons of people. I have neighbors, friends, parents of my daughter’s friends, all over the place — people who are like, “Oh, I always wanted to be in a rock band,” or “I always wanted to be an artist,” or do this and that, but so many of them don’t do that.
I mean, even me. I was a piano performance major for two years. And I turned my back on it. For a long time, I had these visions of playing a concerto with an orchestra, but I’ve never done it.
So what do you think holds a lot of us back?
Lori London 10:16
Fear. It’s fear in a nutshell.
For whatever reason, we stop ourselves. I mean, let’s be real, just bring it all down to the bare floor. And sometimes people are walking around, and I don’t think they even realize that they’re stopping themselves. You know, because we get caught up in life, right?
You know, people get married, they have children, they get a job. And then they get comfortable. That’s another thing that happens, you get comfortable with what you’re making and your lifestyle
And this might be something you’re not even conscious about, but it’s there. And then when you do become conscious about it, everything can change.
For me, Doris — and I can only speak for myself — I had my epiphany or whatever you want to call it pretty far back. And I asked myself a question.
And I dare everyone out there in your audience to ask themselves this question: When was the last time you were not only truly happy but also felt engaged and alive?
When did I feel a part of who I am soulfully? Who am I soulfully?
You have to ask yourself, who am I? What do I really want to do? Put all that other stuff aside — all the ego and all the “Oh, I can’t do this,” or “I don’t have enough money.”
Do that, just for your own sake. Just take three minutes, two hours, whatever, and just write down [what you’ve come up with].
Who am I truly? What are my gifts? What have I always wanted to try and never did? I mean, you know, have a talk with self.
And that’s what I did. And I had to go pretty far back. For me, I knew I loved to sing, and it is at the core of who I am. And I love to write.
I never dreamed I’d be writing children’s books. But here I am doing that too. So it’s great.
But don’t be afraid. Just meet yourself in the mirror. Really have that talk with yourself. Forget about everything else that is clouding your head or your day or your life. Set it over there on the side and just have a one on one with yourself.
Doris Nagel
Wow, therapy sessions.
Lori London
It is. It’s deep.
Doris Nagel
I think that’s insightful, not only for wannabe artists and entertainers, but it seems to me that probably resonates with people who want to be or have thought about being an entrepreneur. It absolutely requires an ability to step out of your comfort zone, I think.
Lori London
That is so true.
Doris Nagel
That’s hard. Wow. The older you get sometimes, too.
Or until you reach a point like me where I think you get to a point where you’re like, Whoa, there’s too many more shopping days before Christmas. Yeah,
Lori London 13:08
But can I interject something? I just want to tell the listening audience: There is a freedom in this, once you take that step. So take a little step. Take another little step here. Take one here, you don’t have to just dive off the deep end all at once, you know, unless you want to.
And that’s okay too. But because it does take a lot. It takes courage. It takes a belief, is really what it takes. It takes a belief in something that you can’t see maybe right now, or you can’t even feel right now.
Doris Nagel
A leap of faith.
Lori London
Yes, truly. And I’ve heard that so many times. And I’ve heard people say, “Oh, go out of your comfort zone.”
But it’s not only going out of your comfort zone, it’s just doing something different.
We all have this routine every day, especially people with the nine to five jobs — the regular job or whatever time you start the day, you might work nights I don’t know. Most of us have this routine, and I think our bodies get used to that and our selves get used to it.
So do something different. Just do something different. Lighten it up, change it up, so that you can have that one on one with yourself.
And like I said, I had to go pretty far back – I thought about when I was a kid and what I liked to do. I liked this and this, but am I doing anything even remotely close to that? Well, I am, but not really what I want to do.
And when I started letting go of old patterns and thoughts and things, all this other stuff came rushing in, and it was all good,
Doris Nagel
You’ve alluded to something else that I’d like to touch on.
So there’s the leap of faith — belief, that good things will come, regardless of the fact that there’s a lot of risk and costs. It could be a financial risk, it could be risk to your ego and having it bruised. Maybe your idea doesn’t work, or people don’t like it, or nobody’s willing to pay for it.
I think there’s also a business side of things. And that becomes pretty apparent when I went on both of your websites. There’s obviously a lot of marketing there.
Talk a little bit about some of the business aspects of just starting out in the business, and then being successful in building it. What do you need to have in place?
Lori London 15:25
The word hutzpah came to me.
I have a passion for what I do. I recognize that passion, and I honor it.
For starters, it’s work. Make no mistake, there is work involved. But as I just said, I’m passionate about what I’m doing.
Here’s a great example. I didn’t know if I wanted to self-publish, or if I wanted to write what’s called a query letter and go to the literary agent that works at the big publishing company — you know, your Random House and Scholastic Books, and so on.
And I literally sat down with a legal pad and wrote down the pros and cons. Well, the pros did outweigh the cons, but also your listeners need to realize is I’m somebody who, since I was a little girl, have been on stage. I’ve had exposure, I’ve gained confidence by appearing in front of audiences. So I already felt like I could do the self-publishing part of it.
But the funny part of the story is I’m sitting there with the query letter all filled out, and I accidentally I was sitting with my legs crossed in the bed, and I accidentally hit the send button on my computer.
Doris, I was mortified! I thought, “Oh, no!”
And I get a letter back from the literary agent or her secretary. And she tells me this is very nice, but you want to make sure you have all your ducks in a row, you know?
At that moment, I said, “Thank you universe! Obviously, I’m meant to self-publish.” I mean, that might sound crazy to one person, but the pros did outweigh the cons on my piece of paper anyways, so I feel like I’m divinely guided. I really do.
Doris Nagel
There are certainly those kind of decisions, but I’m also thinking about some of the infrastructure you have to have in place.
Because you may have tons of talent. But if you don’t have the structure in place to be able to find gigs and send out demo tapes, and things like that to market yourself, you won’t get booked much or earn anything or make that talent pay off a little bit.
Lori London 17:42
The person that you just described is me. I am not someone that went to school for this. I learned by example, from the family I was born into. You know, back in the day, people stuffed envelopes and sent flyers to get the sale.
Doris Nagel
I read that that’s coming back. The actual hard, printed mailer is making a comeback.
Lori London 18:04
I think that’s great.
But as a little kid, I was introduced to business. Not only ethics, but just a structure, if you will, for lack of a better word, from working with my entrepreneurial father. He was an independent promoter and I was exposed to that business since being a little child.
Once I decided to self publish, I have learned a lot. I’ve learned about publishing. I’ve learned about editing, I’ve learned about printing. I really was delving into an area that I knew nothing. I really didn’t know anything.
And I’m a Google girl, for sure. But another helpful source is — whatever industry it is, whatever you’re wanting to do — go to your association’s websites, because these are legitimate. They will tell you the straight answers.
They will guide you to the correct and legitimate avenues of — for instance — contests for the books. My books have won multiple awards. Some of these you can submit for free.
Doris Nagel
But there’s a great example. I was thinking about that when you were kind enough to share a copy of the book. And I saw the nice little stickers on the books, and I thought, “All right, there is a piece of block and tackling that I’ll bet many authors neglect.”
You may write the greatest children’s book, but it could easily just sit there unless you actively market it, unless you get it into the hands of people who can actually help you get it out there.
Lori London 19:49
Well, I seem to have a knack, give it back to God. But I have a natural gift for PR and advertising. I just do.
I assume some of that is probably from my background and growing up, but it just it made sense to me that if people were going to notice my books, they need to have a few awards. And some good ones. My books both have mom’s Choice Awards. So Pinnacle Achievement Awards.
Doris Nagel
Congratulations!
Lori London
Thank you. So I won an award from Story Monsters, Inc, which is a Maggie award winning magazine for children. And by the way, if you haven’t checked them out, they’re awesome.
I also got a royal dragon fly award, not only for the books, but for the illustrations as well. My illustrator is Heather Branstetter. She’s wonderful.
Doris Nagel
How do you even find out all these pieces? It takes a village and somehow you figured out how to put that village together I is somebody to do illustrations, and somebody to actually physically print it and edited it, and I don’t even know all the pieces.
Lori London 20:57
This is where I get spiritual again. I believe I’m divinely guided.
How I got my illustrator is a wonderful story. My friend Shirley in Tampa invited me down, and so I went to go visit her.
And she said, “My friend Vivian is getting back into acting. Let’s go support her at her place.” We go, and we get invited to the after party and we meet Vivian’s friends.
And this one gentleman I was talking to at the time — I didn’t know this then — but a couple years back, he had been CEO for the Florida Film Commission down there. So we’re talking — we’re all artists type folks and we’re just having a good time.
And I tell him about my character, Trippy the Fly, and right in the middle of it, he says, “Stop right there!” And I’m thinking, what’s wrong? But then he said, “That’s a film!” And I said, Yes, I feel like it’s film too, because I’m seeing stuff in my head. I’m seeing a motion picture.”
And it’s the same thing [for me] with music when I write songs. Well, that’s a whole nother story, but I hear all the orchestration. Even though I don’t really play. I play by ear guitar and piano a tiny bit.
But anyway, the gentleman at the party says to me, “When you get back to Chicago, you need to get on the phone and call Full Sail University.”
And I did exactly that. I was like an antenna. I received the information and I immediately got on the phone. And I’ll never forget the girl’s name was Jennifer. I told her the story, and she told me, “Oh, you need to speak to the student liaison here. His name’s john Michael Lebaron.”
He is a wonderful person, and listened to my story about my little character who is a fly who can’t fly. He doesn’t know why he keeps trying., but that’s part of the message. Don’t stop trying. He’s plucky, so he finds other ways to have enjoyment in life. He can talk read, write, dance and sing, so why not?
But anyway, John says, “Give me a couple days to think about your character. And I’ll look at people who have graduated and people who are still here at the university.”
And the minute that man told me that he was going to take a couple days to think about it, I thought, “Wow, what a gift, right?”
And he does get back to me with a list of people to contact, and Heather is on that list. I had checked a couple other people that did end up going back to her. And when I saw her website, she had drawn a pig with wings, like when pigs fly. And the stylized way she drew it was what I had in my head for my character.
And I thought this could be her. And it was her!
Doris Nagel
So a couple more nuggets in there.
I think one is that if you want to pivot in your career, or take advantage of some itch that you’ve got to scratch, is to find ways to surround yourself with people who are already there, in the business. So if it’s something in the arts and entertainment, find more ways to rub elbows with people in that business.
I think the other piece of it is that when somebody gives you a lead, follow up on it, and ask for more leads after that. Because it’s a journey and you’ll run into roadblocks. But it’s what do you do when you run into a roadblock.
And I can only imagine in the entertainment world, there have to be roadblocks. What do you do when you run into roadblocks?
Lori London 24:30
There are. And there have been some that affected me. But I have changed.
And I have in my own journey. I’m in transition, but aren’t we all? One thing we can count on is change in this life. And I welcome it.
But yes, there have been roadblocks. And I am to the point now, and it’s easy for me to sit here and say this, but I’ve gone through some things. Everybody does. But you have to constantly remind yourself of the bigger picture.
Picture the visual that you have in your mind of where you’re going. Practice visualization, I do it all the time. Some people might call that manifesting, maybe it is, and I’ve seen it happen many times.
But you have to stay focused, and be clear. And it’s very important to not surround yourself with people who are toxic, or who don’t celebrate what you’re doing. Not that everybody has to celebrate what you’re doing, but surrounding yourself with like-minded type people, because even if nothing else….
Doris Nagel
Because you feed off the energy.
Lori London
Absolutely. Because even if nothing were to come of that there is that energy. And that’s what you need to be around. And you need to surround yourself with.
Doris Nagel
I don’t know about you. But I found sometimes that being open to some of that energy is a kind of a little message or a clue that maybe my original idea wasn’t quite right. And be able to pivot a little bit. So I don’t know — I’m just throwing it out there. Maybe you had originally the idea of writing the great American fiction novel. And somebody somewhere along the way gave me the idea to write a children’s book.
So you have to kind of be willing to pivot a little bit and you do go with the flow a little bit.
Lori London 26:22
You just made me think of something — maybe you saw it last night, Doris? They did a TV program dedicated to Stanley, and he wanted to be a novelist. But then he ended up doing all of this and giving us so much for people coming down the pike.
So yes, just be open. If something doesn’t work, there’s a reason it’s not supposed to work.
I’ll give you a perfect example. And this isn’t about what works or doesn’t work – I’m still pushing forward through my transition here. But I always see Trippy as a film. He always has been a film. But in my mind, I thought, “But he has to be a book first.”
Did he? I don’t know. And actually what ended up happening? But because I’m a songwriter and a singer, I wrote both [Trippy] books and had both audiobooks done before I even met Heather, my illustrator.
Doris Nagel
Is that normal?
Lori London
No, probably not.
But for me, it was normal, because I come from a singing and a performance background. And so I love getting into the studio and doing voices and I have a blast.
So that to me felt very natural — yeah, I’ll do the audiobooks first, because that’s in my brain. And then since I had done the audiobooks, I had to do a book. But then, okay, I had to find an Illustrator. And I didn’t know I was going to meet these people down in Tampa, but I followed up on it. And then lo and behold, boom, there she is.
So that happened. But this is all about connections and being open to things.
Now I’ve had Trippy made into a plush. He’s adorable. And I also had him made into a puppet. And so he has morphed and changed himself through this process, as I have as well.
And it’s hard to say when you’re attached to these things, but you have to find a place where you acknowledge, “Okay, boom, that didn’t work. Let’s go to the next thing. Bada bing bada boom, as they say.”
Doris Nagel
And not take it personally.
Lori London 28:24
Right. Don’t take it personally. You cannot wear these things around. And I’ve never been that kind of person, thank God, but you cannot take things personally.
And if you are self-judging yourself, stop it. Don’t do that. Stop it. Life is for living.
Sure, bad things happen. But honestly, just have fun. I just want to give joy. I see the faces of these little kids when I do these book readings. And then at the end, we try to do voiceover and I let them try to do the voice of Trippy and I tell them how to do it.
Doris Nagel
I hope you’ve got some of that videotaped, because it’s got to be absolutely priceless!
Lori London
Yes, I certainly do!
Doris Nagel
So rewind the clock just a little bit. First and foremost, you’re a singer and a musician.
So how did you get to the point of deciding to write a children’s book? It’s quite a leap, or at least a major pivot!
Lori London
Yes, it is a pivot.
Doris Nagel
How did you get there?
Lori London 29:28
Again, a gift from God, in my opinion.
I worked for a major airline. And at that time, I was the person that boarded you on the plane — the gate agent, they’re called. And I remember distinctly this flight was going to Calgary, Canada. And I remember the flight attendant — she was very playful, kind of like me. We were talking back and forth.
And there was this little fly was hanging out the jet bridge console, and I tell him, “Don’t go in the airplane!” And he wasn’t buzzing me. He was very mellow. She sees him going back and forth, and she looks at me and says, “I don’t kill anything.” And I said, “I don’t either.” And I remember we high fived each other, celebrating our lack of violence.
And I remember the plane was a 737. And this particular door, the aircraft is actually a little rounded. So you have to stop the door, and then continue to close it. Otherwise, you’ll hurt yourself. And who do you think flies in? And the flight attendant looks at me and shrugs her shoulders, like, “Oh well, okay, bye!” And shut the door.
And I couldn’t stop thinking about this little fly, going to Canada. And I had this on my mind for the longest time. I thought, “Well, why didn’t he just fly there?” And I thought instinctively and immediately that he was little — he was a youngster basically. And I don’t know why. I also felt that he was male.
But this went on for a week. And finally, this thought comes into my head, “He didn’t fly himself to Canada because he can’t fly.” And I started to wonder, “Why can’t he fly?” And then I realized, “Oh, my gosh, could this be a children’s book.”
My ego immediately tried to shut that down and said, “You don’t write children’s books. You write songs. So shut up about a book. What do you know about that?” That’s how my ego would sound I suppose.
And I basically shrugged off those voices “No, get out of here. Yes, it could be a children’s book, I think this would be a really awesome children’s book.”
And then Trippy the Fly just developed from there. He’s done two journeys so far. The first one is called “Trippy takes Flight.” That’s a very Chicago-esque book. You’ll see very well-known things about Chicago in the book, like buildings in the Loop and Navy Pier.
But what happens in a nutshell is he goes to the library, where he meets the Great Book. And the Great Book tells him about all the cool places he can go and how to get there.
So little Trippy becomes very inspired, and he hops a 747 to Paris, France. And in the last scene — you notice I say the word scene because everything is written like a script for film — you turn the page and he’s in my favorite spot on the 747, which is up in that top little bubble in the window. And he opened a book and you see him reading, and it says learn how to speak French. So by the time he gets their, Doris, he’s fluent.
And Trippy does get a little teary eyed, a little verklempt sometimes, and that’s okay. And I remember telling Heather in the first book, because he actually gets teary eyed in that one. And I said,” I don’t ever want to see him crying again.” But then all of a sudden it occurred to me, ”It’s okay to get weepy. It’s okay to cry. And there’s another little message there.”
Doris Nagel
So I have to ask you – is Trippy is an alter ego for you in some ways?
Lori London 33:01
Yes, in many ways. My sister, Constance, or Connie, said to me very early on, “You’re Trippy!” I said, “No, I’m not.” And she say, “Yes, you are.”
Another thing too, I want to give a virtual hug to my sister. I said to her at one point– because this was all new to me and I was diving into places that I’ve never been before – “Well, the next thing I need to do is to find a narrator” And she stopped me dead in my tracks and said, “No, you need to narrate the books. You’ve got a great voice, and it will sound great.”
And had she not said that, I maybe might have hired a narrator. Maybe I wouldn’t have, but I always was so grateful to her for saying that to me, because I’ve had such fun in the studio doing the voices and everything.
Doris Nagel
What’s your favorite part about being an entrepreneur? It sounds like that might be a hard question for you to answer because there’s so many parts of it that you clearly enjoy?
Lori London 34:04
Doris, there is a word that just came to me. It’s freedom. It’s a freedom to do whatever I want to do with these characters, or with my voice.
I’ve been very fortunate having a friend — he’s passed away now – who was my booking agent out east. And he would always say, “Sing whatever you want, Lori. I love your voice, but just know that if it’s something I really, really dislike, I’m going to say something to you.”
So I was always given that loose rein. And nobody ever really tried to control what I was doing, which is great, because that’s something that I probably wouldn’t allow anyway.
So you have to be your own person.
Doris Nagel
What about the flip side? What’s the part you like the least about the [business side] of the entertainment world?
Lori London 34:52
I guess I would have to say the paperwork part. Well, it’s not paperwork — but now it’s computer, you know, just this the business end of it. Having to do billing and posting on social media.
Right now I still like posting myself, but it’s getting to be not so much fun as much anymore, because I’m having to do more of it. And that’s just the truth of it. It gets routine,
Doris Nagel
Right. And in my experience and in talking to people, it needs to be routine for it to work.
Lori London 35:25
Yes. Some people will do it more than once a week. I can just barely manage once a week, you know, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, of course Facebook, and then Trippy has his own Facebook page.
He has over 13,000 followers, which I love. He’s my Pinocchio!
Doris Nagel
Everybody wants to know how to go viral. You’ve found the answer — just be a fly or a fictional character that doesn’t exist, and they love you!
How do you find the various gigs that you do? Whether it’s singing or whether it’s reading books for children’s groups? How do you find all these different gigs?
Lori London 36:06
Well, locally being in the Chicago area, I just went into the store. I went into my local Barnes and Noble, I’m very hands on and I just said, “I’m a local author. My books have won these awards. Any chance of you featuring me for a book reading?”
And they said yes!
Doris Nagel
So literally pounding the pavement?
Lori London 36:27
Yes. And it still does work.
I’ve also made phone calls before. I was in Florida at a Barnes and Noble when I was there in Tampa, which was great.
You can also contact their corporate office. And if they like you, they’ll start booking you as well. haven’t gotten quite there yet.
You know, having a full-time job, it’s a balancing act that I’m doing. But it’s OK, everything will start changing. And I already noticed things changing towards not having that regular job.
Doris Nagel
I think it’s pretty typical, but also really interesting. Hopefully our audience is taking notes, because lots of people have some sort of artistic talents, some creative juices that they would love to find an outlet for, and maybe make a little money, maybe even build a business around.
But you have to start somewhere. And so you’ve alluded to having a day job. How do you balance having the day job, both from a time perspective, but also just from an energy perspective?
I’m sure it can be pretty draining, especially doing a day job when it’s probably not what your heart would choose if you had a choice.
Lori London 37:43
Right. Well, I pretty much work all the time. So I’ll just let everybody know that. But you’re right, you have to balance.
And what I notice is that if I start feeling fatigued, then I have to cut back a little bit. I should already know that before I feel fatigued, but I haven’t mastered that quite yet. But I go work my job, and the minute I’m off, I’m immediately doing something to promote my children’s books.
My way of relaxing is watching an old movie or a good Capra film, or something like that — even a cartoon. Those inspire me as well. I’m a big kid, in case you already haven’t figured that out.
But it’s not easy to balance all of that. And I’m tired a lot. Yeah, I am. And I have to watch that. Because I don’t want to get sick, because then what am I going to be doing? So yeah, you have to be very mindful.
And also be very clear about you want to accomplish each day or week. I might have 15 things I want to do this month, but which one of them is more important? I have a huge desk calendar that I write everything on, so I can keep it all straight, because it’s a lot, and some months are busier than others.
Doris Nagel
That’s a challenge for a lot of entrepreneurs, particularly when you’re trying to build a side hustle There’s not enough hours in the day. Even if you’re doing it full time there’s probably not enough hours in the day to do everything you want to do.
So choosing those battles, those tasks that you think are going to have the best payback each and every minute is, I think, a valuable piece of advice for entrepreneurs of all sorts.
Lori London 39:27
Absolutely. I’ve spent lots of money on things that when I look back now, because I’ve been at this a few years, I look back now and say, “That was probably a waste of my money.”
But on to the next thing. I’m not somebody who lives in the past or worries or frets about that. “Okay, so that was perhaps not the best decision. So learn from it.”
But honestly, for me, with books, I just felt very strongly [Trippy] needed to have some awards to help him get more noticed. And I was right.
And then book signings are great. They also give back to you as well as an artist, because you’re interacting with your audience, with little kids and their parents and their grandparents. And it’s so fun. And it’s joyful. And it’s just a really nice energy.
So I get something from it, for sure. I’m not just there to sell books and get the word out. I’m there to enjoy myself as well. And that’s another thing: I like to have fun. I mentioned that before.
If the fun leaves this, I probably wouldn’t be doing it or I would have stopped doing it. And I don’t see that happening.
Doris Nagel
At which point, you’ll pivot and do something else.
Lori London
Exactly.
Doris Nagel
In all the years in the entertainment world — we haven’t even talked about some of your acting stints – with your songwriting and singing — you’ve got to have some funny or memorable stories to share.
Lori London 40:53
I do. Well, one of them I already shared about accidentally hitting the enter button. That was more like OMG moment. I’m laughing at it now.
But another time when I was on stage, this particular show it was one of those Patsy meets Elvis type shows, in a beautiful theater. It was actually with Doug Church, and it was his show. He’s an Elvis tribute artist. And he’s a very good one.
But anyway, I was opening for him. And my theme was the women of country music. I was going all the way back to Kittie Wells. Patsy Cline and coming on up to today. And this was at the Richmond Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. It’s a beautiful art deco theatre and they had redone it, with a gorgeous stage and beautiful sound.
Don’t ask me why I thought I should slide in heels on up to the mic. But I don’t know, I was feeling really happy about going out there and singing. So I came out and I did this little slide. But I grabbed the mic, Doris. And it was a corded mic. I pulled the mic out. I wasn’t even conscious that it had come out of the cord that was holding it.
And I go to belt out my first note, and there’s nothing. And then the audience starts laughing. I’m laughing, too. Then I put the mic back in the cord and I don’t know why, but I decided to do a “Howdy,” Minnie Pearl style.
And the audience was all laughing. I just said, “Wow, what a way to start the show.” And it was great. from there on out. They were yelling things out and participating.
Doris Nagel
It’s a good thing you didn’t land on your keyster!
Lori London
You’re not kidding! I don’t know what possessed me. It was just crazy.
Another time, I was with my sister Terry, who sang with me for a few years there. And I know she was on the show I’m recalling. So I came walking across the stage. And this was at the old Lexington House. They tore it down about a year ago on the south side of Chicago. Actually, Oakland I think,
Anyway, I’m walking across the stage. And although they had a thin carpet thing over it, there must have been a pretty big wedge in the woods that was missing or something. my heel I literally walked out of my shoe. And I didn’t have on a long dress. I was like kept walking. And I’m still singing and I just bent down and put my shoe on, and kept singing. And the audience is laughing, and I’m having a good time.
I’m a bit of a clown, I guess.
Doris Nagel
I have no doubt your Second City improv training probably really helped you out there. The world of improv is all about going with really weird situations and just rolling with it and making the best of it.
Lori London 43:48
It’s about letting go and having no ego whatsoever. I mean, I’ve been in some weird situations in classroom. Do you remember what it was called freeze tag or freeze frame or something like that? So, there’s two people three people doing a scene and then someone in the audience yells freeze. And you have already figured out that you can fit in that scenario somewhere. But now you’re going to switch it up, and in one game I had the guy’s arm down. And so then I decided that I was going to be his dog on a leash. But then I attacked him. It was great fun.
It was some of the best times I’ve ever had. I’m still friends with a couple of people from there.
Doris Nagel
Would you recommend improv for people who are maybe afraid of stepping out of their comfort zone?
Lori London 44:40
Yes, oh yes! it’s a wonderful program.
I remember one girl, she worked for some very prestigious international firm. She even spoke Japanese, but she was just terrified to speak in front of people. So that’s why she came to be at Second City.
Another fellow I’ll never forget was a prosecuting attorney in the city. And then you had some people who were actors. So you had all different kinds of people. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time. I just thought it would be cool to do. And I knew that it could only enhance whatever I already had been to that point, whoever I was.
Doris Nagel
Touch on some of your upcoming projects and plans and ideas that you’re working on.
Lori London 45:28
Oh, there’s so many floating around in my head!
I’ve met some very lovely people in California who have become very instrumental in some things that I’m wanting to do. About a year and a half ago, my lawyer in New York submitted what I had thus far — which was one book and two audiobooks at the time — to Nickelodeon. There’s interest, but they want to see a cartoon short. So now we are putting together a cartoon short for that submission. So it’s very exciting!
And my other friend, although he’s not come out and actually said it, sees me as potentially some kind of TV show host for kids. I’m open to it. You know, I wouldn’t say no.
Doris Nagel
Maybe you should think about having a radio show!
Lori London 46:16
You know, I love radio, that would be fun!
Doris Nagel
What advice would you give to budding entertainers and maybe even entrepreneurs about growing your business?
Lori London 46:31
There’s two that come immediately to mind. One is — and I’m going to look at this for myself with regards to funding for the plush for next year, because it is expensive — I’ve spent loads of money. It was well worth it, though. You know, I don’t regret any of that. Because this is part of it. You have to invest in yourself and invest in your dreams and believe in yourself. That’s really it in a nutshell. Don’t let anybody or anything deter you. If you have something that you love, that gives you joy, don’t stop.
If there are people in your life that are thwarting that, get away from these people. I’m being serious. Surround yourself with loving, caring people who like the same types of things that you like, and be joyful, even if you don’t get what you’re thinking it’s going to be because you can make money doing it.
Again, I’m a spiritual person. You know, God’s got this and maybe you’re not meant to be doing what you think you’re going to be doing. Look at Stanley — this man thought he was going to be writing novels and look what he accomplished and gave back. And it’s important to give back.
Doris Nagel
I appreciate you coming on the show today. I can’t thank you enough for being here.
Lori London
Doris, my pleasure.
Doris Nagel
If people are interested in learning more about Lori London and all her many creative gifts and talents, or are interested in contacting you, what’s the best way for them to reach you?
Lori London
Either website, they’re both linked down at the bottom of each home page that will take you back and forth from the lorilondonmusic.com to the lorilodonentertainment.com. You can make booking engagements for singing on the music site and booking engagements for an author readings on the entertainment site.
There’s also video on both sites. There’s voice over on both sites. So those would be the two main ways my books are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble. All you have to do is Google “Trippy the Fly.”
This is now a registered trademark for his name and his logo. So super huge.
Doris, thank you so much for having me on. It’s been so lovely to meet you!
Doris Nagel
Thank you again for being here. I hope our listeners have enjoyed learning a little bit about Lori’s entertainment career and how she’s built a business from a side hustle to growing her business around that, as well as sharing stories of what it takes to be an entrepreneur and to be successful at it.
You can find past show recordings and other information and resources for entrepreneurs on my consulting website, www. globalocityservices.com, or my dedicated radio show site, www.thesavvyentrepreneur.org.
Don’t forget to email me if you’d like to shoot the breeze or share challenges or topics you’d like to hear about a dnage@thesavvyentrepreneur.org.
Be sure to join me next week for another edition of The Savvy Entrepreneur.
But until then, I’m Doris Nagel, wishing you happy entrepreneuring!
Leave a Reply