Oh, but this isn’t my real job. What I really want to do is _____________.

How many times have you heard this refrain? Not many? Never? Well, then you reside outside of the greater Los Angeles area. In the City of Angels, where I’ve hung my hat for the past seven years, this refrain is as common as a cold and equally infectious. The city of Los Angeles is home to nearly four million people while Los Angeles County boasts a healthy ten million residents. Although it may seem like a big place (and it is), L.A. is still a company town. Of the top six industries in Los Angeles County, the entertainment industry ranks at number two. Unless you live here for the mild weather or any of the other four top industries, there’s really only one underlying reason you withstand the earthquakes and the traffic: to grab your piece of the entertainment pie.

While it may appear cliché, it should not surprise you that your barista is really a bass player, your waiter really is an actor who just booked a national commercial, and the guy who sold you your cell phone plan just directed his first indie film. This phenomenon isn’t singular to the service industry. In just about any work place here, you’ll find what I like to call The Dancers. These are the people who do the Day Job Disco Dance. By day they do the Day Job Shuffle, but by night they dance the Dream Job Hustle. It’s an intricate balance to achieve and it requires a heap of energy, dedication, and above all, unwavering faith. I’ve met CPAs who run their own company and use their vacation time to tour with their rock band. An acquaintance of mine is a PR rep for a professional sports team and an accomplished painter. I’ve even done The Dance myself. Who am I kidding? I’m still dancing. My resume reflects my amazing abilities at The Industry Hop. I’ve worked in no less that four different industries as my day job while I pursued my writing and photography career at nights and on the weekends. I once used my vacation time to shoot still photography on a horror film. And I’m not alone. From where I stand, the dance floor is packed and it’s only getting more crowded.

Why do so many people in L.A. dance The Day Job Disco? Because sometimes that’s the Way of the Artist. Artistic careers or commercial success as an artist are hard to come by. Both require time and dedication with no immediate payoff. In the meantime, you have to find some way to keep a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in your mouth. Enter the Day Job. To boot, Los Angeles is an expensive place to live. Our sales tax rate is currently 8.25%. Our income tax may be lower than the national average, but we do pay sales tax, state income tax, and federal income tax. Add to this the myriad of standard living expenses (rent/mortgage, utilities, etc.). These things add up quickly and make the stability of the Day Job much more appealing. But settling is not the Artist’s Way.

To make it in this town, you have to be willing to sacrifice in the short term to reach the long term goals. My actor friends work as receptionists, assistants, actuaries, teachers, you name it. My director, screenwriter, and camera operator friends wash dishes, administer insurance policies, manage a law firm’s file room, and fix computers. It may not be glamorous, but the end result motivates all of these Dancers to keep shakin’ what they got. The ultimate goal for these people, and for the thousands of other people in Los Angeles, is for the Dream Job Hustle to edge out the Day Job Shuffle. In the end, you hope that the Dream Job will push the Day Job off the dance floor entirely, so that the new job situation is a finely choreographed number that you’ve rehearsed to perfection.